遊び Play!

さて、昨日働きたけれども今日休みだ。初めてカメラを遊べる！大町に歩いて往復が２時間ぐらい。もちろん、自然公園で散歩を楽しんだ。田舎ようだ。少し写真を撮った。でも、月曜日に動植物園が閉まったからちょっと失望した。もう一度行くつもり。さらに、もうすぐ花が出る。楽しみ！もっと写真が左リンクに。練習が必要と思う！


Well, I worked yesterday but today was a day off. For the first time I was able to play with my camera! I walked to Omachi, about a 2 hour round trip - of course I also enjoyed walking in the nature observation park there. It felt like the countryside in many parts, rather nice. I took a few pictures．But, because the small animal and botanical garden was closed on Mondays, I was a bit disappointed - I'll have to go again. I'm also looking forward to taking flower photos soon. Should be fun! More photos to the left link (More practice needed, I think!).

新単語 New words

昨日仕事後で、受付と居酒屋に行った。彼女たちは私に日本語を話させたからありがたく思う。大体友だちと英語を喋べるだから、その日本語の練習が良かった！すごく楽しかった！日本語をできるのにまだ口がきけない。流暢の練習をできる。

Yesterday after work, I went out to an izakaya with the receptionists I'm friends with from work. They made me speak Japanese, so I was very grateful! Usually when I'm with my friends we chat in English, so this Japanese practice was good! It was a really fun evening! Even though I can speak some Japanese, I still get very tongue-tied. I could work on fluency practice.

とにかく、この新単語を思い出したい。
以前　いぜん　useful for talking about things you used to do
以外　いがい except
意外　いがい unexpected
冗談　じょうだん joke
人格　じんかく personality
失業　しつぎょう unemployment
リストラする to lose your job

New camera 新しいカメラ

昨日、ビクカメラで新しいディジタルカメラを買った。写真の質が向上させると良い。うれしい！遊びに楽しみ！

I bought a new digital camera yesterday, so hopefully the quality of my pictures will improve. I'm very very pleased with it, and looking forward to playing!

Read more - aaaggghhhhh!

Aaggghhhh! It seems that under my current template, I can have two options:

- either the ability to link photo albums and have the annoying 'Read more' at the bottom of my posts, or
- no photo albums and no 'Read more' comment...

I will keep trying... In the meantime, please ignore the 'Read more' at the bottom of my posts. There's nothing more to read!

佐原 Sawara

今週松、佐原市に行った。すごく美しくておもしろいだったよ。佐原が江戸の町だ。１９９６に政府が保存命令をした。毎日江戸の店とレストランが開く。この町が大好き。今年の秋祭にぜひ見に行きたい！
もっと写真が左のリンク有る。

This weekend, I went to Sawara City in Chiba. It was fantastically beautiful and interesting. Sawara is an old Edo city, to my mind more beautiful than any of the old parts of Kyoto or Kawagoe. It had a really nice feel to the place. The town of Sawara first developed in the 13th century, and through the centuries prospered more and more. In the 17th century, work finished on changing the flow of the Tone River, allowing rapid transportation to Tokyo of products such as rice, soy sauce, vegetables and arts and crafts.

The historic district has so many Edo town houses that are more than a century old and, with the help of the government, are kept in a good state of repair. After the Meiji Restoration, some Western style architecture was also introduced.

I love cities with water, and there are so many small rivers throughout Sawara. This really adds to the peaceful and relaxed feel of Sawara.

Sawara is famous for its Summer Gion and Autumn festivals, with absolutely huge 'dashi' floats (10 in summer and 14 in autumn). I really want to go back in Autumn, or even just when it gets warmer!

I stayed in a cheap but clean hotel (Hotel Hokei - OK?!), bit cold, but I would stay there again. Again I was pleased though that my Japanese has come on a bit, because when I got there I needed to call the owner to check-in because there was nobody around even after I'd waited for about 10 minutes. He and his wife (who I met in the morning) were friendly enough, although I got the impression they didn't get too many Western foreigners there, by the ultra-ultra-politeness! No English spoken.

More photos at the link to the left.

Read more...

Hooray! I've managed to get rid of the annoying 'Read more...' link at the bottom of every post, when there was nothing extra to read!

初夢 Hatsuyume - First dream

Hatsuyume means the first dream in the New Year, had on the night of January 1st. The old belief is well-known. It was believed that the first dream of the New Year would foretell your luck for the coming year.

Especially good luck is to dream of Mount Fuji, a hawk, or an aubergine... An aubergine?! The superstition is memorised in the words 'Ichi-Fuji, Ni-Taka, San-Nasubi' (一富士二鷹三茄子) One - Fuji, Two - Hawk, Three - aubergine.

One theory for this being lucky is because Mount Fuji is the highest and most revered mountain in Japan, a hawk is a clever and strong bird, and the word for aubergine 'nasu' with a different kanji 成す also suggests achieving something great.

Ahem. My hatsuyume? I dreamt that I got some rice stuck behind my back teeth... Now what do you read into that for my coming luck this year?!

People's Visit to the Palace for the New Year Greeting

An early start this morning to get to the Imperial Palace in Tokyo to wave to the Emperor and his family!

I knew it was going to be busy, and that theoretically to be close to the front, I would have to get there at least an hour before the gates opened at 9:30am. Got there at 9am instead because that still meant getting up at the crack of dawn.

