Mochi - iranai!

Last night I was considering going to see the doctor about my swollen fingers, but it turns out that the place is closed on Thursdays. I think my finger is better today anyway. Well, it's now not only 1 finger, but just about all over them. Trying to tie my shoelaces, or anything that requires a modicum of fine motor skills is quite tough. Like typing for instance. But I will persist because I know that you, my avid readers, will be distraught without a Friday blog posting to read ;)

Of course I actually persist because I have nothing to do here today. This week the kindy kids are out pummeling a bunch of rice with big wooden mallets in order to create the rather dubious tasting and stomach-busting traditional New Years "sweet" that is mochi. How can it qualify as a sweet? It is mushed rice, mushed white rice at that. Anyone who has ever had to eat a rather large bowl of the sticky white rice can tell you that having a tummy full of the stuff is not nice. It's a bit like what I imagine small children feel like after consuming a good portion of a bottle of Clag in art class. And since mochi is simply condensed white rice, it only makes you feel worse. And the taste! The best way I can describe it; it tastes like your Gastronomical Doom. Before you have even swallowed it the flavour alone makes you feel as if you've eaten too much. Most of us would have had that feeling, mostly as kids (I hope), that you've eaten so much that even the most delicious food in the world is about as tempting as deepfried cockroaches... that's what it is like when you are faced with a pile of this white stuff. But don't the Japanese just love it! The only way I have been able to get this horrid stuff into me is in cooperation with some icecream. They have this arrangement where icecream is wrapped in a thin layer of mochi - that is a sweet.

This weekend I have a few activities planned. So first of all is the speech by some bloke from Puerto Rico at the BOE, followed by a Christmas party. This is organised by Japanese people so it won't be a real Christmas party - there's not even gonna be a sniff of alcohol around. I have to take a small present. I am of course taking something I would like to receive; chocolate. Someone mentioned that there would be turkey. Maybe it was just a little bit of hyperbole to get everyone to come, but I am still hoping for some gobblegobble action. Saturday will see me traipsing all over the prefecture trying to find postable Christmas gifts. By Sunday I will no doubt be well fed up with Christmas and everything to do with it, but I have dobbed myself in to go up to an orphanage in the hills somewhere with the other foreginers of the area. We just play games with the kids and hang out in the arvo for a while. Perhaps afterwards there will be some karaoke action. We'll see what happens... Finally, a weekend where I am not stressing about a speech, or procrastinating about study! Hope everyone out there manages to have a good one too :)