Saturday, January 14, 2006
Gone shootin'
Today, I cross another item on my list: shooting a gun.
Andy was a champ and took me to a shooting range with his .22 and 9mm. We only got around to shooting the .22, but it was enough to give me a taste of what shooting a gun was like.
At first, I clumsily dropped the bullets while loading the magazine. But once I got the hang of it, it was like clockwork.
Load magazine. Pull back striker. Turn off the safety. Aim. Fire. Aim. Fire. Aim. Fire.
As usual, my aim is inconsistent. But I hit the bullseye a couple of times. The only fear I had was of the hot, gun-powdered shells flying at me - also from the booth next door (a couple hit me smack on the head as I was concentrating on my target).
Today was one of those unique opportunities in my life. I doubt that I will ever pick up a gun again, but it was a great curiosity of mine why people want to own and handle guns. There is a strange sense of empowerment, yet a realistic understanding that having a gun around is as normal as eating pizza here in the US. I can never watch Hollywood movies the same way again. Guns are heavy and take time to handle. You really need to know what you are doing if you want to be the hero of the day who shoots down the bad guys.
Such silly thoughts encircled my head as I walked out of the shooting range.
Andy was a champ and took me to a shooting range with his .22 and 9mm. We only got around to shooting the .22, but it was enough to give me a taste of what shooting a gun was like.
At first, I clumsily dropped the bullets while loading the magazine. But once I got the hang of it, it was like clockwork.
Load magazine. Pull back striker. Turn off the safety. Aim. Fire. Aim. Fire. Aim. Fire.
As usual, my aim is inconsistent. But I hit the bullseye a couple of times. The only fear I had was of the hot, gun-powdered shells flying at me - also from the booth next door (a couple hit me smack on the head as I was concentrating on my target).
Today was one of those unique opportunities in my life. I doubt that I will ever pick up a gun again, but it was a great curiosity of mine why people want to own and handle guns. There is a strange sense of empowerment, yet a realistic understanding that having a gun around is as normal as eating pizza here in the US. I can never watch Hollywood movies the same way again. Guns are heavy and take time to handle. You really need to know what you are doing if you want to be the hero of the day who shoots down the bad guys.
Such silly thoughts encircled my head as I walked out of the shooting range.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Ichi-Fuji, Ni-Taka, San-Nasubi
Tradition starts to fade away when you grow up in a different country. But my mother drops them once in a while to remind me of my roots.
New Year's Day (January 1st) is the most important day of the year in Japanese culture. It is up the whazoo with traditions - they are connected to the ancient lifestyle, some are downright bizarre.
- At midnight on New Year's Eve, we eat toshi-koshi soba (barley noodles), because long noodles signify longevity
- It is said that you are lucky if you dream of these things on New Year's Eve:
1. Mt. Fuji (most lucky)
2. Hawk
3. Eggplant
People say, "Ichi-Fuji, Ni-Taka, San-Nasubi." I guess you've got it made for the year if you can dream of a hawk flying over Mt. Fuji with an eggplant in its talons.
- Up to 3 days before New Year's, women cook a variety of traditional dishes called Osechi. An abundance of food is made so that the women are relieved of cooking duty for the first few days of the year. The food needs little preparing, and they can all be eaten cold. Each Osechi dish has a meaning:
*Lotus roots - they have many holes, so you can look into the future
*Black beans (pronounced ma-me in Japanese) - ma-me means "dilligent," so parents urge children to eat these
*Da-te maki - Lord Da-te liked these sweet egg pancake rolls so much, so this dish became known as a sign of luxury
*Candied fish (tatsukuri) - These small, bony fish can be eaten whole. Tatsukuri means "making the field," wishing for a good farm year
*Fish roe (kazunoko) - Fish have many eggs, so this is a wish for fertility for couples and the continuation of the family line.
*Shrimp cooked in sake - Shrimps have crooked backs, so it is a wish that you get to live with your spouse until your old-age
Oh - and one other thing that Japanese people do at the end of the year is the biggest clean-up of their houses. They get rid of the old and clean their entire house so that the new year and the laughing god can come. (There is an old proverb "At the corner of laughter is a god of good fortune" Warau kado ni wa fuku no kami.)
Shinnen Akemashite Omedeto gozaimasu! ^_^ Happy New Year!
New Year's Day (January 1st) is the most important day of the year in Japanese culture. It is up the whazoo with traditions - they are connected to the ancient lifestyle, some are downright bizarre.
- At midnight on New Year's Eve, we eat toshi-koshi soba (barley noodles), because long noodles signify longevity
- It is said that you are lucky if you dream of these things on New Year's Eve:
1. Mt. Fuji (most lucky)
2. Hawk
3. Eggplant
People say, "Ichi-Fuji, Ni-Taka, San-Nasubi." I guess you've got it made for the year if you can dream of a hawk flying over Mt. Fuji with an eggplant in its talons.
- Up to 3 days before New Year's, women cook a variety of traditional dishes called Osechi. An abundance of food is made so that the women are relieved of cooking duty for the first few days of the year. The food needs little preparing, and they can all be eaten cold. Each Osechi dish has a meaning:
*Lotus roots - they have many holes, so you can look into the future
*Black beans (pronounced ma-me in Japanese) - ma-me means "dilligent," so parents urge children to eat these
*Da-te maki - Lord Da-te liked these sweet egg pancake rolls so much, so this dish became known as a sign of luxury
*Candied fish (tatsukuri) - These small, bony fish can be eaten whole. Tatsukuri means "making the field," wishing for a good farm year
*Fish roe (kazunoko) - Fish have many eggs, so this is a wish for fertility for couples and the continuation of the family line.
*Shrimp cooked in sake - Shrimps have crooked backs, so it is a wish that you get to live with your spouse until your old-age
Oh - and one other thing that Japanese people do at the end of the year is the biggest clean-up of their houses. They get rid of the old and clean their entire house so that the new year and the laughing god can come. (There is an old proverb "At the corner of laughter is a god of good fortune" Warau kado ni wa fuku no kami.)
Shinnen Akemashite Omedeto gozaimasu! ^_^ Happy New Year!
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Why I wasn't blogging (for the last 1.5 weeks)
Our first holiday stop was in Franklin, Vermont. I'm always amazed at the amount of gift giving that goes on in an American Christmas. Personally, I was a little overwhelmed and felt like I didn't do enough shopping. But then again, the Japanese gift-giving culture consists of as many things, only spread out throughout the year.
My personal favorite gifts that I got this year included the wood carvings that Randy's sister got in Ghana, the fluffy scarves, and a fuzzy bathrobe from my parents. I've been a good girl this past year, I guess.
One of the interesting things I did this past year was to go to a Christmas Eve service, as Randy's Mom is the minister at several churches in the area. I hadn't stepped foot in a church in ages (and for pure educational curiosity only), but the Christmas service was something that I understood despite my shallow knowledge of the faith. I think I got a flat bum from the wooden benches though.
O' Christmas tree, O' Christmas tree...
I got my White Christmas! (the first in 6-7 years?)
Randy and I departed snowy Vermont for the balmy West Coast.... only to find out that it was RAINING dogs and cats in the San Francisco Bay Area. There were even flood warnings in the Napa-Sonoma region, which was a pity.
But we had some windows of opportunity to enjoy the sun, like this day:
Monterey's cool blue water and white sands make for a scenic photo. But wait, what are those slug-looking things on the beach???
SEALS!!!! (I like the way they bounce up and down on their stomach to inch into the ocean)
Picturesque. Chasing the sun along Highway 1, as it dips into the Pacific Ocean.
And you can't possibly pass up the opportunity of going to Northern California without tasting the wine. So we went on a (free) winery tour. Quite educational, really (and you can be a wine snob too!). Courtesy of Wente Winery.
Fermenting barrels. Each barrel makes: 15 cases x 12 bottles per case = 300 bottles of wine. Woo doggy!
Yeah, a tank of wine.
49,100 gallons of wine... Hmm... Sign reads:
CAUTION
Confined Space. Use Lock-Out & Entry Procedures Prior to Entry.
You can ENTER that thing? Sweet! *dresses into a bathing suit*
Bottling station. They fill the bottles with nitrous gas (which is heavier than oxygen) and then the tube fill up the wine, pushing the gas out. They can fill 100 bottles/minute here.
The international door. The door says "Keep the door closed" in different languages (written by the workers).
Murietta's Well (another winery) - this is the legendary well where the Artegian horsemen stopped to rest their horse (or something like that).
We ate A TON of food. This trip was almost planned according to our meal schedules. We had steak, seafood, Vietnamese Pho, (amazing) Mexican Food, homemade South Indian food, sushi, osechi (traditional Japanese New Year's meal), and In-n-Out Burger. Whew! Alkaseltzer anybody?
Mmm... homemade sushi.
My brother with our adorable neighbors - Nivita and Nitin.
Just playin' with the cat. Cat in a bag. Cat in a bag.
A real treat this year was to attend Hoover's 10th Annual New Year's Eve Party. A high school reunion, really. Good to see some old faces, catching up and being merry.
Deven, Liz, Joe, Paul, and Laura look pretty for the camera.
With their homemade TiVo, we watched Deven's show (she was an Assistant Project Manager at Nickelodeon) Catscratch. We get the inside information about what really happens inside the studios - haha.
A rare shot of Nick and Karma (does not love the camera, but caught them anyway).
