Random Things

Someone got an award for being on the Honor Roll.  She will probably make me take this photo down.  

We went to a friend's house for a little party.  This is what Marian did.  She read.  An actual book!

I was really excited to make these cute little brownies for the Boy Scout Bake sale.  They were perfect for the day before Valentine's Day.

I'm so in love with adorable Japanese fabrics!!  Just look at this cute stuff that's going to be a baby blanket. This is why I'm sewing again!

Making a Kimono Scarf!

 I was invited to a scarf making activity last Saturday and I was super excited.  I am not a scarf-wearer and in fact, I don't think I have ever worn a scarf for fashion purposes... ever.  But these scarfs were going to be made out of old kimonos!  See, super exciting.

The lady, Lydia, who was running the class runs all over Japan collecting fun things.  She had a table of scraps we could choose from.  That took the longest.  How do you decide among all the beautiful fabric?!!  And once I had my selections, I saw more lovely fabric and had to start all over.  We used 11 pieces of fabric, so making 11 different kimono scraps match was a little tricksy.  But fun!

Then we iron the pieces, cut them to the same lengths, sewed them together and sewed them onto the backing.  We made Infinity Scarves.  And it was so fun!  Fun to see what others were doing and admiring their choices.  All the scarves were gorgeous.  And I was madly in love with mine.  How much do I love it?!  Well, I had intended to give it away, but I don't thinkI can bear to part with it.  And I actually wore it to church on Sunday.

Such a fabulous pile of fabrics!

My choices, all sewed into a strip and ready for the backing. 

Stitching the backing on.   

Ironing the finished scarf. 

Modeling my lovely scarf. 

And look!  I wore a fashion scarf to church for the first time!

The Broccoli Grill

 One of my goals for the year is to try a new restaurant each month.  I can check that off for February now!  I made it to a place I had heard of but had not yet been to.  A group of friends and I went out to The Broccoli Grill for lunch last week.

What's in a name?  I have no idea.  But this was a burger joint. Nary a broccoli in sight.  As a matter of fact, burgers was the only thing they served.  Or at least, the only thing on the menu. Burgers are more an American thing and are hard to come by here.  So I had heard people rave about it, since it does a good burger.  And it was a good burger.

This was their cute English menu.

I played it safe and went with the cheeseburger.  It came with fries and a salad.

My tall burger!

My yummy pile of fries and my little salad.

Selfie with the sign.

Okonomiyaki Class!

I got to participate in another Japanese Cultural Exchange program.  This one was on hoe to make Okonomiyaki.  You have probably never heard of okonomiyaki, and that's fine.  It does not sound delicious, but it IS!  Me and 3 of my friends signed up and went to learn to make it.  It is called "Japanese pancake" but that's not really a good description at all.  And it does not sound like a yummy combo of foods.  Do not be fooled.  Once it is cooked together to synergistically release the deliciousness, and covered with okonomiyaki sauce, it is quite yummy.  Trust me on this.

They bussed us downtown to a building that must teach stuff regularly, because we were in a classroom with kitchen units and cooking materials.  There were 6 stove/sink/countertops for us.  We got to watch the instructor make it and she walked us through the steps.  Thence made it.  They had conveniently put all the ingredients together for us, so all we had to do was put it together and cook it.

There are 2 kids of Okonomiyaki.  Osaka style, and Hiroshima style.  Osaka style is easier to make.  You mis everything together and then cook it.  And it has no noodles.  Hiroshima style is yummier, partly because it has noodles.  It is also layered and a royal pain to get all cooked properly.  To layer, you have a thin crepe-like layer, then cabbage, noodles and bacon.  And egg.    Osaka style mixes everything together but the bacon. Then you cover it with the yummy sauce.  The Japanese also like to pour mayonnaise over it.  I like Mayo, but not that much!

We made both kinds.  We totally burned the Hiroshima style, because it is hard to get it cooked evenly!  Both were decently tasty, but not as good as when someone else cooks it for me!  We had a really good time.

After the cooking, we got to eat it for lunch.  Yum!  Well, except for the burned bits.  Then they bussed us over to the shopping center.  We could go with the lady and learn to buy the ingredients ourselves, or we could roam around and meet back at the bus.  We roamed.  I'm pretty sure I'd rather have someone else cook it for me, and I probably won't make it myself.  It was a fun day!

These were our two pans filled with ingredients. 

This is the instructor, showing us step-by-step what to do. 

They use chopsticks rather than wooden spoons to cook! 

The line up on ingredients, in case I want to look for them at the store. 

 Her finished product.

Picture perfect!  I know, it does not look appetizing, but trust me, it IS delicious!

Stef, pouring in the crepe-type batter.  (This is where the "pancake" part comes in.)

Checking for done-ness.

Our 2 finished products!

Our group and our lunch.  I love these ladies!

Japanese School Field Trip

 On Tuesday Feb 2, I got to chaperone Marian's 7th grade field trip to a Japanese school.  The object was for our kids to assist their kids with their conversational English.  We came in with 30 7th graders, and they had maybe 50 of their students.

It took a while to get things settled, as they paired the kids into 6 groups of about 15 kids.

Then it was ice-breaker games.  This one here, the kids had to ask a question, and then pass the ball on after they received an answer.  (No outside shoes in the school, slippers or "indoor shoes" only.)

After the games, our kids went to their classes and spent about 30 minutes in 3 different classes.  Marian got to learn to draw Kanji- this is the symbol for Winter.  And it is a lot harder than it looks! 

Science was next.  Marian said she enjoyed this, but I found it dull.  Check out the cool tables with the wooden block seats though! 

This was math class. Marian was unenthusiastic, but her friend Angel enjoyed the challenging problem they were suppose to solve. 

FYI, they don't really heat their schools.  Some classrooms have a portable heater, but the smaller ones do not.  All of them are quite chilly!  Check out the temp gauge.  15C is 59F  in case you were wondering.  Aren't you glad you don't go to school in a building that is only 59 degrees! 

 Lunch time was long overdue.   Our kids brought lunch from home, but we had to wait for the school to bring up their hot lunch and serve it to each other. It looked a little questionable, but smelled yummy.  We all ate together.

The last event was at their gym room.  They had some awesome looking equipment on the side (think, wooden samurai swords and armor wearing dummies!) but the kids just got to learn some dance.  The Dancing was really just patterns to clapping and stomping.  I was cold enough I wanted to join in, but lazy enough I did not.  (Clap, clap, smile, stomp!)  We got a group photo and said our goodbyes.  It was a long day, but I think it was a good cultural exchange.