supernutjapan: (Default)
1. Are you prepared for the Zombie Apocalypse (essentially any disaster, natural or otherwise)?

No. Hubby is pretty sure the world is going to run out of food soon and is stocking up on canned fish - yuck. I hope it never comes to having to eat those. But we don't have enought to be called "ready." And we drink around 6 liters of bottled water a day as a family. It's hard enough stocking enough for three or four days.

Thankfully, we don't have many blackouts - I think the last one was 3-11. We had a scare recently when we were warned that we might have a blackout so a ton of people went to the stores and bought out bread and toilet paper etc. We ended up not having any blackout but I got a day off from work so that was nice :D

2. What's in your bug-in (stay safe at home) kit?

I admit I do not have such a thing. We do have flashlights and candles where we can find them, portable burners and kerosine bombes that we use in the winter for hot pots. They should be useful if the electricity went out. Unfortunately, that's about it.

3. What's in your bug-out bag?

Never had need of one so far.

4. What's on your 'to get' list?

Hmmm. I don't know what this question means. I guess we always need to be stocked with rice and other foods that are non-perishable.

5. Do you keep gear in your vehicle, if so, what?

No. We have a large family and gear just makes the car heavy and noisy.

***********

I wanted to come in and let anyone interested know that the landlord for our other smaller classroom agreed not to ask for contract renewal fees and reduce our rent by 150 dollars. I couldn't believe it. As hubby noted, both our landlords are older and really don't want to deal with the hastle of finding new tenants. The landlord above was really nice about it on the phone as well. He wished us well in improving our cercumstances, and told me that he understood how we struggled due to the COVID situation.
Needless to say, I thanked God profusely for hearing my prayers.

One more piece of news - I have a baby mommy trial this Tuesday and had only one participant registering for the past month. I've been praying a lot about the situation, because it would be really sad just to have one participant. I would have seen it as a message just to stop trying to get the baby mommy class going again - this area's population is getting older, as we are, and there are most certainly less kids than there were when our kids were younger. But I got another call this last week. I now have atleast two participants. Maybe one will bring a friend. Two is a good start. I am just telling myself that I just have to have faith and wait for now.


Hubby is ordering some pamphlets made to advertise the smaller classroomand see if we can get more students. We have some good teachers lined up for that classroom, so I hope they get some new classes.

I thought I would enjoy this free Sunday without having to go to choir practice - I did tell you that I put in my notice to take a break for a while right? But I lay around way too much and was pretty bored. I finished watching Messiah and watched the last season of The Last Kingdom again as well as the movie for the first time. Both were very enjoyable. I finished the Good Doctor, Witcher and Heartstopper as well. Oh yeah, I also watched to the end of Manifest a while back. I am now rewatching RAGNAROK from the beginning - it's bee so long since the last season I don't remember much.

I am really starting to crave a good book.


supernutjapan: (Default)
Wow, so my questions I thought were lost were picked up for this week's Friday Five.
How many years has it been since I requested these?? Can't even remember. Anyway - here are my answers.

1. When did you recently have the feeling, "Life is good." Not very recently. Unfortunately you have caught me at a bad time. However, those moments usually occur when I see my kids having fun together, or just happy in general. Hopefully I will have some moments like this on our trip tomorrow - but more about that later.

2. Which do you need more, routine or spontaneity? I think routine is really important for me. I don't like it when someone suddenly says I have to do something right away and break my schedule. But if I realize I have to or want to do something, I also do it right away without doubting my decision. Sometimes, I get burned for it, but usually it's the best decision I've made. Like buying this computer. Of course, I was thinking about it for a looooong time, but when I saw the opportunity, I took it right away without second thought. Now, I wish we had the money for expenses on the one hand, but on the other I am glad I did it because sometimes you have to think about the long term happiness instead of the short term needs.

3. Do you have a difficult or annoying neighbor? Well, there is one child in the apartment next to our home that cries a lot. Not that it annoys me - it really just worries me. I wish I knew the situation so I knew it wasn't abuse or something. But there is no way to know exactly which room the child lives in from where we are. I just have to hope that the direct neighbors can act if anything is seriously wrong.

4. What do you want to change about yourself? I have a hard time with talking on the phone and with sales/business. I have the ideas but not very good at realizing them. I can make a ton of creative posters or whatever, but it's hard to go and ask for them to be put up. Ahhhhh I wish I could be more proactive in that sense. I have to do that today. I put it off yesterday but today.... I've got to go.

5. What do you like best about where you live? I love the parks. We have three big parks with lots of big old trees - cherry blossoms, plum and others. I would hate to live in a place without a nice park.


Other News
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Despite our money problems, we have decided that we need to go on vacation this year. First, we really wanted to go to Shin's friend's house in Yamagata. It would have costed a bit to get there but we could have saved on staying overnight and we could have stayed for at least 2 days. Unfortunately, that fell through because Shin did not contact his friend fast enough with our plans - to be fair, he didn't know if we could afford to go. But both the boys are adults now - the second looking for his permanent job from next April - and it might be our last chance to go anywhere together. Plus, we really really need a break from this place, our situation, etc. Hubby looked for a place for us to stay that we could stay with our dog and found a relatively cheap place that used to be a public facility or something. The building is old and the food (which is included! for breakfast a dinner!) may not be great but I won't have to cook and there is a pool on the grounds, a lake where we can play with Hana and even the beach nearby. Audrey has never been to the ocean (with us anyway, maybe she went on her school trip in elementary school) so we wanted to give her that experience as well. Hubby was bitching about the fact we had to pay cash for this place, and I was getting all worried, when he suddenly got out of bed and told me he remembered he got some extra pension money - he doesn't know what it's about, but maybe we can view that as a gift from God to have a good time. (He's not a Christian, but I have been talking about God helping us a lot recently.)

Hubby and I have been getting along better recently. We obviously talk more because of the money issues. I am trying to understand the situation and help with the ideas - he was always in charge of the money and now we can work together. It is nice. People say that money troubles is hard on a relationship, but so far it has been better for us in this weird way. I also talked with my mom about my problems.

It was actually after she told me she was in an accident recently - the conversation about that I am attaching from FB when I asked her how things were going:

Well, let me see what should I tell you and what should I keep secret.

WHAT?! What do you need to keep secret from ME?! (But of course, mom is always keeping secrets that she thinks might worry me - like when my dog died while I was at Uni and they didn't tell me until I got back.)

What happened?!

First of all, I'm fine, Dawn. I'm fine. But I was in an accident last Thursday (7/27/23).

What?

A car went through on a red light and bumped into me as I was going through an intersection.

Again? (What is it with people and intersections in Vancouver? As far as I know, this is the second accident she has been in, the first time with casualties.)

It was ok, I wasn't hurt but my car wasn't running very smoothly - like I had a flat or something, you know? So I pulled over and called BCAA. OK... And while I was waiting, well, it was really beautiful, Dawn.

What happened?

Well, this man came up with his daughter, I think, and told me that he had seen the accident and that I had been going on a green light and the other car was running a red light and that he could be a witness if I liked. Wow, that's really kind! Right? That's the first time I have ever had a witness, you know? So I said, Sure! and he said, do you want my phone number? and I said well, sure, thank you! and then he left. So I sat in my car waiting for BCAA and then another man came up to me and told me that HE had seen the accident, and he wanted to help.

So he waited with me, all the time standing there next to my car, it ended up being a total of 4 hours!

WHAT? 4 HOURS?!

Yeah, well, BCAA said they would come within the hour but they didn't and when I called to check they would put me endlessly on hold, and the guy suggested/helped me call ICBC to deal with them directly. They were really helpful and told me I should not keep waiting for BCAA but get Busters to take care of it. And that they would be there in 20. So I called BCAA again to let them know the situation and they put me on hold, again (LOL). But finally I got hold of them and let them know. Busters took my car to save me two trips and the man offered to take me home. He treated me like his own grandmother, you know? So kindly. I asked him if he was a Christian, and he said, No, but my mother is! (LOL) He loaded my walker into his car and everything and took me home. I was just so thankful and I asked if I could shake his hand, because I was afraid he might think a hug was too invasive.

Wow. That was really kind. Did you get his name?

His name was Matthew and the other man who offered to be a witness was Jonathan.
 
Hearing about her experience gave me hope and made me realize that if God was looking out for my mom, He wanted to look out for us too - I mean he has been for so long - and if I just gave it all to him, he would show us the way to figure this all out.

We talked about me reading Christy (Catherine Marshall) again recently too, and how that had a big impact on me. I read it in my teens - it was one of my first love story novels! And I suddenly felt the urge to read it again. It is a cute love story, but it is also based on a accound of a young girl (the author's mother) who went into the Appalachians as a teacher/missionary in the early 1900s I think... and is also a testimony of sorts.

My mom, if you do not know already, was a Christian missionary here in Japan with my dad, which is why I was born and raised here. I am pretty much sick of church - except the music. I have had enough of sermons because I feel like I know it all already (and are they loooong) and unburdening on other people because I always tend to feel awful afterwards.

But my mom's strong and honest faith in God's plan gives hope and it is good to know that she will for sure pray for us and ask others too without oversharing. If God was looking out for my mom, He wanted to look out for us too - he has been for so long.  Anyway, I just feel that God can lead us in the right direction if we just have faith and hope.

Oh, I didn't mention in the last post, but I took one of my clarinets (A clarinet for orchestra) to see if I could sell it and get some money. If that works out, I am going to keep that money for something special or to pay for this trip or something. That's about it I guess. I'm finished with all the workshops and classes for a while. There is a makeup I have to do on Thursday but other than that, I'm free until the 14th when I start teaching again.

Aug 8

I didn't get to post this first part earlier so I am going to add a bit about our trip. We are back from the one night stay in Izu. We were all soooooo tired yesterday from all the driving/car rides and sleeping in an unknown place. Some interesting things happened — first of all, there was a typhoon going through the area so our first day was rainy and we were not able to go on the travel plan that Alex lovingly created for us. He works at a travel agency if you remember, and creates tour/travel plans for people from abroad. His first training trip was to Hakone, which was on the way to where we were going to stay and he had some ideas about our activities there.

We were planning to go to a pet friendly cafe with a view of Mt. Fuji, and also go on a cable car to the top of a mountain for another Fuji view. Hana could have also gone up in a cage provided. Hakone is up in the mountains and the road is a bit trecherous in the rain so all of that was cancelled. We went the "scenic" route around the coast.

The cloud cover opened up once in a while and once we got to Atami (a famous hotspring/ocean side resort area), we saw quite a number of people playing on the beach. We walked around with Hana for a while and she was able to do her business, and we ate our lunches in the car there before going on.

We stopped at a little lake created with a dam and a stream near there which was a beautiful spot that would have been fun to play in if it wasn't raining off and on. There was a family there playing in the water and catching fish and little crabs. There were crabs everywhere!

Hana had a crack at one on a road there as we took a walk. It was quite hilarious. The greenery around there was quite different from our area, and there were a lot of ferns, which made me feel like there were dinosaurs lurking around!

We got to the place we were going to stay shortly after sign-in time (15:00), and checked out our rooms. The place was pretty old but with the black lacquor style which made it look nicer than it could have. Each room was a separate cabin and hubby had gotten us two cabins: one for the guys, one for the girls.

Between each of the cabins ran small man-made streams. The boys' cabin had a view of the tennis courts while we had a view of rice fields. A very nice view if the weather had been better. We had futons to sleep on and it was real traditional Japanese style. Audrey had an incident where she turned on the water faucet and a cricket or some such bug came out of the drain or tap or something and she refused to take a bath after that saying she didn't trust the facilities not to surprise her again. It took her a while to go to the bathroom as well.

We rested for a bit then decided to go find a hotspring nearby, leaving Hana in the room. Alex drove. He had been taking turns with hubby for this trip, to get some practice on the highway and winding roads. Unfortunately, we could not find the hotspring the inn caretaker had recommended as Alex had made a mistake in giving his google directions. We had gone in the opposite direction.

I urged that we should find a bath near there at first so we didn't waste the trip, but when we got to the place closest to us, we found that it was closed. We ended up figuring that there wasn't enough time and had to turn back so we could be in time for dinner at six. Hubby suggested we get some snacks to eat with wine etc. later in our cabin in case the dinner was subpar. We also talked about going out to find the onsen again after dinner.

