The trip to my parent’s house – Part.1

In Japan, there is a long national holiday in May, which we call, “Golden Week“.

Generally it starts on May 3, Constitution day, and ends on May 5, Children’s day.

Especially this year, Golden Week was longer than usual because of the weekend.

My husband and I went back to my parent’s house, which is located 1 hour by plane from Tokyo.

In Golden Week, it’s difficult to buy discounted tickets.

In this season, many people travel by planes, therefore the airlines don’t discount tickets.

I was not able to get a good flight time(morning and afternoon), because other people had already booked them, so we went back to Tokushima prefecture(my hometown) ,at a somewhat late time.

I was very happy to see my parent’s, because it was last October when I went there last.

The next day, my father, my husband and I went to Kochi prefecture, which is next to Tokushima prefecture.

It was very far from my parent’s house our destination in Kochi.

My father drove for about 4 hours through the mountains, and by the time we reached our destination, we were all tired tired.

At first, we went to Kochi castle, which was the setting for a famous TV program in Japan.

There, we ate local ice cream which is called “Ice Crin”, the Japanese old name of ice cream.

I really like this ice cream!

The shop’s staff said to me, it was free to add other flavors during Golden Week. We were lucky!

After Kochi castle, we moved to a big and famous market in Kochi, which is called ‘Nichiyo-Ichi (Sunday Market)‘.

I remember this market, from my childhood, as I once went there with my parents.

By chance, I could get a free paper at the market. According to an article, there are more than 500 shops there!

It was very very crowded, because of Golden Week!

Vegetables, fishes, pickles, knives, flowers, etc are sold at many similar style of small shops!

The prices of them are not too bad, so we just enjoyed the peculiar atmosphere of the market, and bought small dried fish and one kind of miso which was packaged in a small container, for our breakfast when we returned to Tokyo.(Actually they were very tasty! So now I regret that I didn’t buy more!)

After passing through the market, we looked for restaurants for our lunch.

But there were not so many restaurants around us, even though there were many small shops!

I didn’t want to enter a usual restaurant.  To eat delicious local food is very important for me and my husband.

So we bought some fish cakes, tempura and grilled bonito which is called ‘Katsuo no tataki‘ at another market, and ate them in my father’s car.

I think it was a nice idea, hahaha.

We left Kochi at about 3p.m. and reached my parent’s house about 4 hours later.

All of us were very tired, but we really enjoyed the trip to Kochi. And I was able to talk with my father in his car after a  long time.

Oh! I have another thing that I want to write about.

On our way home, we stopped at a parking area in Tokushima, where I saw a wonderful sight!

There were many carp banners, which are called ‘Koinobori‘ over the river.

On Children’s day, we cerebrate the growth of children by decorating carp banners above our house.

In Some rural areas, the Koinobori are decorated over rivers, or between mountains.

To be continued!

Trip to Korea vol.5

On the fifth day, I came back to Seoul at about 7:00pm.

I stayed at a guesthouse which was very cheep( only 2500 yen)!

I ate so much everyday in Andong, so I was worried that I was getting fat?

I didn’t eat a dinner that day.

The next day, I went to a big park near Han River.

I saw many people who were running, cycling, walking, etc.

If I caught a cold, I would run!(My hobby is running)

Afterwards, I moved in the direction of Seoul City Goverment.

I was lucky! I could see an event named “Hi Seoul Festival“.

Many people gathered at a square to see an international show.

I could see a traditional Japanese dance named “YOSAKOI“.

But I wish I could have seen “AWA-ORODI” in Seoul, because my hobby is dancing”AWA-ODORI”.haha

These are photos of AWA-ORODI.

It was a really good trip and someday I want to go back to Korea!

Thank you for reading the long diary.

Trip to Korea vol.4

I stayed at my guides house for 2 nights.

He lives with his wife. But his mother is 93 years old, so his wife lives with his mother most of the week.

His wife couldn’t speak Japanese except for a few words.

However, his mother could speak Japanese.

I was really surprised, and I thought about the war between Korea and Japan a long time ago.

