Engle Adventures At Home and Away: Cooking in Anna's Japanese Kitchen

COOKING IN ANNA'S JAPANESE KITCHEN

Anna's kitchen is very small and most things in it are small. Tiny fridge, two burners and a tiny grill space for a stove, and little dish drying rack. Lots of things at the grocery store come in small amounts--1 liter milk, butter in a 1/4 pound size box, salad dressing in little 1 cup size bottles. There are some things that are bigger--like slices of bread. You only buy half a loaf but then there are only 4 fat Texas Toast size slices! And the naganegi onions are like HUGE green onions!

Apple-viegar juice is on the left in the back. On the right is soy milk.

To make our normal breakfast (eggs, toast, and oatmeal) in Anna's little kitchen first I turn on the gas to the burners. Then I turn on each burner and put the oatmeal and eggs on to cook. The toast is made in the little grill under the burners. I have to remove the little grill cover between the burners so the grill gets ventilation. I put water in the bottom of the grill pan and put the fat toast on the little rack in it. As the oatmeal and brown eggs with orange yolks are cooking, the bread toasts on the top side. Then I turn the toast over to brown on the other side. Then I turn off the burners and grill and turn off the gas. I add some extra flavorful frozen blueberries to the oatmeal and soy milk (since I am in Japan). I pour apple-vinegar juice in the little cups and we are ready to eat. The eggs in Japan come in 10 to a case and are always just a day or two old when you buy them. Each egg is stamped with an expiration date that is a week later. I think the eggs and blueberries have more flavor here :)

The little drying rack has metal trays to catch water . Also, Anna has a little automatic hotpot (white with pink on the ledge). You put water in it, turn on a pink button and it automatically shuts off when it is boiling. The sink has two food catchers--one little one on the top and a deeper one that goes down about 5 inches.

WE SPEND A LOT OF TIME IN ANNA'S APARTMENT

Back os Anna's apartment building. Her apartment is the last one on the left, second floor.

Outside Anna's kitchen window is a stop light and walk/don't walk light that flashes at night.

Trash has to be separated in Japan, Anna has separate trash bins for plastics, burnables, paper, glass, and cans. On different days of the week, a different kind of trash is picked up.

Anna's toilet and bath/shower are right beside each other--but with doors to close each one, of course. Because she just has a curtain between this part of her house and the living area--these areas get heat.

Anna's small entryway. Japanese use clear umbrellas when it is snowing heavily :) The area on the left in a Japanese home would have a place for their Buddist worship or a picture of an ancestor that they would offer incense for.

I brought along a Thomas Kinkade puzzle and keep it under our bed when I am not working on it. I am standing on the tatami mats that make the floor in our room. Jess lifted one up and they are about 2 inches thick.

PRESENTING AT KOKSAI JOUHOU KOUKOU

Koksai Jouhou Koukou

At Anna's school, Jess and I did 3 more class presentations and observed one class giving presentations. We really enjoyed meeting the students and teachers. I made a powerpoint with pictures from our home, high school activities in the U.S. (marching band, soccer team, prom dress, graduation), an American bathroom and kitchen, our work as Christian pastors, and our family life. After the slideshow, Jess, Anna, and I each got in a group of 13-15 students and had English conversations. They asked what food we liked in Japan--"gyoza, soba noodles, ramen". Jess asked them what they thought of a man with a beard--there are no beards in Japan!

Jess teased and told stories--of course :) Some of the groups gave great reactions to the stories and teasing. We encouraged them to keep speaking English--even if they make mistakes. After each class, we handed out American candy we had brought with us--cinnamon candy, root beer barrels, and Valentine's Day conversation hearts (because they have English words on them). Each student said, "Thank you very much!" as they received their candy.

Teacher's room. Anna's desk is straight ahead. This is where the teachers go when they are not teaching a class. There are about 80 desks here. Some days Anna only has one class she helps with so she finds lots of things to do at her computer--study Japanese, study the student's names, write emails, etc.

RANDOM THINGS WE SEE IN SAPPORO