Thanksgiving

THE PILGRIMS


In 1620, a group of people decided to leave England. They crossed the Atlantic  Ocean and settled in America. These people were called pilgrims. They decided to make the long journey because they wanted religious freedom.  

 THE JOURNEY

The pilgrims crossed the ocean in a ship called the Mayflower. There were 102 passengers aboard the ship. The ship was cramped with little room to move about.  At first the weather was pleasant, but then the ship met storms  and strong winds. During the voyage, two people died and one child was born. Finally, after 65 days at sea, the Mayflower sighted land.

A HARD LIFE AT THE COLONY

The pilgrims created a colony at Plymouth. Life was hard at the colony. At first the pilgrims lived on the Mayflower while they built their homes on land. It was winter so they were cold and wet. Soon many of the pilgrims became ill. About half of the pilgrims died during the first year of deseases such as scurvy and pneumonia.

 THE FIRST THANKSGIVING

With the help of Native Americans, the colony survived the first year. Native Americans taught the colonists how to grow corn

and how to collect sap from maple trees. 

 

 The colonists who survived the first year had a three day feast to give thanks for their first harvest

 

 Text from 

c) 2013 www.bogglesworldesl.com

Japan (the land of the rising sun)

  JAPAN  The land of the rising sun

        日本

          Nippon or Nihon

The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is sometimes referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun”

Geography

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. It is located in the Pacific Ocean. 

Japan is an archipelago of 6,852 islands. The four largest islands are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku.

The capital of Japan is Tokyo.

The population is over 126 million people.

The Japanese currency is the Yen     ¥

Language

There are five vowels in Japanese language,

a  i   u   e   o

The sounds are similar to Spanish vowels, so Japanese language is easy to pronounce for us.

But writing in Japanese is difficult because you have to learn hiragana, katakana and kanji.

Hiragana

The hiragana syllabary consists of 48 characters.

These are the four vowels

a	i	u	e	o
あ	い	う	え	お

Katakana

This  syllabary is  used for transcription of foreign language words into Japanese

The  katakana syllabary consists of 48 characters and these are the five vowels

a	i	u	e	o
ア	イ	ウ	エ	オ

If you want to write your name in Japanese click on this link

http://lexiquetos.org/nombres-japones/

Kanjis

Kanjis are the Chinese characters that the Japanese use in their language

日本  

The above symbols are kanjis.

 Primary school children have to learn about 1.500 characters but there are over 50.000 characters.

 So learning Japanese language can be something  difficult for us!!

If you like Japanese "manga" this is a very interesting book!




Two Japanese celebrations

I went to Japan in spring 2007 and I could see the beautiful  “sakura “ or cherry blossoms.

So my favourite festival is called “hanami”

Hanami (花見^?, means "flower viewing") is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the  beauty of flowers, especially the cherry blossoms .

From the end of March to early May, sakura bloom all over Japan: It’s beautiful!

All over Japan festivals are held which include food and at night beautiful lanterns.

People usually meet in parks and sit under the trees to eat the typical “bento”

Bento is a type of box or tray with delicious food inside. You can buy it or you can cook it at home.

Koi nobori

This is Children’s Day in Japan. It is celebrated on 5^th May (5^th month).

It used to be the Boy’s day but now it celebrates the happiness of children. And children usually say thank you to their mothers.

For most people, 5th May is a day to pray for the health and happiness of their sons.

On this day, the sky is crowded with fish-shaped kites and flags called koi nobori. Koi means carp, a kind of fish. They are usually made of white cloth decorated in red or blue.

When the wind blows the carp kites and flags it looks as if they are swimming. 

Outside each house there is one carp flag for each son in the family. The biggest is for the oldest son.
There is special food to be eaten on this day: different kinds of rice cakes.

Girls in the family are guests of their brothers at a party, just as the boys are guests of the girls on Girls' Day, 3rd March.


Sumi e , haikus and ikbanas 

A few years ago I had a accident and I broke my left elbow. I had to stay at home for a few months. I spent my time painting with ink and watercolors trying to imitate my favourite painters.
Sumi-e es my favourite painting style and it is ink wash painting.

I decided to use my watercolours, instead of the black ink and these are some of my first paintings.

Tras las heladas

se abren flores de nuevo

en la montaña

And then I started to write some haikus for my images. Haikus are really short poems with just three lines (5-7-5 syllables) and without rhyme

Flor de cerezo

sakura japonesa

corazón rojo

Llega el verano

entre unas hierbas crecen

las amapolas

¡Oh, flor de almendro!

Llora pétalos rosas

en el invierno

Pequeña rama

al ver tus flores rosas

tiemblo por dentro

Cae la nieve

y la pequeña barca

se queda inmóvil
 

This is a copy of a picture of one of my favourite painters      HOKUSAI

This picture of the wawes is one of his most popular images

I am also interested in IKEBANA or Japanese flower arrangement. 
I met a Japanese teacher in Palma and her workshops were fantastic!

This is one of my first ikebanas

This is not a traditional ikebana but we decided to make a dog with some white carnations... Minie was surprised to see the white dog! (and a bit jealous!)

 

PHOTOS OF JAPAN 2007

                                    Sakuras in Kyoto

Linis and Ana walking along a canal in Kyoto (Philosopher’s path)

 This is a park in Kyoto called “Kitano Tenmangu Shrine”

 

Four girls wearing kimonos praying at the shrine

Instructions for the prayer: Bend your back, then say the prayer, clap your hands and bend your back again

Another important festivity is  
Buddha’s birthday

It was celebrated on April 8^th , the same day of my birthday! I was really happy!

In Asakusa (Tokyo)

In Kamakura

We went to Japan in 2007 because it was the first international meeting for KYUDO archers

These are the “matos” (Kyudo targets)

This is Carlos, my husband, in his exam.

The school year in Japan starts in spring and this is a picture of some Japenese students visiting  the DAIBUTSU (the biggest Buddha in Japan)

In Kyoto we tried the famous “tofu”

Ana learnt how to use the chopsticks

Aubergine with white miso

(similar to the “aubergini farcida” from Mallorca)

On Sunday mornings couples get married at the Meiji Jingu Shrine (Tokyo)

This is a typical shinto wedding

And if you want to see some “freakis”, you should go to OMOTESANDO on a Sunday morning.

Alice in wonderland?

Meditating in a tiny zen garden

( Kyoto-8^th April-Buddha’s birthday)

This is me with Karin Yamashita, a friend I met in Scotland in an English course. She’s so peaceful and quiet!

And this is my favourite sand garden.

Ryoanji (Kyoto)

Japanese love stones and nature...

This is a typical meeting point for young people in Shibuya. It’s the statue of the famous dog Hachiko.

You can read the story if you click on this link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hachik%C5%8D

Gotanda “la nuit”... Our last night in Japan!

Our last night in Tokyo we decided to sing in a karaoke. We had lots of fun!

This monk dressed in orange was  praying in a street in Tokyo... in front of a Harley Davidson .

 For me this is a symbol of Japan, tradition and modern life hand by hand.