I think I'm turning Japanese

I've been eating a lot of Japanese food and being exposed to a lot of Japaneseness since I got home, which I love because I'm soo Americanized.

My parents made zoni (or, more formally, ozoni) for today (New Year's is big in Japan) for my grandparents. Usually we just eat the oden my grandma makes on New Year's Day with a lot of friends and relatives. This time, just the grandparents (all six) were invited, which was nice because I hardly ever see them just by themselves. Anyways, zoni's basically a simple Japanese soup with mochi as its main ingredient. Yes--mochi in soup. We put mushrooms, nappa (cabbage), wakame (seaweed), shiitake, and mochi in it.