ep10 festivals around the world turkiye japan beyond cultural traditions 2

Hi everyone! Welcome back from another episode of Mochi and Baklava. This is on Tea! Gosh, this is our 10th episode. Oh my god. We had a bit of a gap. That's a bit. Personal stuff. A bit, you know, that's not the tea we're spilling here. But we have the same concept. We're gonna still answer questions. But we have different settings. A bit of change. We thought springtime, spring-wise, a little bit of a different background. Just a bit of change. I don't know. Yeah. Just trying something springy. A bit brighter. But like that dark winter days of the UK. Yeah. It's over. Hopefully gone. Yeah. I mean, later in the day, still lighter. Anyway. This is a long introduction. Not even in the new topic, but yeah. So we've got our questions. What is our topic? So we've got... Okay, this is a bit of a mix, but this is more about celebration. So what special days we've got, what festivals we've got, what sort of like... I don't know, anything that we celebrate in our countries, in the UK. Different cultures. We have a lot of different things going on. Like recently we had Eid, and we're gonna have Easter soon. So we feel like special days are all around. So let's just talk about them a bit. I think that will be quite interesting. I guess without further ado, let's start with our questions. Yeah. Let's start it. Do you want to do the honor? Alright. Number five. Did you look forward to celebration, or did they feel normal to you? As a kid, I did a bit more. Like I feel like it was more of a thing because the things we've done, which we might get into. I'm not gonna get into detail yet. But I feel like as a kid, you get excited about certain aspects of celebration. Obviously, it depends on how it is done in Japan as well. In Turkey, a lot of these celebrations are both family and community-based. It's a big thing that you would not do alone. So maybe in that way, as a kid it was quite exciting to be surrounded by people and share that. I feel like sometimes I still do, but it's more like how I feel overall. I'm an adult myself. If I'm in a good mood in that week, when that happens, I feel a bit more excited or look forward to it. But other than that, if I'm in a bad mood, it's like a normal day. How about you? For me, I think it depends on the celebration I'm having. I feel like some of them are just, whatever. But also there's some stuff that I'm like, oh my god, I can't wait to have. Yeah, I get that feeling as well. Especially if there's a special meal for it, I'm like, oh yeah. New Year's and I don't know what else. Yeah, New Year's and stuff. I remember we talked about that. If you haven't, by the way, watched, you can still watch that video. I mean, New Year's resolutions. Go. You can still watch. As a child and as an adult, it's a different thing. Yeah, definitely. Next question. It's a new setting, so we'll get used to it. This is a tough one. It's a bit long. At least for myself. I'm not going to mention everything, but for example, Eid is definitely different here versus Turkey. Because in Turkey, Eid is nationwide holiday. So everyone is off, all your family members, friends. The way people celebrate it differs. But you know that it's Eid for everyone. And sometimes you can't even tell. For example, for Istanbul, we usually get free transportation. So it's extra busy. Wow. Yeah, the first day or something. I don't remember how it goes right now. So those kind of things, you definitely know it's Eid. Whereas abroad, like when we used to live in Japan or in, I don't know, China. And well, here as well now, it's a bit different. I didn't even feel like the first day of Eid. I was like, just like a normal day. The only difference was that Ramadan was over. So I was no longer fasting. But it wasn't like how it was back in Turkey. The way I would be getting ready or doing stuff. And it's also about maybe because I'm new in this country as well. Maybe if I establish my life a bit more, like maybe 10 years later, maybe the way I celebrate Eid is different. But still, I feel like, because it's not for everyone in this country. It's only a certain amount of people who celebrate it. And that way, even though it's acknowledged, I feel like it's definitely different vibes. Like how it is in Turkey versus here. Definitely changes. I think it's similar for me too. I feel like, I mean, when the celebration happening in Japan, I'm like, oh, it's the day, I'm going to think about it. But then there's no one to celebrate with. So I'm like, maybe I'm going to talk to my mom. How she spent the day or whatever. I think I try to follow the celebration here more. To have an experience, I guess. Yeah, I mean, definitely. I focus on the stuff here more. I kind of forget about Japanese celebrations. Not forget, forget. You kind of like turn off that stuff. Bye, see you later. I get that. It does happen that way. Either forget or definitely different vibes. Maybe we'll get more into detail. What do you miss most about celebrating back home? What do you miss? It's definitely the vibes, obviously. The way things feel. Because it's eat for everyone. I go on it, but it's also same for national holidays and stuff. Anything