The rain was pouring as we went to the dining building. Having to walk to the building in the rain was uncomfortable. We had a few umbrellas but Audrey and I had to share and I exclaimed to pretty much everyone in the room (LOL) that my back was soaked when we got there.

There was only one other family eating in quite a spacious and lacquored, beautifully traditional room. The chairs and tables were all lacquored; even the highchair in the corner of the room. Dinner was also in the traditional style and better than we had expected. There was sashimi, crab gratin, potato crockets, whole boiled shrimp, chicken roll, rice, miso soup and tea.

There was enough there for hubby to have some alcohol with the meal and he suggested we not go out to find the onsen but have some alcohol now with the meal and enjoy it. We all agreed, if reluctantly. I was trying to maintain my diet as much as possible, but knew I had to eat some rice if I was going to get enough calorie intake. I did have some sake and that was nice.

We went back to our rooms and everyone was tired so we were unsure if we'd have the "drinking party" as planned, but Alex and Julian were playing boardgames on Julian's Switch in their room and I thought it would be nice to have everyone in the same room. I also felt like I could eat a bit more too, so I called the boys over and we had a nice time together. Audrey, Julian and Alex played games together and we talked about various stuff.

I took a turn at checkers with Alex and although I won the first time, the two times after that he beat me, I will say it was probably because of the wine :D

We went to bed early. Audrey was watching her Youtube while I practiced some Japanese hiragana sign language that I started learning the day before and I was lulled to sleep. I was woken up by a weird sound in the middle of the night, followed by a dripping sound. I thought I had knocked over something and went crawling in the dark to investigate.

I found that the dripping was from the roof! I quickly took the cigarette bowl (for putting cigarette butts in — it was a smoking room although we do not smoke) from the lounge table and put it under the drip so that the tatami wouldn't get wet. The drip was right on the border of the wood flooring lounge area and the tatami room. Sleeping after that was difficult. I could hear the ping, ping, ping of the drip as the rain continued outdoors. I checked my phone and it was around three. I practiced the signing as I tried to get back to sleep. Then, I was woken up again. This time, Hana was feeling threatened by something. It could have been a bug churping outside, like Audrey thought. She'd make a soft deep woof and then a soft growl with an occaisional loud bark thrown in as Audrey and I took turns telling her everything was OK.

With that eventful night, we were not very rested the next morning. We slept until around 7:40 when Audrey heard a sound at the door. She went to investigate thinking it was one of our boys and found two umbrellas at our door. I suspect it was because of my loud exclamations at dinner but not just me, I hope.

After around 5 minutes Alex came to tell us that breakfast was ready. The weather was again rainy as we went to the dining room and breakfast was again a very traditional Japanese breakfast filled with protein and rice and no vegetables whatsoever(but a bunch of seaweed... so that makes up for it a bit I suppose). Dried fish, pheasant ham, stewed hijiki(seaweed) with beans, stewed okara(leftover bits from making tofu — very healthy), miso soup with wakame seaweed, raw egg and nori (again seaweed) with rice. I had to eat a bit more rice than the night before to be able to eat the raw egg. It was all good but very salty and we went back to our rooms wanting to drink water.

Our trip back to our cabins, as with the night before, we were able to lower our umbrellas and there was a bit of sun. We decided to take the chance and go see a famous mountain called Ohmuroyama. It's a round mountain, just a large hill in shape from the side. By the time we got there it was sunny and super hot. Hubby had not looked up whether Hana could go up on the lift with us (Alex had looked everything up for the day before but this was hubby's activity) and the lift was just a bigger version of a skii lift so we were not sure but there was a tourism office on the second floor of the building so I went and asked about activities to do with dogs and the lady informed me that small to medium dogs were allowed on the owners lap up the lift.

Alex was quite sure he could handle it so I gave Hana to him (he has a hard time picking her up LOL) . Hana was very brave. We saw owners covering their dog's eyes, one dog was yapping with fear, one was quite restless (but small, so handle-able). We could tell Hana was nervous, but she sat still and didn't make a sound up or down.

Almost at the top of the lift, there was a camera where someone (a recording we thought) on the microphone was telling people to smile for a photo. Audrey and Alex had gone up first with Hana, hubby and I were second, and Julian had a lift to himself. When we got up, two or three staff members already with our pictures in hand greeted us and showed us our smiling faces. Even Hana was looking at the camera! We found out that the staff had actually been talking into a mike for each of our pictures and that they had included the sound of a dog toy for Hana so she would look at the camera.  We bought one, even though of course it was rather expensive (approx. 10 dollars/1000 yen) of Alex, Audrey and Hana.

There were of course souvenirs and softcreams and dangos(rice cake snacks) at the top but we were all very conscious of hubby being unable to dole out money so we didn't buy anything. Audrey did wish outloud to me about a softcream.

The top of the mountain was much more interesting than the side view. There was a big crator where there used to be a volcano. It was obviously not active. The whole mountain was covered with tall grass. A few volcanic rocks were sticking out here and there at the top with a couple of trees — like a huge meadow. It was quite scenic. There was also a trail around the crator of around 1km which we could walk in about 20 minutes. We decided to walk around and the view was really nice. We saw the ocean and islands around the penninsula and the cities below quite nicely. I regretted not bringing my hat or sun umbrella because it was super sunny still and I knew I was going to get burned. We also found out that the crator, a grass field, was used for an archery school, although we didn't see anyone doing any.

After our walk around, we went back down. Hana was just as calm as her trip up. We felt quite sorry for her having to go through so many stressful endeavors — especially the trip to and back in the car. She sat in the middle of Audrey and I and tried to get comfortable, but it was hard for her to sleep being jostled and pressured by the twisting and turning through the coastal and mountain roads. We thought about finding a place that could watch Hana for a while while we went to a hot spring but it was too difficult to do on the spot and we ended up going to a promontorium/Cape that we went to when the kids were little. There was a short suspension bridge there. The wind and waves were strong, crashing against the jutting rocks where the color of the ocean water was a beautiful milky blue.

While we were standing by the lookout, a caretaker suddenly came out and started exclaiming that if we looked out to the horizon we could see a big wall of dark clouds and rain coming our way. "It will be here in a jiffy!" He warned us loudly as if to make us all hurry back to our cars, and although I did go back a bit, thinking it might become dangerous by the cliffs, he didn't go on to say we should go back right away or tell us to evacuate so we ended up staying a bit longer until we felt a few drops of rain. Then hubby bought the kids some softcreams and shaved ice. We shared a macha and milk mix softcream, Audrey finally got her wish and she chose a macha softcream. The boys chose shaved ice which were a bit less expensive. I felt like Alex was trying his best not to be a burden on our finances and it was heartwarming but sad. I think Julian chose the shaved ice because he just likes that better. Alex did say that he didn't like how thirsty he could become from eating softcream but he had bought his own drink and bought me a water with his own money at the convenience store we stopped at earlier, saying something about not being a burden. It reminded me of me at that age. First-borns tend to be like that. The rain drops started to get more numerous and we quickly went back to the car to finish the last of our snacks — and just in time as it started to pour once we were inside.

We then went on our way, back the way we had come, first to Atami at around lunch time. Alex had found a cafe that was pet-friendly so we went in search of it, but when we got there, it was closed. The owner was there but she told us she had personal business and had to close early. This was the second time we found something on the net and the store had been closed! So what now? I had seen that many shops around there had take-out: one of the pluses of the COVID panic (the other being more online meetings/lessons and work-from-home opportunities). There was one store with a long line of customers waiting outside selling donburi (bowl meals), especially of sushi. The line was for people wanting to eat-in, but there was also a sign for take-out so we decided to get some and eat at the pier park with Hana (it was probably not pet-friendly — not many are yet). Alex again chose a cheaper donburi with hubby. Hubby seemed to want us to keep it at 1000 yen per person and I didn't want to eat much rice, so I suggested to Audrey that we share a gigantic mountain of sashimi atop a rice bowl costing around 2000 yen. She agreed readily.

Where we had parked the car, there was a dock for many yahts and a walk/park around it with lots of benches. We had eaten lunch there with MIL and her sister when we took them on a trip long ago. So we sat there again. The donburi were very tasty. Unfortunately, the cheaper bowls that hubby and Alex bought didn't have much fish on top and they felt a bit cheated. I also felt bad for Alex. I wish we had been sitting together, so I could have seen the situation and shared some of ours. I think we made the best choice out of the lot.

After lunch, we headed back home. Hubby took over with the driving and gave Alex a well-needed rest. We came back to near our home and hubby suggested we could go to a nearby hotspring, leaving Hana in the car, but it didn't feel right, having put Hana through such a tiring trip. We just needed to get home. Maybe we can go before my classes start next week though.

So, that's it. It was a memorable trip and worth it if it ends up being the last one we take together. I have some more news on the school and our living situation. Since writing about our troubles, there have been some developments. (1) we asked for reduced rent and were refused (naturally). The owner is very friendly though and gave us some ideas. If we gave him a plan for giving it back, he could delay the payment of however much we wanted reduced. In otherwords, he could give us an interest free loan. We thought that was out of the question. No more loans. The second idea was to buy the place from him for 90 Mil Yen. We could get a loan from the bank under my and Alex's name. The payments would be half of the rent we are paying now with a thirty year loan. This idea was tempting. It would be nice to have some land to our name. However, our accountant and real estate agent told us it would be difficult to get the loan because we still had a house loan on our condo and because Alex had only just begun working and didn't have the credit yet. Plus our income was set really low due to our situation. 

We thought about it for a very long time and finally wrote the owner a mail asking that we be allowed to give back two rooms we added to our contract and pay for just the original three rooms since we weren't using the place to full capacity. We sent this mail on the day we went on our trip. The day we got back, we got the happy news that he accepted the deal — except, we didn't have to give the two rooms back. He would reduce the rent as if we had. Because basically, it would cost money to put the rooms back the way they had been and was not realistic at this time. He asked us to give him a share of any profit we got from these extra rooms instead and be agreeable to him taking the rooms back at a time he needed them. So, we have got a little more leeway with our finances. We will not have to move so Alex will not have to move out — and he would have if we moved in with MIL. We have to try really hard to gain some more income because this is not going to be enough but still. One step forward and a big thank you to God for the guidance.

Here are some pictures of the trip.

Hana the shiba lying curled up in the middle of the car seat, resting her head on Audrey's thigh.


A small red one-slot post box at the side of a street lined by palm and other coastal trees.seen through the glass window of a car.


Hana the shiba sitting primly with her back to the camera in front of a half  curtained window looking out at the palm and other trees of the area wet with rain


Backs of a tall boy and shiba walking along a path through grassy meadow, boy's arms outstretched to hug the sky where streaks of blue show between huge puffy white clouds,

Mom and daughter selfie with lawn in background


Front to back: Julian, mom, Audrey, Alex on path around Ohmuro Mountain facing camera.


Jagged rocks of Cape jutting into the fierce sea and crashing waves as seen from suspension bridge.



Milky blue ocean water against the rocks as seen from the suspension bridge above

Front to back: Hana, Audrey and Julian on the suspension bridge, the young adults facing back toward the camera while Hana looks toward the sea.

Right to left: Julian, Audrey and Hana, young adults facing Hana while Hana looks back and smiles at the camera.

Left to right: Julian, Audrey, Alex, Julian and Alex eating shaved ice, Audrey eating green tea softcream.

View of blue sky and yaht pier behind a white fenced walkway, where Alex leans on the fence looking at his smartphone.

Left to right: Mom and Audrey displaying their super tall sashimi donburi - a plastic container with a small black cup and tall clear lid over a mountain of sashimi pieces together on a bench by the sea.


Close up of tall sashimi donburi.


Julian sitting on a bench and displaying his maguro donburi.


Alex displaying his zuke-donburi - maguro (tuna) dipped in soy sauce.

