Monday, June 2, 2014

May 4, 2014 Letter


0856 hours kamisugi
ohayo gozaimasu! (good morning)

Culture Point:
Names!! I can’t believe I have never thought about this! So in Japan you have two names. The first one said is called your myoji and is similar to the Western family name. You share the same myoji as your parents and when you get married the female changes her myoji to that of the husband. Typically you have 1-3 kangi in your myoji and normally it is the name of a place, for example elder keshino my companion now is 芥野 that first kanji means poppy flower and the second one means field so his name is poppy field. Takeshita is 竹下 bamboo and the second kanji means under, so under the bamboo... 山本 Yamamoto which is mountain book... and so on. Typically, it’s something to do with an area and the guess is like the family came from that area originally, but sometimes that name doesn’t have such a clear meaning. So the second name you have is called you shita name, and that translates to under name, (because you write up to down) so your second name is like a first name in Japan. I tell people my whole name is law Cameron and if they really know western culture they know I have a middle name and then I tell them it. But if you are over the age of 25 you pretty much will only go by your myoji not your first name. They say san after it. If you are a little kid or young adult, you will probably go by your shita name and put a kun after it if you are a boy and a chan after it if you are a girl. (the little kids here are sooo cute!)

 Fun Food fact:
Something I really like and you see a lot of but doesn’t really have a specific name that I know of is these vegetables that are bowled and have a little bit of vinegar and soy sauce on them. Normally it has like spinach and radishes and lots of really dark green vegetables and I know that sounds kind of slimy and not so yummy but it’s really cold and really light and fresh tasting.. super good!

 Spiritual Thought:
Christ describes baptism as being born again in John chapter 3 and that has really been in my head lately, that we can take the mistakes and imperfections that are with us and we can make a promise with God through baptism that we will do our best to not do them again and then God promises us that we can have the Holy Spirit to be with us so that we can have the strength and guidance we need to return back to him. A clean slate, complete restart and this time with the Holy Ghost as our constant companion. What a wonderful blessing. It’s really the reason I am here, to tell people that God has again given his authority to perform these wonderful ordinances and that anyone that would like to can partake of the fruit here and see for themselves that it is not only amazing but truly from God. If you haven’t been baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or have ever seen a baptism, I really recommend going and checking out a baptism service. They are way neat!


Funny Story:
So, to update you on Ice Cream Flavors, I have eaten raisin rum (super gross), cheese and strawberry (pretty good), caramel salt (not my first time but way good), and something else that was way funny that I forgot!

The funny story this week was me trying to be cool.  We went to a kind of like buffet place where you pay for everything you grab as you grab it (kind of like a Japanese cafeteria, I think) and I wanted to be a big tuff guy so I got the wildest looking fish I could find and some rice and sat down and proceeded to eat. (mostly I did it out of pride to prove to the people that I was pretty Japanese and the other reason I did it was that I love fish) and it was so good! To be extra authentic, I ate all the bones and all the skin and only the tips of the tail and the rock hard part of the head I wasn’t going to eat. (I eat a fish like this pretty much once a week so I was really actually not thinking that much) but then when I got toward the head of the fish on the bottom side I took a big bite and it was all black and slimy and it was sooo gross.. and my companion just started a giggle fit at my reaction.. it’s like where the heart and liver and organs of the fish are and for whatever reason it was just really bad on this guy... so I am never eating that part again. No amount of rice was saving me.

Love each other for me!

Law Choro

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