Yesterday was my day off.
We got up kind of late. Had breakfast about 8.30 am - coffee, cereal...fruit..
About 10.30 I started cooking Okaasan's meal: fish, rice, soup, salad. She came in about 11 am to eat it, we sat at the table with her chatting.
Okaasan said: "this is troublesome, you don't need to cook specially for me, I can wait until lunchtime and eat with you."
We told her that it wasn't so much trouble. That today I am home etc. That now is a strange time in our lives because HE is home all the time with the ligaments etc. When we are both working she will have to fend for herself at lunchtimes with convenience stores, food deliveries or going out.
But it IS troublsome of course. Different eating timetables and different eating styles.
Yesterday around 1 pm He and I ate a combination of stuff in the fridge: potato, eggs, cheese, a can of tuna...some salad. It's fine for us, but we absolutely know Okaasan would NOT want to eat that! She often says: I can eat anything. BUT then she picks through something asking what it is etc.
In addition, eating seperatly from her gives us the freedom to eat what we want sometimes. Okaasan doesn't like bacon. We love it. We bought some the other day and it sat around for ages because there was no actual meal time when we could eat it!
I don't know the solution to all of this.
But I do know preferred different eating times and styles is troublesome.
On a happier front: yesterday I got Okaasan out of the house in time to walk to Hula dance class. There was a bit of a panic when I went to take her, because she had 3 pm as a time fixed in her head...and she wasn't ready at all at 2 pm...and then she lost the sports center strip of tickets...and then she couldn't remember which black boots in the center shoes area were hers...and so it goes...endless little confusions!
But she enjoyed Hula dance. A class member will sew up the material into a skirt. I enjoyed a quick work out and shower at the gym during the dance class time. We walked home together chatting about his leg.
He cooked chicken stew for dinner. Okaasan picked out the potato skins. She wondered about adding more salt.
Late at night we sat at the computer again looking at real estate agent sites for small houses. We Can Change!
Showing posts with label Japanese food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japanese food. Show all posts
Thursday, 15 January 2009
Saturday, 6 December 2008
The first night. (J)
Well, I have a head cold. So I'm feeling terrible.
In the end we had supermarket sushi, miso soup, tofu, fruit and nuts. We took it all in next door on trays and spent an hour or so having dinner and chatting. Then we helped okaasan arrange her bedding etc and said "Oyasumi" about 8.30 pm.
She really likes the apartment and is very smiley and happy. But she DOES say the same thing over and over again! She also seems to have shrunk since I last saw her...how small can she get?
A bit stressful. Usually you come home to relax. This time I feel I came home to a whole other challenge. I can see me spending MORE time at work!
A very kind student gave me a big tray of supermarket sushi which was a great present. But it also meant I had to rethink dinner。I couldn't do sushi AND the planned salmon nabe. So there was some slightly panicky replanning in the kitchen - and I wasn't sure it was enough.
"What about tofu, with some sesame and negi?" I suggested to him.
"Sesame? no...no Japanese do that! She'll think it's strange" he said, and then he fixed tofu with negi and ginger.
This is one of my worries: that as a foreigner I do slightly strange things with Japanese food. I've always felt that Japanese have clearly fixed ideas of HOW certain foods are served. In the past I've put sausage in miso soup...and tomato. He was amazed. I am worried about this whole cooking thing for okaasan. The big joke among my students is that if I make my cooking not so great she'll feel pushed to start cooking again and WE won't have to cook at all!
Anyway. We did first night dinner. It was ok I guess. I feel so coldy I am past caring actually. Son and mother chatted away to eachother with a few inputs from me, I felt like the visitor. I also feel sorry for the cat, usually he sits with us while we have dinner. Last night we disappeared next door and he sat all alone and slightly puzzled in our living room.
Today I have classes until lunchtime. And it's snowing. I think he is going to do shopping with okaasan.
If I can get this cold better than I'll feel stronger.
