March 6, 2015 Oshaberi Salon Topic: Spring 「春」 -- A mini write-up

Last February 17, Japan Foundation Manila shared the flyer to the latest Oshaberi Salon that happened this March 6 on their Facebook page. I re-posted the flyer’s picture on Instagram and asked if anyone wants to go with me and even if no one’s willing, I decided to go by myself.


Before I left the house, I searched the building on Google Maps to see if I’m familiar with the area around it because I really don't have an idea where the building is exactly located. I arrived in Makati around 5:30 P.M and killed time by going to Family Mart in Glorietta 3 to claim my prize from their LINE promo. I got my prize (a mini Brown plushie), bought snacks because the event is from 6:20 – 8:30 P.M, and walked to Pacific Star Building. It was quite a walk from Glorietta.

(Screenshot of Google Map's route from Glorietta to Pacific Star Building.)


(The LINE merchandise that I own. The one on the right is the mini-plushie from Family Mart.)

I arrived 6:30 P.M, and as expected of the Japanese, they have already started the event at the said time on the flyer. The teacher (whose name I forgot, sorry) asked me to sit at the vacant chair and put my bag on the table behind. She had an assistant named Asumi, a cheerful-looking young Japanese woman.

The topic was about Spring春 (Haru) and we discussed the similarities and differences of the “seasons” in Japan and Philippines and the activities that were done during these “seasons”. For the Japanese, spring symbolizes endings and beginnings, so we were asked to write on a pink post-it the things that we want to stop doing (やめたいこと) and the things that we want to start doing (はじめたいこと) and stick our answers around the tree trunk on the board. The bare tree trunk looked like a sakura (cherry blossom) tree with our answers. Very spring-like, indeed! We also sang a Sakura song together. The most fun part for me, though, was the game of Fruits Basket.

(A lot of people answered the same thing: stop being lazy.)

Oshaberi Salon was conducted mostly in Japanese but the teacher sometimes translates the instructions and important points in English. And even if you are not really fluent in Japanese (like me!), you can always ask if there are things that you don’t understand and the participants will happily explain things to you.

It is also a good start if you are interested to learn Japanese because you can meet people who share the same interests and if you are already studying, I think this event is a sure-fire way to practice what you have learned. It is fun and the best of all, it’s for FREE!

For those who are interested, the next Oshaberi Salon will be held on May 8, 2015. Check out The Japan Foundation Manila's Facebook page for updates.