Hello. My very first English novel that I read through in high school was “Totto Chan”. It was a translation of a Japanese book. In that book, Totto chan went to school which had a rule for bento, “one thing from the ocean and one thing from the mountain”. I thought it was such a lovely and very rational school rule, I still remember it. Nowadays young mamas are so into making “character bento”, it is a kind of bento making anime character’s face. The bento pics are so meticulous, right? They are made by my good friend from junior high school. She is a very successful art and graphic designer living in Nagasaki. She is such a nice girl really goofy yet so pretty.
こんにちは。私が高校生の時に初めて読破した洋書は黒柳徹子の「窓ぎわのトットちゃん」の英語翻訳でした。その中にトットちゃんが通った学校にお弁当の約束事が一つあり「海のものを一品、山のものを一品お弁当に入れること」とありました。理にかなった素敵な校則だと思ったことを今でも覚えています。キャラ弁作りに精を出す今どきのママさん達が、そのクオリティは世界もビックリするほど高いということを知らないのは少し残念です。こちらは長崎在住の売れっ子デザイナーの友、かのこ(古澤かのこ) が作ったキャラ弁。流石のセンス。とても面白くて美人な友です。
My American friends family went back to America for a year when I was 14, I went to Seattle with them for 2 months and I home stayed at their place. They have a daughter who is same age as me. I met her when I was 5 and we’ve been best friends since then. she went to Seattle Christian School and I was so blessed to go to the school with her for 2 weeks for free as the principal welcomed me with open arms saying it would also be a good opportunity for the students to learn about Japan. All the teachers and the students were so kind and friendly, I still remember their names and faces. Oh I do miss them a lot. For lunch, my friend’s mother made me bring sandwiches, an apple or a celery, chocolate pudding, and potato chips.
私が幼少のころから家族ぐるみでお付き合いのあるアメリカ人一家がアメリカに一年帰る時に、私もくっついて行って中3の冬に2ヶ月間シアトルにホームステイしました。私と同い年のお嬢さんは5才で出会った初めての親友です。現地の私立中学の校長先生が生徒達にとっても異文化を理解する良い経験になると、2週間授業料免除で先生達もみな温かいホスピタリティを持って受け入れてくださり、彼女と一緒に学校に通いました。ランチは幼馴染のお母さんがサンドイッチ、林檎、セロリ、チョコプリン、ポテトチップスなどを紙の袋に入れて持たせてくれました。
I was majoring in Malaysian and South East Asia area studies in university, I visited Malaysia and Singapore many times. Eating out is every day thing in the countries and many of the people eat lunch at open air cheap diner sitting on a plastic chair and a table. It’s not hygienic but that’s the Asia for sure! To compare food and cultures is so much fun for all of us. I’m writing this COOL JAPAN blog with so many topics of food. Hope you enjoy reading and getting to know about Japan and its food culture also.
大学時代に学んだマレーシアとシンガポールの文化では、外食が毎日のことでレストランみたいに小洒落てなどはいない、ホーカーズという安価な青空食堂でプラスチックのテーブルと椅子に座り、少々小汚くもある環境でお昼ご飯を食べる人が多いです。雑多なものが入り混じる文化が東南アジアの核であるので、衛生面を云々言うのは野暮ですが。食の視点から世界を見渡して文化を比較することはとても楽しいものです。COOL JAPANを語る私のこのブログも食について様々な角度から発信してゆきたいと思っています。よろしくお付き合いくださいませ。
Everybody, have a good day and night! See you soon! With good vibrations!