２００８年１２月６日（土）
最初の夜
もう、鼻かぜをひいちゃった。最悪。
結局、ワタシたちはスーパーのお寿司と味噌汁とトーフと果物とナッツを食べたの。ワタシたちはこれを全部お盆にのせて隣に運び、一時間ぐらい食事とおしゃべりをしたわ。それからワタシたちはお義母さんのベットの仕度を手伝ったりなんかして、大体８時半に「おやすみ」を言ったの。
お義母さんはとてもアパートを気に入っていて、すごくにこにこしてうれしそうなの。でも、おんなじことを何度も繰り返し繰り返し言うの。お義母さん、ワタシが最後に会ったときより小さくなったみたいだけど、まだ小さくなっちゃうのかしら？
ちょっとストレス。普通は家ってリラックスするものよね。今、ワタシは全く違うチャレンジのために家に帰るって感じ。仕事に時間を余計に費やしてるの。
とっても親切な生徒が素晴らしいプレゼント、スーパーマーケットのお寿司の大皿をくれたの。でも、これでまた夕食を考えなおさなきゃならなかったの。ワタシ、お寿司と一緒に予定していた鮭鍋にすることができなかったの。それで、台所で計画を練り直すのにちょっとパニクっちゃった。十分だとは思えなくって。
「トーフはどうする？ゴマとねぎで？」ってワタシ彼に聞いたの。
「ゴマだって？日本人はそうはしないよ。母はヘンだって思うだろう」って彼は言って、それからトーフにねぎとしょうがを添えたの。
これはワタシの心配事のひとつよ。外国人だもの、日本食にヘンなことをしちゃうの。日本人はその食べ物をどういうふうにしてふるまうかってことにはっきりした固定観念を持っている、っていつも思っているわ。以前、ワタシは味噌汁にソーセージをいれたことがあるし、それからトマトもね。彼ったら驚いてた。お義母さんへの料理のことすべてについて心配よ。ワタシの生徒の間では、ワタシの料理が全然だめだったらお義母さんがお料理をまた始めなきゃと駆り立てられて、ワタシたちが全くお料理しなくてもよくなるんじゃないか、っていうばかげたことが言われているの。
何はともあれ、ワタシたちの最初の夕食が済んだわ。まあまあだったんじゃないかしら。
ワタシは本当のところ、もうどうでもいいって冷たく感じてるの。息子と母親はワタシからの話題はほんの少しだけでお互いにおしゃべりしあっていたの。ワタシはお客さんみたいだった。ワタシはネコにも申し訳なさを感じたの。いつもならネコは食事の間中ワタシたちと一緒にすわっているのよ。昨夜はワタシたちとなりに行っちゃって、ネコはひとりっきりでワタシたちの部屋にすわって、ちょっと不思議に思っていたのよね。
きょう、ワタシはお昼までクラスがあるの。それに雪が降っているわ。彼はお義母さんと買い物をしにいくんじゃないかしら。
ワタシ、風邪がよくなったら、もっと強くなれると思うわ。
In the end we had supermarket sushi, miso soup, tofu, fruit and nuts. We took it all in next door on trays and spent an hour or so having dinner and chatting. Then we helped okaasan arrange her bedding etc and said "Oyasumi" about 8.30 pm.
She really likes the apartment and is very smiley and happy. But she DOES say the same thing over and over again! She also seems to have shrunk since I last saw her...how small can she get?
A bit stressful. Usually you come home to relax. This time I feel I came home to a whole other challenge. I can see me spending MORE time at work!
A very kind student gave me a big tray of supermarket sushi which was a great present. But it also meant I had to rethink dinner。I couldn't do sushi AND the planned salmon nabe. So there was some slightly panicky replanning in the kitchen - and I wasn't sure it was enough.
"What about tofu, with some sesame and negi?" I suggested to him.
"Sesame? no...no Japanese do that! She'll think it's strange" he said, and then he fixed tofu with negi and ginger.
