Very eary in the morning, my husband put a New Year's wreath on the entrance door. I heard from my grandmother that the New Year's wreath shows the God that all the family members of this house are ready to welcome you. The God is believed to celebrate the New Year's Day with us and give us a lot of blessings.
New Year's morning goes with "osechi" and "ozoni," both are New Year's feast. I cook all the "osechi" dishes every year. I used to cook with my mother and sisters. It took "millions" of hours (of course, not :) to complete osechi, but it was fun chatting and cooking together. Recently, more and more people stop cooking or just buy alreay-cooked osechi, but I do not want to lose this custom of cooking home-made osechi, however long it may take.
[part of osechi]
from the yellow one to the right: datemaki, tazunakamaboko, kurikinton, tadukuri, namasu, kazunoko, tatakigobo, kobu, and the black beans in the center, gomame
After having New Year's feast, we paid a visit to a near-by shrine, and picked a paper fortune. We asked the Shinto priest to purify our car, too.
After getting home, we enjoyed reading New Year Greeting Cards, which are just like Christmas cards for my English friends.
We had a very slow, but so peaceful New Year's Day.
I hope the Year 2009 will be filled with a lot of discoveries and happiness.
No comments:
Post a Comment