７月１日 日曜日にさざれ石公園に行きました。 岐阜県と滋賀県の境にある伊吹山の東山裾にあります。 旧春日村（現在揖斐川町） 君が代に歌われているさざれ石です。
Courtesy Flush
Posted by: DavidPfitzner Thu, 16 Nov 2006 20:15:05 GMT
In Japan they bring a whole new level of courtesy and resoucefullness to their culture. The first time that I sat down to squat over a porcelain hole in the ground is another story in itself, but my point is about this little round button next to me on the wall. I looked at it and thought maybe this is the flusher, but it seems to be in the wrong place. Long story short I pushed it and the toilet flushed or so I thought. In fact the toilet did not actually flush, but it was a button just to sound as if the toilet had flushed. Do you know what I am talking about when I say courtesy flush, obviously Japan does. I guess the theory behind it is that so many people were doing the courtesy flush when they went to the bathroom that it was wasting large amounts of water. So the school decided that it would be cheaper and more beneficial to the water supply by putting in a fake courtesy flushing system. I thought to myself this is hillarious and I would push the button over and over again .
Table Manners
Posted by: DavidPfitzner Thu, 16 Nov 2006 20:00:34 GMT
The first time that I sat down to eat dinner with my host family in Osaka, Japan. I thought about being at my grandmaś house and the manners that I use there, since I wanted to be extra polite.So placed my hands very properly under the table and kept them there the whole time, Until my host family began to look at me as if I was strange. I just kept my hands there and tried to sit up as straight as I could and finally they asked what was I doing. They said, Deibido why are your hands under the table? What are you doing down there? I said that I was tyring to be polite. They did not understand at first, so I had to explain to them why I was doing it. After that they explained to me that it was rude and unpolite to have your hands underneath the dinner table since, people did not know what you were doing down there. After words we all laughed at the first encounter of one of our many differences in culture and etiquette.
Speech
Posted by: AndrewSuenobu Wed, 15 Nov 2006 19:14:35 GMT
The first time I went to Japan, I was an exchange student in college living with a host family. During my second month there, my host brother got married and I had the opportunity to attend his wedding. My host family thought it would be a good idea if I gave a speech at the reception. I didn´t think this was such a good idea. I am shy and hate talking in front of people, and my Japanese wasn´t very good. Hoping they would forget about this and it would all go away, I put it off till the last minute.
Unfortunately, my host family didn´t forget and so, in the car on the way to the wedding, I hastily write out a speech in English and my host sister translated it into Japanese for me. Before I knew it, it was the reception and many guests were giving these long-winded, flowery speeches about the bride and/or groom. Then I was announced. I got up in the spotlight in front of several hundred guests and stumbled through my barely rehearsed speech. It was a short speech compared to the others-barely five minutes-but it was one of the longest five minutes of my life!
巻き寿司、古風な日本の祖母、そして、私
Posted by: AllisonChang Wed, 28 May 2003 02:03:49 GMT
彼のお祖母さんは、巻き寿司の作り方を教えたいので、近いうちに二人で家に来るようにと言いました。お祖母さんは、「アリイ、マイクは、私のお寿司が大好きだから、お寿司の作り方を教えてあげます。そうすれば、あなたがマイクに作ってあげられるでしょう。」と言いました。それから、私に寿司酢を作らせて、ご飯とまぜて、缶詰のツナを醤油と砂糖で味付けして、野菜を切って、お寿司を巻きました。お祖母さんは私に、巻き寿司を１０本作らせたかったので、午前中いっぱいかかりました。お祖母さんは、私が巻き寿司を作っている間、マイクには、ただ、「見ていなさい」と言いました。
私は、マイクのお祖母さんが、巻き寿司の作り方を教えるために時間を取ってくださったことを、ありがたく思いました。しかし、また、マイクのお祖母さんは、なんと古風な日本女性なんだろうと、おかしく思いました。アメリカ人なら、もし、孫がお祖母さんのお寿司を好きだったら、孫に作り方を教えると思うでしょう？ でも、お祖母さんは、孫に教える変わりに恋人である私に教えたのです！ (AllisonH)
Maki Sushi , a Traditional Japanese Grandmother, and Me
My boyfriend's grandmother wanted to teach me how to make maki sushi, so she asked my boyfriend and me to come over recently. She said, "Alli, I'm teaching you how to make sushi so that you can make it for Mike, since he loves my sushi so much." Then she had me make the vinegar sauce, mix it with the rice, season canned tuna with shoyu and sugar, cut the vegetables, and roll the sushi. It took all morning, because she wanted me to make ten rolls! While I was making the sushi, Mike's grandma told him to just watch.
I appreciated that Mike's grandma took the time to teach me to make maki sushi, but I also think it's funny what an old-fashioned Japanese lady Mike's grandma is. You would think that since her grandson loves her sushi, she would teach him to make it, but she taught her grandson's girlfriend instead!