This is one of my worries: that as a foreigner I do slightly strange things with Japanese food. I've always felt that Japanese have clearly fixed ideas of HOW certain foods are served. In the past I've put sausage in miso soup...and tomato. He was amazed. I am worried about this whole cooking thing for okaasan. The big joke among my students is that if I make my cooking not so great she'll feel pushed to start cooking again and WE won't have to cook at all!
Anyway. We did first night dinner. It was ok I guess. I feel so coldy I am past caring actually. Son and mother chatted away to eachother with a few inputs from me, I felt like the visitor. I also feel sorry for the cat, usually he sits with us while we have dinner. Last night we disappeared next door and he sat all alone and slightly puzzled in our living room.
Today I have classes until lunchtime. And it's snowing. I think he is going to do shopping with okaasan.
If I can get this cold better than I'll feel stronger.
２００８年１２月６日（土）
最初の夜
もう、鼻かぜをひいちゃった。最悪。
結局、ワタシたちはスーパーのお寿司と味噌汁とトーフと果物とナッツを食べたの。ワタシたちはこれを全部お盆にのせて隣に運び、一時間ぐらい食事とおしゃべりをしたわ。それからワタシたちはお義母さんのベットの仕度を手伝ったりなんかして、大体８時半に「おやすみ」を言ったの。
お義母さんはとてもアパートを気に入っていて、すごくにこにこしてうれしそうなの。でも、おんなじことを何度も繰り返し繰り返し言うの。お義母さん、ワタシが最後に会ったときより小さくなったみたいだけど、まだ小さくなっちゃうのかしら？
ちょっとストレス。普通は家ってリラックスするものよね。今、ワタシは全く違うチャレンジのために家に帰るって感じ。仕事に時間を余計に費やしてるの。
とっても親切な生徒が素晴らしいプレゼント、スーパーマーケットのお寿司の大皿をくれたの。でも、これでまた夕食を考えなおさなきゃならなかったの。ワタシ、お寿司と一緒に予定していた鮭鍋にすることができなかったの。それで、台所で計画を練り直すのにちょっとパニクっちゃった。十分だとは思えなくって。
「トーフはどうする？ゴマとねぎで？」ってワタシ彼に聞いたの。
「ゴマだって？日本人はそうはしないよ。母はヘンだって思うだろう」って彼は言って、それからトーフにねぎとしょうがを添えたの。
これはワタシの心配事のひとつよ。外国人だもの、日本食にヘンなことをしちゃうの。日本人はその食べ物をどういうふうにしてふるまうかってことにはっきりした固定観念を持っている、っていつも思っているわ。以前、ワタシは味噌汁にソーセージをいれたことがあるし、それからトマトもね。彼ったら驚いてた。お義母さんへの料理のことすべてについて心配よ。ワタシの生徒の間では、ワタシの料理が全然だめだったらお義母さんがお料理をまた始めなきゃと駆り立てられて、ワタシたちが全くお料理しなくてもよくなるんじゃないか、っていうばかげたことが言われているの。
何はともあれ、ワタシたちの最初の夕食が済んだわ。まあまあだったんじゃないかしら。
ワタシは本当のところ、もうどうでもいいって冷たく感じてるの。息子と母親はワタシからの話題はほんの少しだけでお互いにおしゃべりしあっていたの。ワタシはお客さんみたいだった。ワタシはネコにも申し訳なさを感じたの。いつもならネコは食事の間中ワタシたちと一緒にすわっているのよ。昨夜はワタシたちとなりに行っちゃって、ネコはひとりっきりでワタシたちの部屋にすわって、ちょっと不思議に思っていたのよね。
きょう、ワタシはお昼までクラスがあるの。それに雪が降っているわ。彼はお義母さんと買い物をしにいくんじゃないかしら。
ワタシ、風邪がよくなったら、もっと強くなれると思うわ。
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