So I wasn't imagining things...

I just read an article that made me remember something that happened when I was on a Team Ramen trip to Hong Kong. The series of articles was about the documentary "Flowers & Troops" (花と兵隊) by Yoju Matsubayashi (松林要樹) where he interviews 6 former Japanese soldiers from WWII. In the article, it mentions the attitudes he encountered when travelling in Asia as a Japanese, some of which stemmed from WWII.
We were checking into our hotel in Hong Kong, and I noticed that the hotel owner (who was from China) suddenly decided to change one of our rooms, and was very insistant that our Japanese friend got that room. It soon became evident, at least to me, why the sudden change had occured. While 2 of our rooms were newly renovated, with air conditioning, body spray showers, LCD TVs and magnetic security doors, the last room was far from it. Our friend's room looked like it was could have been in a slum. The matress was on top of a plywood platform, the TV was an old set with dial knobs, a ceiling fan instead of air-con, a bathroom door that hung on by one hinge, a sink (about the same size as those on airplanes) doubled as his shower...with his none exisitant water pressure, and a door knob that you had to jiggle as you turned the key. I think I mentioned to the others that this room change wasn't a mistake...I have to admit, it did make me a bit angry at the time. My friend had nothing to do with what happened. His parents weren't even alive during the war, so how can they treat him like that. But, at that same time, I could understand why it was happening. Old wounds heal slowly, especially when it feels like salt is always being rubbed into them (Yasukuni Shrine visits, the war museum that says it was "liberating its neighbours, denial of certain events/actions...) And it's always these things that make the international news, never the unifying events...
Anyways, I wonder if this film will be shown in Canada. It would be interesting to see some other perspectives on the war, different from the usual right-wing view. I remember looking at some of the history books at the junior high schools and thought how amazingly brief the parts on WWII were, considering how involved Japan was in this world event. Oh, and the WWII comic book was "interesting" as well...more blood and gore than educational. But it is interesting to see that perhaps the next generation (director is relatively young) is going out and learning on its own...instead of shrugging off what they've experienced, and to try to understand why. Perhaps politicians can learn from this...

Pudding!!

Or at least something that looks like it! I was at the supermarket when I found one of my old favourites...プリン！But, it was almost $5 for three cups ( I used to buy the 3 pack for $1 each week). I couldn't bring my self to spend that much money, so I hopped on the internet and looked for a recipe I could try myself. I found one that looked pretty simple. The sauce was just boiled water and sugar till brown. The pudding itself was milk, sugar and eggs. Put into molds and steam. Things didn't go as planned. First the sauce. The recipe said simmer, so I put it on low heat. But, all this did was boil off all the water and it left me with hard, white sugar stuck to the pan. So, I added more water and turned the heat up, which got it to go brown. One crisis averted! Next was the actual pudding. Making it was okay, except it took a lot longer than the 20 minutes the recipe said. I found that the taste was a bit sweeter than what I remembered. And it was really "eggy"...It tasted more like Chinese egg tart filling than Japanese pudding. It was smooth and creamy though. I was also a bit worried about the sauce at first. When I tried the first cup, it was still warm. The pudding part was nice, but the sauce would crystallize when I pulled my spoon out. It was pretty cool actually, as I had been wanting to do these "sugar strings" ever since I saw it on Iron Chef. But, hard strands of sugar are not a very good pudding sauce. Luckily, once it cooled down, the sauce changed, and aside from being too sweet, wasn't half bad.

申し訳ありません (moshiwake arimasen) m(_ _)m

I feel SO BAD right now! When I was teaching, I used a special email account for my students. But, barely anyone sent me anything, so I eventually stopped using it. Plus, most of the students that keep in touch use my personal account. Randomly today, I decided to check my old account, and was so surprised to find like 10 emails waiting for me! One was strange, because that student normally sends to my personal account. I replied to some of the others, and hope that they will get them. Kids in Japan change their mail addresses so often...But I feel awful. I hope they won't think that I'm ignoring them!!!

owie...(いて！）

2 owies today. First, the brakes on my car stopped working! When I was driving to work, I couldn't stop at the first stop sign (I had to slam on my emergency brake to stop) and had to go back home. Luckily, Dad doesn't work too far away. I'm a bit worried about how much money this is going to cost.
2nd, I burned my hand on the glass of the toaster oven. It looks like it might blister up. We put on this Chinese burn ointment, and it seems to be helping. At least it doesn't hurt anymore. Even when I was using the ice pack and running water, the pain would return quickly, but this actually keeps the pain away. I wonder if there will be a blister tomorrow. But, we're all bandaged up to keep the stuff on at night.
I have news about Rogers Cup, but it's hard to type without my left hand...so maybe later.

おめでとう！！

The Taiyu girls' table tennis team is officially the 2nd best team in all of Akita!!! I'm so excited and proud! My little ちびs did great! This means that they will be advancing to the 東北大会 (Tohoku tournament), I'm guessing in early August. I think this is the first time I've seen the whole team advance so far. It might have happened 3 years ago when Megumi (now at Omagari) was on the team, but I didn't really understand what was happening then. Congratulations and good luck girls!!
Side bar, 明桜 will be Akita's representatives at Koshien this year. I pretty surprised when I saw the result. When I first saw the top 4 teams, I thought that 本荘would win again. From what I could make out, it looks like 明桜had a 2nd year ace pitcher. Hopefully, I'll be able to catch some Koshien games on the internet.

中学校全県大会始めます！

Finally, it's started! Don't know why I'm so excited...But here are some results!

Girls table tennis, Taiyu is first in block D, with 3 wins straight.
Track and Field: Omonogawa tied for 4th in boys' high jump and girls 3rd in long jump
Basketball: Omonogawa boys SQEAKED by Odate Ichi 54-52 (wish I could have seen that game!), but then lost their 2nd game to Igawa 52-47. The girls didn't make it this year, but it looks like Hiraka has a strong team again this year.
Judo: Girl's didn't do so well, dropping straight sets, and I guess the boys are tomorrow!

Going, going...gone....

Well, the last Yokote area high school has been eliminated from the baseball tournament. They put up a good fight, even though they were down by a huge margin. They scored a few runs in the 8th and 9th...unfortunately, the other team got 4 runs at the top of the 9th inning... Well, Best 8 is something to be proud of! Anyways, eagerly waiting the results for the junior high school prefectural tournament that takes place this weekend! I'm tempted to send an email to one of the teachers, but I'm afraid he might be busy with the tournament!

Maybe I miss the drive...

Alas, my OBs are wrapping up their regional (Tohoku) tournaments.
Looks like Omagari girls' (with a few Taiyu girls) lost one and won one (Not sure how the tournament structure is). And Noshiro's basketball team (with some of my Omonogawa boys) is doing well, winning 115-68 over Yamagata. I always watch this team with special interest. One of the players wrote on his English assignment that he would join this team, even though its basketball program is tough and the school is like a 3 hour drive. He made it though, so now I'm waiting to see if the last part of his dream will come true...Ganbatte Ito-kun. If they win their next match, it's off to 全国！
Some of my other boys at Seriyo made it as well, but they got knocked out yesterday.
One boy's handball team took 2nd. And of course there's volleyball. Omonogawa lost yesterday but Yokote won. I think they're still in round robin though.

北海道の思い出す

I'm reading an old manga series right now, called Hana Kimi. It's pretty funny, but the last chapter took me down memory lane. The characters go on a school trip to Hokkaido, and man the memories of my trips there with my students came flooding back. The places we visited, the food we ate, the pictures we took...even the hotels! It didn't help that I found an old video of my baseball boys last night too. I wonder if everyone is okay...that reminds me. I should check how Seriyo and Yokote did in the baseball tournament!

Jack...Superstar!!!

I got a very interesting email yesterday from my Youtube account. Someone was helping promote the RSPCA Australia's new fundraising campagin...sort of an American Idol for animals. They had seen Jack's video on YouTube and wanted to get permission to use it to help promote the campaign. I turned to Audrey (my other rabbit), who was next to me, and told him about the email. He stopped his foot and gave me a hard shove with his nose...a little jealous? (He has great comic timing)
I was a little bit worried though, because the contact information didn't seem to match the RSPCA's. So, I googled the address. Turns out, it was for an advertising company, who represents the RSPCA and IKEA! Animal charity and IKEA...how can I refuse? I just have to find Jack's video file to send. Oh, and I promised Audrey I'd mention him as well :P

Too cute..

And no, I'm not talking about my rabbits. I got an email over the weekend from one of my old students. She is one of the cutest things in Japan. Apparently, she has a boyfriend now, and emailed me about it *touched*. I was so happy when I read her email. I had no doubt that she would get one, because she is so cute. But, I'm also a little worried, we are dealing with a teen aged boy here. The other part, she wanted me to visit her at work...As much as I miss the ebi-burger, I don't know if I can pull that off...

最後の夏/残念無念また来年！

I was wondering when 全県大会 was, and maybe to see how my old students did. I couldn't find the dates (maybe it's too early), but I did see the news stories about the high school baseball tournaments. I was a bit sad to see that Yokote Jonan lost their first game and was eliminated from the tournament. I couldn't help but smile as my memories of my baseball boys came flooding back. Especially the ones who had gone to Jonan, so that they could start their own baseball club (Jonan was an all girls school until 2 years ago). I used to watch them training until they couldn't see the ball anymore from my tennis court, and wondered which shadow was one of my old students.

Then I saw that Seriyo had won and Yokote had a bye into the next round. Which made me start wondering about another group of boys. For at least 2 of them, this would be their last summer tournament before they graduate from high school...One of them was an amazing player in JHS, and got into that school because of his baseball (he was pretty smart too). 大丈夫、かな。。。
And I guess I miss watching their games...

Definitely bought this somewhere...

I went to add an emoticon onto an email I was sending my friend, and noticed that gmail had added new emoticon tabs...they definitely bought them from a Japanese company. They had yukatas, oden, ramen, school symbols, kakigori, onigiri, the poo pile, tempura and acutal Japanese! I used to love using these on my cell phone, and missed them (along with many other things). So glad I can use them again! うれしいわ！

バンビーノ２ できました！

Ever since I started watching Bambino, I've been hungry for Italian food.
I finally remembered to buy some olive oil after work and made some pasta for lunch. I don't get to cook or eat Italian much because mom hates it. But every episode of this show is filled with delicious looking food and I couldn't resist the urge any longer! Also, this marked 2 firsts for me. I can't eat spicy food, but I decided to use a dried chili pepper in this. Also, this is my first pasta without using tomato sauce. It turned out pretty good, expect for the garlic being a little bit over cooked. I just need a name for my culinary masterpiece...diced onions and tomatoes, peas, mushrooms and shrimps.

Good Bye Michael

I wanted to wait until after the memorial to write this post, just to see how the observe how the world would choose to remember Michael Jackson. I've been glad to see that people have chosen to remember the music and joy that he brought, instead of the sadness and trials he had to endure. I didn't really consider myself a huge Jackson fan, and was surprised to find that he did indeed have an impact on my life, and that I do feel sadness at his passing. Growing up, the first Jackson album I remember, and bought, was Dangerous. But of course, even before that, as now, his music was always omnipresent. I believe that everyone is a Jackson fan, though they might not know it. As the news of his death spread, and the music channels dedicated themselves to his videos, I was rediscovered how much I had loved that album, and how those songs had been the soundtrack to an important part of my life. It reminded me of friends, and emotions that I had lost to time.
I was also very happy with the service today (minus Al Sharpton). Initially, when I heard that it would be at the Staples Center, I was worried that it was turning into a spectacle. But, it was beautiful. I was especially moved by Brooke Shields' words, they felt as if they were coming from a true friend. And I was so relieved to see what happened at the end of the memorial. When his daughter started to speak, I could see the family cocoon around her as she started to cry. Then to see Janet pull her in and hold her tight...I felt a sense of relief in knowing that the kids would not be lost in the shuffle and madness, that the family would be there.
Thanks for the magic.

Bambino バンビーノ

There was a show on TV that I had wanted to watch, but I had class at the same time. Finally gettting the chance to watch "Bambino" now. While the show isn't going to win Emmys, I have to say there are moments that really went beyond the regular, usually silly TV moments for me. LOL...I came for the food (show about Italian restaurant), and stayed for the heart. Like when the main character, Ban, feels homesick after going home, or when Eri breaks up with him (let's leave this one at that), and my favourite, when Ban gets told off that it's not love when you're pushing your feelings on to someone else...I thought this would be another silly, light hearted show. It is, but still...it hits home unexpectedly
On top of that, I'm always hungry after each episode.
P.S. Gokusen movie coming soon!!! Just caught a special preview on TV

Boring, but pretty...

I was watching a little TV at lunch time today and came across the Tour de France coverage (only because it was on after the Wimbleton story). I'm not a cycling fan by any means. For me, it's not a very interesting sport to watch. I've even gone to a road race, and for those 15 seconds when the riders race by, great...then there's the feeling of "now what...". Anyways, I digress. What caught my attention was the amazingly beautiful wide shot of the lead pack riding down a country road while a herd of white horses, complete with flowing manes and tails, galloped along side them in the field next to the road. Wow, that's a desktop picture!
Then, there was an another cool moment. Apparently, I had just missed a collision. One cyclist was now trying to catch up to the pack, but as he's doing this, he's riding next to a car with 2 people hanging out the windows, giving him medical treatment as he's riding ( and littering medical supply wrappings...). Oh, and the whole pack slowing down so riders could catch up. Holy sportsmanship, Batman...

ooooooOOOOO....

Today I went to the orientation meeting for the new Rogers Cup volunteers. Wow, I can't wait. I was a bit worried, but it looks like they have a really good programme, with about 80% of volunteers returning every year. It was a bit strange during the tour of the grounds, thinking, WOW...Nadal and Federer played on this court last year...I just watched that guy win Wimbleton this morning...It's the girls playing in Toronto this year. They let us in on a few of the players who have committed to the event this year and it looks like it will be a great tournament and I can already see myself spending way too much money at the booths! I don't know how much tennis I'll actually be able to watch, but I'm looking forward to being around tennis again!

So it begins...

Well, I thought I would have a little more time before this started, as some of my older cousins haven't gotten married yet, but it looks like I'm starting to run out of time. And according to my mother, time is running out before I start having disfigured children. She is desperatly trying to get me to meet this guy. But I think I'm still a bit wary of men in general at this point. It is amusing to watch my mom swing between her classic urge to keep me locked in the house, and her urge to get me married off/start having kids...*sigh* ったく。。。