OBACHAN'S SCRIBBLES

Thursday, February 24, 2005

OMIAI QUIZ - III -

2. You decided to try the omiai meeting because you didn’t want to displease the president of your company. Some days after you said YES to the president, you heard from your landlord (you’re living in an apartment) that some stranger came and asked him and your neighbors about what kind of person you were. You should:
a) Be extra nice to the landlord and all your neighbors from then on.
b) Be extra nice to above mentioned people AND other people that you see often.
c) Start tidying up your room, paying the rent on time and quit browsing stupid comic books at nearby convenience stores.
d) Get a plastic surgery
e) Move

Which would you choose?
Or what option(s) would you add to the a) - e) above.
posted by obachan, 2/24/2005 10:28:00 PM | link | 12 comments |

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

OMIAI QUIZ - II -

OK, now I’m going to tell you something about Omiai that I didn’t mention in part 1.
To proceed with Omiai, something called tsurigaki has to be given to the go-between.

So what’s tsurigaki? It’s sort of like a resume but with more emphasis on, I think, the description of what kind of person (s)he is and what kind of family/relatives the person has, etc. Sometimes this is prepared by parents and already given to a go-between even before the person is asked if (s)he wants to have an Omiai meeting.

Typically, when you are asked if you want to have an Omiai, your parents or the go-between show you a big photo (beautifully taken and often modified to look better than what it actually is) of the prospective marriage partner and tell you something like “See? He graduated from famous University and now working at XXX company. His income is XXXXX! Don’t you think he’s great?! You just have to go for this marriage!” bla bla bla… And if you say YES, then the next step will be setting the date and time of the meeting. As I wrote in my comment, if your parents and/or go-between really want to force you to be in Omiai, all the arrangements may be already perfectly made before you are informed, so that you can hardly say No. when asked to attend the meeting.

Now, back to the Omiai Quiz in the part I.
Now you know that you’ll have to give your tsurigaki at some point to your boss (or a go-between if someone else was going to take care of the actual arrangements) if you want to have an Omiai meeting.
Which would you choose out of the a) – f)?
posted by obachan, 2/23/2005 11:07:00 AM | link | 5 comments |

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

OMIAI QUIZ -I -

Omiai is a sort of arranged meeting with a prospective marriage partner in Japan. In the past, here in this country, marriages were always arranged by parents, relatives and match-makers, thus omiai was an essential procedure for such arranged marriages. Today, love marriages are much more common in Japan, but the custom of omiai still remains, not so much as part of traditional arranged marriages, but as one way of introducing those who are interested in spouse hunting. It is OK to meet with someone at omiai and still say “No, I don’t want to marry him/her” these days…

That’s the way I saw omiai --- until today. I thought the meeting was an opportunity, and whether to take it or not was totally up to you. So I thought it was totally OK to say “No” when I was asked if I want to have an omiai meeting. Maybe I was wrong….

The meaning of omiai seems to differ depending on who arranges it. If it’s your mother, or aunty, or an obachan in your neighborhood, you wouldn’t have to feel guilty about saying NO before or after the omiai meeting. But when it’s your boss or the president of your workplace who wants to arrange the omiai….

I asked around today if it was OK to say No in such a situation, and some said that you should at least attend the omiai meeting to be polite to the person who wants to arrange it --- it’s really impolite to reject the offer of omiai meeting, they say. On the other hand, I’d feel guilty about attending such a meeting just to eat a good meal when I’m not interested in getting married at all, but that probably is a deviant opinion around here ...

Now I made a multiple choice quiz out of this:

1.You’re in Japan and the president of your company wants to arrange an omiai meeting for you. You are not interested in marriage at all. You should:
a)Attend the omiai and do something terrible there so that your omiai partner would not want to marry you.
b)Attend the omiai and politely tell the go-between (or your boss) afterwards that you do not want to marry the person you met.
c) Politely turn down the offer of the meeting, telling your boss that you’re not interested in getting married.
d) Tell your boss that you will attend the omiai, but right before the meeting, call your boss and say that you have a diarrhea so you can’t attend the meeting. Repeat this (trying different disease each time) until your boss finally gives up arranging meetings for you.
e) Ask your friend to pretend to be your boy/girlfriend and show your boss how deeply in love you are with him/her.
f) Tell your boss that you snore terribly or your feet stink etc. or you have whatever weird habit that would make you look unsuitable for marriage.

Which would you choose?
posted by obachan, 2/22/2005 01:36:00 AM | link | 8 comments |

Thursday, February 17, 2005

PLUM BLOSSOMS

I felt like more springy template with less flashy colors this time. How's this?

We had such a warm, rainy day yesterday. Perhaps most of the cedar trees are getting ready to be in full bloom soon. :( I need to go to the clinic and get the allergy medicine sometime today. On my way back, I might drop by Kochi castle and see the “plum garden” there, if I have time. Might be able to take some photos there.

OK, I went to the clinic and also went to Kochi castle. The plum trees there were not in full bloom yet. Maybe next weekend (not this coming weekend) would be the best time for plum-blossom viewing?

I love the fragrance of plum blossoms so much.


Pink plum blossoms always remind me of a Japanese manga…. uh, never mind.

On my way back from the plum garden, I dropped by a nearby supermarket. This supermarket is going to close on Feb. 20th, so now they have “special final sale.” I love discount sales indeed, but it was kind of sad to see empty shelves that are not going to be filled any more.
posted by obachan, 2/17/2005 10:04:00 AM | link | 3 comments |

Thursday, February 03, 2005

S*N*O*W*


See the kitty?

We had a big snowfall (well, big for this part of Japan anyway) the day before yesterday!! So unusual!! And I was frozen to death on my way back from work (Izaskaya).
posted by obachan, 2/03/2005 08:17:00 PM | link | 3 comments |