Train Bingo!

How did your games of Train Bingo go? I've been playing train bingo (cousciously or unconsciously) since I moved to Japan. While New York is famous for its subways, trains are fairly new to Los Angeles. In fact, the metro system only got popular after I moved to Japan. Actually, compared to Tokyoites, far fewer Los Angelenos use the train. Most people would rather drive. You would never see a scene like to one in the Crowded Train video (to the right) in Los Angeles. You would never see it in New York or London, either. I think the Japanese are more tolerant of crowds.

The first time I got on a really crowded train it was actually my third day in Japan. I was heading to Karuizawa with an entire International Program class from Kashiwa Municipal High School. We were heading to a three-day English camp. All together, there were 42 students plus 6 teachers. We all got onto one train car at the same time, and boy were we squished. I couldn't believe it. I could hardly breathe. I was shocked, but most of the other people with us seemed to be used to it! Hello Japan!

European Vacation

Welcome back to school, everyone. I hope you all had a good break and are ready to start a new term with your friends and teachers. What did you do this summer? Did you go to the beach? Did you work at a part-time job? Did you go abroad?

I went to Europe with my mother. My mother is a painter and her whole life she has wanted to see the Louvre Museum in Paris, so she thought that it was about time she did. Luckily, I was able to go with her, so I got to have a great holiday, too.

We decided to travel for two weeks and visit France and Switzerland. We chose France for Paris and the famous museums there, and Switzerland because my good friend Justine just got a job in a little village in the Swiss Alps, called Leysin.

We flew into Paris on September 1st. My mom from Los Angeles, and me from Narita. It was a long flight, but seeing the lights of Paris at night made it all worth it.

The first few days, we took a trip down the River Seine, visited the Louvre, and followed the Lonely Planet walking tour of Montmartre. Then it was off to Switzerland by TGV, the French version of the Shinkansen.

The French countryside was beautiful,　covered with green, rolling hills. We arrived in Geneva, Switzerland in the early afternoon, transfered to a local train, and made our way to Aigle, at to foot of the Alps. We then took a cog-wheel train straight up the mountain to Leysin. Leysin in an Alpine town with many international schools. Justine teaches at the Kumon Leysin Academy of Switzerland. It's an international high school for Japanese students.

Leysin is just beautiful. We stayed at a really nice B&B and had a great time. One of the best things was eating dinner at a fondue restaurant. There was even a huge pot of hot cheese roasting on the fire!

Our next stop was Vevey, on Lake Geneva. We stayed at a very nice, friendly, clean youth hostel there. We enjoyed a visit to a castle, a boat ride, and a lot of good food.

After that, it was back to France: The TGV to Paris and then a local train to Giverny to see the house and gardens of the famous Impressionist painter, Monet. My mom loves Monet's paintings, so it was a good place for her to visit. The town was beautiful and the gardens were breathtaking! Did you know that Monet had a huge collection of Japanese woodcut prints? He was very impressed with Japanese art.

Then, it was back to Paris for a final three days. We visited the Orsay Museum and the Orangerie Museum, took a dinner cruise along the Seine, and shopped at an outdoor market. A highlight was making a picnic lunch of fresh bread, cheese and olives from the market and then eating it on the banks of the Seine. Sublime!

It was a wonderful trip and I highly recommend both France and Switzerland as excellent vacation spots!

Thank You

Thanks for a great semester, everyone. Have a great summer. I'm going to try to keep posting now and then over the summer, so if you have a chance, drop by my blog and say hello. Take care!

The joys and tears of living abroad

I've been in Japan for about 13 years. In that time I've met many wonderful people. Lots of nice Japanese people, and lots of good foreign people too. Since my foreign friends are also living far from home, we have a lot in common. We have all adapted (more or less successfully) to a new culture and we have all learned a lot. We've shared frustrations, achievements, joys, and tears.

Another thing we've all faced is having to say goodbye to dear friends who leave Japan to live and work in other foreign countries or to return home. The longer you are here, the more friends you have to say goodbye to. By the end of this year, I will have said goodbye to three good friends. Mark and his family, whom I've known for five years, returned to Australia in January. My good friend of four years, Toby, and his wife will go to England at the end of this month. And my best girlfriend, Justine, will move to Switzerland to teach at the Kumon International Academy in August.

