aWa life

Georgian Rugby
Team Pre-gameTraining CampAwa Shoku: Sticking
Together With Mochi

Christmas Around theWorld

Gairaigo Galore:
ゲレンデ

December 2019
# 350

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Awa Life is a Monthly Publication of the Tokushima
Prefectural International Exchange Association

With December winter has finally arrived and we can hope for some snow in Tokushima. However, it’s
not just the weather, two of the main holidays celebrated in many countries around the world occur inwinter: Christmas and New Year. In our 2018 December issue, people from all over the world introduced their way of celebrating New Year. This year, people from five countries will explain how Christmas is celebrated in their home countries. In this spirit, we wish everyone who is celebrating Christmas
a wonderful holiday. Enjoy the last few days of the 2010s and have a great New Years celebration!
For all of those who like writing, please feel free to submit an article to us at any point in time aboutbasically anything. There are a few limitations though, such as you can’t write about religion, politics,
commercial activities or businesses or anything that we deem inappropriate. But, other than that, we
would be more than happy to receive articles about anything and everything including but not limited
to concerts, lectures, other events, culture, sports, community group information or anything cool that’s
happening in your local community.
We highly appreciate all of your articles and we love reading them. So if that writing bug of yours isbuzzing about, grab a pen or a computer and write and send away! Please send all submissions to ouremail:

awalife@gmail.com

Your editors,
Sydney and Nico

Tokushima Prefectural International Exchange Association (TOPIA)
1-61 Terashima Honcho Nishi, Tokushima City 770-0831 JAPAN, Clement Plaza 6F
Tel: 088-656-3303 Fax: 088-652-0616
http://www.topia.ne.jp/
Download a PDF file of awa life or view the online version by going to TOPIA's website!

Editors:
Sydney Bartig and Nico Bohnsack
Contributors This Month:
Chie Suzue, Omar Camacho, Miraku Miyachi, Emily Yocom, Lance Kita, Junko Nagamachi, and Uka
Teki

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Contents
Pg. 2-4: Christmas Around the WorldPg. 4-5

Georgian Rugby Team Pre-game Training CampPg. 5:

Gairaigo Galore: ゲレンデ

Pg. 6:

Awa Shoku: Sticking Together With Mochi

Pg. 7:

Japanese Lesson

Pg. 8:The Autumn Awa Odori with Arasowaren

Pg. 8-9: Events and Memoranda
Christmas Around the WorldMy Christmas in Japan
By Chie Suzue
When I was a child we would start preparing for
Christmas in early December and I remember
eagerly awaiting Christmas day.
Our family would start by setting up our Christmas
tree. Next, we would do something that is uniqueto Japanese Christmas. We would visit ourfavorite cake shop and order a Christmas cakeso that it would be ready in time for the eveningof Christmas Eve. I think that most families
probably celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve.
My parents would go out and buy presents for mysiblings and myself. Toys were so popular thatparents would buy them very early, before they
were sold out.

and I would help her. Different from a normal
meal, dinner for Christmas Eve consisted ofelaborately cooked dishes lining the table and asa child I always looked forward to it. My family
always had Christmas cake and German stollen
for dessert. My mother’s friend loved to bake so
she would always send us a stollen at Christmas!

Just a little past noon on Christmas Eve wewould then go pick up our Christmas cake andafterwards my mom would begin preparing dinnerwith the ingredients we bought earlier that day

On Christmas morning
I would always wakeup earlier than usual
to receive presents.
I remember always
feeling so happyon Christmas. Now
that I’ve become an
adult, I tend to spend
Christmas Eve eating the limited, Christmas menu
with a friend at a restaurant or drinking sakeand eating delicious food at an izakaya. As forpresents, I buy a present for myself (haha). Thisis my Christmas style!

Mexican Christmas
By Omar Camacho

arrival of Santa Claus in order to receive sometoys and presents.

