MissNessa

Japanese vocab ensoku: school field trip shuugakuryokou: school excursion kofun: Ancient Japanese burial mounds So in Japanese public schools, they have two types of school trips: ensoku and shuugakuryokou. Every grade from elementary to high school does ensoku, which is usually a day trip to a somewhat local place. The youngest of the bunch, maybe 1-4 graders, visit someplace local within their own town and usually go by foot. The older kids often take buses or ride the train to a slightly farther local place of interest. The destination usually has some cultural value about Japanese history or heritage, or has something to do with a local product or specialty or craft of the area. Shuugakuryokou however is usually reserved for older students and is done sometime after the ensoku, maybe the following month or semester. ... read more

Japanese Vocabulary fujii: wisteria On the first day of Golden Week, Zach, Christine and I went to a nearby temple to see the Fujii. Christine found out about the place from the taxi driver that takes her to her mountain school on Wednesday. Since late April to early May is their peak season here, we decided to check it out and it was a good thing we did! The wisteria was beautiful- I've mostly seen purple wisteria before, some white, but never pink. Not only did they have all colors, but the wisteria was so dense and beautiful, and all the plumes were unusually long. Plus, it was a perfect, sunny, hot, blue-sky day, perfect for catching the light among the blossoms. Honestly, I think I enjoyed it more than the cherry blossoms and cherry blossom ... read more

Japanese Vocab: GW: Golden Week shuriken: ninja stars nihon-ichi: number one in Japan yasumi: break, vacation, holiday onsen: public bath house/hot spring with communal showers and large communal baths So in California I remember that up until high school, we had this little week long break (outside of winter break) in February, always around my birthday and President's Day, that was usually called "Ski Week" or something. I mean, officially it was probably called President's Day/Week or something completely bogus like that, but it was basically a week off so people could go out skiing in Tahoe and such. Here in Japan, we have Golden Week, where they line up a couple of holidays in a row to take out most of the week so families can travel. The government even helps out by subsidizing gas ... read more

Late March to early April in Japan is cherry blossom season, symbolic of the brevity but intense beauty of life. The fragile blossoms only last about a week or two long before falling. Japanese Vocab mankai: full bloom sakura: cherry blossoms, symbol of springtime in Japan saku/saiteru: to bloom/are in bloom ~jo: added to the end of a name, meaning ~ Castle (wakayamajo = wakayama castle) ~tera/dera: suffix added to a name, meaning it is a Buddhist temple (Kimiidera = Kimii Temple) hanami: going to picnic under the sakura trees, not only for the sake of enjoying their natural beauty, but also to consume food and alcoholic beverage, often resulting in public drunken revalry and general rowdiness (at least, that's the ideal) It's that time of year! The birds are singing and the bees are buzzing! ... read more

VERY LATE, I know...as always! The pics are actually from March 2 ;) Japanese Vocabulary Hina Matsuri: the Doll Festival ningyo: dolls Matsuoka Sensei, one of my JTE (Japanese Teacher of English), invited some of us to her place for a Hina Matsuri lunch. The Doll Festival, or Girl’s Day, is on March 3 (3/3) every year. Families, well actually, mothers put out big ningyo displays for their daughters in the week before Hina Matsuri. The crowning pieces of the doll display are a prince and princess doll, in the image of marital bliss- it is said (by Matsuoka Sensei), that the festival and doll display is somehow supposed to insure that your daughter gets married well. BUT, if the dolls are not put away the day of the festival, or earlier, than your daughter will ... read more