Audrey on left with her donburi, with an exasperated smile, view of blue sky and coast on right



Hana lying in front of the white fence around the dock as she waits patiently for mom and Audrey to finish lunch.
 
supernutjapan: (Default)
 

We are going through a bumpy time in life right now and I can't really find the urge to write much.  Basically, hubby has been scraping away at our savings to keep this business going for the last three years and now we have pretty much hit rock bottom.  What to do now is a serious concern.  Business has been hard because of COVID and there is always a possibility that it will get better but can we count on it and go on to morgage his mom's house and other drastic measures? Or should we just get rid of one of the classrooms and move the other to a smaller place?

We are going to talk with the owner of the main classroom, where we also live on the second floor.  Maybe he can reduce the rent for us. Otherwise, we have to consider moving the school out in three months.  We also have to decide whether to keep the other classroom and decide by the end of September so we don't have to pay contract renewal costs before moving out.

I am applying to as many government assistance programs as possible for my daughter's schooling.  It is a public school and we are eligible for free schooling through scholarships.  

Other than that, I watched Witcher and it was a lot of fun!  After the Second Season, I read all the books, and I found that Season 3 is pretty much in line with the books for the important bits.  Looking forward to the next installment!  Anyone watching?

Anyway, gotta go and get ready for class.


supernutjapan: (Default)

April 28th


1. Would you ever go "under the knife" (or laser, or dental pick) for cosmetic purposes? What and why, and would it really be worth it?

I don't think so. It's way too expensive over here. Some people go to Korea to get it done. I've never really felt the need.


2. Describe your dream home, including location, design, and who/what’s in there with you.

I have many fantasies, lol and I can never really decide on one kind of home. I do like a yellow and white or forest green and white wooden type home. Any type of home looks wonderful with a few well placed trees in front. One thing I really would like is my own bedroom and a study/library where there are comfortable chairs as well as computer desks. I guess I am imagining for my present family of 5. Pretty soon it will be just me, Hana our shiba and hubby, though which is not a happy thought. It would be nice to be able to have a cat too.


3. You have one month to travel the world, all expenses paid. Where do you go and what do you do once you arrive?

I'd go on a cruise. Where can you go for a month? Greece would be nice.


4. What scares the bloody heck out of you? Would you face it down if someone paid you? What’s your price?

I am a coward, so no one could pay me to face down anything that scares me - especially something that "scares the bloody heck out of me" LOL\


5. And of course, you’re stranded on an island. What five simple items do you have with you? How do you survive? Anyone in particular you’d like to be stranded with? What would they bring to the table?

A knife, a dog, an ax, a fishing rod, a sleeping bag or blanket would be nice. I haven't considered this question in a while. I will try to fish, hunt and gather to survive. I don't have anyone in particular, except my kids - especially Alex. He is really good at all the survival stuff and loves it too. Audrey and Julian might not enjoy it as much. If I was single and had no kids, I'd go for the muscular, kind, handsome dude.


MAY 12th


1. What was the first album you ever bought?

I really don't remember.  Hubby remembers his first record so well, but to me, it being my first purchase probably didn't seem that important.  Probably because it didn't cost so much.  I remember several cassettes I bought for myself.  One was the soundtrack for Empire of the Sun, another a soundtrack of Trois Couleurs (Three Colors), a french movie that I also liked but I think that was a CD, so a bit later maybe.  I also remember buying ... possibly a record?? of a clarinet piece I was playing in highschool.  These are all obviously classical music.  I made numerous tapes of soundtrack off video by plugging my tape recorder into the video machine somehow.  I got my fix of popular music through a friend that recorded songs off the radio in the States over the holidays and gave us copies.  Also my sister bought Simon and Garfunkle and Billy Joel so I got to listen to those for free too.  I used to have a two cassette juke box too, to make copies of stuff.  And, later on, one with two cassette and one CD player.  It used to be so easy LOL.  Computer copies of CDs are relatively easy too, but  not as quick as one push of a button.

2. What format was it? (cassette, CD, other?)

Answered above.

3. How old were you?

I'd say highschool.

4. Where did you hear it?

In a movie.

5. Did your parents approve?

I remember my mom was uncomfortable with me playing the modern clarinet piece I was listening too because it was so disharmonic.  She understood why I bought the music though.  Other than that I don't remember really sharing the music with them, but I wasn't into heavy metal or hard rock at the time so there was nothing for them to be disapproving about.  I remember though that a boy in my class who was also in my singing group liked Guns and Roses and took a lot of crap for the type of music it was and kept having to explain to adults how they were a Christian group and the lyrics were really good.  The difficulties of being a missionary kid and going to a missionary school.


::::::::::::


Today is my birthday!  So, yay :)

The last two years have been quite memorable.  It was a month before my 50th birthday that I decided to lose weight  — after seeing the terrifying weight gain of menopause.  That was the second year into COVID panic.  I successfully lost quite a bit of weight and have now kept it off for two years.  Work has been really challenging financially.  This year, though, finally we are getting an increase of trial students and new beginners so I am cautiously optimistic.


Today, I made a chocolate cake for myself without any flour — just cashew nut butter, eggs and cocoa.  It is the best cake ever.  No different from the flour cake I made for Julian in April in taste or texture... well, just a bit more dense maybe but just how I like it.  I have asked my daughter to decorate it — cream and strawberries inside, chocolate frosting on the outside (dark chocolate frosting made of honey, coconut butter and oil and cocoa).  That's going to be dinner for me!  I've got steaks for tomorrow though, and Sunday we will go out to the salad bar italian place we like.  We will take MIL and make it a Mother's Day dinner as usual.Hubby has been extraordinarily nice — giving me kisses and hugs several times this morning.  Julian gave me a hug and best wishes before he left for school too.  Audrey and Alex were up early and left soon after I woke so they were too busy to remember to say anything but, that's pretty normal.  I got a phone call from my mom too this morning.  It was so nice to talk with her if only for a bit before she had to go tutor.


One thing I am having a hard time with is my decision about choir — whether to continue or not. I know, I said I was going to quit, but after the concert (did I tell you we had 286 guests in the audience?  It was fabulous!) I got a lot of positive responses from people I didn't even know.  We were greeting the people in the foyer and these girls from another choir group stopped me and told me they really enjoyed my alto.  An American woman whom I invited told me that my expressions were wonderful (Japanese people have a hard time with facial expressions, I think...) and that the Japanese members should learn from me LOL  I also heard similar things from MIL.  I am always gratified to hear her praise the performance and see she enjoys them so much.And then I think about my peeves about choir — how stressful not having a day off is etc., and then think about all the other members of the choir and how much more they are putting into it than I.  I hardly did anything toward the preparation of the concert other than show up for practice and it seems like everyone else did so much.  And then I think about how I love singing, and possibly how it is one thing I am good at and maybe the hard work and the stress of practice is worth it for something that I enjoy doing. To be able to improve, to be able to perform and give others enjoyment in that way etc.  So anyway, I explained that to my daughter, who quit the tennis club at highschool right after joining because she wanted her Sundays free and asked me to promise to quit too when we had talked about it before.  But still my heart is undecided.  Thinking about going to practice this weekend and starting a new piece or two that we have to have down by July is really hard.  And yet, I don't have the courage to write to the teacher and tell them I want to quit either.  So, maybe I am just making up excuses?  But maybe it is better anyway? AAARG.

If you'd like to hear a part of the concert, I got our second stage audio.  It is four relatively short etudes: study/practice pieces written by Ko Matsushita.


1st: Fish at Night.  Singing about the fins moving under water, the scales shining dimly, the eyes unblinking.... fish are alive, under the light of the moon.



2nd: Earth Sleeps under the Clouds  — singing about how the mountains sleep, the ocean sleeps, and finally the round water planet sleeps... under the clouds.



3rd: Ocean (Child laments that a fisherman did not come back from the sea.)  Very sad... talking about how he used to sing to her/him, how he took them to the festivals and made toys for them, shouting out to the sea, "why does it not care?"



4th: Birds ( Lots of chirping :D) The birds sing. They sound like they are having fun and sing with beautiful voices, like spreading bits of rainbow. They sound like they feel cool and sing with beautiful voices like a flower smiling at the sun.


This concert was on the 30th of April.  After that, I had two days of work, then our Golden Week holiday — 3rd, 4th and 5th of May as well.   On the third, we went for a picnic with a friend in the park.  I was beginning to feel a cold or allergies or something coming on.  I think it was allergies but it was like I used to have when I was young.  Kind of asthmatic, having a harder time breathing, then I had a runny nose as well so I was a bit worried that it could be COVID, considering I got COVID during the holidays during the winter.  I couldn't get tested over the holidays but I stayed home just in case and did my classes on Saturday on Zoom.  I got the test from Tokyo government for free and tested myself but I didn't have it so I went back to work on Monday.



I've been reading a new series of books called the Great Library.  It is pretty good and I am giving it 4 stars so far.  I watched the Night Manager and Citadel on Prime.  I really enjoyed them.  I am watching YOU on Netflix now.  I'd been avoiding it, but it's actually good too.



That's about it, I guess.  I was going to attach some photos, but scrapbook is being mean and not accepting them from my phone so... That's it for today.


supernutjapan: (Purgatory Dean)
1. Do you plan to watch the Oscars broadcast this Sunday?
No. Have never been interested in celebs clothing and their awards, although good for them for their hard work!
1. Do you plan to watch the Oscars broadcast this Sunday?
No. I've never been interested in celebs, their clothing or their awards, although I commend them on their hard work on the movies they are nominated for.

2. Have you seen many of this year's Oscar-nominated films?
No, unfortunately, but look forward to seeing them on streaming sites!

Wait, I just checked out the nominees and Ke Huy Kwan has been nominated for best supporting actor in Everything Everywhere All at Once.

O.M.G

That's the little boy from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Goonies LOL!!! That little boy. I can still see him underneath. I was a super fan back in high school. He was so cute. I even sent him a fan letter and got a postcard back. The movie looks pretty interesting. Definitely my kind of topic - multiverses and such. Good for him, though for getting the nomination. That is pretty awsome.

The Banshees of Inisherin
Looks pretty interesting, but I don't know if I want to watch it. Funny but depressing... meee.

MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS sounds BEAUTIFUL. I would love to watch it.
THE FABELMANS looks really good too.
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT I don't think I want to watch. I have read it.
CLOSE looks really good.


3. Which movie is your pick for Best Picture?
4. What are some of your other picks to win Oscars?

I can't answer these but see above for thoughts of a person who has seen none of them.

5. What is your favorite movie of all time?
Mary Poppins. The first one. I know, but it is the one movie that I watched over and over and over and over and over with my best friend in elementary school/middle school. We never got tired of it. I just rewatched it recently while I did my exercises and I enjoyed it again. It's messages are important, the actors are great (I'm sorry Dick's accent disturbs the British, but even so he is a great actor), the songs and dancing are wonderful and it is my most favorite movie of all time.

Which nominated movies have you watched? Tell me what you think of them!

**********
So, since about four days ago, my eyes (especially my left) has gradually gone from grainy to painful, which spread I think to my nose, gums, tonsils and left part of my head in general. The whole side of my face was swollen last night before I took some painkiller. I wisdom tooth that acts up when other parts of me are not well, which is why my gums were so swollen and painful. I went to a new eye doctor today to figure out if it was allergies as I suspected. She at first told me it was tired eyes from looking at the screen too much with incorrect contacts. We did all the tests and found out otherwise but it took three hours to finally get out of there with some eye drops for the allergy. They also tried to convince me to come in three or four months to get new contacts. Even though it was shown that that wasn't the problem. I am not amused.

I am thinking reading 6 books on my cell phone in the past couple of weeks may have contributed to the eye trouble, even if it wasn't because of the lenses.

I'm not usually affected by pine - my main allergy in spring is cypress which comes out next month, but this year the quantity of pollen is supposed to be record-making - coming in fourth of all recorded years. We will see if the eye drops will do the trick!

Because of the pain in my gums I haven't been able to eat properly and I have actually lost some weight I gained in the last few weeks. That's a good side to it all LOL. I made a chick pea stew yesterday and drank a smoothy for lunch today, but eating is just really tiring and slow and I left some of the stew yesterday because I was just so damn tired. Hot coffee makes everything act up so I am avoiding it - so no snack either.

How are you all doing with pollen?

