amidst all this, the people in my office (only six of us work at this branch of the b.o.e. now) decided to give me a lesson in japanese culture. . .
lesson 1: the first dream of the new year. . . if you dream about mt. fuji, a hawk, or eggplant, you have a good year ahead of you. . . since mt. fuji ensures the best year, my supervisor thinks it’s a good idea to spend most of december 31st staring at a poster of fuji . . . at the very least he says to put a picture of it under your pillow before you go to sleep. . .
lesson 2: this one started with a discussion of the chinese zodiac (2008 will be the year of the rat. . . fyi: i am a dog). . . somehow this discussion ended in a psychological test. . . out of 100, how many horse would you choose and how many sheep would you choose. . . (please answer now). . . .
. . .
i said 55 sheep and 45 horse. . . the girl next to me – whom i adore for bringing me coffee and chocolate everyday at 3:00p.m. – apparently chose 90 sheep and 10 horse. . . all the others said 50/50. . .
. . .
a larger percentage of horse means you are aggressive. . .
a larger percentage of sheep means you are passive. . .
i am every so slightly on the passive side, and the girl next to me begs to be bullied (according to the guy who sits across from her . . . think they’ve been friends since they were about five). . .
those are my lessons thus far today. . . but it is only noon. . . i’m just hoping to avoid the mochi this year! who can eat all that rice?!