It's something you come to expect, but it never really gets any easier to say goodbye. The good news is that now I have three more places to stay in the world: Sydney, Australia; Bogner Regis, England; and Leysin, Switzerland... No wonder I can never save any money!

Kitty-chan

Normally, I would not have named a cat "Kitty-chan". I've had lots of pets over the years and most of them have had rather unusual names. My cats, Merlin, Frodo, Tipperaiah, and Sneaky Peet. A rabbit named Zowie. A pug dog names Charlotte... So why did I pick the most common name in the world for my cat?

Kitty-chan came to live with me in the winter of 2004. I was living in a small apartment in Nishi Mikado in Kamakura, and pets were not allowed. One night my friends and I had a big dinner. We noticed some stray cats hanging around outside the veranda so we gave them some food. (Bad idea if you're not supposed to have a cat.) Well, most of the cats realized that that meal was just a special treat, but one ginger colored cat just kept hanging around. She was so persistent that she even ran into the house every time I opened the door to hang out my laundry. I kept putting her out, and she kept coming back.

I went away for Christmas vacation, and when I came back ten days later the cat was still there. Not only that, but she had become very sick with a bad cold. Summer said, "You better let that cat in the house!" So I did. I decided she needed to go to the vet, so I packed her up in a cardboard box and my friend drove us to the local animal hospital. At the vet's reception counter, they asked me the cat's name. Name? She didn't have one. "I don't know. Kitty, I guess." So when I finally talked to the vet, he said, "What's wrong with Kitty-chan?" Kitty-chan? Oh!

Well, Kitty-chan has a few problems. The vet thinks that she was born with some birth defects. She only has one eye, and she can't hear. In addition, she breathes strangely. When she purrs the purr seems to come out backwards!

She's an unusual cat. She hates other cats, but likes some dogs. She used to have terrible table manners: The first time Summer's father-in-law came to visit she stole the fish off his plate at dinner! But she wouldn't do that now. She loves Forest. Most cats wouldn't like a noisy baby at all, but since Kitty-chan can't hear, she doesn't mind the baby at all.

She's an unusual cat, and she deserves an unusual name, but she'll always be Kitty-chan. She doesn't mind. After all, she can't hear her name!

Cafe de la Terra

I went to a really interesting lecture last week. It was held by the Meiji Gakuin University Sloth Club. The Sloth Club focuses on living a slow, healthy, simple, and sustainable lifestyle. Slow, like a sloth. It was held at Zenryouji Temple in Totsuka. The club holds events at the temple, which it calls Cafe de la Terra - because you can drink coffee and chat in the temple, just like in a cafe.

The guest speaker for the evening was a man named Carlos Zorrilla. He grows Fair Trade, shade-grown, organic coffee in the cloud forest of Intag, Ecuador in South America. Usually, many trees must be destroyed to make room for a coffee plantation, but when coffee is shade grown, it grows beneath the trees in the forest, so the trees never need to be cut down in order to grow coffee. Since the forest is home to many birds and other animals, shade grown coffee is good for them, too.

Unfortunately, copper - a valuable mineral - was found in the earth below Intag. Mining companies want to buy the land from the villagers of Intag in order to remove the copper from the earth. If this happens, the forest will be destroyed. The people and animals who live there will have to find another place to live. (Of course, this will be easier for the people than it will be for the animals...)

I hope the villagers of Intag can sell a lot of their coffee so that they can continue to say "No." to the mining companies.

You can read about the Sloth Club and find out about future events by checking this link:

http://www.sloth.gr.jp/tsuji/

Plan B

Sometimes things just don't go according to plan. That's when you need "plan B". In other words, when things don't work out as you've hoped, you need to be flexible. And sometimes plan B turns out to be a real winner.

Last Saturday I met my friends - Justine, April, and Ai - in Jiyugaoka. We went to a great spice shop called L'epice et Epice, then went to the People Tree shop before heading to a new restaurant April had found on the Internet. It was a restaurant specializing in food from Senegal in Africa. We had a simple map of the area, but it took a long time to find it... and when we did, we found that it was CLOSED! Strangely, it's only open during the day time.

