2011年3月 1日
St. David's Day
After reading Nicky's comment on the entry about politics, I did some research on "Uyoku" on Wikipedia. I decided that is probably not a good topic for this blog, so I deleted the entry. Thanks, Nicky, for warning me.
Anyway, I have decided to write about a more cheerful topic instead. If any of you has ever been to Wales, you might know that today is St. David's Day. St. David is the patron saint of Wales. In the UK, each of the four countries has its own saint, who is supposed to look after that country from his position in heaven. The patron saint of England is St. George, the patron saint of Scotland is St. Andrew, the patron saint of Northern Ireland is St. Patrick, and the patron saint of Wales is St. David. As you can see, Wales' patron saint has the best name!
In Welsh, St. David's day is called "Dydd Dewi Sant." March 1st is called St. David's Day because it is the anniversary of the death of St. David in 589 AD. (I could pretend that I already knew that, but I'll be honest and admit that I am looking at Wikipedia as I write!)
Some of you may have heard of St. Patrick's Day because there are big parades all over the world in cities that have large Irish communities. St. David's Day is Wales' version of that. There is a St. David's Day parade in Cardiff every year, but I have never heard of St. David's Day parades in any other countries.
The symbol of St. David's Day is the daffodil, and many Welsh people wear a daffodil pinned to their clothes on March 1st. I used to wear one when I was in school. Like Ireland, Wales has a strong tradition of singing, dancing, and poetry, although you might find that hard to believe if you have ever heard me play the piano! In Wales, we have festivals called "eisteddfodau" where singing and recitation are the main activities. I suppose the atmosphere is a bit like Japanese festivals, but there is a stronger focus on the performances, so it is quite like a concert as well.
Anyway, if you would like to know more about St. David's Day, you can find lots of information about it on the Internet. I'm sure there are probably lots of videos about it on YouTube as well. Let me know if you find anything interesting.
Bye for now.
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Iawn diolch, if my memory serves me correctly! If I'm wrong, I'll be in trouble with my mum.
- 匿名
- 2011年3月 1日 15:20
Hi everyone,
In Catholicism each day of the year has its own patron saint/saints and sometimes you can be named after the patron saint of the day you were born on. Or on the contrary, you celebrate the day of the saint that shares your name in the same way as you celebrate your birthday. If you have an interest, this is a calendar of saints www.catholic.org/saints/calendar/march.php .
Sorry if I’m getting off the track.
- Jazmín
- 2011年3月 1日 15:33
>> If I'm wrong, I'll be in trouble with my mum.
LOL, David!
Ash
- 匿名
- 2011年3月 1日 15:33
Hi Fumie,
It seems like David has changed the topic, but I read your comment on the entry about politics, so thank you:)
Hi Jazmín,
Thanks for the information. I didn't know that each day of the year has its own patron saint/saints!
By the way, what are Ash and David talking about? Are they speaking in Welsh?
- Tomo
- 2011年3月 1日 16:37
Thanks Jazmin,
I didn't know that.
Hi Tomo,
Ash asked me, "How are you?" and I replied (I think!), "Fine thanks."
- David
- 2011年3月 1日 16:58
Hi David,
Thanks for changing this week’s topic!! To tell the truth, when I read your entry last night, I wanted to pass. I don’t feel like thinking of difficult things at the moment, besides, if my memory was correct, you were supposed to provide a light topic this week.
By the way, I didn’t know about St. David Day, but I have heard about St. Patrick Day on 17th of Mar. I will take a look some information of it in the Internet later.
Good night and sweat dreams,
amo
- amo
- 2011年3月 1日 23:01
Hi Amo,
I wanted to talk about Japanese politics because I have been reading so many stories about it recently, both in Japanese newspapers and in the foreign press. I've been thinking about it a lot, so I wondered what normal Japanese people were thinking about all these stories.
Anyway, I'm glad you like the new topic!
- David
- 2011年3月 1日 23:28
Hi David
I take part in this site to improve my conversation skills."Yoroshiku onegaishimasu" By the way,
this summer I am going to Edinburgh in the U.K. 、where I will enjoy Military Tattoo、because I heard that the military performances are worth seeing ,
from my acquaintance.
If You know about anything about this,would you please tell me 、if possible.
See you later
- Yoo
- 2011年3月 2日 11:29
Hi Yoo,
Nice to have you with use. I have been to Edinburgh a couple of times, and it is a wonderful city. I have never seen the Tattoo, but I have heard that it is quite spectacular. I'm sure you will have a wonderful time.
- David
- 2011年3月 2日 14:31
Hi everyone,
Here is a joke on Japanese politics;
So lucky are Japanese people, because they have revolving-door administrations without any revolutions or bloodshed.
You shouldn’t be cynical, but it’s very difficult to be optimistic about Japan’s future.
