Dinner in Japan

We are finishing up our visit to Japan, and had our dinner this evening. Eating a dinner from each country has become a much anticipated event this year. Even my older children who are doing their own studies have started asking when the next dinner will be and what we are having.

In one of the books we read, Sadako and the 1000 Paper Cranes, the family at one point, sits down to a dinner of tempura. Since I really like tempura, I decided that is what we would have.

Vegetables on the left and chicken on the right. I decided to skip the shrimp because TM has developed an allergy to it, and letting it pass by would have been too hard.



I should have put it in rice bowls, but our rice bowls (from both Vietnam and Japan) are not dishwasher friendly, and I couldn't get up the energy to think about washing them.


We also had sushi. I had found it on sale in the freezer section of Aldi so decided to try it. It was actually pretty good for what it was. The people who like sushi really liked it, and the people who discovered they don't like sushi happily gave the rest of theirs to the people who did.


For dessert, I had wanted to get mochi, but since this was a kind of last minute plan, I couldn't find any when I was looking for them. Instead we ended up with the ubiquitous pan-Asian cookie treat... filled pandas. What kind of cracks me up is that by far, the green tea filled pandas are always the favorite with everyone.


As I had mentioned, we read Sadako and the 1000 Paper Cranes, so our craft for Japan was learning to fold origami cranes.


This also seemed to be our country for incredibly sad books, because along with Sadako, we read Hachiko Waits for our teatime story. The story of the akita that sat waiting at the train station for his master, who had died unexpectedly at work, to return. He waited in the same spot, at the same time, for 10 years. I was kind of a blubbery mess by the end of each of them, much to my children's amusement. We're now reading The Secret Garden because I was needing a happier book to read aloud.

We'll leave Japan early next week, and then much to some girls' delight, will be heading to China.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Thank you for sharing this part of your homeschooling. What a creative way to experience each countries cuisine.

As a dog lover, I have heard the story of
Hachiko...and I cry every time!

Best wishes as we head into spring.
mary m, age 71
vancouver,wa.
Anonymous said…
I had the opportunity to travel from Wa.
state, to Minnesota last summer.(2017)
My brother and I, driving, took a break in
Fort Benton, Mt.
A beautiful bronze sculpture of Shep, a
sheepdog, done by Bob Scriver, sits on a
ledge above the river running by.

I would have mentioned it in the note before this, but had to look up the specifics....
website" www.fortbenton.com/shep.html

I also found "Shep" on Wikipedia...google
the name also , if interested.

Another one, this time from Montana, where I shed some tears.
My best to all your beautiful family,
mary m, age 71
vancouver,wa.

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