So I am going to switch this shiz up a bit. I am discontinuing writing about just Japan. I am going to throw in the other millions of things that I am interested in...mainly nature based things...or Japanese things haha. So starting sometime this week I am keeping up...

Obasan no uchi de gohan o tabemashita.

I had lunch this past Saturday at a Japanese lady's house. Her name is Yasuko-san, and this Lady is soooo nice! Not only did she invite me over for lunch, but she made me feel right at home. Thank goodness that she did, because I was so nervous. Haha. I really have not been around Japanese people for a few years, at least not on a consistent basis. There were six other ladies that joined us, and the atmosphere was very reminiscent of the cooking class I went to in Kanazawa.... It mainly reminded me of Kanazawa, because apparently Japanese ladies like to tease a lot. Haha. 

This obasan was helping us cook tempura.

The cooking class that we went to in Kanazawa consisted of three stations. There was the temupra station, the sushi station, and the soup station. Making tempura was my first actual encounter with cooking chopsticks. I was surprised at how long they were! I was pretty happy that they were long though, because I hate hate hate!!!! getting hot grease or any sort of hot anything on my skin, especially when they are little droplets! Anyways... this station was not where I was teased.

This was the station where I was teased...A LOT! First of all I apparently suck at rolling sushi, second off I had no idea that I was supposed to wet my knife before trying to cut seaweed. It was pretty funny though. I actually enjoyed making the obasans laugh, but what killed me is that when we were all done eating and I brought back everything I ate with they pointed at my sushi plate, back at me, and then started laughing all over again. I don't show color much, but I'm pretty sure that I was red.
 

Ingredients for tempura. My favorite
is pumpkin temupra. I had it at Yasuko-san
no uchi.

This was basically a huge wok that
we used to fry the Tempura.

I can't wait to learn how to cook
even more Japanese foods...
Hopefully Yasuko-san will teach
me! Also since going to Japan I have learned that using a sushi mold is a lot easier...just sayin.

These are just close ups of the finished products. Notice the beautiful coloring of my tempura and disregard my sad excuse for a sushi roll...however the sushi did taste better anyways so whatever.

Our beautiful meal...and my not so beautiful sushi... as you can
see in the background there is sushi that is how it is supposed
to actually look...:/ 

Ah, how we all grow up. Just another day in good ol' Kanazawa with
good ol' friends.
ITADAKIMASU!

O Kamisama ga Watashi o aishite imasu!

So I had been having a hard time finding native Japanese speakers around where I live, which totally sucked because the fastest way to learn the language is to immerse yourself and to speak with natives. So, at work we have quite a few Asian costumers that come in, but they are mostly Chinese or Korean. The only Japanese people that would come in are 2nd generation from Hawaii. So I have been praying that I could find at least one person to talk to. Finally a Japanese lady came in, but she was soooo new to America that she couldn't understand me at all and the accent was a lot different as well... so my Japanese didn't help either. I gave her my number anyways, but I figured that she would, more likely than not, not call me...and I was right.
I was pretty bummed out about it, but I just moved on... A few days later I was working a morning shift and one of our regulars came in. I had always felt like I should ask him what nationality he was but I never did. That morning I finally bucked up and asked him. Turns out that he is half Japanese and that his mother lived just down the road!!! He called her up on his cell and let me talk to her, right then and there, and she invited me over for lunch with her friends! I was so happy. I had really been wondering if pursuing Japanese was really for me and if it was really a path that I wanted to take. Not only did I have lunch that day, but she gave me a retired Japanese professor's number and I have also met with her! And She doesn't charge!!!
I seriously feel so blessed and happy. I have also realized that I truly am learning way more than had thought. I feel that things really are starting to fall into place!

Paper Cranes

This was a good picture to find because I was sort of worried
that it would look silly to have all different colors instead of
having just my wedding colors, but I love it!