Again the queues were amazing. The atmosphere was great, they gave out Japanese flags to everyone, and I felt quite patriotic! People didn't mind queueing, because it was a nice opportunity to see the Emperor (behind bullet-proof glass). The Inner Garden of the Imperial Palace is only open twice a year to wave to the Emperor - once on his birthday (23rd December) and then again on 2nd January. It was very efficiently organised, routes were clearly laid out, they did bag security and body pat-downs before you went in, and then you joined the latest queue.

There were probably more older Japanese people there than younger people, quite a few families, and quite a few right-wing nationalist groups too. But the atmosphere was friendly and it was definitely worth getting up early for!

The Emperor and Empress appeared at 10:10am (the first appearance of 5 that day), along with the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, and other members of the Imperial Family. They waved to the crowd who all waved, waved their flags and cheered. Then the Emperor gace his New's Greeting, and then lots more waving and cheering! More pictures to the left.

御神籤 Good Year's Fortune (Literally, God Lottery)

At the beginning of the New Year, I bought a traditional omikuji (literally means God Lottery).

Mine was 'Best Fortune', or should that just be best of luck?

Click the picture to read the English - I liked 'The person you are are waiting will come but late'?!!!

浅草の大晦日２００８ New Year's Eve in Asakusa 2008

面白い。。。　日本の大晦日がイギリスの大晦日にすごく違う！気持ちが静かで安全だ。良いよ！
昨晩友だちと（ヨシコ）浅草の浅草寺に行った。楽しかった！浅草に１６時着いて晩御飯を食べた。１９時３０分だ。どうしよう？０時浅草寺を計画した。まず、明治神宮に行った。開けましておめでとうございます！！！

Very interesting! New Year's Eve in Japan is totally different to New Year's Eve in Britain! The feeling is quieter and safer, that's good!

New Year's Eve is traditionally spent with family - probably about 1% of the population go out. Of course, it probably depends on where you go for New Year - from what I understand near Tokyo Tower or Shibuya Crossing is much more similar to a Western New Year, but I got to celebrate a more traditional Japanese New Year which was great! We got to Asakusa at about 4pm - after eating, we thought what to do? We (my friend Yoshiko and I) had planned to celebrate New Year at Sensouji (Sensoji Temple). More pictures at the side (coming).

First, we went to Meiji Jingu Shrine/Park. It was very busy, and had a nice atmosphere. Some people were buying good luck charms for things that they thought important eg health, safe driving, wealth, lucky in love etc... I wanted to know if these charms had an expiry date on them - did they run out at the end of the year? I don' t think Yoshiko knew, but I don't think she was willing to risk it either - better to buy these things at the start of a new year...

Later we ate soba, a traditional meal on New Year's Eve. Soba noodles are made of buckwheat, and dipped in a soy flavoured sauce. Delicious! It being New Year's Eve however, it was very crowded, and we were seated next to an elderly couple who were completely trashed, and insisted on giving Yoshiko instructions on how to convey Japanese culture to a foreigner who couldn't possibly understand... I've never seen anyone put away noodles so fast so that we could leave! Unfortunately, because by this stage they were so slurred, I couldn't catch what they were saying very well, it was difficult to help...! Very funny actually!

Many coffee shops closed early, but we found somewhere to have a hot drink and relax until 11 when we went to Sensouji. Already the queues were huge, and the police were closing off roads. We ended up queuing just inside Kaminarimon ( Thunder Gate) at 11pm. Amazing the queue had started so early. Again I was struck by the fact that there seem to be two national hobbies in Japan - shopping and queueing...)

For the first 20minutes we resigned ourselves to the fact that we would probably celebrate New Year in a queue just outside Kaminarimon. Then the queue moved a bit. By the time it reached midnight, we were actually probably only about 100m from the temple itself. It was difficult to tell when it was actually New Year, because apart from a guy next to us counting down (was his watch accurate?!) and it got a bit noisier, very little happened... Whilst I always found it rather strange in Britain to wish a complete stranger a Happy New Year, it had become normal! But then we quickly moved towards the temple to make New Year prayers.

The police were preventing people from moving too quickly, the placards all say 'Slowly Please' amongst other things, and the loud speakers were giving all sorts of cautionary advice including to be careful when praying... It is traditional to toss some money into the large offertory box, but because it's crowded at New Year, they were warning that people might toss the money from a long way... Beware of low-flying coins was the message...

After tossing our offertory money and making our wish/praying we went to buy an 'Omikuji", a fortune ticket. Of course, had I got a bad luck fortune I would have been very British and said that it was all superstition... However, I was lucky and got a 'Best Fortune' slip, which of course spills over to all my family and friends, so I'm quite ready to want to believe it!!! Yoshiko got a good fortune slip. At this time again you queue for ages, actually not so bad by this time. It was absolutely freezing at this time of night, and for the last half hour I had been shivering violently from the cold with my teeth chattering! I was prepared and wearing about four layers, but even so...! When you get to the front you put your money in the slot, pick up the tin can of sticks and shake it to get your fortune ticket. As I say, mine was Best Fortune!!! Read the number (in kanji), open the drawer with that number, and take your fortune. (If you get a bad fortune, you tie it on a tree anyway, which is supposed to expel the bad feeling from your life... And then you buy a new one?!) Anyway, I got mine first time around and it reflects on all my family and friends which has got to be good!

Happy New Year Everyone!