mochi, usw. . .

hmm. . . i just spent most of my morning making mochi the old-fashioned way. . . which i suppose is a good thing since i have absolutely nothing to do at the board of education but sit at my desk and at least look busy. . . and making mochi is much more interesting than cutting the hair of one hundred plus dolls and tying ribbons around their necks, which i somehow ended up doing last thursday afternoon. . . lesson number one. . . if someone asks you if you are busy, always say "yes!". . . once you offer your services (for the first basket of ten dolls in this case), it is difficult to wiggle your way out. . .anyway, mochi is rice pounded down into a massive sticky blob and then rolled into smaller balls (sometimes filled with sweet beans). . . when i arrived at work at 8:25 this morning, the process was well underway. . . one of my girls handed me a pounding tool (like a ginormous hammer), and i went at it. . . one minute later an old guy took over and showed me up. . .i then moved inside with the old ladies and shaped the mochi for a good hour. . . now i have a nice stock of mochi on my desk. . . p.s. this was all preparation for new years. . . everyone in japan eats mochi on new years. . .

oh, speaking of holidays. . . merry christmas!!! i had a rather interesting christmas weekend. . . unusual anyway. . . i went to a christmas mass at a "catholic" church. . . my friend and i were the only ones there until exactly 5p.m. (when the service was supposed to begin). . . suddenly, the doors opened and about nine couples walked in. . . no families. . . no children. . . no parents. . . only couples in their twenties. . . it was quite odd. . . i have no idea what the pastor said (well, i received a rough translation, but it really made no sense). . . after the service, we headed off to dinner, where i ate blowfish for the first time. . . i guess blowfish has some kind of poison in its blood, so only a chef with a special license can prepare it. . . the blowfish was prepared in more ways than i knew existed. . . in the salad, as sashimi, in nabe, etc. . . it was good, but i think i have had my fill of both blowfish and nabe for a good week or year or so. . . christmas day involved opening presents under my handmade tree (i got an amazing video camera, a ballistic chicken, and some long underwear for those oh so cold days at school). . . and later shopping and watching さゆり: memoirs of a geisha. . . the movie was okay, but the book was better (when is it not?). . . and they used chinese actors! why, when the book was so beautifully written (by an american), did the (american) producers have to go and cast chinese actors as the leads? all of my japanese friends agree that the author did an amazing job with the book. . .oh, if you have not heard of memoirs of a geisha, it is a book about a geisha in japan in the 1900s, before and after the war, revealing much about the arts and traditions of japan through the story of her life. . . hmmm, i was never much for book reviews. . . don't know how well that sums it up. . . just go read the book. . .

anyway, i guess i am meeting some guy's daughter in a minute. . . she is back from texas state university for the holidays. . . that's about all i know. . . her father is really funny. . .he always addresses me as 'miss erinn' . . . 'miss erinn, are you healthy?' 'miss erinn, are you free now?' 'how do you like kahoku, miss erinn?' . . .

i may or may not manage another entry before new years. . . i should, however, have much to report afterwards, as new years is the biggest holiday in japan . . .