Some more interesting stuff!

Hello everyone,
How are you all?  Genki desu ka?
It's a beautiful day here and the start of a long weeked.  Monday is Respect-for-the-aged-day. 
And this weekend is the Hojoya festival which is a celebration of living creatures.  Birds are released and people give thanks for animals and what they provide us with.  So I'll go along tonight.  It starts at 6pm and there will be lots of stalls like the fireworks show I went to when I first arrived.  I'll post you some pictures.
By the way, I didn't go to the moon watching party, it was raining!  So it was cancelled.  That was a shame.  In New Zealand we say there's a man in the moon and the moons made of cheese, right? In Japan, they say there is a rabbit on the moon eating rice cakes.  Funny aye.

Here are some pics from my sightseeing adventures this week:

This is 7-9 year old children's art that was on display.  It's really popular to do origami and paper cutting.

These are the winner's of a calligraphy contest. On the left is year 6 children's work.  It says ユメ　(katakana) which is the same as ゆめ (hiragana).  It means dream.
On the right is year 7 children's work.  It says かめ　(hiragana) which means turtle.

This is the shrine where the art was displayed.

Hmmmm, at the supermarket.  2 little cherry tomatoes very well wrapped for $4.  Apparantly they are special because they are really sweet.  I didn't buy them to test that out.

 That's all for now
Have a great weekend,
Jaa Mata,
Amelia

Face masks and smoking

Ohayo Gozaimasu!
Hope you are having a good week.  How are you all?  Genki desu ka? I'm ok, but getting a little homesick!  I miss you all!
My classes are going well, and I have lots of interesting things planned though.  I've only got 3 weeks left here now.
This week is a long weekend and there is going to be a festival on.  I'm not sure what the festival is for.  I'll find out and show you photos next week.  It sounds like it will be really cool.

I thought I'd tell you a little about 2 things that makes Japan very different to New Zealand.  Masks and smoking....


Face masks
It's common for people in Japan to wear face masks- everywhere and anywhere. I found out that usually Japanese people wear them out of consideration for others: to protect others from getting sick if they have a cold or something.  In Japan you often have a lot of people in a small space (like in subways, buses. busy streets..)


Smoking
This really contrasts with the masks! 
In Japan you can smoke in most restaurants.  Yadda! (Yuck!)  Some have smoking and nonsmoking areas, and some have 'smokers rooms.'  On the other hand, people don't usually smoke in the street and there are lots of signs reminding people that if you smoke and walk, the cigarette is at the height of a child's face, so it's terrible for kids.  So in big cities there are smokers rooms on main streets where people can stop to smoke.
You can buy cigatettes from vending machines, supermarkets, kiosks and diaries.   
When I walk into a restaurant, if it's smoky I leave but sometimes I'm unlucky and while I'm eating someone in a nearby table starts smoking. 



Have a good week, take care, (ogenki de ne),
Amelia

Caring about others

Konnichiwa minnasan.
Genki?  Kyo wa mushi atshi desu! (Today is very humid).  I hope all is well in NZ.  How are the science fair projects going?  Mrs Williams told me the art auction pieces look incredible.

It's almost the weekend.  I'm looking forward to a moonwatching party on Saturday night, I'll tell you all about it next week!

I thought I'd tell you a little about being blind in Japan today.  Here goes.....

Must be alot easier than in NZ!  At 4 way intersections, pedistrian crossings play different songs depending on which way you can cross.  In Government buildings there is a really annoying beeping sound: it's to help blind people find the exit.  Also, there are government vechicles that drive really slowly up and down streets playing pre-recorded messages (I guess incase you can't/didn't read the news).  I heard one yesterday reminding people not waste power and to turn off appliances when they aren't using them.  Japan has lost 20% of it's electricity generating capacity from the March tsunami/nuclear power plant incident.  By the way, apparently flea powder helped to save the day with cooling down the reactors.  If you can explain to me how that would be awesome. 

All throughout Japan, there are brick squares painted yellow with raised patterns on top. This is to help the blind move around Japan. If the raised concrete is in straight lines, it signals the blind that the road goes straight. If there are raised dots, this indicates that you have the option to change directions. You see these in all train stations and many of the larger stores and on main footpaths.
And no, I don't think there are more blind people in Japan, I've only seen one person with a cane in the last 5 weeks, and this is a huge city.







There is a lot of braille in Japan, more than NZ.  See the braille on the stairway saying how many stairs there are?

I was thinking about how much I use a computer and how hard it must be if you are blind.  Here's an interesting article about a blind Japanese computor programmer and how he makes using a computers and cell phones more vision-impaired friendly.  He even makes business cards for people with one side Japanese and braille, and the other side English and braille.  Cool!
http://pingmag.jp/2006/09/29/accessibility-for-blind-people/

That's all for today,
Jaa mata,
Amelia

Jidensha! Bikes!

