Homestay Report
Hello everyone, I'm back! Today, I'm going to report on my homestay with Anri, and then her time with us. We each spent three days at each others' houses and did various activities. It was absolutely AMAZING. とってもとっても楽しかったよ〜！ I'll probably talk more about my time at hers, seeing as we did tons of stuff which will help me in my goal to become authentically Japanese. Here goes!
First, I went to her house. We spent the afternoon chatting, watching a bit of GTO, listing to Johnny's music, and some surfing on the internet. Then, it was time for supper. (The meals were AMAZING! But I was too stupid to think about taking pictures.) First, we had some light appetizers of home-made fries (basically just fried potato strips) with ketchup and mayonnaise, and zucchini breaded with the same stuff used for tonkatsu, which we dipped in mayonnaise with a hint of wasabi. For dinner, we had tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlets) with tonkatsu sauce and finely shredded cabbage (not cooked), bit of salad, rice (with red rice and furikake), konbu soup (with zucchini, seaweed, onion, fried tofu squares, and mushrooms). It sounds like a lot, but it was just right. We had oolong-cha to drink. After dinner, we spent some time reading Hana Yori Dango (manga), and then set to work on a birthday present for my sister with a bead set Anri has. Well, she set to work on the present - I made myself a cellphone clip. ^^ Then her mom got us some desert - a bowl of ice cream with fruit, a bit of thick whipped cream stuff, and half an eclair. It was GOOD. We didn't hang around too much after that - it was getting pretty late and we were sleepy.
Next day, we got up and had danish pastries, fruit with honey yogurt, and coffee for breakfast. (Do NOT get in between a woman and her coffee. Especially when that woman is me.) Interestingly enough, in Japan, it is considered mature and sophisticated to drink coffee black. Therefore, in all the dramas, they show people drinking it black. I thought I would try it, just to see what it was like - and surprisingly it wasn't that bad! Now I always drink my coffee black. Sugared coffee turns me off somehow. Anyways, after breakfast, we made onigiri (rice balls) and then headed out the door. We took the bus to a Chinese supermarket on Leith Walk, where Anri's mom got some items and educated me concerning various types of food and their preparation. On the way back to the bus stop, we spotted a Polish shop and got some bread there. Then, Anri's mom went on home while Anri and I headed to the Princes St gardens. We ate lunch on a bench, took pictures, spent the next couple hours window-shopping, and then headed back. When we got back home, we collapsed onto the couch and read some more manga. For dinner, we had curry (Japanese style), salad (of lettuce, tomatoes, seafood sticks, tsukemono), fruit with yogurt, and grapefruit jelly (made in a cantaloupe!). With it, we drank mugi-cha (barley tea).
Skipping to the next day, we spent the morning making mushi-pan (a Chinese steamed bread) and macha cake (macha = green tea powder). The next notable meal was lunch - we had cold udon noodles in shoyu, water, and wasabi, with a variety of toppings (nori, thin fried egg, cucumber, tomato, seafood sticks, turkey). Let me tell you right now, IT WAS GOOD. Absolutely amazing. I'm gonna fix it for my kids all the time in the summer. ^^
And that's that! I'm not gonna say much about the time she was at mine - we led my sister's birthday party, went to Hopetoun House, browsed the internet for Arashi videos, and all in all had one peach of a time. I'm glad I did the homestay though - my Japanese was stretched to the maximum! (Especially at her house, where it was pretty much Japanese 24/7; at my house there was a lot more English.) Now I'm trying to remember the recipes of everything we cooked together...
Love to all, and see you next time!
First, I went to her house. We spent the afternoon chatting, watching a bit of GTO, listing to Johnny's music, and some surfing on the internet. Then, it was time for supper. (The meals were AMAZING! But I was too stupid to think about taking pictures.) First, we had some light appetizers of home-made fries (basically just fried potato strips) with ketchup and mayonnaise, and zucchini breaded with the same stuff used for tonkatsu, which we dipped in mayonnaise with a hint of wasabi. For dinner, we had tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlets) with tonkatsu sauce and finely shredded cabbage (not cooked), bit of salad, rice (with red rice and furikake), konbu soup (with zucchini, seaweed, onion, fried tofu squares, and mushrooms). It sounds like a lot, but it was just right. We had oolong-cha to drink. After dinner, we spent some time reading Hana Yori Dango (manga), and then set to work on a birthday present for my sister with a bead set Anri has. Well, she set to work on the present - I made myself a cellphone clip. ^^ Then her mom got us some desert - a bowl of ice cream with fruit, a bit of thick whipped cream stuff, and half an eclair. It was GOOD. We didn't hang around too much after that - it was getting pretty late and we were sleepy.
Next day, we got up and had danish pastries, fruit with honey yogurt, and coffee for breakfast. (Do NOT get in between a woman and her coffee. Especially when that woman is me.) Interestingly enough, in Japan, it is considered mature and sophisticated to drink coffee black. Therefore, in all the dramas, they show people drinking it black. I thought I would try it, just to see what it was like - and surprisingly it wasn't that bad! Now I always drink my coffee black. Sugared coffee turns me off somehow. Anyways, after breakfast, we made onigiri (rice balls) and then headed out the door. We took the bus to a Chinese supermarket on Leith Walk, where Anri's mom got some items and educated me concerning various types of food and their preparation. On the way back to the bus stop, we spotted a Polish shop and got some bread there. Then, Anri's mom went on home while Anri and I headed to the Princes St gardens. We ate lunch on a bench, took pictures, spent the next couple hours window-shopping, and then headed back. When we got back home, we collapsed onto the couch and read some more manga. For dinner, we had curry (Japanese style), salad (of lettuce, tomatoes, seafood sticks, tsukemono), fruit with yogurt, and grapefruit jelly (made in a cantaloupe!). With it, we drank mugi-cha (barley tea).
Skipping to the next day, we spent the morning making mushi-pan (a Chinese steamed bread) and macha cake (macha = green tea powder). The next notable meal was lunch - we had cold udon noodles in shoyu, water, and wasabi, with a variety of toppings (nori, thin fried egg, cucumber, tomato, seafood sticks, turkey). Let me tell you right now, IT WAS GOOD. Absolutely amazing. I'm gonna fix it for my kids all the time in the summer. ^^
And that's that! I'm not gonna say much about the time she was at mine - we led my sister's birthday party, went to Hopetoun House, browsed the internet for Arashi videos, and all in all had one peach of a time. I'm glad I did the homestay though - my Japanese was stretched to the maximum! (Especially at her house, where it was pretty much Japanese 24/7; at my house there was a lot more English.) Now I'm trying to remember the recipes of everything we cooked together...
Love to all, and see you next time!
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