tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27431923215984262082024-03-18T19:55:22.963-07:00Under the Same MoonChronicles from near and farAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328626560305690532noreply@blogger.comBlogger114125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743192321598426208.post-8359311261374844172018-03-18T05:36:00.001-07:002018-03-22T20:51:20.511-07:00On the work front... last report from my time at BSCIS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As we are slowly inching towards spring for our third year here in Tokyo several events mark this time of year. </div>
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The arrival of the spring cherry blossoms is a hotly anticipated event here with <a href="https://www.japan-guide.com/sakura/">web-sites</a> to track the exact time and people planning their "Hanami" parties already. We have enjoyed being out on long city walks between the bouts of rain to discover and appreciate the arrival of the plum blossoms. </div>
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Shelley has decorated her helmet for the occasion to totally blend in with the background... flower "camo" as it were. </div>
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The parks are full of people out enjoying the blossoms, striking the "kawai" (cute) poses with close-ups of blossoms. </div>
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Of course this is also the opportunity to bring the prized dogs out for a walk in their spring finery; note that those are not baby strollers but dog strollers just in case "Little Fluffy" gets tired from excessive walking. </div>
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Some of the Jizos at the temple to honour aborted and deceased babies have their winter jackets and hats on. </div>
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though the days are warming up. </div>
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At school this is also grad season for our grade 12 students and exam season for our grade 11 and 10 students. </div>
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This is my third end of year season, but the first time that we have had graduates from the BSCIS school; VERY exciting!<br />
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As Shelley and I have decided to return home to BC at the end of this school year, March 30th, this is also a time for reflection and mixed emotions as we wrap up this stage of our lives.<br />
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After three years of hard work, the students start their grad events with a special class called "Manners class" taught and prepared by the staff at the Regency Hyatt Tokyo (wow!). We were all seated around tables set beautifully in the "Western" style, prepared for a 2 hour lecture on all the subtleties of manners at a sumptuous banquet in the West.<br />
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Just in case we had any questions, each setting had a "Manners" book so you could read up on the finer points of manners.<br />
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Our grade 12 students waiting for the banquet to begin.</div>
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Our Japanese principal and myself... also waiting for instructions. </div>
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This video gives a feel for the event; check out the student behaviour as the camera scans...</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Lb18Yz_aKqk/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Lb18Yz_aKqk?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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We learned about the origins of the fork, the direction to move your spoon, which knife is used when, all of the important things necessary to function in the West. 😊😊 And then, of course, we enjoyed a fabulous 4 course lunch!</div>
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Returning to the school site I pause to remember how specially I am treated here in so many ways. When I enter the front entrance and change my shoes... I have the "corner office" of the shoe boxes; the top left corner closest to the school; high prestige!</div>
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Graduation is an exciting time especially for the homeroom teacher who has been with the class since grade 10. Atsushi was the first homeroom teacher in BSCIS... a brave pioneer.</div>
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The main gym is always an impressive site as it is set to sit the 1000 plus high-school students and their parents. </div>
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The main Japanese ceremony is a very formal, quiet and thoughtful event with beautiful songs sung by the grade 11 as a good-bye to the grade 12 and vice versa. There are also many speeches by the various dignitaries and students receiving awards. Students and audience are very quiet during the whole ceremony. I had the opportunity to hand out the first BSCIS diplomas at the main Japanese grad.</div>
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From the very formal Japanese graduation ceremony with the help of the DD teachers and the students we organized a full-on BC style graduation. First and most importantly, the students were thrilled to receive an actual graduation hat with a tassle (a must for a BC grad! 😊). They marched to their seats with "Pomp and Circumstance" playing and with the audience standing, cheering and hooting. </div>
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We appreciated the remarks from the Japanese Principal as well as remarks from our Offshore School Representative. I also had an opportunity to talk to the students and parents about how brave they have been starting out this school. </div>
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Students gave thanks to the parents and to the teachers...</div>
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while teachers thanked the students. All of the speeches had a nice blend of humour and emotion.</div>
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As the certificates were handed out and students flipped their tassels carefully, people enjoyed the laughter, appreciation and clapping (mixed in with a few hoots) as they tossed their caps into the air. </div>
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The event finished with an emotional slide show reviewing 3 years of study, hard work, humour, expeditions and fun times. There were lots of tears and laughter as the slides were called up. </div>
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It was very meaningful to me to have a whole variety of parents come up to express their appreciation for the work I had done over these years. </div>
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These students have been accepted to amazing universities all over the world. 70% of them were accepted to the top tier Japanese universities here in Tokyo. 30% have been accepted or are close to being accepted to universities around the world: Maastricht, Prague, Vancouver, Whitehorse. </div>
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These excellent results have really caught the attention of the public in Tokyo. We received a beautiful bouquet from the British Columbia Office here in Tokyo. </div>
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From an original field of 17 applicants (we accepted 15) this year we had 84 (!!) applicants and accepted 45 bright, thoughtful, passionate boys and girls for next year. On an almost daily basis we hear from parents wanting to find out how to enroll their child for the coming year. </div>
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I leave this school feeling excited about its' possibilities. The blend of two cultures, of students learning the best of each world (Japanese and BC education) have created a powerful opportunity for the vibrant students to pursue their dreams both in Japan and around the world. </div>
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It has been a professional thrill for me to facilitate and encourage the student-centered approach linked to "active learning" that we do in BC through field trips, debates, presentations and other approaches to creative thinking. </div>
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With their strong study skills, their intense drive and their curiosity these wonderful Japanese students have really taken the opportunities provided by the BC curriculum and taken off to pursue their dreams. </div>
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I am truly grateful for this opportunity to work and live in Tokyo, to start this new BC Offshore school and to see it blossom into maturity. I am grateful for the kind administrative team, my Japanese colleagues, who have worked so closely with me over these three years as we created this school and set precedents for the coming years. I feel honoured to have been the first principal here at BSCIS Tokyo and I wish the whole team success in the coming years.</div>
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As a parting image of my time here our English 11 teacher had students created visual depictions of what they needed to remember as they entered this season of intense exams and pressure. I leave these three years of intensity and pressure (and fun and celebration!) with this message for myself. </div>
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Stay posted for new adventures in the next phase of our lives. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328626560305690532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743192321598426208.post-79251218621954498232018-02-21T18:45:00.002-08:002018-02-21T18:45:17.681-08:00 What is “old“? <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In Japan we are constantly bumping into the question: What does "old" mean when you are talking about culture, buildings and historic places?</div>
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To illustrate the conversation/dilemma, lets start with our trip last weekend to Kyoto. Travel by Shinkansen always starts at Tokyo Station, the heart of Tokyo, built right next to the Imperial Palace in 1914.</div>
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It stands today looking exactly as it did in 1914, right down to every detail of the turrets and the copper decorations....</div>
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But when you do a little research (click <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyTMe2jkAI8">here</a> for a fascinating video) it turns out that the building was badly damaged during the Great Kanto Earthquake, had the second roof and towers burned off by the Allied fire-bombing, and was "modernized" before being "historified" for the new grand opening in 2013. Is this an old building???</div>
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Zipped down to Kyoto via the bullet train, this being our third visit we have gotten to know our way around some of the interesting old neighborhoods that are tucked in behind the huge modern buildings and the big tourist sites. We enjoyed with our friend visiting from New Zealand browsing through some of the old stores and seeing how life has been lived for many years in "old" Kyoto. </div>
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These were truly old neighborhoods not destroyed by bombings or earthquakes. </div>
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Kyoto is known for its stunning old temples in every sense of what I consider old. This wall was originally built in 1450. </div>
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This temple, Rengeo-in, was built in 1266 ...</div>
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to house a stunning display of 1000 armed Kannon statues (see <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanj%C5%ABsangen-d%C5%8D">here</a> for more). </div>
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This was an "old" temple with "old" statues!!</div>
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This temple was founded in 888, destroyed in 1467, rebuilt 150 years later, with dry gardens raked every day since 1500s as the monk's meditation; every day!... yes; this was old. (See <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninna-ji">here</a> for the history of Ninna-ji)</div>
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There are the old temples re-done with new renovations.... done with the old techniques... with young craft people... who come from old temple repair families...using old techniques. Check out this family business repairing and re-building temples for the last 1400 years!!! (Click <a href="https://worksthatwork.com/3/kongo-gumi">here</a>)</div>
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Within the renovations the paintings on the fusuma doors are "old" and not redone.</div>
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While here, at Renge-ji temple the guardians at the gate are nestled in re-built gates they have their original peeling paint cover.</div>
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We had the chance to re-visit one of the most visited temples in Kyoto, the Golden Temple (and yes, it was very cold and beginning to have some snow blusters.) This stunning temple was originally built in 1397, then destroyed during the Onin war in the 1400s, then re-built only to be burnt down by a deranged monk in 1955. The temple and all of the treasures were lost (click<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinkaku-ji"> here</a> for more) ... only to be re-built exactly as is was in the 1600s, with all of the statuary reproduced exactly as it was. The craft people were from one of the families that have been building temples for over a 1000 years. </div>
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This is a beautiful (and crowded) temple. Is it "old" or is it "new"?</div>
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Behind this highly touristic and beautifully redone temple, there is a less well-known temple walk that has 88 mini-temples tucked in the woods as a mini-pilgrimage equivalent of the Shikoku pilgrimage. Most of these mini-temples and shrines were evidently built within the last 100 years, and they are slowly decaying back into the underbrush. Some of the shrines have been topled by earthquakes. Vines and shrubs are slowly covering the path and the buildings.<br />
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Are these sites "old" or "new"?<br />
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We finished off our visit to Kyoto with a wonderful discovery of an Ikebana (flower arranging) exhibit. This is one of the classic Edo-period traditional arts in Japan (see <a href="https://www.japan-zone.com/culture/ikebana.shtml">here</a> for more details). Ikebana is highly structured, with very rigid rules of aesthetics that have evolved over hundreds of years.<br />
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We found this exhibition quite exhilarating because it was a complete modern take-off on the art of Ikebana. Using some of the old techniques they created a new vision of flower arranging; quite fascinating.<br />
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Is this "old" or "new" Ikebana?</div>
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And then of course there is the amazing 80 year artist Yayoi Kusama, who lives in a mental institution and has some of the other patients help with her work. Her work is vibrant, flamboyant and eye-catching. It is definitely "new" as this piece is front of the Kyoto Art Museum. </div>
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We got back on the train and continue to have this discussion about the meaning of "old' or "historic" in Japan.<br />
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What do you think?<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328626560305690532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743192321598426208.post-66527782692947447002018-01-15T22:44:00.001-08:002018-01-15T22:44:20.232-08:00Looking at the world through a different lenseOne of the fascinating things we appreciate about travel is the opportunity to see the world through different lenses...<br />
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Over the last few weekends in Tokyo we have enjoyed pushing this boundary of "different lenses".<br />
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Our first visit was suggested to me by my sister who lives in Vermont. Click<a href="https://www.boredpanda.com/funny-self-portraits-kimiko-nishimoto-89-year-old/"> here</a> to see the link she sent me.<br />
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On a beautiful sunny Saturday, we dove into into the bowels of one of the huge tall buildings to find this exhibit. As I wandered from photo to photo I laughed and thought about my own retirement coming up on March 31. Welcome to the wonderful world of Kimiko Nishimoto!<br />
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As I look ahead to being retired, I want to stay active!</div>
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I want to be light on my feet and flit about like a humming bird!</div>
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I want to believe that, with age, comes a certain spiritual and wisdom "gravitas"!</div>
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I look forward to being relaxed and centered as the world rushes around me. </div>
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And I look forward to maintain a healthy diet. </div>
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That periodically might include some celebrations with friends!</div>
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My hope is that I will continue to be able to contribute constructively to the world around me and NOT be sent out to pasture... or whatever.<br />
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My hope is that I will not have to be hit on the head to be open to new ideas, possibility and perspectives. I look forward to be a creative element in the world around me.<br />
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I am peaking through the Shoji screen of life at this point, looking forward to a whole new world!<br />
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Discovering a new hobby at 89 years old! Wow!</div>
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This weekend we visited the Mori Museum of Art on the 52nd floor of the Mori building and we also enjoyed an hour spent on the outside deck at the top of the building. </div>
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Once again the exhibit challenged our perceptions to think beyond what we see and take for granted. Click <a href="https://www.mori.art.museum/en/">here</a> for a look a the exhibit. In an old abandoned classroom (representing Japan's aging population)... is this a ghost? </div>
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Looking more closely, Shelley and I are part of the class... as ghosts!</div>
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<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSISUmF364bzky-DdoajAMY6bYlKKXNp_4t_wLYhVT1Bhm2ZQk-zDAPhd3Yd3IZlpny_13unf_zM4GYc4YvG2S0y8kfhJP_CPBqTo0YIRyL2nVkoj_LIStAjBARQ7T0WvZjhjRYRz96YuD/s320/IMG_4159.JPG" /></div>
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Shelley, tumbling off the second floor of a Parisian apartment; where is the ambulance???</div>
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And she is not alone... they all seem to be falling and hanging onto the building for dear life; what a catastrophe...</div>
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Until you look more closely to see that this is a reflection of a horizontal apartment front reflected in mirrors. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEV76Q2qOUaPBGyWfI3Lf9RNs1PcV9-i6yjokyzVebptenZzzsDdldsoEQJuQr0OS57ibgqHHi5j1-NUvsYQ9zicOW3dggXkJAJjYnTko8tk-juXYBGZLkbc55yftGsmNe1XkJLzQm1tbS/s1600/IMG_4168.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEV76Q2qOUaPBGyWfI3Lf9RNs1PcV9-i6yjokyzVebptenZzzsDdldsoEQJuQr0OS57ibgqHHi5j1-NUvsYQ9zicOW3dggXkJAJjYnTko8tk-juXYBGZLkbc55yftGsmNe1XkJLzQm1tbS/s320/IMG_4168.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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This artist, Leandro Erlich, has played with people's sense of reality all around the world. Here is a special display of his in the central square in Nice, France. </div>
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Once again thank you to Tokyo for pushing our horizons, for challenging our perceptions and providing new vistas as we learn on a daily basis. </div>
