No, Really, I Am an American

I mentioned to Tanikawa that I have a lot of time on my hands now so she offered to have a cooking day. (I’d also mentioned during that lesson that I was trying to learn how to cook.) She had sent me a text with dates she was available and I selected Wednesday the 27th. Once all this was confirmed, she sent another text suggesting we make Chirasashizushi. I had no idea what it was but I wasn’t overly picky so I said that would be fine with me.

I’ve still been in the habit of waking up early even though I don’t really have a reason to. This morning was the first in a while where all I wanted to do was go back to sleep. However, I’d agreed to meet Tanikawa at Tengachaya Station at 10 AM.

I grudgingly got out of bed, ate a quick breakfast, and was out the door at a reasonable time. When I got to the station, one of the other ladies (whose name at the time eluded me; she was Ban-san) was waiting for me. At first, we both did a kind of uncertain approach thing. But it was only briefly and recognition finally flickered for both of us. Ban-san informed me that Tanikawa had to run home because she forgot her keitai and that we could go ahead to the supermarket.

Ban-san chatted with me as we walked to the market, which was connected to the station. I think that’s an amusing thing about Osaka, most major train stations have a market of some kind either attached or a hop, skip, and a jump away.

We waited for Tanikawa by the entrance to the market. Ban-san was doing her level-best to hold a conversation with me. She was trying very hard to find the right words to explain why sushi rice was different from regular rice. She also said that we would try making two type of chirasashizushi, a traditional Japanese-style and a Western-style because the ladies weren’t sure if I would be able to find all the ingredients to making Japanese-style in America.

Tanikawa wasn’t far behind us and the three of us were soon in the market ready to shop. Holy smokes I have never seen a supermarket that crowded before! I was reminded of Thanksgiving 2006 when Fight Club made the uninformed decision to go to Costco on a national holiday. Y’all know how I feel about people, so I was mildly discombobulated while we were shopping. I commented to the ladies that I usually never go grocery shopping so early in the morning, and Ban-san said usually many housewives come at this time. Neither Tanikawa nor Ban-san shop at 10 AM either. Like me, they wait until the crowds go away.

Somehow we managed to get the necessary ingredients. The first item was salmon, the kind they eat for breakfast. I dunno how to describe it other than cooked and that I recognize it when I see it. Since we were in that section we also bought some sashimi and these cute but creepy little dried fish. Ban-san showed me the package and asked me if I would be able to find them in America. I told her honestly that I wasn’t sure, but I could try the Japanese market. I didn’t say that I was mentally omitting some of the ingredients because I didn’t think I would be able to eat them. I couldn’t help but think the fishies were cute, though. They had these little eyes and while some people find that morbid and creepifying, I was raised in a semi-Chinese household so these things don’t really faze me. We also passed through the prepared foods section and Ban-san suggested purchasing these onigiri-type…uh, side dishes? They asked me if I had ever tried them, and when I said I hadn’t, they asked me if I’d be willing to try them. We didn’t have to if I didn’t want to, but Ban-san said they are very tasty. I agreed to try them, mostly ‘cuz it seemed to please them so much. (Later, I found out these things are called Inarizushi, and yeah, the same “Inari” as “Fushimi Inari”.)

Finally, after about half an hour or so of wandering around the crowded supermarket, we had all of the ingredients. I was amazed that the lines were so long at the check-out…I hadn’t seen anything like that since the States. Made for interesting standing ‘cuz it always seemed like we were in the way even when we really weren’t. Tanikawa suggested going on ahead, so we went to wait by the entrance. Again, I was surprised to find that there were NO BASKETS left for people to use. Seriously. Messed up, desu ne?

Eventually, Tanikawa suggested going on ahead since she had to ride her bicycle back to the house anyway. While we were walking to the house, we noticed Tanikawa met up with Tsukada-san. Ban-san told me there would only be three of us for cooking; I was actually surprised that Zeze-san did not join since she always meets me at the station and asks me to have my lesson with the class when she is able to come.

Tanikawa has a wicked cool house, it even has an elevator. It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but inside is neat. Then again, I have only really been in apartos in Japan, so maybe I just don’t have a lot to compare it to. Well, she DEFINITELY has a cooler house than I do! It was only the second time that I got a chance to see the living area. (The classroom is on the first floor.)