I really liked his family because they were very kind and treated me as their daughter.

His wife taught me how to cook Kimchi and Jijimi. It was a lot of fun!

The recipe of Kimchi was not so difficult. I think that homemade is better. It is healthy and cheap.

His wife, called “OMONI” in Korean, which means “Mam”, asked me to perform the shamisen again.

So I played it for her. And my guide taught me 2 traditional Korean songs.

I knew the first song, titled “ARIRAN”. It is popular in Japan.

But I didn’t know the other one. It’s title was”KIKYOU”.

He said to me that if I were to play these songs in front of Koreans, they would be surprised.

My guide was good at singing and he taught me for about 1 hour! His wife sang with us.

I wish I could have performed those songs at the Church!

On the last day in Andong, I performed those songs in front of them.

We had a good time!

Oh, I must say.

The dishes OMONI cooked were all delicious! I really liked her dishes!

In Seoul, I couldn’t try Korean home cooking, but in Andong, I could it.

When I left Andong, I was very sad.

I like to travel so that I can exchange culture with local people, but I always feel sad when I leave.

To be continued.

Trip to Korea vol.3

The first day in Andong, I met my guide in the afternoon at the bus stop.

Afterwards he took me to the church.

I quickly could see that he was kind. He introduced me to some Korean people who were the members of the Church.

It was the first time for me to performe at a Church and had been to have contact with many Koreans.

I couldn’t speak Korean, but a woman who was learning Japanese for several months kindly talked to me.

She sutdied singing at University and she could play the piano.

She likes Japan, so she is learning Japanese.

I was ashamed not to have learnt any Korean before I went to Korea, even though I had a lot of time!

She and I taught each other our culture and languages. It was a lot of fun!

After dinner we came back to the Church. Afterwards she and I prepared the shamisen.

I was really nurvous because I heard once from my guide over 200 people would come to the Church.

I heard from him that my perform would start after the priest spoke.

The priest talked for about 1 hour. At last it was my turn!

I stood up and walked forward. My guide introduced me.

I greeted all of the people in front of me and talked to them about myself, Japan and the shamisen.

My guide translated.

Afterwards I performed 3 songs with singing.

The first and second songs were traditional songs of Tokushima(my hometown) and the third song was”SAKURA SAKURA”.

I thought “SAKURA SAKURA” was a very famous song but they didn’t know it…

I had a precious experience.

oh! I forgot to say!

I should worn my kimono! The picture was not good and some people expected me to wear a kimono.

I gave up to bring my kimono because my baggage was heavy..

but I should have brought my  kimono dispite my heavy baggage.

To be continued!

Trip to Korea vol.2

On the third day, I went to Andong.

Andong is a traditional city, and it is the city with largest area in Korea.

I was really looking forward to going there.

Sightseeing in Andong was the main event for me.

The reason I went there was because I exchanged e-mails with a professional guide in Andong.

He can write Japanese very well and we exchanged emails in Japanese.

How did I know him?

One day I searched about traditional Korean culture on the Internet.

I wanted to stay at a traditional Korean house with a Korean family.

I accidentally found his web site in Japanese.

So I sent him an email and he repleid to me quickly.

Andong is a beautiful city and there is a famous village named “Andong Hahoe village“.

My guide was excellent and kind.

We talked about many topics on the way to sightseeing spots.

I thought he was like my father because his age was almost the same as my father.

And one of his children was the same age as me!

So I talked with him about my worries.

He advices me about many things. I was greatly touched by his kindness.

I had a lot of fun sightseeing.

But actualy sightseeing was not the main event for this trip.

I played the shamisen in a church.

To be continued.

Trip to Korea vol.1

I went to Korea for 6 days from May 5th-10th.

I enjoyed the trip very much and had many precious experiences.

I’m working with a Korean man, who is a web director. He is very kind so I became interested in Korea.

I only payed 10 thousand yen for my flight because I could use mileage.

Korea is very near from Japan, only 2 hours by plane.

