For the October 2 English Club at the elementary school where I teach, I had planned to teach the two girls in that club how to make Norwegian pancakes, because the previous teacher had told me that they enjoyed cooking. Unfortunately, that English Club was canceled due to a school event. However, my boss said that I should re-use the lesson plan with the sixth graders. Today, I taught two entire classes of sixth graders how to make Norwegian pancakes (my mom's and grandmother's recipe). Surprisingly, there were no major disasters, and most of the Norwegian pancakes looked more or less edible!
One student was particularly skilled at Norwegian pancakes. She cooked this one and another one that looked similarly delicious.
First, I explained to the students what the ingredients were, and showed them a picture of a Norwegian pancake. I taught them various vocabulary words like the ingredient names, some of the kitchen utensils, and "recipe." Then I cooked one for them on a stove in front of them.
Students in the Morning Making Norwegian Pancakes
Students in the Afternoon Making Norwegian Pancakes
My cousin (James, an officer in the U.S. Navy) visited me here in Japan for about two weeks, and stayed at my apartment for about a week of that. Regrettably, we forgot to take any pictures with both of us in them, but we still had some fun. We went to Tokyo. The following are four photos taken in Tokyo:
This is me at Yoyogi Park on Sunday. One of my students, Yū-chan, from back in Yokkaichi, had previous recommended this park to me, as well. It is a nice park, with ponds, performers (like a greaser dance group), etc.
We had several types of sushi on Sunday night, including whale sushi. The whale sushi had ginger on top of it, and there was some wasabi, as well. The whale sushi was good, but I do not think I would order it again, because it was expensive and did not taste much different from regular sushi.
We went up to Tokyo tower on Monday (after looking for the Eastern Cross Museum for hours, and failing to find it, because it has probably closed). This is the Tokyo skyline from Tokyo Tower.
On Saturday night, I saw Eri A. for the first time in 13 years! She was a classmate from back at Hong Kong International School (HKIS, the school that I attended from 1998 to 2001). Actually, back then, Eri and I barely knew each other, but my mom was Eri's Girl Scout leader, and Eri has met both my mom, my bulldog, Toby, and probably my sister. Eri and I became friends after I had moved back to the U.S. (we did not actually meet, but we used to chat on MSN a lot). Eri is highly proficient in English, Japanese, and Chinese, and is now a freelance translator in Tokyo. She, James, and I had dinner at an izakaya called Uotami (魚民) and there was also karaoke. It was a lot of fun, and she introduced me to some new songs such as "Agehachō" (アゲハ蝶). In this picture, we are at Yaesu Station.
My Career Studies Certificate in Business IT finally arrived at my parents' house in America last week. I had completed all the requirements over four months ago, but Northern Virginia Community college took their sweet time in sending it. Well, now at least I have some sort of substantial qualification in computers, finally.
So overall, it has been quite a last two weeks. It is not over yet, though. I will take the DSST Personal Finance exam on Saturday, in Tokyo. I need to study hard for that, but I think I will pass.
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