Ethnic School Parade - Multi-Culturalism On Display

It's been hard to find time to put together a proper series of blog-posts - most of our time is being spent either looking after our daughter and son, or preparing for our upcoming trip to Japan. But here's a (slightly late) post about one of the local events that we enjoyed. Back on the 20th of October, there was an Ethnic School Parade here in Adelaide... an annual parade which sees about 40-50 different ethnic schools come together and march from Hindmarsh Square to the Festival Centre Plaza.

The Japanese School (that our son attends) of course was going to be there... and he was decked out in his jimbei and happi coat. Not to mention he was sporting my hat. So much for being sun-smart Daddy! There was an assortment of Japanese dress, and of course yukata and kimono were popular... and as always, the mothers were really the driving force behind the participation.... Mummy Power.

But there was enough world-wide representation to feel like you'd walked into a mini-United Nations convention.

And the parade started... about 30 minutes late due to the late arrival of the Police escort. Still, the bagpipes lead the way.

The original plan was that I was going to take photos of the whole parade as it went passed... however when L-kun walked he took one looked at me, and beckoned me over. 

He wanted to walk with Daddy... and who was I to say no (just to take some photos).... 

And indeed, family is at the heart of the parade. Though I have to admit that the Japanese contingent did sort of feel a little more like they were going for a Sunday stroll than marching in a parade (and the group behind us starting pressing up fairly hard... and I think they were planning an  overtaking manoeuvre at one point.

I did manage to stop for a few moments and grab a couple more snaps of the other groups...

But as we came up to the Festival Centre, the school Principal waved the group on, rather than turning left with all the rest of the groups. Confusion reigned. Was this the London Olympic Opening Ceremony debacle all over again? No... apparently the Principal had booked a bus to take the kids down to the city, but the delay in the start meant that they had to skip the rest of the festivities.

I have to say - it was not a good look... and whilst the remainder of the days events were largely "official", I still felt that it wasn't quite right. Also, the parents just didn't know what was going on. As I had driven in separately, I stayed on... just to see what the others had missed out on.

Not much. But hopefully next year the organisers can be a little more flexible with the transport options. But all up, that was the first parade that we had all marched in together. And was something different to do. And I totally applaud the City of Adelaide for hosting these parades. It really is important for the sense of community that really does drive many of these multi-cultural schools. And I think it's important for the community at large to be more aware of the great work that gets performed at these schools.

Japanese Schooling - Adelaide-Style

Now it will come as no surprise to anyone that has read my blog (or even the blurb about the blog) that my wife is Japanese, and we've spent much time going over to Japan... and that we've now got two children. Well, our son (L-kun) turned 5 recently, a momentous occasion, filled with many exciting things... not least changes to schooling. Indeed, one of the things that happened this year was that he started his formal Japanese schooling here in Adelaide.

Now in Japan, school terms begin in April, and that's exactly when the Adelaide Japanese School begins too (so L-kun's been there a whole term already). I'll write a little more about the Japanese schooling system here in a later post, as there's a lot to discuss... right now, I'll recap on L-kun's first day at Japanese School... 

The first thing to say is that Japanese definitely have a thing for ceremony - and for enjoying the occasion. For example, the child's first day at school is always a hugely momentous time, with much expectation and many tears of joy (and perhaps of sadness at their children growing up). The first day is also when they hold the Entrance Ceremony, or nyūgakushiki (入学式). It generally is attended by the parents - and grandparents even - with children dressing up (it's not uncommon for suits/dresses to be worn, or even kimono). In a way it's like a mini coming-of-age ceremony for kindy and first-graders... their having entered a new phase of life. A new beginning.

So nyūgakushiki is a time of some seriousness, as well as a time to celebrate a good time with children. Of course, Japanese also like speeches, and the children (and the parents) couldn't escape it now either. Though as you might guess, things were not quite as formal as they would be in a school in Japan.

