Happy Photo Day

Hello everyone! Photo friday has changed. Every Friday this year I have a kind of internship. Fridays are a little busy right now because of this. So I decided that it will be photo Sunday. Every Wednesday and Friday I go to a high school so I can practice being a school psychologist. Next year I will be a third year intern, but now I am a little green. So then I will try to post on Sunday. Here are some photos! Take care everyone!
皆さん、こにちわ！フォトフライディーをチェンジしました。今学年は毎水曜日と毎金曜日にインタンシップします。金曜日はちょっと忙しいになりますから。今から、フォトサンディーを決める。毎水曜日と金曜日は高校学校に行く。あそこに学校の心理学者を練習しました。来年は三年生のインタンになるけど、今 私は未熟者います。それから日曜日にブログします。写真をどぞ！気をつけて！

This is Brian at the gardens near his parents' house. We celebrated my birthday there.

ブライアン! この写真は庭が撮影しました。庭がブライアンの両親の家ちょっと近くです。庭で私の誕生日祝うをために。
 

I made a new friend! She's very quiet!

新しい友達会った！彼女はすごい静かです。

After our last class as 一年生 we went to my friend Ashley's apartment and went swimming. 二年生

になりました！

最後の一年生のクラス後に私の友達アシェリーのアパートに行きました。アパートのプールで泳いだ。二年生になりました！

The "Best in Show" bonsai at the Chicago Botanical Gardens. We went there for Brian's birthday.

一番の盆栽にChicago Botanical Gardensあります。ブライアンの誕生日祝うのために。

They had a butterfly house for a short time at the gardens, so we went inside. This is the butterfly feeding area.

期間限定に蝶家ありました。これは蝶のカフェテリアです。

Brian has an admirer! This butterfly landed on him as soon as we walked in.

ブライアンの崇拝者。この蝶がブライアンを配役に上げりました。

I like the colors on this one. I think it's very pretty!

この蝶の色が好きです。きれい！

This one kept landing on Brian's mother's hat. It wanted to go home with her.

ここ蝶いつもブライアンの母の帽子で上げりました。ブライアンの母の家に行きたい！

We got an iPad as a present. We share it though Brian uses it a little more than I do. I mostly use it for school.

私たちiPadを受けました。私たち分け合うけど、ブライアンが私よりもっと多く使用する。私は学校のために使用する。

Last weekend we helped Brian's sister move and went to visit his parents. We went to an ice cream store that sells delicious ice cream. Here is Brian with his Coconut-Pineapple ice cream in a chocolate cone.

先週末、私たちはブライアンの妹に引越しするために. もブライアンの両親にたずねりました。アイスクリーム屋に行きました。すごい美味しいアイスでした！これはブライアンとココナツパインアイスとチョココネ。美味しいね？

Montreal and Ginza Festival!

Hello everyone! First, a happy announcement. I (Rachel) have my Masters of Educational Psychology degree. While I have this degree I still have at least 2 more years in school before I get my specialist degree. Then I will have achieved my dream of being a school psychologist. I will continue to do my best. Thank you all for your support and friendship! I read your letters any time I get discouraged and I remember that everyone in Chiyoda, Geihoku, Takamiya, and Kake are cheering for me.

This July I (Rachel) got to take a trip for school. When you go to graduate school in America, you have the chance to go to conventions where you can give a talk about something you are working on. This July, the International School Psychology Association (ISPA) conference was in Montreal, Canada. It has not been in North America for some time to it was my chance to go (Next year it is in Portugal, which is very far for me...) While I was giving the talk myself, I went with my three friends to the conference, Lea, Carina, and Aaron. We decided to drive because it is very expensive to fly to Canada for us. Aaron did most of the driving. It was over 14 hours of driving! But we had a lot of fun. We stayed in a very nice youth hostel close to the conference.

