I speak English Well

I lived in Japan for one year, teaching English, years ago.  It was one of the best experiences of my life.  While I was there,  I met one of my cousin's Asian friends who was also living in Japan for a year.  She said she used to mess with people on the trains.  She and her Asian friend from the U.S., they both looked Japanese, would say, "Let's practice our English" and then they would proceed to have an entire conversation in English, but of course their English was fantastic since they spoke in English all the time in the United States.  They would get major stares of admiration on those trains!

Wooden Back Scratchers - A versatile tool

For as long as I can remember, we always had bamboo back scratchers at home when I was growing up.  Now that I have my own home,  I have mutliple back scratcher in my house now too.  They are really handy, not just for relieving back itches you can't reach with your hand, but you can use them to grab other things as well.  My mom told me once that she said the back scratcher was one of her favorite tools ever!

Double Eyelids

If you are Japanese-American or for that matter Asian,  I bet you know about double eyelid surgery.  I don't remember when I first heard about it.  I think in high school or possibly college.  Many Asian eyelids are called single eyelids since there isn't that crease in the eyelid, where all fashion magazines show how beautiful eyes can look by putting eye make up in that crease.  I remember wishing when I was younger that I could have that crease in my eyelids, but I never entertained the idea of having surgery to create it, especially after I saw people who had that surgery done.  In some cases it looks bizarre to me and in other cases it looks ok but for me personally, I just can't imagine cutting my eyelid in that way.   As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder...

Know your Seaweed

I always remember eating onori (seaweed) so I can't even say when the first time was that I ate it.  I grew up eating Japanese onori with plain rice (all children seem to like this) and onori plain or in sushi.  It wasn't until I was an adult that I was introduced to Korean seaweed.  Now,  I would say I prefer the Korean seawood to eat just plain or with just white rice.  It is a bit more oily and more seasoned with salt. There is a particular kind of Korean seaweed, my family likes to eat because it comes in bite size sheets that can wrap around small balls of white rice and the serving size is great to pass out to kids.

Rodger Young Village

My mom often would refer to Rodger Young Village in Los Angeles, California, when she talked about growing up.  Her brother fought in World War II and so after the war,  my mom's family was provided temporary housing at Rodger Young Village.  She always mentioned she lived in a Quonset Hut so finally, one day, I looked it up and saw what they looked like.  Recently,  I was curious to know more about who Rodger Young was.  I learned he was only 28 years old when he died and was awarded the medal of honor because he was responsible for several enemy casualties and enabled his platoon to withdraw without loss before he was killed.  It is interesting to me how my mom's life is so tied to major historical events.

How Am I Related to You?

On my mother's side of the family, we know several generations of relatives.  I can't say I really know how I am related to all my cousins, aunts and uncles.  As I grew older, I began to realize that some of my cousins I call Auntie and Uncle are actually not my Auntie and Uncle.  I was just told to call them that because they were adults when I was a child.  I have one Auntie/Cousin who I think actually understands how we are all related.  She says things like, "he is your cousin once removed" (which I don't really know what that means).  I remember at one of my cousin's weddings, when I was a child, I met some distant cousins, around my age, and their father was Mexican-American.  I was so intrigued by that.  I ran to my mother and yelled out, "I have Mexican cousins!".  She later told me when I was an adult, she was embarrassed, but she said she didn't scold me for yelling since she said I was so thrilled at the discovery.

Taking Pictures - How many can you take?

I know it is stereotypical to say Japanese people take a lot of pictures, but, I do confess that in my family picture taking is just a part of our lives.  Every family event, or sports event involving family, the cameras come out.  We always joke that we take pictures of every possible combination of our family at our parties.  I have noticed though, that there are some family members, who shall remain nameless, that take the most pictures and ask us to pose and take a zillion pictures, but quite honestly, I never see their pictures.  I am not sure why they feel the need to take all those pictures they never show anyone.  I will say, one day, I did laugh out loud, when I received an email from one of the "picture takers"  of pictures from about two years ago and those are the only pictures I ever did see,  just that one time.  Oh well, I bet every family has one of those "picture takers".

Post on Jan 17th

Not sure if you all saw the Post on Jan 17th "How to Deal: H.A. Style" as it got posted late.  Well written post by HappaExperience95.  check it out.

Nikkei Matsuri - April 25th

Every year the Nikkei Matsuri Festival is held in San Jose, California in Japan Town.  When I was growing up we would go almost every year and I plan to go this year.  It is the 33rd year of the festival in San Jose and will be held on April 25, 2010.

The Nikkei Matsuri-San Jose Japantown  (Japanese-American Festival) embraces the local community's love and appreciation of Japanese-American Culture and Heritage.

In 1976, as part of America's Bicentennial celebration, the City of San Jose encouraged local ethnic communities to sponsor festivals to share their culture.  The Japanese-American community responded with a successful festival which is now, the Nikkei Matsuri-San Jose Japantown.

They have great Japanese food, love the tempura, and arts and crafts and Japanese music.  Check it out!