see you on my new blog

This class will finish soon, but I made my own blog. If you miss me, please see there. I will try hard to make a wonderful one. The link is here.

Rice cake (ｌｌｌｌｌｌ´～｀ｌｌｌｌｌｌ）モグモグ

At the end of year, my family usually makes rice cake and gives a rice cake called kagami-mochi(鏡餅). It is a traditional New Year's decorations to ancestors as a gift. And we place it on kamidana(神棚) which is a type of miniature shrine. My family also puts it on tokonoma(床の間) which is a small decorated alcove in the main room of the home around Dec. 28. This is because "8" is a tranditional number in Japan. After some weeks, we break and eat kagami-mochi. This event is called kagami-biraki(鏡開き). The picture is kagami-mochi.

In Japan, almost all Japanese people eat rice cake(もち) in the New Year. We have various kind of way to eat. For example, oshiruko(お汁粉) is a dish which is some rice cakes into sweet adzuki beans(小豆) soup. Ozouni(お雑煮) contains rice cakes in the Japanese taste soup. Ankoromochi(あんころもち) is covered azuki beans. Isobeyaki(磯辺焼き) is a baked rice cake rolled laver(海苔). We enjoy eating as we like and I really love oshiruko. If you come to Japan, please try them.

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Funky gal !!!

I have a part-time job as a tutor for a high school student. When I met her for the first time, she had enjoyed her summer vacation in 2006. Then her color of hair was pink, though almost all Japanese had black hair!!! And she put on some hair extensions which was a kind of wig heir. Also, she frequented a tanning salon so she had a tanned skin; what we call "gan-guro(ガングロ)". She often said to me, "I don't like this color of skin like Thai people. I'm trying to change my nationality to BLACK PEOPLE by means of tanning!!!", uh she didn't have a will to say disagreeable things. To tell the truth, I thought "Woo, she is very funky! The young people today makes me surprised." I worried about whether I could get along with her or not because I had never connected with this type of people.


However, as time passed, we have appreciated each other gradually. She goes to the school which I have commuted in my high school days so I am a senior of her. This is because we can talk about teachers in the high school and laugh. Moreover, I have a younger brother belonging to the same school and they know each other!!! It's a miracle, isn't is?



I teach her all subjects which she studies except some skills tests. For example, Japanese, politics and economy, and also English. However, she doesn't like studying. She uses cell-phone in her school classes and doesn't take notes. So when we are in the test date, we start judging first what the examination subjects are. Well... please do not ask me how her grades are and my guidance.




Do you have any part-time job?

We 感動(can do) it!

Our school festival is called Nashi-Kou-Sai(梨甲祭). This is because that Yamanashi university(山~梨~大学) is in Kofu(~甲~府) so the name comes from these two words, I think. In this year, our school festival was held in November 2nd through 4th.

The 1st day, I wore a disguise of TARAKO(cod roe) with my department fellows. One of the Japanese primary school students unit Kigurumi(キグルミ) sung a song Tarako-Tarako-Tarako and they put on the costume. It was a movement in last year. We made the costume and wore.Then we walked around in Kofu city. That's very fun!!!

The 2nd day, I sold grilled chicken on steak(焼き鳥) with my department fellows. We bought some ingredients of barbecued chicken and prepared for selling. First, we were going to sell it in two days. However, many people come to our shop and bought a lots of grilled chicken on steak so we had completely sold in the 2nd day!!!

That was one of my best memory in 2007!!

Do you know about Yamanashi (?_?)

My hometown Yamanashi has three famous things: a yield of grapes and peaches, Takeda Shingen, and Mt. Fuji.

Before starting introduction about the famous things of Yamanashi, I will tell you a simple outline of Japan and Yamanashi. In Japan, there are 47 the administrative divisions with one hundred and thirty million people. My hometown Yamanashi is a prefecture attached to Tokyo, the capital of Japan, on the east. There are about nine million people in my prefecture.

Now I am going to tell you about my hometown's well-known things. The first one is a yield of grapes and peaches. An amount of grapes make up twenty five percent and of peaches make up thirty five percent of Japanese shipping. A climate of Yamanashi is suitable for the cultivation of them so there are many farming families in my prefecture. My neighborhood also grows grapes and peaches, and she gives some of them to my family after harvesting.

The second one is Takeda Shingen. He is a feudal lord in Sengoku period in Yamanashi and everybody knows his name in my prefecture. His slogan "WIND-WOOD-FIRE-MOUNTAIN (Fu- Rin- Ka- Zan) " is still famous in Yamanashi. It means that soldiers act at the speed like wind, move quietly like wood, invade the enemies like fire, and keep still like mountain. If you like it, please popularize his slogan around you.

The third one is Mt. Fuji. As you know, Mt. Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan. The height is 3,776 meters and many climbers visit the top of it. Mt. Fuji is sandwiched between Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefecture so I can see it everyday. At the beginning of the New Year, I see the first sunrise of the year coming behind Mt. Fuji. What we call "Diamond Fuji." How nice it is! I feel refreshing and get energy.

I told you three famous things of Yamanashi: a yield of grapes and peaches, Takeda Shingen, and Mt. Fuji. Please remember about them.
(Image source)