Tanabata

On Friday parents were asked to arrive at the school 15 minutes before the usual time.  My husband simply put "Tanabata' in the calendar and  I showed up as requested, not knowing what to expect.

It turns out that Tanabata is a holiday (festival), celebrating an old fable of two young people who fell in love and got married.  After their marriage, the wife stopped making beautiful cloth for her father.  She wanted to spend all her time with her new husband.  He was so upset that he forbade the couple from seeing each other and made them live on opposite sides of a river.  They were allowed to see each other once a year - July 7th.  A flock of magpies come to make a bridge for the couple to cross to be together on this day.  If it rains on July 7th, it is said that the birds cannot come and it is a whole year before they can be together once again.

Each year, school children are reminded of this fable by decorating bamboo branches with stars, paper chains, likenesses of the husband and wife, as well as wishes written by the children.  I love seeing all the decorated bamboo branches.  It reminds me, in a strange way, of Christmas trees.  Each child's branch is decorated a little differently, but all with the same elements.

Of course, my son was super excited to have school time with mommy there.  He is always proud to show me around and share.  After a quick walk around, we sat down so the kids could sing us a traditional Tanabata song.  I peeked around the room as they sang and I was the only one who didn't know the words. 

Although I felt a little out of place, since I didn't know the "Jingle Bells" of Tanabata, it was fun to learn more about this special holiday. 

When you live in a culture you didn't grow up in, there is so much to learn about history and folklore that isn't found in any reference books.  I'm slowly learning.  Slowly.