10/31/2015

Happy Halloween?

We went to the heated swimming pool yesterday.

I wrote that my family went there last week.

→ (my past post :http://a-o-j-m.blogspot.jp/2015/10/how-do-you-keep-fit.html )

We decided to go every Saturday afternoon as much as we can.

Since my husband worked in the morning, we met up at the pool.

Since it is getting cooler and cooler, and we reached there before 4pm, the pool was not crowded very much.

Especially, there was nobody in the children's pool, so our family could monopolize there.

I could swim up to 100 meters last Satuday, but this time I could swim up to 150 meters!

And I was so surprised that my 6-year-old son could swim faster than I thought.

He developed his way of swimming (actually he doesn't like to be taught by us), even though he looks like beeing drowned, he could follow me.

I was also surprised that my 5-year-old daughter could put her face into the water without holding her nose.

Futhermore, she could swim a little!

There were a lot of things to be able to do with my family.


After we finished swimming, I told my husband,

"I have already finished preparing for dinner today. Today's menu is Oden because it is windy and a little cold today."

Oden is one of the popular winter dishes in Japan.

( I wrote about Oden in my past post. → http://a-o-j-m.blogspot.jp/2014/11/yummy-oden-i-cant-stop-eating.html )

He said,

"Oden for your birthday dinner? Are you really satisfied with it?"

My birthday was last Friday, but we didn't do anything on that day because we are usuallly busy on weekday.

"I don't mind about it. I don't want to make dinner after swimming. I must be tired. Actually if you make dinner for me, I will be very glad."

I said.

"What do you want to eat for dinner?"

"But I already finished making dinner today. It is engough. Oh, by the way, Today is Halloween. What kinds of dishes do they usually eat for Halloween?"

I asked him, but we had no idea.

Halloween is getting popular among Japanese people, but it seems that it is limited to the part of the people.

Actually I didn't know about Halloween at all when I was a child, and I also don't know about the origin of Halloween.


He went home, and my children and I went to the cake shop to buy some pieces of cake for my birthday (rather than for my children).

I found a notice at the cash register in the cake shop.

"Please say "Trick or treat" to the clerk. (limited only under the elementary school students)"

We chose some pieces of cake and my children said to the male clerk when I was going to pay for them.

He gave them chocolates saying,

"Happy Halloween! Here you go."

"Thank you!"

They are glad to get chocolates.

At that moment, 5 or 6 children and some women who were wearing costume came into the store and said to the clerk,

"Trick or treat!"

Then he also gave them chocolates though they didn't buy anything.


I was so surprised about it.

Is it normal in Halloween that they get snack even though they didn't buy anything?


After we went home, my husband was cooking some dishes for dinner.

He said,

"I thought it is better that I make our dinner luxuriously as a birthday celebration."

He went to the supermarcket and bought Sashimi (raw fish), meat, and two bottles of wine.

My birthday dinner became like an eat-all-you-can (I mean there were various kinds of food for dinner).



Especially my 5-year-old daughter was looking forward to eating cake!


We almost couldn't find a piece of cake not related to Halloween.

The people whose birthday is on the big event are same like me.



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10/30/2015

Surprising kindness

I took my 6-year-old son to the Karate school with my 5-year-old daughter last evening.

We left home 5 minutes later than usual, so I told them

"Hurry up not to be late!"

After I parked my car, we ran to the Karate training hall.

But I noticed that most of lights inside the hall except the waiting area had been off and it was dark.

I entered the hall, but nobody was there.

"Oh? Maybe do we have a day off from practise today?"

I asked my son.

Then surprisingly, the Karate teacher was at the waiting area, and came to us with smiling.

He didn't wear the Karate uniform.

I said,

"Hello! Ah, don't we have a lesson today, do we?"

He answered,

"Yes. Don't you have a practise annual schedule? Maybe you got it when you applied for the sports club."

"Really? I'm sorry I didn't know about it. Maybe I might have not checked the document which I got at the time. But why are you here though you are free from our practise today?"

"Because some of my students sometimes mistake the date and come here though we don't have practise. I will feel sorry for them if they come here and there is nobody around."

I was so surprised to hear his words.