I got to speak some Japanese at the conference too! There were quite a few Japanese researchers and graduate students there so I went to their presentations. I talked with one student a lot and in the lunch line she asked me about working internationally. Then she asked if I spoke Japanese. I told her a little but my Japanese was very bad and strange. She was so kind to not laugh at me! I should study Japanese harder but I have so much psychology homework...しょうがないね？I got the chance to see my friend from Tokyo Mayuko, who is studying French in Montreal. She speaks Japanese, ENglish, and French. She's my inspiration! We went to Mont Royal park and played frisbee and watched some folk dancing. There were many mosquitos and raccoons but it was really fun! Luc, who lives in Kurashiki and is a good friend from my ALT days, was also on vacation in Montreal the same week! What luck! He took us to a famous smoked meat restaurant called Schwartz. It was sooooooo good! I was really happy to see my friends; especially Mayuko because I didn't get to see her before I left Japan.  I also got to meet my 2 of my favorite researchers. They came to my presentation and told my professor who I was representing that I did a good job! Lea, Aaron, and Carina also did a great job. Even though we had the conference, we also did fun things like playing frisbee, cooking dinner together, and going to the Biodome/Botanical Gardens (we went to the Japanese garden of course...)

On the 11th of August Brian heard there was going to be a festival at a buddhist temple in Chicago that is kind of close to us. We didn't know there was a temple here. The festival was called Ginza festival and there were many people there. We got to watch a Judo demonstration (I miss judo...), eat kintoki, and see many crafts that people were selling. I saw a few people wearing yukatas as well. It made Brian and I both miss Japan very much. We didn't buy any of the crafts this year but we will next year! And they are having a mochi making ceremony for the new year so Brian and I will go to that as well.

This is (from the left) Lea, Aaron, and Carina after we played frisbee!

Easy English:
Hey guys! Last month Rachel went to Montreal in Canada for conference. She drove to Canada with her three friends Lea, Carina, and Aaron. It was almost 14 hours to drive there. They had a really good time! She got to meet two of her old friends from Japan: Mayuko (who is an international student in Montreal. She is from Tokyo) and Luc (who was an ALT, he lives in Kurashiki with his wife Sumie).

Brian and Rachel also went to the Ginza festival in Chicago at a Buddhist temple. There were many demonstrations of martial arts (judo, akido, etc.), festival food (we ate kintoki!), and crafts. It was really great and it made both of us miss Japan a lot. Take care guys!

Food, Glorious Food!

Chocolate Challah and Green Tea Pomegranate cupcakes with a pomegranate egg foam

 Hamanetachen. They're triangle cookies that we make for the Jewish holiday of Purim. They are usually filled with poppy seeds or jam. These are filled with apples and dulce de leche

           Oat bread with oranges and dates, made for the new season of Game of Thrones

 Matzo ball soup. My grandmother was famous for hers and this is her recipe. Some people like them to be very firm and "sink" to the bottom. Other people like them to be fluffy. I like mine in the middle. I think my grandmother would have been proud of me.

 I think this was an eggier challah because it was so bright yellow. I was showing off the 6 braid technique!

 I made Oyakudon for Brian and I. I'm still not very good at making Japanese food even though I lived there for three years. I must keep practicing!

This is just a salad I made but I thought the colors were really pretty. It has peppers, avocado, raspberries, pumpkin seeds, mushrooms, a little feta cheese and spinach.

Heat-shaped Challah for father's day. This was roasted garlic with rosemary. I think it looked more like a heart when you saw it in person.

Some Photos for you!

Hey everyone, After my last post I thought some photos might be a good way to start your day (or go to bed, if you're in Japan). I have a lot of food pictures so tomorrow (or Friday) I'll do a food photo post.

I saw this on a sidewalk and I think it's a message I want everyone to see!

This is from St. Patrick's Day. It's a day that many Irish people in America (and people who aren't Irish) celebrate their heritage. In Chicago they dye the river bright green. Brian, Lillie Mae, Aaron, Tawny, Michael, and I all went and then went to a parade. It was very hot and sunny for March! 

