Hina dolls

I put hina dolls in the living room. My hina dolls were handed over from my "grand mother". They are full set hina dolls.

full set hina dolls means ;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinamatsuri

But they are so old that most tools have gone.

But I try to keep them and want to hand them over to my daughters (though I have only one set). So I need to dry them, but it's troublesome. So I put main pair and a trio of hina dolls.

And can you see round dolls? They are made by my grand mother.

And can you see wood dolls? They are made by my daughters when they went to kindergarden.

Next year the ladies who enjoy these dolls will be only me. Anyway this year I enjoy this season with hina dolls. Today a friend of mine came with these SAKURA sweets.

From winter to spring

Yesterday morning, we had snow, though not so much.

And this morning, all snow has gone, and I found them.

They are buds of tulips.

It seems that spirng is just around the corner. But it might be back to winter sometimes.

This weekend it is goint to be a guaduated celemony at my daughter's high school.

It is going to be the last time to attend kid's celemony as a mother wealing my navy blue suit.

I have wore the same suit to attend such a formal celemony for their school days.

It is also going to be the last time for me to wear the suit.

And the day after the celemony, my husband is going to drive her to TOKYO with her chest and some stuff. And my two dauthers are going to travel to Canbodia to sightsee A.Vat with their grandmother (my mother-in-law)

Before she leaves home perfectly, there are many events.

Anyway this week has started.

Well, I'm looking for an English version book of Caca bo.

Does anyone have any imformation?

HINA dolls

In Japan "HINAMATSURI" (Girl's festival) is just around the corner. Children who went to a kindergarden nearby (including my kids) had a good memory; that was making hina dolls from wood that planted in the garden. And until now this craft is continued in this season.

I always put the HINAdolls made by my daughter's though it was more than 15 years ago. And most my students and mothers always say "I did it" or "I had it" seeing them.

This year I got aromatic tree, so I made another dolls with my students. What a hartwarming craft time!

Well, I need a favor.

Today I went to a exhibition. I could see many picture books : Japanese picture books, foreing countries' picturebooks translated in Japanese. It was a wonderful time. And I met some intereseting books. One of them is this book, the original is written in French. Unfortunately I couldn't understand French. But the Japanese senetences were really fun. I'm looking for English version. If someone know the title, please let me know it. And If some one has it and doesn't need it, will hand it over it to me?

The French title is Caca boudin. And the author is Stephanie blake.

Do you know her?

What a nice morning!

I know very well, being a housewife is a kind of luxry. Now I'm thinking about my life without kids. Am I able to accept being a housewife without mother's job?

But anyway yesterday and today I really enjoyed with my adulut students pretending to be a leisure class women.

In my English lessons for kids I started to make some easter-eggs. And I introduced the eggs for my adult students.

And we made some easter eggs using cutting cloth, and soft paper.

I prepared some whole eggshells for them. And I baked scones using the real eggs for them for these early morning for them.

And for these days I ordered "clotted cream" on the net. Clotted cream is not so populer in Japan, so in this town we cant't get my favorite clotted cream.

So I prepered, eggshells, cutting cloth, homemade scone, clotted creadm, and a friend of mine in Canada send me "candy cane tea".

Perfect!!! We really enjoyed our morning lesson.

my mother

A report recalled me to my mother.
Well, these days I sometimes complain like that
"I'm almost being empty nest syndrom." "Do I need to be independent ecnomically?"

Well, an eldery woman critic wrote an essey on the news paper. The title was "the way to live for women". Probably she is as old as my mother, or in the same generation. So it must have been unusaly to live as both a mother and a working lady.

She said
"My husband suddenly passed by when I was thirty. At that time my daughter was 4. I had been crying for one week, and I took 3-weeks off. My friends came to encourage me. And one of them said to me. It made me really surprised."
The friend said
"You can afford to cry because you work, you are independent from your husband ecnomically. So you should cry as much as you want. If you were a housewife, you had no time to cry. Such housewives must really worry that how they and their kids would live from now".
She said
"I understood, being independent ecnomically means to be able to cry when women want to and should cry as much as want"

My father passed away suddenly because of heart attack, at that time my mother was 43. Though I was 18, my younger daugter was still an elementary school student. I don't remember my mother having cryed. As soon as his funeral, she went to the tax office on my memory. I was absent from school for one week, but probablly my brotehrs went to school, and I did housework instead of my mother.
At that time, the city, the company my father had worked at, and even schools got us lots of help. For example it was really easy for me and my brothers to get scholarship. And my mother says "at that time verious kinds of taxes were excused".

Fortunately we could live as usual, my mother didn't need to work outside becuase of lots of help and my father's asset (not so much). So even now (she is past 70) she is a "housewife". Now she is able to live with her pension, and we (her kids) don't need to get money to her, on the contrary even now we "sometimes" depend on her about our kids. It measn my daughters often get pocket money from her.

being independet ecnomically--- I'm thinking about this.

I was a still girl!