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We are both looking ahead to new horizons and new vistas as I retire in March. Mt. Fuji sets the back-ground for this.</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328626560305690532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743192321598426208.post-19094478076378275792017-12-06T20:50:00.003-08:002017-12-06T20:50:28.086-08:00Life in "rural" Japan<br />
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We were thrilled this last weekend to explore a corner of Nagano prefecture that, much to our relief, is quite rural. We found there some of the texture, people and conversations that helped us understand a whole part of Japan we have not really been able to access before.<br />
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Our weekend started with a stay at a wonderful Airbnb owned by an American and his Japanese wife. They are both artisans who bought an old traditional house as well as an abandoned silk production warehouse and turned them into a very tasteful guesthouse and craft exhibit space. We were struck by the beauty of blending the simple lines of Japanese construction and taste with artist's taste for simple craft hangings on the wall.<br />
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We were visiting Tei, one of our friends who is of Japanese, American roots who chose to come back to Japan and make a life for herself in this little hamlet tucked high in the hills. (Here she is with one of her neighbors who runs a Tibetan health clinic after spending ten years learning Tibetan and training in Tibetan traditional medicine). </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzOfKad6UGlM85rszxp8n1CjGAdfX5S3KMkjdHtuHkIdjK9loZHCwLNI5iHfBBTnilQuxlUY__xFz3thEHLH2O0SwDlctnJxUQGRxDdnt3254O5fSWx7Br_IFYuOhWLESRy4ZTAr-rZ08F/s1600/IMG_3806.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzOfKad6UGlM85rszxp8n1CjGAdfX5S3KMkjdHtuHkIdjK9loZHCwLNI5iHfBBTnilQuxlUY__xFz3thEHLH2O0SwDlctnJxUQGRxDdnt3254O5fSWx7Br_IFYuOhWLESRy4ZTAr-rZ08F/s320/IMG_3806.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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After living fifteen years renting an old, ramshackle, fascinating farm house she was able to buy the house and land. She currently travels twice a week to teach classes at two of the universities here. </div>
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Like in Europe the houses are often tucked closely together with the fields spread around the hills above. Her neighbour's house is also a beautiful old farmhouse... abandoned and slowly being taken over by vines. Behind her is "God mountain", in front "Goddess mountain".</div>
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As a break from Tokyo we totally enjoyed exploring her valley in the peace of a late fall weekend. The local temple was quite magical with its' simple illuminations at night:</div>
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And in the daytime...</div>
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We are always fascinated by the Japanese form of graffiti; hundreds of peoples' name on paper strips glued to the temple entrance. </div>
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In the morning we went to pay our respects to the local water god and fill up two containers of the purest water in the valley. </div>
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Looking back through the Tori gate you get a sense of the serenity of this little nook... with the endless urban sprawl in the valley bottom. </div>
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Tei took us to her favorite temple where the priest is one of her good friends. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2N1anBIlMTzql-rVZ1juvoetNaN_QoPtnBcCIw1vwmtchw5rcjx2NCLJ43Dv47rVpnq9_y-z4weGY4csc7SwfcB6_SgEJMB2LnGcykkzBe95bIzdl3WgQSXMHKDx-FKGJtIIe2atHxWEr/s1600/IMG_3799.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2N1anBIlMTzql-rVZ1juvoetNaN_QoPtnBcCIw1vwmtchw5rcjx2NCLJ43Dv47rVpnq9_y-z4weGY4csc7SwfcB6_SgEJMB2LnGcykkzBe95bIzdl3WgQSXMHKDx-FKGJtIIe2atHxWEr/s320/IMG_3799.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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We had an afternoon walk through the forest and the fall leaves, totally enjoying the variety of mini-shrines and statuettes tucked in the forest. Some of them were actually burial stones for horses of a hundred or so years ago while others were for the hearing god where you should rub a stone on the ears. </div>
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During our walk in the woods we stopped at another friend's house to learn more about the valley. This gentleman had worked as an engineer with Harley Davidson in the Mid-West USA and has now bought this house in her valley. He is carefully restoring this old farm house with traditional building techniques. </div>
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Some of the fascinating traditional techniques include using twine instead of nails to fix the rafters to permit mobility during earthquakes without the roof collapsing. </div>
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Check out the "Wabi-sabi" beam here:</div>
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We also continued to glory in the many expressions of Buddhist and Shinto faith all around this valley.<br />
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The small shrine, probably to children, laden with toy offerings:<br />
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The ancient many level tower that withstood hundreds of years of earthquakes:</div>
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And the unique and vibrant details to be found at every site:</div>
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With a bit of regret we descended down to the valley of Ueda with the usual intense intertwining of power lines, railroads, tunnels, freeways, roads, malls and housing to catch the train home. We had the opportunity for a quick visit to Ueda castle, one of the great samurai castles of Japanese history. People still visit this site to honour the wisdom of the Sanada samurai clan. See <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ueda_Castle">here</a> for more details. </div>
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With the sunset arriving and the train station beckoning (among the many floors of neon lights, the crowds, the buses and cars and the dozens of restaurants) we returned to Tokyo with a bit more of a personal sense of rural, back to the land life in Japan. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328626560305690532noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743192321598426208.post-75539836760252793322017-11-23T20:52:00.001-08:002017-11-23T20:52:14.577-08:00And the seasons come and go...Here we are in our third fall in Japan. Like the spring cherry blossom season, fall colours is a BIG celebration for the Japanese. It is a time to bask in the beauty of nature as the seasons change... along with thousands of others also enjoying the same thing. Just to make sure you don't miss THE spots to go and observe the colours, there is a web-site that tracks the fall colours and tells you where the "best" viewing spots are in Japan. Click <a href="https://digjapan.travel/en/blog/id=11746">here</a> if you want to find out more about the best spots and the best time to view the colours so you too can join those crowds.<br />
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Shelley and I have been doing a little exploring during this time to enjoy these fall colours.<br />
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We started out at Meiji Park in the center of Tokyo with throngs and throngs of others who had been dropped off by tour buses. We tried bicycling through but it was so dense we had to walk our bikes. Everywhere you looked people were thrilled by the colours and took many pictures from all angles.<br />
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I wished we could have captured all the careful set-up and posed pictures of leaves being thrown in the air, of couples hugging, but I can leave that to your imagination. </div>
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This last weekend we took the Kaslo approach to fall colours which was to find a beautiful and relatively isolated river canyon in the Okutama area, to scramble over rocks and find little used trails along the river to glory in as much nature and fall colours as we could in the afternoon. </div>
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Subtle clues did help us realize we were NOT in Kaslo:</div>
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Tunnels and trains on both sides of the river (see the fall colours on the other side?)</div>
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Along the theme of public infrastructure, an amazing number of pedestrian bridges over the river; about one every kilometer or so:</div>
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A 300 hundred year old "sake" brewery that has a tasting room and beautiful outside tables set up along the walk way. <a href="http://www.sawanoi-sake.com/en">Here</a> is the link to their site. </div>
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A funky art gallery/cafe perched high on a cliff over-looking the Tama River gorge:<br />
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The view was dramatic though I kept thinking I would not want to be there during an earthquake!</div>
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And then, of course, tucked behind bolders and hidden in the trees there were the mysterious moss stairs going up to shrines and small temples...</div>
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As well as the shrines themselves reminding us of the spiritual aspect of the beauty of nature. </div>
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Happy fall and season change to all of you out there, our friends sprinkled around the world. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328626560305690532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743192321598426208.post-82704858597696746542017-11-20T21:56:00.002-08:002017-11-20T21:56:34.180-08:00On the work front...News Flash!Last week we had the very interesting opportunity to be inspected by the Japanese Ministry of Education. A team of 4 people came to observe our classes and find out more about the BC curriculum, how we structure our classes and how we split credits with the JP MOE and the BC MOE. To put this in context, over the 45 year existence of the main school here, they have <i>never</i> had an inspection team before!<br />
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Though our students are used to being observed, a team of 4 men in black suits and the BSCIS principal and VP all observing all of the classes was a little above the usual level of observation.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTBDJEGRpCgY5jprgqPSOdPeB_fLdrNdOYR7JFMQg0HVa41RYmWyALvPC_uYEjAPdqar40YuENfP9p38kvxocHT_MLxp5fcKaMiOE80DtFar9MrIrgt8CHMK3FVGhwVaKgD2x2ZW1bpy8Y/s1600/IMG_3707.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTBDJEGRpCgY5jprgqPSOdPeB_fLdrNdOYR7JFMQg0HVa41RYmWyALvPC_uYEjAPdqar40YuENfP9p38kvxocHT_MLxp5fcKaMiOE80DtFar9MrIrgt8CHMK3FVGhwVaKgD2x2ZW1bpy8Y/s320/IMG_3707.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Once again, the students were great! They remained focused on the class and the teacher, they engaged in the task at hand and were relaxed enough to engage in interesting one-on-one conversations with the observers when they were approached. . </div>
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Like so many countries in the world, Japan is also re-thinking its' education system. <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2017/03/06/commentary/japan-commentary/time-get-real-curriculum-reform/#.WhOybo-CzIU">Here</a> is an opinion piece on the latest changes. We were quite honoured that at the end of their visit they said that our school was identified by the JP MOE as an<i> experimental education site</i> to learn from for other schools because they have been impressed by the results we are seeing from the work we do. They plan to engage us in future conversations about educational change in Japan. </div>
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This is a real honour for our team to be acknowledged by the Japanese Ministry of Education in this way!</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328626560305690532noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743192321598426208.post-67650635161146818972017-11-06T18:37:00.001-08:002017-11-06T18:37:13.483-08:00On the work front year 3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Since our time here is not ALL about travel and adventures because I am here to work I thought I would share some "Miles-stones" of this time of year, now my third year as principal of BSCIS. </div>
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The school is quite a vibrant center of learning for our students with a whole range of learning styles and environments. We had balloon powered cars in Physics 11...</div>
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<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3D8z82rN_je8KSvXuAwdLCQ5Qp71x6416mR7wRqmEBtb0bnqOk24WTlERBBIU2DPZOGHbltCBGC4_00PZfPTEGhxTaHFfG3smcA6yEFtW2dHAmsnYaf7xYuEM3rQ4qsVGXtYpBlTBBg4/s320/IMG_3398.JPG" /></div>
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<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheqemdt_8uV_BBMCHRS1Eu6z3R2A7tzowPSD5v3wQHDyDOsQOQ6NaUBdhORU3to4VETOVJt2fEYcPCz-5IxtKrMgOi_f8l6uHQiF65y2rtPmm1Q4sM0FuWBuerzZz3QOsPakEuKGKlMwM/s320/IMG_3331.JPG" /></div>
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We studied about and responded to Residential schools in Socials 11...</div>
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<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKcT4lvvn_9CftJZ3lIs-mCEXuZZOJ-l7TZUo4poDC2is2PqSfMkk14gte4AQfltGm51m5TNXdb1xYQukOMMDHzNUQI4U21dM1g-ptyyvF76V5W6SnUaI-O1DjWkpcdLbOMAqJIy0gM8A/s320/IMG_3338.JPG" /></div>
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We integrated aboriginal concepts and visuals in most of our subject matter...</div>
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<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv0IAfKiKQom2hthubp9pc-ZYpza805vujZYJL0TQ1ItEeWQ7u6YXPuXFxePzs55KNUhbGk2t-yvW5w61wfTYJ-BxUtuFrmQk1pyAs3lnjfJsJ9uJjnbgFrK-SjIR-bT-Z-bTh1PPWvvM/s320/IMG_3335.JPG" /></div>
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And we also continue to celebrate the bi-cultural education that we provide here for our students. This is the grade 12 students taking their tea ceremony class, the "final exam" being a tea ceremony for their parents. </div>
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<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQn5SAD0K_TAZByFCXSxQT4jOZZr3-jopvCnYuNQhck8zrOizFocC-jJkdsSM2hTB-Od1SErvRBQFTBqcz9FsGcZSjSjEQAdYrgNQ_ETOiL_K8D0ujUMzY2E1Ed5iyu7aexkKeedybKIc/s320/IMG_3361.JPG" /></div>
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We also continue to invite a series of presenters to share their lives and inspire our students as to what is possible. This is Ambassador Ishikawa, who was the Japanese ambassador to Canada, to Egypt, who represented Japan in G8 negotiations and who graduated from Ecole Nationale in Paris.</div>
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He had a very powerful message about the most important skills in his life was to learn to be flexible, to work with opportunities as they arose and to celebrate all cultures... not just Japan. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzFrwyD2tW7TsWJxeqWdfgnt2eQ06XuCrDE214vJ9swLweWosIeuAiWdYLqIphBG4rh30kJb9H6dJfuacPqCHMP2Ur9iduCChKzJqlFjWFkVVDXHCT596Kp3satGzk2paWI0wTB3D4MgE/s1600/IMG_3347.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzFrwyD2tW7TsWJxeqWdfgnt2eQ06XuCrDE214vJ9swLweWosIeuAiWdYLqIphBG4rh30kJb9H6dJfuacPqCHMP2Ur9iduCChKzJqlFjWFkVVDXHCT596Kp3satGzk2paWI0wTB3D4MgE/s320/IMG_3347.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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We were thrilled to have Akiko Kuno come to do a workshop with the grade 11 English class. She wrote a book about her great-grandmother who was sent by the Meiji emperor to study in the US at the age of 12. She lived there for 10 years then returned to Japan to marry a great war hero and Minister of War and to educate Japan about ways in the West. Students were mesmerized by her stories. </div>
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Here are pictures of her great-grand-mother in full Western outfits. </div>
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Our grade 10 students honed their presentation skills by presenting to the entire 200 grade 9 students about their summer in BC.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcng8W9ypYDgbgFOH__8zGC4qCMP0sdzDReH2uIv0dMmAqdtLMxDh7QQiHU-puDX2e1_PxBVVrLHPhjbLXexFySX-MlbNAeMNEJucm473UDdY8dLyqFDEPQ0QIoh8g2tjPBGgY_9HjUUA/s1600/IMG_3340.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcng8W9ypYDgbgFOH__8zGC4qCMP0sdzDReH2uIv0dMmAqdtLMxDh7QQiHU-puDX2e1_PxBVVrLHPhjbLXexFySX-MlbNAeMNEJucm473UDdY8dLyqFDEPQ0QIoh8g2tjPBGgY_9HjUUA/s320/IMG_3340.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Mid-October is also our annual inspection time. This is the time that the BC Ministry of Education sends an inspector to our school to review every aspect of the function of our school including finances, curriculum, contracts, teaching methodology, assessment methods etc. It is a busy time before the inspection with lots of ground work to prepare and then an intense week when both the MOE inspector and my supervisor from MOE are with us.<br />
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<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6CJbzWdcEldQOlZPpTlao0GzayjOvvhxxaF0J_SRAiozld_oOl0EiyUwduxZDojIF5hzByezN0aNBefjZac-x3vBKk-uuykKEPEBbAOuG2lQT2nhwZhgzK_-wqadnt_N_Fueo4nu6FPM/s320/IMG_3379.JPG" /></div>
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Ed, our inspector this year, had the chance to visit many areas of our school.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgy16N6Xm5oSdET2URotLbp_7aoGPO_z6_EqCQlIi9EGrdsExEzUCNMmrjVi2BOcPU6VHm6_chRLrHx31abOpqmzJoAUggQoQIC_vxUqqnPTSHZQEwGXGacZ8ERIplIKfcBNGRAL6uSZE/s1600/IMG_3384.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgy16N6Xm5oSdET2URotLbp_7aoGPO_z6_EqCQlIi9EGrdsExEzUCNMmrjVi2BOcPU6VHm6_chRLrHx31abOpqmzJoAUggQoQIC_vxUqqnPTSHZQEwGXGacZ8ERIplIKfcBNGRAL6uSZE/s320/IMG_3384.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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He met with our team at various points. Here is part of the team at the morning meeting. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPo78J7qD6-EZ5GDz_VzOBWDwkeyOCKMTXH5RVOGbEz0aoo_D_sb6DmxPrB6dW5OFzDeRgxHnpexL5U3lma1Kx3RD6_F7ltuo0QTQkc-zbtl_Vct07tQYz1932_62zHoVoYSuNk-mbSMk/s1600/IMG_3373.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPo78J7qD6-EZ5GDz_VzOBWDwkeyOCKMTXH5RVOGbEz0aoo_D_sb6DmxPrB6dW5OFzDeRgxHnpexL5U3lma1Kx3RD6_F7ltuo0QTQkc-zbtl_Vct07tQYz1932_62zHoVoYSuNk-mbSMk/s320/IMG_3373.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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At the end of the inspection our school for the third time in a row received an excellent report with only commendations and no requirements!</div>
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Ah yes... three excellent inspection reports in three years; yeah!</div>
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And then, of course, Halloween hits us like a storm... even here in Japan. Students had a great time:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaRGH93MHg6kgmzW6zG2O1Xt1c1L10akFz05-JMlAH9clWq9ybG8IYJlk95bzSwU05aMavV5Gd4HGM6IFGbIJ2Gw2b6lqSHTxXXw0u_U36ZKk-icp5fEIY010W-2ASKn457Igl5sh-cVE/s1600/IMG_3487.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaRGH93MHg6kgmzW6zG2O1Xt1c1L10akFz05-JMlAH9clWq9ybG8IYJlk95bzSwU05aMavV5Gd4HGM6IFGbIJ2Gw2b6lqSHTxXXw0u_U36ZKk-icp5fEIY010W-2ASKn457Igl5sh-cVE/s320/IMG_3487.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguqTwzr7ivSZI9MxL6L-Q3qg-tt1bo2HhP1eQwnk7OHH9ivCXYYgBEzX21KSZzlpuq8InBg2DXvF70fOSfSBwHY7jgZYG39bZlU3oHfOeABlPo3OnhOzbJoD3h0qM5DMzkSog0Fa6kj_s/s1600/IMG_3491.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguqTwzr7ivSZI9MxL6L-Q3qg-tt1bo2HhP1eQwnk7OHH9ivCXYYgBEzX21KSZzlpuq8InBg2DXvF70fOSfSBwHY7jgZYG39bZlU3oHfOeABlPo3OnhOzbJoD3h0qM5DMzkSog0Fa6kj_s/s320/IMG_3491.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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While we enjoyed having some of our Japanese and BC staff get into the spirit as well:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwrJgZUzp5_uC9aW0qxh9-VEsE8KI2hHtIPwSBtXzUiiJNrnvEonqp35ujeys0Uz2Tg_MVbSUAmOXmMZhQZ18WOxYKTi6QgiuCHSoCUny8TetSOcdKijlL9IBB0H3Hr5LE-y9GL4YpgWw/s1600/IMG_3481.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwrJgZUzp5_uC9aW0qxh9-VEsE8KI2hHtIPwSBtXzUiiJNrnvEonqp35ujeys0Uz2Tg_MVbSUAmOXmMZhQZ18WOxYKTi6QgiuCHSoCUny8TetSOcdKijlL9IBB0H3Hr5LE-y9GL4YpgWw/s320/IMG_3481.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Most recently we are participating in a promotional film by the BC MOE about Offshore schools where they had professional cinematographers film both interviews with our students and some of our parents. </div>
