Come Away with Me

あけましておめでとうございます

Happy New Year! Can't believe it but it's 2007 already!

No countdown parties, no glamourous firework shows, no romantic dates or cosy family dinners.

Don't worry it wasn't a lonely New Year's Eve either, just different from the usual.

I am glad to have the chance to spend New Year season on the island and experience the way Japanese celebrate and usher in a brand new year.

The Hanasakis (鼻崎)knew that i am not going home for the holidays and invited me to their house and to spend new year's eve and day with them. Mr. and Mrs. Hanasaki are really like stand-in parrents in Narao. They've met my folks when they came to visit last year and in their usual warm-hearted style treated us to dinners and showed my parents around the island. They have 2 grown-up sons who are living in the city so on usual days it's only the 2 of them at home.

New Year's Eve is called Ohmisoka (大晦日) in Japanese and we had Tohiskoshi Soba ((年越しそば)which means 'crossing the year' soba literally for dinner. It is just normal soba noodles but it's a custom to eat before the New Year comes. Like the Chinese tradition of eating food with names that sounds similar to things that bring good luck and fortune, the Japanese too have similar belief and practice. By eating soba, the Japanese hope to live a long and thin life and gather happiness and good fortune.

Through the night, we watched the Kouhaku Uta Gassen(紅白歌合戦) or Red & White Song Battle, on tv while waiting for 2007 to ring in. The 'red' team or akagumi (紅組)is made up of all female artists while the 'white' team or shirogumi (白組)is all male. Traditionally it is considered a great honor to appear on Kouhaku as performance is strictly by invitation so only the most successful J-pop artists abd ebka singers can perform. However in recent years, viewership for the show has taken a dip and it is now not consider that much a big deal anymore as many in the cities celebrate new year's eve by partying the night away instead of staying at home to watch the program. I've got to admit for all the build-up and hype over this annual mega new year's eve event, the show was a tad bit lacklustre. Since this is gonna be my one and only New Year in Japan, i sat through most of the 4-hour show and by the way the white team evetually won the battle.

When i said i spent New Year's eve and day with the Hanasakis, i literally stayed over at their place that night even though my own house was just right opposite the street and down by a little hill. They said that this way, i would not feel sad and lonely on the first day of the year. The next day, i was fed more, given more food and driven home by them with more promises of meeting up over the holidays. I was told that whenever i feel cold and want a hot bath (i only take shower at home which the Jpse consider prone to catching a cold during winter), i can just pop by their place anytime. The room which i slept in is 'my room' till i return to Singapore. Even then, their hospitality and warmth do not stop just there as they repeatedly stressed that anytime in the future when i come to Japan, and back to Narao for visit, be it on my own or with my family, their door will always be open for me. For sure, i will certainly be back to visit my wonderful otoosan and okaasan in Narao :)


The other family which i spend a lot of time with are the Matsumura(松村). On the second day of the new year, i joined them and their children, who were back for the holidays, for a game of tennis at Wakamatsu before going over to their place for dinner.

There, i was treated to the traditional and very delicious Japanese New Year cuisine called Osechi ryori which consists of many different kind of dishes. Osechi was originally a way for the Japanese to survive the first several days of the New Year, when stores throughout Japan were closed. As the food that made up osechi can be prepared in advance and last for a few days without spoiling, housewives finish cooking osechi dishes by New Year's Eve so they can relax and enjoy the next few days of celebration without having to worry about preparing meals. Each dish and type of food in osechi has meaning, such as good health, fertility, good harvest, happiness, long life, and so on. However,nowadays, it is not uncommon for many to buy osechi at stores instead of cooking them at home since it is rather time-consuming process.

All in all i had a pretty good and relaxing break. Did nothing much really, blogged and cooked a bit here and there. It's back to school again from tomorrow onwards even though classes will not start till next week. I am looking forward to this coming weekend when i will be going to the lower island (下五島) for a short getaway!

A fellow ALT friend will pick me up from the port and we hope to do some shopping and sightseeing together. Even though we are both staying in the Gotos, I've heard much about how different the upper part　(上五島) is from the lower part. Well, glad to finally have a chance to take a look myself.

posted by テレサ @ 10:31 AM