"You mean, you came here for the students like us! I am very sorry! Today is your day off , so you could relax at home!"

He said with smiling,

"Don't worry about that! Let's go to the office to get the schedule."


I was impressed with him.

He didn't have to go there yesterday because he didn't offer his lesson.

And it is not his fault that his students mistake the date, it is their fault.

But he came for his students who might not come.

I asked him how to tye the belt of the uniform again, and he taught me.

He told my son,

"See you next Friday!"

My son said "See you!" and shaked each other's hands.


I thought he must be a very good teacher.

Of course he is strong, but very kind to his students.

I was really moved by this happening.





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10/29/2015

Tamago kake gohan

Our dinner 2 days ago was Udon (Japanese noodle) .

I cooked 3 go of rice everyday, and there were a lot of leftovers.

("Go" is a traditional Japanese unit of area and volume, and 1 go is equal to 180mL.)

My children don't like to eat leftover rice because it usually becomes harder and dry.

But I wanted them to eat it because there was too much leftover rice, which I eat alone.

I suggested them,

"Why don't you eat Tamago kake gohan? You will find it very delicious."

"Yeah, I want to eat it!"

They were glad to hear my suggestion.

Here is how I prepared Tamago kake gohan.

First, break a fresh egg into a small bowl and put some soy sauce in it.



Next, mix them using chopsticks.



Pour them on the hot rice.


It's ready to eat!


It's easy to make!

They ate them all.

I used soy sauce which I bought from Kagoshima.

The soy sauces used in Kyusyu where Kagoshima is located are sweeter than the soy sauce in our area.

When I traveled to Kagoshima 20 years ago, I was so surprised at its taste.

I thought it was good for children, that's why I used it.


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10/28/2015

Sometimes it ends up differently

I took my children to the hospital (ENT) to see a doctor beacause my 6-year-old son has an allergic rhinitis.

Since they always get a flu shot at this hospital every year, so I was supposed to make a reservation for it.

I asked the receptionist about the flu shot, she answered,

"You don't need to make a reservation. If you would like to, you can get a shot today."

"Really? OK. My chilren didn't expect it, so I am going to ask them. But maybe I let them take."

I told her.


My children were playing at the waiting place for kids.

I asked them,

"You can get a flu shot today. While we are at it, let's finish the first today!"

Children need to get a flu shot twice.

My 6-year-old son looked a little surprised, but he said

"OK!"

As for my 5-year-old daughter, it is unexpected.

She looked shaken up and said,

"What? No! I am scared....  but can you hug me while I am getting a shot?"

"Sure!"

I answered.

I was surprised at her attitude.

Last year, she was in panic and she cried in a big voice moving violently.

It was hard to make her settle down.

(my past entry →  http://a-o-j-m.blogspot.jp/2014/10/i-dislike-injection.html )

But this time, she was a little nervous and scared, but she didn't run away.

A kind of medicine of flu vaccination changed this year, so it was painful even for me.

But she could bear it.

After she finished getting a shot, she started weeping.

I praised her while hugging.

"Good job! I can't beleive it. You weren't in panic like last year. You could put up with it. I know it was very painful. Of course you can weep. But you can do it! I am very proud of you!"

She was weeping but she looked proud.


As for my 6-year-old son, he had no problem.

He showed his sister an awsome example ahead.

I was proud of my children yesterday.



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10/27/2015

Patience

I was very busy at work and so exhousted yesterday.

After we come home, I always tell my 6-year-old son to do his homework.

But I didn't yesterday because he often gets angry with me if I tell him about it.

On our way home, he said,

"I hate homework!"

I thought he said it again.

I was fed up listening to him.

As a child, I always finished my homework soon, so my mother didn't have to tell me about it.

I don't like to leave what I should do still now.

I always tell him when he says like this,

"You have no choice. You do homework for yourself. If you finish it soon, you are free after that."

But I didn't say anything yesterday, because I was too tired and I didn't want to tell him any more.


I tried not to say any advice or warning like "Do your homework" ,"finish your dinner", "take a bath"  to him after we reached home.

Since he wouldn't start doing his homework, I was so irritated.

But I tried to keep silent ( even thought I was in bad mood).

He ate snack, watched anime on TV, played with his sister...