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I continue to have amazing opportunities to connect with people from around the world, this time hosted at the Canadian embassy (again) for the Study in Canada Fair. Here again, in the main hall maybe 500 people.</div>
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The honoured guests at this event were the JP Minister of Education and the Assistant Minister.</div>
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In the beautiful gardens I had the opportunity to meet the Minster and to talk about our school.</div>
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It is a beautiful setting in Tokyo and the garden spread was striking. </div>
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Inside the residence it was fun to meet up with a young Pole representative. </div>
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And to enjoy the view of downtown Tokyo from the top floor. </div>
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As I bicycled the 12 km back to our home I picked the specific route through the fall colours to really enjoy this season here in Tokyo. I also reflected on the wonderful opportunities I have had in my work here and how much I have enjoyed my time as principal of BSCIS. </div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328626560305690532noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743192321598426208.post-5304155183612022412017-10-01T22:05:00.000-07:002017-10-01T22:05:15.360-07:00Weather events in Japan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
We had another opportunity for a long weekend trip down to the Art islands of Naoshima and Teshima for our second visit. Click <a href="http://benesse-artsite.jp/en/">here</a> for a more complete discription. We had a good friends visiting from Kaslo and we knew that they would enjoy the art so we booked lodging and transportation several months ahead because things are so crowded in Japan on long weekends. </div>
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As the weekend approached we watched the weather with great consternation. The news was full of the weather events in Texas, and Florida, and we read that this typhoon coming up from the Pacific was a huge one. Hello to Typhoon Talim.</div>
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We debated back-and-forth whether we should go or not. If we didn't go we would lose our reservations and a good trip. If we did go we might be heading into the path of the typhoon. Japan has excellent storm tracking sites which we could follow hour by hour. Click <a href="http://www.jma.go.jp/en/typh/">here</a> to view the site. It look like the typhoon would not be hitting the area that we were headed to so we decided to go ahead. </div>
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We arrived under heavy but regular rain and enjoyed viewing some of the art on our first day on the island. (note the open house happening for the Japanese destroyer in the background as Japan saber rattles for the North Korea crisis). </div>
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As we toured around the island we noted that people were VERY clear about the arrival of the typhoon. The ferry was canceled for Sunday. All of the museums were closed. The bike rental shop was closed. The onsen was also closed for Sunday. </div>
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Dramatic art museums and art installations... viewed under pouring rain but not a typhoon. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbgRM9g4LtmX8F3slIgdcC0c1Ci8uerABKuQxF-tee7Z3D5Dt4Uaj-PIFQknu35ceiFmIITW5pID9iCS2Em7BhdJeWnsboVwPmuzap5XtT9FD-uXHvqCcWHpYuciiYp0UOx8sj6Mv43gs/s1600/IMG_2933.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbgRM9g4LtmX8F3slIgdcC0c1Ci8uerABKuQxF-tee7Z3D5Dt4Uaj-PIFQknu35ceiFmIITW5pID9iCS2Em7BhdJeWnsboVwPmuzap5XtT9FD-uXHvqCcWHpYuciiYp0UOx8sj6Mv43gs/s320/IMG_2933.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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The next morning, after an amazing breakfast, with everything shut we toured around the island under grey skies, constantly debating whether the typhoon was, or was not coming. We checked out the public art that was on display in the streets as all museums were shut for the typhoon... Maybe a clue?</div>
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Based on our experience of the sketchy weather reporting in BC, we just couldn't see the signs of an approaching typhoon. We even went swimming... then we felt the water being drawn away from the beach; sign of a storm surge preparing itself. </div>
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We decided to head straight back to our lodging as the first few drops began falling... and the warning system set up all across Japan began blaring. Though we couldn't understand, it certainly was insistent. We asked our host who said; "Typhoon coming"!!!</div>
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The rain started gently, then the wind began... and then the deluge; this is a series of three videos sent from our lodging as the storm increased. </div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ROE7L35QSDk/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ROE7L35QSDk?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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We experienced the power of the early warning system in Japan. Click<a href="http://www.realestate-tokyo.com/news/j-alert-system/"> here</a> for details about the latest warning alerts for incoming missiles. </div>
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It was quite nerve racking as we settled into an afternoon and evening of howling winds and dumping rain, accompanied by regular announcements on the PA and fire trucks driving by. Around 9:00 PM our phones began ringing regularly with messages from the security alert system. Again, all in Japanese so we used Shelley's phone to scan and translate my phone. Each announcement was for a new area to be evacuated due to land slides. Was it our area? Then we would get out Google maps to find out that no... our area was not being evacuated.</div>
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They alert system is amazing but... as a foreigner, we had real trouble understanding the information!</div>
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After a stressful night of listening to the howling wind and pouring rain, the intensity of the typhoon decreased gradually until...</div>
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the next morning which was a beautiful, mild and sunny day. The only reminder of the typhoon was areas where the tidal surge had swept over the concrete barriers. </div>
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We resumed touring the art islands under sunny skies. Once again we were thrilled to see the work done by artists to re-vision abandoned houses into art pieces. </div>
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A glimpse through the re-visioned window to the traditional port...</div>
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And a pumpkin with polka dots? Why not? Our rental bike helmets designed to "match"...<br />
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We left the area with a renewed sense of awe about human creativity when well-funded... and a renewed sense of awe about the power of nature in our own "back yard"!</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328626560305690532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743192321598426208.post-30425122195310979312017-09-05T00:12:00.000-07:002017-09-05T00:12:04.983-07:00Collections in Japan, take 2 (or is 3? or 4?)I am always fascinated by what makes for a "collectible". People all over the world collect all kinds of thing of course: stamps, coins, baseball cards, etc. In Japan, my awareness of what is considered to be collectible has greatly expanded. My latest introduction to a "collection" was at the Cruise Lodge where I spent a wonderful night during my last bicycle tour.<br />
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The lodge is a unique blend of Western/Japanese tastes:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI1a2Qgeup_-MEiffLNiwGL2PwM3y8kDmpwDKiyHRTkqFBNeaqtsC36QlYykIjNtQLwyNIr-3rZKDLBCdfqVI1xMdI2dnZHsTvHNdJxJRHU72huV5JdBXfbn0leNs2BsJ0pLLLDp3sYoI/s1600/Y345008029.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="560" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI1a2Qgeup_-MEiffLNiwGL2PwM3y8kDmpwDKiyHRTkqFBNeaqtsC36QlYykIjNtQLwyNIr-3rZKDLBCdfqVI1xMdI2dnZHsTvHNdJxJRHU72huV5JdBXfbn0leNs2BsJ0pLLLDp3sYoI/s320/Y345008029.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And the owner, as it turned out, is a collector of a wide range of fascinating things. He spent the evening sharing whiskey with me and explaining his collections. Because of my interest he reached into his cabinets and showed me how each of these items worked. </div>
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One of his big collections is of toys made in Japan right after the end of WW2. Note the box that says "Made in Occupied Japan"</div>
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The toys are fascinating because all of the characters have blue eyes and are designed for the American market (back when Japanese items were considered "cheap junk")</div>
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They all twirled, banged and whistled when wound up. </div>
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I was fascinated but some of the gross characterization of different races. </div>
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Check out the toy aircraft carrier, the site of so much carnage during the Kamikaze campaigns. </div>
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Then there were the earliest sacred cat statues...</div>
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The special tea cup collection including a cup that shows the picture of a geisha through the china on the bottom of the cup. </div>
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There was the type-writer collection as well as the CD collection. </div>
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There was the Wedgewood collection (including plates as well) </div>
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Ah yes, there was the teddy bear collection and... the cork screw collection:</div>
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What a fascinating window into what is "important" in this world. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328626560305690532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743192321598426208.post-54544855785801942482017-09-04T23:42:00.003-07:002017-09-04T23:51:27.125-07:00Summer in BCOnce again we had a wonderful summer of connecting with friends and family.<br />
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A fabulous Florida wedding at my sister's house in Tallahassee...<br />
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Lots of singing together...</div>
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Sharing our lives as siblings...</div>
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And totally enjoying the next generation of cousins....</div>
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I had the annual trip to Quallicum Beach on Vancouver Island to check in with my students on their 5 week immersion home stay. It is always wonderful to luxuriate in the beauty of Vancouver....</div>
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And the coast of BC, the ferries....</div>
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And the houses with large yards and lots of comfortable outside living spaces and green!!!!</div>
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The students thrived in their new surroundings...</div>
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And learned as much out of school as in school. </div>
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They all commented on the beauty of nature in BC. </div>
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It was once again a beautiful time to connect with our daughters, their partners and a whole series of their friends all sharing at least one meal on our often-used deck.</div>
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We celebrated the health and recovery of all generations and we were happy to be back where we could help on a daily basis. </div>
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Our daughters continue to inspire us with their good energy, their creative ideas and their projects. </div>
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Sarah and friends new project... their house and property that requires a MAJOR clean-up!</div>
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It was fun to join the de-clutter team, face masks and all, to make a dent in the massive collection of trash that needed to be sorted, recycled and disposed of. </div>
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We were happy to welcome Helene back from some exploration and adventure time in France (including time spent at the chateau of one of our friends!)</div>
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Kaslo gave her some recharging time...</div>
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Until she heads off to her next adventures in Vancouver. </div>
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Once again our summer was blessed with many, many visits with good friends from all over the Kootenays. Many thanks to all for the delicious meals and deep conversations we had on decks, terraces, lawns and beach fronts all over this valley. It is such a pleasure to share so much history... and to fully understand ALL of the conversation! Just a few of our special times...</div>
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We were also thrilled to host the daughters of one of our very good friends in France. Graziella had been here as an exchange student 15 years ago while this was the first time for her sister. </div>
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They joined us in the many outings, events, concerts and visits that makes life in the Kootenays so special.</div>
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Part of their gift to us was to cook us some delicious meals!</div>
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They were lucky to arrive just in time for the Kaslo Jazz Festival. </div>
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Whenever possible Shelley and I took time on our own to relish the natural beauty of the area. </div>
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As it turned out, we mainly stayed down low, along the lake because the area was decimated with forest fires. Click <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/wildfires-sunday-east-kootenay-1.4273959">here</a> for the most recent information in BC. We were extremely concerned and aware of these fires burning in areas all around us, and we experienced first hand the impact of the smoke. During our entire summer there was one day of rain! The most immediate fire to us was in Sitcum Creek, just outside of Nelson. It was put out in a few days.</div>
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Other than that we were mainly affected by the smoke. All of these pictures were taken in the middle of the day.</div>
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We finish our summer with great appreciation for the richness and texture of our lives in the Kootenays. We feel blessed to be surrounded by family and friends as we share their journeys in each of their own lives. We celebrate being able to so fully experience life in Japan with the ensuing challenge that we miss our Kootenay lives. </div>
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So... we are back at it; immersed in this uniquely unique and vibrant world of Tokyo, Japan. My first weekend back the Awaodori festival in Koenji; click <a href="http://www.koenji-awaodori.com/language/eng.html">here</a> for more info. Ah yes... 10,000 dancers and a million spectators; just another amazing weekend in Tokyo; back at it!</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328626560305690532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743192321598426208.post-29551283188475249492017-07-03T01:39:00.002-07:002017-07-03T01:46:10.889-07:00Unique opportunities with my work in Tokyo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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One of the really fun things for me in my work in Tokyo is the opportunities that I have to do things for the school that get me into worlds that would otherwise be totally inaccessible.... like the Tokyo Canadian Ambassador's residence:</div>
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On June 30 (1 day before Canada Day) the Canadian Chamber of Commerce of Japan co-hosted with the embassy a glittering gala event to celebrate Canada's 150 anniversary. This event had 400 invited guests including CEOs of some of the biggest Canadian companies in Tokyo (Air Canada, ManuLife, Bombardier etc.) as well as the top military brass as well as two ministers from the Abbe government. This was a "Canadian Who is who" of Tokyo event.</div>
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Through the years I have developed quite a few connections at the embassy and the CCCJ who knew some of the good work we do at our school so I was delighted to be asked to have one of our students sing Oh Canada in English, French (!!) and Japanese. Though it was one day before exams our student was thrilled to be part of the event. She worked very hard over the month of June to learn the French and memorize all parts. </div>
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After the sound check we hung out with some "friends" in the library waiting to perform:<br />
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I was able to arrange for her home room teacher to be there to film...</div>
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and her parents could also be there for this special event.</div>
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The staff at the embassy were so kind; they had one of the staff assigned to us to ensure we knew exactly where to be when. </div>
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After a month of practice the big event started. Our student was warned that, with 400 people in attendance, there might be quite a bit of background chatting so not to take it personally. </div>
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Our student and our school were introduced by the MC...</div>
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And our grade 12 student poured her heart and soul into the song. Listen to her voice... and how totally quiet the entire room is; she was great!!</div>
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After Oh Canada, there were several speeches (here one of Abe's Ministers) and each speaker praised our student for her song. </div>
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Afterwords, in the garden around the pool and the traditional Japanese garden there were tents set up with delicacies from every province in Canada. It was quite lovely because the Jamaican Ambassador (the gentleman wearing glasses and short cropped hair that appears in the video) came rushing up to congratulate our singer and gave her his business card. </div>
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During that time the embassy arranged for special photo shoots for our student with the Ambassador and the two Abbe Ministers...</div>
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And the parents and me... quite fun!</div>
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After the photo shoot I had the opportunity to introduce her to some of my contacts including the retired Japanese ambassador to Canada and Pakistan who was also the interpreter for the Japanese PM for meetings with Reagan, Ford, Nixon and Bush as well as the Emperor and Empress when they visited Canada. He is a fascinating man!</div>