Once we got all of our things put down, we started getting things prepared. One of the first things we did was get the rice ready. Tanikawa had prepared some sushi rice the night before, to practice as it were, but she burnt some of it and was henceforth dissatisfied with using it. I’d rinsed rice before, so this part wasn’t all that new for me. Although, we were going to be making the rice on the stove which I’ve never attempted. We also put the salmon in the broiler. Tanikawa has a really wicked range! Then again, most Japanese ranges only have two burners; she has five (one in the middle for tea kettles). See, when they told me we would be making the rice on the stovetop, I thought it was gonna be wicked hard. It turns out Tanikawa’s range has an automatic setting. She also has a special pot for making rice on the stovetop which resembles the inner-pot for a rice cooker (it’s got the measuring stuff etched on the inside).

While the salmon was broiling and the rice was cooking, we prepared the egg. Here is one of the parts that proves I suck at cooking…or rather, I need lots of practice, desu ne? So basically, when preparing the egg, you scramble it. This part, not so much with the hard. Ban-san demonstrated how we would be making it, though. Essentially, you make a really thin layer of egg. You barely pour any of it into the pan. You swish it around so that it covers the whole surface, just like when making scrambled eggs in general, you use chopsticks to pick up one of the edges, then with your fingers you flip it over so both sides are cooked. Yeah, I’m sure that this is a way easy task or something, but for me it was wicked hard! I joked that you could tell which were the ones I made and which were the ones Ban-san and Tsukada-san made — mine had holes in ‘em ‘cuz I couldn’t swish the egg around well enough.

We put the egg cakes aside and got the sushi rice ready (it had finished by this time). We used two types of rice, microwave rice and the type we made on the stove. We took care of the microwave rice first. We dumped it into a mixing bowl and then Tsukada-san had me “cut” the rice with the spatula. While I did this, Tsukada-san poured some of the sushi no ko into the bowl, this is an easy way of giving the rice it’s sweet and vinegar taste. Once that was done, we set the rice bowl aside.

Next, the salmon was done. The next task was to shred the salmon and take out the little bones as we came upon them. Meanwhile, Tanikawa went to fetch her wooden sushi oke. (Doubt I’ll eve have one of those!) For the rice we made via the stove we were going to make the sushi rice using the oke. This involved measuring vinegar and a little sugar (I think that’s all we used…to be honest I wasn’t paying that close attention ‘cuz I planned on just using the sushi no ko if I could find it). A lot of the measuring was kind of eyeballing ‘cuz the ladies were so used to making this kind of stuff by just, you know, knowing. (I hate that about cooking.) We dumped the rice into the oke, and once again I was asked to “cut” the rice while they added the liquid version of the sushi no ko. Both types of rice tasted great.

Tanikawa added the fishies with the eyes to the Japanese-style rice, and Ban-san and I slices the egg cakes into shreds. Again, you could tell the ones she did and the once I did ‘cuz mine were way thicker. We had unagi and imitation crab as well, Tsukada san prepared the unagi and I shredded the imitation crab with my hands. We got the sashimi out of the refrigerator and the mixed vegetables as well. Ban-san sliced the sashimi while I mixed half the salmon into the Western-style sushi rice and then the Japanese-style sushi rice.

We were ready to “decorate” the rice. Tanikawa got the bowls out for us and we started doling out the rice. For the Western-style zushi, we added some shredded crab, the mixed vegetables, thinly sliced ham pieces, and topped with sprouts and shredded nori. Ban-san we could really put anything in but it should be a little salty as well as colorful. For the Japanese-style we added three pieces of different sashimi (because three is a lucky number), unagi, the shredded egg cakes (for color), sprouts, and shredded nori. (Don’t forget, the Japanese-style also had the little fishies with the eyes!) Tsukada-san also made a soup with a kind of miso-flavor base with egg and tofu. I’d always wondered how they got the egg in soup to look and taste the way it did; apparently, you scramble it and then just pour it in a circular pattern so it doesn’t just kind of clump.

