Art Class for Kids

Our first weekend in Japan we made our way back to the Kyoto City International Foundation which housed many of the events and clubs we enjoyed back in 2007. They were having a KoKo Kids meeting to do an art project with shrinky dinks.  There were only two families in attendance, so we all got to participate, even the "grown-ups."

Can you guess which project(s) belong to which Rasmussen?

Face the Stove...

We had a busy weekend! On Saturday, we tried our hand at shodou (Japanese calligraphy). Verdict: Insanely difficult, but fun. On Sunday, we attended an international cooking class. There were about 30 people, including a few folks we've met on other outings. The menu featured five courses spotlighting the cuisine of Kumamoto prefecture (on Kyushu, the southwestern island of Japan). The menu:

1. Sansai Rice
2. Dango Jiru (Dumpling Soup)
3. Higo Dengaku (Tofu with Miso)
4. Na-ya-ki (Fried Vegetables)
5. Ikinari Dango (Sweet Dumplings)

(The entire meal was vegetarian, except that the soup stock in the Dango Jiru was fish-based.)

We split into groups of six to eight, and each group made one dish. Renee and I were assigned to different dishes. I made the sansai ("three year") rice, and assisted on the Higo Dengaku. Renee made the Dango Jiru, which looked really complicated to me...

The rice was extremely simple: Rice is washed and placed in a rice cooker with an appropriate amount of water. Then soy sauce, sake, and salt are added and mixed. Finally, a wild vegetable mix of mountain mushrooms, ferns, and bamboo shoots is placed on top, but not mixed. Then you let the rice cooker do all the work. You mix the vegetables into the rice afterwards.

The Higo Dengaku was certainly more interesting. The tofu is essentially boiled in soup stock, and then served with a Miso and sesame sauce. To make the sauce, white miso, sugar, sake, and ground sesame are simmered in a saucepan while you constantly knead and stir the mixture (which has the consistency of peanut butter). The most delicate part of the procedure is retrieving the tofu from the pot without breaking it -- the experts had an amazing technique using a slotted spoon and a pair of chopsticks.

Once the food was prepared, we all dined! All of the food was delicious, but my favorite was probably the dumpling soup. There was only one other native-English speaker at my table, so it was a good opportunity to practice my Japanese, too. (Breaking News Update: my Japanese is horrible!). It was a really fun three hours, and quite the bargain, too. (only $3 per person, and you get a feast for your hard work!).

The Way of Tea

For the last few months, I have been studying tea ceremony at the Kyoto International Community House. We just had our class demonstration this week. The above picture shows the awesome Beginner students on the last day of class.

The class is intended to be a way for foreigners to immerse themselves in Japanese culture as well as a chance for Japanese to experience a cultural exchange. But, one thing that fascinates me (especially given the cross cultural harmony shtick) is that the class is roughly three times more expensive for Japanese students. Huh.

We are learning about the elements in a tea room, the tools needed to perform a tea ceremony, how to serve sweets and tea, how to eat sweets, how to drink tea, how to walk, how to enter and leave a tea room, and how to open/prepare/close a tea ceremony.

Each week, we have a new calligraphy scroll and a new flower arrangement placed in the tokonoma (scroll alcove) in the tea room. These items are specially chosen to correspond with the season/weather outside or to reflect an important truth. Our sweets are different each class too and similarly reflect the time of year. I expect that this week or next week, we will have a sakura (cherry blossom) themed class.

There are many detailed rules, prescribed phrases and gestures for both hosts and guests, but somehow it is still relaxing. My cool and fun classmates have a lot to do with that. In fact, I have enjoyed the class so much that I have signed up for another twelve week session.