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Part of the entertainment included a fascinating Rakugo monologue (see <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakugo">here</a> for more about this art) performed by the only non-Japanese artist ever to have passed the Rakugo exams. He happens to be from Ontario.</div>
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Two days later it was off to the Regency Hyatt to present to a crowd of 110 Cram-school directors and teachers about our school. </div>
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I find it a bit humorous to look around the room and see my image plastered on huge posters! </div>
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After my speech part of my job is to hand out my business card and meet many of the guests (who are uni-lingual Japanese; today I was lucky to have my office assistant there to help fill in my broken Japanese.)<br />
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The highlight of the event was the fashion show to demonstrate the new school uniforms for next year when the school is going co-ed. Check out the professional models:</div>
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Then I raced back to school to run a staff meeting for the rest of the day. </div>
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These activities really provide a nice way to get out of our hot and stuffy apartment to spend a rainy and humid monsoon season day in Tokyo!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02719538886533755695noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743192321598426208.post-77403380647885357932017-06-26T23:14:00.002-07:002017-07-06T21:32:36.955-07:00Hobbies... Japan styleOne of the good conversation openers in Japan is: "Shomi-wa, nan des ka?". Roughly translated this means: "How about your hobbies?"<br />
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This last weekend I had the opportunity to experience first hand and submerse myself in the unique world of Japanese hobbies during a two day bicycle tour I did of the Chiba peninsula.<br />
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I took the ferry at Kurihama, crossing Tokyo Bay to explore the coastline along the tip of Chiba Peninsula. Beautiful little bays, broad long beaches, many places to take secondary routes to avoid the main traffic, it would have been an ideal trip in the sun.<br />
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But, just after these photos were taken, it began pouring in the Tokyo way of pouring rain; sheets of steady, unrelenting, warm and soaking rain! I tried to extend my lunch at a cafe as long as possible but no luck. It was pouring for the afternoon!</div>
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I was thrilled to finally get to my Airbnb host's house and drip dry under one of the many shelters while I waited for my host to arrive. </div>
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My host... and his home were a first-hand glimpse of the fascinating world of hobbies in Japan. My host had quite a varied professional background having worked in import/exports, as a principal at a private school among other things. He has traveled all over the world. His family currently lives in Hokkaido while he has an apartment in Tokyo and the home where I was staying (his "cat/hobby house") and the home he actually slept in.</div>
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We talked about many different things and interests but this video gives you a sense of one room. If you look carefully up towards the ceiling you will see a collection of drones as well as a variety of security cameras and radio equipment:</div>
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-OB4D-6XLo4/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-OB4D-6XLo4?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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Some of interests/ collections included a large collection of manga videos that he views on a huge screen TV:</div>
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A Shinto shrine with a collection of pint-sized functioning robots as well as framed calligraphy that he studies and writes regularly:</div>
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Lots of toy cars and car parts including a functioning plastic piston engine above the toilet paper dispenser:</div>
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And on the wall behind the toilet: </div>
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He has a wide interest in digital technology doing his own programming as well as lots of radios and variety of electronic gadgets all over the house:<br />
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Other interests that you can maybe pick out in the corners of these photos including playing and repairing guitars (he had at 10 around the house), outdoor gear and hiking (he was climbing Fuji this weekend), carpentry (a full shop set-up in a shed), cars (he has a fleet of 10 different cars that he has rebuilt including old Land Rovers, Jeeps etc.), car and motorcycle racing, and machining the parts necessary for his cars and motorbikes (in another shed) He showed me his race car and his motorcycle.</div>
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Though the house was quite crammed I was inspired by someone who has so many interests. In Japan we often run into people with their real passions and interests in their hobbies. I look forward to branching out some of my hobbies when I retire as inspired by our experiences here in Japan. </div>
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The rest of the trip was the coast of Japan at its' best'<br />
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Lighthouses...<br />
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Rocks and waves...</div>
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Bike lanes along the tsunami walls...<br />
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Pounding waves excellent for surfing...</div>
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And not to be missed; mega-public works projects with fancy railings...</div>
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And well-endowed mermaids to inspire...</div>
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And the tunnels built <i>especially for bikes</i> (lights and safety exits and all)...</div>
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All too soon the trip ended with the blessing of the Tory gates...</div>
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The sign showing where I had been (for those can read this)..</div>
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And a beer and snack looking out over the surfers in the bay.</div>
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I folded my bike into its snazzy little carrying bag, hopped on the train (one every 5 minutes of course) then dove back into this metropolis of 36 million for another week of work. </div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328626560305690532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743192321598426208.post-76375527573084051722017-06-15T01:20:00.001-07:002017-06-15T01:20:09.596-07:00Visiting Miyake Island... again<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As this was Shelley's last weekend before heading back to Kaslo for the summer, we escaped from the sprawling metropolis of Tokyo to head back to Miyake Island for a second time... with a new goal in mind. During our last visit there we discovered that there was a resident pod of friendly dolphins who stayed close to the neighboring island all year. This time we managed to book ourselves into the opportunity of swimming with those dolphins, one of Shelley's special dreams. </div>
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As in other trips to the islands, we loved slipping out of Tokyo harbour late at night after having biked across the city to the ferry landing. The Rainbow bridge is dramatic at night...</div>
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And we got a bit of sleep in our comfortable births on-board. We were woken up at 4:30 AM to catch a glimpse of the sunrise...</div>
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And debarked at the Miyake Jima dock to watch our ship head off into the sunrise. </div>
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Our first day there we bicycled around the island once again, this time in the reverse direction. All along, as we sweated up steep climbs and swooped down into little bays. There were magnificent views of the ocean, the rocks and the waves. </div>
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We took our time this visit to thoroughly explore the town of Ako pictured here before 1983. It was a large and thriving town with a large school and several temples that was wiped out by a lava flow in 1983. </div>
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The area is regrowing with trees and bushes, but it was fascinating to see where the roads were and then stopped...</div>
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The sharp lava flow from a distance looked like tilled earth. Up close, of course, it is extremely pointed and sharp rock. </div>
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It was dramatic to see the remains of the school...</div>
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Photo of as it was before:</div>
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And the crushed main gym. </div>
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All around the lava fields were these interesting formations created by lava wrapping around tree trunks, incinerating the tree that cooled the lava down to make a tube. </div>
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The rest of the area is marked by dead old trees...</div>
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And dramatic rock protrusions where the lava met the ocean. </div>
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On Sunday morning we got up early to be fitted with a wet suit and snorkeling gear.</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">We were loaded onto one of the classic, solid, seaworthy fishing boats that took us across to the area where the dolphins congregated. </span></div>
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On the way over we watched pods of dolphins breach all around us.</div>
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(The following photos are not ours, but reflect our experience)</div>
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Once near the shore we had a look out who would call out when a pod would come zipping by our boat. We all lept into the water....</div>
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To try to catch up with them as they darted by. </div>
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Early that afternoon we got back on our mother ship for a six hour trip back to Tokyo harbour and the big metropolis life again. We felt cleansed by bird and dolphin songs, by ocean winds, and the sounds of crashing waves and, of course, wonderful seafood!</div>
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We have been here long enough that when the Tokyo Tower emerged from behind the buildings we felt like it was an old friend. </div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328626560305690532noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743192321598426208.post-45385467386978557712017-05-18T00:18:00.001-07:002017-05-18T00:18:33.000-07:00Exploring Shikoku by bike<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Back to our familiar stomping ground of Japan, we had the opportunity, once again, to do some exploring. This year the Golden Week holiday was actually almost a full week so it gave us the opportunity to head south and do some exploring of the Shikoku island, one of the large and more main islands of Japan. This area is famed for its' centuries old pilgrimage of the circuit of 88 Buddhist temples spread around the island. For hundreds of years pilgrims have circled the island, and climbed the mountains dressed in white with a sacred walking stick. Click <a href="http://japan-magazine.jnto.go.jp/en/1403_pilgrimage.html">here</a> for more details.</div>
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We were excited about a bike tour that would take us by any temples that happened to be along the way and a trip more as tourists than as pilgrims... so our "pilgrim" attire and "pilgrim" fare was slightly different than so many other pilgrims we came across:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvE-2kBJn0kaK66SbEDUAoervGWruhSJw2ivwYGYxbtIijXFXv1VSnG7xTeUP3CJtEwh_IKF-pqnznIY3aUbgHtUzWOd1NKPY539RO0mjPL-FiPDtG0ffWAY6z_WiHfgStpDN9h6GceMs/s640/blogger-image-486605830.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvE-2kBJn0kaK66SbEDUAoervGWruhSJw2ivwYGYxbtIijXFXv1VSnG7xTeUP3CJtEwh_IKF-pqnznIY3aUbgHtUzWOd1NKPY539RO0mjPL-FiPDtG0ffWAY6z_WiHfgStpDN9h6GceMs/s640/blogger-image-486605830.jpg" /></a></div>
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We started out on a confused note in that it turned out we had bought train tickets to the right town... only there are two towns of the same name in Japan so our tickets were to the wrong prefecture.Once that was figured out we headed off into the depth of the Shikoku mountains to explore some of the relatively untouched valleys. </div>
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Beautiful gardens along the way...</div>
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And small villages plastered along the edge of the valley. </div>
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As per my original plan our road meandered gently up the valley past waterfalls, </div>
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And unspoiled gorges. </div>
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Along the way we had lunch at an abandoned school house that has been turned into a hostel and "locovore" restaurant (here is a deer meat pizza) by a group of young idealists form the city. </div>
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Towards the top of the pass we particularly enjoyed a hotsprings that required taking a cable car 300 meters down to the valley bottom and river-bed where the actual hotsprings were located. </div>
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Our first "easy" day turned into quite a bit harder day when we realized we had a whole other pass to bike over to get to our guest house tucked high in the mountains. Our first day turned out to add up to 2000 meters of vertical gain; it was a bit of a grunt!</div>
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Our lodge was tucked high up in the hills up a narrow winding road. As we got to know our hosts better, it turns out that the husband's family has lived on and cultivated that land for over a 1000 years!!!</div>
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The owners of the lodge are well over 80 but the son and grand-daughter are also working with the lodge. </div>
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Because of our "seniority" we were honored to be given the best room with lots of fine details in the woodworking. </div>
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We were fascinated to find, through one of the doors at the back of the room, a family protrait gallery of several generations including two of the family who were killed during WW11.</div>
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The rear wall of that room had a Buddhist shrine...</div>
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And a shinto shrine, just for good luck. </div>
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It so happened that it was Shelley's birthday that day so we had a tiny Japanese size chocolate cake to be shared with the three generations of the family of our hosts. </div>
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Later on that evening we walked up narrow trails in the dark to a neighbor's house who is a retired IT tech who was born in the valley and now lives here part time. His hobby is making knives that he spends several weeks finishing. </div>
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He showed us one of his family's proud treasures, a family samurai sword that was part of the military dress for both World War 1 and 2. </div>
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The following day we zipped down hill on a long and busy highway to the coast. Along the coast our only slightly rainy day saw us take shelter in one of the huts set out for pilgrims to make origami...</div>
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bike along bike trails paved along the tsunami protection walls...</div>
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and spent that night at a tall "business hotel" with the first 4 floors a Pachinko hall so that we could gamble all night if we wanted to!</div>
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The following day, as we cycled along the coast we were interested to see the slightly different traditional architecture of this area around Kochi. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUL4ao3uAxO7lN3kLIcGAv1sRyulK1H6LqbNlIZikmHdCTdhF8gmzc0s4FTy1C-R2esRwK82Dp4-6fit1Tj4oCqplgB8u_tbQb9mIazg4EGY2_dNMcaEwQdKzb6JvPg-vLEZrM_XfO6pI/s1600/IMG_1793.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUL4ao3uAxO7lN3kLIcGAv1sRyulK1H6LqbNlIZikmHdCTdhF8gmzc0s4FTy1C-R2esRwK82Dp4-6fit1Tj4oCqplgB8u_tbQb9mIazg4EGY2_dNMcaEwQdKzb6JvPg-vLEZrM_XfO6pI/s320/IMG_1793.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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We were also struck by the brand new structures built in every community; the larger communities having two or three of these structures. All towns and villages along all of the coast of Japan have tsunami protection walls built to protect them from the average tsunami heights. They also all had tsunami protection towers built... without ever expecting the tsunami that hit Fukushima which, at its highest, was 44 meters (more details <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_T%C5%8Dhoku_earthquake_and_tsunami">here</a>) The citizens who escaped to the tsunami protection towers were all killed by the wave. Since then the government has taken on a massive construction program to built higher tsunami protection towers:</div>
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As we rode along the coast we enjoyed turning onto some of the small side roads that were much quieter and more interesting. Here we stumbled onto an ancient sake brewery:<br />
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And though we would have liked to buy a bottle, we decided we didn't want this extra weight in our saddle bag so we took this picture instead so we could buy the Sake in Tokyo.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0gJGSXEBK5hWqrDpc5gNXUOmiFqOKQUqfERodnfn4bVMho_yRKEcHesWNVcXlovATjj_pCNR3McRbQvM1ARBSq-ZoaaGovYS9JvqX5V7mYBHMIhhbAknQIdKPqci4ARDaEy6olOdK_F0/s1600/IMG_1809.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0gJGSXEBK5hWqrDpc5gNXUOmiFqOKQUqfERodnfn4bVMho_yRKEcHesWNVcXlovATjj_pCNR3McRbQvM1ARBSq-ZoaaGovYS9JvqX5V7mYBHMIhhbAknQIdKPqci4ARDaEy6olOdK_F0/s320/IMG_1809.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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That evening we pulled into a lovely bay that, as it turns out, is a surfers paradise. If you look closely at the specks in the waves here you will see tons of surfers.</div>
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Wet suits were hanging everywhere, even at our lodge. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN-jncb9q2Vks2jl_crb5gVLrhzia7KxV3kVNyq7EUZ0JSxsjzJChZZYe_8ASfKIC7Ti2KNFS8ZqBAh6CF_LWXqzWLBHm09kZdn1BKXUeYql_UQT7bfrP_8ngp_CpCMJxGWjkUpSMkNU0/s1600/IMG_1858.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN-jncb9q2Vks2jl_crb5gVLrhzia7KxV3kVNyq7EUZ0JSxsjzJChZZYe_8ASfKIC7Ti2KNFS8ZqBAh6CF_LWXqzWLBHm09kZdn1BKXUeYql_UQT7bfrP_8ngp_CpCMJxGWjkUpSMkNU0/s320/IMG_1858.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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After a long, hot ride, a swim seemed like a great idea until we actually put our feet in the water and it was still pretty chilly.</div>
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So instead we hung out with a beer over-looking the beautiful bay and enjoyed the approaching evening light. </div>
