This is just soooo wrong. Hello Kitty, or Kitty-chan as she's known over here, as a sumo wrestler. I picked this little one up at the last Nagoya sumo tournament.Personally, I think she looks far cuter in the sumo apron.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Kitty-chan does Sumo
This is just soooo wrong. Hello Kitty, or Kitty-chan as she's known over here, as a sumo wrestler. I picked this little one up at the last Nagoya sumo tournament.
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Mino Lanterns
Last night, Wayne and I went to Mino with Natsuki and Ikuko to see the lanterns. We had sadly missed the big festival last month due to Wayne being "diseased in the head". In the festival in October, the old cobbled streets of mino are lined with hundreds of lanterns in its annual competition. Mino is famous for its handmade paper, so all the entries into the competition must use Mino Washi - Mino's handmade paper. Some of the pieces are truly amazing and the old town looks magical.
There were only a small number of the lanterns to be seen last night, but it was a lovely evening, the moon was bright in the autumn sky and the air was crisp. We can't wait to go again next year.
Friday, October 27, 2006
The Candy Lady
It constanty surprises us the warmth of the Japanese people around us. Even though we are "gaijin" they often make us feel welcome and take us into their homes and their hearts. This is a story of one of those brief, yet memorable moments that happened to me a few years ago.......
The early hours of a fresh winter morning found me trudging from home on my way to the train to Osaka. I was laden with a large camera bag and a heavy backpack swearing that I really should learn that I can live for three days with less than five pairs of shoes and half my wardrobe. My coat, scarf, woollen hat and gloves were doing little to keep away the biting cold. I tramped through the narrow track patched with snow between the vegetable gardens on the way to the station. It was early, even for the Japanese, except for maybe one that day. Tending to the leeks in a garden, the folds of the earth resembling the creases in her face, was a stooped-over little nonagenarian Japanese woman. She looked up at me in surprise.
In cute old style Japanese she asked me, "Now where are you off to today dear?"
"I'm going to Osaka" I replied. She looked surprised. I don't think she fully expected me to understand.
"Why are you going there?" she asked.
"Oh, I'm just going on a trip. I've never been there" I replied, glad that I could now speak enough Japanese to easily hold an exchange like this.
She looked in the direction I'd come from a little puzzled and queried, "Well, where do you live?"
"I live in Akane-cho", to which she looked surprised as the suburb only consisted of a few streets.
"So do I," she replied, her eyes first betrayed a little surprise and then softened as if looking at a loved one. Her wrinkled bony, yet strong hands reached into her apron and pulled out a handful of candy. "Now you look after yourself for me won't you dear," I was instructed as I had the sweets thrust upon me. I suddenly felt like I was ten again and this was my grandmother dishing out sweets as I was on my way out the door to play with my friends. Although my family were so far away, I felt welcomed, as I had so many times in Japan, into the bosom of another family.
I bid her farewell and then hurried onto the train station. The tears in my eyes were partly from the biting cold and partly from the happiness created by a sudden, unexpected warming in my heart.
The early hours of a fresh winter morning found me trudging from home on my way to the train to Osaka. I was laden with a large camera bag and a heavy backpack swearing that I really should learn that I can live for three days with less than five pairs of shoes and half my wardrobe. My coat, scarf, woollen hat and gloves were doing little to keep away the biting cold. I tramped through the narrow track patched with snow between the vegetable gardens on the way to the station. It was early, even for the Japanese, except for maybe one that day. Tending to the leeks in a garden, the folds of the earth resembling the creases in her face, was a stooped-over little nonagenarian Japanese woman. She looked up at me in surprise.
In cute old style Japanese she asked me, "Now where are you off to today dear?"
"I'm going to Osaka" I replied. She looked surprised. I don't think she fully expected me to understand.
"Why are you going there?" she asked.
"Oh, I'm just going on a trip. I've never been there" I replied, glad that I could now speak enough Japanese to easily hold an exchange like this.
