Nihongo-a-Go-Go :: Mandy's Journal

Wow...

Wow...I realized that today is the anniversary of my having been in Japan for five months. That's insane! I'm almost halfway through already. *cries* And I speak no Japanese! Oh, oh! Except last night, when Aimee was trying to sleep, I managed to combine her higher knowledge with mine and figured out how to say "Watashi no ichigo wa koko desu." And yes, that means "My strawberry is here." Hehehe...or, wait wait! "Watashi no ichigo doko desu ka?" Which would be "Where is my strawberry?" And "Ohayo!" (good morning), and "Konnichiwa!" (good day" and "Konbonwa!" (good evening). And no...I still haven't figured out "good night" and "your welcome." Those two phrases will plague me until I leave, I think.

Festival!

Today is a very special festival day in Aichi Prefecture. I wish I'd had the day off to have a peek and take some pictures.

For today, my friends, was Hadaka Matsuri.

Roughly translated, this is "The Naked Man Festival."

If you want to see some pictures, this site has some from Inazawa city, which is relatively nearby.

One man is chosen as the "God man" and he prays in the temple, eating only rice and water, for several days before the festival. On the festival day, starting at one pm, he comes out into the daylight. And the daylight, the cold February daylight, is also shining upon hosts of loincloth-clad men, all jostling each other for a chance to touch the completely naked "God man." If they touch him, they will have happiness. All the running about and jostling makes the men very hot, actually, and onlookers through cold water over them. This water actually creates steam.

This is the sort of thing my students tell me about on a day to day basis. So, if you're in the mood, welcome the Lunar New Year with a little bit of nakedness. Happy Hadaka Mitsuri! Oh, and you may have noticed that it's all men. Because you know what? Women just don't do that sort of thing. :)

Foooooooooood!

Gah!! I had a long post, and this stupid thing ate it. Well, let's see what we can recapture. First of all, I don't have much to write. I've mostly been working, still recovering from the last vestiges of illness. This weekend, the apartment finally got the cleaning it had been crying out for. It's amazing how much bigger the place looks when it's clean!

This weekend I also walked up to the post office to pick up my package from my lovely family. I'm so lost in the world of Kingdom Hearts for GBA. Love it! I've already beaten the first two floors of Castle Oblivion,and I just started it last night. I love Kingdom Hearts because I can spend so much time squeeing over the characters that show up. I almost had to get some fresh air when I saw Jack in Halloween Town. It took me a bit to beat Oogie Boogie, blah. Now I'm in the Hercules place. I had forgotten how adorable Cloud is in his Kingdom Hearts outfit with the burgundy raggy cape and the one little devil wing. *continues to squee and hopes to see Sephiroth...without having to fight him* Thanks for much for the other goodies in the box too. Coloring book...tasties...too bad I gave up chocolate for Lent. *cries*

Other news, hmm...I had my first Chibiko demo on Saturday. It was actually really fun. The little girl, who was two, was really into it. She sang and colored and giggled like crazy. I guess I was almost surprised to see how into it she was. The mother signed, and the class will start in April. Since it'll be on Saturday, I hope that I get the class. It would be at 10:50, so that's basically how I'd start my day. :)

Hmm...it's been rainy and very chilly lately...so, I don't really have any good pictures. The only thing I have to show you all is...food.

Heh, not too exciting, but here are some pics of the regular food I eat...and make! Yes, be proud of me! For here you will see some of my creations, in the same GLORIOUS vein as the Majestic Grilled Cheese Sandwich and the Mighty Tomato Soup. First I give you...the salad.

After being seriously veggie deficient, I decided at the grocery store that we NEEDED to eat salad. This marvelous concoction has lettuce, cherry tomatoes, baby carrots, the longest and thinnest cucumbers I've ever seen, beautiful colored flower-shaped rice croutons, and it's all covered in a delightful...well, mostly delightful Japanese approximation of 1000 Island dressing. It tasted great, and I could hear my body thanking me.

Next we have a rather gross looking feast, but it looked much better whole and in person. I didn't make this, but it was a European treat none the less.