I wondered when he would do his homework.


After dinner, he still played with his sister.

Then he said,

"Let's get rolling!"

He started doing his homework.

He could't concentrate to do it, but he finally finish his homework!

I needed patience not to say "do your homework!".

But he could do it by himself though I didn't say anything to him.

I realized that it is important to do his homework by himself, not to force him to do it.

But it needs patience and trust in my children.


I took a bath with my children yesterday, and I got out of the bath ahead of them.

Then I was practicing English with "Duolingo" ( the website which offered the English learning program) by my laptop.

They came and asked me,

" What are you doing?"

"I am studying English. I don't want to give up my dream."

I answered.

My 6-year-old son asked his 5-year-old sister,

"Do you have a dream? I have. I want to be able to write Katakana correctly. I'm going to practise it from now!"

My 5-year-old daughter said,

"I want to do, too! I'm going to do it!"

She brought the calculation exercise book for kids and started doing it.

It was funny that they study something though I didn't make them do it.

Doing by themselves might be important.




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10/26/2015

I have dreams

I have not felt like trying something new recently because I have been very busy of my job and housework.

But now I have two dreams that I really want to make come true.


1. I would like to get a job which needs English within 3 years.

I am satisfied with my current job and my work environment.

But to get a job which needs English have been my dream since I was a junior high school student.

I will turn 40 soon.

I think this will become my last challenge to try to find a whole new job.

I know my choice will be a a thorny path.

I know my English skill is not enough now, so I need to study English more and more.

But I want to try, because I don't want to give up my dream.



2. I would like to Lose 5kg and wear my favorite skirt which is too tight for me again.

I wrote about this my past entry.

I will go swimming once or twice of the week from now on for my exercise.


I dare to write about my dream here not to give up again.

I will realize my dreams this time.





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10/25/2015

Dad's curry rice

I worked yesterday.

I prepared for dinner in the early morning.

The menu was curry rice.

I cut vegetables, but I found there were no mushrooms and meat.

My husband said that he goes shopping, so I asked him.


I came back home at 5:30pm.

When I opened the door of our house, an appetizing aroma were filling the house.

"I finished cooking curry rice!"

My husband said.

I was really glad to hear that.

I didn't need to rush to prepare dinner.


"Itadakimasu! (Let's eat!)"

The curry rice which my husband made was yummy.

All of us had second, furthermore third!

I told him,

"It was very yummy! Look! Children are eating a lot! Please make it again when I work on Sunday."

But he didn't play into my hand.

He said,

"No way!"

↓ This is the curry roux which I always use. This taste is mild, so my children like it very much.



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10/24/2015

How do you keep fit?

My 6-year-old son told me yesterday,

"I want to go to the swimming pool!"

It is getting cooler and cooler here in Japan, but there is a municipal heated indoor pool near my house, so we decided to go there.

But we left home half past 2pm so I said,

"It is already late today, so let's swim only for an hour."

I usually think that it is troublesome to go swimming at a late time.

But I decided to go there soon because I realized that I needed to do exercise recently.

I lack exercise so I gained 5kg than 10 years ago.

I tried to wear my favorite skirt which I wore 10 years ago before I went to the in-house training last Friday.

I could wear it but it's too tight for me now.

I was shocked.

I thought it will fit, so I want to wear it again.

My husband didn't want to go with us because recently he is very busy and has a lack of sleep, so he wanted to relax at home.

But I said to him,

"You should exercise. I know you lack exercise like me recently. I believe that swimming with us and going to bed early is absolutely better than lying on the sofa at home. You will be able to sleep well tonight!"

He unwillingly agreed with me


I swam with my children by kicking my feet using a kickboard.

After that, I went to the 25-meter pool and swam using crawl swimming strokes.

I could swim up to 100 meters!

My husband also enjoy swimming with our children.

I felt refresh after I swam, and my children enjoyed swimming very much.

That is exactly two birds with one stone.

I hope to go swimming again with my family.



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10/23/2015

In the train

Our company's headoffice held an in-house training, so I attended it yesterday.

I took a train to go to the training place.

Whenever I ride on the train recently, I alway see a strange scene.

Most of ther people are looking at their smartphone, even though they are sometimes with their friends.


