okonomiyaki and strawberries

The weekend after I returned to Japan, I was so lucky to be invited by Yumi (one of my adult students) to her house to make okonomiyaki. I teach Yumi and her daughter Nanaho every Thursdays at Amity. I'm sure I talked about Nanaho before, she's seven years old and knows soooo much English. In fact, they are moving to another prefecture next month so that Nanaho can attend a school that is conducted only in English. I'm going to miss them both so much, I see them at least three times a week, and because I teach both of them I have grown very close to their family. Anyway so every class I always ask Yumi what she made for dinner, and she does okonomiyaki quite often because she claimed it was the easiest/cheapest thing you can make. I asked her to give me the recipe but she does it all from memory and she doesn't measure anything because she makes it so often, so she said it would be easier and more fun if we were to just go over and make it together! Yokkatta ne!


Yumi and Lana preparing the ingredients...I was helpful by being the photojournalist, and jotting down notes :)






It was no joke the best okonomiyaki I have ever had!! Better than Hiroshima, better than Osaka! It's Osaka-style, but it's mostly cabbage and seafood, and only uses a table spoon of flour for four servings, so it's less pancake-y.

Nanaho made musubis for everyone

Tama (my student in another class) and Nanaho are best friends from ballet school, so she came over after she heard that the "Amity senseis" were over

They said I was taking too many pictures, so they were trying to run away

I got you!

Nanaho's Girl's Day display...these things cost like $3,000!


After lunch it was a LONG afternoon of Wii! That thing is so addicting! I'm definitely going to get one when I move home :) Alyssa and Bryce you guys are so lucky!



Tama: "No Lana, that's not how you do it...give me that thing!"

Tama: "GAMBARRE GAMBARRE!! You have to shake it like this!"



Nanaho and Tama making sundaes for everyone




Tama's little brother, Ryu...he's soooo cute! Like a little potato

Tama's freehand drawing...jyoozu desu ne

It was such a fun day and I hope we can do it again! Nanaho's apartment building is only a couple of years old so everything is very very modern. It's one of those apartments that you see in display rooms or on commercials here. They had compartments coming out of the walls, a high tech toilet, and everything!

This past weekend was short for me since I only got one day off. I had to work the other day to make up some of my classes that I missed when I was home. So I figured I had to make that day count! Lana and I went with her co-workers in Koriyama to a strawberry farm :) I will miss all of the fruit picking that you can do here, and Fukushima is like the best place for peaches, grapes, strawberries, apples, blueberries...basically everything! How it works is you pay a flat fee and you are free to wander the farm (or greenhouse) and pick and eat as much as you want. In other places you pay a little bit more and you make your own fruit omiyage...like box your own and take it home. We just did the one where you eat as much as you can there.





Fumi-chan!




Hayai Lana! Leave some for us!





After strawberry picking it was off to Round 1 for 3 hours of tennis, batting cages, and video games!


Dorks!


After Round 1 it was off to dinner at Denny's and then 2 hours of karaoke! It was a REALLY full day, but that's how the Japanese do it! You can't do anything without following it with video games, food, and karaoke! Chou tanoshikatta!