This meal consisted of orange juice, landejaegers, gouda/cheddar cheese, and fresh onion bread. It was delightful! The onion bread was from Epi-Ciel, one of the chain French bakeries that pop up in every train station. Epi-Ciel, known by their blue bags, has the best tasting pizza in Japan, and get extra points because many of the tags on the baked goods are in English. Or at least in katakana. The jaegers tasted even better for the fact that they were imported illegally. Yum! Yay, Euromeal!

And what does this say? This says, "Mandy, why are you taking a picture of me eating a spicy German hunting sausage? Dork." :)

Finally, the craze that's sweeping the nation...Pancakes! I've been craving pancakes since I got to Japan, and the bags of mix have been tormenting me, since I couldn't read the Japanese instructions. This week, I could stand it no more, and the Morinaga mix came home with us. Brilliantly, and James Bond-edly, I used the dictionary setting on my cell phone to correctly identify the kanji for milk, and made these beaties.

Well...maybe not beautiful. But tasty. Somehow, they just wouldn't become round, normal looking pancakes. Part of it is that they're not really pancakes, but 'hot cakes.' Which are supposed to puff. Or rather 'hotto kekii.' Anyway, the 'mapuru taipu' syrup is a little thin, but still yummy. Yum!

Sorry for the bad pictures. Unfortunately, dinner comes at night, so I have to take all the pics with flash. Anyway, keep watching this space for more exciting news in the near future. This weekend...maybe a museum. Ooo...

Back to 1/6

Well...after an embaressing end to the work week (I had to leave class for a few minutes because I almost passed out), the weekend was welcome. It was a quiet and rather dull weekend, which was fine by me. I thought I would clean more, but nothing got done. I'm a little worn down lately. I need to kick all the illness and cheer up a bit. Any advice?

Yesterday I finally watched "The Phantom of the Opera." Here are my thoughts:

Lovely costumes, such evocative scenery! The feeling of the gothic romance was certainly there, and I had a little gasp of delight every time they showed a new scene or character. I used to adore the musical, and so it was like meeting old friends. However...the lead female in your musical movie should be able to sing. Especially when your lead female is playing a character who is supposed to be a fantastic singer. I'm sorry, but Christine as sung in the movie was a...singing corpse. She had no emotion, no stage presence. If I was the Phantom, I would have died of boredom before getting halfway through "Angel of Music." Dull, dull, dull. And much too corsetted to be singing in the opera. Erik, though...a little rock band like, but I liked him, overall. The nice half of his face was pretty! And I liked when his hair was mussed. Raoul...hehehe, they tried to make him Action!Raoul. I disagreed with some things, such as changing the chandelier accident, even as I could understand why they did them. It was nice getting to see a bit of Erik's past, rather than just getting a brief monologue from Mme. Giry. Mme. Giry...she knew a bit too much. Ah well. I did enjoy it, even as I made fun of it. Heheheh. I'm also sure it looked more magnificent on the big screen. I adored the Phantom's little doll theatre, and his Red Death costume. It wasn't as sumptuous as his big Venetien costume in the musical, but it was Regency styled, and I rather liked the idea of him having an outdated suit to wear. I guess the main sticking point for me was Christine. I mean...she's not a hugely deep character...but she is supposed to have a stunning voice. I remain unstunned. But the colors, the sets (except I totally was lost about that chapel...), very very pretty. I will be buying the DVD, whereupon I shall sing the faux opera loudly with Megan "A toad, Madame?" Boldt. Ah...and Minnie Driver. Thank you, Miss Driver. You made a great diva, and brought some life to the opera house. Heheheh.

However...the movie fed into my return to loving my 1/6 dolls. After watching the movie, I was consumed with the idea of owning a doll of Erik. Aimee's painting him now. *bounces*

I also should introduce you to my newest 1/6, Sliver. He's a ragdoll boy from a story we're working on. I'm working on his costume now. And although I suck at art, and Aimee obviously painted his great face and body...I cut his hair! Hehe...he's an Obitsu head, rooted in three different blues.

