On thanksgiving weekend, I baked an apple tarte with the usual ladies. It was a perfect project for that weekend, as it was thanksgiving. Apples are now in season, but it doesn't make them any more affordable. I miss Canadian apples!
The recipe was a little strange in that it called for panko, which means bread crumbs, and it was topped with apricot jelly. Japanese recipes do weird things. For the tarte, we made a crust, and then layered it with fresh bread crumbs, then we layered apples on top of that. The apples were mixed with sugar and cinnamon, which gave the tarte a nice flavour. The finishing touch was raisins, and then it was baked. After baking, the apples were brushed with apricot jelly. It was delicious.
In Japan we also have the Monday off, just like in Canada, except that holiday is called 体育の日, or physical education day. So on thanksgiving Monday I tried to bake a flour-less pumpkin loaf, but it was more pumpkin mush than anything. It was perfectly tasty, but it just didn't look good. Good thing I don't care about how food looks!
The next weekend, I had my third league game with my futsal team. I was unsure whether I'd be able to play, but I could! However, I played goal for half the game. It was a throwback to my youth! I like playing, but it sure is stressful! Luckily, I had a shut out. I played the second half on the field, and I didn't manage to score, but I did set up goals. We won that game 9-1.
Of course, I'm still doing my usual thing, teaching. This month was a little fun in that I got to meet future students and give them a sample class. Every year, junior high students interested in the foreign language department at school come and learn about it. They listen to speeches by students in the program, as well as our exchange students and then they get to try two sample classes. One of those is with me. The other class is an online listening and learning program. In my class, we made hand turkeys, since it was thanksgiving, and the students made up an introduction for their hand turkey. Then they wrote what they were grateful for, again, in honour of thanksgiving. The students seemed to enjoy it, which is good, because pressure is high for that day. The teachers and principals are always anxious, because if the day doesn't go well, then not many students will apply for the program and the school will be ranked lower.
Also, last week a former exchange student visited from Sweden. She came to see her class, but it was a surprise, so I had to help organize it. The students were all really surprised, and it was a wonderful reunion for them :)
And of course, I continue to see the doctor every two weeks regarding my herniated disc. Both the doctor and the physio say my pain is not a result of the hernia. Whatever. The pain has significantly improved and I can play sports without too much discomfort, so I'm happy. I'm perfectly happy to stop this nonsense and get over this part of the year... All bad things seem to happen from August to December... Every year. It's quite an incredible coincidence, or not.
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