She looked in the direction I'd come from a little puzzled and queried, "Well, where do you live?"
"I live in Akane-cho", to which she looked surprised as the suburb only consisted of a few streets.
"So do I," she replied, her eyes first betrayed a little surprise and then softened as if looking at a loved one. Her wrinkled bony, yet strong hands reached into her apron and pulled out a handful of candy. "Now you look after yourself for me won't you dear," I was instructed as I had the sweets thrust upon me. I suddenly felt like I was ten again and this was my grandmother dishing out sweets as I was on my way out the door to play with my friends. Although my family were so far away, I felt welcomed, as I had so many times in Japan, into the bosom of another family.
I bid her farewell and then hurried onto the train station. The tears in my eyes were partly from the biting cold and partly from the happiness created by a sudden, unexpected warming in my heart.
Friday, October 20, 2006
More about that devil
A while ago I wrote about the Japanese equivalent of "While the Cat's Away..." I said it was "Oni no inu aida ni sentaku" or "Wash your clothes while the demon isn't around".
A friend of mine has since given me some more information on this saying. She says;
Thanks a lot for that Nakai-sensei!
A friend of mine has since given me some more information on this saying. She says;
That means, to "Refresh myself while the demon (ogre) is
away" or "Wash my life in the demon's absense" in direct translation. This
proverb is usually translated into English as "When the cat's away, the mice
will play" because the image of the demon is a cat for a mouse. In other words,
in Japan, the image of the demon is a husband for a wife.
In Japan, generally, husbands are
bossy to their wives, so the wives are obedient to the husbands, on the
surface. Sooooo Japanese wives intend to refresh themselves while the
husbands are away on a business trip or something.
Another proverb might prove the
above opinion. "Teishu genki de rusu ga ii". This means, "It is best for wives,
both husbands' health and their absence". Japanese wives definately like their
free time, like me. That means enjoying travelling, theatres and learning
something.
I think
what you thought is natural, because Australian men are kind to their wives.
Australian husbands aren't the demon!
Thanks a lot for that Nakai-sensei!
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Monday, October 09, 2006
Tsushima Autumn Festival
A couple of weeks ago, dad came for a brief visit. Luckily he's been to Japan a couple of times now, so there wasn't the usual pressure to experience as much of Japan as possible in a few days. He's been to many places but hadn't yet experienced a Japanese festival. I thought it was about time to change that.We jumped on a train and headed off for Tsushima. While it was quite an easy journey, I still felt the stress of being a guide and going somewhere I hadn't been before.
When we arrived to Tsushima, it didn't have a festival day feel to it, but we trudged off to the shrine anyway. On the way, we saw one float, or portable shrine being taken out of storage and polished. The float was 300 years old the local men informed me.
Even before we saw the impressive vibrant red gates, we knew we were going in the right direction due to the flute music playing a festival song that was drifting down the streets. Like in the story of the Pied Piper, I'm drawn to that sound.
Towering above the small festival crowd were two startling floats. Sitting in the bottom level, hidden by exquisitely embroidered curtains were the source of the music. Children playing taiko drums beat the rythym for cat-stangling sounding flutes. Perched high above them were puppets clad in colourful traditional clothes. Hidden between the two levels was a dexterous puppeteer.
Dad and I then followed one of the floats as it was wheeled through the streets. Once a corner had to be turned, the men tilted it to a precarious angle and very slowly, with lots of grunting swung it around.
We were befriended by one of the shrine pullers. He told us a little of the history of his float and poured us beer. I tried to refuse the beer, but was told that it didn't matter if I didn't drink, I still had to drink that day in order to purify myself for the Gods. Well, if that's not a good excuse to drink.....
Beer in hand, we watched the magic of the puppeteer. A brush loaded with fresh ink had been placed in the puppet's wooden hand and its manipulator had hidden from view in the floor below. The music began once more and the puppet began to move. With more co-ordination than I think I have, the doll carefully wrote the God's name on a mounted piece of paper. Once the calligraphy was complete it was let fly and handed to the Shinto Priest who later gave the offering to please the god.
