国際交流ボランティア　エコー　栗田　政子さんからの投書

International Cooking Party

I am a member of “Ayumi no Kai”. It‘ｓ a volunteer group that teaches Japanese to non-Japanese who are living in and around Ota.
Once a week I teach“Living Japanese”to Korean, Brazilian, Philippine, and Cambodian women. Half of them are married to Japanese men, and the rest are staying in Japan because of their husband’s business. While teaching Japanese, I enjoy talking to them about their cultures, foods and so on.
In early June“Ayumi no kai” held an International Cooking Party. About 90 people from more than ten different countries, including Japan, attended the event. They showed us how to cook their own countries’ typical dishes; for example, curry from India, borscht from Russia, gyoza from China,“Tom Yam”soup from Thailand, tacos from Mexico; and dishes from Nepal, Brazil, and Argentina. Some young Indian couples made an original Indian vegetable curry using many exotic spices and boiled long Indian rice. A Korean man (his wife is now in Korea having their second baby), made kimuchi chijimi.(Korean okonomiyaki). He fried more than fifty chijimies by himself. He also used shrimp, squid, and of course also kimuchi. He looked like a professional cook.
After we finished cooking the party really started. It was magnificent to see food from so many countries set on the tables. We seldom have a chance to eat such a variety in Japan. They were all very delicious. I enjoyed myself thoroughly. I’m sure all the participants at the event also had a ball.

(ECHO club Masako Kurita)