Day 22: Calligraphy
With no school today, it was a great opportunity to sleep a little later than usual. Still, I woke up at around eight o'clock or so; there is always something to work on or something exciting to do. Sachiko made some kiesh for breakfast, along with fresh fruit and bagels. Today's plan was unclear at first, given all the options: hot spring, temples, shrines, calligraphy, Japanese pottery-making, etc. Some more of the Pieczulewski's friends came by for a visit and to say hello to me. They brought me great gift: a Japanese-style fan with spirits of good fortune painted on it. There is no doubt at this point that gift-giving is a part of Japanese culture.



We decided to stay at the house for the day and practice some Japanese calligraphy. Naomi and Mari prepared the dark black ink themselves, but added some pre-made ink just to keep it nice and dark-colored. I just watched the kids at first, noticing that this sort of thing is second nature to them. Each of them even has their own calligraphy kit to work with whenever they need. I started off with some single katakana characters, and eventually wrote my name a few times. Using the paint and brush was relaxing and made learning the characters a lot of fun.
The ultimate goal was to create a display of my name using kanji characters. There were several character combinations which could represent my name, but I chose the one that seemed the "coolest." One of the combinations included symbols that represent flowers and plums or something like that. It might be a good girl's name, but I passed on that combination. The two characters I chose to use represent thunder, and a horse or saddle. I practiced a few times before lunch, but never worked on the final piece. We will finish my calligraphy project sometime this week. Calligraphy is really fun! Painting in general can be a lot of fun, it is just finding the time to do it that is difficult.
For lunch, Sachiko made some pumpkin soup to go with our large order of sushi, which was delivered right to the front door. There were some salmon roe (eggs) pieces of sushi, but I wisely stayed away from those. The kids seem to enjoy the salmon eggs, though. I ate my usual: salmon, tuna, etc. I also tried some squid pieces. The squid wasn't bad at all, since it doesn't have much flavor anyway. A lot of Japanese foods have really light tastes, but they vary widely in textures. Squid has a firmer texture, but it was pretty good.
Today was another hot day, but the heat and humidity will only get worse in the upcoming weeks. I can't wait. After lunch we rested a bit before biking to a nearby park. Sachiko went to the store while Naomi and I played catch in the park. Naomi is so funny: always laughing, smiling, and full of energy. Naomi and I watched a Disney movie when we got home...at least it was in English. Tomorrow will start a new week at school, and I will have a somewhat regular schedule this week since Chuck and I are taking over all of Mr. Yukita's classes. It is a great chance for me.



We decided to stay at the house for the day and practice some Japanese calligraphy. Naomi and Mari prepared the dark black ink themselves, but added some pre-made ink just to keep it nice and dark-colored. I just watched the kids at first, noticing that this sort of thing is second nature to them. Each of them even has their own calligraphy kit to work with whenever they need. I started off with some single katakana characters, and eventually wrote my name a few times. Using the paint and brush was relaxing and made learning the characters a lot of fun.


Today was another hot day, but the heat and humidity will only get worse in the upcoming weeks. I can't wait. After lunch we rested a bit before biking to a nearby park. Sachiko went to the store while Naomi and I played catch in the park. Naomi is so funny: always laughing, smiling, and full of energy. Naomi and I watched a Disney movie when we got home...at least it was in English. Tomorrow will start a new week at school, and I will have a somewhat regular schedule this week since Chuck and I are taking over all of Mr. Yukita's classes. It is a great chance for me.
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