I really have fallen in love with the festivals in Japan. I think it's due to the sense of history, tradition and the true feeling of celebration; celebrating life, celebrating the change of seasons and celebrating the fertility of the land."Diseased in the Head"
Oh my! What a week!!!
Wayne and I got to see a side of Japan that quite frankly, I hope we never have to see again. A Japanese hospital. Not because it was a Japanese hospital, but just because it was a hospital.
It all started on Tuesday night, with my big strong and usually healthy boy being very sick and a funny shade of green. On Wednesday I got him to a general doctor who then sent him off to emergency who then admitted him to stay in the hospital. It was all very scary.
Luckily, the doctor at the hospital was so sweet and cute, oh and could speak enough English to make us feel comfortable.
He did had a funny way of putting things though.....
He told us that it was an inner ear problem that was making Wayne sick. We had thought as much. But I think the stocky little doctor wanted to make sure we understood, so he continued with lots of enthusiasm;
Had I been feeling any less stressed and freaked out, I would have asked to get that in writing.
The boy has now been released from hospital, much to our relief. He'll still go to the hospital everyday for a few more days and be put on a drip for an hour or so.
We're just so touched in all the support we've had from our friends here, friends and family back home and from my work. It's so comforting to know that we're not alone and help is always close by.
Bye for now from the woman whose husband is "diseased in the head".
Wayne and I got to see a side of Japan that quite frankly, I hope we never have to see again. A Japanese hospital. Not because it was a Japanese hospital, but just because it was a hospital.
It all started on Tuesday night, with my big strong and usually healthy boy being very sick and a funny shade of green. On Wednesday I got him to a general doctor who then sent him off to emergency who then admitted him to stay in the hospital. It was all very scary.
Luckily, the doctor at the hospital was so sweet and cute, oh and could speak enough English to make us feel comfortable.
He did had a funny way of putting things though.....
He told us that it was an inner ear problem that was making Wayne sick. We had thought as much. But I think the stocky little doctor wanted to make sure we understood, so he continued with lots of enthusiasm;
"It's in his head, he's diseased in the head. He has a mental disease."
Had I been feeling any less stressed and freaked out, I would have asked to get that in writing.
The boy has now been released from hospital, much to our relief. He'll still go to the hospital everyday for a few more days and be put on a drip for an hour or so.
We're just so touched in all the support we've had from our friends here, friends and family back home and from my work. It's so comforting to know that we're not alone and help is always close by.
Bye for now from the woman whose husband is "diseased in the head".
Monday, September 25, 2006
ParaPara Girls
It's school festival season in Japan, and well, I love a festival!
Recently my school was a hive of activity while the students prepared for their cultural festival. In the afternoons, after class I would walk around the campus and see boards being cut, painted and nailed together. Other students would be practicing drumming on large tyres and others dancing. The build up and the anticipation was exciting.
On the first day of the festival, a Sunday, Wayne and I rose early to make it to the taiko performance in the opening ceremony. We weren't dissapointed, the students put on an impressive show.
The rest of the morning, we wandered around, watched different shows, sampled yummy fair food and checked out the classrooms. Each homeroom had put on a different display - anything from a dominos track, a home-made rollercoaster, robotics to art.
Wayne was also on display it seems as many genki students came to meet this mystery man by my side. Excited girls asked of me "Darling, darling?" My response of this is my husband was met with giggles. The giggles got more animated when Wayne would introduce himself in his deep voice.
One group of fun girls that I teach were decked out in colourful yukata and put on a ParaPara performance. To explain parapara it's a dance done with mostly hand movements, in a set pattern. They looked so cute and I was like a proud parent.
This is my first every video, so please excuse the quality, but you can get a bit of an idea the dance from it.
Happy viewing
Recently my school was a hive of activity while the students prepared for their cultural festival. In the afternoons, after class I would walk around the campus and see boards being cut, painted and nailed together. Other students would be practicing drumming on large tyres and others dancing. The build up and the anticipation was exciting.
