Why is it SO QUIET this week?

Last week is the OBON week, one of the few occasion of the year when a large number of Japanese can take holiday. If you see the calendar the days aren't marked red, but it is red heartedly for the Japanese. The streets were so quite. Many shops closed from Wednesday to Friday. I couldn't have lunch at cafetaria of the univ cause it was closed. To be honest, all of this condition influnced me, as a result I wasn't highly motivated to work. I felt the days were red. What is OBON then? What I got from the Japan-guide.com ... Obon is a Buddhist festival during which memorial services are held for the deceased ancestors. It is said that on Obon, the ancestors' spirits return to this world and visit their relatives. People traditionally hang lanterns in front of their houses in order to guide their ancestors' spirits. At the end, floating lanterns are put into rivers and seas to guide the spirits back into their world.

I like MONDAY

I like this day even it's monday. Cause I have many things to do from 8 AM to almost 9 PM now. Five minutes ago suddenly I remembered with words "ganbatte kudasai" and would like to share it with you. For those who ever been in Japan for studying or working, maybe you will never ever forget these two words. Yes, in English it means "please work hard". First I didn't like these words, especially if the words come from my sensei. It makes me feel that I am not working so hard, in fact I am working so hard. That's right, even if you work so hard, these Japanese will keep saying ganbatte kudasai at the end. This could be one of the reason why Japan became a big country, cause they always say please work hard even if you've worked hard laready. Jya, ganbatte kudasai mina san!:)