Happy Birthday Hannah Jane Chan!

Hannah Jane's school has a birthday party for all the kids birthdays for that month all in one day. Held on a Saturday (during school hours, no doubt), Rick and I could both go and catch a little video footage (below). After parading the birthday children around the room to the sound of game-show-y music while the other students clapped, the Sensei's led all the birthday children up on stage to stand one-by-one under a little birthday arch and be clapped for. After some song and dances, the children each spoke, telling everyone their names, how old they were, and what they wanted for themselves (a japanese version of "what you want to be when you grow up") Here's what Hannah Jane said:

In case your Japanese is rusty, what she said, according to the English-speaking Japanese mother next to me who assured me Hannah Jane spoke pretty clearly was this: "[When I grow up]...I want to be a pink frog."

After translating this for me, the Japanese mother says to me, "REALLY?! She wants to be a frog?!?"

Now while I'd like to think this answer may have been inspired by Disney's movie "The Princess and the Frog" which she'd just seen, I'm guessing not. But who cares, while I may not have understood a word she said, (and while not being the loftiest goal to have) I'm just happy she said something in Japanese.

Happy Hinamatsuri!

March 3: Hinamatsuri, or "Girl's Festival"Today is Hinamatsuri, or "Doll's" or "Girl's Festival". Here you see our gift from a Japanese friend of a display of the dolls (ordered correctly) that are brought out in Japanese homes with young girls that celebrate their development and bring peace and happiness. Some say they are to "hope for an early marriage" (which leaving the display out AFTER March 3 is suppose to result in Hannah Jane having the unfortunate destiny of getting married "later".....(????) (basically, it can ward against evil spirts.....aaaaaaand being a spinster in life.) You see these displays all over the place, including in her school where today the students put on a Hinamatsuri production. The older (4 and 5) girls dressed in elaborate kimono dress and did several dances for the parents and teachers:

There were several dances like this by the different girls in the class. And then there was Hannah Jane's class, which for some reason, with granted little understanding on our part, performed a skit about being....a Bento box. And our daughter played the exciting roll of...

an Ebi, or SHRIMP (panko fried, at that)

(that's the fried shrimp on her head. Some of the other featured rolls were that of Broccoli, Carrots, and "Tamago" or egg.) I have yet to figure out what this has to do with 'Girl's Day' but I'll be sure to ask my Japanese friends and report back. Stay tuned, and thanks for reading...