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The next day turned out to be a bit of an epic day with a 90 km ride all along the coast, right out to the tip of the Murato point and on up along the coast. (That does say Murato point just in case you were wondering!)</div>
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The waves were wild...</div>
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the cost was dramatic...</div>
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and certain huge rocks were considered sacred with their uniquely knotted rope delineating their sacredness:</div>
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As we rode with the ocean on our right, on our left we kept discovering little and large shrines in various states of repair reminding us of the Sacred. </div>
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Our next day included rides along the coast but also more time spent in villages.<br />
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We always enjoy some of the eccentricities of Japanese engineering tastes:<br />
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This was the first "listed" temple we visited ...</div>
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and Shelley was able to get an official stamp and lettering in her pilgrim's book. </div>
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We enjoyed a side trip to Teba island, one of the many historic islands dotting the coast. The ferry zipped us out to this island that has no cars and calls bicycles cars. </div>
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It is a rapidly aging ancient community with many old, abandoned houses. </div>
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And some current signs of life. The population has shrunk from several thousand to 70. </div>
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The last night of our trip we stayed in a pilgrim's hostel with a view out our window of one of the great temples of the pilgrimage:</div>
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The view from our window:</div>
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Enjoying the early morning sun, we got up at 5:30 to catch the morning sutra chanting in the great temple. </div>
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then hopped on a train with our great folding bikes to Tokushima, famous for its huge dance festival in August. </div>
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We happened to wander into a large Manga and Cosplay festival</div>
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After this wonderful trip it was a little hard for me to return to my work digs (my office)...</div>
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doing the marketing and outreach necessary at this time of year with my colleagues (Mr. Matsutani, my co-principal)</div>
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while Shelley continued for another week of adventures on her bike with friends in southern Shikoku! </div>
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Keep posted!</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328626560305690532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743192321598426208.post-72715298632758028782017-05-01T18:59:00.000-07:002017-05-01T18:59:23.348-07:00Keeping us humble (or bureaucracy in India!)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Just to recoup from the last blog... at this point we were getting on the train, looking forward to 4 hour trip back to Thrivundrum on the train, then to Rebecca and Ward's to repack then up early and out the next day to catch our flights back to Tokyo... so we planned!</div>
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As it turns out, upon return to the apartment and unpacking, my passport was nowhere to be found! Somehow, between getting on the train and getting off the train, my passport pouch with my passport, my Japanese ID card, my JP health insurance card, my JP driver's license had disappeared!!!</div>
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A concerned call to the Canadian emergency line confirmed that our only avenue possible to getting a temporary passport was to go to New Delhi to the Canadian embassy there (a 32 hour train ride or a 2 hour flight away!). So after an intense all night marathon of canceling one set of flights, booking other flights, finding lodging in New Delhi, repacking and thanking Rebecca and Ward for all of their help... we were off to Delhi, where we had not planned to go, in one of the hottest months of the year in Delhi (every day was between 42 and 47 degrees Celsius during our time there; people kept asking us why we were visiting Delhi then!) </div>
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Once again this was a healthy reminder to "Proceed as the Way opens" which it always does... in some surprising ways as it turns out!</div>
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Our hotel... downtown Delhi...PACKED with cars, scooters, pedicabs, cows, buses, tuk-tuks, pedestrians and noisy/noisy/noisy! An exploration walk around our hotel was a real challenge to pick out way through traffic, garbage, vendors, street repairs, beggars and crowds...</div>
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Once we applied for my temporary passport at the Canadian embassy and found it would take three working days (this was Friday) at least, we had to let go of all of our plans for our return to Tokyo: a friend coming to stay with us at the apartment, Dan off to run an English immersion camp, new teacher arriving... etc.</div>
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We decided that, if we were here, we should explore what India has to offer in the Delhi region. So we hired a driver and took off for three days of exploration of some of the epic sites around New Delhi.</div>
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Our first stop, Agra and the Taj Mahal. Early sunrise line-up at the gate along with hundreds of other visitors for a full body inspection to make sure no one was bringing in anything sharp to damage the monument.</div>
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We found a little quiet corner away from the crowds for our first view of the main entrance gate.<br />
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It was striking to see the Arabic script used as decor. Each strand of script is a unique piece of black marble carved on its own then inlaid into the main white marble slab!</div>
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Ah yes... even at sunrise, we were not alone!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJR-ePE5Txz8UQw9SjXY574vkuK73BqYS_PIVoCm1C6_w28iLD38NzfEQLd4-oy6sOhnblFUGM7t4i69IOk2bbWGaTuEIn5cIXo5M-cymY8TBd-pj3BeRk6SNZbNfKN80iyKn-q_f1cA8/s1600/IMG_0901.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJR-ePE5Txz8UQw9SjXY574vkuK73BqYS_PIVoCm1C6_w28iLD38NzfEQLd4-oy6sOhnblFUGM7t4i69IOk2bbWGaTuEIn5cIXo5M-cymY8TBd-pj3BeRk6SNZbNfKN80iyKn-q_f1cA8/s320/IMG_0901.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Our guide did manage to clear a little wedge of space for us to have the requisite picture taken... but their was a line-up for the same spot; had to move fast!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5e-yRvy7m3hY7W0QQJ8OZQAR0G7jOa7lTf17rYuclEI2Zelxi59XAJs5YfIfKOWq7Gr-WFwWaVVfrdy8svbbwZk18VO_0vUFaRgEUV_d5w-HoWgcWOA2ykKAaK2CUPAq6BfH4Rj4_KVM/s1600/IMG_0909.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5e-yRvy7m3hY7W0QQJ8OZQAR0G7jOa7lTf17rYuclEI2Zelxi59XAJs5YfIfKOWq7Gr-WFwWaVVfrdy8svbbwZk18VO_0vUFaRgEUV_d5w-HoWgcWOA2ykKAaK2CUPAq6BfH4Rj4_KVM/s320/IMG_0909.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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As we approached the main building we slowly became less aware of the crowds and more entranced by the building itself. As our guide reminded us, this is the only wonder of the world built for love... and still so beautiful after more than 400 years! (The Taj was built from 1631 to 1648) The following photo gives you a sense of the scale of the monument. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY4tu1dZ0TajliGF1Csj03CKvkmPFKyLcP1ao91Y5QbqzR8gGb9CIAZxRheRDsyKScpuMB2dRDslpTL8TMx_rVy0i6ExuBgihq0x52o8AiunFOCHLW-rIZ6d0XO9-Dxh7LxWO3tCo1v8M/s1600/IMG_0917.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY4tu1dZ0TajliGF1Csj03CKvkmPFKyLcP1ao91Y5QbqzR8gGb9CIAZxRheRDsyKScpuMB2dRDslpTL8TMx_rVy0i6ExuBgihq0x52o8AiunFOCHLW-rIZ6d0XO9-Dxh7LxWO3tCo1v8M/s320/IMG_0917.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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The details were what stunned us. As the sun hit different facets during the morning, each facet would begin sparkling in the light. Notice the white sparkles on the left side of this arch.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjerracNR6nngRODrEr1oG8l7N09mSgWaMjBTM7145rzNRS-Za-5GPgFW7JuqBr2hAO3wQVwBvag4Ae2QSl9nj94vrkGN38OZ4Y77M5mr8o6UC9gjwE6vlRiOka4wVmHyeolqzRsjs76qc/s1600/IMG_0954.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjerracNR6nngRODrEr1oG8l7N09mSgWaMjBTM7145rzNRS-Za-5GPgFW7JuqBr2hAO3wQVwBvag4Ae2QSl9nj94vrkGN38OZ4Y77M5mr8o6UC9gjwE6vlRiOka4wVmHyeolqzRsjs76qc/s320/IMG_0954.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Looked at up close, every one of these sparkles turns out to be because each flower, stem and petal is made from semi-precious stones; jade, agate, onyx, coral and bloodstone! Looked at up close you can see how each individual flower petal, stem and leaf has been individually carved and inlaid into the marble over many of the huge surfaces of the Taj.</div>
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The columns also have inlay semi precious stones in them, creating the optical illusion of a six sided column that actually had only three sides.</div>
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Every Friday the Taj Mahal is shut while workmen maintain and repair the incredibly beautiful and detailed work done here. The repairs have been done by generations of the same family since when it was built. We explored the compound from every angle...</div>
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And left before the heat rose to the mid-forties. </div>
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It was also striking to us the squalor all around the Taj Mahal in the city of Agra. Though there were beautiful compounds and high class hotels behind walls the city itself was hot, strewn with litter, crowded and polluted. It turns out there is no central electricity in Agra so anyone wishing to have electricity has to generate it with their own generator; you can picture the noise and the pollution from that. </div>
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In a little side alley off the main street we had the opportunity to visit the workshop of the family who has been repairing the Taj since the 1600s. On Fridays they work for the monument, the rest of the week they produce the following items. </div>
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Working the same way they do at the Taj, they start by carving out the cavities of the sheet marble.</div>
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Then they take the semi-precious stones...</div>
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and shape them with a grinder pulled with a bow....</div>
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down to tiny meticulous shaped slivers that fit together...</div>
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to make beautifully detailed inlaid patterns on the marble pieces.</div>
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Fascinating to think that these skills have been practiced and used ever since the Taj was built!</div>
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Continuing on our journey we stopped at another Mongol castle built by one of the many Mongolian rulers of India in the 1700s.</div>
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That night we spent the night and the next day at Jaipur, known as the Pink City. Known for the many houses and monuments of the old city being pink.</div>
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It turns out that King George and Queen Victoria visited the Maharaja Ram Singh. To welcome them he had the whole city redone and painted pink.</div>
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Going through these gates we were again introduced to some history we had known nothing about. One of the great Maharajs in the history of this area was Jai Singh II who lived 1688 to 1743, known for his wisdom, his skillful warfare and... his interest in astronomy. In the late 1600s he had a large set of astronomical instruments built at his palace to better observe the sun, the moon and the constellations of the zodiac. Click <a href="http://www.indianrajputs.com/famous/Jai-Singh-II-Amber.php">here</a> for more background on his reign.</div>
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This included the largest sundial in the world with the ability to tell the exact time right down to the minute.<br />
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Seen from a distance:<br />
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Here is the huge sundial; check the person standing at the base for scale!</div>
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The current Maharaj living in this palace descends from a long lineage spanning hundreds of years:</div>
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The palace has evolved over the hundreds of years with many additions but is still guarded by the Maharaj's security detail:</div>
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Portions of the palace can be rented out for special occasions if needed.</div>
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Some of the features are stunning at the palace:</div>
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And we always enjoyed the elegantly dressed women with their variety of striking saris.</div>
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The Maharaj's summer palace (the lake providing cooling for the rooms built below water table) from the 1800s (also trying not to notice the garbage floating in the lake).<br />
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On our way back to Delhi we stopped at another Maharaj's fort/palace from the 1700s, which also happened to be a special festival day for the temple at the fort.</div>
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This palace was unique for its use of mirrors as mosaic pieces so that every wall you walked by you were reflected on thousands of different facets like a kaleidoscope:</div>
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We were impressed by the ingenious ways that they cooled the air down in their palace including fine streams of water trickling down wires in front of these doors so that the air would blow through the streams of water and be cooler. </div>
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We enjoyed the varied aesthetic tastes of these castles, so different than our world in Japan. </div>
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After two long days of touring, heat, crowds, stairs, castles, beggars, history and unique sites we were settled into the air conditioned car for the last drive back to Delphi (with our wonderful driver Hardeev) ... but no, as it turned out, we had also paid for an elephant visit and petting time that we needed to do. As you can tell Shelley was thrilled by this!</div>
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Successfully back to Delhi, we spent our last day in India sweating out (literally) the bureaucratic maze to get out of India. Temporary passport from Canadian embassy by 11:00 (check!). Flight out that night at 11:00 PM (Should be no problem!).</div>
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Well as I left the embassy they casually said: "You need to stop by the Indian foreign affairs bureau for your exit stamp..."</div>
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7 hours later, after struggling through crowds and crowds of applicants pushing and shoving to get their case dealt with, after being sent from wicket to wicket to photocopy, back to an unlabeled table surrounded by applicants to get a "chit", back to the back of the room to write a letter, through 9 (yes I counted; 9!!) different desks checking, re-checking and re-checking ALL of my documents (that the previous person had just checked), after waiting at each desk in a random "line-up", after our driver intervened via another client of his who had connections in the office...all in sweltering 45 degree heat... I finally got "THE EXIT STAMP" at 5:50 (The office closed at 6:00 PM!). All of that work, all of that worry, all of that uncertainty to get a small, ordinary-looking signed and dated stamp in my passport. </div>
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So we raced off to the airport to start those complicated hoops there. </div>
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The armed guards at the front door: "Why is your passport white? Temporary??? Is this a real passport? Oh I'll have to get special permission!"</div>
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The airline check-in counter: "Why is your passport white? Temporary??? Is this a real passport? Oh I'll have to get special permission!"</div>
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The security check to get to gate: "Why is your passport white? Temporary??? Is this a real passport? Oh I'll have to get special permission!"</div>
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But we DID manage to fly out of India, we landed in Tokyo, and after a mere one hour in the special room with Japanese immigration (No JP ID card; "Why is your passport white? Temporary??? Is this a real passport? Oh I'll have to get special permission!")</div>
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We are finally back home! (Shelley's V sign on the airporter bus back home)</div>
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This whole experience reminded us of several things:</div>
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1. DON'T LOSE YOUR PASSPORT (this is a very tense world we live in at borders!)</div>
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2. How privileged we are to be Canadian, living in a first world country, where systems work, where services are there to help us and where civil servants are (generally) extremely helpful!</div>
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3. It also gave us both a really strong gut empathy for the fear, worry, unknowing and uncertainty that face so many refugees today caught in the cross-hairs of politics. It also really brought home how, as a refugee without ID so many doors are closed to you and normal travel is impossible. </div>
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We are grateful to be back to our regular lives and our hearts go out with empathy to all of those whose lives are still in limbo as faceless refugees. </div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328626560305690532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743192321598426208.post-18872434143921998362017-04-27T00:38:00.003-07:002017-04-27T00:38:41.303-07:00Spring Break; a study in extremes... in India<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Being in Asia, we took the opportunity to explore more of the world by flying over to Kerala, India, where my sister Rebecca has a Fullbright scholarship to do sociological research at the university of Thirumvananthapuram (how is that for an impressive name!). Her husband Ward decided to join her for the 7 months so we thought this would be an amazing opportunity to see them in a new world and learn about a country we know very little about. </div>
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Our first time on the Arabian peninsula; Abu Dhabi through the windows of the airport</div>
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And off to Thrivindrum (as the locals say for easier pronunciation) and meeting up with Rebecca and Ward in their dark, cool and modern apartment.<br />
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Walks around the neighborhood permitted us to get a feel for daily life in the area with lots of evidence of the current Communist Party in power in Kerala. </div>
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Many vibrant and alive temples with signs of faith everywhere. </div>
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We were interested to hear about the work Rebecca is doing for her Fullbright Scholarship at the University in Thrivundrum.</div>
