CH>   It's silly. Hubby explains it's more like  a socialization game
CH> thing... its' not about suvival , it's about socializing.  (er
CH> surviving that I guess. )

 CS> That could be pretty cool actually!  You know, old as I am (47) I
 CS> still sometimes trip up and do something 'dumb' that I just didn't know

 We all do. And hey I'd do just about anything to spend a week on a
 sunny warm tropical beach :) That is to say I'd rather be doing
'survivors' than simply watching it.

 CS> about or didn't perceive the same way as the other person did.  My
 CS> saving grace is I apologize well when that happens.  I B socially
 CS> 'blonde' sometimes.

 OH isn't it awful ...  I mean it's like falling on your butt and to
think some people misinterpret others deliberately. When I am misread I
always feel far worse for the wear.


CH> BTW Carol? I'm reading a novel about 19tC Japan. The customs, times
CH> and tea ceremony...

 CS> Humm!

 I am still stunned. I studied a site I posted here and read all the
pages. Then I found two sites about Kimono laundering which were not
very helpful at all (one in fact had nothing about kimono on it,
strange..)... I did learn this custom of disassembly was not limited to
the Kimono but to nuns habits as well. I'd love to find out why this
was done. It just seems so ...well... tedious and doesn't taking it
apart and resewing wear it out faster? Gosh I guess with this bit of
info we should add another blessing to our lot of things to be
grateful for. :)

............


CH> I read there's two Japanese alphabets. The one using the Chinese
CH> characters, for men and the phonetic one for women. Why do they have
CH> two? Is it because the one for women was meant as oral and not
CH> written?

 CS> I do not know about the social aspects the book mentions.  There are
 CS> indeed 2 character types but both men and women learn both.  At least,
 CS> now.  Dunno about earlier but i suspect it was more a 'scholar vs
 CS> common person' relation.

 Yes this was mentioned, both alphabets are learned by both genders.
And yes I agree on the latter point. Maybe something akin to Plain
English and Legalese ... heh...  The latter being the way it is not to
'set the more educated apart' but rather to be able to mislead the un
informed more easily. Can't have us common folk knowing' too much ya
know. :) we might get wised up and make work harder for those so
called up and ups whose very lap of luxury livelihoods depend so much
on keeping us regular folks in the dark/misled. :) (This  phenomena is
universal.)

 CS> What is interesting is books are sorta reversed and you read from
 CS> 'back to front' because they read right to left.  The other set is 'up
 CS> to down' and i think it's also right to left but not sure.

 Moslems too too. OH  gosh! Did you know the Kimono (you can read this
at the site I posted , see the side bar on how a Kimono is put on)...
The RIGHT side of the front is folded over the body to the left
and the LEFT side overlaps to the right. The only time this is done
the other way is ... for a corpse, for burial. Imagine someone doing
it wrong and the reaction they'd get.

.....

 CS> There is no inate reason why right to left reading is 'bad'.  It's
 CS> just non-western to do it that way.  You now see variations where it's
 CS> 'left to right' on trains and things like that.  Snce i cant read it,
 CS> I can't say much more.

It is interesting. This right /left thing. The Brits drive on the left
side of the road. I don't see any 'reason' other than it got started a
certain way and became habit.

Do you suppose one explanation for the left to right reading and
writing might lie in hand preference? In our culture anyway right
handedness is said to be dominant (and main the past y left handed
persons have been forced to write right handed). May go look into this
and get my mind off the Kimono. :)

(The site I posted has pages on other Japanese garments too.)

.....

CH> Also the author spent five years studying Japanese Tea Ceremony while
CH> I understand the complexity (you learn as a host and as a guest)...
CH> and all the different forms/techniques.. I'm amazed it takes five4e
CH> years to learn? Do you know about this?

 CS> Not much more than you and in fact, you may know more.  I am sure they
 CS> don't study it 8-10 hours a day though for 5 years (grin).

 True just as kids are not really in school for 12 years. And a 'year'
 in school is actually only three months.
 ..................

 CS> What I find fascinating is the 'sushi chef' and the Sashimi chef.
 CS> There is a grace in motion that is almost un-natural in both economy
 CS> of movement and flourish that has to be seen and yet oddly, is
 CS> (sashimi chef) normally hidden in a kitchen.  You just 'know' it's
 CS> happening and it's an important aspect of the meal.

 There's a sushi bar we enjoy in FW where you get a very GOOD view of
those artists at work. It IS fascinating!!! :)

The sashimi chefs probably have to deal with cutting up the fish body
and they probably figure most people don't want to see that?  The
Japanese restaurants here are no longer handing out those warm
washcloths. I guess you need to ask for one and ask if you can keep it
at the table because  if we eat sushi in the way it is meant to be;
with the fingers, we'd need to clean our fingers off AFTER eating it.
The sushi IS sticky after all. BTW my wasbabe tolerance is going up!
yeah!!!


 CS> Sushi chefs are often on display though (and are often also Sashimi

 I imagine the new ones must deal with  getting over being watched.
They probably do by watching each other while practicing. The grill
chefs are fascinating too and always ad Flourish with those big
knives..and I like how FAST they clean off the hot grill .. steaming
it off and scraping.  That reminds me. When you want to clean a pan
you have fried food in, or the removable grills of the George Forman
Grill..  get it under the hot water while still hot, run a brush over
it and VIOLA clean ! Don't even need soap!

........
 
CS> chefs) so I like to watch them.  It's a big part of the appeal of the
 CS> food.  There's one in Okinawa City that we take Charlotte to when we
 CS> fly down to let Don go on a fishng trip.  He plays well to kids . 
 CS> Doesnt speak a speck of english but there's a universal language all
 CS> kids and kid-loving-parents have and i bet he's got a houseful at home
 CS> too.

 :) It is part entertainment. I read somewhere other cusines are
attempting the same feat.


 CS> Granted we've all tired of Emeril's 'Bam' but when a Japanese sushi
 CS> chef does it with a little gleam of glee to the eye as he throws roe
 CS> on a chopped block preparatory to adding it to sushi, it's a giggle
 CS> and a half.

  :) Nothing like watching someone doing something they enjoy doing
and doing it so well! The confidence they express is inspiring.
((Yes some cynics might say : they like to show off.... well that may
be true but you can always tell about that by the degree of flourish..
that its controlled and modest. They don't go overboard.

 CS> Maybe the tea ceremony folks take 5 years practice on average to get
 CS> the smotheness of motion down?  That could be it.

  When the Marji (SP) ear started it is said to have become more of a
'hobby' like falconry than a National Pastime supported by the Shogun
class etc. I find Japanese history fascinating. Learning a bit new
every day and I plan to read other sources. It's equally fascinating
to compare notes of different sources and Espcially when the info
comes from the Japanese rather than others writing about it.


Cindy

--- PPoint 3.01