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Published: February 4th 2006
Lexi-Made Futo Maki
...the picture really speaks for itself... ;)Have a happy Setsubun? Hehe, not quite. Yesterday (Feb. 3) was Setsubun in Japan. For those of you (like me) who have no idea what Setsubun is, here's a quick lil blurb: It's pretty much just chasing the oni (bad spirits - looks like a goblin) away and welcoming the good fortune to have a good year. Roasted soy beans (mame) are thrown around the house to get the oni out, iwashi (fish), a whole futo maki and the mame are eaten (you're supposed to eat your age). From what my Sensei tells me, we're supposed to say "oni wa soto; fuku wa uchi" (soto is outside, fuku is fortune, uchi is house... can you guess the meaning?). So, my family was a little less traditional. I helped make the futo maki - okaasan called me a professional... haha. We cut it up so that it was easier to eat. We didn't throw beans around - though okaasan and otoosan may have done it while I was at school. And the iwashi was delicious... except there were a lot of tiny bones... and it was a kind of small fish... take a lookie at the pictures. The beans were fine, they
Setsubun Food
Futo Maki, Setsubun Snacks, Iwashi and Mame... were a little tasteless and dry, but would have been really really good with some salt or seasoning... 😉 I only ate about 3/4 of my age, but even naho (sister) only ate 3 and she's 23! She just doesn't like beans much and her parents really aren't that bent on tradition.
I also had the chance to meet Mayu, my speaking partner set up by Kansai Gaidai. We've been emailing each other and texting each other for a about three weeks now, and finally had the chance to meet. She's from Nara and it takes about an hour half to commute to and from school. We had lunch at the student cafeteria. Kitsune udon with wakame for a measly 310 yen... about $2.60 - tell me that isn't a deal! We then went down to Hirakata city to shop around or rather, look around. =) It amazes me how cheap the jackets are here... I guess because they are so heavy in supply and spring is coming up... but boy do I want more jackets. Hehe, have to fight the urge to splurge! Anyway, I had my first azuki pancake.. I'm kicking myself in the butt for forgetting
Osaka
Lovely lovely Osaka from the Floating Garden what it's called, and I really should have taken a picture, but I was too excited. It was azuki in a light beige pancake tasting shell. Warm and fresh off the stove... yummy! They cook it like how they make tako-yaki... well, sort of. I'll find the name soon, promise! But all in all, I had a really good time with Mayu. After a few hours we got the hang of our half Japanese half English conversations.
I was going to write more and show more pics, but I really really need to study. I know, it's a Saturday, but I have a big "review" exam on Monday for my Japanese speaking class... Not quite a review for me since about 25% of the material is new, but eh, I'll live. Everyone, please take care, have a wonderful weekend and ENJOY WATCHING THE SUPERBOWL! I don't know if I'll get it - and I'm in school while it's happening... poop.
p.s. Attached are some older pics that I forgot about... enjoy!
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Good Luck
studying already eh? That's terrible! I'm glad that you got to meet your speaking partner and got to check out some interesting places around you. I can't wait to see picutres of your host family. They sound like they're a bunch of fun haha... anyways, keep living it up til' me and dawn get there. You'll have company very soon :)