Ahoy Me Hearties

The bunk beds have already become a pirate frigate, the "One Piece" (named after a Japanese cartoon), with the cuddly toys being made to climb the rigging, and walk the plank.


I love it!

Bunk Beds

How did I end up with bunk beds for an only child???
一人っ子なのに、なんで２段ベッドを買ったの？？？

A combination of her determination and a freak two for the price of the one I was going to buy deal. That's the justification you're getting anyway. In any case, they arrived on Tuesday, and happiness is a 4 year old with bunk beds!
茉利のしつこさと、買いに行ったシングルベッドと同じ値段だったことが言い訳かな。
火曜日に届いた。２段ベッドの持ち主の４歳は幸せそのもの！！

Great for a girl who can't stop climbing.
登るのが大好きな私にぴったり。

And I can reach all my friends in their hammock by myself too.
これでハンモックで寝ている友達にも自分で手が届ける。

But Mummy has made me promise to sleep in the bottom bed for at least a week without falling out, before I can sleep up top.
でも１週間１回もベッドから落ちないで、下のベッドで寝ることをMummyに約束した。それが出来るなら、上の段で寝てみてもいいんだって！

Then I'll be sleeping like this! I can't wait!
そしてこう寝るでしょう！待ちきれない！楽しみだね。

おやすみなさい！
Goodnight!

My Girls are La Creme de la Creme!

Who?

A good day having my mind moulded by the young girls of HJ.
Each week at the beginning of the lesson, I ask the students to tell me something, anything they want, in English. It can be about their weekend, their dreams, literal or for the future, their favourite TV soap, anything.

In the 3rd class of the day, a 2nd Grade hand shoots up.

"I love L'Arc en Ciel (Japanese rock band). They are my life! I watch their YouTube videos every day. I am very excited today because it's the lead singer's birthday. His name is Hyde. "

" Oh right, what kind of music do they play?"

"Rock, it's great."

"OK, and it's his birthday today?"

"Yes, I'm sad for him"

"Why?"

"Because he is 39"

" Oh, Same as me! (loud high pitched quintessentially Japanese noises of surprise fill the air - not sure if they thought I was younger or older) Why are you sad?"

" Oh because that is SOOOOO old!"

Oh well..........

And another hand shoots up in the middle of a vocab brainstorming session in the next class of 14 year olds. I say , OK your turn. "Eh no." (looks embarrassed and small conference occurs as she tries to work out what she has to say).

Then in a oh so polite voice: " Excuse me, nature is calling...."

I was on the floor in fits. Not what you expect from a 2nd year Japanese girl. It was oh-so Miss Jean Brodie! After urging her to answer the call of nature, I asked if everyone knew that phrase. "Oh yes!" they happily replied. Turns out their Japanese English teacher did a homestay in New Zealand, and that's what his host mother made him say!

Brilliant!

QUIZ: What's this? さあ、これは何でしょう？

Is it taken from inside a comfortingly cosy room on a grey and rainy day?
暖かい部屋の中から撮った寒い雨の日でしょうか？

Is it the intricate patterns formed by frost on the pane in our sudden icy spell?
最近の寒い朝の霜が窓ガラスに残した模様でしょうか？


Nope. As a hint, an additional image: Mairi, gunk covered hands reached out in front of her as I walk into the room, palms up to the heavens with eyes all baleful.
" I'm soooo sorry Mummy...."
ブー！違うよ！さらにヒントとしてこのワンシーン。大きくて悔しそうな茉利の目。Mummyが部屋に入ったときに、体の前に出している何か分からない物資だらけの茉利の手。。。「Mummy、ごめんなさい。。。」

This, my friends, is what you get when you add this:
正解：このジェルジェムと


to a 40℃ summer, with sunbeams aimed directly at the window for a month,
４０℃の熱さを窓に直接向ける長い夏と

plus a 4 year old with a desire to "help".
『お手伝いしたい」４歳の娘をたせば、これが結果です！

All attempts to remove it to date have been unsuccessful. Any advice would be appreciated.
拭き取ってみても、何をしても、きれいに落ちない。経験のある人、アドバイスをください。