Ohayo Gozaimasu!
Genki desu ka?
Wow, I heard Rapaura has 4 ski teams, gambattekudasai!  (Do your best!)
All is genki in my part of Japan.  My classes have been really good.  Today after class I watched Indiana Jones with Japanese voice overs which was really funny.
Then I went home and got in the elevator.  Two Japanese people were waiting for the elevator too, so I tried to push the 'open doors' button, but pushed the 'close' door button by mistake.  So next thing there was some shreaks and the doors closed on them.  Oops!  Luckily they weren't hurt.  Hmmm, a good reason to learn to read Japanese if you are in Japan!

 
The button on the left is 'open' and right is 'closed'.  In my elevator they are both black.

On another note, I thought I'd tell you a little about bikes.  In Japan no one wears a helmet while biking.  And the seats are always really low.  I wondered why and was told that in primary school children are taught that both feet must be able to be on the ground when sitting on the seat for safety reasons.  99% of bikes have baskets in the front and only a few gears.

People bike on the footpaths, and often half of the footpath is for biking and half for walking like in this picture:

Near train stations there are big bicycle parking areas.  If you park it just any old where, you risk getting it taken away by the council, just like in NZ when you park a car illegally.

In the middle of the city you have to pay for bicycle parking.  It's usually $1.50 per day.  Your wheel gets clamped and your bike gets locked to the stand for security.  My teacher had her bicycle stolen even though it had two chainlocks on it, so now she always parks it in one of these paid parking spots:

See my point about umbrellas!  This women is so worried about the UV rays and getting a tan that she is biking with her umbrella up.  That's really common.  See how even business men in suits bike.  Women in high heels and skirts bike too.  Hmmm that doesn't seem so safe!

Thats all for now.  Take care.  Miss you all. 
Amelia

Ikebana and Noh theatre

Konnichiwa!
I hope you are all well.  Thanks for the email MacKenzie.  I've seen lots of ravens/crows (huge!), herons and sparrows (which are smaller here).  But I'm not sure what the native birds are here.  I'll find out for you.

Today I went to a Japanese flower arrangement exhibition (Ikebana).  They were really interesting, some were taller than me, and some were really little. If you'd like to know more about Ikebana, there is heaps of info here:

http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/virtual/ikebana/ikebana01.html

Here are some pictures I took:

 I also watched some Noh Theatre.  Noh is a drama in which dance and music play an important role. The story is told not just through dialogue but also through utai (singing), hayashi (musical accompaniment), and dance. It's like a musical from the fourteenth century.  I didn't understand the storyline at all but it was still interesting.  Some of the shows I watched had children (from 6years old upwards) as the main character.  Here's more info about Noh here: 

http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/meet/noh/

Have a great week everyone,

Jaa mata,  O genki de ne,

Amelia

Robot Square

Konnbanwa! Good Evening!
Kyo wa totemo taihen deshita, aitsukatta!  Today was tough, it was sooo hot! 
Yesterday I went to the Fukuoka Musuem and Robot Square.  Robot square was very interesting.  They have shows in which you can watch the robots in action and lots of small robots for sale.   Here are some pictures:

This robot senses your mood somehow.   I didn't see it in action though.

This robot is for people that are elderly or disabled. 

In Japan, it is really common to be given a packet of tissues by shop staff and by people standing at busy pedestrian crossings.  They are a good way to advertise their business.  This robot does the all the handing out!

This is a music robot that dances and follows you around the house.  You put your CDs or I-Pod inside it, or listen to the radio. 



Here is a place you can race romote control moon buggys around a  race track.

Yep, the fish is a robot that can swim around a pond.  Its looks really real.



Here is a busy classroom next to the Robot Square where children can learn about robots and physics after school.  Looks like fun!

 Have a great week, miss you all,
Amelia Whiting

Neko Cafe

Konnichiwa,

Genki desu ka? (How are you?) It's a beautiful day here and I'm about to the beach before I have a conversation class.

Neko means cat in Japanese.  And in Fukuoka there are 4 or 5 Neko Cafes.  So I went to check one out.  It sure was an interesting experience!

The cats are street cats that the cafe owner looks after, and customers pay by the hour to come in, have a drink and pat the cats. It cost $10 a drink and to stay one hour in the cafe.

This cafe had 34 cats they look after!  Most were sleeping and there were lots of kittens.  It was abit smelly but very very clean.

Sometimes people adopt the cats like we do at a SPCA.  If you want to read more about it, this Neko Cafe has an English webpage that I just found for you:

http://asianbeat.com/en/feature/fukuokanow/number002-1.html

Here are some pics:

The waitress showed us to this table.  Hmmm there was a cat on each seat.  So we perched on the front of the seats!



The cafe is designed for the comfort of cats and includes a nice big climbing area.



The cats' descriptions are in the menu.  Including their names, age, sex, hobbies, and when they first came to Neko Cafe.

 The owners are giving this little kitten some medicine.

Here's me and Saran (a friend from the language school).  Poor cats!

 A cat's
meow in Japanese is nyan-nyan（ニャンニャン） or nyaa-nyaa （ニャーニャー）not meow!

That's all for now.  Mata rai shu (until next week).  O genki de ne (take care),

Amelia