Part of the ceremony in Japan is typically associated with the introduction of the children into the school, normally a big moment when the children are welcomed into the hall with the parents. Things weren't quite as dramatic here... but as L-kun was joining the kindergarten grade (which is for 4 and 5 year olds), all the new-starters were going to be called to the front for a special introduction. We had rehearsed this a bit beforehand... when they say your name, give a good strong hai!

We arrived at the school and found that the parents were seated separately from the children, who must have all been wondering what was going on. After the formal introduction, the children were called one-by-one to the front stage. We waited, as L-kun's name was read out and he replied with a nice loud hai, and stood up to walk to the front of the auditorium, a slightly nervous smile upon his face... Daddy was too busy trying to take photos AND video to notice what mummy was doing, but I'm sure she was getting emotional. It was a long ceremony, and I have to admit that L-kun's attention waxed and waned throughout, but he was in a good mood... after all, it's not always that easy to tell how your child will react to a new experience (especially school). And the good thing is that he's got friends there already... 

Now the first day saw the families invited into the join in with the student's first lesson. Nothing too stressful, although to be honest, my wife and I were more focussed on our then 2 month old baby, C-chan. L-kun found his seat with his friends and listened (or at least sat quietly). Remember, this is really the first "formal" school environment outside kindergarten that L-kun had experienced... so he did really well for the first day.

It was a strange feeling standing there... though the one thing you realise very quickly is that this IS a Japanese school. The school is based very strongly on the normal Japanese curriculum... though obviously there's concessions made for the fact that it's only one half day a week. Now whilst my wife speaks to our son in Japanese at home, he's still more comfortable in English, so we were kinda curious how things would go... but the first day is very much about learning the ropes. 

And the favourite part of the day? Well, of course there's always playing with friends in the playground. That's a universal highlight of any school experience at that age.

All up, L-kun's first day went amazingly well... and whilst the day lacked some of the pomp and ceremony that would have accompanied the occasion in Japan, my wife was very happy that L-kun could experience something of the special time in a Japanese school-life. A shared experience.

We have yet to decide how much Japanese schooling L-kun will have here in Adelaide... and much of that will be up to L-kun, and how he enjoys the experience.

So far, so good.

Okuizome.... 100 Days of Happiness

Well, this may be a little late (as our daughter C-chan celebrated her 100th day a couple of weeks ago now), but I thought we'd share this day here... Now okuizome is hard to translate direct, but is often translated as something like first eating in Japanese. The celebration in Japan is to wish for the child to grow up always without hunger... and is often also done with hagatame, or teeth strengthening ceremony. It's clear that some Japanese traditions stem from a time (not that long ago) when times were quite a good deal harsher, and you could count your luck by how many of your teeth you retained. Okuizome is all about the first (pretend) feast for the young baby... though if the truth be told it is as much our feast (if not more so).

The centre-piece of the celebration is the fish tai, which (as far as we can tell) is equivalent to bream. Now in Adelaide, bream is normally black bream, so that's what we bought (please check out the Fish Factory on Grand Junction Road for a good place to buy fresh fish in Adelaide). The fish is scaled and gutted, and skewered lengthwise as well as being heavily salted prior to being oven-baked.

Although I have to admit that bream isn't my favourite fish.... it has a reasonably strong flavour made even more stronger with the salting.

The cooked fish is served with a number of other dishes...

There's osekihan, a celebratory red-rice dish made with azuki beans... this is a traditional meal given for good luck in Japan. Pumpkin is also a popular dish for wishing fortune as well - the association with good luck with money due to the gold colour I guess.

And T-chan also made some delicious osuimono fish broth, along with a dainty little salad.

And then there umeboshi (not necessary for the dish, but salted plums are always a delicious addition) and a very special ingredient... a stone (collected by L-kun from Anstey Hill Recreation Park... so it could also have been a dinosaur bone...wink wink). The stone is there, as mentioned, as a token for wishing strong teeth to the child. In retrospect, not sure that this is the most hygienic of traditions - especially as it's wishing good health and all.