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A university beautifully designed many years ago by an English architect for natural air conditioning. </div>
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Rebecca's office...</div>
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We toured a variety of richly textured temples including a temple that boasts a Guinness book of World Records record for the largest gathering of women (click <a href="https://www.keralatourism.org/event/attukal-pongala-festival/30">here</a>)</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Rebecca and Ward introduced us to the amazing real life legend of hidden riches at this, the mysterious temple called: </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 17.6px; text-align: left;">Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple. </span></div>
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It is a story of intrigue, of hundreds of years worth of treasure hoarding, of rumours of theft. The Indian Supreme Court ordered in 2011 that one of the chambers be opened and inventoried. As it turns out the value of that one room's treasure was estimated at ... $22 billion (yes; billion!!!). There are several other chambers to be investigated. For more on this story click <a href="http://sree%20padmanabhaswamy%20temple/">here</a>. Now there are huge and passionate discussions among the faithful and the non-faithful as to whether this treasure belongs to God and thus remains in the temple as supervised by the Maharaj, or does it belong to the state to be used for the good of all people (and risk corruption etc.)? This is still being argued about today. </div>
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Springing off from Thrivindrum, Rebecca and Ward took us on a fascinating series of adventures around the state of Kerala.<br />
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A stop in the ancient city of Kochi which had seen Roman traders come through looking to trade for spices as well as some of the earliest Christians. St. Thomas, the apostle of Jesus, arrived in the state of Kerala somewhere near 50AD where he was later martyred. (click <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/this-day-in-jewish-history/1.692829">here</a> for more)<br />
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This was also the first Portuguese colony established in India by Vasco de Gama, who later died here. (more details <a href="http://www.livescience.com/39078-vasco-da-gama.html">here</a>)<br />
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Ward and I were impressed by the high quality Lamborghini tuk-tuks....<br />
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Fascinating things to learn about in Kochi, like these special chinese fishing nets... but also hard to ignore the layer of filth and garbage covering most of the beach.</div>
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We enjoyed the sights, colours and smells of the shops...</div>
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Sampled some henna...</div>
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And found some shade in a peaceful sculpture garden...</div>
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Kochi and area had a very large christian presence seen on trucks...</div>
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As well as magnificent churches.</div>
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From Kochi we were driven on a long, long, crowded and winding road up into the Western Ghats mountains to a peak near the community of Munnar. A 5:00 AM expedition up the side roads to a trail head...</div>
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To find ourselves way above the cloud level...</div>
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To see the sunrise (partly made more beautiful by the poor air quality!).</div>
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The heat just began to assault us at the top of the peak so we headed back down...<br />
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with vistas of tree plantations on all sides.</div>
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Our guide was quite friendly and cheery and enjoyed sharing stories about his recent wedding.</div>
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From the mountain peak we wound our way down through perfectly manicured tea plantations that gave us a real understanding for how tea is grown. The trees can be quite old but they are trimmed down to waist height with passageways between each series of bushes so the new shoots can be cultivated.</div>
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The entire morning we could hear blasting music and speeches echoing throughout the valley. We assumed it was some kind of wedding. No... it was a political rally with about 30 people there. They just wanted to make sure no-one missed the fact they were there!</div>
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In the late afternoon, after all day in the sun, we appreciated going for a tour of an organic spice plantation where the spices are planted underneath the tree canopy.</div>
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It was fascinating to see cocoa growing:</div>
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Tapioca:</div>
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Pepper vines:</div>
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Our final trip back to the lodge had us careening down the mountain with all four of us jammed into the back seat of our guide's tuk-tuk (no, there were no seat-belts!).</div>
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The next morning we were up early to go to the Periyar Wild Life preserve. Without the crowds, the noise, the litter, it was a very peaceful hike deep into the wild life preserve with all of its unique flora and fauna.</div>
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The highlight was when we came across some wild elephants grazing in a clearing. It was particularly meaningful to us as we had just heard the previous day in the tea plantations about how a wild elephant had come out to a temple and killed two people! Needless to say, we kept our distance...</div>
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It was lovely to travel with my sister:<br />
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Our final stop on our tour of Kerala was catching a houseboat at Kumarakon. This area of inland waterways is popular for the lovely houseboats you can rent to be taken through some of the back waterways of the area. </div>
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We head a two bed-room boat...</div>
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Lots of lounging and relaxing space...</div>
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A cook and two assistant to serve us delicious food...</div>
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With periodic stops to walk along some of the country trails. Check out the matching colours here!</div>
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As we were tied up at night, the view from our window was quite special at sunrise.</div>
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Lovely fresh and healthy food done by our chef...</div>
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That was our last stop on our planned India trip. We had thought through the days, decided where we wanted to go, enjoyed our time exploring, and boarded this train to return to Thrivundrum and our flight back to Tokyo. We were ready to head back to our world in Tokyo feeling quite grateful for the work Ward and Rebecca had done to make this a great trip.</div>
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Only little did we expect that this was actually the beginning of a whole new adventure because my passport disappeared on this train; this was a BIG problem!</div>
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In India you need a passport to buy train tickets, to register overnight in a hotel. The airports are guarded by soldiers with submachine guns who won't let you in the airport unless you have a passport...</div>
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To be continued in the next blog.</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328626560305690532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743192321598426208.post-8332908360669250512017-03-09T23:27:00.001-08:002017-03-09T23:27:19.188-08:00On the work front; completion of year 2 for BSCISHere it is mid-March and this marks the end of year 2 for Bunka Suginami Canadian International School. This also marks Shelley's and my second full year here in Tokyo. <br />
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Here is the gate that I go through everyday on my bicycle, rain or shine, wind or sleet. There is always the pleasant gate guard who bids me a formulaic greeting with a big smile, no matter what the weather. The weather provides a regular conversation between him and I.<br />
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These are my Japanese colleagues, the senior administration team that I work with very closely, dressed in their finest for graduation. The principal (in the center) and our VP on the right speak no English which means I get to practice my Japanese (rough as it is) on a daily basis. </div>
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This is part of our DD staff in my office, decorated with reminders of the physical beauty that surrounds us in BC. My assistant in the middle of this photo is the facilitator of our cross-cultural and multi-lingual conversations that we need to have on a daily basis. </div>
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Our DD program this year comprised of grade 10 and grade 11 students. Next year we expand to grade 10, 11 and 12 students. Because the graduating class did not have DD students the entire graduation event was in Japanese. </div>
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Grad is a wonderful time for all of us to dress up. Signs of respect at important ceremonies here in Japan include a white tie for men, and better yet, a traditional kimono for both men and women:</div>
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The homeroom teachers are presenting their thank you. </div>
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The actual event was a very formal event with hundreds of students, speeches of thank you by the principal, the owner of the school, the teachers, the grade 12 rep, the grade 11 rep. At every speech the entire assembly stood up and bowed then sat down. The empty chairs here are for the grade 12 students. Once they entered it was no longer appropriate to take photos. </div>
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The stage was beautifully set with flowers, the Japanese flag and a gold panel evoking Japanese history. </div>
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After the formal part of the ceremony the parents' association put on a celebration for students and staff with fabulous food, a year in review slide show and several humorous performances. </div>
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The students had a great time watching their teachers in action:</div>
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All teachers were given a beautiful gift by students: </div>
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And then the teachers were cheered as they proceeded out fo the room, ready for another year. </div>
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As we wind up the year with final exams we are already prepping for next year. We have accepted a whole group of enthusiastic new grade 10 students and we are expanding our BC courses into grade 7 and grade 9 next year. </div>
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We look forward to getting our new students oriented at the beginning of April for a new year. </div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328626560305690532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743192321598426208.post-78031739887391213872017-03-08T22:25:00.002-08:002017-03-08T22:38:30.769-08:00We continue to learn in Tokyo: The work of Yayoi Kusama<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This blog is about the surprise of discovery and the power of art. Once again, one of these Tokyo weekends of taking our beloved bikes and heading off into the BIG city. A quick check of Tokyo web-sites for what's on (click <a href="https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/things-to-do/things-to-do-in-tokyo-this-weekend">here</a> or <a href="https://tokyocheapo.com/events/">here</a> if you are curious) and we discovered one of our favorite museums:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF4N3xB-fQD_jEv02Rzq2l4KhVzlslyEsKGAsNAuph-zFfPuP4s6m2PQRfF5hCv1xxyhskzU_EUv9J57RjsDNarHEXlzbMVru6ltrcIrzFpRUmirl1SkDgMeUZGHwvnQO78IIyqLOyk5I/s1600/The_National_Art_Center_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF4N3xB-fQD_jEv02Rzq2l4KhVzlslyEsKGAsNAuph-zFfPuP4s6m2PQRfF5hCv1xxyhskzU_EUv9J57RjsDNarHEXlzbMVru6ltrcIrzFpRUmirl1SkDgMeUZGHwvnQO78IIyqLOyk5I/s320/The_National_Art_Center_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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... has another artist of who we knew nothing about: Yayoi Kusama. Ah yes... and spots seemed to be the theme of this artist. </div>
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We brought along two of our guests who are Polish cyclists touring Australia, New Zealand and Japan to share in the discovery. </div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">T his Saturday we were once again transported into a breath taking world of expression and passion by Yayoi Kusama, an artist that we had not known,. </span></div>
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Yayoi Kusama, as it turns out, had had a long and famous/infamous artistic life spanning back to the early 70s in New York City. She returned to Japan in 1977 where she checked herself into the Seiwa Hospital for the Mentally Ill. She has been living there since then producing a vast amount of art spanning painting, sculpture, novel writing, fashion design and interior decorating. Click <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yayoi_Kusama">here </a>to find out more about her fascinating life and works. </div>
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We were able to have a quick visit with her before entering the exhibit.</div>
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Spots... and pumpkins. There are famous representations of huge pumpkins around Japan and the world done by her. </div>
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When we entered the exhibit we were stunned by the power and volume of her work! Since 2007 she has poured her energy into 500 (!!!) highly detailed, highly passionate and huge paintings. This gallery exhibited only 190 of them. Each one uniquely different and each one with a passionate title that went from romantic, to hope, to despair, to suicidal... then back again. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfzoiYFmmbZ71wXzvjvPRZ6zmCRqZT7jaI0_nzamLhdg1sUck7x1hRYwO_fbx729EB3Nhc0jq8-3bmRrYCDZJEG4ORVaJ05Tphzp8mBvUDyQEcvHMAK3EP8sVrEf1xeV86ZJbOMbmBR4k/s1600/IMG_0317.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfzoiYFmmbZ71wXzvjvPRZ6zmCRqZT7jaI0_nzamLhdg1sUck7x1hRYwO_fbx729EB3Nhc0jq8-3bmRrYCDZJEG4ORVaJ05Tphzp8mBvUDyQEcvHMAK3EP8sVrEf1xeV86ZJbOMbmBR4k/s320/IMG_0317.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Check out the intensely detailed and huge work she does!</div>
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Some samples of painting titles:</div>
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The exhibit then branched out to some of her huge 3D sculptures that really reminded us of Niki St. Phalle (from another blog of ours; see <a href="https://www.google.co.jp/search?q=niiki+st.+phalle&espv=2&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjHzKj83sjSAhUEbbwKHe-bBfAQ_AUIBigB&biw=1366&bih=589&dpr=1">here</a>)</div>
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It then went into exhibits of some of her other work which includes interior design: </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjukg8AvorWfaK6DgSWZr6qTWGCUYmVYUDL9z09rJPlbZBalNegEq68QtFTFr53PLC2f44oKS2XnwvIkrVKZk_UbQ2cT8o9yf_MVMDXMy7RdB44jQGuCg6BWpSelmiobCRZuhIfOBCs9W4/s1600/yayoi+kusama+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjukg8AvorWfaK6DgSWZr6qTWGCUYmVYUDL9z09rJPlbZBalNegEq68QtFTFr53PLC2f44oKS2XnwvIkrVKZk_UbQ2cT8o9yf_MVMDXMy7RdB44jQGuCg6BWpSelmiobCRZuhIfOBCs9W4/s320/yayoi+kusama+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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(Would this clash with any of your other furniture?)</div>
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She wrote a whole series of novels (one of the more strange ones):</div>
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She also was well known for her art happenings in New York in the 1970s (of course with dots):</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHnnYCBtq3NxfaLdS6tS20X_E8dyCekEGmcbygjdOGcLXfiP8-iD7j1wn-ZwdkKvgy33m8_FtQL-T0k0SXX1ij2Dir_HPRS4Ar5nZVWakGSYyOVPwsPE5nPKzZqaKiDSmsl_nuhI88oCQ/s1600/477fe4a1ebcd4f175544841cbe315977.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHnnYCBtq3NxfaLdS6tS20X_E8dyCekEGmcbygjdOGcLXfiP8-iD7j1wn-ZwdkKvgy33m8_FtQL-T0k0SXX1ij2Dir_HPRS4Ar5nZVWakGSYyOVPwsPE5nPKzZqaKiDSmsl_nuhI88oCQ/s320/477fe4a1ebcd4f175544841cbe315977.jpg" width="248" /></a></div>
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Now in her 80s, wherever she has a show around the world it generates huge excitement and long lines (8 hours in New York; click <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2524912/Would-wait-hours-selfie-People-line-day-Yayoi-Kusamas-Infinity-Mirrored-Room-envy-inducing-photograph.html">here</a>)</div>
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Her last gift is that you get sticky dots as you leave and you go through an interior room with white furniture... to create your own work of art:</div>
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This room travels around the world with the exhibit to create an international art-piece. </div>
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We left the exhibit breathless, having felt alternately lifted up, pounded down, drawn in, repulsed and consumed by her vision and her art. We ambled through the lobby of this amazing museum ....</div>
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de-briefing together and being inspired by our surroundings. Here is to a very powerful artist whom we just discovered... are we the last ones to know about her? Did you know about Yayoi Kusama??</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328626560305690532noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743192321598426208.post-12957158527702185282017-03-01T19:49:00.000-08:002017-03-01T19:49:40.871-08:00Girl's Day celebration in Japan<div style="text-align: left;">
March 3 is Girls' Festival in Japan. Our school, like most households in Japan, pull out and display a beautiful set of dolls. These dolls are a re-creation of the Emperor's court during the Edo period. Our program assistant at BSCIS particularly loves this time because it reminds here of a similar sized collection that she was given by her grand-father at her birth to celebrate. She loves looking at our school's display because, due to the vicissitudes of travel, moving and small apartments she no longer has her set. </div>
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Each doll is intricately dressed with period outfits and each face is quite expressive and detailed.<br />
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Here are the Emperor and the Empress, at the top of the display:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggdgHVkmY99o77CEj_-5Gy-ka6GD6d9LMsLTs6FVZDNVsqaYz91AAsG1ZZR05JtOy7Gk9CHUN-cAJY93NhaJ2XZK-V7C_Fm6USD7v5995LYbJsbQb42uzeXVKBRjMrVrH_LrTfS4miDAw/s1600/IMG_0267.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggdgHVkmY99o77CEj_-5Gy-ka6GD6d9LMsLTs6FVZDNVsqaYz91AAsG1ZZR05JtOy7Gk9CHUN-cAJY93NhaJ2XZK-V7C_Fm6USD7v5995LYbJsbQb42uzeXVKBRjMrVrH_LrTfS4miDAw/s320/IMG_0267.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAjh4bUI6D5aU1vblsJohIPaXU4zG0TrvytP81cFdasH9z7cVSnstfAYpXWmtx80d_LwsTjja8-IKsz0EyRjDe_22tNeOANDRMW55TpAYWWGbaYC1-eljuln4dUEjC2I7Akkr1h7BRmSc/s1600/IMG_0261.JPG" imageanchor="1"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Skim719T3EtvXDdftUO_OijbCTb5yCS81MFcjeeMlqxkwUyE9QaZfaQl5Qsqy0pEOqFzkxylY992nX_yVlr6BEsfRGSv9x8IBtP0JTyCYqZv29FBxqB0PSJTKYu5eR4AU39w-DAq_2k/s1600/IMG_0262.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Skim719T3EtvXDdftUO_OijbCTb5yCS81MFcjeeMlqxkwUyE9QaZfaQl5Qsqy0pEOqFzkxylY992nX_yVlr6BEsfRGSv9x8IBtP0JTyCYqZv29FBxqB0PSJTKYu5eR4AU39w-DAq_2k/s320/IMG_0262.JPG" width="240" /></a><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAjh4bUI6D5aU1vblsJohIPaXU4zG0TrvytP81cFdasH9z7cVSnstfAYpXWmtx80d_LwsTjja8-IKsz0EyRjDe_22tNeOANDRMW55TpAYWWGbaYC1-eljuln4dUEjC2I7Akkr1h7BRmSc/s320/IMG_0261.JPG" width="240" /></div>
