Monday, January 25, 2010

Let's make mochi

Hello, Everyone! I just recovered from what was supposed to be a simple cold. There had not been much going around with me, mostly due to the fact that I hardly left my room. In the meantime the new semester had began. I am continuing my studies in the F class with many familiar faces. Although, I do not like burning the bridges, this time I made an exception. Thanks to the decisions I made, my life started to get a more sustainable pace which was long anticipated. I feel that I managed to gain back my vigor, and I am looking forward to new challenges.

As soon as I got better - which is the day before yesterday - I participated in a social event with the students of the Uechi Elementary School. The school had programs all day along and as a part of that a few Yamasa students were also invited to make 'mochi', which is basically a rice cake made with a large hammer for the celebration of the new year. The raw process is as follows:
  1. Take 2 liters of raw rice, leave it soak for 12 hours
  2. Heat it up and put it into a pot that is able to withstand the hammering
  3. Stir it with the hammer(s). This mashes 80% of the rice to pulp
  4. Mash the remaining 20% by hitting the rice as hard as you can with the hammer
If you are interested there is more on the wiki. Unlike the other volunteers, I was given a big 'Niceee' by the organizers. Maybe cutting wood is not that different after all.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Winter break

Here at Yamasa we have a 3 weeks long winter holiday. To get a clue what I was doing this time see the picture below:


But that is not everything. I was invited to Osaka by the Takada family for which I am very thankful! Thanks to Mr. Takada I could get a unique view of Osaka and Kyoto. I took a few photos, just follow the link...