We were just about ready to eat! We just had to slice the inari zushi, dole out the soup, and set the table. When we sat down, we “itadakimasu”ed (yeah, I know, I verbed it funny — and yeah, I just used the word “verbed”)

We started with the Western-style chirasashizushi first. It was actually really good! I totally expected to not really like it (don’t ask), but I was pleasantly surprised. The traditional Japanese-style wasn’t bad either, the only thing I would change about it is the type of sashimi used. I like salmon a bit more than I like squid. The soup was great and even though one of the inari sushi had wasabi in it, the tofu pocket balanced it with a bit of sweetness.

Like many other instances, I do not really recall what kind of conversation we had. To be honest, I think the ladies just chatted in Japanese and I contented myself to eating. This doesn’t put me off in any way ‘cuz like I mentioned before in the post about Ikebana, it was just like hanging out with my family. (Only my family is usually speaking Tagalog.)

While we were eating, someone stopped by. At first, the ladies thought it was Zeze-san, but it turned out to be another one of the ladies. Here’s the part where I am a jack ass yet again ‘cuz I didn’t catch which lady it was. She stopped by because she wanted to bring me the present she bought for me before I packed up all my stuff. I seriously wasn’t expecting that and I feel pretty stupid for not remembering which one gave it to me.

Tanikawa made coffee afterwards for dessert. I wasn’t exactly sure what would happen next, but it was decided that we play cards. They asked me if I knew any card games. I suggested Euchre, but figured that it would be a kinda hard to explain and hard to play — I mean, the first time I played it was very Munchkinesque, and I didn’t get any ice cream out of the deal. Then I remembered Go Fish. I explained the rules of Go Fish and we tried playing that. While we played, however, I realized there were a few things about the game that I’d forgotten. Like what happens when all the cards in the deck are drawn and there are no “fish” to go fish. I also vaguely remembered something about keeping the pairs with you and counting them.

Ban-san had to part company hereafter, though. She had to go to work, but Tsukada-san said she could stay a bit longer. I honestly wasn’t sure what I should be doing, but both Tsukada-san and Tanikawa seemed to want me to stay, so I did.

They taught me a Japanese card game thereafter. It was a really simple game played with the face cards of the Japanese deck. You drew one card at a time; there were priests, samurai, and miko (princesses). If you drew a samurai, you kept the card, if you drew a princess, you could draw again, if you drew a priest, you put all the cards you had into the middle and whoever drew the next princess inherited all the cards. The player with the most cards by the end of the deck was the winner.

Afterwards, they asked me if I would like to try a more traditional card game. I’d heard about the game from Masumi during one of our lessons so I knew the basic premise of the game. The only problem was that I didn’t know any of the songs, which is a key strategy to playing. However, I could read hiragana fairly well so I thought I’d give it a try. Tanikawa was the one to “sing” the cards and Tsukada-san and I had to look through our group of cards and grab the right one. Since I was at a disadvantage, Tanikawa helped me out, too. I was actually quite proud of myself for selecting a few of the right cards unaided. Both Tanikawa and Tsukada-san were impressed that I was able to read hiragana so well. I think they were just being nice ‘cuz really, I’m not as quick as I should be.

We played two rounds of the game before Tsukada-san had to part company. I was under the impression that it meant that I should leave as well, but Tanikawa said that Zeze-san was on her way. I was a bit apprehensive about sticking around since it was 3 PM and I’d been there since about 11, but I didn’t want Zeze-san to be disappointed she’d missed me so I agreed to hang out.

Tanikawa pulled out a home-made siji board and we played that for a bit. We also chatted about games and such. She also explained to me that Zeze-san was coming from a funeral of a neighbor which was why she wasn’t able to join us for making chirasashizushi. Tanikawa wanted to know if I wanted to stay for dinner. Again, I wasn’t sure how to answer ‘cuz I didn’t want to impose and I’d said as much. She told me that she would like me to stay and that then I could meet her daughter who was visiting from Chiba. A little hesitantly, I agreed ‘cuz I thought that Zeze-san would also be joining us and so it wouldn’t seem so awkward.