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Underneath them are various ministers and Samurai, wearing the appropriate head coverings:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3zPGOvxs7aOIFXudj9iJFegeF_kUU_v6d1imqAQO2YwLO0qNusCzdnA4_JN6KkUtoI6whwq-LLS3RxKVEladDo6hgoVJQyvBS2viYZEU-YEYPYzrXSUbUPZETFeBqrHm8IX9TkCKvE-M/s1600/IMG_0263.JPG" imageanchor="1"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbMrJu_qA36HNFqEb-9INeFoSm_rktM_Z5jGJcNzKUV6HmNW8vhInDCYn-eagNb9TKYZsVocuMuwjsu5ZW5K2-LcrSsunraku5M7drhegz80mz9vdaN-vLuJbX55c7XbaqeptbxCuvSyM/s1600/IMG_0264.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbMrJu_qA36HNFqEb-9INeFoSm_rktM_Z5jGJcNzKUV6HmNW8vhInDCYn-eagNb9TKYZsVocuMuwjsu5ZW5K2-LcrSsunraku5M7drhegz80mz9vdaN-vLuJbX55c7XbaqeptbxCuvSyM/s320/IMG_0264.JPG" width="240" /></a><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3zPGOvxs7aOIFXudj9iJFegeF_kUU_v6d1imqAQO2YwLO0qNusCzdnA4_JN6KkUtoI6whwq-LLS3RxKVEladDo6hgoVJQyvBS2viYZEU-YEYPYzrXSUbUPZETFeBqrHm8IX9TkCKvE-M/s320/IMG_0263.JPG" width="240" /></div>
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Each layer of the display has progressively less powerful people until, finally, at the base, there is a display of the huge dowry that comes with any bride.</div>
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Each layer is well described in this link <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinamatsuri">here</a>. </div>
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Kumiko describes the various parts of the display and explains that this is linked historically to ensure that the household's daughters have a good marriage. The superstition is that if the dolls are not put away on March 4, this will delay the marriage of the daughter. She laughs about that part!</div>
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The role of women in Japanese society continues to be a hotly debated and challenging conversation in this society. From generation to generation, things are changing but it is interesting to note that even in the language of Japanese, the character for female is associated with negative words. Check out <a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2017/01/30/language/womans-lowly-place-japan-mirrored-language/#.WLeDohJ949c">this</a> article if you are interested in a more in depth conversation about this. </div>
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This is our second Girl's Day celebration and we learn more about Japanese culture the longer we live here. </div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328626560305690532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743192321598426208.post-13905249586001931362017-01-25T21:20:00.004-08:002017-02-12T18:32:11.787-08:00Peleliu; a beautiful island with a tragic history....On a day trip from Palau we had the opportunity to take a day trip tour of the island of Peleliu, a beautiful pristine and remote island an hour by boat South of Palau.<br />
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The sky and the sea are beautiful shades of blue:<br />
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The beaches are isolated and pristine:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgikOFQfRFYQMplSYR_gEHfH4P3ocOMqNL8Y0FA2Jp1kefc2Q-NA0C9hpt7Y9FhwENBIsS6A2Pue0orfu86_ZEFR9kE0t51nDE7eUqEXsqhmthTn4C-apqOxkQJiPmzRlGLVsrvRy3Ms48/s1600/IMG_6138.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgikOFQfRFYQMplSYR_gEHfH4P3ocOMqNL8Y0FA2Jp1kefc2Q-NA0C9hpt7Y9FhwENBIsS6A2Pue0orfu86_ZEFR9kE0t51nDE7eUqEXsqhmthTn4C-apqOxkQJiPmzRlGLVsrvRy3Ms48/s320/IMG_6138.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The water is a perfect temperature to swim in on a hot, tropical day:</div>
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Seventy years ago, this was what this beautiful island of Peleliu looked like:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9-T436QcMuz0ZJvt34rHC0AmwguHZseYplDAS8orzNgS6WHB268T8mmkaQAnGA2oMDnrnLnbk2exh0-A-3U8zhn07156cvX79TI4ReYRMvHEzG8rP_vLk5zSCQkrfUgP3EzuY8kgM6nU/s1600/battle-of-peleliu-large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9-T436QcMuz0ZJvt34rHC0AmwguHZseYplDAS8orzNgS6WHB268T8mmkaQAnGA2oMDnrnLnbk2exh0-A-3U8zhn07156cvX79TI4ReYRMvHEzG8rP_vLk5zSCQkrfUgP3EzuY8kgM6nU/s320/battle-of-peleliu-large.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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You have probably heard of the battle of Okinawa, of Iwo Jima and many of the other terrible battles that fought during the Pacific campaign of WWII... but Peleliu? I had never heard of it. It turns out that Peleliu was one of the most vicious battles with the highest percent casualties on both the American and the Japanese sides of any of the island campaigns:</div>
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Out of an original Japanese regiment of 15000 soldiers only 19 survived to be captured. On the Allied side there were 2336 men killed and 8450 wounded. (data from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Peleliu">here</a>) </div>
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This battle doesn't get talked about because in retrospect it seemed to be a "mistake" or perhaps an "unnecessary invasion". Articles today about the battle are called "<a href="http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/history/item/4700-all-for-naught-the-battle-of-peleliu">All for naught</a>"; or "<a href="http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/unnecessary-hell-the-battle-of-peleliu/">Unnecessary hell</a>"; or "<a href="https://www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck/peleliu-forgotten-battle">The forgotten battle</a>".</div>
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After finding out about this battle it seemed an important piece of understanding for us, living in Japan, me, of American heritage, to visit and attempt to learn from this tragic history. </div>
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Our trip was fraught with interesting symbolism; we ended up in a bus with a Japanese tour group, with a tour guide speaking Japanese. On the same bus Shelley, Joel and I were joined by an American pilot for Delta and we had an English speaking Palauan guide. Our guide was passionate about the events on Peleliu having met many veterans who returned to revisit this area with original photos and maps of the battle. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6fPA-_HnycO64XhoRmVmmbOUbWwtOxMfLeP_Wyx6NbP2C-gAb30Ci38vasWUjysZW2klZXbtRrAf7pw6rVUmZQyh7NN84JZpkaa1BhAoK7friFUBJwuhVI0TtJD6vKTQ_2haZeKTc4jw/s1600/IMG_9454.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6fPA-_HnycO64XhoRmVmmbOUbWwtOxMfLeP_Wyx6NbP2C-gAb30Ci38vasWUjysZW2klZXbtRrAf7pw6rVUmZQyh7NN84JZpkaa1BhAoK7friFUBJwuhVI0TtJD6vKTQ_2haZeKTc4jw/s320/IMG_9454.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Our first stop was the local museum, a carefully and simply done exhibit in a bombed out munitions depot of both Japanese and American artifacts as well as communications from the generals to their superiors. A very telling telegram was from the Japanese commander who radioed that they had no more planes, supplies and asked permission to withdraw. The answer from HQ was "fight to the death"! There are also personal letters from soldiers to their families and mementos that help personalize the reality of this horrible battle and 1000 paper cranes for peace. </div>
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The tour then took us through dense jungle to various bombed out and over-grown sites from the battle including the Japanese HQ buildings:</div>
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Scattered throughout the jungle are US and Japanese blown-up hulks of tanks:</div>
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And some remains of destroyed Zero fighters:</div>
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What was so particularly vicious about this battle like many of the other island battles was that the Japanese army had built countless tunnels throughout the hills of Peleliu from which they could attack and then fade away to attack out of another tunnel. The pounding from the areal bombardments did not affect these tunnels much. </div>
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To counter these tunnels the Allied forces would throw in grenades into the tunnels, scorch out the oxygen with a flame thrower then fill in the entrance with a bulldozer. </div>
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What remains today are sweeping vistas of oceans and some monuments that the Emperor of Japan has visited.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZqH8Mbes9Ps/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZqH8Mbes9Ps?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe><br />
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Plaques to commemorate the war heroes (most died in the battle):</div>
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The remains of an American military cemetery. When the US asked permission from the local Palauan community to built a permanent cemetery there, they said no; this had not been their war and they did not want those ghosts on that island. </div>
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We finished our tour of the island at the Japanese Shinto shrine, the site of on-going burial ceremonies for newly discovered remains of soldiers. The Japanese government continues to send experts to Palau to open up more sealed caves to find and rebury the remains of soldiers. See <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/palau/11501770/Japan-searches-for-Second-World-War-soldiers-remains-in-sealed-caves-of-Palau.html">attached</a> article. Our guide told of one 93 year old Japanese woman who received a package of letters last year from her husband whose remains had been sealed in a cave since the battle of Peleliu!</div>
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Our trip was a sobering reminder of the tragedy of war, of the lasting impact on communities all around the world. We were also stunned to realize that, 5 years after this horrible battle, Japan supported the US in its war in Korea to face together, shoulder to shoulder, the "Communist enemy" of North Korea and China!! See article <a href="http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2015/06/137_181440.html">here</a>. </div>
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So...what was the battle of Peleliu for?</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328626560305690532noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743192321598426208.post-10876359997482898592017-01-16T21:19:00.000-08:002017-01-16T21:19:09.760-08:00Korea as an inextricable part of the China/Japan/ Asia complexityOur Christmas travels took us through Seoul Korea as a stopover on the way to Palau. This was a gift for us as we knew very little about South Korea or its' history. This also gave us a feel for the huge cataclysms and conflicts that have crashed over this small small section of Asia in the last one hundred years.<br />
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Our first gift was to learn about and experience some of Korea's rich history through just happening to book an Airbnb right in the middle of historic Seoul; beautiful wood-work, narrow little alleys and interesting court yards hidden away. Not at all the ultra-modern/ no history left city we expected!<br />
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Our understanding of Seoul and Korea was facilitated by a lovely dinner gathering with some of the active Seoul Quaker Meeting members who joined us for a lively evening of sharing, bumbling along in mixtures of Korean, English and Japanese, and lots of laughter.<br />
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Curious about how Quakers were started in Korea, they all referred to the "Korean Gandhi" Ham Sok-Hon who was one of the founders of Quakers in Korea. An ardent pacifist who was imprisoned and tortured by the Japanese, North Korea and then the dictators of South Korea all of our Friends mentioned how important he was in them choosing to be Quaker. Here is a <a href="http://www.quakersintheworld.org/quakers-in-action/193">link</a> to his life and work. </div>
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<img alt="Image result for korean gandhi quaker" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/HamSeokheon_readingBooks.JPG/235px-HamSeokheon_readingBooks.JPG" /></div>
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We particularly appreciated our in-depth conversations with the senior member of Seoul meeting whose 40 year stint in the US gave us some real perspective on the Korean war, the partition and Korean history and language. It was fascinating to hear about the work he has done with the AFSC on re-unification and the 30 some trips he has taken to North Korea. </div>
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We immersed ourselves in a quick overview of Korea history, starting back with the earliest Korean pottery from around 8000 BC. From those early periods the history of Korea, like the history of Japan, like the history of China, is littered with competing dynasties, with rulers taking power from other rulers, with invasions from their neighbours (yes, the Mongols and the Japanese at different times in history), with wars and periods of peace. A timeline of Korean history can be found <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Korean_history">here</a>. </div>
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Like China and Japan, there is a central and beautiful imperial palace:<br />
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Looking out to the vibrant modern city:</div>
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Remains of the original defensive wall (now peppered with modern military installations) that surrounded ancient Seoul:</div>
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And like China and Japan, Koreans debate about calligraphy originating in Korea. There are some claims that the original tea ceremony started here and as well as a variety of other ancient traditions revered in all three countries: </div>
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Around the ancient parts of the city, the sprawling modern city attracts visitors from all over the world for its' shopping (apparently Korean cosmetics are highly valued by Chinese buyers) and the international craze for Korean youth culture known as the "K-wave". We did not partake much in the K-wave phenomena but truly enjoyed wandering the streets in the freezing cold to get a feel for the city. </div>
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Old and new:</div>
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Stairs that light up to encourage you to exercise:</div>
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Quaint tea houses in back alleys:</div>
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with mega-buildings on the major roads:</div>
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Art museums; science museums; culture museums:</div>
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And how could we not pose in front of the Canadian Embassy?</div>
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Though it got pretty bitterly cold in the evening, the Christmas light-ups helped liven our walks:</div>
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Our one bit of the K-wave we stumbled on and bought tickets to was a hilarious play/cooking show cum Taiko drums called "Nanta" that is sweeping the world. Think chefs/acrobats chopping cabbage in the air and drumming on cutting blocks with sharp knives and you have a bit of an image of this K-wave phenomena now playing in NYC, LA, Paris etc. </div>
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If you have 15 minutes to spare, check out this Youtube of the Nanta show:</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">From the K-wave to the historical, we warmed up in a fascinating museum that looked at Korean history from the late 1890s to today. Here, like in Japan, was the histroy of the West forcing Korea to "open its doors" with all of the new knowledge this brought as well as religion, architecture and loss of traditions. The exhibition explained the Japanese colonisation (interesting to see this from the Korean perspective coming from Tokyo), the end of the second world war, the hope and then the Korean war and the series of dictators who ran the Seoul government for years. It also chronicled the importance of democracy (here are the displays where you can speak at the Prime Minsters podium and sit at their desk) as well as a hope for a tolerant and multi-culture future for Korea.</span></div>
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As we had a coffee at the museum shop looking over the square, we saw democracy and conflict in action. A large group of protesters came chanting down the avenue and a swarm of police came out to redirect them. </div>
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Deciding to move away from that area, we ended up walking down the main central square on our way to our next museum only to find more evidence of the current waves of anger, protests and demonstrations. According to our Quaker friends, Koreans now, due to their recent history, are very prompt to protest in large numbers. </div>
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It seems that on weekends is when the huge crowds gather, but the effigies are left during the week. </div>
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A touching temporary shrine has also been built on the square in memory of the students killed in the sinking of a ferry in 2014. This disaster struck a real national chord and has fuelled national discontent since then. See the article <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3605976/Eerie-pictures-untouched-classroom-belonging-students-teachers-killed-Sewol-ferry-disaster-South-Korea.html">here</a>.</div>
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This was quite a beautiful cafe to bring people together in grief. </div>
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This was a short visit in which we only had time to scratch the surface of this ancient and complex society. But again, having lived in both China and Japan, we were reminded about the generations and generations of complex conflicts and cultural exchange between these three countries. And as can be seen in the news these days, these conflicts continue to be alive and challenging to the relations between these countries today.</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328626560305690532noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743192321598426208.post-18219546124631978932017-01-12T17:36:00.002-08:002017-01-15T16:35:17.713-08:00Family around the world; Tokyo to PalauThe world is huge, the Pacific ocean stretches endlessly to the horizon around Japan. Our friend suggested she might be interested in sailing across the Pacific. Both of us recoiled thinking: "That would take forever!"<br />
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Enter the air-plane of course. Our Christmas holiday gave us the opportunity to fly from Tokyo to Palau via Seoul, Korea.<br />
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Tucked away in the middle of the vast Pacific is the nation of Palau, legendary in our family as the home of my cousin Joel and his wife Laura.(More about Palau, click <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palau">here</a>) Over 40 years ago Joel fell in love with these beautiful islands and has lived there since. He has a doctorate in tropical agriculture and has become a central activist in educating and advocating for the unique environment of Palau.<br />
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Joel in a proper Palauan pose at home:<br />
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And his lovely wife Laura who is currently the Governor of her home state; on the beach with one of their sons:</div>
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We were thrilled to spend time with them as we explored a world we knew very little about... starting with a dramatic change from from a chilly Tokyo at -1 (C) to a humid, hot and tropical world at 28 to 30 (C).</div>