YUCH!
気持ち悪い！

Busy Busy Busy

What a tornado of a weekend!
台風のような週末だった！

Saturday was all car shows and restaurants with H then at night we dropped by I and T's house.
I fell asleep in the car on the way home.
土曜日のカーショーの後、IくんとTくんの家に忘れ物を返しに行った。帰る途中で寝てしまった。

Then there was Sunday....
On the way out of the door, we got an e-mail saying there was no ballet, so we headed to the park with F, J and "baby" K, shown here after a particularly good brownie!

そして日曜日。

家を出る直前に、今日バレーがないという連絡が入って、行けないと思った公園に行って、FくんJくんとKくんとちょっとだけ遊んだ。チョコをおいしそうに食べたKは可愛いよね！

Then we went shopping and to the pub for lunch with the N and R Families. After a huge lunch we went to another park!
そして買い物して、PUBでN家とR家とランチの後で、別の公園で遊んだ。

The last of the swingers!

Classmate A was on fine form too.
クラスメートのAも調子が良かった。

And big brother N impressed the crowds with his driving skills.
Nお兄ちゃんは運転技術で新しい友達がたくさん出来た。

Then it was time for a nap, before heading to the S house for shabushabu. Yum!
そして昼寝の時間をとってから、S家でしゃぶしゃぶをごちそうさま！

Little Y is definitely interesting! She likes cleaning her ears. Today she didn't have a cotton bud, so she just used what she had- a black felt tip pen!
Yちゃんは面白い子よ。耳かきが大好きらしい。耳かきがなくてもかまいません。黒いペンがあればいいのよね！

I feel like I met everyone I know in 2 days! Wow!
２日間で知っている人全員に会ったような気がしてきた。。。。

Cool Cars

My "fiancee" H came all the way from Onomichi today, and we went to the Import Car Show at Green Arena! This racing car was a bit of a tight fit for two of us, even if it was very cool, so we decided to try out a few others too. Mummy was lusting after Audis, Volvos and Maseratis, but I quite liked this white Volkswagen.
今日婚約者のHくんが尾道から遊びにきてくれた。グリーンアリーナの輸入車のショーに行ってきた。このレースカーはカッコがよくても、二人が乗ったらきついから、いろんな車に乗ってみた。Mummyはアウディ、ボルボ、マセラティなどがいいと言っていたけど、私はこのフォルクスワーゲンが気に入った。

The cabriolet might suit our image though when we are married!
結婚したら、このオープンカーの方がイメージに合うじゃない？

But the Beetle was the best size for right now! Naturally, I will do all the driving!
でも今はやっぱりこのビートルが大きさ的にぴったりじゃない？

今度アウディにするぞ！宝くじにあたったら！
We WILL have an Audi next! When we win the lottery!

Lazy Weekend

It was a cold driech sleety weekend here in Hiroshima. After a nice night out at the R Family's house on Saturday night with good food and good company (thanks S, for your hospitality), Sunday was a day for snuggling on the couch, all 3 of us under a fluffy blanket in comfy sweaters and warm socks. A long awaited unashamed slouchfest for Mummy!

寒い週末でしたね。土曜日の夜に友達家族の食事会の参加以外、ほとんど何もしなかった。日曜日は久しぶりに予定がなくて、３人でふわふわの毛布の下でソファで過ごしました。久しぶりにゆっくりできて、よかった。

The pace picked up a bit in the evening when the new oven arrived. This inspired a few pizzas and the French bread you see here, to go with comforting homemade soup for a cold day! It's an ugly beast, but it certainly cooks better than the old one.

夕方になったら、ペースがちょっと早めた。新しいオーブンが届いたら、ピザや寒い日にぴったりの野菜スープに合うフランスパンを焼いたりして、さらに気持ちがいい一日になった。オーブンの見た目はあまりカッコ良くないけど、お料理がおいしく焼き上がるからいいね！

All My Own Fault But......

