Our New Year's Party

Saturday, we hosted a New Year's party for our neighbors. 12 of the guests were our Japanese neighbors (Shozo-san, Kazuko-san, Chie, Monzen Family, Jin Family, Fumi & Takumi, & Kondo Family), one guest, Lee, is from New Zealand, Tom (Sam's boss) and his wife, Hami, our neighbors, Wayne and Kim (who helped me to get everything ready - thanks!), and us.

It was wonderful to have Hami there because she is from Japan, so she speaks Japanese and English. Bless her heart, I kept asking her to stop and interpret - she's the best!!

I made beef and chicken enchiladas, tortilla soup, guacamole, salsa, black bean & corn salad, and a lemon cake. I also had smoked salmon. Chie came over early, and we made Gyoza!! It really turned out yummy. Our guests brought lots of wonderful Japanese dishes. There was Onigiri, which is a triangular rice "ball" stuffed with different things (my favorite is salmon) and wrapped in nori (a dry, paper-thin seaweed), soba noodles, chicken croquettes, sandwiches, and a dish (su-meshi, maybe) made of fried tofu wrapped around rice and a few other ingredients, I'll have to find out what it was, because it's very good. I know I'm leaving off some dishes, but they were all wonderful!

We had the usual spirits of beer and wine, but we also got to try warm sake. It tastes totally different when it is heated, but really nice for a cold, winter night ;) Some of our Japanese neighbors liked Corona with lime. It was a lot of fun!! I did manage to embarrass myself - IMAGINE THAT! "Kampai" is what you say in a toast, like "cheers." Well, two of the men near me said something else in Japanese, which sounds similar, so of course thinking they are making a toast, I repeat what they say. It was a joke - a word that sounds similar to "kampai," but means something "else!" Very embarrassing!!! That's all I have to say about that :)

We (not me) ended up having an abdominal endurance test on my kitchen floor. I figure after carrying triplets, I'm automatically exempt :) Three of the guys tried to see who could hold their legs up the longest. We also ended up with several people receiving massages (all in very good taste) on the kitchen floor - one being Sam (and I've got the picture to prove it)!

We had a wonderful time, and I look forward to doing it again next year! Although, I'll keep my mouth shut, unless I know what I'm saying (OK, we all know that's impossible, but I'll try). I'm always amazed at how well we can all communicate, even though we speak different languages.

We had Japanese lessons again tonight. I really feel they are helping so much. Each week, I get a little braver. I can use more words, but need more practice with the sentence structure. For example, I was looking for salmon onigiri, but they make different kinds, so I asked, "Sake desu ka." Which interprets, "Salmon????" It would be nice to be able to ask, "Which one of these is Salmon?" I have to work on sake, the drink, compared to sake, the fish. It's stress-related like the American word, present (a gift), and present (offer or give something). Hope that makes sense :)

Saturday, we are meeting Kirste and Jake, from playgroup, at Outback to celebrate Australia Day! Should be lots of fun!

Who would've thought Sam and I would transform from shy, hermit-like caterpillars into social butterflies? :)

Every day is a priceless gift!
~Michelle