Sleepy... now bored
I am kind of sleepy right now... so I won`t go into details about my day- I will leave that to tomorrow when I am bored out of my skull at work :P
This week is exams at Nirayama, so there is NOTHING for me to do =.=
Instead, I will entertain you all with amazing stories of random parts of Japanese culture.
Apparently, colors are different in Japan. They like to say that the sun (which looks the same to me as it did in the US) is red. They also call the GO light blue... when it is green in traffic signals and crosswalk lights.
Now in Japan, it is very fashionable to wear ankle boots. Since everything MUST be cute, they call these boots `booty`as a cutesy name. Whenever I hear a very serious Japanese business woman talk about `buying some booty` or `getting some booty` it is all I can do to not laugh my own booty off!
Because I know at least one very silly boy reading will appreciate this, I will describe the license plates in Japan. There are several parts- the first is on the top of the plate. There is the prefecture name in kanji and then a 3 digit number from 000 to 999.
Next is on the main middle section of the plate. There is 1 hiragana character (there are 50 to choose from) with a ‘ 。‘ after it.
Next to the character is another number from 00 to 99. If the number is zero, they use a ・ instead. Right next to that is another number, again from 00 to 99.
I have seen license plates from ・・・１ to 9999. However, I have never seen one without at least one number in that area.
http://pics.livejournal.com/esteebee/pic/0001a58g/g6
Here is a picture I took in my first week that will show an example of what I mean :D
I will also describe the cemeteries because I think it is rather interesting :) Because space is so limited in Japan, having a burial isn`t allowed. Everyone is cremated. However, even with that they still try to conserve space. Each family owns a plot, and inside that plot are shelves ...
Hello! Last night I was kicked off the computer, but am now writing from the one at Nirayama :)
So, cemetaries か。。。よす！Each family plot has shelves where the ashes are kept and the funeral is celebrated in the Buddhist way. After the cremation, the urn is put on an altar at the family's house and kept there for 35 days. Incense sticks (osenko) are burned there around the clock (you can buy special 12 hour sticks for the night). Many visitors will come to the house, burn a stick, and talk to the family. After 35 days, the urn is finally buried in a Buddhist cemetery. Most families keep some ashes in the house on a special memorial alter to the person (usually in the living room or near the entrance to the home). Each plot has a stone marker and I thought it must get very expensive to keep adding names and what if you run out of room? But that is why there are so many pieces of wood with kanji written attached to the stone. The pieces of wood have the buddhist name (after death, everyone gets a new name) of all the individuals in the plot. The families go to visit during Oban week (when the deal souls come back to visit and the kanji is lit on fire in Kyoto), and anniversaries, and other times.
I know there were some other things I wanted to talk about... but I can`t really remember. I will post again once I finish talking with some students and can remember what it is.
This week is exams at Nirayama, so there is NOTHING for me to do =.=
Instead, I will entertain you all with amazing stories of random parts of Japanese culture.
Apparently, colors are different in Japan. They like to say that the sun (which looks the same to me as it did in the US) is red. They also call the GO light blue... when it is green in traffic signals and crosswalk lights.
Now in Japan, it is very fashionable to wear ankle boots. Since everything MUST be cute, they call these boots `booty`as a cutesy name. Whenever I hear a very serious Japanese business woman talk about `buying some booty` or `getting some booty` it is all I can do to not laugh my own booty off!
Because I know at least one very silly boy reading will appreciate this, I will describe the license plates in Japan. There are several parts- the first is on the top of the plate. There is the prefecture name in kanji and then a 3 digit number from 000 to 999.
Next is on the main middle section of the plate. There is 1 hiragana character (there are 50 to choose from) with a ‘ 。‘ after it.
Next to the character is another number from 00 to 99. If the number is zero, they use a ・ instead. Right next to that is another number, again from 00 to 99.
I have seen license plates from ・・・１ to 9999. However, I have never seen one without at least one number in that area.
http://pics.livejournal.com/esteebee/pic/0001a58g/g6
Here is a picture I took in my first week that will show an example of what I mean :D
I will also describe the cemeteries because I think it is rather interesting :) Because space is so limited in Japan, having a burial isn`t allowed. Everyone is cremated. However, even with that they still try to conserve space. Each family owns a plot, and inside that plot are shelves ...
Hello! Last night I was kicked off the computer, but am now writing from the one at Nirayama :)
So, cemetaries か。。。よす！Each family plot has shelves where the ashes are kept and the funeral is celebrated in the Buddhist way. After the cremation, the urn is put on an altar at the family's house and kept there for 35 days. Incense sticks (osenko) are burned there around the clock (you can buy special 12 hour sticks for the night). Many visitors will come to the house, burn a stick, and talk to the family. After 35 days, the urn is finally buried in a Buddhist cemetery. Most families keep some ashes in the house on a special memorial alter to the person (usually in the living room or near the entrance to the home). Each plot has a stone marker and I thought it must get very expensive to keep adding names and what if you run out of room? But that is why there are so many pieces of wood with kanji written attached to the stone. The pieces of wood have the buddhist name (after death, everyone gets a new name) of all the individuals in the plot. The families go to visit during Oban week (when the deal souls come back to visit and the kanji is lit on fire in Kyoto), and anniversaries, and other times.
I know there were some other things I wanted to talk about... but I can`t really remember. I will post again once I finish talking with some students and can remember what it is.