I didn’t have enough time to read the Korean guide book so I read it in the plane.

At first I went to Seoul and I stayed there for 2 days.

On the third day,I went to Andong which is a famous traditional city 3 hours by high-speed bus from Seoul.

On the fifth day,I returned to Seoul and stayed there one more night.

Seoul is not so big and I could walk around for sightseeing.

And in Seoul,subway tickets are very cheep,so I only payed 1000 won-1400won per trip on the train.

But I usually walked because I wanted to feel Korea’s authentic culture.

In Korea some shopkeepers can speak Japanese(only shopping vocabulary) but many people can’t speak Japanese or English.

I first spoke to Koreans in Japanese, then I spoke in English. And when they couldn’t understand either language,I used body language.

However it was very a interesting experience in that we could communicate by body language.

I like Korean food and ate many differend foods.

I bought some food from street vendors.

It’s very interesting that both young people and old people buy and eat food on the street.

In Japan, we generally think eating on street is not polite.

These food were very delicious!

I went to some traditional royal palaces.

There were many Korean, some Japanese and Chinese tourists there for sightseeing.

I noticed that many young Koreans had good cameras and they took pictures everywhere.

I heard from my Korean coworker when I came back to Japan that, in Korea many young people have their own blog and they can use graphic software.

There was one more thing I noticed.

In Korea people are very close.Young women walked arm in arm.Young men often touched each other.

In Japan,we distance ourselves from other people.

I didn’t book a package tour when I went to Korea.

I think we can only understand another country’s culture when we adapt ourselves to their everyday lifestyle.

In Dongdaemun Market,I walked around.

I didn’t want to go to famous spots or building, so I looked for local spots.

And I found delicious shops.

In Dongdaemun Market,there are many sections.(for example plants,clothes,used books,cooking appliances)

In one street,there were some shops which grilled fish in front of the shop.

I felt hungry and went to one of those small shops.

The shop’s staff couldn’t speak either Japanese or English,but I used body language and I could order lunch.

To be continued.

Trip to China

I went to Changsha which is the capital of Hunan in China with my friend;Alisa who is a Japanese American.
It’s my second trip to Changsha, and the first time for my friend.

We stayed in China for 11 days.
We worked in the Chinese office for 1 week, and we went sightseeing for the rest of the days.

We enjoyed this trip very much.

Alisa and I stayed at our Chinese coworker’s house by ourselves.

The Chinese coworker and his wife both came back to China at the same time,however they didn’t have enough room to put us up,so they stayed at his parent’s house while we were in China.)

Alisa and I enjoy eating delicious food.

In Changsha,most of the dishes are very hot and spicy.
I like the taste and Alisa did too.

We ate many dishes everyday.

But I was worried about my weight,so I did some stretching and exercise in my room at night.

Is the spicy food good for health?
When I came back to Japan,I weighed myself on the scales.
But,I had only gained 1kg.

In China,Alisa and I talked about many topics every night.
It was a good experience for me.

And I talked with Chinese coworker and exchanged language and culture.
We went to their college,ate together,went to karaoke to sing together,went cycling and so on.

I understood their culture and life style.

This was one of the most precious experiences for me.

In Japan,the problem of China and Tibet increased.
But I think most of the news is one-sided.

I only trust the facts which I can see my own eyes and experience in reality.

Strong patriotism excludes other ways of thinking from our minds.

I want to be liberal and have respect for other opinions.

I am working with many foreigners who come from 7 different counties,and we sometimes argue about our different opinions.

Ultimately,the most important thing is communication.

This time,my coworker’s mother(who can’t speak Japanese) guided us for half a day.

At first,I wondered whether we could communicate well with her?
But,she used body language and expressed herself very well!
So,we could communicate each other!

I felt that the language is only one means of communication.

And There was one surprising for me.

One of the Chinese coworkers likes Japan very much, and he could speak Japanese in short sentences.

While we were in China,he asked us every time”How do you say”___”in Japanese?”.
I admired him and really felt the neck of progress in language is curiosity.

I had many experiences in China.