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Our first gift in Palau was to get to know Joel's family who graciously gave us an insight in Palauan food, language and culture. (Yes there is a Santa as well in Palau, only he was wearing a T-shirt and short sleeves!) At our Christmas we were astounded to sing Silent Night in 7 languages (!!!), all languages that are used currently or historically on this island:</div>
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Currently: English, Palauan, Sonsorolese (Laura's native language), Yapese (another nearby island), Hawaiian, Japanese (colonialists for 30 years) and German (previous colonizers before the Japanese). Laura's mother didn't speak much English whereas her father was fluent in <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"> English </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">along with Sonsorolese, Palauan, Japanese, and Tobian</span>) </div>
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We shared special gatherings with extended family where we had the opportunity to hear about traditional practices, about different clan cultures and family lineage, about unique ceremonies and some of the historical challenges facing the different regions on the island. </div>
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They introduced us to some of the ancient stone monuments from prehistory:</div>
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Our family and history conversations flowed aided by delicious picnics on various beaches prepared by Laura...</div>
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Joel's boat gave us the opportunity to explore extensively throughout the Rock Islands, one of the world's best locations for snorkelling and diving. Joel knew the nooks and crannies and took us into</div>
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magical places. </div>
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Deep into the mangrove swamps (where we almost lost our boat keys!)...</div>
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And to some of the prime snorkelling areas that he knew about...</div>
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We got quickly oriented to our new equipment...</div>
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And dove right in...</div>
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To the magical world of the coral reefs:</div>
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Wait... where's the snorkel? Laura's son is a researcher at the Palau aquarium and helped us understand what we were actually seeing in the ocean:</div>
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Joel was gracious enough to organise exposure to all types of tropical weather, including the howling tropical downpours soaking us to the bone in minutes...</div>
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And just in case we hadn't getting wet enough from the downpours, Joel took us to a "secret" water fall on the main island to enjoy a fresh water shower:</div>
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Our New Year's trip gave us the gift of remembering what a broad concept "Family" is and how family weaves together so many important values of caring, of history, of culture and of humanity. Thank you Joel, Laura and family!</div>
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It also gave us the gift of celebrating the magnificence of relatively unspoiled Nature on these tiny little islands of Palau out in the middle of the Pacific.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328626560305690532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743192321598426208.post-56488284201044667042016-12-19T23:09:00.002-08:002016-12-21T21:22:13.226-08:00Christmas in Tokyo Year 2 already!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Ah yes, this is Year 2 for us in Tokyo for the Christmas season. This year we are celebrating the season on our own with our family sprinkled around the world... not in Tokyo. Though Tokyo is not from a particularly Christian tradition, the Christmas season is milked for all of its' commercial and sentimental opportunities.</div>
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We have really enjoyed being washed over with the mega-city approach to Christmas as well as creating meaningful celebrations of our own. </div>
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Our very special uni-lingual (Japanese) Honan Jazz choir had a concert in our tiny hall with about 20 guests crammed into to enjoy the show. The program consisted of great Jazz classics such as Ray Charles "I love her so", songs from rent and Sister Act, some Gershwin and Christmas carols generally sung in Japanese with a smattering of English... which sung by our choir sounded a bit more like Japanese than English! :)</div>
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The men were all dudded out with Dan's Christmas ties (Ando-san was singing Mona Lisa so needed that tie) :</div>
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The women dressed in Christmas colours:</div>
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With memories of our time in China Shelley and I were asked to solo acapella (Silent Night). We brought in our friend from Palau to support us.</div>
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The evening was a fabulous cross-cultural sharing evening full of Christmas cheer and nostalgia for us; friendship, laughter and music for our Japanese friends. The star of the evening is always our wonderful conductor who is an inspired jazz pianist trained in New York (who has a smattering of English enough to help us when we get stuck!) She is expecting soon so we will have no choir for awhile much to our sadness:</div>
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We finished off the evening at our local wondering pub which is called "the Log Cabin", a tiny pub tucked into a huge, faceless apartment building. You walk in the door and there is the complete feeling of being in a log cabin in Jasper, complete with log walls and over 20 ticking and chiming clocks. The owners have run this establishment for the last 30 years and we often drop by there after our choir. Here is the gang wishing you a Merry Christmas. </div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/E4RHmHo1RFs/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/E4RHmHo1RFs?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe><br />
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Signs of Christmas in Tokyo do abound... though no snow here. The Jizo statues have their red-knit sacred hats on:</div>
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Our school has a Christmas tree in the front hall:</div>
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What has been really fun for us again this year is to discover the glitzy, often tacky (for our tastes), over-the-top "Christmas Illuminations" tucked in corners all over Tokyo...</div>
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We did sing "I am dreaming of a white Christmas":</div>
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Layers and layers of lights:</div>
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Christmas trees of all kinds of shapes and sizes in many locations....</div>
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Incredibly manicured parks with lights draped all over every surface...</div>
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Streets lined with trees having nearly every branch wrapped in lights. We watched them wrapping the trees; what a lot of patience it took. Think of the hours! And yes, those are throngs viewing the illuminations. </div>
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One of the prized vistas is this one down this beautiful street with a view of Tokyo Tower lit up like a Christmas tree. </div>
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And then of course the over the top illuminations done by Toshiba every year and viewed by thousands of Tokyoites over the season:</div>
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One of the things we love about our travels around Japan is that, in the midst of all of this glitz and commercialism we stumble on reminders of the Greater Truth. Here Shelley is admiring a 500 year old... yes that is a 500 year old bonsai tree. Every day it has to be trimmed and watered; every day for 500 years! How many generations is that???? Do we have something to learn about caring from this?</div>
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We come home to our apartment in one of the quieter neighbourhoods and really refocus on what is important to us. We value each other as a team here in Japan. We received this gift from a Japanese friend for Christmas; 2 strawberries worth about $6 each. The white symbolise a long marriage; the red one symbolises fresh passion. We thought this was quite appropriate. </div>
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We gaze at our paper cut out in our window that blocks the view of the high-rises out our window that we made to help us think of the Kootenays:</div>
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We enjoy our "Christmas tree set-up" that we did NOT go into the forest and cut down like we do in Kaslo. (If you look carefully you will see 4 trees including a tiny glass-blown one) :)</div>
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We think about the gifts we have been given in our lives at this time of so much anger, hate, violence and intolerance.</div>
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We value our family sprinkled around the world. Here a gathering of our two daughters and their cousins with Oma to celebrate an early Christmas with her in Kaslo. </div>
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They cooked a fabulous meal of course with turkey (we have not found turkey here yet):</div>
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We think of those family and friends who have departed before us. This has been a year in which we have lost several close friends whom we miss. This tree was planted at Shelley's father's death and is lit up every year as an honouring of our elders who have passed away. </div>
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And we think of all of the rest of you, our family and friends, as you gather to celebrate your time together and what you value most. We wish all of you the best of the season and we wish that you spread some kindness around you in whatever part of the world you happen.<br />
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"All of the darkness in the world cannot put out the light of a single candle."<br />
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<b><i>Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all from Dan and Shelley in Tokyo, Japan, 2016</i></b><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328626560305690532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743192321598426208.post-12854565213434308802016-12-08T22:59:00.000-08:002016-12-08T22:59:32.141-08:00Another good year for BSCIS!<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
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Another New Year is approaching here in Tokyo. Time for the school to celebrate with the annual New Year treat called Mochi, made from pounded rice that turns into an elastic mass that is then flavoured with sweet or savoury add-ons. </div>
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All of the students are invited to the gym for a celebration hosted by the Student Council in their ceremonial tunics:</div>
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To make the celebration particularly sacred, Sumo wrestlers are invited to come and pound the rice. It is originally a little disconcerting to see such lightly clad men in a large group of very modestly uniformed girls... until you realize that this is their Sumo wrestling uniform. In Japan seeing them in the gym is just as exciting and evokes the same reaction as having a fully uniformed hockey player visit one of our BC schools. </div>
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Part of the excitement is that each homeroom gets to have one girl go up and pound the rice. </div>
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And of course teachers are invited to participate; how is my wood splitting swing?<br />
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The event wraps up with one of the highlights: getting your picture taken with the Sumo wrestlers. This gives you a comparison check on their massive size!</div>
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Having successfully completed another Mochi celebration, we look forward to another good year here in Tokyo at BSCIS. </div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328626560305690532noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743192321598426208.post-54518880777073243372016-11-30T21:30:00.000-08:002016-11-30T21:30:05.870-08:00Excentric Japanese tastes... take 3; the Design Festa again<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Ah yes, this is now take three for us at the bi-annual Tokyo Design Fest. Just a reminder from previous blogs, this is a HUGE craft fair targeted towards what is eccentric and unique in Japan. It is like any Christmas craft fair you go to... only on steroids, with wackier, stranger, more unique and just plain more of anything that you may have experienced. To add to the experience there are 100,000 people who drop by each day! Every year we are amazed by the novelty and the eccentric offerings so here are some of our discoveries this year:</div>
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So lets start our journey by the main entrance performances to set the tone:</div>
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Here is the "Draft Beer" song and dance; yes each one of those hats is a "glass of draft beer"!</div>
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Ah yes, the "Chicken dance" perhaps because this is the year of the chicken... and are these chickens? </div>
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Products ranged from the HUGE paintings being painted in front of our eyes:</div>
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Beautiful sand portraits being created as we watched:</div>
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(the model is standing in front of the booth)</div>
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To the tiny... pencils in a jar; and yes they write!</div>
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The tiny characters bundled up for winter carved out of wood:</div>
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Made as fridge magnets...</div>
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From the seemingly edible:</div>
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Pancake and strawberry eclair plastic pins for your hair...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9zmokCFpKCfTdRLNa3mAzZ_65s_ziFsfrS_ivNi_j2a3KCeagKGHP_7Wj-gitjv44KM4hFkDm9KZ2L0YT6UrXpd-ZujZd3oaJ8AakAeyAm2-eiRlAURrvgYG43alndveAgV_-PUfHEPU/s1600/IMG_5340.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9zmokCFpKCfTdRLNa3mAzZ_65s_ziFsfrS_ivNi_j2a3KCeagKGHP_7Wj-gitjv44KM4hFkDm9KZ2L0YT6UrXpd-ZujZd3oaJ8AakAeyAm2-eiRlAURrvgYG43alndveAgV_-PUfHEPU/s320/IMG_5340.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Actual bread loaves wired for lighting....</div>
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And dry pasta presented in a glass case as an art piece.</div>
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There was the religious (Mother Mary out of pink wax with gold stars to melt down):</div>
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The religious/morbid with caskets for dolls:</div>
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And skeletal dolls that fit in the caskets:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl0PCeqRiQTrkmFrgZj1t2ISmgGmyTQFMzJ5GWSVtu8R5ymp2CnZHlccZzc1xg2vZPiO07ikeOXbk-t2lyxk9qgbKPoeWQIV2jz7s6fs5D2Si86dkLC-Jdv1NymubY0GFyjxQVcS0n-X4/s1600/IMG_5334.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl0PCeqRiQTrkmFrgZj1t2ISmgGmyTQFMzJ5GWSVtu8R5ymp2CnZHlccZzc1xg2vZPiO07ikeOXbk-t2lyxk9qgbKPoeWQIV2jz7s6fs5D2Si86dkLC-Jdv1NymubY0GFyjxQVcS0n-X4/s320/IMG_5334.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Then of course there was the full on morbid and strange:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjba6JwWkhSiTx24c2T_27vUgK2z9hs8UgqY5hwjRiyfP-KgfjQzR8FEtycMm5yHox7aL-pdV9Iu-j58XaaNtygru9gl8rFmXLPDbSho1uavJApP9bdEtHKfZRTQWtUwnQVgHxn2CJ4WWw/s1600/IMG_5337.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjba6JwWkhSiTx24c2T_27vUgK2z9hs8UgqY5hwjRiyfP-KgfjQzR8FEtycMm5yHox7aL-pdV9Iu-j58XaaNtygru9gl8rFmXLPDbSho1uavJApP9bdEtHKfZRTQWtUwnQVgHxn2CJ4WWw/s320/IMG_5337.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Every year there is a whole series of stalls selling things you never knew you needed for your bathroom starting with a unique and special sticker... of a toilet;</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUS4QZg-3-Ukf95q-qYIjQuEXyz8ktuaxLyC_tK9ON20pigGWnkw8_9ToFCeK5lzdYeWEqNzss5k5UZoKav1-RAa2zDkjkgcTGUCE071Em7mBmRcXtU4aI3fP3Y_cmseovQX-s5MuZQc4/s1600/IMG_5365.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUS4QZg-3-Ukf95q-qYIjQuEXyz8ktuaxLyC_tK9ON20pigGWnkw8_9ToFCeK5lzdYeWEqNzss5k5UZoKav1-RAa2zDkjkgcTGUCE071Em7mBmRcXtU4aI3fP3Y_cmseovQX-s5MuZQc4/s320/IMG_5365.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Special toilet paper roll characters featured on hand-bags and t-shirts:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv994zwSRBfZA_z33ogP6sNV8aMPUlgO9QKpnyiHMVk-uFbdMchjFfljXOgHYBgtHZj3-dHMGLzOVnqTebLoK5iA72ohsh00Cg_N-y4BtS-M1y6uyCIybaXoxafeYtp7mpzNGkREUpTV0/s1600/IMG_5366.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv994zwSRBfZA_z33ogP6sNV8aMPUlgO9QKpnyiHMVk-uFbdMchjFfljXOgHYBgtHZj3-dHMGLzOVnqTebLoK5iA72ohsh00Cg_N-y4BtS-M1y6uyCIybaXoxafeYtp7mpzNGkREUpTV0/s320/IMG_5366.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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A toilet paper "porch" (more likely a pouch????)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj69Et0fDrMwU67rT_RzAW7oKkbBZGrhg1VbFQXr8znxFwh3V40ww_0XvMi4JYanG2qzUUCtyuzPKggG9_UGM2XTWH9dTlfGwJJyozrKVCJ6sQLiCNinv3_JX7EBNT4CsYFh_5La7bGjVM/s1600/IMG_5367.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj69Et0fDrMwU67rT_RzAW7oKkbBZGrhg1VbFQXr8znxFwh3V40ww_0XvMi4JYanG2qzUUCtyuzPKggG9_UGM2XTWH9dTlfGwJJyozrKVCJ6sQLiCNinv3_JX7EBNT4CsYFh_5La7bGjVM/s320/IMG_5367.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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And last but definitely not least, the perfect toilet paper roll cover which features a unique toilet paper character... ah yes; I bet YOU don't have one of these!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4wcQ9AtBkJKDmeXY2BY80eiZqcyHw3jna4dqrswdIc99UqPieau4RjfQrGcI2IJjhUHnsBk-lYX4HxYaHgAGLXbA6HAa8ZcEIg-eOvpRtGd6vO1VlfQE2ic10iA_HZ8H7kAK5vt_z6Gw/s1600/IMG_5368.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4wcQ9AtBkJKDmeXY2BY80eiZqcyHw3jna4dqrswdIc99UqPieau4RjfQrGcI2IJjhUHnsBk-lYX4HxYaHgAGLXbA6HAa8ZcEIg-eOvpRtGd6vO1VlfQE2ic10iA_HZ8H7kAK5vt_z6Gw/s320/IMG_5368.JPG" width="240" /></a><br /></div>
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This is just a small sampling of the huge range of things at this Festa. </div>
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To finish off I also want to celebrate the creative people at this event who add that extra touch of character... and hopefully are the ones buying these things!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6FeeKjgMIg9btgKcIXZYfqSPvqPd9EvSfiLDJO27cA15cnizIsmHzI3SsNbc-TP7qBSGavCEPvdy4cP1W8rP2xFPCR_lucgh2cgwvX_ueLNdHcLbl9eL0uTtVgOWBYqUrN-t9fZxqbSI/s1600/IMG_5371.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6FeeKjgMIg9btgKcIXZYfqSPvqPd9EvSfiLDJO27cA15cnizIsmHzI3SsNbc-TP7qBSGavCEPvdy4cP1W8rP2xFPCR_lucgh2cgwvX_ueLNdHcLbl9eL0uTtVgOWBYqUrN-t9fZxqbSI/s320/IMG_5371.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTsJZ-WpS5YWwRb6KA_7jxVGd8c1LX6M3zP9ok1esRWd6ARVDShFH-_bBqs3SHYJxfBW2njTmNKbrLOyQrV3IVK0mIBRLhFk5Cy0ClRxYjKVHKjSYvCmsTooplVE8OZt2oNkRK8NCpnQs/s1600/IMG_5338.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTsJZ-WpS5YWwRb6KA_7jxVGd8c1LX6M3zP9ok1esRWd6ARVDShFH-_bBqs3SHYJxfBW2njTmNKbrLOyQrV3IVK0mIBRLhFk5Cy0ClRxYjKVHKjSYvCmsTooplVE8OZt2oNkRK8NCpnQs/s320/IMG_5338.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Once again, greetings from Design Festa number 3 for us, here in Tokyo!</div>
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