I had seen a seen where a girl and her mother were having dinner at the restaurant before, but she was playing a game while eating.

But her mother didn't tell her about it.

They finished dinner with no conversation.

I couldn't believe it.

If I were her, I would tell my children not to do the game while having dinner.

Actually, I don't have a smartphone because I don't need it.

Its running cost is too expensive for me, and I have a wi-fi enabled ipad, so it is enough for me.

I know smartphone is very convenient.

But I feel strange that people are absorbed in using smartphone though there is someone they should be talking to.

With this, will our human relations only be on internet without interaction to real people?




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10/22/2015

We can't stop eating nori!

My children like nori (Japanese dried laver), especially seasoned dried laver.

It is toasted and seasoned with mainly soy sauce, suger, and mirin.



My 6-year-old son told me when we were having dinner yesterday,

"I want to eat nori!"

Our main dish was this, pork, burdock, and mashroom bound together with egg.



He started putting rice on the nori, and futhermore put pork and burdock,


and roll them together.

(Actually he mistook the front and back of laver. We usually put ingredients on the back.)


This is a kind of Norimaki ( rice rolled in dried laver)!

He said,

"It was yummy!"

I also tried it, I liked it very much because I seasoned main dish strongly, so it went well with rice and nori.

All of us ate it and we couldn't stop eating it.



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10/21/2015

The future 30 years later ~ from my favorite movie ~

Oct. 21, 2015 is the day which Marty Mcfly made a time travel with DeLorean in the famous movie "Back to the Future 2 ".

When I found the hot searching keyword at the portal site yesterday, I was so glad because it is my favorite movie.

I watched this movie on TV when I was a high school student.

It was extremely interesting for me, so I was in stitches the whole movie.

2 and 3 were also very interesting.

I guessed how the future would be, like in the movie.

I bought books of these movie, which included all lines.

I practised reading while watching the movie many times.

I could know the new slangs like "Great Scott!" , "Are you chicken?".

Back to the future series were one of the biggest reason why I had a big interest in English.




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10/20/2015

A previous notice

I got a flu shot at the hospital near our office yesterday.

The cost was more expensive than last year, but our company offers it to employee as one of the welfare.

That was helpful for me.


After we came home, I told my children about it.

"I got a shot at the hospital today. Do you think what kind of shot I got?"

My 6-year-old son answered,

"The shot for growing up!"

"Oh-oh, it's wrong. I don't want to grow up any more!"

The word "to grow up" may include the meaning "to get fat" in Japanese by context.

My 5-year-old daughter answered,

"The shot for getting sick!"

"No way! We usually get a shot to prevent getting sick!"

I realized that they didn't understand the meaning of immunization that they got many so far.

"OK. I will give you a hint. It was a vaccination of something, starting from "i"."

My son said,

"I got it! It's Influenza!"

"That's correct! I have not booked yours yet, but I should do it soon."

My daughter turned pale.

"No! I don't like injection. I am scared! I hate a pain!"

"Yeah, me too. I don't like injection. But I put up with it today. It finished only for 3 seconds."

She said,

"Yeah, but I am scared..."

I said,

"You were in panic and acted too violent last year, so nurses and I had to hold you. Do you remember it? I believe you can bear it this year because you are already 5 years old. You have grown up. And you will get a shot to prevent flu. You don't want to get a flu, don't you?"

"I hate both the injection and the disease both."

She answered.

There's a lot of truth in what she said.

"I agree. But..."

My persuasion lasted more than 15 minutes, and finally she said,

"I got it!"

It will become a hard time for her this year again.





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10/19/2015

Rest in Peace

I wrote that I bought a male and female Japanese rhinoceros beetles for my children at the ceramic festival in August. 

→ (past post : http://a-o-j-m.blogspot.jp/2015/08/new-members-of-our-family.html )

When I saw them last night, the female beetle was upside down.

I thought it was already dead.

I said to my children,

"Come on! The female might be dead!"

My children came to me and my 6-year-old son took it in his hand.

"It doesn't move. It is dead."

He said.

In fact, we had already expected that they would die soon because it is getting cooler here in Japan.

Finally the time had come.

My 5-year-old daughter said,

"Poor beetle!"

