Lumping, Part Two

Reading: Wild Swans, Jung Chang
Hearing: 気分上々, mihimaru GT

As requested, a post with pictures!

The post with pictures of my lovely home (as requested by Dad) will be appearing once my home reaches the desired state of loveliness.

These slippers--fluffy marshmallows for the feet--make the cold slightly more bearable. Just kidding. I run and dance around my house in these, singing like mad.

My latest ikebana creation includes peach carnations, something akin to ti leaves, and an adorably fuzzy curry-colored flower called "kangaroo paw."

After attending the Nintendo Wii Promotional Event on Nanko Island, Chris and I ate at an Italian restaurant in the Asian Trade Center. I fell in love with these rice croquettes, served with a light tomato sauce of beef and carrots. Our set lunch included caesar salad (Japanese-style, of course), two pastas, two desserts (Chris chose tiramisu, and I opted for a light creme brulee.), and drinks (Coffee for him, tea for me.).

The school week has been busy. I've been teaching my first-year students "American Body Language," using gestures such as shrugging my shoulders to say, "I don't know" or tilting my hand to express that a movie was "So-so." After sharing gestures from my culture, I asked the students to teach me about Japanese gestures. I already knew most of the gestures that the classes demonstrated, but next week, two of my students will share a prepared dialogue using the classic Kansai phrase (with gesture) "なんでやねん!" I'm looking forward to it.

On Tuesday, I gave my third-year class a complicated lesson on Japanese Americans, using difficult words such as "immigration" and "oligarchy" (in referring to the government of plantation-era Hawaii). Perhaps it was a bit of a cruel lecture to follow, but my Thanksgiving lesson for next week will be far more enjoyable. I think I will distribute construction paper Pilgrim and Indian hats for the class to wear. (Doesn't everyone enjoy that?) Or at least we'll make hand turkeys.

In doing research for my presentation, I found quite a number of good resources for and on Nikkei, including an article on the relationship between Japanese Americans and Japan. I think that that will be a topic for another post.

On Tuesday evening, I performed my first complete tea ceremony! Up until this point, I had been practicing the individual steps, but Sensei finally had me go through (albeit haltingly) the entire procedure. After I had completed my "片付ける" procedures, I attempted to stand up to leave the room, and I fell right back down, my legs have fallen asleep during the extended seiza! (Everyone laughed, myself included.)

On Tuesday evening, I made pasta for dinner. Red sauce with beef, zucchini, and button mushrooms over penne pasta (purchased from an import goods store). I am no cook, but I ate weeell that night!

I struggled to watch Amelie, which I had rented from Tsutaya, but I had grabbed a version without any English translation. I thus watched a French film with Japanese subtitles.

Ahh, internationalization.