  For Mother's Day we went to the Botanical Gardens. They had a special exhibit about bonsai. This was my favorite but I took so many pictures. If I had a better window and more patience I think I would try bonsai.
                                                          
                                          This is Brian's mother and father at the Gardens.
                                                    
                                                  I thought these cactuses were very cute!
                                                     
 This is Zoe, my father and brother's dog. She lives with my brother and my mom now. She is an African Mastif and is almost bigger than me! She's so sweet and would never hurt a fly. She doesn't even bark that much.
                                                  
 This is from my town newspaper when I was in high school. My father, my mother, my brother, and I are lighting Channukah candles. Can you believe my hair was that short?! I think I have short hair now but it is not that short.
                                                  
                                                        My dad's house in the spring.
                                                         
 Brian is growing a beard. In Judaism, men don't shave when a close relative dies for 30 days. I can't grow a beard so Brian is, even though he isn't Jewish, which is very sweet. He can shave it tomorrow at sundown and he's very excited.
                                                  
Aaron and Tamanna on my first day back at school. We were learning about how we can learn about young children by playing with them. Each table had a different activity. Ours was the snack table, which was delicious.
                                                           
Brian, Lillie Mae, and I went to see Timon of Athens, it's a Shakespeare play. The person on the cover was in Star Wars and he was amazing. It was a great play. I really love Shakespeare.    

 I've been trying to practice drawing so that I can get better because I saw all the beautiful artwork my students made me. This is a character from a story I'm writing. Her hair color looks familiar...

Father's Day

Hello everyone, long time no see! I'm sorry I've been so bad about writing. It is sometimes hard to make time to write, esp. when I have a lot of school work to do. Plus recently I haven't been a very fun person to be around. Today is Father's Day and Brian's mother and father are coming over for dinner. I am making brisket, a type of beef dish, purple potatoes (but not purple sweet potatoes), rosemary-garlic challah, and brocoli. For dessert I am making lemon mousse, which was the first really hard dessert my dad taught me to make. I promise I will take pictures and post them. I do have a lot of photos and should really just post them all.

皆さん、久しぶり！私はブログを書き込みの事が悪くてごめんなさい。特に宿題が多かったら、時々書くことの時間を見つけにくいです。また、私は最近に楽しくない人でした。今日は父の日でブライアンの両親が晩ご飯を食べに行きます。私はビーフの食べ物の「ブリスケット」と紫のジャガイモ（紫芋じゃない）とロスメーリとにんにくのハーラとブロコリを作ります。デザート父が私に作りほうを教えた作りにくいデザートのレモンモースです。写真を撮って書き込みをすることを約束します！私は写真がいっぱいで全部を書き込みするべきです。

Before I talk about why I haven't been very fun to be around lately, I want to share our happy news. On June 9, Brian and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. We have been together for 7 years (about..) and married for 5 of them. We went out to dinner and just had a wonderful time together. I think Brian is the best husband, ever! Brian was given a 1 year contract with the American medical association and he really likes his job. His work is one train stop away from my school so we sometimes have lunch together. In 2 weeks I will have finished all my classes and I will have my master's degree in school psychology. However, I have two more years of school before I will be a real school psychologist. This school year I will be working 2 days a week at a local high school. I'm really excited. Summer is here so it's very hot but we live right by the beach so we can go swimming anytime the weather is nice. We're also staying in our apartment for another year! Yay!

楽しくない人のことを話す前に、幸せなニュースを分けます。６月９日に、ブライアンと私は５番目の結婚記念日を祝いました！私たちは７年間繋がっていって５年間結婚しています！晩ご飯を出かけて素敵な時間を過ごしました。私はブライアンが最高の夫と思います！ブライアン１年間の米国医師会の請負を受けてその仕事が好きです。仕事場が私の大学院から一つの駅なので、一緒に昼食を時々食べます。２週間後に、私は全部の授業を修めて学校心理学の修士を受けます！しかし、真の学校心理学者になるようにまだ２年間あります。今学年一週２日に地元の高校で働きます。とても楽しみにしています！今は夏なので、とても暑いです。でも、海岸の近くに住んでいますから、天気がよかったら、随時に泳げます！また、もう一年間私たちのアパートに住んでいます！よっしゃ！

 Now for the sad news. Almost one month ago, my father died. He died very suddenly and I was very shocked. I was at a friend's house doing school work when my mother called to tell me. However, I only missed one day of school and I've been working very hard and making sure that I keep going. I'm doing my best to ganbaru, but I still miss my father, which makes me feel very foolish. Anyway, enough of the sad news! Today is a beautiful day and my house is filled with amazing smells like lemon, sweet onion, rosemary, and bread. How can anybody be sad when there are such good things in the house?

