May throwback

Hi all, long time no blog. It seems I was lazy updating my blog. It's not because I neglect it, just because I was tied up with some stuff here like mid term exam, presentation or things like that. And you know I didn't move a lot in the last month so nothing much to write about. But I'm back now and have something to share with you guys :D

In May some of us went to see a tea ceremony hosted by our school's tea club in a pretty traditional japanese garden. We joined the tea ceremony as guests, watched how people make a tea ceremony and were given tea and sweet. It took about 1 hour. The tea ceremony was interesting. Not only did we have chance to experience Japanese culture, but we also visited the lovely garden that we hadn't known before. Moreover, we even received  letters sent by the club members saying thanks us for coming and attending the ceremony after that. Oh Japanese. So polite and thoughtful. They always take care of their guests or customers very carefully. It's Japanese business manners. I couldn't say anything more about that because it's way so good and I just think it could be a role model for every club, company or organization in Vietnam.

The Japanese garden is covered by green

Do you feel spring in the air?

The crew joining the tea ceremony

I also had a meeting with my host family in May. The host mom had sent me an email saying we were going to see a concert, traditional Japanese concert. I had imagine how the concert was going to be. If it was too abstract, I wouldn't understand and even enjoy it. But things turned out better, much much better than I had thought. On the meeting day, the host mom picked me up at the station and drove me to her house for a quick lunch. I was even given a homemade bread (yes another one, always. Rich me :D). Then all of us were off to see the concert. It wasn't a normal one as it was held in a bamboo forest in Saga. I was so surprised when I reached there as I didn't thought they organized the concert in a bamboo forest. During 1 hour, we enjoyed performance with different traditional musical instrument of two players. After that, audiences had time to chat and took photos with the players. They introduced and explained about the instrument but sadly they spoke in Japanese so I didn't understand what they meant. Anyway, the concert was so awesome! I had another great day with my host family!

with my host mother

and my host father

the players were playing japanese traditional music

where the concert took place - lost in nature

My friend and I sometimes cook together. Last time we made okonomiyaki, which is a japanese pancake, in vegan style as my friend doesn't eat meat. We were also planning to go to nature next time to get out of the dizzy city life. Although we are in time of tests (I have a japanese presentation next week and a language proficiency exam next month), we still want to make it as our time is running and it might not be able to come back to Japan again.

And one more thing that has made me very excited is I've got a Korean visa. I will be going to Korea in August after the closing ceremony. 1 week in Korea would be great. I can see some friends of mine who are studying in Korea (one of them I haven't seen for 2 years). A new journey will begin soon!