As Mexico is near the USA, we are very
influenced by their culture and Christmas is
one of those influences. At the middle or end of
November, we start to decorate our houses with
Christmas decorations such as a Christmas tree,
Christmas lights, ornaments, Santa Claus images,
Christmas socks, and so on as we await theSometimes we also organize gift exchange gameswith friends or family, and of course we have a
big Christmas dinner (the famous thing to prepare
for dinner is turkey). However, in Mexico wehave something unique: a party called “Posada”
where we celebrate Jesus Christ's birth because
our main religion is Catholicism. For this party

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we invite our friends andfamily members to come toour house to eat Mexican
dishes, drink hot drinks suchas “Ponche” (hot fruit juice),and the most important
thing, hitting the “Piñatas”.
Also, we have a role play
simulating when people
went to visit Jesus Christ for
the first time where we sing,carry candles, and walk ina small parade in front of our house. As with any
good Mexican party, at the end we put on some
Christmas in Germany
By Nico Bohnsack
Christmas is certainly the most festive time inGermany. It is generally the time for families tocome together. The Christmas season usually
begins with the first of four Advent Sundays
between the end of November and beginning ofDecember.
One tradition, especially for children, is the Advent
calendar. This is often a calendar with 24 doors
hiding small pieces of chocolate. Children thenopen one door each day between December 1st
and 24th. St. Nicholas Day (December 6th) is alsoa special day for children since parents often put
presents into “Nicholas socks”, which children
then discover in the morning after waking up.
German Christmas also would not be the same
without self-made Christmas pastries or the large
number of Christmas markets in most of the towns
where people can enjoy Christmas sweets, otherfoods, hot wines, and the beautiful Christmas
decorations in the towns.
A Christmas in America
By Sydney Bartig
Michigan, the state I’m from,tends to get a lot of snow in the winter so we areusually lucky enough to have a beautiful, snowy
backdrop for Christmas. Christmas is easily oneof the biggest holidays in America. Children andadults get time off from school/work and many

Christmas Around the World
Latin music to dance to allnight, drink alcoholic drinks,
and enjoy time with ourfriends and family until ourbodies can't take anymore.
This celebration is very
important for us because
we can stay with the people
we love and we try to meetall of our family membersthat we haven't seen for along time. Christmas is definitely one of the most
famous celebrations in Mexico.
Houses and apartments get decorated as well,with one important element being the Christmas
tree, usually a real fir. The most important day isthen Christmas Eve, where families are usually
together, exchanging presents, eating anddrinking. Many families
also go to church to join
the Christmas Eve mass.
Food on Christmas Eve
can be pretty simple(such as sausages andpotato salad), but candiffer from family tofamily. The 1st and 2nd
Christmas holidays (25th,26th) are then usually the time for festive lunch
meals. My family often eats a whole roasted duckor roulades with potato dumplings, gravy, and red
cabbage. Eating is the main activity during theChristmas holidays and you will have likely gained
weight when Christmas, one of the most loving
festivities in Germany, is finally over.

families gather together to spend the holiday
together. When it becomes December, manyfamilies will start decorating for Christmas.
They hang Christmas lights on their house, put
out decorations featuring Santa Claus, reindeer,snowmen, etc. and of course put up their
Christmas tree. My family still has ornaments fromwhen my mom was a child. We always tend to4

Christmas Around the Worldput our tree up right before Christmas, however,
because our cats are mischievous and like to playwith the ornaments.
On Christmas day most families will also make a
big dinner. Turkey, mashed potatoes, vegetables,
deserts, etc. are common Christmas dishes,
although each family has their own traditions. My
family actually always makes lasagna, although
I’m not sure if there is a reason. Incidentally,
my family also celebrates Christmas (dinner,
Christmas in Vietnam
By Miraku Miyachi
In Vietnam we often use the word Nô-en (Noel) totalk about Christmas. When Christmas is aroundthe corner, we can feel the exciting atmosphere
everywhere, from shopping malls to restaurants,from boulevards to small streets, and throughthe seasonal songs like Jingle Bells and Silent
Night. The bustling melody of bells and music
makes listeners excited. Lots of decorations,hanging lights with Christmas symbols like bells,
red-nose reindeer or Santa Claus figures, can beseen at many places. However, Christmas is nota national holiday. Some companies allow thestaff who are Christian to take time off from theirworkplace on the morning of December 25th,
however, the others have to work as normal. Evenpresents, etc.) on Christmas Eve (the 24th). The
reason for this is because when my uncle wasa child he would get so excited
for Christmas that he would makehimself physically sick. Ever
since then we moved Christmas
festivities to the 24th.

