A Sunday spent baking cupcakes

Sunday, April 27

So I went to the 8 am mass today because I Natalia wanted me to come earlier to make the cupcakes I wanted to make for our 300 class party tomorrow.

All the tunes of the songs at Mass are different now that it's after Easter. Argh, just when I'd finally learned to sing them! Oh well, at least the words are still the same, so I'm ganbatte-ing!

I went home and Yuko had left breakfast out for me: salad, jello, and two pieces of bread. As I ate, they all bustled around getting ready. Yuko told me they were heading out because her grandma had broken some bones, so they were going to visit her in the hospital. And after that they were taking Maple to get a shampoo. And then they might meet Yuko's mom, so they weren't sure what time they'd be home, maybe at night.

Yuko asked when I was leaving and what time I was getting home. I had no idea what time I'd get home, so she asked me to text her.

Yuko hadn't put out anything to put on the bread and I hate eating regular bread plain, so I was eating it really slowly, so I'd have a piece left over after they left and then I could put honey on it.

But when they left, I rushed to go put my laundry on so it would be done before I left and then I called my parents. When my laundry was done, it was time to go, so I sort of spread it out on my floor to dry and then rushed out the door, completely forgetting about my bread! I'd left it sitting on the table with my empty glass. Crap!

I found Rainbow House super easily this time because Natalia had sent me good directions. On the way, I passed a park where these middle school girls were running around (I was shocked since it was so hot and their uniforms were long sleeved with long skirts) in a playground and playing the game of played with Miya and Saki chan in Handaa that time, where one person is the oni and they shout a color and everyone else had to touch something of that color. So the girl who was the monster shouted "ao" (blue) and only one girl went to the one blue thing, a bike rack. The other girls went to a green bench! I blame Japanese and it's weird association of "ao" with green things ("aoringo", literally "blue apple", is the word for green apple and the green on a traffic light is called "ao". I don't understand...). So yeah, that was funny to see as I walked past. 

At rainbow house, I had to knock a few times before she answered, but at least she was there this time! It was really hot out and I was tired from the walk up here, so when Natalia offered me a drink, I was so happy because I'd drank all my water. She gave me a peach water! Yes!! I love that stuff! 

She had hurt her leg more this weekend, so was hobbling around on her crutches. But she helped me find the things I needed so I could start making the pancakes. It turned out their oven was this tiny little toaster oven. And I thought she had had a cupcake sheet, but she didn't. Luckily she did have these metal cups that I put the cupcake papers in and used to make cupcakes. She only had three, though, so I could only make three at a time even though I could have got four in the toaster oven.

So it was a long process. But Natalia brought down her textbook so I could study for the kanji test we have tomorrow, while she wrote her papers for her business and politics classes.

Two hours later, I had the nine cupcakes I needed: one each for the seven if us students and one each for Mutsukawa and Kondo sensei. I ended up making three extra and then I wanted to make more with the rest of the cupcake papers I had, but it had taken so long, I just used the rest of the batter to make a heart shaped cake, haha!

(This was from the first batch where I put too much butter in, haha)

(The heart cake!)

Then I put everything in the box I'd brought and cleaned up. In all, it took three hours!! Gosh, baking in Japan is so hard because ovens don't exist! Most people, like my host family don't even have an oven! They just use the microwave. The thing I thought was a little oven, Natalia told me is actually a fish grill. Wtf. It's weird to see how different the priorities are over here.

As I was leaving, I saw Natalia and her roommates had a huge stash of the Asian pear soda I love with little pieces of pear in it. I told them how much I love it and asked if you could buy it at the supermarket near the rainbow house. Natalia and one of her roommates who had come into the kitchen to eat lunch told me I could take a couple because no one really liked them, haha. Awesome!! I took two of them and then Natalia and I headed out. She was walking part of the way with me because she wanted to go to the supermarket.

(Pretty flowers on the way to the station)

These flowers are everywhere! They're the ones I took pictures of by the Nanzan sign. They're all around Nanzan and the dorms, in Ichinomiya, in Sakae, and over by Rainbow House too!

We parted ways at the supermarket. I thanked her for letting me come over to make cupcakes and then I headed to school. There, I dropped the cupcakes and icing off at my locker before heading home.

When I got home, the car wasn't in the driveway, so I figured no one was home and I could go get my bread off the table and eat it before they saw I'd left it there. But when I got inside, Yuko and Miya were already there and my bread was gone. Dangit!

So I went to my room to study for the kanji test until Ken got home and Miya came in to tell me it was dinner time. She made me race her to the kitchen, but when we got there, I was right behind her so she tried to close the door on me and I stuck my hand out to stop it. Ken gave Miya a talking to because that's dangerous and she'd almost shut my hand in the door. 

On the table was the takoyaki maker and Ken had just finished putting in all the stuff to make it. Yay, we were having takoyaki! Yuko sat next to me and Ken and Miya sat on the other side. Everyone talked a lot to me tonight. It was great!!

And I was in a good mood after finishing making the cupcakes, so I talked a lot back. I told everyone how I had a test every day this week and a ton of homework. And Yuko asked about the party tomorrow and who was doing what. And then she asked how many people were in the 300 class and how many other levels there were and which level had the most people. And they asked what level Rana was in too.

I can't believe they don't know this stuff after all the exchange students they've hosted! But I found out the student they previously had, who they're in love with and talk about all the time was in 500. No wonder they loved her. She must have been able to communicate with them pretty well.

After I got full and Ken continued cooking takoyaki for his lunch and leftovers, I brought up the fact that I was staying overnight in Obara over golden week. I should have just finished eating and left and brought it up another time when they were busier, because Yuko took this opportunity to completely grill me about the people I'm staying with and ask me all these questions about my life back home and stuff that I just didn't want to talk to her about. Then she'd talk about it in Japanese with Ken for a bit before asking me another question. She was being super nosy and didn't stop even after I started giving her one word answers only (obvious social cue for I don't want to talk about this). 

Finally, I said "gochisousama deshita" and left the table and retreated to my room. I was really, really, tired but had to wait until after 10 for everyone to finish showering.