Turkish obviously will not be celebrated here by everyone. You can still go to places and celebrate. I know communities hold their own events. That's a way of doing it. But the thing about being home is that everyone obviously acknowledges that same thing. So they will be celebrating the same way. Or maybe at least mention to you about it. So it's definitely one thing that's different. Right, right. The whole vibe would be different. Even with strangers, I don't know how it is like in Japan. Because Turkey is more about community and people engaging with each other. A bit more extrovert. You can even say happy Eid to some random stranger. Or happy national X day. Whatever day you're celebrating, you can just say happy X day. So nice. I don't know how it is right now, but I kind of remember that's a thing you can do. Especially if you're in an area of celebration. You can just easily hug each other and enjoy the vibes and atmosphere together. That's really nice. That's definitely something you don't get here in the same way. There are celebrations here, but it's just not what we celebrate in Turkey. Definitely, the vibes. I think it's the same for me too. Especially for New Year. Because that's really big. It's different. That differs a lot, yeah. But what I miss the most is food. It's not going to be the same. Yeah, like the New Year. And some sweets and stuff. I don't know what this is for, but I have told you about sakura mochi. I haven't tried it yet. We have to try. I don't know if it's directly with celebration. I don't know if that's something with it. But like a season, you know. Having a celebration. Sakura mochi is for celebration, for the girls. I love that thing. It has a different version. In the east side of Japan and the west side of Japan. Mine is the west side. And I think it's better. No offense. But yeah, I love that thing. And I don't think it's a thing here. Maybe if you go to Japan Center or whatever. Maybe you can get it. But it's not a thing here. It's difficult to get. Even if you do, it's not the same. We have baklava here. But baklava here versus Turkish baklava in Turkey. It's a different thing. Remember that place we tried. It's sweeter in Turkey than it is here. I think they altered the taste to make sure people can enjoy it here. It's not a bad thing. But when you know the original taste, it's not exactly the same. So food is definitely something that changes for Turkey as well. Because we got the nicest food back home. Sushi is not the same anywhere else. Unless you've tried sushi in Japan, you don't know what you're missing out. You have to try the real thing. Do celebrations feel more cultural, religious, or a mix of both? It depends what celebration we're talking about. In Turkey, we have two E celebrations. Two E festivals. It's the same word. Those are actually more religious. But not everyone in Turkey is religious. Even if people consider themselves Muslims, they're not always... Not everyone is the same level of Greek fitness. It ties off to the religion. It depends on how people want to approach it. I would say even though they're religious festivals, the way we celebrate is more cultural side of the thing. I don't think there's any religious side of the thing that we do. Apart from the one. Sorry, it's getting a bit confusing. Some stuff are definitely just Turkish customs, a bit more common. It's not necessarily coming from Islam. But for national holidays especially, it's all cultural. It's all about what we have built. We've got Children's Day. We've got Youth and Sports Day. We've got Independence Day. These are all holidays that have been set by Ataturk. These ones obviously are all about the culture. More like national heritage. It has nothing to do with religion. It really depends on what festival we're talking about. I think it's similar in Japan too. But the thing is, most people are not religious in Japan. Even if the celebration itself came from religion, we wouldn't know. We wouldn't really think about it. I get that. I'm not religious either, so I'm just doing it. It's more cultural, I think. Christmas is the same though. A lot of people celebrate it in a much different way. It has nothing to do with religion for many. But there are a group of people who will do a bit more religious celebrations. And do certain things, probably. It really depends on the festival, really. I think though, definitely every country. Because when you're in your own country, unless it's something you celebrate just your country, that obviously is a more cultural thing. But even if it's a religious thing, I feel like there's still a bit of a mix of culture. Because every country does it differently. There's no way of saying that there's one way to do things. Now I feel like I need to check which celebration came from religion in Japan. That's interesting. I'm not sure. There's definitely some. That's homework for you. Now, what was your favorite part of any celebration? The food! Obviously. Well, we're going to come back to that. During Eid, you would make some little, obviously I'm going to have to get into celebrations a bit, like how we do it. In Turkey, you would do some family visits. Some people prefer to take the