もちつき大会／MOCHI-MAKING PARTY

It's already been a week since Ashley left for America, and the rest of us aren't much farther behind her. To celebrate the end of the semester, SatsuDai's International Office sponsored a mochi-making party for us and Japanese students involved with the office or the English department.



I remember walking into Linden Hall, the cafeteria I eat at at least once a week, and wondering where I was. Instead of the usual table-and-chair setup, the floor was clear of everything except three marble stone bowls, three mallets and a large blue tarp. The foreign exchange students from China, America, New Zealand and England took turns using the mallets to whack the rice into mochi, which is basically rice with a dough-like texture.

The mallets are heavy, believe me. I dipped the end in the water bowl, tried hoisting it over my shoulder, failed, tried again, and finally brought the mallet down on the rice mixture. One down, many more to go.



After my bicep workout, I joined the assembly line where we rolled the already-finished mochi into balls and added anko, red bean jelly centers.



BLUE MOCHI! (just for fun)




Eating our finished mochi - first in soup stock...

...then as a multicolored dessert!

BLOG SOUNDTRACK: KAT-TUN, "Never Again"