I know that it has been a hot minute since I last wrote, but I have been pretty busy with wedding plans. At first I was not really sure what to base the theme on...since apparently I should have a theme haha. I think that I have finally figured it out though. Surprise! It's Japanese themed... O.K. so it is not really that big of a surprise, but I am a fairly complex person in my interest and so it was actually pretty hard for me to pick something. I have hit the ground running with this idea though and have even started folding a thousand paper cranes.
I know that you are probably supposed to fold them all yourself, but I don't have time to do such things, so I enlisted the family! Oddly enough it has been a pretty bonding pastime for us. Even my sister and I have been getting along better. I just wish that she would stop giving them away to people that see her doing them... Anyways it has only been about two weeks but we are on a role for sure.
It was impossible to find them in my exact wedding colors, which are eggplant purple, burnt orange, and scarlet red, so I just bought a bunch of eclectic designs and went to work. That is one thing that I love about japanese prints is that they are so colorful and detailed, and that is how I would like for my reception to turn out.
Folding these cranes has been so relaxing for me. You have to be patient and focus on detail and exactness and in a small way I feel as if it is honing my ability for patience with many other things. It could be my imagination, but I also feel like there is a pretty significant lesson in this practice. Its Sunday so I am gonna go ahead and throw this out there.
When I fold cranes I think of how our Heavenly Father must view us. Though I have hundreds to go, to make each one turn out right I have to take the time to align and fold each crease, and after I am done I take time to admire the one I have finished. Each is so different even with careful attention to detail, and though when I am finished people will not look at the way each one is different I will still love every one that I have made. If I can love a single paper crane think of the way that Heavenly Father loves each and every one of us, and think of the patience he also must hold for us as he gently, but firmly shapes us into new and beautiful beings.

This is one way to use them that I think will be very pretty.

                 

Christmas Suki Desu!

Watashi wa honto ni Christmas suki desu. My Oka-san decorates the whole house like crazy! Even our stair rails are wrapped up in garland. Last Christmas I was on a cruise with my Oto-san's family. It was fun at times, but mostly it was miserable. I will probably never do a cruise again.... anyways, I am super excited to be at home this Christmas! It is also my last Christmas as a single lady. Pretty crazy when I think about it to much.
I recently got back from Northern Utah where my fiance lives. In Salt Lake City down at temple square the lights are amazing! There was even a kokeshi doll Nativity scene!

I think that it would be so amazing to be able to visit Japan in the winter. I am not sure how they do Christmas there or how big of a thing it is. But in several drama's and anime's they always have a tree so I am guessing that at the very least it is a growing tradition especially with the growth of Christianity.

This is the Christmas Tree in the Joseph Smith building in SLC, Utah. It really is an amazing tree. Right behind it on the second floor is where I performed last Christmas season with the Orem Institute Choir. It really was an amazing experience.

 This Christmas tree is decorated in Japanese paper ornaments! I was so cute! I loved all the little Kimono girls and paper balls. I was so happy to see this tree at my new favorite restaurant East. I actually ate there two nights in a row haha. Was funny but a little embarassing for me. Still it was fun to speak even more Japanese. My oka-san told me today that she loves to hear me speak Japanese, but I have to translate everything that I say. Haha.

                                            MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

Sushi Time!

If there is one thing that I am greatful to the Japanese for it would be Sushi. When made correctly, it is the most perfect food! It is so perfectly balanced in its many flavors. Oh man, my mouth is watering! I would have to say that my favorite rolls are the Catipiller Roll, Dragon Roll, Nantucket Roll, and all the pieces that I had in Japan. In all reality there is only so much that I can say about how much I love this Oishii treat.

This one had Tempura Lobster in it and row on top. I forgot the name of it but it was pretty good indeed.

This day was pretty dang fun. Was a girls day for sure. Tomoko, Daria, and I went to the onsen and ate sushi at this cute restaurant. It was pretty cool, because it was my first time at a conveyor belt sushi place. The other thing that was way different was that each of the plates was a certain price and the way they charge you is that when you are done you stack up your plates, and they scan the stack with a little laser gun. Each of the plates has a chip in it that is read, and tada! you know what you have to pay! Also about everyother seat had a spout next to it where you could make your own Ocha (tea)...I didn't like it much at all.

Ocha station and water spouts.

It was fun to see such different sushi rolls, and even more fun to eat them. Was also a trip to watch Daria when she tried some of the way weird Rolls.

These were are chefs. The one, whose face you can't see, was sooooo cute!!! I was to nervous to talk to him though, even when it was just to order food. Yes, you can order rolls if there is nothing you see that you want. I can not wait to relive these experinces!

Depression and Hope

I don't know why I have yet to learn that when you feel the spirit telling you to do something quick you had better do it quick. I had the feeling that I should take out my memory card from my pocket and I didn't. I consequently lost it.... it held all of my pictures from Japan.... Luckily I have a lot of pictures up on Facebook, but honestly I cried. I am trying not to panic, but there is nothing for it now. I am hoping that I saved them on my computer back home because I had to reformat my laptop where they currently had been stored....... I ask that whoever reads this prays for me haha.

I guess that I will have to go back and make even more memories eh? Haha. I hope that I will be able to make it out there again soon. I need a good does of Japan.