My Aunt (gaunyersel Aunty Margaret!) sent me these today, and in the post Christmas period, they seem particularly pertinent in our house these days......

I wonder if DrY will notice this and leave me a comment.....

Is There Something I Should Know????!

In the car on the way to school today, out of the blue:

" If you die Mummy, my new Mummy will be a nurse"

"What!!!!????? Which nurse?"

" What do you mean? I'm only playing...."

From the mouths of babes....

So then I phone Dr Yasu, laughing, to ask him what the meaning of all this is, and where she might have gotten that idea from....

I was laughing, until he brought me a large bunch of roses and pussy willow just now when he came home, "to waylay your fears".....

I wasn't worried, but maybe I should be...?!

He really can't win, can he, poor bugger....

今朝、学校に送るときにいきなり：
「お母さんが死んだらね、看護士さんが新しいお母さんになる。」

「ハッ？？どの看護士さん？！！！！？？？？」

「えっ？遊んでいるだけよ。。。」

笑いながら、Dr. Daddyにその場で電話して、いったいなんで娘はこういうことを言っているの、と聞く。

幼いweechanが自分の言っていることの面白さが分からないな、と思って、うけていた。

ところが、夜帰ってくるDaddyから滅多にもらわない花束を「茉利が変なことを言ったから、安心させようと思って」と言う言葉でもらった。

疑っていなかったけど、疑った方がいいのかな？？！

可愛そうなDaddyちゃんね。素直に喜んで、いただきましょう！

Girly Talk...Boobies Checked out OK!

Right, I'm going to lower the tone and talk about icky things. Specifically boobs. Sorry but I need to get it off my chest - oh, sorry......That was poor. I know. Anyway, guys, avert your eyes, if there is certain information you just don't need to know, it's not that kind of boob talk!

I've since started putting it down to old age, and carting Mairi around, but a couple of years ago I started getting really stiff down my left side, accompanied with a kind of lumpiness in my left boob. Nothing very clearly defined, and always worse before certain times of the month, but lumpy bits are never good, and after a few months of hypochondriachal obsessing, I decided to go and get it checked out, supposedly for peace of mind.

We lived in Onomichi at the time, so I went to the general hospital there, which I was told was the best place to get mammograms. The doctor I saw was a woman, which somehow made me feel better, given the feeling around that was inevitably to follow. So she has a feel, saying encouraging things like 'I can't feel anything, but you know it's hard to tell with young people" . Then she gets the ultrasound machine on the case, and it's " look, all this is fat, lots of it, isn't there? You need to go away and lose some weight", in a very direct and judgmental tone ( Why is it that thin people so frequently seem to think you are not aware you're overweight?And that if they let you know, that only then will you realise and finally do something about it??). "No, I can't see anything, but it doesn't mean there's nothing there, so let's do the mammography".

Mind is definitely not at ease here.

So I wait another hour to get the mammogram, and get called back in. She's sitting at her desk looking at the X rays, turns to me and says (as if she was asking a colleague for an opinion) " Not sure about this...."

Major shock and panic invades brain.

Doc: "Hmmmm. What shall we do for the best?......."
Me: "Pardon?"
Doc: "Well, it's probably nothing. Look here, there's a kind of vague white shadow here. Hmmmmm. Sometimes on the vertical pictures the mammary glands are directly in front of each other and they double up making it look really white. ..... yeah, that's probably what it is..." (all very matter of fact and almost as if bored)
Me: "....erm... if it's not that, what else could it be?"
Doc: "Oh , hahaha, it could be something bad....(euphemism for cancer, and yes she actually laughed)
Me: "!!!!?????" (facially)
Doc: "It's probably not though, you're still quite young, so don't worry. Come back in 3 months if you're worried, and we 'll have another look. If it's the same it's no problem, if it's worse we'll know."
Me: " .......OK then."