knowing that we would be terriblly tired the nextday, we could not stand staying at home during
Christmas Eve. We, the “non-Christians”, would
gather for a party, or went to a concert, disco,bar, or lined up to wait until it was our turn to eat
a piece of Eucharist. Somehow, we felt it was
so delicious that we joined the line again to getanother piece of it. It was a kind of violation, but
it has become a very sweet memory that I cannot
ever forget.

Georgian Rugby Team Pre-game Training Camp
By Emily Yocom

I

must admit, when I
first received my JET
Program assignmentand heard that I would
be working in theTokushima Prefectural
Government's
International Sports
Exchange Office, I
had no idea what toexpect. It was only
when I arrived inAugust to an officeso busy that more than half of the employees
were out on business trips my first day that I
realized what my duties would look like. My very

first day on the job was spentassisting athletes from Nepal as
they trained for the Olympics.
Once this was over, no sooner
had I got settled in at my desk, I
was handed a ticket to Canada.
I would be heading back to
North America only two weeks
after my arrival in Japan tointerpret at the World Masters
Weightlifting Championships inMontreal. Through a very busy
first few weeks, I soon learned
what it meant to be a CIR in the InternationalSports Exchange Office.
In early September, I was assigned to interpret for5Georgian Rugby Team Pre-game Training Camp

rugby players from Georgia (the country, not the
US state!) for their pre-Rugby World Cup training
camp in Tokushima. Due to the efforts of theInternational Sports Exchange Office, this becamea memorable event for theplayers, the local community,and myself. The athletes got
to try their hand at indigo
dyeing, taste sudachi andNaruto sea bream, and playbeach volleyball in view of
the Naruto Whirlpools. Local
Tokushima residents got
to meet with the players at
events like rugby workshops,
school visits, and an
autograph signing. The Prefecture even held a"fan zone" event, where visitors could try Georgian
foods cooked with Tokushima ingredients, andpick up some Georgian flag merchandise to cheer
on the team with.
I got a chance to really learn about Georgia
when I was interpreting for a delegation fromthe Embassy of Georgia to Japan who cameto support the team. One diplomat in particulartaught me that wine is an important part ofGeorgian culture, and that it was actually invented
in Georgia! I told him how
surprised I was that I'd neverheard this before, and said I'dlike to try it someday. When thedelegation geared up to headback to Tokyo, I was handed
a long, skinny gift bag. It was
Georgian wine! I thanked
them profusely before seeing
them off. I was touched by thisthoughtfulness, and very grateful
to experience a bit of Georgian
culture in Tokushima.
Although the team's 10-day training campseemed to end in the blink of an eye, I'm sure thatthe impact they had on the community - and on
myself - will be everlasting. It didn't take me longto learn that intercultural exchange through sport
is an important part of Tokushima Prefecture.