By the way, I really want to find some paper dolls of boys for my English classes. Know of any? I want to practice his/her somehow so if you have any other ideas I am all ears.
supernutjapan: (Default)
These questions were written by Dreamwidth user Sabcatt.

1. What’s the last thing you got in the mail?
Black beans through Amazon.

2. What’s the last thing you sent in the mail?
New Years cards.

3. How many unread emails are in your inbox right now?
None, I hope. Not in my personal one anyway. My original email address has been taken over by hubby and there is a lot of junk mail, so A LOT of unopened ones there.

4. What is your most recent text message about?
To hubby about how things were going badly at the phone shop.

To explain, my smartphone is dying; thankfully not quite in the last stages, but the battery doesn't last a whole day - so I am in need of another. I bought my last one 5 years ago, and it cost around 800 dollars. Crazy. We paid for it in two installments by credit card. This time hubby is too lazy to come with me, so I am doing it all on my own but it is taking for ever.

I have to go back to when we got a letter from YMobile, a company we got our pocket wifi from (what's it called over there I don't know) to use at our classroom. The credit card being used to pay for the monthly usage payments was running out and I needed to update the info. All I wanted to do was change the due date. They said I could do it online, but I had the hardest time because hubby had lost the documentation and I couldn't find the phone number attached to the machine, nor the password. I went to the shop, hoping they could do it there and they told me that because the contract was with hubby, I needed his ID. Again, all I wanted to do was update the due date of the credit card... LOL So I went home and went back another day with hubby's drivers license and they got to work. I waited for like thirty minutes and the girl came back to say they couldn't do it there. I had to go to a different store, far away. But by that time, they had showed me the phone number and I had found the password in a mail, so I decided to try again online just in case. And I got through! But when I tried to just change the date, the screen said I couldn't. I had to change the card LOL WTF By this time I am PISSED. I phone and explain the situation by phone. They tell me I can't do anything without my husband present.

So... I ended up changing the credit card so I could get it done quick before the end of the month.

Cut to yesterday. I go to my appointment to get a new phone at DOCOMO, a different company. My present phone is under my husband's name. They tell me I can't even buy a new one without a consent paper written all in my husband's handwriting. I also need a copy of his drivers license again. I am sooooo tired of this, I ask if I can change the contract to my name. They say I can do that too with the same documents. So I go home, get hubby to write the document. One thing I was a bit worried of was that the name was different from that of my ID - My ID has my full name in English, we used my name in Japanese, a shortened version registered at city hall. I have ID with the shortened version too, but it is my insurance card and not as good as my foreigner's ID card. I go back to the shop today, pick out the phone that cost around the same as my previous one, still with a nagging feeling that it wasn't over. I was right. They told me I needed a registration of residence showing both my long formal name and the shortened version. And probably also the actual ID of my husband. A copy may not cut it now. I was soo frustrated I was tearing up.

Anyway... I went to city hall, waited in line for thirty minutes and finally got the copy of registray. I can't go to the phone shop today or tomorrow because I have class, but I have made a reservation for Sunday. This time, I am sure I can get it.... well, let's not jinks it.

5. Do you have a favorite postage stamp design?
The ukiyo-e postage stamps here are pretty.
I always like seeing Christmas stamps from other countries.
I used to collect stamps. They should be in a box somewhere.

**************

I'm reading some books by R.J. Barker - Wounded Kingdom trilogy and now, the Bone Ships. I really enjoyed the Wounded Kingdom so I thought I'd continue. I have been reading a lot of fantasy that has been disappointing in various ways so I'm glad I finally found something.

I have a new class on Tuesdays - a mommy class for a mom of a cute little baby who will be going to India in June. If she would have paid for private classes, I could have got her an Indian teacher to get her used to the accent, but it didn't work out. Still, the class is fun, and the baby is adorable. 

AUDREY HAS PASSED the exam for the public school she wanted to go to!!! Wohoo! She's happy to be going to the school she wanted, and we are happy it's not costing us an arm and a leg LOL! She still had final exams to study for though - three days after the entrance exam! Pretty crazy. Why do exams when the grades don't matter, I would not understand.

I have been watching Carnival Row and This is Us on Prime. They are both watchable, but not the best. I also just finished watching Hollywood. That is pretty good but it has a lot of sex and racism stuff and is a bit depressing too.

My mom called and it was really nice to talk with her. They were in the middle of a snow storm. She got a promotion - we don't know if that means she gets more money or if it just means she will be doing two jobs LOL She is a tutor and a tutor trainer and the promotion gives her certification to do more in the training department. I love how she is 85 and still getting promotions.

I have been having teacher interviews and I got to meet a really nice dude. He was a physical therapist in the States before moving to Japan with his Japanese wife and now is a stay-at-home dad but wanted to get out and do some work even if he couldn't do it in his field. He had the most twinkly eyes, I think I half fell in love with the guy and was super excited to have him on board, but he is pursuing other options and he may not come. I was soooo happy after the interview so that was really hard.

Two more weeks until holidays, and everyday is super busy messaging teachers and staff, etc. I have Easter to prepare for as well. Well, I have got to get this out now that it has taken me a week to write. I'll come back later to see how you are doing.

Oh, by the way,
Happy Hinamatsuri!


supernutjapan: (Default)
1. What's your favorite fruit or vegetable to look at?
Pinapples are pretty. Also oranges on the tree on a a snowy day. We have an orange tree that gives fruit in Winter. It is super sour, but it looks very nice in the snow.

2. What's your favorite juice?

Tomato juice used to be my favorite on airplanes. Welche's grape juice is nice too. In general, I'd rather eat the fruit than drink it.

3. What fruit tree would you like to have in your yard?
Granny Smith apple tree. A cherry tree would be nice too. My aunt had a cherry tree on her farm, I used to pick from it.

4. What vegetable name do you think makes the best nickname?
They all seem rather derogatory to me as nicknames, and I really don't like being mean.
On a side, Japanese people often call their legs daikon legs when self-conscious of their big thighs.

5. What fruits and vegetables would your personal "fruit hat" contain?
Berries. They are colorful and cute.

We are getting a ton of snow today. First it was small flakes but a lot of them, now the flakes are bigger, but it hasn't let up at all. I think by the time I have to go home there will be drifts to wade through on the sidewalks.

My daughter had her exam for the private school today. She got home right as I got into the farther classroom. We could probably have met at the station where she got off the school bus if I had known what time she would get back. One finished, one more to go.

The fourth ep of The Rest of Us was pretty good. Alex had spoiled me so I knew they would have to abandon the truck - well, I could have guessed that. And of course it is because of the humans, because as Dean says in SPN, Demons I get. Humans are crazy.

One of my teachers that I was kind of counting on to take some new classes has to go back to the UK because his mom is sick. I will most likely have to give my classes here on Tuesdays over to another teacher. I am sort of happy about that, since I will have shorter hours, but sorry to be leaving my students.

On a happier note, I have a day off tomorrow! No plans! No choir, no work. Although I think I will do some practice on my own for choir because the pieces are really challenging. I couldn't take Hana for her walk today because of the snow, but if it stops snowing by tomorrow morning, I am going to take her out and let her play in the snow. Five years ago, it snowed a lot and I made a video of Hana playing which is super cute.

Here it is, if interested. 
supernutjapan: (Default)
Hi! Everyone alive? Happy New Year to you!

COVID did me in for Christmas and New Years was spent taking care of family so I was totally AWOL for at least three weeks, but I'm back to reconnect.

I spent most of my holiday watching TV and reading - once I was feeling better. 2 eps of Alchemy of Souls a week - still loving it. I think this week is the season finale and I really want the story to continue - there is so much potential.

After watching The Crimes of Grindelwald, I had the urge to rewatch the Harry Potter series and did a binge watch. I'm not quite sure if I even had watched the later films before, my memories of the story is so mixed up with the books. So, while I was watching Harry Potter, I recognized one of the characters, Dean, one of the Gryffindors that continues to appear throughout the series but doesn't have much of a role except for making Harry Jealous by going out with Ginny for a brief moment. I realized I'd seen the grown up actor in a show I'd watched recently - How to Get Away with Murder. Here's him there -

and here's him in The Chamber of Secrets -


I obviously recognised him because he has not changed at all LOL

I unfortunately was unable to attain my goal of 70 books last year but I did finish two Haruki Murakami books: The Norwegian Wood and IQ84 during the holiday. The former was a rather dark love story. I enjoyed it solely as a period piece and the Japanese style. The second was a sort of fantasy horror and much more interesting. The setting reminded me of Spirited Away (Ghibli) - I could totally imagine some of the scenes in the anime form. It's totally an adult book with lots of sex scenes.

Today is my first day of work. It is a national holiday though - Coming-of-Age day.  20 year olds - or those who would turn 20 before April - all dress up in suits or kimonos and many trapes off to a City Hall to listen to some boring speeches by government officials, mostly just to reconnect with theiir buddies from JH or High school. I saw a mom taking pictures with her son in the park this morning when I took Hana for her walk.

Audrey will take her high school entrance exams in February. This will be her last semester of JH. If she doesn't pass the exam for the public school, the private school we applied to will accept her, so at least she has a place to go and that is a relief. I think she really wants to get into the public school and that would be easier for us, since the cost is quite a bit less. But the private school is the one Alex went to and is a very good school too so either would be good for her I think.

That's about it I guess. Hope I can take a peek at your posts soon.
supernutjapan: (Default)
I'm rather late with these. Life has been hectic. Now, I can sit down and do some writing.

1. Have you gotten your flu shot yet? If not, why?
No. I never ever get the flu shot. I've gotten the flue maybe one or two times in my whole half a century of existence. When I was in Japanese elementary school, flu shots were mandatory every year. The doctors came to the schools to do it. Then, they stopped. Because it was proven that the shot did nothing to prevent the flu. It is all in your head. If you need to get the shot to feel you are safe, then you should, but I really don't.

2. Are your halls all bedecked or are you not quite there yet?
I put up Christmas decorations in the last week of November, which is rare for me. I do it when the mood comes because otherwise, I never get it done LOL

3. What is something you should really do this weekend but probably won’t?
A lot of cleaning. I will do some of it. I've already cleaned Audrey's room and am feeling like I accomplished my deed for the year :D

4. How will you be spending the weekend – at home, at the beach, skiing, or swimming?
At home or buying Christmas/stocking presents.

5. Are you already so over this year?
This year wasn't any worse than last year. Probably an improvement. I will enjoy the last days of the year by trying to complete my book challenge (70 books), making yummy Christmas food, and watching TV and doing a bunch of shopping. Christmas holidays are the only time I can enjoy windowshopping and baking so I am going to take advantage of it. I will miss these days once the New Year is here. I will also hold on to all the memories I can and have made with my kids. Especially Alex and Julian, who will be flying the coop soon.

Whoever reads this and is feeling like they are so over this year - I promise, whatever hardship you endured will become a fantastic memory.

:::::::::::::::::::::::

1. What's the present you gave you're most proud of?
A wallet, coin purse and gloves, coffee maker that I got for hubby. All were things he really wanted/needed and he never expects anything so it is gratifying to be able to buy them for him.

2. What's the most memorable present you've received?
Books from my uncle. He was an editor at a publishing house and I loved getting boxes of books from him.

3. How many people do you typically buy presents for at once, at the most presents-ish part of the year?

I pretty much go out one day and buy presents for everyone in my family at once. I'm glad I don't have to worry about anyone else. I like going shopping for people but I hate it when I don't know what to buy.

4. What sort of presents do you usually most enjoy receiving?
Things I really need/want. And only from family. Getting presents from others just is a lot of pressure to reciprocate.

5. How do you wrap presents? Paper or bag? Sellotape or just folding magic? Ribbon? Gift tag? Other?
Paper, usually. Sellotape, ribbon, of course gift tags from Santa :)

------------
Notes from December 13th

Five more days until the Christmas Presentation, and freedom!
All of my classes now are the last class before winter break so they have a different feel to them. I'm giving out lots of homework, and I will be practicing the parts for the play with those classes that have students participating in it.

Tomorrow, one of my teachers will be absent. All of the students in her class are participating in the play and the students in the classes I teach during that time are as well, so I am planning to combine classes and just do presentation stuff for that time.