She was brusque, verging on the sarcastic, overly matter of fact on a professional level, and downright rude on a personal level. Not exactly desirable qualities in a health care professional, who may well be the one delivering the worst news you might ever hear.

So that was the chalk. Now the cheese.

A month or so of major worry and paranoic waiting to see if I already had cancer passed, and then a friend recommended that I go and get a second opinion at the clinic she went to in the city. Great advice as it turned out. He totally reassured me in a very professional manner in about 5 minutes and sent me on my way. A case of post breastfeeding mastitis.

Visiting Dr Nimoto's clinic is brilliant, if it's possible to enjoy going to get your boobs checked for a fatal disease.

The first delight is the receptionist. Obviously the queen of her domain, she's fantastic. Like the Granny from Totoro, a fishwife, a snack "Mama"and an old fashioned "Matron" from a Carry On film all rolled into one. She must be at least 75. You are in no doubt that IF you get as far as the doctor, it's only because she liked you enough. Based on her interrogation of your personal life, which somehow you don't mind.

Then there's the waiting room, about 50cm across, decorated with gloriously gilt framed works of art by the doctor himself, and other great "objets".

When you get to see the man who has apparently been palpating the boobs of a large number of the ladies of Hiroshima for many years, you first think you are being seen in the corridor, the clinic is so crammed into the attic of Fukuya department store. But then you find out that there is a reason why he is so popular. Our conversation this morning, when I went back for a check-up, thinking it was about time:

Doc: OK it's been a couple of years, so we'll do this: I'll check you manually if you don't mind, then we'll have a look with the ultrasound, then we 'll do the mammogram"
Holding up fingers 1, 2 and 3 as he speaks.

He examines me, all the while explaining softly and politely how and how not, and how often to do it yourself, and what you would feel if you did have a problem, which you don't seem to. The only "crime" if you like was telling me how big my boobs were a few times, (as if I didn't know!), but even that was said in a tone that suggested scientific awe at the specimen, rather than any value judgment- haha! I felt compelled to apologise for the increased workload I presented him with . "No, no, it's a good thing isn't it!" OK, we won't pursue this line.

Doc: " Now look at the screen. This is your skin, and this white cloudy area is what perfectly normal breast tissue looks like. These are the glands, and if there was any problem tissue it would look like this (points to a strip of vividly white colour at the side of the screen). There's
nothing like that there, is there? OK, let's look at the other side. (Same story). OK that looks fine, but it's a good idea to do the mammography as it gives us a clearer picture".

So my boobs go into the vise. Incidentally, everyone says this really hurts, but just in case you've never done it, I think this is one area where more than a handful is a bonus. Can't say it bothered me. Just to put your mind at ease....

Back in the corridor....
"OK look. You do not have any cancer, but let me explain the x-rays anyway...."

Again, clear and specific explanations followed of what you might see if there was a problem, and his first priority was to make it clear that there was nothing to worry about.

It's amazing the difference between the two doctors' styles. You would have thought that a woman would have more empathy. But for such a personally sensitive issue, I'll take Dr Nimoto any time. If some day I have to get the not-so-good verdict, I'd rather have it from a male doctor in tune with the feelings of the patient he's dealing with, than like a slap in the face from a female!

As a wee surreal post script to the visit; the immaculately groomed elderly lady who was in before me, passed by on her way out as I was waiting for the results of the scan.

"Hello, (no preamble) how do you say "お先に失礼します”in English?"

"Hmmm, that's a hard one, we don't really say that in the same situation. Maybe just "Goodbye, have a good day" " Or "See you later then" (It literally means something like " I am impertinently leaving before you", but in a good way haha)

" OK, how about ごちそうさまでした？”
" Hmmm, again, we'd probably say something different, like" That was wonderful, thank you" or "Compliments to the Chef!"
"And いただきます?"
"Same thing, there isn't a perfect equivalent. Japanese has great oneliners for these situations, doesn't it!"
"The French say "Bon Appetit", right?"
"Yes, we say that in English too sometimes, we just use the French"
"That means a "small good thing" right? Petit, right?"
"Erm , no it's "appetit" , it means "食欲" "
"Oh really? Merci Beaucoup!"

