family

On Family: Tradition, Obligation & Gender

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part of the family from film

If you have about 12 minutes to spare, this film, Houshi Ryokan is worth taking the time to watch. Houshi Ryokan is a hotel that was founded in the Hokuriku region of Japan and is one of the oldest family businesses in the world. It was founded in 718 and close to 50 generations have kept it going for its 1,300 years.

The film profiles the family — an elderly couple and their unmarried daughter. The mother had an arranged marriage and wants something different for her adult child.

The daughter is seeking a life for herself, but she loves her parents and is feeling torn. Her brother died unexpectedly and the family is figuring out how to go forward.

Even though this family is so far away from me in terms of distance, language and culture, their story transcends all that. I feel for all of them.

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Image: Screenshot via Vimeo

Ground Cardamom: Same Spice Different Price

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cardamom podsEvents from last week have me reeling. Little did I know how much this quote that I posted would become relevant to me later that day. My family will never be the same again.

Along with family and friends, we are trying to adjust to a new normal. I never run out of things to blog about, but not much seems to matter right now in comparison. I’m an optimistic person, but it takes a bit of time to recover from a kick to your gut.

If you are the praying kind, then prayers for my family will help. I don’t have much to offer right now in the way of posts except for one thing. The price of ground cardamom is nearly double the price in Stop & Shop than in Market Basket. Why pay $14.99 if  you can pay $7.99?

Before Christmas I ran out. This is the first Christmas where I didn’t really bake. Except for when a cousin came over to visit me, I did bake Chai-Spiced Almond Cookies. Since I had no cardamom, they weren’t really chai-spiced. I used ginger instead. Which was still quite good by the way.

Market Basket is not near where I live, but when I go to my parents’ house, I can choose from a few locations. Since I did some food shopping for my parents at Market Basket, I decided to finally get some cardamom. I used it in my oatmeal this morning. It’s a small thing, but it’s comforting. And that is what I need right now.

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Flickr Photo: Cardamom pods by dollen