Today is a special day in Japan. Yes, it is Japan’s Children's Day, but
it is also the Dragon Boat Festival, which is quite different from Taiwan.
For most festivals, we go by solar calendar in Japan, while here in
Taiwan, they go by lunar calendar.
In Japan, we will hang carp flags
(Koinobori) outside the house, we put
dolls in the niche inside the house,
and we will eat kashiwamochi and chimaki. No kashiwamochi and chimaki
can be found in Taiwan, but there are many similar foods. For example, the
kashiwamochi, inside which we put some fillings like bean paste, is like Taiwan's Caozaiguo(草仔粿). It is sticky and chewy. The
food is green, too. I feel that
kashiwamochi tastes good. It is a
filling food. Only one or two will
stuff me.
Today is May 5. It is Children's Day in Japan. I talked to Andy about what we do in Japan on Children's Day. Andy talked to me about Children's Day in Taiwan in return. In Taiwan, Children's Day is on April 4th. He said the elementary school would give a piece of cake and presents to students to celebrate Children's Day. When Andy was 7 years old to 9 years old , the school gave the cake and presents to him. The school didn’t give him presents and cakes any longer after he was 10 years old. Children's Day is a holiday for elementary school students. They don’t have to go to school. Andy held Taiwan’s Children's Day for me to experience the holiday.
We ate cakes and
celebrated Taiwan’s Children's Day. We
felt funny because we are not children any more. But today we are happy. It is
a wonderful memory. Andy will
graduate from Jinshun high school on June 6.
I am getting ready to get back to my hometown, Hiroshima, too. The principal and two teachers of Jinshan
high school will visit Kenritsu Kouchi High School(河內高校), starting on June 13th. They will take me along. I am looking forward to it.