On the first day of the festival, a Sunday, Wayne and I rose early to make it to the taiko performance in the opening ceremony. We weren't dissapointed, the students put on an impressive show.
The rest of the morning, we wandered around, watched different shows, sampled yummy fair food and checked out the classrooms. Each homeroom had put on a different display - anything from a dominos track, a home-made rollercoaster, robotics to art.
Wayne was also on display it seems as many genki students came to meet this mystery man by my side. Excited girls asked of me "Darling, darling?" My response of this is my husband was met with giggles. The giggles got more animated when Wayne would introduce himself in his deep voice.
One group of fun girls that I teach were decked out in colourful yukata and put on a ParaPara performance. To explain parapara it's a dance done with mostly hand movements, in a set pattern. They looked so cute and I was like a proud parent.
This is my first every video, so please excuse the quality, but you can get a bit of an idea the dance from it.
Happy viewing
Shocking Baths
After a long week of walking around Kyoto, Wayne and I decided we really deserved a good long soak in a hot bath. Without an onsen, a natural hot spring close by, we chose a sento, a public bath in the vicinity.
On our way we got quite lost due to misreading the guidebook map and wandered around the warren created by narrow Japanese streets. The cold rain fell steadily and was threatening to become sleet. That hot bath was becoming more and more appealing.
Once found, the building itself was rather non-descript and the entry a little cold as we removed our shoes. We had already inserted our umbrella into the specially made umbrella locker but were having trouble fitting Wayne’s large gaijin shoes into a shoe locker. Eventually we were able to get the shoes each into a different locker if we turned the shoe at just the right angle. We turned in opposite directions and made our way to the segregated baths.
The locker room was on the bottom floor and luckily a little warmer than the entry. The floor was tatami matting and the room contained old coin-operated hairdryers and massage chairs. Hopping onto the scale in the room I was a little shocked at how much weight I’d gained from sampling all the delicious, warming Japanese winter food and snacks despite trudging from one temple to the next, day after day.
Undressed, I felt vulnerable with nothing covering my ample flesh except a small hand towel held strategically in front of me. I stepped into the elevator. This was my first time to be in an elevator naked. The ride upwards was a little thrilling and a little embarrassing at the same time.
I glanced around me at the first bathing floor, saw a number of baths, some bubbling, some still and rows of showers mounted at belly button height in front of mirrors. After collecting a cheap looking stool and bowl from a pile at the wall, I chose a shower in the corner, took out my shower gel and began the obligatory ritual of scrubbing from head to toe before entering the shared pools of water.
So as to not have to walk too far exposed, I approached the closest bath. As I tentatively dipped my left foot in, my flesh was seared from the heat, I could almost feel capillaries breaking. I took a deep breath and slowly let the rest of my body follow my foot into the blistering water. I waded towards the bubbling jets and decided that once the burning pain eased off, it was actually quite nice. I relaxed there for a while and began thinking about exploring the other baths.
Next to me was an innocent looking, small rectangular bath. It had no steam rising from it unlike many of the others so I thought it might be cold. I dipped my hand in, and to my surprise, my hand shot straight out of its own accord. The reaction was so fast I wasn’t sure what had happened. I was confused. Maybe it was really cold, I didn’t really know as no sensation had actually registered in my brain. This time, with more determination I broke the surface of the still water with my hand. Again, albeit a little slower, my hand shot out. I was shocked. Literally! I had heard about these baths, but believed them to be a Japanese urban myth. It was an electric bath!
I sat there for a while looking into the deceiving water. How could a person bathe in electricity? All my life I’d been warned of the dangers of mixing water and electric power, and yet right next to me was a pool of water writhing with live, possibly deadly energy. No warning signs! Nothing! Nervous to be even too close to this bath, I hopped out to explore the other baths on the other side of the room and upstairs.