今、悲しいニュースです。略一ヶ月前、父が死亡しました。突如死亡して私はとても呆れました。母が伝えるために電話をする時に、私は友達の家に宿題をしました。しかし、一日の学校だけを逃して一生懸命で働いて我慢しています。頑張ってみますが、まだ父が恋しいなので、愚かを感じます。とにかく、悲しいニュースが終わりましょう！今日は美しい日で家はレモンと玉ねぎとローズメリーとパンなどの良いにおいがいっぱいです！家の中にその良いものがある時に、どう誰もがかなしめますか？

 Easy English: 皆さん、ひさしぶり！元気？Today is Father's day. I am making dinner for Brian's family to celebrate. I'm making a lot of food and I will show you pictures tomorrow! I have been very busy with school. On June 9, Brian and I had been married for 5 years! We went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant. It was really fun. Brian has a good job now and he really enjoys his work. It is close to my school so sometimes we have lunch together. There is some sad news, my father died on May 22. It happened suddenly and I was shocked. I only missed one day of school though, and must keep doing my best. I can't be too sad or I'll look very foolish to my classmates and teachers. So I will keep doing my best! I hope everyone else will keep doing their best too! I must go check on my food. Miss you guys!

Graduation in Japan

I realize this is a little late but I know that my Sannensei graduated this past week. I just wanted to say

お卒業おめでとうございます！

I am so proud of all of you and I was sad that I could not see you graduate this year. I know you will be great adults because you were great students.

Food pictures

Brian told me that our reader from Lang 8 are looking forward to more pictures and posts about food. I've been doing a lot of cooking since I don't have school. If anyone wants a recipie I can write them down (or send you the web address.) Today we're having a friend over to play games and I don't know what I'm going to make. Cookies or pie?

Christmas cookies. I didn't make these, Brian's parents did. They were delicious.

Latkes. Traditionally these are potato pancakes that we eat on Channukah. These are just regular potatoes, onion, flour, and egg fried in oil. However, people make all kinds of latkes. I have a friend who made beet latkes.

My Grandmother taught me how to cook as a child. She was amazing in the kitchen. She loved cooking for people and she loved to entertain (as much as my Grandfather loved to eat). When she died she left me her cookie press that she used to make two of my favorite cookies. These are her spritz cookie, a Swedish shortbread cookie. It was my first time using the cookie press in 5 years and they don't look half bad.

My grandmother's other famous cookie was a railroad cookie. The cookie press makes the cookies look like railroad tracks. I tried to make these once 5 years ago but they didn't look good. I added more wet ingredients so they came out of the press easier. Hers were milk-chocolate. Mine are dark chocolate with orange zest. It made my family really happy to see them again.

These are my masala latkes. I added curry spices to the potatoes and fried them. However, I forgot to buy eggs so I had to make these very carefully. I also made apple latkes but they were hard to make.

Brian and I got a nice rice cooker for Christmas so now we can have our normal breakfast every day! I make miso soup in the morning using miso paste and dashi. I add dried mushrooms, but I can't find dried tofu anywhere! I miss it! We also have kimchi but I will start making Japanese style pickles soon in case we want something different.

Masala Challah! Challah is a braided Jewish bread. Making Challah is considered to be one of the obligations of Jewish women (though less so in modern times. And a stand mixer makes it so easy). I7m going to try to make Challah every week. I added 2TBS of Masala spice to the dough and it had a light taste. Maybe next time I'll throw in a little more curry spice for a kick. If you want to learn more about Challah, I get all my stuff from the Challah Blog ( Check it out!

I didn't make these next two things (but I wish I did). We went to a wine, cheese, and chocolate restaurant in downtown Chicago with our friends. We ordered three kinds of goat cheese. Brian and I really love goat cheese.

And these are the chocolates we ordered. One was a "Winter Spice" chocolate which did taste like Christmas. One was a ginger-sesame spice caramel which wasn't very strong but it was really good. The last one was a rosemary caramel. I loved it but Brian didn't. I love rosemary but Brian is not a fan. Ah well, no one's perfect.