There is so much to do.

And now

The Christmas Presentation was.... well, it's finished LOL! The introductions went well, but the play was a total flop. It was caos. I can't even think about it without cringing. Not just the kids but I was just.... ahg!

The thing I was really appreciative of was that hubby didn't say anything about it. He was just super supportive. It reminded me of those past years - long ago now, when he would become sooooo irritated with me and tell me all the things I did wrong. He has aged well LOL! The car ride home was silent for a while because I just did not want to talk, I was so embarrassed. Then he asked what we should do for dinner and I suggested buying something readymade instead of going out since Audrey was at cram school and wouldn't be around for dinner. (She is studying for highschool entrance exams.) We decided to go to the CO-OP supermarket which is rather expensive but has good sushi packs. I ended up making some barbecued spare ribs too, so we would be able to eat something warm as well. Hubby told me that what happened with the play, just happens sometimes, and I did my best. We had a good dinner.

Monday, I just stayed home and watched TV all day. I was drained and didn't feel like doing anything. I enjoyed watching all of The Alchemy of Souls, a Korean fantasy romance drama on Netflix. I couldn't find it on my page in Netflix US but it is supposed to be there. The first season is even dubbed in English. I don't know why it's not on US Netflix. The new season is out but they are dolling it out one ep at a time and it is still only in Korean with subtitles. I enjoyed the first season in English, despite the stilted language - I think they were just trying to match the words with the mouth movements but it was super weird sometimes LOL I'm actually rewatching it and I've gotten used to the language so it doesn't bother me as much. The Japanese dubbing was even worse. It sounded like some anime and it just grossed me out. Anyway, the story is very well thought out, and something I would totally enjoy as a book as well.

It is about an assassine (girl) who is a soul-shifter - who uses sorcery to shift her soul to a different body when her enemies give her a fatal wound. The body she shifts to doesn't seem to have any powers and she can't access her own either. The son of one of the people who killed her father (and thus her enemy) figures out who she really is and asks her to be his Master and train him. He has his own problems and no one else will train him. The first season is super cute. The second is more serious and is giving me heart pains. Gahhhh.

Actually the story kind of reminds me of the old Jackie Chan films I used to watch as well. Lots of action, magical training, and an entertaining boy trio. The prince who is half enemy half friend is totally fun as well.

So, Tuesday, I did some cleaning and made some fruit cookies. Well, not some, a ton. I don't know how my family is going to eat it all. But, fruit cookies last, at least, and probably will taste better as time passes, so I'm only half worried. I was going to make some stollen too, but considering the number of cookies... I may not. We will see. I guess the bread can be eaten right away so it would be doable. This was my first try at fruit cookies. My mom used to make them and I had been searching for a recipe for the longest time. I finally found one that might be it, but I'm still not sure I got the right one and they didn't turn out the same either. I think my oven is dying. I hope it lasts at least until the turkey is cooked.

I want to go to one or two malls before Christmas to get presents. I still don't know exactly what to get everyone. Alex has asked me what I want, and I don't know what to tell him. I need a new oven. I need a new computer. But both are too expensive to ask of anyone. Plus, he is going to need lots of stuff when he moves out and I don't want him to spend his precious money on me. He was talking of living close by, which is very nice.
supernutjapan: (Default)
I have many interesting conversations with my ladies in my adult class on Wednesday mornings.
Today, we talked about some social/environmental issues and opinions on these to practice passive voice. We were talking of animals in zoos and whether they/we thought that was good or bad. One woman was saying how she appreciated the zoo when her sons were young, but now she thought that animals should not be kept in cages and that they should be in the wild.

I was reminded of how when my kids were young I also appreciated having a zoo to take the kids. The kids spent hours looking around the zoo. We spent a whole day there for a measly 50 cents - it was usually a dollar (or so) but it was half price when we went because it was Children's Day. I also remembered how we also went to a museum on the same day to see a dinosaur exhibit. The boys LOVED dinosaurs, but they went through that exhibit in like, five minutes. We spent at least 10 dollars a person to get in. Probably 20 for adults. I thought, What a waste of money! Of course, I naturally appreciated the zoo a lot more. Now that I don't have small kids, and I am a bit older, I don't feel the necessity of a zoo as much. I understand how people would feel it was just cruel to animals. And in this day and age, when museums provide digital tours, it seems that we could do without actual zoos and have 3D digital wilderness tours instead. Is there such a thing? Then I began to think of the cost-effectiveness of the zoos here and how much more expensive museums are and began to wonder why. Doesn't feeding the animals cost a ton of money? And yet, zoos are subsidized. While museums and other attractions are not. Why is that? Museums should be subsidized so that more people can go and enjoy the art or archeology or whatever.

** I also thought a bit about how zoos actually protect animals from extinction as well - how if we did do away with zoos for the sake of letting the wild animals roam free, they would be out of sight, out of mind, for those of us in populated areas, and be killed off for various reasons including poachers.

:::::

I had a weird day today. I was in a crazy chipper mood with the kids in the afternoon, much less tired than I usually am. In my first class, my students were doing a test. At the beginning of the test was a dialogue for which the children had to fill in the blanks. The dialogue went like this:

Happy Birthday, Jenny! How old are you?
I'm seven years old.
This is for you! (giving present)
Thank you!

We had practiced this dialogue together so they knew it by ear, but can't really identify the written words much yet, and they couldn't remember how the dialogue went so I was trying to give them a hint by humming to them the rhythm of the conversation. Here, you can listen to me humming it. (You can share your version too if you like LOL) One of the students totally got what I was getting at. She is much more musical than the other, which may have helped. I was giggling away as I hummed it, I thought it was soooooo funny at the time.

Oh, I made pizza with cauliflower crust today. It needed a little more work for next time - more sauce, more cheese, but it turned out pretty good and the food made me happy even without anything weird in it (as far as I know...). OK, I just looked up cauliflower and it "is full of vitamin B6 and folate, which your body uses to make neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine." So, I guess maybe that was it???! Plus, I ate a ton of lentils yesterday. That could have done it too. LOL!

Anyway, I thought I'd share a bit of my interesting/weird day with you.

I am watching How to Get Away with Murder. I am in Season 2, I think, where Conner and Oliver break up... or rather, Oliver dumps Conner. I sat there going, "no. no. no...... no don't do that.... oh, no.... poor Conner awwwwwwww!!! *heartbroken*" OMG Conner was so adorable and kawaisooooooo :((((( booo. I'm still watching Shameless, but not continually because I can't watch it on TV. HTGAWM was so dark and depressing at first I wasn't intending to keep watching, but as the students gradually got to know each other and bonded, there were good friendship moments, there were more romantic moments and sometimes even comedic moments and it got much better.

The site where I was getting my free digital books was shut down. Boo. I know, I know, but it's the only way I can afford to read as many books as I want. I wish I could get a proofreading job or something so that I could read a gazillion books for free without feeling guilty about it.
supernutjapan: (Default)
1 Who do you know would be more likely to stress over small stuff?
I think there are many definitions of what "the small stuff" is. I stress over anything I have to do that is not planned in advance, or any event I plan for the school. My hubby stresses over messes. Personally, I think that is much smaller than my issues, but to him it must be super important.

2. Who do you know would be more likely to win at Hide and Seek?
My students sometimes hide when I am out of the room. Sometimes it is super cute, sometimes it is annoying LOL. Like 1st and 2nd graders hiding under the table or behind a board in the classroom is cute because I can find them right away and they are not trying to take up extra time or anything. Then there are the big kids that "hide" in the next room, pretending not to be at class. I'm not going to go over there and convince them to come inside. I just start the class and wait for them to trail in.

3 Who do you know would be more likely to live the longest?
My family is pretty long-living, so is my hubby's mother's family - so if we take care, we may live into our 90s too. I don't have any relatives in their 100s though.

4. Who do you know would be more likely to own up to their own mistakes?
My mom, maybe. My dad was horrible and so is hubby. I try to own up and even hesitate to make bold statements because I hate being wrong but I don't want to be like my dad (or hubby) either.

5. Who do you know would be more likely to name their pet something gloriously ridiculous?
I don't know what constitutes gloriously ridiculous. My students' pet is called Tart (the food), others we see outside are named Salt, Mocka (a black poodle LOL), Choco... Weird (and yummy), but not gloriously ridiculous LOL

I've read a bunch of books in the past week or so. They ranged from fantasy to scifi with similar themes of feminism, racism, life choices, depression etc. The Year of the Witching was a fantasy about a girl born with witch powers in a place where the patriarchal(societal/controlling) and matriarchal (nature/witches) religions were at war with each other. It was the kind of book that I would have enjoyed studying in school with all the underlining themes and meanings, too many to go into in detail here. Troubled Blood (by JK Rowling under another pseudonym) was a murder mystery but also included a lot of mystical beliefs, thoughts about "the person behind the mask," discrimination of women in the workplace and other. There were similar themes with the previous book on motherhood. The Midnight Library was about a girl who's depression overwhelms her after the death of her cat and losing her job and she overdoses. She enters an in-between world "the library" where she is able to experience various other versions of her life and decide which life she will live. This one was similar in situation to my next book Departure, which was about a group of people who are taken to the future to try to fix a disaster they would create if they continued down the same path. Seeing the mistakes they make, they decide to act differently on their return. Then, When No One is Watching. This was a suspense/horror story about one black girl and one white guy in an old black community in Brooklyn. As the two main characters suffered from depression, the book reminded me of the Midnight Library. The alcohol and the drug use (not illegal) to escape from their pain makes them pretty vulnerable and unsure of what they are experiencing and adds to the suspense of the story. It was also scary because although it is fiction, the situation is based on very real racial strife.

Anyway, I enjoyed them all and it was fun to find similarities and differences.

The barbecue was fun. The weather was perfect. Alex and Julian were wonderful and the students and families really enjoyed it. We made hamburgers. We bought some really nice buns (yellow buns, probably with egg in them) from COSTCO for everyone. We also made s'mores. I prepared a special bun for myself with coconut flour and that tasted better than I imagined but was also quite dense and filling so I couldn't finish it. I ate around half of the hamburger with the bun and the rest of the filling without.

The barbecue was on Sunday and we were all pooped by the end and lay down for naps as soon as we got home. I got thank you e-mails from two families, which was quite special. I had work on Monday so that was tough too, even though I had the morning to recuperate. I was so tired by the end of the day. Tuesday I forgot that I had choir practice in the morning and was a bit late but I was glad to be able to go after missing the Sunday practice.

Audrey had midterms so she couldn't go to the barbecue. She had only 5 subjects and finished today. They always have short days on exam days so the first day was three subjects, the second day was two. She came home for lunch both days. I haven't asked her how it was, but I think she worked pretty hard so I hope her efforts pay off.

Alex had his orientation "ceremony" with his company. He met the other 7 new employees (starting in April), the Department Head, Administrator and President. He told me they had lunch together at a hotel restaurant in the same building as the company. It was a French course meal! Wow. He was nervous but he seemed to have been able to talk with the others and glean some information on where they were from and which universities they went to etc.
He came home with a colleague that lives in the same direction.

I am now watching New Amsterdam on Amazon Prime and enjoying that as well. Anyone watched/ing it?

Here are some pictures from this week.
ExpandRead more... )
supernutjapan: (Default)
1. How many stars can you see in the sky at night where you live? (Not looking for an exact number here, just a general description.)
On a clear winter day maybe 50 to 100? The more you peer into the sky the more you can see.

2. What is your favorite constellation?
I don't know much about stars, unfortunately. The Big/Little Dippers are the easiest to find.

3. Are you able to see and identify any planets in the sky? Which ones?

Just Venus. The brightest star next to the moon, right?

4. Have you ever seen a satellite orbiting above the earth?
Just on TV.

5. Have you ever seen a rocket blasted off into space?
Again, just on TV.

*********
Not a very interesting set of questions this time around, unfortunately. I have no interest in space or constellations, I guess. Stars are beautiful and it was pretty awesome when I saw the Milky Way in the mountains of Yamagata, but I don't really have the patience to go searching for constellations - maybe because my eyes are so bad. I don't really like getting cricks in my neck either.

