Of course, there's also the (somewhat) well known phrase "gambatte" which means to do one's best. Well, if I'm REALLY technical, the verb is "gambaru" while "gambatte" is just a conjugated form of it........ yay nerdiness......
So what task am working so hard at?? My belt test on the 23rd. According to the Wadokai (the governing body of my karate style and itself part of the larger Japan Karatedo Federation), any belt tests below black belt may be given by the instructor of the dojo. But any level from black belt onwards must be tested by the Wadokai examiners and these tests only happen a few times a year. There'll be about 10 of us from the dojo going. It's a bit nerve wracking and the tension doesn't help muscle speed, but oh well......... I'm just gonna go at it "with all my might" and see what happens.......
Also, last week was Valentine's Day so........ Happy Valentine's. As you might expect with how Halloween and Christmas are viewed here, Valentine's is quite a commercialized day as well (as if it wasn't in Canada haha)...... But it works a bit differently here..... On Valentine's, only girls give boys presents and it's usually chocolate.
Brilliant!, I thought. But hang on, what's this about a White Day??
Well, White Day is one month after Valentine's (March 14th) and it's when the boy gives presents back to the girl. And it's NOT chocolate....... necklaces, perhaps. Or earrings........
I thought I was quite lucky to get gifts from my students and coworkers and such. But now........ I'm not so sure ;) haha j/k......
But that's ok. For now, I'll be using the chocolate derived energy to help me along the days leading up til the 23rd. Everything else is sort of secondary =P heh.......
12 comments:
why is it they give us chocolates and we have to give them something thats like, 100 dollars more expensive?
Geoffrey
That's a good question haha..... I have no idea..... perhaps cuz, in the grand scheme of human evolution, men are supposed to be the providers??
Either that, or White Day was invented by some jewellery company to make tons and tons of money heh.....
And I can't believe I'm getting comment spammed....... deleted!......
Of course, being in the modern world and with sexual equality, it could work that guys give girls chocolates and on White Day, girls give guys....... umm..... $300 carbon fibre USB gadgets or something hehe....
thats how it should be. thats how it should be. but its not. :P
Geoffrey
Mariko was explaining this concept to me earlier. At first, yes, i thought it was cool that girls gave guys something. Then I learned about white day.
Also, I think there's a black day too sometime after white day which is for single people to celebrate. Apparently, single people can go to stores and buy this 'black' noodle ... go figure. To celebrate your... singleness?
I guess so haha....... I Wikipedia'd Black Day and it doesn't really state any specific places except for South Korea that celebrate it. (I suppose everyday is a "black" day up in North Korea haha)...
If there is a Japanese one, I don't know about it haha....
I say on Black Day, singles buy themselves something extravagant heh......
so are you going to buy stuff for the students who bought you stuff? i hope you don't buy them chocolate and get that thrown back in your face... "i want a diamond necklace!! sensei...."
mybad. black day is a korean holiday... altho, what if you're not single but you like the black noodles? maybe they're made of black sesame or sth.
I don't see anything wrong with just eating the black noodles cuz you like it heh.....
I wonder if the singles would all get angry if you went with your gf/bf on Black Day and ate, like, 3 bowls of black noodles haha.....
Gars- What would 6 year olds do with a diamond necklace?? haha..... I'll just give them an extra sticker haha.... I'm so mean haha....
Geez.
The whole idea of what each sex is 'supposed' to give the other makes me crazy. I really prefer people just giving each other gifts and saying nice things like "thank you" because they appreciate the people & relationships in their lives... How crazy is that?
So, don't expect chocolate OR diamonds from me... But, I hope that you leraned a lot from your test and the efforts it took to get there... regardless of the final decision.
Enjoy yourself & keep giving your best efforts!
-Amber
That's also a good point heh.... I suppose it's all the commercialization of holidays that breed this kind of "specific gift giving".
Christmas, Easter, birthdays, etc.
Even the Lucky Envelopes or Otoshidama in China or Japan have sort of been diluted into just days for extra cash. Even the tooth fairy gives money.
I do agree too that actions mean more than wrapping paper and while I won't deny that it's nice to give or receive gifts, I also like just having a fun time out with friends or helping someone out.
I guess I got caught up in all the "wow, look at the chocolate!"-ness of it all haha.....
Oh, and thanks for the kinds words about my test. I did learn a lot, especially about the intangible elements of karate during my self practices.
Stay tuned for the result hehe....
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