The End of an Era

So as many people may not know, in Japan, they count the years according to how many years the emperor has been in office. since 1989, the era has been named 平成, or, Heisei. 2018 was the year Heisei 30. However, in recent days, the new era was announced! This is the first time in history the emperor stepped down instead of passing away and then a new emperor was announced. From here on out, the new era will be called 令和, or Reiwa. According to NHK, this is what the general meaning of Reiwa means.

“Approximate English translation:

The time is first spring, in a fair ("Rei") month,
When the air is clear and the wind a calm ("wa") breeze.
Plum flowers blossom a beauty's charming white
And the fragrance of the orchids is their sweet perfume.”

Also, another first is that typically, scholars choose the name based on old Chinese literature, however, this time around, it was chosen from old Japanese literature.

Here are the other candidates for the potential era names.

Eikō (英弘)

Kyūka (久化)

Kōshi (広至)

Banna (万和)

Bampō (万保)

Do you think they could have chosen a better era name?

I hope this era comprises of everything the scholars hoped for.

*to reiwa*

xoxo,e

Months

We learn something new everyday, right?

Today, I learned something interesting. Between the years 794- 1185, or the Heinan Period the names of the Japanese months were different than they are now. The months were named based on the lunar calendar. Here they are.


１月- 睦（むつき）Month of harmony

２月- 如月（きさらぎ）Month of wearing extra layers

３月- 弥生（やよい）Month of growth

４月-卯月（うずき）Month of Deutzia (uno hana)

５月-皐月（さつき）Month of playing rice sprouts

６月-水無が（みなずき）Month of no water

７月-文月（ふみずき）Month of literacy

８月-葉月（はずき）Month of leaves

９月-長月（ながつき）Autumn long month

１０月-神無月（かんあずき）Month of no Gods

１１月-霜月（しもつき）Month of frost

１２月-師走（しわす）Month of running priests

“Each old name has a meaning. 

If you know about the Japanese climate, you might wonder why minazuki (June) is the month of no water. June is rainy season (tsuyu) in Japan.

However, the old Japanese calendar was about a month behind the European calendar. It means minazuki was from July 7th to August 7th in the past.

It is believed that all the Gods from throughout the country gathered at Izumo Taisha (Izumo Shrine) in kannazuki (October), therefore there were no gods for other prefectures.

December is the busy month. Everyone, even the most respected priests run around  for preparation of the New Year. “

via thoughtco

Interesting isn’t it?

xoxo,e





White Day

Today is White Day in Japan. Basically Valentine’s Day, but in Japan girls give sweets to boys on Valentine’s Day and on White Day the boys reciprocate. I made banana muffins for the staff room and teachers for Valentine’s Day and got a nice of sweets. It was like it was my birthday…waittttt (;

xoxo,e

Funny Moment

Anna just told me about a time in her class when a boy was holding two pens and writing sentences so he could write two at a time. clever my friend…

xoxo,e

1000 Awesome Things

Today YoneT suggested I watch a TED talk that she usually shows her students. After i watched it I was moved by the message of the speaker. His main message was not to take the little things in life for granted. For example, many people yearn for acceptance, money, fame, etc. but when do you think the last time they took a look up at the sky, took a deep breath and looked at the passing clouds? My guess, not for a long time. When was the last time you looked up at the clouds and just appreciated being in the moment? The little things in life are the ones we take for granted. Here is his TED talk along with his blog. It will shed a new light on the way you perceive things I think. It did for me at least.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWDbxcvmsHk

http://1000awesomethings.com

xoxox,e

#1 looking out the window at the blue sky, hearing the birds chirp and the airplanes fly by. 02.20

Embarrassing Story

So since moving here, there have been a fair share of embarrassing things that have happened to me. Today, was another day something had happened. So here we go… yesterday was Valentine’s Day. I got some sweets from students, in particular I got sweets in two small paper bags. thanks kanoha btw. One of them had a chocolate cake like thing and in the other was a chocolate marshmallow type thing. Of course I ate one, but as I have been eating like shit lately, I decided to save the other one for today…Well when I was leaving work, a bit later than usual, I saw a student studying so diligently. I have seen him studying in the same place for awhile now, so I felt kind of bad for him. I also thought to myself that I really didn’t need to be eating MORE sweets so I thought I would be nice and share with him. When I passed by him, I reached into my purse to give him one of the bags. I obviously chose the heavier one because I thought the cake was in that one. Gave it to him, and started going home. As I was driving home, I opened the other bag to throw away a piece of garbage and to my freaking surprise, THE CAKE WAS INSIDE. At that point I was thinking ;sajflsjflksdjfsdfhfk. So I hurried and drove back to school to see if I could catch the student to switch bags with him, because if I didn’t he would open the bag I gave him only to see bits of garbage that I had put in there throughout the day. BUT I COULDN’T FIND HIM! So, long story short, I gave one of my students, who i’m not even allowed to give sweets to, a bag of garbage. fml he must think im a weirdo now.

xoxo,e