I finished watching GRIMM. Julian enjoyed quite a few eps with me. I then went ahead and cancelled the subscription to Hulu. I found they have no recommendation system, and very little choice of shows - here in Japan anyway. Netflix is better in the long term.

Audrey and Alex both seem to have had lots of fun on their respective trips. Audrey tells me she wants to go to Kyoto again and take more time to look around with friends and with me <3 Alex had to come home early because there was a danger that the flight would be cancelled due to the typhoon. He enjoyed the hotel and the time spent with 3 other friends.

As I think I mentioned before, Monday and Friday were national holidays and I had those two days off as well. They both went by really quickly. Tuesday and Friday I had choir practice. We are learning a particularly difficult piece of teen angst which is proving quite challenging. We will be having another practice on Sunday.

Another typhoon is going by and it's raining a lot. It's also getting quite cool. Hopefully the barbecue on the 2nd will be nice. After that I will be preparing for our Halloween event and Christmas Presentation. Time is going to go by so fast.

I'm still stressed out about the teacher situation so it's very hard to find something nice to talk about LOL That's the best I can do for now.
supernutjapan: (Default)
1. Do you tend to remember book titles or authors the most?

Book titles, definitely. But I forget those too, if they aren't particularly noteworthy. I don't really note the characters' names either, unless I have to tell someone about them. That is one of the biggest reasons why I started my Supernatural blog back at LJ, writing about specific episodes. I wanted to remember as much as I could. I included quotes, songs etc so that I could.

2. Do you play any memory games to try and improve your memory.
No, not regularly, but I will tell you that since I have started eating kale everyday, my memory has definitely improved. I can remember Japanese kanji characters that would not have popped into my mind otherwise. I looked it up and found that there was actually a correlation so, definitely recommend it!

3. What is the very first movie you remember seeing in a movie theatre?
I didn't really watch movies at the theater when I was small. My parents may have taken me to see some Christian movie, but it doesn't come to mind. The first that comes to mind at the moment is Neverending Story. Next is Back to the Future. I stood for that one - the theater was packed.

4. What sense do you tend to rely upon the most?

Sound, I think. I also use a lot of music and rhythm to teach English.

5. When was the last time you felt lonely and what made you feel better?
Writing here, of course :) Also, cuddling with my daugher. We are hug buddies. She will just randomly come to the living room for a hug and is always there when I need her. My two boys are affectionate and there as well but hugging them for long periods of time like I do my daughter would be inappropriate :P

**********

Our barbecue planned for yesterday was cancelled due to a huge typhoon passing by. We will hopefully be able to have it on the Second of October.

Alex plans to go on a trip to Hachijojima, an island off the coast of Tokyo, on Thursday. Audrey is going on a school trip from Tue to Thur to Kyoto and Nara. Hope the weather clears soon.

I'm stressed from various work issues. Two teachers are quitting; one at the end of September, one at the end of October, and I have to find appropriate teachers to replace them or do the classes myself. I'm reading a mystery called Troubled Blood (Robert Galbraith) which is surprisingly engaging considering none of the characters are remarkable in themselves, and I'm still watching GRIMM - skipping through it for the best parts. This week we have two national holidays - today is Elderly Day, when we are supposed to say thanks to our elderly, and Friday is the Fall Solstice. I don't often have national holidays off, but I do this time so this week is only three working days. That doesn't mean I'm not working: writing mails to students and teachers and trying to salvage the teacher situation, but I don't have to teach, so yay.

That's about it I guess. Hope to get to some of your posts later.
supernutjapan: (car&music)
1) What are you wearing right now?
An ivy green sleeveless knit shirt and navy culottes with a white sunflower or merrygold print all over the culottes are very light cotton, long and easily mistaken for a skirt. I also have some ankle socks on.

2) What would you rather be wearing right now?
I am not unhappy with what I am wearing, but I wouldn't mind just being in my shorts and tank. It is so hot and muggy. Also, I really need some more tops that fit my present stature more. All my clothes are so baggy.

3) What is your favorite outfit of clothing that you currently own and wear?
A long pencil style cotton brown skirt that flares down at my ankles. I bought it in Canada before my wedding and I have gone on and off wearing it due to my changing weight, but I can wear it again and I am enjoying it.

4) What is your favorite outfit of clothing that you have ever worn?ExpandBecause there are cute pictures of me below the cut )
supernutjapan: (Default)
1 Who is the messiest person you know?
Alex. LOL Julian is probably the neatest among my kids. Audrey is like hubby. The way she deals with her stuff is not to organize, but to leave it all in the living room so she can keep her bedroom clean(er). Alex...needs work.

2 What is the most useless talent you have?
I have double jointed thumbs. Completely useless.

3 What is the most interesting thing you’ve read or seen this week??
Interesting is what you say about something that is not boring, but is not brilliant. Those kinds of things are hard to remember, they make such a low impact. I've been reading the Martian Chronicals by Ray Bradbury. So far, it seems like this might qualify for the term.

4 If you could get a ticket to any show or event, what would you want a ticket to?

I'd like to go to CATS. In English.

5 if you could live in someone’s head for fifteen minutes, who would you want it to be?
My dog! :D I would love to really find out what she is thinking/feeling.

We had an incident yesterday, where hubby was out drinking with his friend and he couldn't get in touch with his mom so Alex and I went by car to see if she was ok. It was just something wrong with her phone. She wasn't lying on the floor unconscious as we feared, so we were relieved. But it had me looking up resusitation to make sure I knew it. I was talking with Alex afterwards and found out he had learned CPR for his driver's license. I thought it was pretty cool that that is a requirement for driver's licenses here. Also relieved I could ask him to do it if push came to shove. I only did CPR in highschool and that's long time ago.

The chorus festival last Sunday was pretty fun. We had never participated in this festival before. We started out early, meeting at our station at 7am. We practiced a bit at a practice hall near the festival hall, got dressed there and loaded ourselves into taxis. Our group was the only one with dresses on. I guess because we didn't get to get dressed (or practice) at the hall because of COVID, all the other groups wore costumes that could be worn normally outside. We were required to write comments for all the other participating groups. I took turns with another member of our choir. I was also in charge of carrying the placard of our choir up to the stage (from the audience, due to COVID). All the groups were super friendly and nice in their comments. We also had comments from "judges." Most were very positive. Especially with regard to the altos, which I was, soo that was really nice. The sops have some work to do with their high notes. All in all, I think it went pretty well. Here's a picture:
1658796160327.jpg

One of the songs was a latin song by Ko Matsushita called Tota pulchra es. Basically a song about how the Virgin Mary was the perfect woman/mother. Aside from the words, the music is beautiful. The piano part is superb. Here is a link

The other is a Japanese song - also composed by Ko Matsushita, lyrics are a poem by a poet, Shuntaro Tanigawa. Part of a set of songs called On a Quiet Rainy Night. Here is a link. The song translates something like this:

I want to sit like this forever.
Listening to my new sadness sink quietly
Taking advantage of the scent of the God I do not believe
Picking up a leaf of a country far from home
Gazing at the slideshow of past and future
Believing in the warm sofa of the blue ocean
And, most of all, loving myself
I want to sit quietly like this forever

I sang this song imagining myself and the others of the choir at some European city, crouching on the beach, hands around our knees, watching little pebbles sink into the waves, carrying whatever sadness - maybe a disapointment, maybe loneliness, a breakup, .... with it. And maybe, in the distance, a cathedral or little church where we've just been and emersed ourselves in the faith of ages.

Again, the piano part in itself is enough to melt the brain. You don't even have to listen to the words LOL

I've been watching Blacklist. I am really enjoying it but I don't like the main girl Elizabeth (Liz). She is such a typical American hero girl. She's so stupid and emotional, and also not really a badass LOL I was sad but also kind of happy when she "died" and it was just her husband LOL But now she is back. Anyway, I am hooked. It is getting more interesting with Tom's past coming to light as well. I really like him.
supernutjapan: (Default)
1. What is the sweetest thing you've ever done for someone else?
I really don't know. This would be my opinion naturally, and often what you think is the sweetest/kindest thing is not noticed or appreciated as such. I like doing things for people I love, but it often takes me a while to think of so it usually doesn't make it in time for a birthday or other special occaision. I tend to do them when they come to me regardless.

OK, here's one. I don't think it is the sweetest thing, but it is something I consider to be sweet. A few Christmas' ago, I made little stollen buns for every member of my choir as well as the pianist that played for our concert and of course the teacher/conductor. That was around 17 members at the time. I made a double batch of stollen to do so, and it took a lot of time and effort. I kneaded in a lot of good will, with their delight in mind. I think they enjoyed them.

2. What do you wish people would do for you?
I don't expect anyone to do for me what I am unable to do for them, so every little kindness is really special. I think it is important to feel needed but also to receive acknowledgement for one's efforts.

3. What are your simplest pleasures?
I'm listening to some relaxing piano music now while I type, which is quite pleasurable. My breakfast time and snack time are as well.

4. What makes you feel all warm & fuzzy?
Doing something nice for someone, and seeing my kids being kind to others.

5. How do you define love?

There are various kinds of love. For example,
There is love for a child, which is a giving love and unconditional.
There is love for a friend, which is a sharing sort of love.
There is love for a spouse, which is a commitment.
There is love for a lover, which is physical.

Here is a definition that covers them all - Affection, benevolence, good-will and concern for the welfare of the one loved.
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It looks like we won't be able to go on a trip as a family this summer. Julian has school until the second week of August, and Audrey has cram school in the second week. I start work on the third week. There are a few days between Julian's school and Audrey's cram school but not enough to go far. I suggested a night at a hotel we used to go to, but the problem is Hana. We'd have to put her in a hotel of her own and that would cost extra. I'm still kind of hoping we can do that though.

Alex had his second interview with the furnature store and got an offer. He had his first interview with the travel agency and passed that so will be having another interview there. He will have to ask for an extention on the offer of the first in order to be able to consider both jobs. I hope he can get the extension. I am excited for him, and also dreading his leaving home.

We are getting a steady trickle of trial students but our financial situation is still strained. We got a new loan from a government financial institution to try to tide things over. Hubby keeps telling me to not spend so much on the credit card, but I think he needs to consider his spending before he worries about the petty food costs. We have three grown kids and I am only buying what we need to eat, and being as thrifty as I can. I think the biggest strain is the schooling. I hope our student numbers go only up from here. It's been really hard since COVID. So, even if we could go for a trip, we'd have to wait until the loan comes through. *sighs*

I suppose everyone has heard about former Prime Minister Abe being shot and killed. This was a shock to all of us here in Japan. According to the news, the 41 year old man shot him with a handmade pistol (Firearms are illegal in Japan except for hunting rifles). He seems to have served in the Self-defense Force for a while. I really can't believe it. If this was the States, I would assume such a leader would have had bodyguards. But this is Japan. No one expected such violence. It's like a scene from a scifi novel. Hubby is of course ranting about it being a conspiracy.

Books - I'm reading a fantasy series by Will Wight, called the Cradle. I think someone mentioned it - if you were the one, thank you <3 I am enjoying it and going through it like wildfire. I thought for sure there must be a game based on the series, but I haven't found anything. I'm not particularly into games, but my son is making a sword fighting game atm at school and I could totally see the series as a similar game.

Did I mention that I had watched the first episodes of the new Dune series?  I enjoyed it and hope to see more. I am watching Manifest at the moment.
supernutjapan: (Default)
1. What kind of bugs do you see outside this time of year?
I've seen some ladybugs and been bitten already by some mosquitos. It is still cool enough that they are not out in force though. That reminds me of a conversation about blood types I had with my daughter. She is yet to find out what blood type she is and we are always guessing. She thinks she is B and I think she is AB according to her personality. I'm B, hubby is AB, so another possibility is for her to be A... but if she is, she doesn't fit the profile.

2. What's your favorite food to eat outside?
Rice balls! Although I am not eating very much rice at the moment, they are the quickest easiest lunch.

3. How much rain is too much rain?
A week straight. It happened one fall due to typhoons, and I was quite depressed by the end of it.

4. What are you celebrating this month?
It's our wedding anniversary, so I suppose we will do something for that. It's also Father's Day this weekend! I need to remind my kids so they can get something for him.