"Let's bury it in the ground tomorrow."  I told them.

Then right after that, they went to the next room and started playing.

I was surprised at them because they were not very sad with the death of their pet than I expected.

I wondered how they can learn the importance of life.


  

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10/17/2015

What kind of soy sauce do you like?

My husband cooked Sukiyaki for dinner while I was doing housework yesterday evening.

He is our "Nabe-bugyou" in our house.

"Nabe-bugyou" is one of the slang of Japanese language.

It means a person who wants to make the decision for cooking hotpot dishes in one's way.

It also means a person who is a control freak.



It was yummy!

But he said,

"It was a little salty, isn't it?"

After I finished eating rice, I also felt that it was salty.

"Maybe the reason was that I used the thin soy sauce. I had better use the dark soy sauce."

He said.

There are a lot of kind of soy sauce in Japan.

 


The dark soy sauce is normal (right one in the upper photo), but the taste is completely different depending on the region, brewing company, and so on.

For example, the soy sauce used in my husband's hometown is very sweet, not salty.

The thin soy sauce is saltier than the dark soy sauce, and its color is lighter than that.

When we eat Sashimi, I usually use the soy sauce called "Sashimi-damari".

Its characteristics are; it is thick, it has rich flavor and has a unique aroma.

We use the soy sauce selectively, depending on the food.


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10/16/2015

Joining in the KARATE club

My 6-year-old son took a trial lesson form the KARATE club two weeks ago.

Since he liked and enjoyed practising it very much, I decided to let him join the KARATE club.

He joined in the practise yesterday evening.

There are 15~20 children and adults there and they practised together.

Before the practise, they were "playing Tag" at the practise place.

My son ran to them without hesitation and joined them naturally.

I thought they were my son's acquaintances at first.

But he said,

"No, I met them for the first time."

After the practise, the teacher told me,

"He isn't reluctant to participate in the first place, is he?"

"Yes, he seemed to be like that. I didn't know he is such a kind child."

I was so surprised at his behavior.

I believe that his personality will be an advantage in his future life.




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10/15/2015

Thinking of school lunch

Since it was a parent's day at my 6-year-old son's elementary school, I went there to see their class yesterday afternoon.

His class held a class activity about thinking of school lunch.

The teacher asked them how school lunch are made and what are cooks thinking while they are cooking.

Some children raised their hands and told their opinions to every one.

Then teacher showed them a video which how they are making school lunch recorded by her.

According to her, she went to the supply center of school meals owned by our city before to record the video for the class.

Children were surprised at the big pan and ladle in the video.

I was surprised that cooks washed spinach three times to prevent food poisoning.

Cooks told children that they hope children enjoy school lunch and eat all of them.

And they also thought that school lunch become more delicious for children while they are making.

At the last of the class, children wrote a letter to the cooks.

Everyone wrote "Thank you for the nice lunch every day."

It was a nice class for children.

The teacher taught them why they need to eat up everything.

Thanks for school lunch, my children can eat a lot of vegetables recently, but they often complain about the menu.

Actually I can understand their feelings (I was a child who often complained about meals to my mother.)

But I hope they can eat up everything of school lunch for their health and become a person who can thank for cooks, farmers who grew vegetables, and so on.




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10/14/2015

A new encounter

Recently my 6-year-old son often promises with his frineds to play together at the park near my house after school on Wednesday because I have day off on Wednesdays and he doesn't have to go to the children's house.

He seems to have a character that he can spend his time alone.

When I pick him up to the children's house, he is often reading a comic.

So I was relieved that he could have friends who could get along with.

After I picked my 5-year-old daughter up to the nursery school, we went home and put her bag and went to the park.

My son's friend's mother was also already there with her younger son.

We were talking together while our children were playing together.

I was glad to know that she had a similar sence of values about child care with me.

We said good-bye around 5pm and went home.

It is wonderful that his friends' mothers tend to have same ways of thinking with me.

And of course his friends' personalities are similar to his.

It might be so-called "Birds of the same feather flock together".

Thanks to him, I could have a new encounter.





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10/13/2015

Win a prize

We came home yesterday's evening and I checked the post in front of our house, I found an envelope sent to my 6-year-old son.

