Meaning of this sentence?

Hey guys, I've been using the short online mangas of this website to study Japanese which has helped me a lot, but there is a sentence that is confusing me in this manga I'm currently reading which I would gladly appreciate some help with (might need more help later).

I'll give a brief description of the story for those not wanting to read through the comic:

Basically someone trampled on the school's flower patch and some girl who is like an "investigator" (Kanon) is trying to find out who did it, so far everyone blames the 生き物係 (head of nature department??) named Hitoe because the foot prints left in the soil match boots which everyone believes only Hitoe owns, however there is also a dent in the soil indicating something was on the boot which Kanon believes to be gum (she finds what she believes to be the gum used). The boots Hitoe has shows no signs of gum being stuck on it so Kanon believes Hitoe to be innocent. She goes to the 駄菓子屋 near the school to see if it sells the gum she found.

Here's the link to the page.

Bottom right: 当たりが出たら 交換しにおいで

Not sure what she means, why 交換? I was thinking "if your in the area come in for some bartering", but kind of weird eh?

Thanks!

In the old days (though the practice still exists to a limited extent), snacks and sweets sold at 駄菓子屋 (dagashiya, or store selling very cheap sweets and snacks to kids) contained "get another free!" printouts on paper, printed on popsicle-type stick, etc. That was part of the fun of buying these snacks. The storeowner said, "Come back for another if you get a 'win.'"
The word 交換 is used here to mean "exchange the 'win' stick or paper with a freebie."

Ikimono-gakari is a person in charge of caring for the animals. It is elementary school practice to appoint kids to take charge of certain classroom duties each semester, and caring for animals is one. Schools have rabbits, chicken, etc., for the children to take care. This is done as an educational activity.

This is a well-known 当たり棒 or the winning lottery stick of an ice lolly.

As epigene-san explained, you can get another ice lolly in exchange for this stick.

A Japanese pop band いきものがかり is also named from this charge.
Ikimonogakari - Wikipedia

Wow thats so cool. Thank you both so much, really quick too ^_^

Ok need help again, but for a different manga this time. Not that far in but story goes something like, 23 year old Ayumi comes back home after 3 years when she graduated junior college, she's thinking of quitting her job due to her not getting along with fellow co-workers.


Her mum says both (to Ayumi):

たまに帰ってきたならおおそうじ手伝ってよあゆみ！

年越しちゃうよ

Now the first sentence I think goes like:
"Since you've come home, you should help me do a big clean up", the たまに I believe means "once in a great while", going by that it would make sense to be doing a big clean up once in a great while, but what throws me abit is the 帰ってきたなら, because that would be like "since you've come home" (the condition you've come home 'which has been fulfilled') you should help me do a big clean up once in a great while. Doesn't that sound abit strange? Is she saying that Ayumi should help with the/a big clean up at some point? Hands up whose confused by my question?

The 年越しちゃうよ = Its the end of the year you know? Is she saying this because its related to the thing about Japanese "refreshing" themselves for the new year (big clean up, new clothes etc...)?

Once again will appreciate any help

yeah, the Japanese have a tradition/culture about cleaning the house for the new year. My wife went crazy New Year's Eve cleaning up.

Yeah it's pretty impressive, I'd love to take up that tradition if it didn't clash with my own tradition of being lazy ^ ^;;

The explanation of "Year-end cleaning"

■Year-end cleaning：年末の大掃除 (2005-12)

In Japan, people have a tradition of doing a general house cleaning at the end of each year.（日本では、毎年年末に家の大掃除をする伝統が あります。）

Called susuharai, the tradition originates from a religious custom in which people cleaned their household altar and rooms to welcome the god of the New Year.（この伝統はすす払いと呼ばれており、新年の神 様をお迎えするために神棚や部屋を掃除するという宗教 的な慣習から始まりました。）
They believed they could drive away the ill luck of the year together with the dust in the house.（家の中のほこりとともに、その年の厄を払うこ とができると考えられていました。）

In the Edo Period, the families of samurai warriors and court nobles carried out susuharai on December 13th.（江戸時代には、武家や公家がすす払いを12月13日に行って いました。）
Therefore, ordinary people also cleaned their houses on this day.（そのため、庶民もこの日に家を掃除しました。）
Even now, many shrines and temples maintain this custom, although many families do it in late December.（多くの家庭では大掃除は12月下旬に行いま すが、今でも多くの神社仏閣が12月13日のすす払いの習 慣を守っています。）

http://eow.alc.co.jp/大掃除/UTF-8/?ref=ex&exp=MB003599&dn=1922622&dk=JE&pg=1

Jericho Desu said:

たまに帰ってきたならおおそうじ手伝ってよあゆみ！

年越しちゃうよ

Now the first sentence I think goes like:
"Since you've come home, you should help me do a big clean up", the たまに I believe means "once in a great while", going by that it would make sense to be doing a big clean up once in a great while, but what throws me abit is the 帰ってきたなら, because that would be like "since you've come home" (the condition you've come home 'which has been fulfilled') you should help me do a big clean up once in a great while. Doesn't that sound abit strange? Is she saying that Ayumi should help with the/a big clean up at some point? Hands up whose confused by my question?

Click to expand...

The なら conditional form can be used also for the present or past fact in a similar sense to ～んだから or "because." This is the biggest difference to the たら/ば conditional.

たまに帰ってきたなら大掃除手伝ってよ ≒ たまに帰 ってきたんだから大掃除手伝ってよ
Because you've come home once in a great while, you should help me do year-end cleaning.

If the sentence is 帰ってきたら大掃除手伝ってよ, it means "If/When you come home, you should help me" as a normal conditional form.

Jericho Desu said:

The 年越しちゃうよ = Its the end of the year you know? Is she saying this because its related to the thing about Japanese "refreshing" themselves for the new year (big clean up, new clothes etc...)?

Click to expand...

（そうしないと/手伝わないと、大掃除が終わらないうちに）年越しちゃ うよ
(Otherwise,) the new year comes (before we/I finish the cleaning).

Thank you so much Toritoribe, you always help me out in a big way, I greatly appreciate it

toritoribe said:

the explanation of "year-end cleaning"
■year-end cleaning：年末の大掃除 (2005-12)
in japan, people have a tradition of doing a general house cleaning at the end of each year.（日本では、毎年年末に家の大掃除をする伝統が あります。）
called susuharai, the tradition originates from a religious custom in which people cleaned their household altar and rooms to welcome the god of the new year.（この伝統はすす払いと呼ばれており、新年の神 様をお迎えするために神棚や部屋を掃除するという宗教的な慣習から始まりました。）
they believed they could drive away the ill luck of the year together with the dust in the house.（家の中のほこりとともに、その年の厄を払うことができると考えられていました。）
in the edo period, the families of samurai warriors and court nobles carried out susuharai on december 13th.（江戸時代には、武家や公家がすす払いを12月13日に行っていました。）

Click to expand...

ありがとうございます。 私は江戸時代に大変興味があります。本来は12月13日にされていましたね. 旧暦は太陰太に基づいているので、 2月15日ころの旧正月を[春節]と呼ばれたと思います。。