whole day and just do their own thing. But other than that, you see just family or friends. I think at least we've done it that way. And everyone usually would have some sort of sweet going on. And especially when I was a kid, we would have to be basically all relatives that we can see in the same day. And you would go from house to house. You would sometimes spend half an hour to an hour with someone and then move on to the next one. Something like that. You keep visiting multiple people. I know. And then each of them usually would prepare something. Sometimes they can just buy it from stores. But sometimes they would make their own homemade baklavas or desserts. Stuff like that. I want that. It would usually be quite nice. I mean, it would be too much. After a while, you're like, no, we ate too much. I can't eat anymore. And everyone wants you to eat their own. They're still forcing you. So you'll end up eating some more. But it's getting difficult. But it's definitely a nice experience to have some special festival food. Sounds really nice. I want homemade baklava. I promise. Because baklava is quite difficult. But I could try to make some. Maybe. We should give it a go. But food is definitely a good thing. And for me, apart from food, we have obon. That's it. I don't know if I can call it a celebration, but it's something like that. It's basically, mostly for a week in August. And then it's about, how do I say that? It's like, respect your ancestors. Something like that. Sending your respect. Something like that. Yeah. Basically, they're coming back. They're visiting us. It's kind of like a Mexican Dia de Muertos. Or something like that. It's kind of like that. Similar idea. But obviously, we're going to go see our ancestors. Visit a graveyard. Cemetery. Go see and talk to them. Clean them and stuff. But for me, the exciting thing is to visit them. You go to other areas that you have a family. I get to visit different parts of the country. You're so sweet. You were more for the travel. As a kid. Even as an adult too. It's like a summer holiday. Is it a few days or something? It's almost a week. And then a lot of people would have a holiday. There's one little, small, tiny, not even a city, like a town that we always go to because my grandma is from there. And there's a big river. I don't swim, so I'm not going to go and swim. But I would go in and like... And it's hot as hell in Japan in August. It's like heaven. It's like the best thing. Oh, it's always in August? Yeah. That's definitely my favorite part. I can't wait to do that again. Apply cold water to the affected area. China actually has a day similar to Day of Death or something where they show respect to their ancestors. I don't know too much, but I know that it's common for them to burn things as if to send it to them. So I remember they were like... I think they had fake money or something to burn. I don't know the whole culture. I don't want to misinform anyone. But I remember that. And my brother was asking the people that he knew and he was saying like, why are you burning fake ones now? Is that going to work over there? So I guess it's just the idea of it. I don't know what the whole story is. Again, I don't want to say anything wrong to inform you because I didn't know too much about it. But it's also like a national holiday sort of thing where... I think like day off as well from work and school and stuff. But yeah, it's quite interesting that multiple cultures tap into similar celebrations but just the way things are done are different, obviously. It's really interesting. Mixing it up because we keep getting to 20. 12. How important were celebrations in your culture growing up? I think it depends. Some of the national holidays like Independence Day. I say Independence actually. It's more like Republic Day. Like the day that Turkish Republic was created. I'm not sure if I'm using the right words. But yeah, so that is obviously quite special and is very important to us. So I would say that for every Turkish person that it's a very special day and we would hold celebrations and events similar to those days I mentioned. Children's Day, Youth Day. They all have their own... Children's Day is more for children, obviously. So there would be events that feature children allowing them to be present. There would be all sorts of things. Even to where children would be replacing presidents for a day. Not like officially but just for an event or something. And yeah, we have quite unique ones where it was a thing more common. I don't know if it's still going on but when I was a kid on that Children's Day we would get children from different countries to come and do their own dances or do their own things. It was quite fun to watch for me. There would be people from I don't know, maybe from Asia. I don't remember if anyone from Japan. But you would see different cultures being represented. Sometimes I think people would host them as well. I remember our neighbour had this one girl. I don't remember where she was from but they hosted that girl for a week or something. I don't know how it works the logistics or the whole arrangements of it. But stuff like that. So these kind of things are quite important