Hello everyone,

As the end of the year approaches, people are making their plans for the new year, or “oshogatsu” as it’s called here. It’s the biggest holiday of the year, and a time when many people stay with their families. That’s why travelling can be quite hectic at this time of year. You’ll find a lot of traffic, especially coming out of big cities like Tokyo and Osaka. All of the young people who work in these major cities will travel back to their hometowns at the same time, so the highways, trains and buses will all be jam packed! I’ll be heading home too, on December 23rd. I hope the airport isn’t too busy! I’ve travelled home for Christmas before, but it was always from Narita, which is huge and handles big crowds of people well. This time I’m going from Haneda. It’s closer to Fuji, but smaller than Narita, so I think it will be crowded on that day. I’m planning to get there super early just to be safe. In Ireland Christmas is the main celebration of the holiday, but the New Year is also celebrated by everyone. People often go out to bars in Ireland, where they have a countdown to the New Year. There is a traditional song called “Auld Lang Syne” that people sing after the countdown. It’s an old song, first written in 1788, and is sung to say goodbye to the old year. Apart from the countdown and song, there aren’t that many new year traditions. In Japan, however, there’s special new year food (osechi, soba, mochi), postcards, bell ringing, shrine visits, and, our students favourite, “otoshidama” (a card from relatives containing money). Our students often say that otoshidama is the reason that New Year is their favourite holiday. However you celebrate the holiday, have a great time!

Also fast approaching this week is Hario’s Christmas Party 2017! There’s only 5 days to go until this Sunday where we’ll have fun, games, English, songs and much more. We are currently communicating with the North Pole to organise a visit from Santa himself! He’s very busy, but we’ll do our best to get him here. See you then.

Alan

 

 

みなさん、こんにちは。もうすぐ今年も終わろうとしています。お正月の計画はもうお済みですか。お正月は家族が集まる一年で一番の行事ですね。同時に交通渋滞もひどくなる時期です。都市からでる人の車でごったがえします。帰省する人で高速やバス、電車などあらゆる交通機関が混雑します。私も、今月の２３日からアイルランドに帰省します。空港が混んでなければいいのですが。羽田からの便ですが、混雑を避けるために早朝に行こうと考えています。アイルランドではクリスマスが年で一番のイベントではますが、同時にニューイヤーイブも大イベントです。アイルランドの人は、ほとんどの人がバーにいきニューイヤーイブを祝います。そしてAula Langu Syne という歌を年越しと共に皆が歌うのが習わしです。日本のお正月の習慣もいろいろありますね。おせち、おそば、もち、年賀状、除夜の鐘、初詣、お年玉など。私の生徒にすきな季節を聞くと、よくお正月と答えます。お年玉がもらえるからだそうです。とにかく、皆さん、よい年末年始をお過ごしください。

そして今週の日曜日はHARIOのクリスマスパーティです。楽しいゲームや英語の歌、アクティビティがいっぱいです。北極から忙しい中、サンタさんがきますよ。お楽しみに。

アラン

 

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