Virtue

Do you know..."Doraemon?" This is a VERY famous Japanese animation which has been popular for 35 years(It is amazing!) Doraemon has been broadcasting in many Asian countries and South American countries even though I don't know the "title" (maybe it isn't "Doraemon"...)in those countries.
Doraemon (In the picture, the middle one of the front row)is a name of a robot who came from the 22nd century. He came to this world to make one boy's life better. The boy's name is "Nobita." "Nobi" means stretching or relaxed in Japanese. Nobita, who is an elementary school boy in Tokyo, is kind, but he is always lazy. He doesn't do homework, hesitates to do sports... If he keeps his laziness in the future, he can't be a good adult! So, Doraemon came to the world to help & support him using many future inventions. That is an outline of this story.

Sometimes Nobiita relies on Doraemon too much. He believes Doraemon will make his dream come true. (But, life is not so easy! This animation is also an allegorical, educational one) His dream? That is...getting married to Shizuka, who is the right girl in the picture! One day, Doraemon got mad about Nobita's dependent attitude. Doraemon threatened Nobita,
"You know, the future could change easily! If you make no effort, Shizuka could get married to another guy! Let's see what is going on in the future!"
...So, they went to the day before their wedding day using the "time machine." The time machine can take people to anytime in the past, or future...this brought Doraemon to the 21st century from the 22nd Century.

Doraemon and Nobita peeked at Shizuka's parent's house when she and her father were talking the night before the wedding. Suddenly, she said...
" I am gonna quit this marrige to Nobita! I will stay with you, Dad! "
Doraemon and Nobita were really surprised! But she said it not because she disliked Nobita, but because she missed her parents.
Then, her father said... Actually, I LOVE his words!!!!!
"Shizuka, I think your decision of getting married to Nobita is right. He is a wonderful person who can congratulate people on their happiness, and sympathize with people's unhappiness from the bottom of his heart. I think this is the most important virtue of a person. "
... Doraemon and Nobita were moved by his words completely. After that, Nobita decided to be a good guy for Shizuka and her trustworthy father. Actually, it was the first time for him to be complemented... Oh, but isn't it in the FUTURE!? Are you really OK about getting married to him, Shizuka!? I am just kidding ☆

Anyway, I saw this episode when I was little. But nowadays, sometimes I recall Shizuka's father's words. When we were elementary school students, our lives were not so different, compared to our friends' lives. However, as we get older, our lives become different more and more. Then... sometimes I feel some people envy people's happiness, and delight in people's unhappiness even though they are friends.
This is really...unbeliebable.
I met many friends in Japan on the recent trip. This time, I realized how I can distinguish between people whom I want to socialize with and people whom I don't want to. (Oh, don't forget, people whom I met this time were the former!! )
"The most important virtue of a person is to be able to congratulate people on their happiness, and sympanize with people's unhappiness from the bottom of the one's heart. " The words of Shizuka's father shows exact my policy.

Everyone has "his own way." Also, the definition of "happiness" is different depending on the person. A person should pursue his happiness, and go his own way. We can do it at each other's pace, and we can just support our friends' ways on "their roads to happiness." We don't have to envy successful people because we should just walk our own ways.
If I am surrounded by people who agree with my opinion, I AM VERY HAPPY!!!

Sapporo on Ice

Hi, guys! I came back to the U.S from Japan!! It's been almost a week, but I still feel jet lag... Although I am a night owl basically, I am REALLY sleepy at night lately!! But I got the FOURTH AWARD of the Toastmaster's meeting last night ! Yeah♪

I spent most of the time in Japan, in Sapporo. Sapporo is my hometown which is a capital city on the northernmost island, Hokkaido. Because of the cold climate, the island is abundant in seafood!! I ate a lot of Sushi, Sashimi, crab☆

What did I do in Sapporo? I met my friends, relatives, went to Karaoke, and...SHOPPING!! I was looking forward to going to BIG SALES after the New Year's Day! It is like a "Black Friday" in U.S, even though shops open at almost their regular time.

I went to the biggest department store in Sapporo 15 minutes before the opening time. However...there were almost 150 people who were already waiting !! After the department store opened, they rushed into the store!! Look at the photo!!
Do you remember my article, "Midnight Madness?" After all, I think I LOVE going to big sales...

Hokkaido is famous for having lots of snow. We don't have so much snow in Sapporo if we compare it to other cities in Hokkaido, but we always have about 1.5 feet of snow. However, this year,(because of the global warming, maybe?...)we had less than 1 foot of snow. But the temperature was still less than 30°Fahrenheit, so...the roads were very ICY!! The left picture is my neighborhood. Can you walk here?
Me? Off course I can!! Actually, people who live in SNOWY areas have some survival secrets. I got fancy boots with high-heels at the sale in Sapporo, but I can walk with them on the icy roads☆　　Take a look at the right photo! They are not clear...but, the soles of boots have treads. We always ask for treads to be attached when we buy winter shoes♪