and I think you don't really miss it. And I think it's very common for Turkish people to post a story online about any of these national days. It's something that is actually quite active on social media as well. That we are just like saying something about that special day. I would say that's definitely a thing. But yeah, as I mentioned, Eid is different because not everyone is celebrating the same day. Some people just take that as a holiday because it's a long period. It's like 9 days, 11 days sometimes. Although the actual Eid is only 3-4 days. But Turkey kind of creates this holiday around that. Similar to China has Chinese New Year. One week is off for school, work. Most of the places will be closed. Similar to that. Some people take Eid as an opportunity to kind of go away and do their own thing. Like have a vacation or something. It's just different how we approach it. Quite important. Interesting. I love your children's day. I should show you some examples. I love that idea. For me, how important? I feel like if it's like something for children and you have children, it's more, I don't know, it's a bigger deal. But it's not like that. It's kind of like, you know, if you want to do stuff, do it. If you don't want to, whatever. So I don't really know. I've never thought about it. For me, it's not that important. But I want to do it because it's fun. It's kind of like that. But as a kid, like 7, 5, 3 things. It's a big thing. Because you get to dress up and get a professional photo and stuff. It was definitely a big deal for like, as a kid. And then for girls, like basically, 7 and 3 is for girls and 5 is for boys. So if you're a girl, you get to do that twice. So like, lucky! I don't really remember. But definitely I was so excited and it was the biggest deal to me. And the dress I wear, I'm like, I want this color, I want that color. So yeah, as a kid. As a kid, it was more important for some celebration. I guess it's a bit more personal choice as well. And again, Hinduism is a bit more common in Japan than it is in Turkey. Turkey is quite community-based. I keep saying every episode basically. But yeah, we do quite engage with each other and do stuff together or make things a big deal. It's nice though. But yeah, I think that's also the reason. Because we don't really put the stuff out. You know, a whole city wouldn't be celebrating. So if you forget about it, you wouldn't even notice. Yeah, I think it wouldn't happen in Turkey. I mean, maybe really. Especially in small places maybe. Not Eid. Eids are a bit more noticeable. Places will be closed and stuff. But the others are like special days like one or two days on their own. So when that happens, obviously maybe you may not notice for some people. I'm not sure. But I feel like I don't know if it's because I've been always in big cities and they were always a big deal. And you'll see even flags up and stuff like that. So I feel like we're quite on it. I want to say that a lot of people will be aware. I'm guessing. Not everyone might know the logic or reasoning behind it or what's special about that. They may not be able to express that. But I feel like you'd know that it is. Because it would be also like, I don't know. Like advertised. I don't know. I feel like you'd see it. It's interesting. It's a bit hard to express. Like here, I don't feel any of the Turkish stuff that we do. Like deeply. That's why it's confusing. I guess, yeah. It does happen. Alright. 13. Did you ever compare your celebration to other cultures? Yes. I'm gonna go ahead and say that we have a lot of similarities with Chinese New Year and the way we do Eid. I think it's just the Turkish customs are a little similar to... It's also called Spring Festival for China. Chinese New Year. And it's basically things that are similar. That you clean your house before that celebration day. It's like very common the day before, I think maybe week before. I don't know how long it takes. For people who do a big clean to their home. You do visit your elderly first. Visiting family members is a thing. You do give out money to young kids. Oh, okay. It's like an envelope is given to younger people in Chinese culture. Which in Turkey, we don't have the envelope but you would give money to younger members of your family. Especially students or kids. And I guess food wise as well. Like sharing food together, I would say. It's a similar idea. Both festivals and celebrations have nothing to do with each other. But I think we do share a similar approach to it. And I think that could be because maybe... I don't know if it's like a little bit also the fact that Turkish people like our ancestors basically came all the way from Asia. So I feel like we had similar cultures to Asia in that sense. Yeah, sounds similar to New Year. Yeah, in Japan. Yeah, I feel like it's a bit like Asian thing. I've never... I know people will prepare for Christmas with decorations. But I've never heard having a big clean up. I don't know if that's the thing. I don't think so. No, I don't think so. But that's definitely a thing, right? Yeah. I feel like that's more maybe like East thing. Yeah, I think so. Because Turkey is like between Europe and Asia. We have customs. Sometimes