We were all really hungry by then, so we had to resort to plan B: Find another place quick! The problem was that we were all looking forward to having a unique dining experience, so no ordinary restaurant would do. There are a lot of restaurants in Jiyugaoka, so on the way back towards the station we looked at quite a few places. We almost decided on an Italian restaurant, but they were fully booked, and we were too hungry to wait. Then I happened to notice a small sign reading "Wine Bar Coccolo". That got my interest. Ai went upstairs to have a look. "Does it look cool?", we asked. "Yeah", she said, "but it's empty!" Oh, not a good sign. But as fate would have it, we we're all too hungry to continue looking for another place, so we went in.

The interior was cool. The menu was really interesting. Lots of vegetarian and fish options (good for me). And a huge selection of organic wine! Great! We ordered and had a chat with the owner. It turned out that she was the only one working. She cooks, serves, and talks to the customers all by herself. And she does it all with great skill. Every dish that came out was perfection. The wine was delicious, too.

By the time we got ready to go, the place was full of customers. We were so lucky to have had to resort to plan B. I'll definitely go there again. See the link for Coccolo in the sidebar.

P.S. You can see my cooking video by clicking on "Bamboo Window favorites" in the Video section of the sidebar.

Humor

This week I wanted to share a video I made for my Comprehension class. We are just finishing a unit on FOOD, and the unit project is to demonstrate a favorite recipe... so I decided to make a cooking video. Last Wednesday night I made Mexican tostadas and Summer videotaped me doing it. It's rather funny, if I say so myself, so I wanted to show it to you. Unfortunately, the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray. (That means, no matter how well you plan something, things can always go wrong!) First of all, we tried to transfer the video from the camera to a VHS tape, but the VCR broke. Then, I thought I'd put it on the computer and make my own DVD, but I was missing a cable I needed. ...So I went to Yamada Denki and bought a cable, but when I came home and tried to use it, I realized that I was missing another important cable... Needless to say, I did not make a DVD that night. Luckily, Caleb showed me how to connect my camera to the VCR at school, so we were able to watch the video in class. Phew!

So my point is, though I wanted to show you my cooking video, it is still not available. In the meantime, though, please take a look at the SUSHI video in the sidebar. It was produced by a Japanese comedy team called "The Rahmens". It's quite funny and at times absurd, but very well produced, I think. Enjoy. and tell me what you think.

P.S. It's subtitled in English, but is funnier if you also listen to the Japanese commentator.

Bornfree Art School

Last Friday I went to the Amnesty International event I mentioned previously and I learned more about the Bornfree Art School and the condition of working children in India. We heard a talk by the director of the school, listened to some music, watched a pantomime, and heard the stories of three boys who were former street children. We also looked at an exhibition of photos taken by one of the boys. (You can see some photos by clicking on the link at the right.)

After the event I spoke to the director, John Devaraj. In addition to the Amnesty International event, the group is visiting many schools in Japan, including Meiji Gakuin. (In fact, some of the Meigaku students attended the Amnesty International event, too.) I asked him if they were planning to return to Japan in the future, and he said yes, probably next year... so I asked him if they would like to visit Ferris, and he said yes! So if everything works out, they might visit us next year.

FACTS:

Of the 246 million working children in the world, 127 million work in India.

There is a town called Malur on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border, which is famous for growing roses. These roses are exported to places like Holland and Japan. Unfortunately, many of the people who work on the rose farms are children. In fact, 1,000 young girls are working hard picking roses every day. They get paid very little for their work, while we enjoy the fruit of their labor. I love roses, but when I heard this it made me very sad.

What can we do? Well, one thing we can do is support businesses that are Fair Trade certified. (That guarantees that no child labor is used, and also guarantees fair wages to adults, so that their children can go to school instead of work.) Another thing we can do is buy flowers grown in Japan. When we buy domestically produced goods, we help Japanese farmers and help save the environment, too. Flowers grown nearby don't have to fly long distances on an airplane. Of course we know that airplanes produce a huge amount of CO2.