5. What's your favorite color combination?
For the clothes I wear, I like the blue and white combo the best, I think. My favorite color is magenta so I like to combine it with black or white as well, but I don't have many clothes in magenta. My daughter's randosel (elementary school bag) was brown with pink embroidery. I liked that combination too.

**************

1. What is the last book you read and what book(s), if any, are you currently reading?
I read Sitting Pretty by Rebekah Taussig and Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley.

I am now reading Poor Miss Finch By Wilkie Collins. It is a story about a young blind woman, twin brothers who come in contact with her, as well as a woman - the narrator - who was hired to be her companion. I started reading this book because the author of Sitting Pretty recommended it as writing in the true manner of a disabled person rather than the romantic view, plus I had read the Moonstone by the same author and remember having liked it. I am enjoying his writing style immensely and have been grinning and laughing through it. The characters are so interesting and well described.

The other book I mentioned above - The Firekeeper's Daughter - I finished the day before. It was a murder mystery story about a (half) Native American girl and her community. I thought it was very unique but also that more people in such unique positions should write stories based in their unique community or situation. The story was very well written and I enjoyed her viewpoint - the author is also Native American so it is real and I felt safe believing her and finding interest in the culture etc., y'know?

2. How about moving pictures? Are you a fan of any TV show or movie right now?
I'm just doing rewatches at the moment - which is why I've turned to books.

3. What's your favorite genre, and why?
Fiction about someone(s) with some sort of super power or ability and/or is different, unique. I need humor and prefer a bit of romance as well.

4. If we were all evacuating the planet, and you could only bring 3 unique works of entertainment for posterity, which would you pick? Let's just assume that we've coordinated it so there are no repeats.
OK, this question is a bit difficult to decypher but if "works" means one single game/song/book etc., and that we could share them with others and read/use theirs as well, and as [profile] notte0 mentioned there is a possibility of no extra electricity...
1) Score for Sound of Music - musical entertainment, theatre entertainment... I am assuming others will bring other good musicals along.
2) Game - trump cards -so many games can be played!
3) Books - Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series
Ultimately, these are not important, though. As long as we have imaginations, we will have stories. As long as we have instruments (including voice) we will have music. As long as there is any kind of extra tools, wood or paper like substance, there can be new games and even instruments. I think a lot of writers of apocalyptic stories forget that - or at least place less importance on it.
5. Do you make new works as well (fannish or original both count)? Or is that not your skillset/interest?
I have written fanfiction for Supernatural and Lucifer: I enjoy writing and would like to write a series about my life. I've started but am still unsure of whether to make it fictional or not. I have also written some readers for kids - still waiting on my son to finish the drawings. I've made a couple of songs for my own enjoyment. I've made a couple of card and board games for class.


*****************

Yesterday, I went to immigration to renew my residence card. I am a permanent resident, thanks to my dad, who applied for all of us before we left Japan when I went to college. I thought it would take the whole day so I took the day off from classes and asked another teacher to sub. I left home at around 9:20 after taking Hana for her walk. The first thing I did was get into a picture booth near the station and get my picture for the card. I then went straight to the office via train. It took around an hour in all because I had to ride a bus from the station. The bus was filled with people all going to the immigration office. There were a couple of women in front of me talking in English. One who was talking so I could hear her voice sounded French or Spanish. The other was Asian. Maybe a Japanese woman helping her friend. We all piled off at the stop.

Once I got to the office, I filled out the form and then picked a number - should have picked the number first. And, waited an hour and a half or so to be called. Once I was called, I gave in my form, passport and present residence card, and waited another 30 min or so. The worker had a question about my address, since we have our own condo address and also the address we live at. I explained, and I waited a few more minutes. Voila. My card was ready.

While I waited on the uncomfortable government office bench, I mostly read my book Poor Miss Finch mentioned above. There was a cute little girl with her dad that I watched for a little bit and imagined why her dad would be bringing her to an office, what sort of job he might have etc. They spoke English, and the girl didn't look half Japanese either, so he must be here on business. And there was a big screen TV that I watched for a few minutes as well. There is a long continuing show about boxed lunches made by various people all over Japan. They showed one young guy who works for a fish processing(?) company and has his own Youtube channel introducing interesting/rare fish. I laughed when the show commented he only had 34 subscribers :D but kudos to him for trying to increase interest in fish. Recent trend is straying away from traditional foods using fish. Young people often don't like fish at all, especially those where they have to pick the bones. Alex, my son, loves fish and often watches shows on Youtube - fishing and fish carving and the like. When he goes fishing, he always carves and cleans and cooks his own fish.

My business was finished at around 12:30, and I was starving, but I had no plans for what to do for lunch. I really hate going to a restaurant by myself for some reason and had a feeling that if I let myself, I would give up the challenge and go home directly. But thinking about my hunger and how it would increase as I put off eating, I stopped at Tachikawa station - the station closest to the immigration office, to find a restaurant that would hopefully have something I would be happy with eating. Remember, I am off rice and bread, mainly and get most of my nutrition from veges and meat/protein. So I needed a place that had a meat platter, or a big salad. There was one store that had meat platters, but they had an all-you-can-eat bread bar, which I thought might be too tempting. Then there was an Okinawa/Hawaiian style bar with taco rice bowls. I didn't know they were rice bowls at first. The salad and avocado on top looked perfect. I went in and found that the bar didn't have paper menues. They had QR codes to access the menue on your phone. A first time for me. As I checked the menue, I found that there was no salad and no meat platter either of course. I decided to ask if they could just give me the top of the taco rice bowl. They were very accomodating. The salad amount was not enough to satisfy me, though, and by this time it was 2 o'clock. Time for my after-lunch snack in my usual schedule. I had my snack with me so, as soon as I finished the "salad," I ate the pecan bars that I had brought, along with the coffee in my set menue.

Tachikawa is full of fashionable clothing stores and if I had the energy, I would have done some shopping. As it was, I was really tired and decided to go home. I did some grocery shopping at my own station before trudging home. When I got there, it was around 3 and I could have taught my classes myself, but I decided to have a rest instead. I lay down in my daughter's bed since hubby was listening to Youtube in our room, and slept. I taught one double class at 6:30 and then ate way too much dinner because of the unsatisfactory/stressful lunch. Also, my eyes had been bothering me since the day before. Something happened when I put my contacts in at that time, and my right eye had been smarting all day. I forced my contacts in that day as well, and by the end of the day it really pained me to take them out. I went to bed early because I was still tired and out of sorts.

Today, I came to work without my contacts in and am now huddled over my computer trying to see what I have written LOL I don't know how the classes are going to be. I have my contacts just in case and would put one or two in if I can't do it well enough without. Yeah, thinking about it, I will probably have to because I won't be able to see the numbers on my CD player. I really need to buy some glasses. I need someone to be my fashion advisor, but hubby can't find the time.

Anyway, gotta go and rest my eyes before class.
supernutjapan: (Default)
I started this on Saturday, May 28th and rewrote it to include two weekends ~

Saturdays, as I have mentioned before, have been our special family dinner day for many years. With my schedule, Saturday night is the only night that I feel my freedom of having a day off the next day. It is also my busiest day of the week so I am exhausted and ready for a reward for my hard work. Recently, various things have made Saturday inconvenient. My daughter has cram school from 7:00 - 9:00 for one. Then recently I had to add another class at the end of the day, making my finishing time 6:30 instead of 5:30, so it is harder to prepare a special dinner afterwards. But last Saturday, when I asked Audrey if she still wanted something special for Saturday even though she couldn't be there for dinner, she said she did. So last weekend, I got Julian to buy some steaks and beef for taco salad, and I made a nice dinner. Hubby joined the boys and me for dinner and I had some wine but hubby didn't drink because he had gone out to drink the day before. He asked me on the day if he could bring his mom for dinner, but since we hadn't really cleaned house and I had no time on Saturday, I asked him for a rain check. He asked me again later that night if we could ask her for dinner the next day. This made my already busy Sunday even busier and it meant I wouldn't have much time to take a break. But, hubby also offered to go to COSTCO for some chicken and pizza so (other than clean)I only had to prepare a salad, and we hadn't seen MIL in a while so I grudgingly said yes.

Last Sunday, I had choir practice, so I cleaned up the living room in the morning, and hubby got the boys to vacuum while I was out. After dinner, we spent some time playing Old Maid. It is a simple game but it was quite lively and fun. Julian won the game once without even playing by getting sets on all of his cards. It is interesting to watch everyone as we play. Hubby always blabs about how he thinks I (whom he has to pick from) have the joker. Alex and Julian both have good poker faces but I could tell Alex had the joker for 4 out of the 5 games by how Audrey and MIL reacted when they got it LOL

This weekend, Audrey had her Sports Day. It was her last Sports Day before JH graduation but attendance by family members was restricted to one per family and I had classes during her events so Hubby went. I was hoping he'd watch her 100m sprint but he didn't get there in time and just watched the relay. It was a very hot day. The kids were allowed to take off their masks as they ran but hubby said many did not. Several kids also had to leave early from heat stroke.

On Sunday, I had a school admin meeting to attend in the morning as well as choir. That was again rather stressful for me, especially since I have to take Hana for her walk too. But, the admin staff could all come only on a Sunday so it couldn't be helped. I asked Julian if he could take Hana for the walk and he said sure, but I felt better about it on the day and took her myself. We met a couple of friends and I took some hydrangea pictures. At the office meeting, my husband lowered his mask when he was talking and it made me a bit uncomfortable. He then went on to tell everyone at the meeting that he hated the way the mask chaffed at his mouth as he talked so please excuse him for lowering it. I noticed he scooted back a bit so that he was not "in range" of the workers in front of us. We talked a bit about the possibility of removing masks in classes, but decided that we would do so when public schools did, since parents were probably still worried. Teaching a language with a mask on is very counter productive, and I am considering using a plastic mask instead so the kids can see my mouth at least, but ... I really hate those things and for my comfort, I'd rather have a mask. It is a difficult issue. We also talked about how we have gotten to know people during these three years only with their masks on and it will be a shock to see their whole face. The jaw line is a game changer in the way a face looks, you know?! Has anyone experienced this shock? I've experienced it once with some new students I got during the epidemic.

We also talked about one of the students who was quitting, that I mentioned in my previous post. He was a real challenge, especially at 4 years old when he first started. He was unable to sit and listen and do drills with the other kids and it was disruptive. I suspect he is on the spectrum. He got better though, and the other kids also got better at "not being disrupted." His kindergarten told his mom he couldn't stay with them because they didn't have the resources to take care of him, but when his mom told me she was thinking of quitting a few months back when this happened, I told her that the other kids were able to sit in their chairs and listen while he might go off and start rearranging my CDs by color or the numbers on the felt calendar board, and that as long as he was in the room, he was learning something. He was welcome to stay. So she decided not to quit. Recently, he was also able to do some of the drills with them and I was really happy about the improvements. Unfortunately, he also seemed to have family issues. His dad kept using the money that they needed to pay us so the bank transaction never went through. Finally, his mom phoned recently and she told the staff she really appreciated what I had done for her son but she needed to start working so she couldn't bring him anymore (WHAT KIND OF FATHER WAS THIS?! A GAMBLER??). Anyway, we talked about how sorry we felt for this little boy - how it was a tragedy that he was kicked out of his kindergarten and of course his dad's issues which made it impossible for him to go to a proper kindergarten with care and also to continue studying English with me. I am including this story because it ties in with what I write about later.

At choir practice, the topic of conversation was again masks. Ko Matsushita, the composer, is now in Germany. He told our teacher about the mask situation on his trip - on the Japanese airline, the attendant announced that everyone had to wear their masks even when they were sleeping, and that they would wake anyone who happened to fall asleep without. This was regulation. Our teacher felt that was excessive. Then when he got to Germany, no one was wearing masks; even at the airport. We collectively despaired at Japanese society and our inability to take the first step. We also talked about how, children who have been raised for the past three years to always wear masks outside of the home now feel naked without them and that they will have a hard time letting go. I realized that when I went for a walk that morning I had seen people without masks but I myself had kept my mask - except when I pushed it down when no one was around. There I was despairing about Japanese people and I was the one who had kept my mask on. Next time, maybe I need to be more assurtive and act the foreigner so other people feel comfortable taking them off too.