Do you remember that the other day I couldn't have high-quality lunch outside. Instead of it I bought curious food for dinner "Kasuzule of Sujiko". Well later I heard that it was a usual food in NIGATA. I've lived here for long years, but I thought there were many food I've never seen yet.

Well, today I went out, and I was going to have high-quality lunch outside. But I couldn't do again. Before going to a restaurant I dropped by at a sweet shop. And I found this cute thing. This box is hand-made by the shop's owner's wife. How cute! And what a suitable thing for HINAMATSURI (March 3rd is girl's day in Japan) and Easter.

I bought it with some sweets. And my last bill in my pass has gone.

So today's my lunch was 100 yen hanburger and 100 yen coffee at Mac.

And Today I put HINA dolls on the shelf in the entrance hall.

Putting them in Feburary is OK. BUT, it is said we have to put them away on March 3rd. If we forget it, our daughters will not marry.

Today, it is Valentine's Day

This morning "we" (my daughter and I) presented my husband (or her father) chocolate.

The chocolate on the picture seems to be populare in KOUBE, and KOUBE is a famous city as a trend city. So I bought it on the internet.

Of course three of us ate it for dessert after breakfast. It was really thick and delicious.

On the other hand my daughter also presented her handmade chocolate to her father. It was the first time and she said "it will be the last time". Untill last year she used to give him leftover of failed chocolate to him. This year she gave him special chocolate. As soon as he got it, he ate it. So I missed taking the photo.

Yesterday she made lots of chocorate for her father, her friends and her teachers. Now she is going out to exchange chocolate with her friends. Probably next norning there will be full of chocolate on the kitchen table. It is the usual scene until this year.

Well, now instead of making lunch box for my daughter, I keep making three dishes for breakfast and put them into this new tray.

My husband changed from eating bread to eating rice. So I even now cook every morning. Though it is troublesome, it is good for me. I do cooking for someone, but I won't cook for myself.

I eat breakfast with my familiy, but usualy I eat lunch and dinner alone, so the left over is really useful. keeping three dishes is to keep in shape for us.

What are these?

Can you guess what these two things? They are "food".
The left one looks like fish, and the sign on the right one reads "SUSHI".

Now Valentine's Day is just around the corner. We see various chocolates in shop.Expencive one, cheap one, high-quality one,--- and these are "funnyt-look" chocolate.

In Japan it is getting a custom to present chocolate from women to men to show love, gratitude, friendship. And everybody seems to enjoy the day.

Actaully I enjoyed when I was looking for various chocolates.
Well, I don't know whether these chocolate tastes good or so-so. Anyway they were not expensive, realy "cheap".

fashion

The other day I found these words about fashion in an English text book.
Pants hanging below boxer shorts, Velour jogging suits, Pants worn backwards, High-water pants, Leisure suits, Acid-wash jeans, Hammer pants, Poodle skirts.

Do you know all of them? Are they in fashion now in your country. In Japan some are in fashino untill now among the youth, and some are not.
Probably acid-wash jeans used to be popular when I was young.
Now many young people seem to wear jeans with some tears. Some one wear jeans with ripped bottoms. I don't like them. And my grandmother didn't like "jeans" themselves.

Do you follow fashion? In my case, partly I try and partly I can't accept these days fashion.
How has your style changed for these 10 years?
In myc ase I seldom wear a skirt, because I usualy put a knee pat on my left knee.
So I usually wear pants. BUT these days pants are quite different from ones of ten years ago.
These days you wear pants with bottoms, not hips.
(I'm sorry I don't know how to desclibe. What I want to say is the place of belt is changed. these days the place got lower than before.)
So when you bend your back, sometimes your back is seen. I don't like it. But it is difficult to find trendy but high waist pants. So I have to accpet these days pants.

Do you have any problems in currently fasnion?

Skidamarink!

Valentinw'a Day is just around corner. My daughter is going to bake chocorate cake for her father this year, (usualy she gives the left-over of her homemade chorate that is for her friends.)

In Japan, probably you know, women presents chocorate to men to show their love , friendship, gratitude or duty(you can say sympathy esepcialy to a man who will not be able to get any chocorate)

Well, next week I'll go to two nursery's school to read some English books.

One book is "Skidamarink!".

I ask a question, what does "skidamarink" mean? I was heard that it has no specail meaning, a kind of spell. Does any know the meaning?

And is it right? -- when I say the spell to someone, the person loves me. And when you say the spell you put your elbow in your other hand and wiggle your fingers, it means to shoot a beam of love.

On the other hand, this week my English lessons are all making a craft using a core of toilet paper. Of course we put some chocorate inside.

I'm a really Japanese woman.

Now I often think about my future life in my 60's, and from next April.
Fortunately I can manage my life thanks of my husband. But I want to be independent economically because untill now we share our "job". It means he works outside and I bring up children inside. Now my job at home is almost finished.
On the other hand I want to enjoy my second life by myself. I sometimes think "though my husband has to continue work out side for a while, my job inside is finised earlier than he, so I should "enjoy"(it means not need to earn money) your life without constraint to him."

Basically I'm lazy, I don't do anything if I don't need to do them.

