July 4

Today is America’s 独立記念日 (Independence Day).

Of course, Japan (or any other country) doesn’t observe other countries’ Independence Day holidays.

In America on this day, people commonly have BBQ dinners and watch 花火大会 (fireworks shows).

Do you live in America? Do you watch the fireworks? Do you have a BBQ? What do you cook? Hamburgers and hotdogs?

On many weekends in the summer, Japan has amazing 花火大会 (fireworks shows).
We always go to the 花火大会 (fireworks show) near our house, and my wife packs an excellent picnic dinner.
We have stuff like イカ (squid), chicken, おにぎり (rice balls), 枝豆 (soy beans), salad…and beer (cola for the kids).
It’s alot of fun and great food!

Anyways, besides America’s 独立記念日 (Independence Day), here are some other notable events that happened on the fourth day of July:

• 1959 July 4: A 49th star was added to the U.S. flag in honor of Alaska becoming a state.
• 1960 July 4: The 50th star was added to the U.S. flag in honor of Hawaii becoming a U.S. state.
• 1826 July 4: Both Former U.S. President John Adams and former U.S. President Thomas Jefferson (second and third U.S. Presidents, respectively) died.
• 1872 July 4: Former U.S. President Calvin Coolidge was born.
• 1973 July 4: Japanese pop-singer Gackt was born.

学芸会

Today is 勤労感謝の日 (Labor Gratitude Day). It’s a Sunday, so it will be observed tomorrow (Monday)…so this is a 三連休 (three-day weekend).
(Click here to read my short FAQ about 勤労感謝の日 (Labor Gratitude Day)).

Yesterday, my youngest daughter’s school had their 学芸会 (School Play). My youngest daughter’s in the sixth grade, so this is her last year of 小学校 (Elementary School)…next year, all three of my kids will be in 中学校 (Junior High) and 高等学校 (High School)!
So, yesterday was the final Elementary School Play for our kids 😦 ! Time flies!

My daughter played a 96-year-old elderly woman in her play. She did excellent!

After her play, we all went to the doctor’s office to get our インフルエンザ予防接種 (Influenza vaccination (The ‘Flu Shot)). Last year, my wife and daughters got the shot…but I thought that I didn’t need it. And I caught インフルエンザ (Influenza). It wasn’t fun!
So, I got the ‘flu shot today, too.

From there, my daughters went out with their friends. So, my wife and I went to a park and had a picnic.

(This thing was at the park. There was another just like it. We discovered that if one person put their ear to the mouthpiece on one, he can hear another person speak into the mouthpiece on the other…おもしろかった! 🙂 )