We would like to extend the best wishes from our family to yours.
May the New Year bring only good things to all of you!
Our family visited my husband's parents house in Kagoshima prefecture during the New Year's holiday.
We could see his parents after one year.
They were good and glad to see their grandchildren.
We helped them to get ready for the New Year.
My 5-year-old daughter especially helped them a lot.
They raise about twelve Japanese black cattle in front of their house.
She used to be scared of them because they were bigger than her and the black color of their body made her frightened, so I had to carry her when we went through in front of the cattle barn.
But this year, she swept around the cattle barn with a broom and fed them.
I was surprised to see her do this
She brought her small apron and helped her grandmother.
She was so glad to see that her granddaughter helped her a lot.
We paid a visit to a shrine on New Year's Day.
A lot of people were in a long line to worship toward the main building of the Shinto shrine.
My husband and I explained to our children how to pray.
We threw coins into the offering box in front of the main hall, rang the bell, made a bow twice, clapped twice, put our hands together, closed eyes and prayed for our wishes.
We drew Omikuji (a paper fortune).
I picked the "Kichi" (blessing).
In my case, when the prediction is not so good, I fold up the strip of paper and tie it to the wires where we can attach bad fortunes in the shrine grounds.
We enjoyed the kite-flying at the ground near their house.
Kite-flying is one of the popular New Year's activities for children in Japan.
We enjoyed watching the dolphin show.
It was funny that trainer wore Kimono during the show.
This time, we visited Uchinoura Space Center for the first time.
It is a space launch facility established by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency).
I was impressed that the washrooms inside and outside the facility were well-cleaned and kept comfortable though it is in the countryside.
I could feel residents' effort to welcome tourists.
It was a really nice trip.
We could see our parents and helped them, visit many places and meet relatives.
When we arrived at the Central Japan airport, many Lucky Cats welcomed us at the baggage claim of the domestic arrival.
These Lucky Cats are famous ceramic products of Tokoname city where the airport is located.
My father came to the airport to pick us up, then we went to my parents house to stay one night.
My sister and her husand came to our parents house yesterday morning and had lunch together.
After lunch, we enjoyed playing "Donjyara" together.
It is a picture matching game like mah‐jongg for families.
I wrote about Donjyara my previous post : http://a-o-j-m.blogspot.jp/search?q=donjyara )
We got very involved in the game.
It was really fun!
My son turned seven during the New Year's vacation.
He got presents from his grandparents and aunt.
He also enjoyed painting a dinosaur figure which he bought with his Otoshidama (New Year's money) which I gave him.
The dinosaur was white at first and children can enjoy painting it using acrylic paints which are packed together.
Everyone in our family was surprised at his sense of color!
A long New Year's vacation will end soon.
I will be happy if you visit my blog again this year!
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Hi Kumi-san,
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting post, Jaxa seems like a very interesting place to visit. I wish we has something similar in England.
Here is a list of some of the small issues I found while reading the post.
This line:
Especially my 5-year-old daughter helped them a lot.
Should be:
My 5-year-old daughter especially helped them a lot.
This line:
But this year, she swept around the cattle barn by a broom and fed them.
Should be:
But this year, she swept around the cattle barn with a broom and fed them.
This line:
I was surprised to see her.
Should be:
I was surprised to see her do this.
Or:
She surprised me.
This line:
My husband and I explained our children how to pray.
Should be:
My husband and I explained to our children how to pray.
This line:
We threw coins into the offering box in front of the main hall, rang the bell, made a bow twice, clapped twice, put our hands together, closed eyes and prayed our wishes.
Should be:
We threw coins into the offering box in front of the main hall, rang the bell, made a bow twice, clapped twice, put our hands together, closed eyes and prayed for our wishes/desires.
This line:
In my case, when the prediction is not so good, I fold up the strip of paper and tie it to the wires where we can attach bad fortunes in a shrine grounds.
Should be:
In my case, when the prediction is not so good, I fold up the strip of paper and tie it to the wires where we can attach bad fortunes in the shrine grounds.
Question: Am I interpreting this sentence correctly to mean that sometimes there are misfortunes (bad fortunes written on the papers) or does it just mean a prediction that does not match with your life situations?
This line:
We went to the aquarium this year again where we go on New Year's Day every year.
Should be:
We went to the aquarium which we go to every year on New Year's Day.
Reason: I am reading this sentence as every year on new years day you go to the aquarium, if I am mis-interpreting then please ignore. If this is accurate then you are repeating yourself with the sentence so I just removed the repetition.
This line:
This time, We visited Uchinoura Space Center for the first time.
Should be:
This time, we visited Uchinoura Space Center for the first time.
Reason: You would capitalise we only when it is at the start or a sentence. since we is following a comma and not a full-stop it should be lower case.
Example:
We all ate ice cream.
The children like sweet foods. We decided to eat ice cream.
The sun was warm and so, we all ate ice cream.
Note: As always I am not a grammer expert so if you know so certain that it should be capitalised please ignore, but I have only ever seen we capitalise when at the start of a sentence or after a full-stop.
This line:
This was a really nice trip.
Should be:
It was a really nice trip.
This line:
We could see our parents and helped them, visit many places, meet relatives.
Should be:
We could see our parents and helped them, visit many places and meet relatives.
This line:
We got excited for the game.
Should be:
We enjoyed the game.
Or:
We got caught-up in the game.
Or:
We got very involved in the game.
This line:
He got presents from his grand parents and aunt.
Should be:
He got presents from his grandparents and aunt.
This line:
He also enjoyed painting a dinosaur figure which he bought by his Otoshidama (New Year's money) which I gave him.
Should be:
He also enjoyed painting a dinosaur figure which he bought with his Otoshidama (New Year's money) which I gave him.
This line:
I will be happy if you visit my blog this year again!
Should be:
I will be happy if you visit my blog again this year!
Thank you for many correction, Terry.
DeleteI always appriciate you!
Question: Am I interpreting this sentence correctly to mean that sometimes there are misfortunes (bad fortunes written on the papers) or does it just mean a prediction that does not match with your life situations?
Yes, you interpret it correctly.
Generally, I heard that we can bring the Omikuji which we picked home if the result is good or bad because it is the message of the beginningof this year from God.
But my parents told me that we can tie them if we pick the bad fortune when I was a child.
In my case, if I pick Daikichi(the best fortune) but a good things is not written very much, I will tie it.
(It is sometimes written a kind of warning words even if it is the best fortune.)
Can you make it clear by this??
Yes I understand now. I was confused because I didn't think that there were bad fortunes given. Though I should say that fortunes we get given in some restaurants are not really the type to be taken seriously. I would assume that in temples and more serious places the fortunes can be both good or bad and are generally taken more seriously.
ReplyDelete