Catherine-Setsubun

Snowy Setsubun

Yesterday it snowed in Tokyo! What a treat to wake up and see white outside the window. My first impulse was to run and ask "Is school cancelled yet?!" My host brother and I had a snowball fight and built a snowman, (which we named Yukidaruma-san).

By evening most of the snow had turned to slush. My host family and I decided to brave the cold and go to the temple for the Setsubun holiday. We threw soybeans off the balcony, yelling "Fuku wa uchi, oni wa soto!" ("Good luck in, devil out!") We also performed the same ritual at home with my host dad, who was lucky enough to get to wear the oni (devil) costume while we threw soybeans at him. For dinner we ate makizushi, which is traditional for the holiday. We ate in silence while facing the SE (the lucky direction for this year). I asked my host family how this "lucky direction" is determined. They weren't sure so we looked it up online. Apparently, it is determined by the zodiac sign for the year. We all learned something new!

About Setsubun:
Setsubun is celebrated yearly on or around February 3. The day before the lunar New Year, Setsubun is considered to be like a "New Year's Eve." On this day, all across Japan people cast out the evil spirits from their home by performing mamemaki, soy bean throwing. The same ritual is also performed at Shinto Shrines and Buddhist temples.

Facts about Setsubun were taken from Wikipedia.

Comments

Stephanie-こんにちは！Konnichiwa! Hello!

こんにちは！Konnichiwa! Hello! My host sister Asuka and I in 小えど, Japan Hi everyone! My name is Stephanie, but in Japan I've already been given the nickname Su-chan　す－ちゃん (su from Stephanie since the Japanese pronunciation is su-teh-fah-nee, and -chan is added to the end of a name when you are speaking to a younger person or a friend), so you can call me Su-chan! I am one of the five Hippo interns working in the LEX headquarters office in Tokyo this year. In addition to me, from Wisconsin, the intern team is made up of Tino from Mexico, Sakun and Ken Ken from China, and Hiu-chan from Korea. It's great to have such an international group! Before coming to Japan I attended the University of Wisconsin and graduated with a degree in fine art. During that time I also worked for Wisconsin 4-H International Programs, which is how I first learned about Hippo through the 4-H/Hippo summer and yearlong exchanges. Last summer I had the opportun...

Daniel- Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas 「メリークリスマス」　(Daniel) A knock came at the door around eight in the evening, just as we were finishing eating dinner. I yelled out, " IRANAI～～～ ", meaning "we don't need it", pretending that it was some late working door-to-door salesman. My host mom laughed and went to answer the door. She came back carrying a huge USPS box from America. Oops. Just kidding. I need that. I really need that. My parents in the US decided to surprise me for Christmas by mailing me a box of my favorite items from America. They somehow managed to pack a pair of pants, two jars almond butter, five boxes of gum, four giant chucks of halva , and four packages of chocolate. I have no idea how my parents managed to shove all of that stuff into such a small box. But knowing my parents, there is always a way. Needless to say, I was ecstatic to receive my gift. Although my parents told me about the package beforehand, its physical presence was so overwhelming. I fe...

Stephanie- Dr. Suzannes Flynn's Visit

Dr. Suzanne Flynn's Visit This week Dr. Suzanne Flynn is visiting LEX/Hippo in Japan so we have been busy in the office preparing for the various lectures and workshops that she has been involved in. Dr. Flynn is a professor of linguistics and language acquisition at MIT in Boston and also a member of the LEX America Board of Directors. Yesterday she gave a public lecture which was attended by many Hippo members on raising multilingual children (and becoming multilingual adults as well). The session also included a lecture by Dr. Sakai, a Japanese brain researcher on language and the brain, followed by a question and answer session. I was one of the MCs, along with 3 other interns, and introduced myself and facilitated parts of the session in English, Spanish and a little Japanese. One of the new things I learned was how to thank a speaker and solicit a round of applause from a Japanese audience: "Sakai sensei arigato gozaimashita, mo ichido hakushuo onegai shimasu....

Search This Blog