New Years.
It comes every year.
It’s new.
What’s more to say?!
For some reason we love a new year. I’m not sure who’s grand idea it was to split up time into all these little units but we’ve universally decided that the beginning of the year is a great time to “start over.”
I have news for you.
You can’t start life over.
Yesterday is still the past and last I checked we haven’t successfully sent a person back in time and safely recovered them in the present. Actually it would be the future for them…
Anyways, I don’t believe in New year’s resolutions. I believe in life changes!!! I know, sounds really new agey but whatever.
What life changes am I making this year? I don’t know, but when I make them I’ll know the results much later, I’m sure. There are always things I want to do, or do better, or do more often or less often, but just because today is January 1st doesn’t change my lack of motivation or lack of response. I’m the same person I was a few seconds ago.
Anyways, today was pretty non-eventful since I spent most of the morning waiting to skype with my parents and brother. It was his birthday.
We spent most of the afternoon cleaning all the floors and cracks upstairs and downstairs. We even took apart the kotatsu in Ojiichan’s room and I repaired the frayed cord with electrical tape. A kotatsu is a heating element commonly inserted in a recession in the floor. The recession is the approximate width and length of the table, but the depth is about a meter or a little more. They place the heater at the bottom and the control is above the hole attached by a long cord. Over the table a large thick blanket or comforter is placed, then another table top is placed over that. Consequently, people can sit around the table with their legs dangling down in the hole comfortably. The blanket covers everyone’s lower half, keeping in the heat. Modern houses aren’t usually built with these recessed chambers anymore, especially in apartments. So, manufacturers make little flat, square heaters that attach under your coffee table! You can stick a blanket on top and voilla! A kotatsu is born.
As we were cleaning Okaasan was making New Year’s food. Otoosan appeared from a shopping trip with a variety of bowls of instant ramen for a late lunch. Mine was actually yakisoba and very tasty.
It comes every year.
It’s new.
What’s more to say?!
For some reason we love a new year. I’m not sure who’s grand idea it was to split up time into all these little units but we’ve universally decided that the beginning of the year is a great time to “start over.”
I have news for you.
You can’t start life over.
Yesterday is still the past and last I checked we haven’t successfully sent a person back in time and safely recovered them in the present. Actually it would be the future for them…
Anyways, I don’t believe in New year’s resolutions. I believe in life changes!!! I know, sounds really new agey but whatever.
What life changes am I making this year? I don’t know, but when I make them I’ll know the results much later, I’m sure. There are always things I want to do, or do better, or do more often or less often, but just because today is January 1st doesn’t change my lack of motivation or lack of response. I’m the same person I was a few seconds ago.
Anyways, today was pretty non-eventful since I spent most of the morning waiting to skype with my parents and brother. It was his birthday.
We spent most of the afternoon cleaning all the floors and cracks upstairs and downstairs. We even took apart the kotatsu in Ojiichan’s room and I repaired the frayed cord with electrical tape. A kotatsu is a heating element commonly inserted in a recession in the floor. The recession is the approximate width and length of the table, but the depth is about a meter or a little more. They place the heater at the bottom and the control is above the hole attached by a long cord. Over the table a large thick blanket or comforter is placed, then another table top is placed over that. Consequently, people can sit around the table with their legs dangling down in the hole comfortably. The blanket covers everyone’s lower half, keeping in the heat. Modern houses aren’t usually built with these recessed chambers anymore, especially in apartments. So, manufacturers make little flat, square heaters that attach under your coffee table! You can stick a blanket on top and voilla! A kotatsu is born.
As we were cleaning Okaasan was making New Year’s food. Otoosan appeared from a shopping trip with a variety of bowls of instant ramen for a late lunch. Mine was actually yakisoba and very tasty.
This thing is the size of my head!
A few errands had to be run but I had to finish writing yesterday’s blog and was feeling a little tired so I stayed home. Actually, I was super tired and after I finished writing I grabbed the stuffed pig and proceeded to take a nap on the couch. Okaasan caught me and told me to move to the floor. She turned on the heated carpet…yessss…and threw a wool blanket over me. I was freezing for some reason. Everyone returned home and turned on the TV. It was about 7 but it felt like 11pm. I kept sleeping. Eventually I got up for dinner, which we ate around the coffee table in the living room, sitting on the heated carpet. The traditional food is soba; long noodles to encourage long life. There was a New Year’s program playing, featuring music artists. Most were Japanese, and ranged from traditional singing to pop to rock. They even invited Lady Gaga, and a few popular Korean bands. In true Japanese fashion, they captioned the lyrics at the bottom of the screen so that you could sing along at home! (And understand what the heck they were singing…) Otoosan and I had fun making fun of most of them. There were a few weird performances, not the least of which being a Japanese group dressing in Mexican costumes…and singing in a Japanese style. The mariachi band creeped me out. It was pretty entertaining though, as we all sat around our makeshift kotatsu (sitting on the heated rug and throwing blankets over the table) and ate a ton of mikkans!
Weird show...
I had a small headache, presumably from not wearing my glasses all day, but I also was unexplainably cold. Okaasan pronounced I didn’t have a fever but made me take some weird Chinese root thing in powdered form. I magically felt better.
At midnight we rang in the new year not with noise, but by kneeling on the floor and bowing to each other saying, “akemashite omedetou gozaimasu. Kotoshi mo, yoroshiku onegaishimasu.” It basically means happy new year, and good wishes or caring for the new year.
After that we woke up grandpa and piled in the car to go to the local shrine. We passed many people walking to and from the shrine. There was a line leading through the tori gate and up to the place of prayer. On the way there’s a little covered water place to wash your hands and mouth in purification. At the shrine, you ring a bell to get the attention of or wake up the god of the new year (?). Then you clap twice and bow. You can put any amount of money, usually 5 or 10 yen apiece, into the receptacle and make a wish or prayer for the new year. After that ritual we were handed a cup of hot sweetened sake and a mikkan as we stood around a bonfire and ran into people we knew.
For some reason, people were receiving or buying (?) arrows that had no tips on them, presumably resembling a broken arrow. Otoosan tried to explain it to me but I got a little lost.
We ate more mikkans.
The End.
At midnight we rang in the new year not with noise, but by kneeling on the floor and bowing to each other saying, “akemashite omedetou gozaimasu. Kotoshi mo, yoroshiku onegaishimasu.” It basically means happy new year, and good wishes or caring for the new year.
After that we woke up grandpa and piled in the car to go to the local shrine. We passed many people walking to and from the shrine. There was a line leading through the tori gate and up to the place of prayer. On the way there’s a little covered water place to wash your hands and mouth in purification. At the shrine, you ring a bell to get the attention of or wake up the god of the new year (?). Then you clap twice and bow. You can put any amount of money, usually 5 or 10 yen apiece, into the receptacle and make a wish or prayer for the new year. After that ritual we were handed a cup of hot sweetened sake and a mikkan as we stood around a bonfire and ran into people we knew.
For some reason, people were receiving or buying (?) arrows that had no tips on them, presumably resembling a broken arrow. Otoosan tried to explain it to me but I got a little lost.
We ate more mikkans.
The End.
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