Gairaigo Galore

ゲレンデ (Gelände; Ski Slope)
By Nico Bohnsack
Japan is a country with many mountains and skiing areas. How about you? Are you a mountainclimbing or skiing enthusiast? To secure smooth conversations in that area it can be helpful toknow some German words which are used as loanwords in Japanese. One of these words is ゲレ
ンデ which has its origins in the German word "Gelände". The original
word, however, simply means "area" or "terrain". The Japanese ゲ
レ ン デ exclusively means "ski slope". The German word for ski
slope would be "Skipiste" or "Skigelände", in a broader sense. Hereyou can see a phenomenom which often happened when German
words became part of the Japanese language: German words tend
to be relatively long, but since this can be a problem in terms ofpronounciation in Japanese the words tend to get integrated into
Japanese in a shortened version while still keeping the meaning of theoriginally longer word. In this case, "Skigelände" became "Gelände".
There are a couple of originally German words used in the mountain climbing or skiing field and thereason for that is mainly one man: Theodor Edler von Lerch. Lerch was an Austrian skiing pioneer
and major general who served as an exchange officer in the Imperial Japanese Army from 1910 till
1912. He accelerated both civil and military skiing in Japan and was the first person ever to climb
Mount Fuji on skis. Other examples of related words would be ストック (Stock, ski stick), アイゼ
ン (Eisen, climbing irons) or シュラフ (Schlaf, sleeping bag). All these words are short forms of theoriginal German words "Skistock", "Steigeisen" and "Schlafsack".

Awa Shoku: Sticking Together With Mochi

6

By Lance Kita
ere we are, at the last month of the year (and rice cakes are reminiscent of the mirror used by the Sunof the decade), getting ready for 2020 to arrive. Goddess Amaterasu. Others say the mirror is one ofJapanese families take the end-of-year
the three Sacred Imperial Treasures, with the
preparations very seriously, and there
orange representing the sacred jewel, andare symbolic meanings to every food,a skewer of dried persimmons representing
decoration, and ritual during the final
the sacred sword. The name of the orange
days of the old year. One of the key
is also a play on words with “generation after
foods during the Year’s End (nenmatsu
generation” symbolizing family lineage.
年末 ) and New Year (Oshogatsu お正
A lot of mochi is eaten during the New Year.
月 or nenshi 年始 ) holidays are glutinous
rice cakes (mochi 餅 ). Certain kinds of Mochi come in all shapes, The quintessential dish is ozoni お 雑 煮 , arice are steamed and then pounded to sizes, and rices... from soup with rice cakes. Every region has aform a sticky dough, which is then formed red heirloom rice blocks different style of ozoni, with different soups,
to round ones mixed mochi shapes, and added ingredients. Inor cut into smaller pieces.
with mugwort (speckled Tokushima, the base is often white miso
At year’s end, pounding mochi is a family, green).
soup, and vegetables like carrots, daikon,
if not neighborhood event. Growing
and Chinese cabbage are often added. The
up in a Nikkei community in Hawaii, my
mochi is round, and sometimes grilled. Ozoni is
Scoutmaster gathered friends at his
eaten on the first day of Oshogatsu with otherhouse, and all of the men would taketraditional foods. Mochi is also grilled or toasted
turns swinging the heavy wooden mallet(the toaster oven works really well here), andto pound out batch after batch of steamed
eaten with sugar, kinako き な 粉 (roasted
rice, and when the blob was smooth andsoybean powder), or both. You can also dip it
elastic, it would be dumped onto a tablein soy sauce and wrap it in a sheet of crisp nori
Celebrate thedusted with cornstarch, and the women(this is called isobe-yaki 磯辺焼き ). One of my
New Year withwould quickly pinch off balls and roll themfavorite ways to eat mochi in the colder months
rice cakes in awith the palms of their hands to make roundis in zenzai ぜんざい , which is a warm sweet
bowl of ozoni
patties. Some would be wrapped aroundbean soup topped with pieces of grilled mochi.
(left), or have aballs of sweet bean paste (anko 餡子 ), andSooooo comforting with a cup of tea or a bowl
grilled rice cakewith an American twist, sometimes filledof matcha.
in a sweet bowl
with chocolate bar pieces or peanut butter.
of zenzai (right)
All of the mochi would be shared with the
You don’t have to call your neighbors and findon a cold winterfamilies who helped. Like the grains of ricea giant wooden mallet to enjoy mochi. Bothnight.
in the stone mortar, the community mustround and cut block mochi can be bought atstick together to realize this tradition.
any supermarket, and look for kagami mochi
sets and bitter oranges with a leaf attached
Besides the social symbolism, the round(the traditional way to decorate it) towards therice cakes themselves serve an importantend of December. Also, there is mochi madereligious purpose during the Nenmatsufrom brown rice and heritage red rice. Look
preparations. A display of kagami mochi 鏡
for these at farmer’s markets and roadsidestations in mountainous areas like Kamiyama,
餅 (literally “mirror mochi”), which consists
Rice cakes heraldof a large and medium round rice cake the new year,
Kamikatsu, or at the Tokushima Marche.
topped with a bitter orange (daidai 橙 ), is and this kagami
displayed in the tokonoma 床 の 間 alcove mochi display
So I wish you a warm holiday greetings andof the living room. A small one is displayed represents
hope that you’ll find chewy happiness withthe household Shinto altar (kamidana 神棚 something quite
a hot bowl of ozoni, zenzai, or just a nori) . Kagami mochi help to greet the spirits of spiritual for thewrapped blob of isobeyaki. Yoi otoshi wo 良い
the New Year. Some people say the round Japanese.
お年を and see you in 2020!

