As American As...

Today I made apple pie with the four fifth graders at the deaf school - two boys and two girls. Awhile back, their teacher invited me to their class to talk about what we eat in America. When I mentioned apple pie, they all said that they wanted to try it and would I make it with them? With only a week left of school to go, we finally got around to it.

I didn't understand everything the kids were saying to me, though I tried. I noticed how among them they seem to have a designated speaker, the one who is deemed to speak the best. So when I didn't understand something that one of the boys was saying, he referred me to one of the girls. I'm sure they're used to not being understood, but still, I felt that I was letting them down whenever I didn't know what they were saying. (Whereas many hearing Japanese feel that their language is too difficult for foreigners, and don't expect me to understand anything at all.)

As for the apple pie, we made it as per Betty Crocker's instructions. Apparently in Japan, it is customary to cook the apples before putting them in the pie shell. We didn't do that. We put the pie in the oven and started to clean up, and then Lilia's teacher appeared and said that she had a fever and would I please take her home. So I didn't get to try the pie. I hope it turned out okay.