Summer 2010

My summer break is almost over and I’m left wondering where my time went. Here is some proof of the fun:

Visit with Renee and Brad in Vancouver ( 3 nights)

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Visit with lady, doc and Sophia in Colorado springs (3 days)

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ISTE conference in Denver (8 days)

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Visit with friend and family in Ottawa with a 2 night trip to Niagara Falls with Rosie (3 weeks)

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2 weeks of summer school
1 week of computer setup, relaxation, tweeting, blogging, staying up too late and waking up to early.

Teach workdays begin on Monday August 16.

Toganji Temple, Nagoya

Last Tuesday (May 4, 2010), two friends and I went to Toganji Temple in Nagoya to visit the Big Buddha statue. One of my friends recently downloaded a geocaching application on her iPhone and discovered that there is a cache at Toganji Temple. Tanya found the cache. We discovered another cache nearby so went in search of it. Charlotte found it. They wanted to go in search of one more cache so that I could have my turn of being the first to find the cache. I declined because in both cases, I’d suggested the possible locations but didn’t want to encounter bugs or other unsavory characters in my quest. I guess I need to get over my issues with bugs and dirty hands.

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Meiji Mura, Inuyama

Two friends and I went to Meiji Mura on May 2, 2010 since we had an extra three days off for Golden Week. We prepared a picnic lunch of vegetables, bread, hummus, banana chocolate chip muffins, bean salad and egg salad. We spent about 4 hours at Meiji Mura before heading back home.

Meiji Mura is a Japanese open air museum about 30 minutes (driving) from Nagoya with architectural artifacts from the Meiji period (1868 – 1912). It was opened in 1965.

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Chocolate Chip Muffins

I volunteered to make chocolate chip muffins to help the Habitat for Humanity club at my school raise funds for next year at our annual garage sale. I found the best chocolate chip muffin recipe here: http://www.mrbreakfast.com/superdisplay.asp?recipeid=239. I tripled the recipe and followed it to the letter except for doubling the vanilla essence (I actually used a combination of vanilla and mixed essences.

These muffins are delicious. The only thing that I can’t figure out is why some of them are lopsided.

One of these muffins is less like the others ...

Tokoname Pottery Path

Kathy and I explored the Tokoname Pottery Path on a windy, cold sunny day during our spring break. We went in the afternoon and the two sites that we could have visited were closed but we enjoyed the circuitous walk, with frequent photography stops.

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Japan Infographic

A Japanese person has created this infographic from a foreigner’s perspective.

Japan – The Strange Country (Japanese ver.) from Kenichi on Vimeo.

He’s taken down his official English version but there’s an English version here:

Since I speak little Japanese, I can’t compare the two versions. I’m interested in how well the video translates from Japanese to English and on your impression of the video.

Pictures from Sapporo and Otaru, Winter Festivals 2010

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Beautiful Hokkaido

I met the mother of one of my grade one students at Centrair Airport. Her son pointed me out and told her that I am his teacher; she was initially confused because she hadn’t met me before. Once in Hokkaido, we took the train downtown together. As we parted, she gave me her number and invited me to call her if I needed help or wanted to grab a meal together.

I messaged her yesterday to suggest lunch today. We met for a late lunch and went to an Indian restaurant near her parents’ home. The proprietress is so interesting. She is a Japanese woman married to a Tibetian man who has refugee status in India; they met in India when she was vacationing there. We bonded over our Ayurvedic experiences in India and over our adoration of the twin polar bears at the Maruyama Zoo. My friend translated some of our conversation but it’s amazing how much of a language you can understand from the tone of voice and body language. We spent a lovely hour and a half together before she pointed out a nearby bus stop to Otaru, my next destination.

Simply beautiful. I’m overwhelmed by the beauty of the Otaru winter festival. I took a 50 minute bus ride from Sapporo to Otaru and walked around the beautifully lit up city. Ice candles are laid out all over the city, particularly along the more traditional streets. There was no pomp and circumstance tonight, just crowds of people enjoying the unique candle holders made of ice and snow.

I stopped along the way and bought a large clam cooked mostly by blow torch.

Long weekend in Hokkaido

I’m sitting at my hotel in Hokkaido, having a tart and coffee. It’s warm in here even though I have the thermostat set to 23 degrees. I’m enjoying the warmth after several hours in the snow and cold today.

I got to Hokkaido yesterday in time to enjoy the ice and snow sculptures in Odori park and the entertainment for the final night of the Sapporo Winter Festival. Light snow constantly fell over everything giving the illusion of a snow globe. The scale of the sculptures is empressive. There is one of animals at the zoo and several of buildings. Most of the sculptures are done by Japanese but there is an International Park with sculptures representing the following countries: Finland, USA, China, Thailand, Korea, Bali, New Zealand, Singapore and Hawaii (yes I know it’s not a country). There were two other sites for sculptures too but I didn’t make it to either of them. And now it’s too late because I saw cranes tearing the sculptures apart as I walked to my hotel tonight.

Right opposite my hotel was one of he largest sculptures. A stage was created as part of the sculpture, one of several such stages created in Odori Park to host performances. Most of the Japanese performances that I’ve seen involved taiko drumming. These were unique in that there were no live instruments. Large groups of performers danced while one person on the sidelines called out/sang out. Considering how cold it was, I was surprised that the outfits were often sleeveless or bared the men’s torsos. In one outfit, the men stripped down to underwear. There was even a Japanense boy band who performed. One thing that strikes me when I watch Japanese performances with dancing is how much fun the participants seem to have. The audience was having lots of fn too, dancing and waving in time with the performers.

Today I simply walked around the city and went to the zoo. I’m heading to Otaru tomorrow.

More pictures when I get home …

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