Before Zeze-san arrived, Tanikawa and I prepared some chirasashizushi for her to take home. I guess she had asked the day before for us to make extra since she wasn’t going to be able to partake in the lunch. While we were putting the finishing touches on the “decoration”, Zeze-san rang the buzzer.

Zeze-san also got me a present; a lovely calligraphy brush pen. I just wish I practiced calligraphy, but I’m pretty sure I’ll find some use for it.

It was decided that we should take a walk around Tengachaya. I was starting to feel kind of tired, but I smiled and went along with the idea. While Tanikawa washed up some of the other dishes, I took this opportunity to use the bathroom before we left. And here’s where the trouble began…

So when I’d used the bathroom earlier in the day, I don’t think I locked it properly. Not that it really mattered, but this time when I turned the lock I heard a definitive click. After I’d washed my hands and such, I turned to lock a full 180 degrees, you know, ‘cuz I figured that would unlock the mechanism. So didn’t work. Confused, I turned the lock 180 degree again. Not so much. I was steadily leaving confusion, bordering on discombobulation, and dipping ever so slightly with panic. I started knocking on the door, hoping that either Tanikawa or Zeze would hear, but they were down the hall in another room with a closed door between the bathroom and the dining/kitchen area. I continued twisting the lock in 180 degrees both ways but wasn’t really getting anywhere; I also resorted to knocking on the walls and calling out (not loudly, although, maybe I should have). I laughed, too ‘cuz I thought it was hilarious that I somehow got locked in the bathroom. I won’t tell you how long I was standing in there like a moron, twisting the lock this way and that and knocking on the door, but eventually, Zeze came into the hall and heard me. I told her I was stuck in the bathroom, and she went to get Tanikawa-san.

Don’t ask me what prompted this revelation, but for some reason I was compelled to turn the lock 90 degrees. Low and behold, I was freed from the bathroom. I laughed about it, and I tried to explain what happened to Zeze-san, but I’m not entirely sure she was able to understand.

I am such a moron.

It was kind of cold outside; the ground was wet and I guessed it rained a bit while we were indoors cooking. Tanikawa and Zeze wanted to show me the local history, so we went to one of the nearby temples. I still can’t get over how there are shrines and temples peppered throughout the city. They seem like random places, too.

As we began our jaunt, Tanikawa explained that Osaka is actually more historical than Kyoto, but during World War II many of the historical places were burned down.

One of the ones we visited was at the top of a hill and had barbed wire on the some of the walls, which I found pretty odd. This particular shrine had two huge cherry blossom trees in its courtyard. Tanikawa and Zeze said that it was a popular place to visit during hanami, and I could see why. The “weeping” cherry trees’ branches pretty much covered the whole of the courtyard! Not for the first time I lamented the fact that I was going to miss out on this year’s hanami season. We went over to one of the sides overlooking Tengachaya. While we stood there, I asked about the barbed wire. Tanikawa said it was to discourage thieves.

They chatted with the caretaker as we were leaving; I’m not really sure what they were talking about, but it didn’t bother me that I couldn’t understand. They took me back behind the temple to the shrine area. Tanikawa said that there was a lot of construction going on so it would not be very beautiful to look at. She said that the area used to be covered with pine trees and it was nicer then.

One of the shrines was for good business, like many shrines. This one had a stone pillar a few meters away from the shrine itself and had the kanji “100″ and “stone” written on it (I didn’t know what the one in the middle was). Zeze explained that if you completed a circuit from the shrine and around the pillar one hundred times your wish would come true.

Some of the other little shrines had this triangle symbol that was like Triforce; I wondered if it was from some Shinto god that the Triforce got its shape and such. I mean, it’s a pretty common symbol, but it was the first time I’d seen it on a shrine.

We also visited a “woman’s” temple. I don’t know what that meant exactly, but it was a bit of a hike from where we started. Zeze said she visited that temple for New Year’s. It was also a famous place because it was where a famous tea ceremony teacher was from or visited or something like that. They showed me a special prayer stone that Hideyoshi’s wife prayed at for a good pregnancy.