we're similar to Europeans. Sometimes we're more similar to Asians. But I think that's like that side is definitely very similar. Yeah. When I was learning about Chinese culture, I immediately thought, oh, we do the same thing. We do that too. So stuff like that can be... I love that. Yeah, interesting. Yeah, and now I found out that we all got in the same thing. Yeah. I mean the whole not wearing your shoes at home is the same thing as well. Which comes from the same culture. Oh my god, I love that. I didn't know. Yeah. I really like it. Yeah, yeah. For me, comparing. I'm not sure. I've never really compared. But the thing is we don't really do a big thing. We're not going to do fireworks and stuff. We won't party. I guess maybe that's the difference. I think in Japan, celebrations are done more personally than as a nation. If there was something big enough, I don't think you would miss out on that. You would definitely know. Yeah. If I compare other cultures, most of the culture has New Year celebrations. I feel like a lot of cultures in New Year, they would do big fireworks, big parties, go out, drink and stuff. But in Japan, it's super quiet. I mean, you're going to have dinner with family and maybe play a game or something and watch TV and laugh. But then it's not going to be like a party. After midnight, there's a bell sound from a temple. I think it's a temple. You would hear it. To hear it, you have to be super quiet. It's not loud enough. I mean, it's loud. But if there's fireworks and stuff, you wouldn't hear it. Sorry, is there any certain time that it goes off? Midnight. Right at midnight. The midnight of New Year's Eve, they're going to start hitting. I think it's 108 times. 108 times? 108 times. Because it's the number of the bad things in people or something like anger or desire for something like that. It's like 7 sins but like 108. I want to look into that list. Now I'm curious. 8 times, they would do that. All the temples do that, I think. Interesting. So at midnight, you're going to hear it and the whole city would be really quiet. I don't know in a big city like Tokyo but at least in the countryside. What happens if you're loud? Do you get bad luck from it? No. They just want to hear it to make sure. I don't know. I feel like maybe Japan has a very culture to respect each other. Maybe people don't want to disturb others. Maybe that's why you want to respect even if you don't care. Maybe you do it for others. This is a random example but I feel like even drunk people in Japan will not disturb you. Do you know what I mean? I feel like when you're drunk they're just doing their own thing and they're not... I don't know. Does that make sense? I know what you mean. I feel like in some other places drunk people can get out of hand and maybe get a bit more... I don't know. Well, not to that level. They can get a bit loud and they can be a bit disturbing the way they act and behave. I remember in Japan drunk people were just walking but that's it. They would not be loud. That's my at least memory. Being loud in Japan is a big thing. That's maybe why. I've never heard a horn goes... People never use a horn in the car. I've never heard it. Yeah, because you cannot do that. It's there but it's not to be used. But here... It's like a warning thing. It's worse in Turkey. You have to experience. In Turkey you'll hear that a lot. People just get really impatient. We have to do a traffic episode. We have to do driving. Or public transportation. Yeah, definitely. I feel like that's a fun topic to get into. Oh god, all the questions. I know, I don't even remember. We talk like forever. Okay, I'll go. 18. Do you think celebrations bring people closer together? I feel like you kind of answered that. Yeah, I think so. In Japan, you wouldn't celebrate anything with people. Do you do anything with your friends? Any celebrations that maybe more, I don't know, New Year and stuff? Yeah, maybe that. Maybe, maybe, yeah. Japan is so lonely. Having existential crisis. The next story for the nation. Yeah, I mean that would make your family closer maybe. Yeah, okay. Not the other people. Friends too maybe. I get that. Especially for family. I know, correct me if I'm wrong, but I know that also family is not always so close in Japan, is it? No, no. That's another thing maybe. It's also actually known that there was a video, all Western culture people calling their family to say I love you, and it's normal, but then in Japan, saying I love you. I think the Japanese guy who said I love you, he called his mother and said I love you, and she was like 大丈夫. She was like, oh, it's okay, it's okay. She didn't even fade back. Maybe that's why in a way it's a celebration or an excuse to bring family together. In Turkey, we don't even need celebrations, especially Sunday. I know some families will gather together every Sunday for breakfast or something quite common. Like, even eat dinner together. When we eat, we usually do it together. It's not like I arrive at 6pm, that person arrives at 8pm. We usually can wait, unless it's a very odd hour. That's why we don't really need an excuse to be together. So I would say not necessarily for family, but for other strangers. Especially