It was unusual for him to get a letter, and it was from a restaurant where our family had lunch before.

"Can I open the letter?"

I asked him, and opened it.

It said,

"Thank you for applying for our prize. After a careful drawing, you won the prize."

Three colored pen highlighters were enclosed in it.

I completely forgot that I applied for the quiz lottery by his and my daughter's name at the restaurant  before.

"You won the prize! You got three colored pen highlighters!"

My son was so glad to hear that.

"I envy you! I also wanted to win the prize!"

My 5-year-old daughter was about to cry.

He said,

"Please hide it from her. I don't want her to use it before I use."

It was funny for me because my daughter often uses his belongings and breaks them.


I had won the prize of Taiwan Trip pair four days invitation at TV Sweepstakes.

I could go to Taiwan for free with my mother 10 years ago.

In fact, I think to try to apply for lottery is important to win the prize.




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10/11/2015

The Autumn festival

We went to the Autumn festival held at the shrine near our house.

We went this festival and wrote about it last year, too. 

I read my blog which I wrote last year again, it was funny because what we did yesterday was almost same with last year.

I'm going to quote the last year's explanation about the festival (Sorry for my laziness!)


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We had a great time participating in the event called "Mochimaki" which is one of the highlights in that festival.

"Mochimaki" is an event of scattering rice cakes (mochi) for people who come to a "Shinto" ritual, such as " jotoshiki" (the framework raising ceremony held during construction of a new building).

And recently it is one of the activity done during festivals held at shrines.

The event was divided into two categories, which are for children and adult to minimize danger each time "mochi" is thrown into the participants.

A "Chigo" for childrens category where little girls wearing red and white costumes were designated to served and threw "mochi" and snacks into the participants who would pick and catch the "mochi".

The precinct was very crowded and sometimes it is dangerous because people are so excited to get "mochi", we sometimes collide with other people.

Here comes the "mochi" which feel more like rocks being tossed unto us will sometimes hit our face and head ---truly a painful experience!
 
 


Another group of crowd for adult people is what you can see in the picture below. I asked my husband to join in the activity.




It was a mixture of excitement and fun while "mochis" are being thrown away.

Our family got 46 mochis and 10 snacks altogether! ↓
 
 
 
I baked them for my children.
 
Its skin extended very long!
 
 
 
 
They ate them with sugar and soy sauce.
 
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10/10/2015

The sports day

The sports day was held at my 5-year-old daughter's nursery school.

It was cloudy, but it wasn't hot and cool, a very comfortable day.

I invited my parents.

She participated in a foot race, a dance with class mates, a race which a parent and a child play together, and so on.

She was smiling throughout the sports day.

My 6-year-old son also participated in the sports day at the nursery school last year.

Since he entered the elementary school, only she participated in the sports day this year.

In other words, today's main heroine was herself.

I think she was glad that all of family members flocked together to root for her.

I met a friend of mine there and she told me,

"Your daughter's dance was very good!"

I told my daughter about it.

She was very glad to hear that.


There are two things that I was impressed.

First, when I looked at the 2/3-years-old children's dancing and foot race, I thought they were so adorable just because they were little.

My children already grew up and passed through that age.

I recalled when they were 2 or 3 years old and realized that they have really grown.


Next, I was surprised that a lot of fathers participated in the races which a parent and child play together, the number was more than mothers.

I don't have memories that my father came to my sports day when I was a child

I think it is very good that fathers take part in children's events.

I could see a lot of happy smile of parents and children during the race.

Of course, my daughter and husband looked they were enjoying it very much.

My 6-year-old son shouted her name during the foot race.

His voice was so big that teachers were laughing at him.


The sports day ended at noon.

It was easy for me because I didn't have to make lunch box like my son's sports day.

We went to the famous belt-conveyor sushi bar for lunch.

I reserved a table at 12:45pm, but the parking area was too crowded to park our cars.
We needed to wait for parking our cars about 20 minutes.

I expected that the restaurant would be very crowded because all of nursery schools in our city held a sports day yesterday morning.

But I couldn't expect that we couldn't park there.

Japanese people love sushi, especially the belt-conveyor sushi bars are very popular among families like us.


 


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