We also had some Taiyaki, a cooked pancake in the shape of, once again, a bream. The pancake is filled normally with an anko paste (also made from the azuki beans). Actually, these were given to us by a family friend who had found a Korean version of it... as it's hard to find the real Japanese dish here in Adelaide (though why it's easier to find the Korean ones is a bit of a mystery to me). The anko paste is a sweet, but it still retains it's beaniness... and is a very common flavouring in Japanese sweets.

So that's okuizome in a nut-shell.... apart from one thing. Now obviously it ISN'T C-chan's first meal. No, we're not that bad! The point is that she should pretend to eat the meal. This isn't as easy as you might think... no, taking candy from a baby is easy in comparison to pretending to give a baby food. Even if they haven't eaten real food yet. The job of faux-feeding is up to Daddy who obliges with the required seriousness. He of course knows where the food will really end up... in our bellies. As for C-chan, she was a real trooper (for the most part), and suffered our tom-foolery quite well. I think she would have been quite happy to have really eaten the food... this could be a good sign!

Anyway, she's well past 100 days now... and rapidly approach 4 months old. She's sleeping well most of the time (we had our first all-through-the-night sleep last weekend), but she sometimes reverts to waking up 1-2 times during the night. She continues growing at a prodigious rate, to the point that T-chan is starting to suffer sore back and shoulder from the weight. That's a very happy pain however, and every hour at night less sleep is still a hugely welcome blessing. Happy okuizome C-chan... the first of many happy family feasts to come.

Temakizushi... Easy Japanese Deliciousness

Now... I have to admit that I'm struggling to get time to blog, so this is a little disjoint. However, as I'm the only one really reading the blog, I guess it doesn't matter too much. So let's get back to our post-Children's Day celebration. Our daughter, C-chan's first... but of course, she wasn't enjoying the food (except several hours later through the breast milk, if that counts).

In some parts there's also a tradition of eating mochi, or rice cake however, we don't have that tradition in our family. Whilst we didn't really have time this year (with our daughter C-chan still taking up most of our spare time), T-chan did put together a simple though delicious temakizushi (or hand-rolled sushi)... ably assisted by L-kun. Nothing exotic... but it's always a fun family meal.

Ingredients are simple... freshly cooked rice (I'll talk about recipes later...) cut nori or seaweed...

A selection of cold fillings... we went with Atlantic Salmon, cucumber and crab-sticks.

With a simple tuna filling... 

A beef filling...

And an ebi (prawn) filling...

Not to mention some natto... fermented soy beans. Sounds nice doesn't it (can anything fermented be bad)?....really? 

My wife tends however to also describe them as rotten beans.... and they are a Japanese institution (especially in Hokkaido). Me - well, I prefer my food NOT to be rotten. Even if it's described in warm glowing terms. IT'S STILL ROTTEN! And I have to say, not only are they oozy and gooey... but they also have a very strong flavour as well! A lot of people compare them to a Japanese version of the Australian savoury spread Vegemite (which people either love or hate). I'm not sure which side of that analogy should be more offended however...

Now this photo's not meant to show how extravagantly elegant the temakizushi is... it's not that sort of dish. Rather, it's just the sort of thing you whack together, dip in some soy sauce, and throw down the hatch.... and have a lot of fun doing it... 

And don't forget, whilst appearance is always an element in Japanese food, when you're family's home alone you can always be as messy as you want.

What it lacks in terms of sophistication, it more than makes up for in terms of deliciousness and ease. What's more, you eat the serving plate. What more could you ask for?... An empty rice dish.... 

And a satisfied grin....

And the great thing is that you can generally come up with ingredients for temakizushi from just about anything... including rotten beans!

Wherever you are, whatever family traditions you hold - it's always a joy having a nice family dinner together. And it's always nice to have a day to reflect on how lucky we all are with our children, which we often take so readily for granted.

And this was C-chan's first Children's Day... next year, she might be enjoying some good temakizushi with us!

L-kun's Setsubun Adventure 2012

Note: For the observant amongst you... you might realise that L-kun's actually fighting off a tengu (rather than oni)... one of the many elements of poetic licence available when you export a tradition overseas, and when you don't have an oni mask.

Hope you enjoyed your setsubun, 3rd February, wherever you are, and however many oni you had to fight off!