H

7

Japanese Lesson
By: Junko Nagamachi

Difference Between「楽しさ」and「楽しみ」
たの

たの

Today we’re going to learn the difference between「楽しさ」and「楽しみ」.
Let’s read the following conversation.
たの

はや

い

A. ハイキング楽しみね。早く行きたいね。
I’m excited to go hiking. I really want to go right now.
もの

も

い

B. そうね。おいしい物をたくさん持って行きましょう。
Me too. Let’s bring a lot of tasty food with us.
たのばい

C. いいわね。楽しさが倍になるわね。
That sounds good. It will make it more fun.
たのたの「楽しさ」and「楽しみ」both appeared in the conversation.
You can use i-adjectives to express a variety of conditions.
There are predicate conjugations and noun modifier conjugations, but you can also add「さ」or「み」to the end of a word in order to make it into a noun. But what are the differences between「さ」and「み」?
First, let’s think about how i-adjectives are classified. There are 3 different classifications of i-adjectives.
おお

はや

あたら

むずか

せいけつ

1.
Attributive Adjectives (Express the characteristics of things) 大きい・速い・新しい・難しい・清潔な・
せいかく
正確な
いた
あま
にが
から
2. Sensory Adjectives (Express a person’s senses) 痛たの
い・甘い・苦い・すっぱい・辛いかなくる
3. Emotive Adjectives (Express a person’s emotions) 楽しい・悲しい・苦しい・うれしい「さ」Nouns – Can be created from most adjectives.
Used to express the degree of something as well as objectivity.
はこ

おお

いえ

せま

じこく

せいかく

（例）箱の大きさ、家の狭さ、時刻の正確さ「み」Nouns – A limited amount of adjectives can take this form.
Used to express the feelings that are caused by events/affairs. They are highly subjective.
れい

しごと

くる

しょうがつ

たの

こころ

いた

（例）仕事の苦しみ、お正月の楽しみ、心の痛み
In short,「さ」is used for nouns expressing the limit/degree of something and 「み」is used for nouns
expressing people’s emotions.
Practice Questions: In the parenthesis, write either「み」or「さ」.
たか富士山の高（）は、３７７６メートルです。

②

あのタレントは、親し（

した
し

かのじょ

おお

かな

③

犬の死は、彼女に大きな悲し（④

本場のキムチの辛（

ほんば

外国語を学ぶ難し（

Reference Text: 新日本語の中級
教師用指導書）は、こんなもんじゃないよ。

むずか）には、いろいろある。

⑤さ

まな

④さ

⑤

から

③み

がいこくご

あた

）を与えた。

②み

いぬ

ひと）のある人ね。

答え①さ

ふ じ さ ん①

The Autumn Awa Odori with Arasowaren
By Uka TekiF

rom November 2nd to the 4th, the Autumn
Awa Odori was held at Asty Tokushima.
Over those 3 days, famous rens (dance groups)
from around Tokushima put on marvelous
performances. Our ren, Arasowaren, was alsoable to perform this time.
Our performance was on
the morning of the 2nd, andlasted about 15 minutes.
Everyone arrived early
to rehearse and when it
came time for the actual
performance we were able
to successfully perform.
In preparation for the event,starting from September
we received strict training from the famous
Nonkiren. Everyone earnestly practiced feelingthe rhythm, dance formations, and how to matchthe instrument’s beat. Among the female dancers,
there were many who wore geta for the first timeand found it challenging to move in them. It was