I also finally FINALLY acquired my favorite Azone cosplay doll costume. I have no idea what it's from, but I saw it on a doll and totally fell in love with it. Right now Sparks is wearing it, but I'll probably eventually make a doll for it. I'm not sure yet if it'll be a boy or a girl...I'm just so in love with this costume! I think I'll try to make or find a little lute to go with it.

I'm in love with the feather and pom pom belt and the red cross-garters. And the hat. And the cloak has a hood. Too too cute.

Anyway...nothing else really exciting. The weather has been chilly again, which sucks, though it's getting sunnier. I'm praying for warm weather. Also...I got a slip in my mailbox that says I have a package...but the office was closed! *cries* So, I must wait until Monday.

And finally, before I sign off, I must pay homage to the most wonderful food ever created in America and replicated in the Land of the Rising Sun. All hail...

GRILLED CHEESE!

Comfort food like no other, grilly and cheesy and buttery and bready and lovely. Oh, how I love you!

So on that note (la), I'm signing off. Sorry for the inane and rambling post. Remember...I'm still sick. :)

Quickie sickie

I haven't posted in a bit, and the reason...I'm sick again! Yay! Heheh...this is a
nasty flu, including fever and all that horrid stuff. I feel so sick, and I've had to work all this week, blah. Anyway, today (Wednesday) is my equivalent of Friday, so if I can just make it through today, I'll be all good. Happy Mardi Gras everyone! I didn't do anything...And now it's Ash Wednesday, blah. I need to think of what I can give up and still avoid vitamin deficiencies...heheheh...

Not much...

Well, another week. I've been posting about once a week. Hehe...and I am NOT a slacker. It's just that the work week is just that--a work week. So, this one went by pretty normally. Yesterday was the only real day off we had, since today was Chibiko training. Anyway, yesterday I was feeling a little sick, but we had a mission...send money home! So we went to our bank, and it was confusing, but surprisingly painless. I had to go into a booth to do it, and you talk on a phone to a person. She spoke good English, which I was very thankful for. You scan your documents and they get send to the operator, and you get print outs and all sorts of things. The exchange rate was pretty good, so the money should be home by Monday or Tuesday. Yay! It was a little expensive, but quick, easy, and in English. So, I'll suck it up for now. I think I'll just save up and send home more at once next time, since it's a flat fee.

We stopped at Volks, since I still have that MSD jewelry on hold for me since they don't have the prices. Unfortunately, they still don't have t he prices. *cries* So, more waiting. Lately they've had all this goth/goth loli stuff in, but it's all for the big dolls, and mostly for the girls. However...they had an MSD outfit that is black pants, a white Victorian shirt, a black vest, and a BLACK CAPE! So adorable, and pretty cheap! So, it came home, and Thomas loves it. I'm really amazed by it; the cape and vest are lined, and all the little buttons on the trousers and shirt are real working buttons, including the ones on the cuffs. Really really nice craftsmanship. Thomas likes playing vampire in it.

Vampire Thomas, rawr! I'm worried about the cloth staining his pure white little body, so I need to wash them before he can wear them full time.

Anyway, today was Chibiko training for half a day. Chibiko is the NOVA program for kids under three. Yeah...before they speak their own language, basically. Lots of singing and feeling like an idiot, but it was kind of fun. I'd like to try teaching a chibiko class, I think. I feel like the star of a kid's show on tv. I wish I had an animated side kick...like a pink and gray umlaut, I think...yeah, that sang along with me in a big bass baritone voice! Perfect!

Tomorrow after work, Aimee and I are thinking of going to a restaurant for dinner. It's a Mexican restaurant called "Desperado's." I miss nachos soooooo much. It sounds delightful. We had planned to go tonight, but I didn't know how happy my stomach would be, since it's been touchy all day.

Oh, one last thing. I got this out of a gashapon machine about a week ago, and forgot about it. I constructed it last night, and now I want more.

It's a little gashapon of a Pokemon gashapon machine! When you turn the little knob, a little poke ball or gashapon egg comes out. There are a bunch in there. It was so much fun to build, and came with extra pieces so that if you get more, you can attach them together, like real gashapon machines. Kawai! I must get more!

Tomorrow is back to work, blah. But...I do have an ichigo daifuku waiting in the fridge for me...so life isn't all bad.