Catching up on the Journal, the main events from the end of 2008:
December 26th - The Crazy Crab Party
The day after Christmas was more lively than the day before by a long shot. Hisa and Isamu threw a party for their friends to consume massive amounts of Japanese crab. A total of 14 people came to consume crab and drink the night away. The first bit of crab I ate was not so bad, the second piece was pretty delicious, the third piece was not too great, and the fourth renewed my hatred for crab. Not speaking Japanese, I simply ate boiled pork and veggies for over an hour and a half. As the crab waned, I noticed that every single Japanese person in the room was vivaciously drunk.
December 27th - The Bread Lesson
The day after the Crazy Crab Party, Hisa’s neighbor arrived for a lesson in how to make bread. I was happy to teach her and happier still to make more bread. Unfortunately, she had bought Kraft Cheddar Cheese Food instead of real cheese. We spent over an hour breaking it into spongey pieces of yellow during the rising process. The lesson produced delicious bread, nonetheless. She learned to make bread, and I learned about measurements in Japanese and Metric. She wrote down what she learned and I did not.
December 28th & 29th - Cleaning
Amid two days of extreme boredom, I found myself doing housework to pass the time. In order to properly welcome the new year, Japanese households clean EVERYTHING. The first day I was employed to clean all the high places in the house that only I could reach. It was an easy job that I found entertaining, as my rag quickly became black in the places no one had been able to clean all year. The following day, there was yard work to be done. Trimming hedges and sweeping up. In the afternoon, Isamu and I drove to Yuki’s house to pick up a massive stone bowl. The bowl took three people to move even a short distance into the trunk of the car and I feared it would crush my foot rolling as we set it down.
December 30th - Mochi Day
One of the main reasons I had originally decided to stay in Japan for December was to make Mochi on this day. We made lots and lots of mochi for the family and friends in the neighborhood. It turned out to be a beautiful day as we sat watching. In the stone bowl we picked up, we took turns pounding saturated rice into a sticky dough. Afterwards it was rolled into balls and coated in flour. How can you not enjoy food that’s made by smashing things with a giant wooden hammer? After mochi, I met Lorna and her mother, who had returned the previous evening.
December 31st - Oshogatsu Eve
The big holiday here in December is New Year’s. In preparation for it, Buddhist monks will ring the temple bells 108 times before midnight. This represents cleansing the 108 sins of man. I was set to meet up with Lorna and her mother, Kris, for the temple-going. Unfortunately, during their flight layover in LA, they had gotten food poisoning and Lorna was bed-ridden. Kris and I planned to go to hear the bells for a short time without Lorna. After watching a movie in the early evening, though, Kris felt like going to sleep herself. Instead of going alone, I decided to spend the beginning of the New Year with Lorna. Definitely a better option than a crowded ceremony alone that I couldn’t understand.