Cafe Life Force

So how was your Golden Week? Mine was fantastic! I didn't do anything special. I didn't go anywhere unusual. I didn't go into Tokyo. I didn't go shopping. In fact, the furthest I got away from Kamakura was the "Lumine" in Yokohama station, where I had some nice Spanish food with my friend, Stuart. (I also went out to lunch with another friend Saturday - in Fujisawa, and to a great Mexican restaurant in Yokosuka on Monday night... so I guess I did a lot of good eating! ; ) But the main point is that I had a good holiday just hanging around my neighborhood and spending time with my friends and family. When we went back to school on Wednesday I actually felt like I had had a good rest!

Anyway, I wanted to tell you about this nice cafe I've discovered recently. It's called "Cafe Life Force", and they serve really delicious, fresh, healthy food. They specialize in Macrobiotic cooking. Macrobiotic cooking focuses on whole grains - like brown rice. Miso and tofu are also main ingredients. Lot's of fresh vegetables, too. The cook at the cafe is really creative, and the meals are not only delicious, but beautifully presented. I always feel really healthy and energised after I eat there. Next time you're hungry in Kamakura, why don't you give it a try? Here's the address:

2-5-19 Yuigahama, Kamakura. It's near the statues of the "Six Jizo."

Golden Week

Well, we don't have much of a Golden "WEEK" this year, but we do have four days off in a row. That will be nice. I don't really have any plans yet. I'm trying to plan a get-together with some friends I haven't seen in a while, but so far we haven't been able to arrange anything.

What are your plans for Golden Week? Are you doing anything special?

By the way, I'm planning to go to this event next Friday. Take a look at the information below. If you are interested, please come.

The Kamakura Branch of Amnesty International is proud to be hosting an informative evening that will include talks, a short film, a dance performance, and a display of photos taken by street children in India. We hope you will be able to attend.

As part of Peace Boat`s "Art 9 Peace Divine Tour", three young adults and their teacher, from India`s Born Free School, are making their first tour in Japan. Born Free School in Bangalore, India, which started in 2005 offers training in various performance arts to street children. The aim of the school is to empower these children and help build their strength emotionally and spiritually through the window of art. There are 24,600,000 child laborers in the world, and half of them are in India.

The three teens on this tour were child laborers and/or street children, forced by circumstances to drop out of school, and so their future seemed very bleak. Thanks to the Born Free School, they have returned to school and have also gained skill and experience in an art form. Their motto is: "education through entertainment and entertainment through education"


admission: free
contributions: accepted (all to the Born Free School)
date Friday, May 9
time: 7:00 - 9:30PM
place: Kamakura Shogai Gakushu Center 4F (2 minutes from East of JR Kamakura Station)
contact: 046-824-8683 (Clara)
Refreshments will be served

Jack Johnson

April 12 I went to see Jack Johnson perform at the Akarenga Park in Yokohama with my daughter, Summer, her husband, Keijiro, and their baby, Forest, and some friends. The music was inspiring and the atmosphere was perfect: peaceful and full of positive energy.

I think Jack Johnson is a real hero. One reason is because he works hard to save the earth and also tries to educate his audience on environmental issues. Check out the link to his website.

The other reason he is a real hero to me is because his music always calms Forest when she is "too tired to fall asleep". We just say, "It's time for Jack"... and start playing one of his albums. She usually falls asleep before the end of the second song! Here she is dancing to Jack's opening acts... and with her papa, after Jack started playing.

Holiday in Cambodia

I went to Cambodia to attend the CamTESOL conference at the end of February. CamTESOL is a big English teachers' conference held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. If you go there you can meet a lot of other teachers teaching in Cambodia, Asia, and around the world. There were quite a few teachers there from Japan. You can also watch a lot of interesting presentations on various teaching methods. I enjoyed the conference and met some nice people.
After the conference, I visited a school in a small village in the countryside. I stayed with a lovely Cambodian family and met some wonderful students. I ate a lot of fantastic home-cooked Khmer food. I also visited Siem Reap and the Temples of Ankor. Absolutely mind-blowing! Back in Phnom Penh at the end of my stay I went to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Musem, which documents the actrocities of the Khmer Rouge, and the Killing Fields. A very chilling, yet moving experience.
I visited Cambodia alone. It's rather unusual for women to travel solo in Cambodia, and a lot of people there were curious about me. The trip was at once wonderful, frustrating, awesome, saddening, and encouraging. An unforgettable experience that I am likely to repeat next year. Stay tuned.