July 29, 2007
July 29, 2008
July 29, 2009
Slightly tanner this year, but still nothing compared with when I first arrived, ha ha ha, oh Japan v(^_^)v
Tomorrow, yet again, I shall head to Gifu city to get the new ALTs!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Happy Anniversary Japan, Part II!
Today I have lived in Japan exactly 2 years ^^ Last year I wrote a post and took a picture to commemorate, so I figured this year I should do the same. Unfortunately, the weather has been absolute CRAP! lately so it's all rainy out behind me... but, at least this time I remembered to take the picture earlier, and I have a better flash now!
July 29, 2007
July 29, 2008
July 29, 2009
Slightly tanner this year, but still nothing compared with when I first arrived, ha ha ha, oh Japan v(^_^)v
Tomorrow, yet again, I shall head to Gifu city to get the new ALTs!
July 29, 2007
July 29, 2008
July 29, 2009
Slightly tanner this year, but still nothing compared with when I first arrived, ha ha ha, oh Japan v(^_^)v
Tomorrow, yet again, I shall head to Gifu city to get the new ALTs!
Saturday, July 18, 2009
First day of summer vacation, and what do I do? Get up early for my students, of course!
I'm going to Tokyo today with a good friend of mine who is leaving Japan in about a week :(
Since it's her last weekend she said she wanted to go to Tokyo. So, although I've kinda been there a lot, I really had no choice but to go again ^^ darn! Tokyo! Man, that's rough.
Today is also the first day of summer vacation (FINALLY!), and of the regional baseball tournament. If I wasn't going to Tokyo of course I'd be going all weekend (or however long my teams last). BUT, since I'm leaving I figured I can't go. I was pretty disappointed, actually, since I've watched ALL of the tournament games the current Miya san nen sei have played in. I came to Japan right at the start of the second term in their first year of junior high school, which is when they can start playing in games. Also, I was really lucky that my former JTE at Miya was a coach on the team at the time, so it was easy for me to go; I was only able to start watching Kuguno play once I got Tank.
Anyway, in Takayama (and maybe the rest of Japan too, I'm not sure), after the tournaments associated with the first term end, the san nen sei (9th grade) have to stop playing in order to study for the high school entrance exams. So this will be their last tournament, assuming they don't get the top spot and go on to the prefectural game at the end of the month.
On top of this, after the san nen sei retire, there will only be 9 players left on the Miya team. There is a minimum of 10 players required to join tournament games, so essentially, this is also the last tournament for the entire team until the new kids come next spring and boost their numbers.
So there I was, 2 years of game watching under my belt, and prepared to miss the last one. And then last night at the end-of-term party for Miya JHS, while telling the baseball coach I can't go, it occurred to me. My bus for Shinjuku isn't until 130 pm, I'm not meeting my friend until 1, the game starts at 9am. I CAN GO. For the start, at least. Better than nothing...
Unfortunately, it's all the way in Furukawa, which is like, at least a half hour north of Takayama, plus. Even more since I live south of the city. And on top of that I don't know where the baseball ground is there. So I'm meeting the team at the school by 715 ^^
This time yesterday I had a nice, free, Saturday morning waiting for me. In which I could laze around a bit before meeting my friend and going to Tokyo. At the very least, I could sleep in.
Now I'm up at 530am, ha ha ha
PS it's currently raining. Won't that be ironic if I get myself over there only to find out the game has been postponed and I can't see it!
Since it's her last weekend she said she wanted to go to Tokyo. So, although I've kinda been there a lot, I really had no choice but to go again ^^ darn! Tokyo! Man, that's rough.
Today is also the first day of summer vacation (FINALLY!), and of the regional baseball tournament. If I wasn't going to Tokyo of course I'd be going all weekend (or however long my teams last). BUT, since I'm leaving I figured I can't go. I was pretty disappointed, actually, since I've watched ALL of the tournament games the current Miya san nen sei have played in. I came to Japan right at the start of the second term in their first year of junior high school, which is when they can start playing in games. Also, I was really lucky that my former JTE at Miya was a coach on the team at the time, so it was easy for me to go; I was only able to start watching Kuguno play once I got Tank.