And then she left......

Brilliant.

Don't worry, I'll save my OB/GYN stories for private chats.....

In case you're in Hiroshima, and considering getting a check up:

Nimoto Clinic is on the 11th floor of Fukuya Department Store, Hatchobori. Phone number: 082-246-6650, and it's completely by appointment, and very popular, so no walk-ins. I didn't think to ask if he speaks English, but I would guess not much.

Happy Birthday Ba-chan!

Today was Ba-chan's birthday, so we took some cake and flowers over for her. Of course I helped her with her candles and the eating part too....
今日はばあちゃんの誕生日でした。お花とケーキを持って行ってあげました。もちろんろうそくを消すのと食べるのを手伝いました。


Happy Birthday, Ba-chan. We hope you have a great year!
ばあちゃん、お誕生日おめでとう！いい年になりますように！

Coming of Age Day

Today was Coming of Age Day in Japan so we had a national holiday. M still had to go to school, but at least she got Daddy to take her to the bus stop for a change on this beautiful morning.
今日は成人の日だったけど、Weechanは休みじゃなかった。Daddyがバス停まで好き合ってくれたけど。とてもきれいな朝だった。

Will M be walking around looking like this 15 years from today?
Weechanは今日から１５年後こんな格好しているのかな？

Sad Reality.....

It seemed like a good idea at the time......
家の最近の悲しい現実。。。

Nabe - A Good Thing!

It's always easy to come up with things to moan about when you live in a foreign country, but despite the fact that having stayed here for so long indicates that it is not such a bad place to be, when asked to get concrete about the good points, my mind often goes blank, and I can't come up with anything intelligent. Well here is one good quintessentially Japanese thing: nabe hotpots!
Nothing is quite so convivial as sharing food from the same piping hot casserole, cooking as you go, on a bitter cold day. I can't believe it, but this is the first time we have had nabe this winter. We'll have to make up for that before Spring comes.

信じられないけど、昨日今年の冬初めてのお鍋を食べた！皆大好きだから、春になる前にいっぱい食べないといけない！

Have to be careful of the hot tofu though!
お豆腐が熱くなるね！

How NOT to eat udon noodles!
うどんの食べ方が悪い！

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Yesterday was Daddy's birthday. We decided to try and make his favourite, sushi, for his birthday dinner. Mummy bought the stuff and made some sushi rice, and we tried our best. Sushi rolls are harder to make than it looks! I think the major problem was that we couldn't find any large sheets of nori in the supermarkets we went to, so we tried to do it by lining up the sushi strips Ba-chan gave me the other day. What a disaster! But Daddy loved that we tried.
昨日はDaddyの誕生日でした。Mummyと二人でDaddyの好きな巻き寿司を初めて作ってみることにした。具を買ってきて、お母さんがすし飯を作った。とても頑張ったけど、寿司を巻くのが思ったより難しい！一番の問題はのりだったト思う。大きなのりを近くのスーパーで見つからなかったから、おばあちゃんがくれた細いのりを重ねてやってみた。バラバラになるのが決まっている！！でもDaddyは頑張って作ってみたその気持ちが大事だと言ってくれた。うれしかった。

Thankfully Mummy bought some delicious sushi from a shop for him too!
お店で買ったお寿司もあってよかった！

And of course there was birthday cake! Perfect!
そしてもちろんバースデーケーキもあった。完璧！

Hatsumode First Shrine Visit

We finally managed to get to Miyajima for our first shrine visit on Sunday. The I family always go to Miyajima if possible after the New Year, to pray for health and happiness in the coming year. You know I am not a proponent of organised religion in general, but this ritual start to the year is somehow comforting. We got our fortunes, all of which were good enough to bring home, and Mairi got a good luck charm, so I'm sure we're all now sufficiently protected for the year!