There I found nothing terribly unusual; an iron-rich bath that looked liked a pool of soy sauce occupied by a wrinkled woman eating Japanese oranges; a couple of hard showers rigged up like waterfalls; a rooftop rock bath in a garden of imitation bamboo with a view of the grey clouds; a sweltering sauna with a TV screen showing an over-acted Japanese soap opera and an ice cold bath.
I returned to the showers to wash away the salty sweat from the sauna. As I sat on the low chair, in the reflection of the mirror I saw an old hunched over Japanese woman, whose drooping breasts appeared to have supplied many a feed for children long ago. She was headed toward the electric bath! I wanted to yell out, I wanted to warn her, but before I could decipher the Japanese required in my head, she had already descended the stairs and was waist deep in the water. All sense of public bath etiquette flew out the window as I whipped around and stared directly at her. A serene look had come over her face. She slowly opened her eyes and returned my gaze.
“Isn’t it dangerous” I asked incredulously in Japanese.
“Not at all” she assured me. “It feels really good on my hips.”
She gave me a benevolent smile and suggested I try the bath on the other side of her. Almost like a good grand-daughter, I did.
While I sat there with jets manipulating my flesh from every angle, I noted a pink egg timer that the woman had set next to her. “How long can you stay in that bath”, I asked.
“About three to five minutes” she told me.
We both sat relaxed as the sand worked its way down through the timer, needing nothing more than smiles for communication.
The last grain of sand fell on the bottom heap and the woman nodded her head slightly to me as she climbed out of the bath. I was now on my own.
“If an old woman like that could survive the bath, then surely so could I”, I told myself.
It took a few minutes to build up the courage and I checked that there was no-one hidden in the thick steam to witness any embarrassing behaviour if I couldn’t.
Tentatively, I edged towards the inert bath. “Still time to back out”, I thought. I continued on, took a deep breath and dipped my toe into the water. Nothing. No reaction. Once again, I was confused.
I worked my way down the steps and stood in the centre of the bath. Quickly I jumped back as I had felt the current working on my thighs. Though not visible, there seemed to be currents at either side of the tub in the middle. They were set out in such a way that only a localized area was affected at any one time. I worked my way back until I felt a tingling sensation on my leg. It was like a bad case of pins and needles. Not too painful, but still strange. I raised one leg to place my tired calves in front of the current and watched in amazement as my muscles tensed of their own accord. A little braver now, I explored the sensation over different parts of my body and brought my body closer to the outlet to increase the strength. I sat on the ledge to have the electricity work its debatable magic on my lower back. As I relaxed my forearms dipped into the water. The effect of all the muscles curling up made me feel strangely helpless and out of control, so I vowed to keep them out of the water from then on.
I’m not sure if I managed a whole three minutes in the bath, but nevertheless I felt proud of myself, I felt brave, I felt like I had overcome a fear. I showered and took the final naked elevator ride back to locker room to dress and once again confront the cold wet Japanese streets ready for another adventure.
On our way we got quite lost due to misreading the guidebook map and wandered around the warren created by narrow Japanese streets. The cold rain fell steadily and was threatening to become sleet. That hot bath was becoming more and more appealing.
Once found, the building itself was rather non-descript and the entry a little cold as we removed our shoes. We had already inserted our umbrella into the specially made umbrella locker but were having trouble fitting Wayne’s large gaijin shoes into a shoe locker. Eventually we were able to get the shoes each into a different locker if we turned the shoe at just the right angle. We turned in opposite directions and made our way to the segregated baths.
The locker room was on the bottom floor and luckily a little warmer than the entry. The floor was tatami matting and the room contained old coin-operated hairdryers and massage chairs. Hopping onto the scale in the room I was a little shocked at how much weight I’d gained from sampling all the delicious, warming Japanese winter food and snacks despite trudging from one temple to the next, day after day.
Undressed, I felt vulnerable with nothing covering my ample flesh except a small hand towel held strategically in front of me. I stepped into the elevator. This was my first time to be in an elevator naked. The ride upwards was a little thrilling and a little embarrassing at the same time.
