Summer

There's nothing very interesting to say at the moment... I am on summer holidays now. They're shaping up to be a lot nicer than my last holidays in Japan, over New Year (when I was bored, it was freezing, and I got food poisoning). I met my hairdresser last night for a drink and he's giving me free tickets for a baseball game and a soccer game this week. ^_^

(as usual, click on a picture to see it larger)

Summer activities

Last weekend I went to a couple of festivals. I bought a yukata (Japanese summer-style 'casual' kimono) to wear at the festivals. However, the yukata was too difficult. I couldn't put it on by myself, even after a co-worker showed me how, and after watching some YouTube videos. So, after spending about $70 for the ensemble (actually cheap when you see how many different components there are), I went in normal clothes...


This is one of the festivals; the woman in the foreground is wearing yukata. As for what all those people are doing, apparently throwing water on the asphalt road is good for the environment. No, I don't understand why.


The other festival, in Kawasaki.

Last weekend Pete and I also went to Zushi beach. It's my first time going to a beach since I left Australia. It was so nice to go swimming again. There were a few fish jumping out the water. I don't know why they were jumping...

Because of volcanic elements, the sand was kind of dark, so it didn't feel as clean as an Aussie beach. However, there were some nice things you don't get on Aussie beaches.



For example, public areas here aren't dry zones, so you can have picnics in parks or on beaches while drinking beer etc. Drunken loutish behaviour seems to be pretty rare here. The beachfront was lined with big outdoor restaurants and bars, so after we went swimming we sat outside with some drinks as the sun set. And, since it's summer, a whole bunch of people were lighting firecrackers and sending them off into the night.


Beach bar.

Seasons

I've mentioned Japan's preoccupation with the seasons before, because it really is noticeable. The seasons are not allowed to pass unacknowledged, you see; every season change means new store displays, new product lines, new campaigns. The greeting cards in stationery stores, for example, are season specific. Right now there are lots of festival-themed cards, and cards with fireworks, since they are very famously 'summer'. In a few weeks it will all change to autumn leaf themes.

Cafes and restaurants bring out seasonal food and drinks. Even chocolates follow a seasonal theme; in spring they had (horrible) cherry blossom-flavoured Kit Kats; now they have watermelon ones. Back in the days when women wore kimono as a matter of course, you would choose your colours and patterns based on the season; each season had its own styles.


A cold summer noodle dish. ^_^

People also seem acutely aware of flowers. I suppose in Australia, virtually everyone has a garden, so you will see all manner of flowers and trees on your daily commute to work. And in Australia I had only the vaguest idea of when various flowers bloomed. But here, people know. Stores will decorate their sign with the current flower; students will tell me they're going to such-and-such a place to see the flowers.

If I recall correctly, this year it's gone something like:
late February - plum blossoms
late March - cherry blossoms
April - tulips
May - wisteria
June - hydrangeas
July - azaleas and agapanthus

The strange thing about this is that there's a small park near my house. It's an entirely unremarkable park. However, any time there is a particular flower in season, I'll see that flower in the park. It's actually quite remarkable, how suddenly different parts of this small, boring park, will light up. I wonder if they are planted there deliberately each month, or if someone took great care in planning a park that would bloom in different places all year around?

Also, all summer there've been sunflowers. I *love* sunflowers.

Japanese

I have been studying Japanese really hard. You'd be impressed. I definitely decided to take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, level 3. I have a whole textbook full of grammar to complete before I'll be ready for the grammar part. But I think the vocabulary, listening and kanji sections should be okay. I found these great kanji flashcards which have all the JLPT3 and 4 kanji.