日曜日にやっと初詣に行けました。宮島の初詣は主人の家族の昔からの習慣です。私はどの宗教のファンでもないけど、なんとくなく初詣に行くと一年間が正しく始まるってかんじですね。皆おみくじを引いたら、家にもって帰ってもいいぐらいよかったし、Weechanはかわいいお守りを買ったから、きっと３人とも一年間十分守られているでしょうね！


There was a truly beautiful sunset for a nice end to a good weekend.


とてもきれいな夕空はいい週末の終わりにふさわしかった！

Goodbye Friends and Good Luck

We went for a farewell lunch with the K family on Sunday. They are off on an adventure to the US for a year. We wish them luck, and look forward to seeing them again in no time, with lots of great experiences to share, and maybe even in English!

日曜日にK家と「いってらっしゃい」ランチをしました。５人家族のアメリカの１年間の冒険が明日から始まる。しばらく会えないのが寂しいけど、あっという間に帰ってきて、面白しい話を聞かせてくれるのを楽しみにしています。出来れば英語で！

A last play in the park on a beautiful last Sunday in Hiroshima.

日本の最後の一日は最高の天気だったから、皆で公園で遊んでからお別れをしました。




Wild monkeys one and all!
チューリップのワイルドキッズ！


They should be arriving in America right about now! Good luck and have fun!
ちょうど今頃アメリカに着陸しているでしょう。頑張って、楽しんで帰ってきてね！

Pillow Talk Talk Talk

Just came down from putting M to bed. I might add it is 11:02pm, and we've been in bed since 9. Daddy's attempt failed, and Mummy took quite some time. Mummy's approach is to refuse to engage any attempt at chat. Answer anything concisely that really needs an answer and then counter with: "Ssssshh. Stop talking"

Tonight, after about 5 minutes of enforced silence:

"Mummy. I can't stop talking.......I love talking"

Can't think who she takes it from.... (You're all thinking me, but there really is competition you know!)

Weechanがようやく寝てくれました。現在１１時２分ですけど、９時にベッドに入っても、なかなか寝てくれなかった。Daddyの最初の作戦は失敗に終わった。Mummyも結構時間がかかった。いつもの寝かせ方：話をかけられても必要以上返事をしない。どうしても返事が必要な時短く答えて、そして「シッ！おしゃべりをやめよう。」で断る。

今晩、無理して５分間ぐらい黙ったあと：

「お母さん。茉利ね、おしゃべりがやめられないよ。しゃべるの大好き！」

誰に似ているのかな？（皆さんはきっと私に似ていると思っているけど、他にいろんなおしゃべりの親戚もいるよ！）

Lucky Bag 福袋

Lucky Bags are a New Year's Tradition here in Japan. Most shops make them up ready for the first day of business of the New Year. The bags aways contain things which are worth much more than the ticket price, so you are definitely guaranteed a bargain, but the bind is that you are not allowed to look inside, so there's a 50 -50 chance that you might not love what is in there. People line up hours in advance of the department stores opening on the first day of the sales, for a chance to grab a bag from their favourite designer, or jewellery maker.

私って絶対に中身が見えない福袋を買うタイプじゃないけど、何年か前、調子にのって、好きな雑貨屋の「私の部屋」の福袋をなぜか買ってみた。ビックリしたけど、その中に入っていたものは全部いいもので、あれからずっと使っている。だから、何でも疑う傾向がある私にとって、「時々気まぐれでいいよ」と言うメッセージとして受け取った。DrYも実は福袋が大好きだから、毎年「私の部屋」の福袋を買うのが家の習慣になってしまった。

だから今日も行ってみた。

Now, Wii Consoles aside, I have never been one for queueing for anything, far less buying anything without seeing it at least 3 times and obsessing about it for weeks first. However, a few years ago I decided on an impulse to get into the spirit, and bought a lucky bag from one of my favourite shops. The shop sells home and kitchen goods, and I have to say everything the bag contained has been used in our house ever since. I took it as a message not to be so mistrusting and obsessive, and sometimes to throw caution to the wind.

