Almost 2010

In Japan, it’s almost midnight on 2009 December 31.
In about ten minutes the year 2010 will start in Japan.

Click here and you see the current time in Tokyo on my main website.

Last year, I wrote about 大晦日 (New Year’s Eve) in Japan and some of the customs in Japan…including 年越しそば (New Year noodles), which we ate today as we always do, and the 「紅白歌合戦」 (Red And White Music Battle) TV show that we’re watching now.
Click here to read my New Year’s Eve post from last year.

Since the year 2009 will be over in a matter of minutes (at least on this side of the world), how about a list of new words that entered the English language in 2009 and new words that entered the Japanese language this past year too?

New English-language words for 2009 (according to the Oxford Dictionary (since I don’t live in an English-speaking country, these were all new (and interesting) to me):

Intexticated – Distracting by sending text-messages via cell-phone while driving.

Paywall – Part of a website that is only available to paying subscribers.

Sexting – Sending explicit photos and/or text via cell-phone email.

Funemployed – Unemployed people taking advantage of their free-time to pursue interesting activities.

Choice Mom – A woman who chooses to be a single mother.

And the 2009 English-language “Word Of The Year”…Unfriend – To remove someone from your list of “Facebook friends”.

Are these words common in America (or other countries)?

And the new Japanese-language words in 2009:

「歴女」 (Rekijo) – (Eng. “History Women”) – Japanese women who are interested in Japanese history. It’s a new trend. They enjoy visiting historic spots in Japan such as graves of famous Samurai and other historic landmarks.

「ファスト・ファッション」 – (Eng. “Fast fashion”) – Due to the bad economy, cheap retail fashion stores such as “Uniqlo” and “Forever 21” have seen an increase in business.

「派遣切り」 (Haken-giri) – (Eng. “Temp Staff Cutbacks”) – It used to be that temporary staff of large companies could almost count on becoming permanent staff one day, but the economy has caused many companies to lay-off their temporary workers.

「政権交代」 (Seiken-Koutai) – (Eng. “Regime Change”) – The Liberal Democratic Party has won every Prime Minister election for decades…but this year Yukio Hatoyama of the Democratic Party Of Japan became the Prime Minister.

「新型インフルエンザ」 (Shingata-influenza) – (Eng. “New Flu”) – The Swine Flu is called New Flu in Japan.

大晦日

It’s now 11:50PM on December 31, 2008 (Japan Standard Time (JST)). Shortly, it’ll be 2009.

In late December, Japanese people say よいお年を (Yoi-otoshi-o) for “Happy New Year”…then January 1-3, it’s 明けましておめでとうございます (Akemashite-omedetou-gozaimasu).

As I’ve mentioned before (click here), お正月 (New Years) is the biggest holiday in Japan.

Today is 大晦日 (New Years Eve). On 大晦日 (New Years Eve) in Japan, many people eat 年越しそば (New Year’s noodles) and at midnight go to a temple for the Buddhist tradition of the temple priest’s ringing the temple bell 108 times.

(Click here to read my short FAQ entry about 大晦日 (New Years Eve) in Japan.)

Alot of people (including us this 大晦日 (New Years Eve)), watch one of the popular 大晦日 (New Years Eve) TV shows.
Most people watch 紅白歌合戦 (Red And White Team Music Battle)…but my kids wanted to watch ダウンタウンのガキの使いやあらへんで！！ (Downtown’s No Job For Kids!!)…it’s a crazy comedy variety program.

Tomorrow we’ll go to my in-laws (many of my wife’s relatives will come too) and we’ll have a big, traditional Japanese New Years dinner. My kids will get お年玉 (New Years Gift Money)…and we’ll give my kids’ cousins お年玉 (New Years Gift Money) too.

It’s a good time.

Oh, look at the time…5…4…3…2…1…明けましておめでとうございます (Happy New Year)!