ECC Weeks 27-28 Japan

Japan was a great country for us.



We added Japan to our wall.

We are blessed with having a newly made friend who is an international student from Japan, attending the local University. She came over and taught us how to make miso soup. I pulled out our Japanese lacquer ware (given as a wedding present and sent straight from Japan). We ate our soup in the traditional way from my lacquer bowls and with matching chopsticks. Our friend gave Squirt a big compliment on her use of chopsticks (it always has come naturally to her).

We learned lots of extra origami. The origami book and paper that came with our curriculum was great, but she showed us lots more. And the paper she had from Japan was so much more delicate and the prints were gorgeous. She talked with us about Japanese customs, culture and foods. She wrote Squirt's name in Katakana and Hiragana.

Squirt made some Japanese fans out of white water color paper and craft sticks. We looked up her name and her friends names in Katakan at this site http://japanesetranslator.co.uk/your-name-in-japanese/ She painted, in black paint, the names of her friends and her own name. She made about six fans. I got the instructions here http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/japanese_fan_craft.htm.

We listened to traditional Japanese music and watched traditional dancing online. We looked at lots of books and pictures of Japanese traditional clothing and art. We really enjoyed the historically based pictures books by Allen Say.

We also went to the local university and got to watch our friend participate in a performance of traditional Japanese dance. We made her origami cherry blossoms following the instructions in the video here http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-Fold-an-Origami-Cherry-Blossom-103191860 We got to eat a traditional Japanese "sweet" of ice cream, fruit & red beans.

Squirt made a Karensansui mini garden from Global Art but she left out the pagoda. She made the choice to leave it out because she said she associated it with the other religions practiced in Japan.


Finally she made a carp wind sock of sorts.

We ended our two week study of Japan by going out for Sushi. Squirt liked the steamed rice,  and miso soup (which was not as good as the one that was made for us at our home). She liked the tempura. But she did not like the sushi, especially the Nagiri. She said it was like eating a slug. I guess, for some, it is an acquired taste.