So this will be my second Lent since arriving in Japan. Last year I kick started it with a pancake party at my house and this year I was keen to keep up the tradition. We had great fun, but I just wish more of my Japanese friends had been able to come. I'm sure they would have loved the tradition of eating lots of delicious pancakes, even if the concept of Lent confused them.
I've had to explain it a few times to the one of my older JTEs and breathed a genuine sigh of relief when he seemed to get it. Then the other day.....
"Toni, would you like a candy?"
"No thank you. I gave sweets up for lent (remember!?)"
"But you had one last week..."
"Yes, but it's lent now and I can't have sweets."
"Oh...." And with that he wondered away looking more confused than ever, while I banged my head against the desk.
This year, I've decided to use lent to further my health goals. I've taken up running again, as well as cutting sugar from my diet. I'd like to say that this year I succeeded in giving up Facebook, but as this is my main method of communication withy friends back home, this seemed counter-productive.
Wish me luck and have a successful lent!
Showing posts with label Hyogo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hyogo. Show all posts
Sunday, 24 February 2013
Wednesday, 17 October 2012
It's all about FOOD!
I love my weekends in Japan. They are times when I can hang out in some of the most fantastic cities in the world. Sightseeing in Kyoto on Friday, shopping in Osaka on Saturday, party in Kobe on Saturday night. And if I'm feeling adventurous, I may stray further afield to Nara, Gifu, Tokyo and even all the way up in the Tohoku region (not an easy thing to do in one weekend!)
But whenever I come back from these places and tell my Japanese coworkers about it, I guarantee that this conversation will ensue:
Me: "Hi! I went to (insert Japanese city here) this weekend."
JapCo: Oh really? Did you eat (food these cities are famous for)?
From black beans to okonomiyaki, it seems that every single town and city in Japan boasts a famous food that you absolutely MUST eat when you visit. In fact sometimes when I've been out with Japanese friends, finding and eating this famous food is often first on their list of priorities. Which is probably why when I admit that I didn't try them when I went off sightseeing, they look disappointed and the conversation dies there before I can tell them about the other things I saw.
For a nation that boasts the lowest obesity rate in the world, it is astonishing how preoccupied they all are with food. When the Olympics ended this summer, British gold medalists appeared on daytime TV programmes to give interviews or hand out prizes on kids shows. What did the Japanese medalists do? They appeared on late night shows and were asked to eat increasingly bizarre foods while the panel of hosts "oohed" and "aahed" impressively. And when current celebrities aren't stuffing themselves, it's the regular hosts who regularly wolf down various foods while the audience and misc make the appropriate noises, as though food is an entirely new concept to them.
Whenever I turn on the TV, I can guarantee there's a cooking show on one of the main channels. One of the first questions I am always asked is "what Japanese food do you like?" And everyone is always impressed that I can cook for myself.
Now don't get me wrong, I like food and Japanese food is delicious, but I'd rather talk about the beautiful temples and buildings I visited. So please don't stop talking to me just because I wasn't hungry!
But whenever I come back from these places and tell my Japanese coworkers about it, I guarantee that this conversation will ensue:
Me: "Hi! I went to (insert Japanese city here) this weekend."
JapCo: Oh really? Did you eat (food these cities are famous for)?
From black beans to okonomiyaki, it seems that every single town and city in Japan boasts a famous food that you absolutely MUST eat when you visit. In fact sometimes when I've been out with Japanese friends, finding and eating this famous food is often first on their list of priorities. Which is probably why when I admit that I didn't try them when I went off sightseeing, they look disappointed and the conversation dies there before I can tell them about the other things I saw.
For a nation that boasts the lowest obesity rate in the world, it is astonishing how preoccupied they all are with food. When the Olympics ended this summer, British gold medalists appeared on daytime TV programmes to give interviews or hand out prizes on kids shows. What did the Japanese medalists do? They appeared on late night shows and were asked to eat increasingly bizarre foods while the panel of hosts "oohed" and "aahed" impressively. And when current celebrities aren't stuffing themselves, it's the regular hosts who regularly wolf down various foods while the audience and misc make the appropriate noises, as though food is an entirely new concept to them.