Dr Y secretly loves the idea of lucky bags, almost as much as he love me admitting I may have been wrong, so, it has become family tradition to buy a lucky bag at Watashi no Heya every year. I have to say I haven't got much I didn't like.

さて、今年の袋の中身：
So, to this year's haul:

For ¥5000 I got this lot. Not too keen on the wee acorn leaf plates, but all in all quite a usuable lot!
They helpfully leave the prices still on most of the stuff, and the total value was in the region of ¥13,000! Appeals to the Scot in me! Can't quite bring myself to go for the clothes lucky bags yet though!
￥５０００の｢洋」の袋でした。葉っぱの小皿はちょっと。。。ってかんじだけど、他は皆結構使えそう！元の値段が着いているから、およそ￥１３，０００の品を￥５０００で手に入れたから、ケチと言われるスコットランド人の私にとって大満足！
きっといい年になるわ！
Looks like it might be a good year!

What animal were you?

Happy Year of the Rat!

日本語版は下！

Conversation in the car a couple of weeks ago. Out of the blue:

Weechan: "Mummy, what animal did Nia used to be?"

Mummy: " ???????? What do you mean?"

Weechan: " Now she's a baby but she used to be an animal right? Which one?"

Mummy: "?????? No, I think she's always been human. "

Weechan: " Yes, now she is a human, but when she came out she was an animal right, and then she changed into a baby right?"

Mummy: "????????"

Weechan:(getting irritated): " Well you said I was a sheep when I came out. That's why Uncle Yoshihiko gave me the toy sheep. And you were a monkey right?"

Mummy: (trying not to laugh raucously) " Oh right! No we didn't used to BE those animals, that was just the name of the year we were born in. It's like your lucky animal! I think Nia was born in the year of the dog"

How do you explain this to a 4 year old??? I love her logic though!

You may know that Japan, while celebrating New Year on January 1st, follows the Chinese Zodiac system, assigning one of 12 Animals to each year. If you want the Wikipedia Explanation, check it out here. I particularly like the list of characteristics given to each people born in each year. You can check which year you were born in on the linked page, then scroll down to see if you are typical or not! Seems to be about right for my family. Many superstitions abound, and you'll find people trying to get their labour induced to avoid their child being born in an unlucky year. Apparently being born in the year of the sheep is bad karma for girls in China, so there was a rush of December births the year before Weechan was born.
日本語版

この間の車に乗っているときの会話です　（いきなり）：

Weechan: Mummy,　Nちゃんは昔何の動物だったの？

Mummy: ???????どういう意味？

Weechan: 今は赤ちゃんだけど、前は動物だったでしょう？どれ？

Mummy: えええっ？いや、生まれてから人間でしょうね。

Weechan: うん、今は人間だけど、生まれたときは動物だったでしょうね、そして出てきてから、赤ちゃんに変わったよね。

Mummy: ？？？？？？

Weechan (いらいらし出した）: だから。。。。私が出てきた時羊だったでしょう？そして赤ちゃんに変わったよね。だからYおじちゃんが羊さんのぬいぐるみをくれたでしょう？そしてお母さんはサルだったでしょう？言ったよ！！！

（すごく笑いたかったけど我慢した)Mummy: ああ、そうか！その動物たちから人間に変身したわけじゃないよ！毎年その年の動物が決まっているよ。だからそれがあなたのラッキーな動物かもしれない。茉利は未年にうまれたけど、羊だったわけじゃないよ。Nちゃんは多分戌年にうまれたけど犬だったと言うことじゃないよ。

Weechan: そっか？！

（多分まだ分かっていないでしょう）。

どうやって４歳さんに説明するのかね？Mummyが困っています。。。