I glanced around me at the first bathing floor, saw a number of baths, some bubbling, some still and rows of showers mounted at belly button height in front of mirrors. After collecting a cheap looking stool and bowl from a pile at the wall, I chose a shower in the corner, took out my shower gel and began the obligatory ritual of scrubbing from head to toe before entering the shared pools of water.
So as to not have to walk too far exposed, I approached the closest bath. As I tentatively dipped my left foot in, my flesh was seared from the heat, I could almost feel capillaries breaking. I took a deep breath and slowly let the rest of my body follow my foot into the blistering water. I waded towards the bubbling jets and decided that once the burning pain eased off, it was actually quite nice. I relaxed there for a while and began thinking about exploring the other baths.
Next to me was an innocent looking, small rectangular bath. It had no steam rising from it unlike many of the others so I thought it might be cold. I dipped my hand in, and to my surprise, my hand shot straight out of its own accord. The reaction was so fast I wasn’t sure what had happened. I was confused. Maybe it was really cold, I didn’t really know as no sensation had actually registered in my brain. This time, with more determination I broke the surface of the still water with my hand. Again, albeit a little slower, my hand shot out. I was shocked. Literally! I had heard about these baths, but believed them to be a Japanese urban myth. It was an electric bath!
I sat there for a while looking into the deceiving water. How could a person bathe in electricity? All my life I’d been warned of the dangers of mixing water and electric power, and yet right next to me was a pool of water writhing with live, possibly deadly energy. No warning signs! Nothing! Nervous to be even too close to this bath, I hopped out to explore the other baths on the other side of the room and upstairs.
There I found nothing terribly unusual; an iron-rich bath that looked liked a pool of soy sauce occupied by a wrinkled woman eating Japanese oranges; a couple of hard showers rigged up like waterfalls; a rooftop rock bath in a garden of imitation bamboo with a view of the grey clouds; a sweltering sauna with a TV screen showing an over-acted Japanese soap opera and an ice cold bath.
I returned to the showers to wash away the salty sweat from the sauna. As I sat on the low chair, in the reflection of the mirror I saw an old hunched over Japanese woman, whose drooping breasts appeared to have supplied many a feed for children long ago. She was headed toward the electric bath! I wanted to yell out, I wanted to warn her, but before I could decipher the Japanese required in my head, she had already descended the stairs and was waist deep in the water. All sense of public bath etiquette flew out the window as I whipped around and stared directly at her. A serene look had come over her face. She slowly opened her eyes and returned my gaze.
“Isn’t it dangerous” I asked incredulously in Japanese.
“Not at all” she assured me. “It feels really good on my hips.”
She gave me a benevolent smile and suggested I try the bath on the other side of her. Almost like a good grand-daughter, I did.
While I sat there with jets manipulating my flesh from every angle, I noted a pink egg timer that the woman had set next to her. “How long can you stay in that bath”, I asked.
“About three to five minutes” she told me.
We both sat relaxed as the sand worked its way down through the timer, needing nothing more than smiles for communication.
The last grain of sand fell on the bottom heap and the woman nodded her head slightly to me as she climbed out of the bath. I was now on my own.
“If an old woman like that could survive the bath, then surely so could I”, I told myself.
It took a few minutes to build up the courage and I checked that there was no-one hidden in the thick steam to witness any embarrassing behaviour if I couldn’t.
Tentatively, I edged towards the inert bath. “Still time to back out”, I thought. I continued on, took a deep breath and dipped my toe into the water. Nothing. No reaction. Once again, I was confused.
I worked my way down the steps and stood in the centre of the bath. Quickly I jumped back as I had felt the current working on my thighs. Though not visible, there seemed to be currents at either side of the tub in the middle. They were set out in such a way that only a localized area was affected at any one time. I worked my way back until I felt a tingling sensation on my leg. It was like a bad case of pins and needles. Not too painful, but still strange. I raised one leg to place my tired calves in front of the current and watched in amazement as my muscles tensed of their own accord. A little braver now, I explored the sensation over different parts of my body and brought my body closer to the outlet to increase the strength. I sat on the ledge to have the electricity work its debatable magic on my lower back. As I relaxed my forearms dipped into the water. The effect of all the muscles curling up made me feel strangely helpless and out of control, so I vowed to keep them out of the water from then on.