Whenever I turn on the TV, I can guarantee there's a cooking show on one of the main channels. One of the first questions I am always asked is "what Japanese food do you like?" And everyone is always impressed that I can cook for myself.
Now don't get me wrong, I like food and Japanese food is delicious, but I'd rather talk about the beautiful temples and buildings I visited. So please don't stop talking to me just because I wasn't hungry!
Saturday, 5 May 2012
My First Enkai and Karaoke
I started school at the beginning of September, but for the first couple of weeks we had the Sports Festival. So I didn't really do any work. I just lounged around, helped to build tents, broke a tent, learned a new dance from the students and got sunburn.
As soon as it was finished, the teachers whisked me off for an enkai. I'd been told what to expect during this and what etiquette and behaviour was expected of me and I think I did pretty well. I don't know if I got lucky and was placed in a generally relaxed school, but a lot of things happened that night that I certainly wasn't expecting....
First off, one of the teachers brought with him a video of the highlights of the festival that day and, as there was a TV in the room, we hooked it up and I listened to them laughing and taking the mickey out of the students that messed up or looked silly (which I thought was quite mean).
Then it got weird.
While we were watching the students on the video making human pyramids, some of the teachers began to wonder if they could still do it too. Before I knew it, in the middle of this elegant party room was a human pyramid comprising some of the older teachers and the (female) principal on the very top!
After these rather astonishing acrobatics were over (seriously! One or two of those guys had to be my grandmother's age!) we headed off to a little karaoke bar on the other side of town. It was a nice little place, kind of like a lounge bar and there was already a group of tipsy middle-aged men there howling into a mike. The teachers took it in turns to sing slow love-songs (from what I could gather, still not having much Japanese under my belt, but the videos looked pretty sappy) and persuaded me to pick something from the English section. I was torn. I was actually quite a good singer, but I'd never done Karaoke before, so I was torn between following the trend and picking a slow song like they had done and hope I sounded okay, or do something totally different and possibly make an idiot of myself. It was basically a choice between showing off my voice or throwing myself in and enjoying the party for what it was.
I went for the latter and did something that, had I been in Western company, would have meant committing social suicide. I sang 'Wannabe' by the Spice Girls. And I brought down the house!
As soon as it was finished, the teachers whisked me off for an enkai. I'd been told what to expect during this and what etiquette and behaviour was expected of me and I think I did pretty well. I don't know if I got lucky and was placed in a generally relaxed school, but a lot of things happened that night that I certainly wasn't expecting....
First off, one of the teachers brought with him a video of the highlights of the festival that day and, as there was a TV in the room, we hooked it up and I listened to them laughing and taking the mickey out of the students that messed up or looked silly (which I thought was quite mean).
Then it got weird.
While we were watching the students on the video making human pyramids, some of the teachers began to wonder if they could still do it too. Before I knew it, in the middle of this elegant party room was a human pyramid comprising some of the older teachers and the (female) principal on the very top!
After these rather astonishing acrobatics were over (seriously! One or two of those guys had to be my grandmother's age!) we headed off to a little karaoke bar on the other side of town. It was a nice little place, kind of like a lounge bar and there was already a group of tipsy middle-aged men there howling into a mike. The teachers took it in turns to sing slow love-songs (from what I could gather, still not having much Japanese under my belt, but the videos looked pretty sappy) and persuaded me to pick something from the English section. I was torn. I was actually quite a good singer, but I'd never done Karaoke before, so I was torn between following the trend and picking a slow song like they had done and hope I sounded okay, or do something totally different and possibly make an idiot of myself. It was basically a choice between showing off my voice or throwing myself in and enjoying the party for what it was.
I went for the latter and did something that, had I been in Western company, would have meant committing social suicide. I sang 'Wannabe' by the Spice Girls. And I brought down the house!
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