those national days, we're all family. The whole country is doing that celebration because you're celebrating the same thing. It's your own thing to share. It definitely brings people together for that day. That's really nice. It's definitely something we should make the experience. Maybe we should visit Turkey on a celebration day. A day where you can kind of see that as well. I want to experience that. To-do list. I love that. It's very different. Let's do one more question. Alright, quickly. How did it feel experiencing a different culture celebration for the first time? This is a nice question. Let's give an example. If we go for multiple, I can talk forever. I think it was quite interesting to do the Moon Festival in China. I remember there was this one time, an event, that I hosted alongside. There were Chinese versions of the text being read by teachers, and I was reading the English version. I don't remember. I don't even remember what I did. But they made me wear this special outfit as well. Like traditional? Yeah, a little bit. I don't know what it was, but it was similar to hanbok a little. You know, the Korean dress up. To me, it looked similar. I don't even remember what I wore. But I have the picture. A bit Chinese style. But yeah, we hosted an event and then we made our own mooncake. They made the, I don't know what to call it, the filling inside and the outer. And then we would roll it and then shape it. I don't even remember how we made it right now. It was like red bean paste, I think, for the inside. And then we just stamped it and then later it was all cooked. I don't know if we actually found our own. I don't think so. Because it would be kind of impossible. I don't think we arranged that. But it was quite fun day. We got to make our own, try our own, spend a little time with the school and the other people also experiencing it for the first time. That's really nice. I think I can kind of see that day in my mind a little. Because of the experience itself. Oh, I love that. You even got to wear the traditional clothes. That's really nice. I think it was also very last minute. They just let me know. And I wasn't really sure because I had a cold sore as well. I was like, I don't really look my best but okay, let's just put on some good makeup and go. And I did. And I think actually if I'm not wrong, a picture of me is still up on the school somewhere. Oh, really? I was like, I shared something on WeChat the other day and someone who is still at Tongji sent me. Oh, wow. Because obviously this is part of the international school kind of, how do I say? Advertise themselves as well. This is the stuff we do. This is the things we provide to our students. So I think they kind of have that still on. That's so cute. Somewhere out there. I don't know if it will be there when I go again if I really want to visit again. It's so nice. I love that. Cute. For me, it will be a Jewish celebration. Oh, Hanukkah as well. Which one? It's a Jewish celebration because my host mom she's Jewish like when I was in the US. So we did some celebration like Jewish celebration. And then this one called Rosh Hashanah Something like that. I have no idea how to pronounce but something like that. And I remember I went to her grandparent's house all together and then they had like apple with honey. I think it's a tradition like you eat apple with honey. Similar to that caramel like apple. A bit different. Because that dipping is like something we also sell in Turkey. I don't know if it's the same thing. It was just like cut apple. Not the whole. I don't think it was the whole thing. We have that in Japan too. I love that. I love that too. Of course you do. You're my twin. Lost twin. For the Jewish one you just dip apple into honey. And then I think we had like a traditional food and stuff. I don't remember which one it was but like we just ate together and I think the grandma told us about like story and stuff. I don't remember but at the time I was like oh my god that's so cool. Religious stories. I would be able to tell the Jewish one. And also like Jewish isn't really you know like common in Japan especially. So it was like a whole new world. It's definitely a different experience. I love that. I'm so happy that they included me. The celebration is so nice. That's really sweet. And I'm definitely going to look into that apple thing because that sounds nice. I mean apple and honey I think definitely works well together. I think ours is a bit more like candied apple. I feel like we can talk for hours and hours because we've both been experiencing different cultures our own cultures. I feel like celebration was a really big topic. I feel like I didn't even cover like half of the things I had in my mind initially. So like question wise as well we still have a lot but we might do part two then. We don't have the time right now but let us know if you want to hear more. We can definitely do a part two. And let us know about your celebration. Yes definitely. What do you like to celebrate most or all the questions we answered give your own answers down in the comments and let us know if there's any other topic you'd like us to cover. Until next time I guess. Bye guys. Bye.