And come January 1st...
Traditional Japanese New Year's at the Takasu Household. Osechi and sake.
An excerpt from Deven's online journal:
"We got to have this today. Saki invited us over for a traditional Japanese New Year feast, and it was really really good. Her mom just kept bringout more food! After the main dishes, we also had a soup, (I think it was called Zoni), and then sugary candies. I think I drank my weight in tea. I also had my first taste of sake, which I've been meaning to try for awhile. It was a lot of fun. It was the best meal I've had in a long while. I think it spolied me on regular food."
Women cook this for several days straight at the end of the year so that they don't need to cook for several days in the new year. The food were all things that could be eaten cold and needed little re-preparation. As a kid, I never understood how this was fair at all. Thank goodness to supermarkets and refrigerators now though.
Akemashite Omedeto gozaimasu ^_^ Wishing everyone a Great New Year!
My personal favorite gifts that I got this year included the wood carvings that Randy's sister got in Ghana, the fluffy scarves, and a fuzzy bathrobe from my parents. I've been a good girl this past year, I guess.
One of the interesting things I did this past year was to go to a Christmas Eve service, as Randy's Mom is the minister at several churches in the area. I hadn't stepped foot in a church in ages (and for pure educational curiosity only), but the Christmas service was something that I understood despite my shallow knowledge of the faith. I think I got a flat bum from the wooden benches though.
O' Christmas tree, O' Christmas tree...
I got my White Christmas! (the first in 6-7 years?)
Randy and I departed snowy Vermont for the balmy West Coast.... only to find out that it was RAINING dogs and cats in the San Francisco Bay Area. There were even flood warnings in the Napa-Sonoma region, which was a pity.
But we had some windows of opportunity to enjoy the sun, like this day:
Monterey's cool blue water and white sands make for a scenic photo. But wait, what are those slug-looking things on the beach???
SEALS!!!! (I like the way they bounce up and down on their stomach to inch into the ocean)
Picturesque. Chasing the sun along Highway 1, as it dips into the Pacific Ocean.
And you can't possibly pass up the opportunity of going to Northern California without tasting the wine. So we went on a (free) winery tour. Quite educational, really (and you can be a wine snob too!). Courtesy of Wente Winery.
Fermenting barrels. Each barrel makes: 15 cases x 12 bottles per case = 300 bottles of wine. Woo doggy!
Yeah, a tank of wine.
49,100 gallons of wine... Hmm... Sign reads:
CAUTION
Confined Space. Use Lock-Out & Entry Procedures Prior to Entry.
You can ENTER that thing? Sweet! *dresses into a bathing suit*
Bottling station. They fill the bottles with nitrous gas (which is heavier than oxygen) and then the tube fill up the wine, pushing the gas out. They can fill 100 bottles/minute here.
The international door. The door says "Keep the door closed" in different languages (written by the workers).
Murietta's Well (another winery) - this is the legendary well where the Artegian horsemen stopped to rest their horse (or something like that).
We ate A TON of food. This trip was almost planned according to our meal schedules. We had steak, seafood, Vietnamese Pho, (amazing) Mexican Food, homemade South Indian food, sushi, osechi (traditional Japanese New Year's meal), and In-n-Out Burger. Whew! Alkaseltzer anybody?
Mmm... homemade sushi.
My brother with our adorable neighbors - Nivita and Nitin.
Just playin' with the cat. Cat in a bag. Cat in a bag.
A real treat this year was to attend Hoover's 10th Annual New Year's Eve Party. A high school reunion, really. Good to see some old faces, catching up and being merry.
Deven, Liz, Joe, Paul, and Laura look pretty for the camera.
With their homemade TiVo, we watched Deven's show (she was an Assistant Project Manager at Nickelodeon) Catscratch. We get the inside information about what really happens inside the studios - haha.
A rare shot of Nick and Karma (does not love the camera, but caught them anyway).
And come January 1st...
Traditional Japanese New Year's at the Takasu Household. Osechi and sake.
An excerpt from Deven's online journal:
"We got to have this today. Saki invited us over for a traditional Japanese New Year feast, and it was really really good. Her mom just kept bringout more food! After the main dishes, we also had a soup, (I think it was called Zoni), and then sugary candies. I think I drank my weight in tea. I also had my first taste of sake, which I've been meaning to try for awhile. It was a lot of fun. It was the best meal I've had in a long while. I think it spolied me on regular food."
Women cook this for several days straight at the end of the year so that they don't need to cook for several days in the new year. The food were all things that could be eaten cold and needed little re-preparation. As a kid, I never understood how this was fair at all. Thank goodness to supermarkets and refrigerators now though.
Akemashite Omedeto gozaimasu ^_^ Wishing everyone a Great New Year!