The road just outside the entrance was once a beach and it was often the route people took to get to Sakai. We followed the road ourselves on the way to the park, where there was a foundation stone of a pagoda that used to stand there. There were actually a few more sites, like a burial mound, but Tanikawa and Zeze said that it was a bit too far for us to walk to we contented ourselves with only a few sites. As we left the park, Tanikawa explained that “”Tengachaya” is something like “the world’s tea house” — literally it’s “under heaven tea house”, but the idea was more along the line of “wolrd’s tea house”. We also passed by a storage place for where the tea ceremony things were once kept. It also had a map of what Tengachaya looked like in the past.

On our way home, we passed Zeze’s house. It was at this time that she parted company with us. I was surprised at that, but after thinking about it, I remembered that they’ve all got families to cook dinner for. I was once more in an awkward position of whether or not I should stay for dinner.

I had to go back to Tanikawa’s house anyway ‘cuz all my stuff was there, and so I ended up staying. Tanikawa said she thought of me as like another daughter so she was glad to have me. I felt a bit awkward about that, only ‘cuz it was nice and I don’t always know how to react when people are being nice to me outside my circle of close people I don’t hate.

When we got back into the house, the sun was well and truly set. She said she wanted to make the room smaller; at first I didn’t know why, but then I figured it out when she turned on the little stove-type heater. The cool thing about the room is that she can curtain it off with this big divider thing. (She can do the same for the kitchen portion of the room.)

She turned on the TV while she prepared dinner. She apologized for only having left-overs, but honestly, I didn’t care. It was nice to have a cooked meal. She offered to put in a DVD or “Desperate Housewives”, which amused me greatly. I asked her what she thought of it, and she said she liked it, but it was hard to follow sometimes because of their English. She commented that they use “freak” a lot and that it has many different meanings.

I was actually quite happy to watch Japanese TV. I find it fun and interesting. Her daughter arrived while we were watching. As she buzzed her in, Tanikawa told me that her daughter did not speak much English; Tanikawa’s father was also going to join us and she said that he can read English very well but cannot speak at all.

Her daughter passed through the room with a meek little bow on her way to her room. When she returned, she sat next to me and introduced herself. I smiled a bit to myself ‘cuz I’d remembered Aaron and Rob telling me that she was a fox. “My name is Yumi. I live in Chiba.” Hey, that wasn’t bad.

She tried to ask me a few questions, but needed her mother’s help at times. Tanikawa’s father had come into the room by this time as well. When he settled at the table, Tanikawa asked me to tell them something about Chicago while she finished getting dinner ready. I showed them my Chase Debit Card ‘cuz it had a picture of the Chicago Skyline on it. Tanikawa also pulled out an atlas and Yumi and Ojii-san checked the location of Chicago. Ojii-san’s English wasn’t terrible, and he was able to name the Five Great Lakes.

After chatting a bit more about Chicago, dinner was served. For Yumi and Ojii-san, they had the rest of the chirasashizushi while Tanikawa and I dined on a homemade sharkfin soup, roasted pork slices, steamed broccoli and rice. It’s been forever since I’ve had sharkfin soup and it was great! They offered me wine or sake, but I sheepishly explained that I don’t like alcohol, and we had green tea instead.

It was a lovely dinner. I was content to talk about America and we watched TV and it was like being around family. Tanikawa brought out some Japanese condiments, but I declined ‘cuz they were all a little spicy. After we ate, Tanikawa took a picture of all of us, too.

For dessert, Tanikawa brought out some cashew cookies and made Cambodian tea. Tanikawa confessed she didn’t really like the tea, but it was a souvenir from her son and had a very interesting lotus taste.

We watched a segment on the Junior Olympic Japanese curling team while we had tea and cookies. I don’t think I really understand the point of curling, though.

Tanikawa insisted on driving me to the station, even though it was really a short distance from her house and I could easily walk. She wanted to drive me home, but it was not on the way to her daughter’s apato, and I told her I was really fine with taking the train. She really didn’t need to drive me to the station either, but she again, she said I was like a daughter and she didn’t want me to walk alone in the dark.

It was a long day, but it was a good day. I really enjoyed spending time with the ladies and with Tanikawa and her family. Not for the first time, I was really sad to be leaving Japan if anything because I’ve met some really nice people and have had some great experiences.

I sure will miss them.