Visit from the animals! The travelling domestic
animal company paid us a visit... we spent the morning patting rabbits, puppies,
guinea pigs and cats! Tough life really!!
All
I want for Christmas....
Kyoto zoo was an experience... I am not a
big fan of zoos and this one just made it worse... the kids loved it none
the less. If only we could have got the elephant to turn around!!
O-mochi is a special rice based food made
especially for New Year in Japan. Traditionally, a big wooden mallet is used
to pound the mixture... yes, they wanted me to have a go!! It is not as easy
as it looks!
Here the kids are making sweets from the
mixture. It can also be used in soups or eaten on its own.
I like to call this festival "Let's
make the kids cry"! Otherwise known as the Shinsetsubun, welcoming of
spring festival. This is the time when oni (closest translation in English
being devils) are chased out of the childrens lives by throwing beans at them.
By eating same number of beans as your age, plus 1, the children's good will
and courage are summoned. This occurs during the beginning of spring and symbolises
the changing of seasons.
The 6 year olds were not too fond of the
scary presence of the oni!! Despite the fact they were the oni for the younger
ones as shown in the photo with scary me in the background!
Kumiyama has 3 day care centres, Mimaki, Sayama and Miyanogo.
The age range is from 6 months old to 6 years old. I have now learnt how
to change nappies, tame a child that continually wants to hit and destroy
and dry the tears of the distressed!
Every Friday I spend 3 hours at any one of the 3 centres
and by the end of it, I am completely exhausted...I
don't understand how parents can do this full time!
Kawaii ne!!
