Interviews With Some Lovely Ladies
Shioya District Friendship Association:
The circle of seniors in the Shioya District who enjoy dancing is called the "Friendship Association." It was started by eight women from the neighborhood. Pretty soon there were 12, then 16, then 18 and now the group has 20 members. For sure, even when a person is feeling a little poorly, going out to this lively atmosphere where troubles and cares seem to just fly away will make her feel all right again.
The group meets on Tuesday each week and a volunteer teacher teaches them dances. Everyone really looks forward to Tuesdays, no doubt about it. Right on time, everyone shows up, bringing along their homemade snacks. They dance quickly then pass the snacks around and enjoy chatting while they eat together. This is the chance to catch up on all the local gossip. The group also enjoys a "forget the old year" party each year's end.
Everyone, please tell your secret for good health.
- Plant a garden and eat fresh vegetables every day.
- Cook and eat tofu and vegetables every day.
- Enjoy singing and dancing.
- Work a lot.
- Don't get too nervous about what you eat.
- Eat properly every day
- Friendships are important. Be sure to come to the Friendship Association without fail so you don't get senile.
- Exchange local news and gossip.
- Cook vegetables and feed them to grandchildren and children.
- Don't worry.
- Even though I use a cane, my garden is my life. I have potatoes, carrots and lettuce.
- I don't just cook vegetables. I also work at the pineapple plant. Keeping my hands busy keeps me sharp.
- I like watching my vegetables grow.
- I enjoy hearing the news from everyone.
- As long as I'm healthy, of course I'm going to look after myself.
- If you don't eat the same food as your children and grandchildren, it's useless to try to live together.
Everyone, what kinds of Kusuimun (healthy foods) do you use?
- When I have a cold, I take plantain soup and rock sugar.
- I can't buy medicine. I drink mugwort soup for colds and fever.
- For fever, I take soup with pork and Basho stem juice squeezings and a little sake in it as a medicine to increase my energy.
- For colds and hangovers, ginger and brown sugar and potato gluten dissolved in water is good.
- For poor nutrition, I took soup with island carrots and pork liver in it.
- During pregnancy, we ate rice, which we never ate otherwise (back when potatoes were the dietary staple).
- Carp soup for fever.
- When children were not getting enough nutrition and we couldn't buy meat, we gave them soup with paddy frog in it. Frog is like chicken. It's delicious.
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