Segment 12- Japan Connections
Since arriving in Paris in October, I have been awed again and again by the special relationship between this city and Japan. Apparently this connection is quite ancient, but I see it all of the time while shopping for stationary, walking past fabric shops, seeing flavors of Japanese origin that have become members of the French Palette Club (*not a real club). It has been fun for me to share these observations with my sister Anna, who lives in Osaka, Japan, and for her to share some similar connections that she has seen on the Pacific half of the land mass between the two countries (well, Japan is an island, but you get my drift).
Last Saturday, I had a wonderful lunch at Restaurant Caillebotte with my old language school buddy, Bianca (I say old not because of her age, but because she was a significant part of my initial French learning experience in 2018). After the delicious (and beautiful) courses, we walked and talked until we started to feel tired. I had some time to kill before another rendez-vous, so I looked up some salon du thé near us (I try to stay away from the intense powers that coffee caféine has on me. Tea caffeine, more familiarly known as théine, is much more manageable.). We found a few: the first was quite full, as they also served food, but the second, Artéfact was so empty and quiet, we didn’t even realize that it was open at first. As we looked through the extensive menu of teas available, I decided to try a new green tea, one from a region close to Anna. She supplied me with two big bags of Genmaicha and Sencha (my favorites!) in my Christmas package, and I thought it might be prudent to try others that she could possibly send in another package ;-) The Hojicha I selected was prepared to perfection by the “chef du thé” (I am making this term up in both the absence of my certainty of the real name of a tea barista, and the pretentious nature of my inclusion of french terms in this blog), and I could not wait to send Anna the name of the tea, which I have now learned is quite common #ignorance #learning #learningbydoing.
Yesterday, at the permission and suggestion of my dear Aunt Rosie, for a little extra self-love, I stopped by a pâtisserie from my “to-do” list on my way home from school. I had seen Japanese pâtisseries around Paris before, and even visited one near NYU in New York for my birthday in 2019. At pâtisserie Sadaharu AOKI Vaugirard, they had a selection of fancy cake slices incorporating traditional Japanese flavors, like matcha and chestnut, a few little gâteaux of a similar ilk, a variety of chocolates and, what called my name, a variety of macarons with flavors such as: yuzu (a Japanese lemony flavor that is very popular in Paris), genmaicha (one of my old favorites), hojicha (one of my new favorites), and wasabi. It was the wasabi flavored macarons that determined my resolution, and I ordered one-each of the aforementioned flavors. On arriving home, I carefully photographed each one and sent the pics to my family to see if they could guess the flavors, warning them that Anna might be the only one to get the first three. Kendra guessed the Wasabi, Grace had some noble guesses (like red bean!), and Anna was able to guess the Yuzu and the Hojicha, surprised to discover something genmaicha flavored. This may all sound like gibberish to those unaccustomed to varieties of green tea, but I highly recommend doing a dégustation (tasting) if you ever have the chance. The flavors vary in the way wine flavors vary, I would say. But the only side effects of drinking too much are not being able to fall asleep and waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. On second thought, maybe for the older folk out there, these side effects might be too dangerous (I am looking at you, Dad ;-).
You will be happy to know that our regular French teacher returned to class this past Tuesday and we applauded her as she crossed the threshold (or seuil in French, which along with the word abbaye, randomly kept coming up in lessons over the course of the week…) . Relationships built in the midst of vulnerability, like those between singer and voice teacher, language learner and professor, are so special. They are formed on a foundation of trust, that the other person wants nothing but good for you, that they want to see you progress and flourish, that there is no sense of competition or judgment. This is the same idea, so sadly often neglected by self-interest, as parent-child relationships, and in my experience, this has also been my faith experience.
My music has also been wonderful this past week! I have some structured projects for myself, and I continue to be inspired the more I work and discover with my teacher, Susan. New repertoire and good practice routines are helping me stay motivated and energized as I also pick up some hours of virtual teaching and continue the ever-smoothing out transition of living in a foreign country. Then again, maybe the théine and sweet macarons are also affecting my energy levels… :-)
Marie in Paris