Saturday night, Audrey joined me on the couch. She would not have appreciated The Shooter, so I suggested we watch Goonies together. I had wanted to watch an oldie with her for a while and it was the perfect opportunity. She resisted at first, but agreed to try it and she enjoyed it! Yay for mom/daughter movie night <3

I went on Goodreads to see what my friends were reading and picked up on a book called Sitting Pretty by Rebekah Taussig. It's non-fiction, written by a woman who uses a wheelchair. She writes about disability, her life with disability, how people view it and how it should be viewed to create a better society. It reminded me of several posts written and read here and on Dreamwidth: a Friday Five that made us think of eye glasses for example - how school children would cruelly tease others with glasses only a generation or so ago and how, now, it is nothing out of the ordinary since so many of us have this disability. I mean, unless I think carefully about it, I don't even consider my terribly short sighted eyes as a disability because I can live a normal sighted life with glasses or contact lenses. And just as importantly, I have no interest in even having surgery to regain eyesight, having been this way since I was 8 or 9. This was a key point written by the author - that non-disabled people think all disabled people want to "be cured." The book also reminds the reader that we are all disabled in one form or other. How much of a minority the perfectly functioning and highly productive body and mind is. I mean, it's probably not even "normal" LOL And if anyone has that sort of body and mind, this WILL eventually deteriorate as they grow older even if they are never in an accident, get sick or otherwise find themselves suddenly lacking. So, creating a society where disabled people can function more easily is for everyone's benefit.

In another post, I talked with a friend about how I felt that there was some similarity to my life as a foreigner in Japan to a life of a blind person in society of seeing people, and I felt this again when the author of Sitting Pretty talked about her life as she grew up in a family (whose other members did not have her disability), and as she entered society around her. When you are a child, and in your own family, whatever you are is normal to you. You figure out how to do things the easiest way you can in your situation and you are comfortable in the love of your family. When you enter school or otherwise start to interact with people around you, you see how they see you and you start seeing things differently as well. This was a big shock to the author and it reminded me of how similar I felt when I entered kindergarten here in Japan. All of the kids around me were Japanese. I was the only foreigner. The children were not mean to me that I recall. The teachers would not let them be. Some of the kids I am sure were enchanted by me as many were in the years to come. Total strangers would come up to me and ask to be my friend - I remember two older girls at a public pool in particular - while once in a while I'd get kids trying out their English by shouting "This is a pen!" at me on the street or more often calling me Gaijin (outsider). In both these situations I felt strongly like I did not belong. I wanted soooo much to have black hair and brown eyes like all the other kids and just blend in!

I grew up among Japanese children, but when I entered the missionary school, I found that many of the children there had not. They had been at the American missionary school since kindergarten and grown up among children mostly from the USA. They were again very different from me in that sense. I felt then that I (and a couple others like me) had a sort of advantage in understanding the culture and the language around me, while these children were sheltered by their parents and had missed out on so much. These kids went back to their home country as soon as they graduated, and I don't think any of them came back to Japan to live. Even my best friends who had similar experiences as me ended up living in the USA. It may have been difficult, but they integrated and became a part of the society there. I, on the other hand, went to Canada for university but never felt at home there and I came right back to Japan when I graduated. Culture-wise, I feel most at home here, and that is a fact. Because of my parents' decision to immerse me in Japanese culture, I acquired the language. And because of the timing of entrance into American school I was able to also acquire English - enough that it is my main language as it should as a Canadian. I am very grateful to them for this gift.

But, I will forever be alone in a sense. There is no one who really understands me here or even in my "home country" Canada. Of course, there ARE... but there are just so few with my background that I will probably never find a person near me. I will always be the outsider looking in. The Japanese people will always see me as an outsider. They treat me differently (most of the time they are super nice and helpful - as they are to all outsiders) and I will always be discriminated against when it comes to housing, getting a loan etc. I recently went to the bank to do some business. My husband had changed the CEO from him to me but we had not changed the name at the bank. I asked them how we would go about doing that, and the man started spouting things about how since I don't have Japanese citizenship, this might make it impossible for us to get a loan in the future. I asked him to forget I asked. Truly, I felt so vulnerable at that moment. I don't have any true friends here either - they are all superficial. Don't mistake me, my situation is not pitiful and the fact that I do not have close friends may not all have to do with my situation. I am blessed in many ways and I am usually completely happy. I have these platforms to vent, I have three awesome children and dog, I love my work, I enjoy my hobbies, which do not require any RL friends. It wasn't my intent to make you feel sorry for me, just to explain how I related in some ways with this person in a wheelchair in the society of mostly walking people who are taught to "be nice" to disabled people but whose efforts are superficial; and the difficulties she had finding affordable accessible housing etc.

The book also talks about how people with disability might feel they have to make do with something other than what they really need or want - marry someone for the sake of health insurance for example, instead of love, because of the real fear that they cannot survive otherwise and/or even because they believe they are a charity case and don't deserve the perfect happy ending. This is not something only people with disabilities feel either, is it? How many people actually marry because they are truly in love? I'm thinking at least half of the people on this planet convince themselves they love the person enough but are really marrying for the security or because they don't believe there is that perfect person out there for them, or that they are just not pretty enough or smart enough or worthy enough to get that person. I (and she) will tell any of you who need to hear this - it's better to be single, I promise.

The book is packed full of stuff I was glad to learn specifically about people with a mobility disability, as well as feelings I could relate to in my own life, and she is a great writer so I enjoyed the read and it made me think, a lot! I recommend it highly.

Anyways - sorry for the very very long expose. Some pics of the hydrangeas under cut.
ExpandRead more... )

Golden Week

May. 7th, 2022 04:52 pm
supernutjapan: (Default)
Japan has a lot of national holidays. May is a month when we have a concentration of them. Actually, it all starts on April 29th (Showa Day - I think it was the Showa Emperor's birthday), then we have May 3rd (Constitution Memorial Day), May 4th (Green Day), and May 5th (Children/Boy's Day). So those lucky workers who can get holidays on Monday and Friday have 9 days off this year. This "week" of holidays is called Golden Week. Everything is crowded on Golden Week, so we usually stay home except for going to a nearby lake to see the carp decorations or some other nearby activity.

This year, I went to sing karaoke with my kids on Tuesday. I was going to go shopping with Julian to buy him some clothes, but Alex started talking with Audrey about going to karaoke and I thought Julian would like that too, so we combined the trip and I went along too so I could pay for it and make it an outing. This was a karaoke box shop where you could rent a room as a group. It was fun to go out with the kids and spend some time with them. Afterwards, we still had time to go shopping and I bought clothes for all the kids.

On Wednesday and Thursday, I stayed at home, but we made takoyaki together for dinner on Wednesday, and I bought the kids sushi for Thursday night.  For the takoyaki, we use a flour based "pancake" type mix, but I didn't want flour in mine so I made mine with just egg and a bit of baking powder.  The sauce and mayo were the same so it tasted exactly the same as the real thing.

I have started rewatching Once Upon a Time since finishing my rewatch of Agents of Shield.
I’d watched it several times previously but when I found it on Disney+ I had to do another. I love the romantic interests this show chooses for Emma. First the Sheriff, played by Jamie Dornan (50 Shades), who dies way too fast,

then Hook, played by Colin O'Donoghue (There was another in between which I was not keen on… glad he dies LOL). I have finally gotten to mid Season 2 and am now enjoying Hook, who thankfully ends up staying till the end of the series.

It was fun to recognize a main character from The Good Doctor as Snow White’s father here as well.

I remember really enjoying the whole series, and I am having a blast watching. However, I only see 2 seasons mentioned here on Disney+ and I know there is much more. I have the sinking feeling I will have to look for the rest somewhere else. When I watched it before, I watched on Netflix USA using VPN. Is it still there? I couldn’t find it, and am guessing it is now Disney exclusive… And not all available in Japan by the looks of it. I could be wrong, but I don’t even want to confirm, I feel so disappointed if true. There are even videos out and it can even be bought on Prime. Why would it not be available on Disney? It doesn’t make sense. I am hoping it is just a glitch and Season 3 will magically appear when I am ready for it. I can’t watch using VPN on my TV or tablet so I would have to find a different way. Buy it on Prime maybe, since I will probably want to watch it again in the future.

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day and I am thinking of making a pomegranate and cranberry tart to celebrate. I also bought some flowers to be delivered to my mom. I don’t do it every year, … actually only once before to test it out… but I miss her a lot and needed to do something. I am hoping maybe we can visit hubby’s mom also and share the tart. I also have choir practice tomorrow and am getting my very expensive order made choir dress. I will have to pay over 500 dollars for it. Choir is costing a lot of money now that we only have 11 members due to covid and we have to save up money to prepare for our concert next year. Our teacher will be working overseas after our concert and it will be the last concert with her. We also have a church concert planned for July of this year, where we will be able to wear the new dresses as well. I wish I could just quit, with all the extra costs, but with the new dresses just made, I can’t. LOL It would be a waste of money, and I can’t exactly say I don’t want the dress.

My birthday is next Thursday, and I don’t want anything except a food processor - I want one that can do spirals and make nut butter without overheating. My present food processor is good enough for a half cup of butter, but if I want to make more, or even mix in other ingredients for energy balls or something, I need a bigger one. I feel bad for asking my kids for it after they got me the knives for Christmas. It would cost around 200 - 300 dollars.

I couldn’t take Hana for walks this week because her stomach wasn’t doing well. Usually, she does some poo at home before I take her out, but since we ran out of dog food, I had been giving her sasami (chicken breast) instead for a couple of days. She stopped doing her regular poo since Thursday night up to this morning. I asked Julian to take her for a walk anyway while I had class because I didn’t want her getting sick, and she seems to have safely done some poo on her walk. I am so relieved. I now have some regular food, so she should be ok. Sorry for the overshare, but this is one of the important ways I can tell if she is healthy, and something I was really worried about.

Here are some pictures -
ExpandSee pics )
supernutjapan: (car&music)
Here are this week's Friday Five at last.

1. how did april fool's day start? non-serious answers only.

I'm not quite sure of the meaning of this question, but if it means the origins of April Fools - 
It's Loki's holiday, obviously.  People liked listening to stories about him but also knew that his tricks shouldn't be something to copy every day, so they created one day of the year when tricks and Loki could be celebrated.
I'm not trying to be serious... but I could actually be right.

2. ever pranked anyone?
I may have tried to trick family members on April Fools once or twice when I was younger, but I dislike pranks with a passion so I wouldn't put anyone else through it either.

3. what's something foolish you've done lately?
A few months ago I bought some Chive and Basil seeds because I can't get chives at the supermarket here and I really like them, and basil is available but expensive and I thought I'd grow some.  Yesterday, I went to the store to buy some soil and planted the seeds.  The basil was easy because it just had to be planted in a planter.  Chives supposedly need a smaller plant bed? I'm not sure what you call it in English.  I thought I was being smart using a plastic egg container, but I forgot to make holes in the bottom, so the little cups filled up with water today when it rained.  Such an idiot.  Thankfully, I planted some in a regular planter as well, so those were saved.  I really don't have a green thumb but I've grown chives and basil before - they should be pretty easy to grow. *crossing my fingers*

4. what's made you laugh this week?
I watched the Graham Norton Show this morning on Youtube.  



5. what does april bring in your part of the world?
Cherry blossoms and a new school year.  Strawberries are more accessible/cheaper as well.  My son Julian has his birthday in April so he will probably ask for cake with strawberries.


-----

In other news, our Easter picnic was cancelled today because it was raining when I woke up at 6 this morning, and the forecast said it would rain all day.  Great.  LOL  We've postponed to next week.

I finished watching the Bold Type.  It was quite an emotional season.  I'm now rewatching Tiitans for Dick Greyson.  That reminds me that recently, I've been getting a lot of pics of Brenton Thwaites in my Pinterest feed, some of which were from a movie called Office Uprising, which I'd not known about before.  I had to watch it because the pics looked pretty cute.  I found the whole movie on Youtube.  It was hilarious! 

Well, I guess I'm going to bed!  Have a nice day everyone.

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