In search of TSU TSU ARU

I am beyond surprised at the moment. Here I was, reading that comic I suggested to you yesterday, and I find a phrase I never thought I'd be able to find. TSUTSU ARU... I've never seen it used except in my textbook, and I've certainly never heard it. My Japanese teacher told me no one uses it when they speak, and of course, my textbook says the same.

But there it is, in a really beautiful scene about omuraisu. 

The phrase in question is:

• あなたの子供になりつつある。
• Anata no kodomo ni nari tsu tsu aru.

TSU TSU ARU means to "continue doing something", and as I mentioned above, it's usually only used in written form. This, of course, indicates that it is a very formal phrase (which may be a very good indicatory on just how Mikako feels). JGRAM also wants me to say that it means "in the middle of doing something", but I'm not real sure about that seeing as my textbook doesn't even mention something close to that. The translation of the explanation my book give is "gradually doing something".

Helpful, right? Sort of...

The context of these scene is that when Mikako was first adopted, her new mother asked her what she wanted to eat, and she replied that she wanted omuraisu. When she goes to put ketchup on it, her mother exclaims something and Mikako thinks she's in trouble. Instead, the mother is just laughing about how childlike it is to use that much ketchup.  The last page is when Mikako is seventeen, and they are having omuraisu as they do every Saturday, and her mother starts laughing about how much ketchup Mikako uses. "You like that much ketchup?" she laughs, "like a child, huh?"

The Mikako narrates with our grammar point before the scene ends. We can divide the phrase like so:

• あなたの子供になる(I'll become your child)  + つつある (continue doing so)
• I'll continue being (becoming?) your child.

I think her use of formality here indicates a sort of contrary feeling to what she says, since it implies distance. Since I'm not Japanese, I can't say for sure, but I think I'm probably right.

How to make a TSU TSU ARU sentence:

• Pre-MASU verb+ TSUTSU ARU
• The NARU in this sentence became NARI

It it as easy as that!

But before I go, I thought I'd talk just a little bit about omuraisu which is, by far, my favorite food. Oddly, though, Japanese people tend to think it's an American food. Ask an American, and they'll say they've never heard of it.

The basic omuraisu is rice, ketchup and egg. There is usually some sort of meat in it (usually chicken, but I like bacon) and vegetables (like onions and what not), but those are not constant since every store makes them a bit differently. In almost all cases, the egg is fried into a thin sheet, and the rice/ketchup medley are mixed and then folded into the egg. It looks like this:

Image taken from: http://blog.omuraisu.net/archive/2006_03_15_omuraisu_archive.html

What it is, basically, is a Japanese version of an American Omellette (Omu standing for Omellette and Raisu being Rice). It may not look good, but I have to tell you, it is BRILLIANT. I crave it almost every other day... and I don't even like ketchup!