- Jazmín
- 2011年3月 2日 14:39
Hi David and everyone,
St David's Day? What is 'David' writing? Is he joking? Sorry to say, I knew "St Patric's Day" and have seen lots of videos. Its image is ,as you might know, green. I have to admit , however, I'm not familiar with St David's Day, so that is what came up with my mind first when I read the title of the new entry. Oh, I know it's stupid of me!
I saw a few videos and read some articles, and the parade of that day looks like the one of Nagoyamatsuri. The former one looked more casual,though.
I found an interesting site for kid"St David's Day for kids(all about St David)."
Here's the address of the site.
【http:// + www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/ngfl/2007-08/saintdavid/ds_english/index.html】
I read a simple story,tried wordsearch and do some other things. It's for kids and very easy,but fun!
If you are interested in it, have a look at it and give it a try!
By the way, you seemed to have read lots of articles related to Japanese politics. Did you see any differences from those of England? I don't meant to say something anymore, but can I share an article with you? I read the interesting article , however, it's a bit old. I think it's interesting because a writer see situations in Japanese policies (or Japanese politicians)from a different point of view.
Hi everyone,
Did you see today's google logo?
It's lovely!
Bye for now,
Anne
- Anne
- 2011年3月 3日 08:21
Hi Yoo,
I'd love to visit Edinburgh some day!
Looking forward to your next posting,too.
Anne
- Anne
- 2011年3月 3日 08:26
Hi Anne,
I am actually very close to being a saint, so it's understandable that you would think that the entry was about me when you read the title :-)
The article you mentioned sounds interesting. Can you tell us about it?
- David
- 2011年3月 3日 10:45
Hi David,
Sorry, I forgot to let you know the address.
http:// www.themalaysianinsider.com/breakingviews/article/Aso-falls-victim-to-media-attacks-Kwan-Weng-Kin/
- Anne
- 2011年3月 3日 17:23
it's me again.
Title of the article is " Aso falls victim to media attacks"-Kwan Weng Kin (Feb 20, 2009)
- Anne
- 2011年3月 3日 17:28
Hi David,
I just read some information about St. David’s day. Like you mentioned, it said Welsh people wear a daffodil pinned to their clothes, and I also learnt that the leek is a national symbol of Wales. I found a picture that Charles (Prince of Wales) wearing a leek pinned to his jacket. If you didn’t know what leek meant, it would seem really weird. By the way, do you still remember what they call a daffodil and a leek in Welsh?
Speak to you soon,
amo
- amo
- 2011年3月 3日 23:28
Hi David and everyone,
When I checked the PC a few days ago, february 28th entry was gone. I thoght at first was that all my imagination that I had read it and put my comment in that morning? Am I get that senile? I'm glad to know that David deleted it because it's not appropriate for here.
I've never heard of St.David day and every single day has its patron saint. I looked some Youtube videos of St.David day. People, especially children seem enjoying it.
The name of the patron saint of Wales is David, the name David must be popular in Wales.
Fumie
- Fumie
- 2011年3月 4日 05:46
Hi David and everyone,
It's very cold these last couple of days,isn't it? It sounds like winter comes back again.
I went to a tax office yesterday and finished filing an income tax return. Phew...
>David, "close to being a Saint"!? LOL Anyway, your parents must have named you hoping for becoming like St.David!
>Jazmin, thanks for the information. I checked the site and it is interesting to check each day^^)
>amo,
I also saw the picture Charles (Prince of Wales) wearing a leek pinned to his jacket. No wonder he was wearing,right?
It's interesting the leek is a symbol of the Wales,isn't it?
>Tomo,Fumie and Nicky,I read your comments related to politics. Thanks for sharing your ideas.
I saw a video "First Minister sends St. David David's Day greetings around the world" on You Tube. It's not about festivals themselves,though.. I'm not familiar with First Minister. If you are interested in it, have a look at it.
http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAH3L40MoyQ&NR=1
See you soon,
Anne
- Anne
- 2011年3月 4日 07:50
Hi David, jazmin, Anne and everyone,
Thanks for the cheerful topic and sharing those fun sites with us. Like other members, I knew St. Patrick Day whose parades I happened to see during my stay in Vancouver this time two years ago. However, St. David's Day was new to me. I watched animation films for kids on YouTube why David became a saint, and checked the carendar telling each day's saint parton, and enjoyed the wordresearch. I'd like to introduce them to Japanese kids. When I was small, I didn't know that イギリス（英国） means England, Scotland, Wales and the Northern Ireland and its official name is the U.K.
Maybe, the current children are not familiar with it, either. When I introduce about it, I'm going to add the story about each patron saint. That would be interesting. Thank you.
- tsuneko
- 2011年3月 4日 10:10
It’s exhausting to find educated folks on this topic, however you sound like you recognize what you’re speaking about! Thanks
- Lissa Kubsch
- 2011年10月13日 02:48
Sut mae, David?
Ash