I’m not sure if I managed a whole three minutes in the bath, but nevertheless I felt proud of myself, I felt brave, I felt like I had overcome a fear. I showered and took the final naked elevator ride back to locker room to dress and once again confront the cold wet Japanese streets ready for another adventure.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Things you can buy in Japan
I just turned on the TV to watch as I eat lunch and ended up on a shopping show.
They were showing a product which when pasted on, will give the user a "double eyelid". It's like a glue that changes the traditional Japanese eyelid shape to a more Western look. A little freaky!
The picture at the side is a product available in stores for the same purpose. They are little stickers that are places on the lid, pressed in place with the plastic stick and Wahla! Double Eyelids!
Thursday, September 14, 2006
One of the joys of teaching a second language is the amusement that can be found in the students’ Engrish. I know I make a mess of the Japanese language, my students certainly come up with some real gems of their own.
"I would be healthier if I excavated regular stools." A homework answer to
the question of how to be healthier.
"My front hair line is in big trouble." A student talking about his receding hairline.
"You can drink the water that comes out of the cock." A student's explanation of a sign that indicated that the tap was for drinking water.
Question asked of a student, "Have you ever had a bad day?" Reply,
"Yes, I have. I've been bound hand and foot several times." Mmm a little
too much information there.....
"He... goes home, goes to bed and sleeps around." The correct answer should have been he "sleeps late".
"....I'm impotent..." the intended meaning was "helpless". A reason why not to always trust your dictionary.
"Today, I went to the massage parlour". I had fun explaining this one. Luckily, I knew the phrase in Japanese for a brothel, "soap-land". The girl though, had simply gone for a massage.
"The cherry blossoms are hyaku (100) percent open."
This was a creative attempt at telling me the Cherry Blossoms were in full
bloom.
"I really want have deep sleep in someones softry brest."
Again, maybe a little too much information....
“My mother…… my mother…. my mother…. my mother….. cook….. eat me.” polished off with a broad smile happy that he could answer the test question successfully. The question? “What club do you belong to?”.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Remembering Spring
“Oshoi, oshoi!”
Wild paper blossoms dancing in the wind
Scent of sake through narrow streets
Mino celebrates spring
Saturday, September 02, 2006
The Rainmaker
Call me the rainmaker.
With the Japanese love to put people into categories, one is related to the weather. They say that people are either "sunny" or "rainy". If you are a "rainy person" then on important days of your life and when you travel, it will rain. Obviously, it works the other way around if you're a "sunny person". If a sunny and a rainy person travel together, it may be cloudy or if it rains, that means that the rainy person has more "power".
Always when I would travel with my friend Natsuki, it would rain. She is a self-confessed rainy person, so I would just blame her for our bad luck in weather, telling her that she had a lot of power. She repeatedly denied that it was all her fault and said that just like her, I would bring on the rain.
This argument continued for years until my wedding day. A couple of months out of cyclone season, I not only got rain, but a mini-cyclone especially ordered for the day. There was no longer any doubt about which way I swung.
Last week, I went back to Brisbane for a brief holiday. Brisbane has been in a bad drought for a while now, no rain, no moisture, everything is bone dry. On her way to pick me up from the airport, Christine who has heard the "rainy person/sunny person" argument for years looked up at the clouds forming in the sky and said, "Maybe she is a rainy person after all". A couple of days into my trip, the skies opened up and down came the rain, not a small drizzle, not a light shower, but heavy downpours. Call me the rainmaker! I've decided that I could use my powers for good and will travel for good food and good accomodation to areas in need for a little of that wet stuff.
I left Brisbane on Thursday and wonder what happened to the weather.....
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