I also went to the "Stars on Ice" show in Sapporo. "Stars on Ice" is an American figure-skating show. Professional skaters (most of them were winners in the Olympics) have gathered for this show, and they have been giving performances mostly in the U.S. However, in the beginning of January, they came to my hometown...Sapporo, with many Japanese famous skaters! I saw the performances of Shizuka Arakawa (the gold medalist of the Torino Olympic,) Mai Asada(Mao Asada's older sister,) Yuka Sato, Daisuke Takahashi, Noburari Oda, (All of them are Japanese famous skaters!), and Alexei Konstantinovich Yagudin(Russia,) Philippe Candeloro(France,) Michel Wise (America,) and so on. All of them were spectacular! But there was an expecially popular athlete. She is...Mao Asada! You'll never recognize...but, the left picture is her!! (Her clear picture is the right. I picked this photo from her Web-site: http://www.maomaiasada.com/index.html )Mao Asada is a 16-year-old amateur skater, but she is really popular like a pop idol. She won the final grand prix last year, so she was considered as the most potential gold medalist of the Torino Olympic. However, the contestants in the Olympics were limited by age, so she couldn't participate in the Olympics because she was too young. She keeps winning many competitions, so she has been expected to be the gold medalist of the next Olympics, like Kimmie Meissner or Kim Yona!
I was astonished not only at her performance, but also her popularity.
When she appeared, the skating rink became full of cheers! Especially, it was impressive that many children were excited to see her. After I came back from the show, all of my relatives envied me! "Oh, you saw Mao-chan? I support her like my DAUGHTER!!"
In contrast to her energetic performances, she looks & acts like a little innocent girl. She loves chocolate, her dog, Legos...
As you can see from what my relative said, many Japanese love her like their families. Will she get the gold medal in the next Olympic? Check her out!!

By the way, do you think the ticket of this show must be expensive? Actually, it's...not! It was 30 dollars. If you reserved a good seat, it was $250. However, I noticed the show day of the performance! So, I went to the skating rink just before the show started, and got a cheap ticket at the last minute. It was a standing ticket, but there were not so many people, so I could lean on a pole comfortably.

If it had been Tokyo, many peole would have rushed into the show, so I don't think I could get a cheap ticket that day! However, Sapporo is the fifth largest city in Japan. So, not TOO MANY people came to the show! It is one of the unconcious advantages of living in a middle-sized city☆

After I came back to Lafayette, it became REALLY cold outside. This photo is the outside of my house. The temperature today is...11°Fahrenheit!!! I have to survive here, in a cold city...but I'm fine! I am from an ICY city, and people who live here are WARM-hearted☆

My friends whom I met in Japan...thank you for giving me a great time!!!

Lucky year, lucky symbols!!

A happy new year, everybody! Thank you for being my good friend last year, and please keep in touch with me in this year as well!!

I am visiting Japan, now☆　On Christmas Eve, my hubby and I flew to Tokyo, Japan. (14hours in flight!) We went to Nagoya the day when we arrived at Tokyo(Christmas day☆.) The next day, we went to my parents-in-law's house in Mie prefecture.

My in-laws took me to a Japanese shrine to be purified. Why? Because we, Japanese have believed we have "unlucky years" three times in our lives. They are different depending on if you are a male or a female. If you are a man, your "unlucky years" are years when you are 25, 41, and 60, for a woman, 18, 32, and 36. On your "unlucky year," you are supposed to have "unlucky things," like having an accident, a disease, etc... So, we go to a Japanese Shinto shrine to purify ourselves and pray not to have unlucky incidents.
Also, the year before and the year after, we should be careful. Therefore, the best way is to be purified three years-in-a-row around your "unlucky year." This year, 2007, is one year after my unlucky year becauce I will be 19 years old... I am kidding... So, my parents-in-law took me to a Japanese shrine. My father in law (also around his "unlucky year,) and I had the purification from a Shinto minister.

The first picture is the Japanese shrine, and the second picture is a kind of information desk. Japanese shrines are always very crowded with people who want to pay homage after the new year comes. However, we went there at the end of the last year, so there were not so many people. People were preparing many varieties of food booths for the new year day☆　（Look at the third picture!!)

After that, my in-laws took my hubby and me to the famous place of pottery in Shiga prefecture. The kind of pottery is Shigaraki-yaki(信楽焼。） Around the area, there has been an abundant supply of good soil for pottery. Additionaly, Shiga is located near Kyoto and Nara where the tea ceremony has been popular. These advantages made Shigaraki City be active in producing many tea cups, tea pots, or other utensils and so on(The first picture in this section.) Nowadays, they make much interesting pottery!! Look at the second picture! What do you think they are? They are...humidifiers!! The third picture, there are Japanese lucky dolls ☆　　The forth picture, there are... many "frog" ornaments... Why frogs??
Actually, Shigaraki is famous for "raccoon" ornaments. I can explain why they have to be raccoons! Because they have been represented as a lucky charm for business. Also, when the Showa emperor (昭和天皇） visited the city in 1951, people welcomed him decorating many "raccoon" ornaments. At the lunch time, we had "raccoon" soba (buckweat noodle) which included fried Tofu and ginger in a bowl with "raccoon" cute painting☆
I bought "raccoon" chopstic rests (箸置き）becaue I learned "racoon" brings luck ♪　I am in the middle of "unlucky years," but fortunaterly, nothing unlucky have happened so far. Probably... the purification have worked well!??

I wish this year will be VERY lucky year for you!!!