SyndicationFeb/08/2011
Vaelntine's card
Today I designed some Valentine's day cards, this is one of them
From Finland to Japan, Working at Reimei
My name is Saara and I'm from Finland.
I'm now in Japan working for Reimei for the next three months, here is some of my story.
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Feb/07/2011
Valentine's day
I'm looking forward to Valentine's day here in Japan, it seems like fun!
Yeterday I met Matsunami-san's english teacher, Yamazaki-sensei, and a few of her students, Shihori-chan and shy-kun(we call him that because he's shy..)
We went to Shibuya's bookoff, a second hand store for books, magazines etc. I got three art books for under 2000 yen, lucky! and we had dinner, afterwards we went to shinjuku with just the girls, shopping for valentine's chocolates (I'll add some photographs later). I bought something small to bring to my friends back at home, very cute things I hope they enjoy them once I give them.
Yeterday I met Matsunami-san's english teacher, Yamazaki-sensei, and a few of her students, Shihori-chan and shy-kun(we call him that because he's shy..)
We went to Shibuya's bookoff, a second hand store for books, magazines etc. I got three art books for under 2000 yen, lucky! and we had dinner, afterwards we went to shinjuku with just the girls, shopping for valentine's chocolates (I'll add some photographs later). I bought something small to bring to my friends back at home, very cute things I hope they enjoy them once I give them.
Feb/04/2011
The Birth of The Kantele
Many Finnish people know the "birthstory" of the Kantele, it is our national instrument.
A kantele is a traditional plucked string instrument native to Finland, Estonia, and Karelia. It is related to the Russian gusli, the Latvian kokle and the Lithuanian kanklės. Together these instruments make up the family known as Baltic psalteries. In Finland's national epic, Kalevala, the mage Väinämöinen makes the first kantele from the jawbone of a giant pike and a few hairs from Hiisi's stallion. The music it makes draws all the forest creatures near to wonder at its beauty. Later, after losing and greatly grieving over his kantele, Väinämöinen makes another one from a birch, strung with the hair of a willing maiden, and its magic proves equally profound. It is the gift the eternal sage leaves behind when he departs Kaleva at the advent of Christianity.
so, with that inroduction to the instrument that makes us all feel closer to the people of ancient times, here is the first page of the Birth of The Kantele.
I'll probably color it some time but here's just the black and white version for now ' v '
Feb/02/2011
The Zodiac
The Sheng Xiao, better known in English as the Chinese Zodiac, is a scheme that relates each year to an animal and its reputed
attributes, according to a 12-year cycle. It has wide currency in
several East Asian countries besides mainland China and Taiwan.
Identifying this scheme using the term "zodiac" reflects several similarities to the Western zodiac:
both have time cycles divided into 12 parts, each labels at least the
majority of those parts with names of animals, and each is widely
associated with a culture of attributing influence of a person's
relationship to the cycle upon their personality and/or events in their
life. Nevertheless, there are major differences: the "Chinese" 12-part
cycle is divided into years rather than months; contrary to the
association with animals implied in the Greek etymology of "zodiac",
actually four of the Western "signs" or "houses" are represented by
humans (one such sign being the twins "Gemini") and one is the inanimate balance scale "Libra"; the animals of the Chinese zodiac are not associated with constellations, let alone those spanned by the ecliptic plane.
In Buddhism, legend has it that Buddha summoned all of the animals
of the earth to come before him before his departure from this earth,
but only thirteen animals actually came to bid him farewell. To reward
the animals who came to him, he named a year after each of them. The
years were given to them in the order they had arrived.
The 12 animals for the Chinese zodiac must have been developed in
the early stage of Chinese civilization for hundreds of years until it
became the current edition; and it’s very hard to investigate the real
origin. Most historians agree that Cat is not in the list since the 12
animals of the Chinese Zodiac were formed before Cats were introduced
to China from India with Buddhism.
Another story tells that the God called the animals to a banquet
that night. The Rat loved to play tricks on the Cat so he told the cat
that the banquet was on the day after tomorrow. When the Cat was
sleeping and dreaming about the banquet, the rest of the animals all
arrived to the banquet. The order of the animals was decided by the
order that they arrived. The Cat was devastated and vowed that he would
always hate the Rat.
attributes, according to a 12-year cycle. It has wide currency in
several East Asian countries besides mainland China and Taiwan.
Identifying this scheme using the term "zodiac" reflects several similarities to the Western zodiac:
both have time cycles divided into 12 parts, each labels at least the
majority of those parts with names of animals, and each is widely
associated with a culture of attributing influence of a person's
relationship to the cycle upon their personality and/or events in their
life. Nevertheless, there are major differences: the "Chinese" 12-part
cycle is divided into years rather than months; contrary to the
association with animals implied in the Greek etymology of "zodiac",
actually four of the Western "signs" or "houses" are represented by
humans (one such sign being the twins "Gemini") and one is the inanimate balance scale "Libra"; the animals of the Chinese zodiac are not associated with constellations, let alone those spanned by the ecliptic plane.
In Buddhism, legend has it that Buddha summoned all of the animals
of the earth to come before him before his departure from this earth,
but only thirteen animals actually came to bid him farewell. To reward
the animals who came to him, he named a year after each of them. The
years were given to them in the order they had arrived.
The 12 animals for the Chinese zodiac must have been developed in
the early stage of Chinese civilization for hundreds of years until it
became the current edition; and it’s very hard to investigate the real
origin. Most historians agree that Cat is not in the list since the 12
animals of the Chinese Zodiac were formed before Cats were introduced
to China from India with Buddhism.
Another story tells that the God called the animals to a banquet
that night. The Rat loved to play tricks on the Cat so he told the cat
that the banquet was on the day after tomorrow. When the Cat was
sleeping and dreaming about the banquet, the rest of the animals all
arrived to the banquet. The order of the animals was decided by the
order that they arrived. The Cat was devastated and vowed that he would
always hate the Rat.
Jan/31/2011
comics and crying
Hi! This is just a quick update on what I'll hopefully be doing on this blog from here on out C:
