mint and oregano

I killed my rosemary plant last year by over harvesting, which I didn't think was possible. I'm being more careful about this one.

Cilantro and Dill chillin' in the patio.

Summer Time and living ain't easy

Weather is gorgeous! Vancouver trees are in bloom. Pink cherry blossom petals hit your face as you cycle down the streets. Aaahhh….life would be much grander if I have a steady job. Every spring brings uncertainty. Currently, my teaching job is slow. I’m frustrated and annoyed. I need to hit the pavement and look for a summer job. I’m too old to waitress and too poor not to.

Being a substitute

Being a substitute teacher is the best on the job training I’ve ever received. I get called the night before or first thing in the morning with my assignment. I drive to work and majority of the time, I enjoy myself. The best part is the students. They make me laugh. They challenge me. They make me see that the world is wonderfully filled with imperfections. Some of the bad things are cold receptions from other teachers, poorly planned lessons that I have to administer, unqualified teachers, and dealing with crying parents.

Yesterday, I had a bad encounter with another teacher. The teacher stopped me in the hallway as I transfer my primary students from the library to the gym. She needed to see the new student. She asked for an assessment of his language ability. It was his first day. I thought he did a great job introducing himself to the class and answering other students’ questions. He showed no problems with spelling and following Math instructions. I told her all of these in the hallway. My words didn’t convince her. She turned around and started talking to him so slowly and loudly but without lowering her vocabulary. The way she spoke, I thought she developed speech problem. In the span of 30 seconds she labeled him as needing full language support and asked that he is to report every morning for ESL. Poor kid, he’s going to be so bored. I hope his regular teacher and his parents advocate for him.

Sunday Smiles

Jon found and shared this with me. It made my cherry blossom bike ride disappointment go away. Hope it warms your heart.

Day 62: 漢字

I started attending 日本語classes three weeks ago. It’s on every Tuesday. I needed help staying focus and paying for a course always does the trick. My class is located at a gorgeous location by the dock in East Vancouver.

Today’s 漢字 is 商 (しょ、あきなう）. It means trade. The book explains this character as hands dealing behind the curtains. Works for me!

Favourite Places to Eat

1. Shiro on Cambie
2. Vancouver's #1 Dosa
3. Congee Noodle House on Main (please re-open soon).
4. Cito Cafe on Marinaside Crescent
5. Jade Garden in Chinatown.
6. Goldfish for their yummy soup (Yaletown)
7. Cellar in Kits (jazz and aperitif).
8. Uncle Fatih on Commercial (best budget pizza joint in town).
9. Salsa Agave in Yaletown
10. Kinos on Cambie (Flamenco nights are awesome).
11. Menya on Broadway and Yukon
12. Trix crepes on Cambie.
13. Fritz on Granville (nights on Granville with Anya isn't complete without Fritz)
14. Liberty Cafe on Main St (best pie)
15. Sweet Revenge on Main St (the best server and raspberry cake).

Hmmmm.....I think I eat out way too often!!! Maybe, I need to read Jen's food blog more often to get inspired about cooking.

Arcade Fire

to slay January's boredom.

Day 14: busy writing papers

I'm taking a break from Kanji to write papers. Also, I'm finding my flashcards boring. I need to start using my Kanji creatively. I hope my two new books help: Read Real Japanese: Short Stories by Contemporary Writers and Read Real Japanese: Essays by Popular Authors.

Day 9: 義 （ぎ）

I picked this 漢字 because I like writing it in my work book. It makes me feel like I know what I'm doing when I practice 義. It means justice, integrity, and loyalty. Also, it looks pretty.

Wondering why I'm studying Kanji now? Well as a teacher on call, I often get called to teach Japanese. Ninety eight percent of the time my Japanese is fine. The two percent of the time it doesn't sit well. Majority of my students are awesome. They are young motivated teens that are passionate about anime and Japanese culture. Basic Japanese goes along way, except when I have students that are Japanese Canadians and Chinese Canadians. Those kids often ask me how to write a certain kanji or give them a reading for a character they encountered in manga. My reply is always, "I don't know, go look it up." Embarrassing. To do something about it, I've decided to learn. I want to take the second level Japanese test this September. The test is difficult. I don't know if I'll pass.So as my soccer students in Japan used to say, "GANBARO!!"

Day 8: 勝 （しょう、か「つ」）

I’ve known two parts of 勝　for a while. The first radical is 月. It means month. The one underneath 力　means strength. I've still yet to learn the radical that sits on top of strength. These three radicals together in this specific order means a flesh cut by the powerful. The おん　reading is shou and the くん reading is ka[tsu] and masa[ru].

Day 7: 漢字

漢字of the day is 接(setsu,se[suru])。接 means to touch or adjoin. The explanation for this 漢字 is neat: strokes 1-3 join hands, and 4-8 is a standing woman. So when I see 接 I think of the desire to be close to someone I like.

Day 6: 漢字

Today’s kanji is 殺 (satsu, koro[su]). In Essential Kanji, P.G. O’Neill provides pictographic explanation of 殺：strokes 1-2 is an animal, strokes 3-6 is a tree, 7-10 is clubbed to death. To memorize this character I think of an animal sitting in a tree that has been clubbed to death. Essential Kanji is an awesome book. It gives you characters by stroke count, simple and frequently used characters are given first, the おんand くん readings, and English names of radicals. This book makes me want to study 漢字. I love it!!!

Day 3: Maligayang Bagong Taon!!

It’s 2009. New hopes, new dreams, new goals are in the horizon. This year I’m actually setting goals. Small goals to keep me busy and active: spend more time with friends, snowboard, use my snow shoes frequently, learn to be a better swimmer, take the 日本試験二きゅ, and work on my PDP +15.

american politics

While in Seattle I was hoping to see an Obama poster. No such luck. I did see several McCain posters though. American politics fascinate me: determining the leader of the most powerful nation, their long electoral process of finding presidential candidates from the major parties, the strategies behind selecting a VP, and the historical divisions between red and blue states.

I find all the candidates and the legend behind their myth incredible. McCain pulls his war hero card every time he’s asked a tough question. His running mate Palin draws attention by choosing to keep her mentally handicapped child. Biden connects with voters by reminding them of a personal tragedy that took his first wife and daughter. And Obama’s multicultural identity reflects the complicated fabric of American society.

Whomever the American people choose, I hope they do so on capabilities and political record.

return

It`s great to be back in company of great friends. I hung out with Kuniko on Thursday and Friday. We went to Mangekio onsen in Chiba. Oh, how I missed onsens! When I was planning my trip, I was hesitant because I haven`t been to any new place in the last three years. But now, I`m happy to be here. This is my first real holiday in three years

Yesterday, I walked around Yachiyo-Chuo. I found this beautiful walk way that meanders around the city. It is a brilliant green space. The flowers are labelled and the wood railings gave a touch of Japanese esthetic to this Disney Land city. Chiba is situated East of Tokyo. One of its main attractions is Disney world. While I was on the train, I saw Cinderella`s castle and Aladin`s palace. Japanese love Disney, which makes sense for this ultra stress, high pressured society to be in-love with fairy tale endings.

I have been eating amazing food. Kuniko prepared a feast yesterday for Kenta, Yumi, and I. We ate, drunk, and danced salsa in Kuniko`s leaving room. Since Cuba is the last place Yumi went on a holiday, she created Havana for us by dousing our coffee with rum.

In couple of hours I`m heading to Nagano. I`ll be taking the famous Shinkansen. The three years I lived here, I didn`t get a chance to take the bullet train. My town Chino has the rapid Asuza, I wonder how it compares to the SHINKANSEN?

Midnight's Children

It took me a year to finish Midnight's Children. Every morning a list of errands appeared on my desk and Salman Rushdie’s words were pushed aside. It is a great book. It inspired me and best of all, it made me laugh. This is my favourite part:

Commander Sabarmati walked out of the apartment block with the smoking gun in his hand (he was seen, through the crack of a door, by a terrified Latin tutor); he strolled along Colaba Causeway until he saw a traffic policeman on his little podium. Commander Sabarmati told the policeman, “I have only now killed my wife and her lover with this gun; I surrender myself into your . . .” But he had been waving the gun under the policeman’s nose; the officer was so scared that he dropped his traffic-conducting baton and fled. Commander Sabarmati, left alone on the policeman’s pedestal amid the sudden confusion of the traffic, began to direct the cars, using the smoking gun as a baton. This is how he was found by the posse of twelve policemen who arrived ten minutes later, who sprang courageously upon him and seized him hand and foot, and who removed from him the unusual baton with which, for ten minutes, he had expertly conducted the traffic.

Friday afternoon

I’m home on a Friday afternoon. It feels strange. My head tells me to clean my room and kitchen. My heart tells me to click away at the keys. It has been too long since I’ve written. Most of the things I love to do have been neglected: reading books, writing letters, talking to friends, watching the sky change. I haven’t found time for myself. My education degree took them along with my energy.
Now it’s done. I sit and wait for my licence and for the phone to ring. In the meantime I’m organizing pictures from my trip home during the holidays and relearning to write.

isang araw

I am awake before my alarm rings at four:twenty. At five:thirty I walk down Cambie. Sleepy construction workers with cigarettes between their lips sit in their trucks waiting for their shift to begin. At five:fifty my body tenses as I get off the bus on Pender and Hasting. The first crack in the sky is still buried under the horizon. And the dark forces me to carry my keys between my fingers. My strides are quick and long. Twenty steps before….nineteen, eighteen, seventeen, sixteen, fifteen, fourteen…..four, three, two, and safety.

Morning coffee is unnecessary when you go through the oldest neighborhood in Vancouver. Lights flicker from people crouched on the ground as they inhale smoke rising from their hands; cocoons line the side walk, people in different stages of muscular contractions scream inaudible sound. Sadness fills me as my bus passes through the downtown east side. Drug rehabilitation, social issues….we are born with unequal circumstances, how do we level the playing field? These thoughts slip away as I enter the industrial section. My own reality pulls me and traps me between teaching chance and probability, behavioral management, my nephew who has not returned my email, my students that are struggling in life, unpainted bedroom, choosing a country to live, dropping my suits to the cleaner.

Part 1