8

difficult for them to dance while standing on their
toes as it is quite painful. However, thanks to theencouragement of our teachers, they were able tosmile and practice in spite of the pain.
Our ren is composed ofmembers from 12 countries
and even if we couldn’t
always communicate withwords, we were able toenjoy the Awa Odori as
we strived towards thesame goal. As a member of
Arasowaren, I’m very glad
I was able to dance in thisevent. I had to travel from
Naruto to Tokushima City
every time we had practiceand honestly it was quite tiring, but it was worth
it. Our performance, and all the days I spent
practicing with friends, has become a precious
memory to me. I’m so grateful to our teachers
and all of the people that supported us. I hope topractice and dance with Arasowaren again.

Events & Memoranda
German House Christmas Market 2019
ドイツ館のクリスマスマーケット 2019

Christmas markets are a tradition which markthe beginning of winter and Christmas season inGermany. Stalls selling foods and other goods
line up on squares and streets in the cities. The
German House Christmas Market is such amarket, arranged in German House style. Besides
selling Christmas goods and sweets, you can also
look forward to small events such as concerts
and workshops, so how about having an early
Christmas celebration at the German House?

クリスマスマーケットは、ドイツにおいて冬の風物詩とされる行事です。都市の広場や通りに露店が立ち並び、食品や雑貨の販売が賑わしく行われます。そんなクリスマスマーケットを、ドイツ館
風にアレンジしたものが、「ドイツ館のクリスマ
スマーケット」です。クリスマス雑貨やお菓子の販売のほか、プチイベントとしてコンサートやワークショップも実施します。ひと足お先にドイツ館でクリスマスを楽しみましょう！

When: December 7th (Sat), 8th (Sun)10:00 – 17:00
Where: German House Naruto (big hall on thefirst floor and in front of the house)
Info: German House Naruto
TEL: 088-689-0099
URL: http://doitsukan.com/info/

日時：12 月 7 日（土）～ 8 日（日）10：00 ～ 17：00
場所：鳴門市ドイツ館
1 階大ホールおよび館前広場
問い合わせ：鳴門市ドイツ館
TEL: 088-689-0099
URL: http://doitsukan.com/info/

9

Events & Memoranda
Tokushima Illumination Map
徳島イルミネーションマップ

Shinmachi Countdown
新町カウントダウン
Let’s celebrate the 2020 New Year’s countdown 「 今 年 も や り ま す！ 新 町 カ ウ ン ト ダ ウ ン
again in Shinmachi! There will be many events. 2020 ！！」盛り上がるコンテンツが盛りだくさ
Come enjoy the countdown with your family or んです！家族やカップル、友人と一緒に 2020 年のカウントダウンを楽しみましょう。
friends.
日時：12 月 31 日（火）When: December 31st (Tue)
場所：徳島市新町橋東公園
Where: Tokushima City, 				料金：無料Shinmachibashi East Park
URL: https://www.facebook.com/CountdownInTokushima
Fee: Free
URL: https://www.facebook.com/CountdownInTokushima/

TOPIA will be closed from December 29, 2019 (Sun) - January 3, 2020 (Fri)Counselling Service at TOPIA・トピアの相談窓口
TOPIA provides consultation on everyday life, education, labor, medical institutions, and disasterprevention; and information on sightseeing spots to overseas residents and visitors. When necessary,
we will refer you to the appropriate organization that can assist with your needs.Counselling is available
in English, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Japanese. Please note that although every effort will be made,we may not be able to deal with all cases.
Everyday, 10:00 - 18:00 (closed during the New Year's holidays)
Tel: 088-656-3312 or 088-656-3313 (allows for three-way conversations with an interpreter)