On the other hand I put adds in the news paper more than usual year.
But untill now I don't have more students, fortunately the numbers of students from next spring will be as same as this year.

Anything doesn't seem to change except my daughter's leaving.

Now there is a brochure on the desk. A friend sent it to me. Next week a meeting organized with NPO and NGO groups in this area is going to be held. A friend said "now your job is finished, come out here again".
Five years ago I stopped some vorunteer activities, becasue I didn't use family time to do voruteer activities. I started them with my kids, but when they grew up, they didn't want to join them. So Only I continued.

I might start some vorunteer activity. It means I will not be able to be independet of my hasbund ecomically.

Only Japanese men?

Yesterday I talked ( and took lessons) with a New Zealander, who has lived here for many years.
He is a man and he gets used to Japanese life, he seems to see things strange even now.

Yesterday I talked about my daughter's coming of age day. He has two boys, so I said "you are lucky not to waste money to clothes". (On the day girls' parents use more money than boy's parents). And I also said "I'm afraid you missed a chance you were be able to get impressed".

It is said girls' fathers have three opotunigies to cry with joy and impression.
The first time is that they meet their kids for the first time; it measn their babies were born.
The secomd time is that their girls become 20 years old. The fathers cannot look at their daughters without tears because of their beautifilness. (Though my husband didn't cry. He said "I was too busy as a chauffeur to get impressed".)
The last time is that their girls get married.

He said it is strange that men cry with deep emotion.
We often see men crying with deep emotion. For example at high school baseball toranaments, the member of the winner team usually cry at the moment they win while they are striking a victory pose. And the tears makes the audience crying.
He said
Do you notice? Only japanese men cry when they get medals at Olympic games.

Is it really?
We have two kinds of tears, sad tears and emotinoal tears.

homemade buns

Yesterday it was snowing all day, so I was staying at home all day while cooking. Yes I baked these buns. As soon as they were baked some were eaten quickly because my husband was also staying home. And this morning all buns have gone. How quickly!!!

Yesterday I thougt, if someones stay home, I have lots of thing to do as a home maker. And yesterday I enjoyed being a home maker -- sometimes is OK, being everyday makes me tired. I'm getting used to be alone at home.

Well, this week has alreday started. Fortunately we don't have lots of snow now. Everything started as usual--- except my daughter must have been late for school because of frozend roads.

The food I bought yesterday

It was KASUZUKE of SUJIKO.

Do you know KASUZUKE? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasuzuke

It's something marinated by SAKE lees. The typical Kasuzuke is sarmon KASUZUKE. Actually yesterday I ate it for my lunch.

Yesterday I found SUJIKO(eggs of sarmons or trouts) KASUZUKE.Usually Kasuzuke is directly marinated bySAKE lees. But this Sujiko Kasuzuke was rapped with paper sanded sake lees. It's intereseting, isn't it.

It was the first time for us to taste.

--- strange (not bad meaning) taste. It was not salty and fishy than we expected.

And it really suiteed to hot rice. If you like NATTO, you might like it.

Well, now we have snow. The ground seems deeply covoered with snow. Today, it is Sunday. So foutunately we have no problem, all members of my family are staying at home. Tommorrow?? what will happen? Now my daughter says "Tommorrow I'll be abset from school, I don't like go to school by crowded bus"

Anyway today's my job is cooking.

At the end I'm a housewife.

In the morning I had a job. This morning I decided to go out for high-quality lunch alone.

I left home at 9. I finished my job at 11. I went to a big book store in a big department store.

The wrong thing was that the book store was in a big department store, and it was next to the area for specail sales at the department store. NIGATA products festival was held there.

I browsed there, and I bought a specail food for my family (collectly for today's dinner of my husband and me) in NIGATA.

And my last bill has gone.

what left in my pass was some coins. I dropped by at a coffee shop (not Macdonald), and enjoyed a little bit high-class coffee and went home.

Today's my lunch was that frozen rice balls (of course I microwaved them), and grilled sarmon ( I bought it there for only me).

complaints about products

Now frozen GYOUZA producted in China is a big isse in Japan. Thease days not only GYOZA but also foods and toys made in China seem to be a big problem in the world. In your experience, do cheaper items tend to have more defects than more expensive ones?

In Japan products made in China or other Asiang countires tend to be cheaper than domestic products, more to say we cannot live without import products including foods. Actaully I try to cook using domestic foods, it's difficult. Some people eat everything that grows in their farm --- it means they don't eat fish, meat (in this case if they don't have cows.) and fruits.

I always buy banans. Thery are usually imported (I've never met domestic bananas. Do we have banans that grow in Japan??) And I tend to buy cheaper ones, because I just use it as a banana yogurt every morning.
I don't think they have defects, it means I've never heard of their defects.

On the other hand when I buy lemons, I buy domestic lemons.
Because I've heard that imported lemons don't go off passing a few months, but domestic lemos usualy go off after a month. It means the former is added so lots of preservatives that having them is dangerous.

It is really difficult to judge what are safe foods for us, isn't it?