Anyway, in Takayama (and maybe the rest of Japan too, I'm not sure), after the tournaments associated with the first term end, the san nen sei (9th grade) have to stop playing in order to study for the high school entrance exams. So this will be their last tournament, assuming they don't get the top spot and go on to the prefectural game at the end of the month.
On top of this, after the san nen sei retire, there will only be 9 players left on the Miya team. There is a minimum of 10 players required to join tournament games, so essentially, this is also the last tournament for the entire team until the new kids come next spring and boost their numbers.
So there I was, 2 years of game watching under my belt, and prepared to miss the last one. And then last night at the end-of-term party for Miya JHS, while telling the baseball coach I can't go, it occurred to me. My bus for Shinjuku isn't until 130 pm, I'm not meeting my friend until 1, the game starts at 9am. I CAN GO. For the start, at least. Better than nothing...
Unfortunately, it's all the way in Furukawa, which is like, at least a half hour north of Takayama, plus. Even more since I live south of the city. And on top of that I don't know where the baseball ground is there. So I'm meeting the team at the school by 715 ^^
This time yesterday I had a nice, free, Saturday morning waiting for me. In which I could laze around a bit before meeting my friend and going to Tokyo. At the very least, I could sleep in.
Now I'm up at 530am, ha ha ha
PS it's currently raining. Won't that be ironic if I get myself over there only to find out the game has been postponed and I can't see it!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Tanabata
Today is the Japanese holiday of Tanabata. It's a "star festival" that was imported from China sometime during the Heian Period (794 to 1185). The festival is held on the 7th day of the 7th month in most parts of Japan... except here in Hida where it's a month later, in August. Many festivals get pushed back by a month here; supposedly because the altitude makes the weather about a month behind that of the rest of the country (according to the locals anyway). Whether they do the same thing somewhere like, say, Sapporo, I'm not sure ('_^) I have also heard that many areas observe it August 7 because that more closely coincides with the 7th month of the traditional lunar calendar that was followed in Japan before the Meiji Era.
At any rate, although they don't hold the festival for it until August, everybody here knows Tanabata is SUPPOSED to be on 7/7, as evidenced by the "tanabata jello" I had in my school lunch today (oh yes, school doesn't end here for 2 more weeks) ^^
The premise of the festival is as follows. According to the legend (originally from China and tweaked to fit Japan), the two stars Vega, known as Orihime (weaving princess) and Altair, known as Hikiboshi (cow herder star) represent two lovers who are separated by the Milky Way "river". Only once a year are they able to meet, on the 7th day of the 7th month, for one night.
I feel especially sorry for Hikiboshi in this tale, as not only does bear an incredibly unfortunate name, he also appears to have been very unlucky in his choice of father-in-law.
From wikipedia:
Orihime (織姫, Weaving Princess), daughter of the Tentei (天帝, Sky King, or the universe itself), wove beautiful clothes by the bank of the Amanogawa (天の川, Milky Way, lit. "heavenly river"). Her father loved the cloth that she wove and so she worked very hard every day to weave it. However, Orihime was sad that because of her hard work she could never meet and fall in love with anyone. Concerned about his daughter, Tentei arranged for her to meet Hikoboshi (彦星, Cow Herder Star) (also referred to as Kengyuu (牽牛)) who lived and worked on the other side of the Amanogawa. When the two met, they fell instantly in love with each other and married shortly thereafter. However, once married, Orihime no longer would weave cloth for Tentei and Hikoboshi allowed his cows to stray all over Heaven. In anger, Tentei separated the two lovers across the Amanogawa and forbade them to meet. Orihime became despondent at the loss of her husband and asked her father to let them meet again. Tentei was moved by his daughter’s tears and allowed the two to meet on the 7th day of the 7th month if Orihime worked hard and finished her weaving. The first time they tried to meet, however, they found that they could not cross the river because there was no bridge. Orihime cried so much that a flock of magpies came and promised to make a bridge with their wings so that she could cross the river. It is said that if it rains on Tanabata, the magpies cannot come and the two lovers must wait until another year to meet.
(link)
The main features of the Tanabata festival are the colorful lanters with streamers and bamboo with wishes. Since it hasn't been held here yet this year I can't show you any pictures of them... but, oh, wait...
I have pictures from last year. Lucky you!
According to wikipedia, the streamers on the the lanterns represent the strings Orihime uses to weave
How true that is, I have no idea. I didn't ask ^_^
The best decoration/feature of the festival though, in my opinion, are the wishes. They are written on 短冊, tanzaku, colorful strips of paper, and then attached to bamboo. According to wikipedia, In the Edo period, girls wished for better sewing and craftsmanship, and boys wished for better handwriting by writing wishes on strips of paper.. These days, however, people write wishes for anything.
I think the bamboo and the paper are burned after the festival, similar to other wishing customs in Japan. And in case you were wondering, yes, my wish is hanging there in the picture, and no, I'm not telling you what it was =D
Unfortunately for the lovers this year, today has been completely overcast with periods of no, light, and very heavy rain. At the moment, if my ears are to be believed, we are currently in a period of medium-to-heavily-rainy. Looks like the magpies won't be making any bridges tonight.
HOWEVER, thanks to Hida's relatively-chilly weather, the lovers will get a 2nd chance next month. Keep your fingers crossed for better weather then (^_^)b
At any rate, although they don't hold the festival for it until August, everybody here knows Tanabata is SUPPOSED to be on 7/7, as evidenced by the "tanabata jello" I had in my school lunch today (oh yes, school doesn't end here for 2 more weeks) ^^
The premise of the festival is as follows. According to the legend (originally from China and tweaked to fit Japan), the two stars Vega, known as Orihime (weaving princess) and Altair, known as Hikiboshi (cow herder star) represent two lovers who are separated by the Milky Way "river". Only once a year are they able to meet, on the 7th day of the 7th month, for one night.
I feel especially sorry for Hikiboshi in this tale, as not only does bear an incredibly unfortunate name, he also appears to have been very unlucky in his choice of father-in-law.
From wikipedia:
Orihime (織姫, Weaving Princess), daughter of the Tentei (天帝, Sky King, or the universe itself), wove beautiful clothes by the bank of the Amanogawa (天の川, Milky Way, lit. "heavenly river"). Her father loved the cloth that she wove and so she worked very hard every day to weave it. However, Orihime was sad that because of her hard work she could never meet and fall in love with anyone. Concerned about his daughter, Tentei arranged for her to meet Hikoboshi (彦星, Cow Herder Star) (also referred to as Kengyuu (牽牛)) who lived and worked on the other side of the Amanogawa. When the two met, they fell instantly in love with each other and married shortly thereafter. However, once married, Orihime no longer would weave cloth for Tentei and Hikoboshi allowed his cows to stray all over Heaven. In anger, Tentei separated the two lovers across the Amanogawa and forbade them to meet. Orihime became despondent at the loss of her husband and asked her father to let them meet again. Tentei was moved by his daughter’s tears and allowed the two to meet on the 7th day of the 7th month if Orihime worked hard and finished her weaving. The first time they tried to meet, however, they found that they could not cross the river because there was no bridge. Orihime cried so much that a flock of magpies came and promised to make a bridge with their wings so that she could cross the river. It is said that if it rains on Tanabata, the magpies cannot come and the two lovers must wait until another year to meet.
(link)
The main features of the Tanabata festival are the colorful lanters with streamers and bamboo with wishes. Since it hasn't been held here yet this year I can't show you any pictures of them... but, oh, wait...
I have pictures from last year. Lucky you!
According to wikipedia, the streamers on the the lanterns represent the strings Orihime uses to weave
How true that is, I have no idea. I didn't ask ^_^
The best decoration/feature of the festival though, in my opinion, are the wishes. They are written on 短冊, tanzaku, colorful strips of paper, and then attached to bamboo. According to wikipedia, In the Edo period, girls wished for better sewing and craftsmanship, and boys wished for better handwriting by writing wishes on strips of paper.. These days, however, people write wishes for anything.
I think the bamboo and the paper are burned after the festival, similar to other wishing customs in Japan. And in case you were wondering, yes, my wish is hanging there in the picture, and no, I'm not telling you what it was =D
Unfortunately for the lovers this year, today has been completely overcast with periods of no, light, and very heavy rain. At the moment, if my ears are to be believed, we are currently in a period of medium-to-heavily-rainy. Looks like the magpies won't be making any bridges tonight.
HOWEVER, thanks to Hida's relatively-chilly weather, the lovers will get a 2nd chance next month. Keep your fingers crossed for better weather then (^_^)b
Saturday, July 4, 2009
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