5 THINGS I'M GRATEFUL FOR

           Image via Wikipedia
1.  I was able to take a lot of time for myself. I quit my job at the end of March, and only worked part time for the rest of the year.I was inspired to do this because of two people who I admire - Stefan Sagmeister (you can listen to his talk The Power of Time Off  on Ted.com), and Tim Ferris (He wrote about "mini retirements" in The 4 Hour Work Week). I've used up most of my savings, but I'll never regret that I did that. It made lots of good things possible. I was able to fulfill some dreams, and I learned more about myself and my expanded  capabilities.


2.  My trip home in April-May. Although I've been in Japan for seven years, I've only been home twice, one time for a family funeral, and the other a very brief, rushed Christmas visit. But because I quit my job so I could spend a whole month in NZ. It was great. I could spend some quality time with my family and friends, do some fun things, and visit some nostalgic places.

3.  My friends. I made a lot of new friends in 2010 who have enriched my life and made it more interesting. Then there were my existing friends who continued to support me and share good times with me. I was able to reconnect with some old friends too. Gratitude to you all!

4. The people who  bought my art. I don't know who most of you are, but it really encouraged me and made me feel great. So I'm sending out gratitude vibes to you all!

5. Another year in Japan. I love living here. I recognize that I have this amazing opportunity simply because I happened to be born in an English speaking country. I'm grateful.

The 4-Hour Workweek, Expanded and Updated: Expanded and Updated, With Over 100 New Pages of Cutting-Edge Content.

HOLIDAY GREETINGS

I wish you all a happy holiday and a wonderful New Year!

STARBUCKS CHRISTMAS IN JAPAN

I arrived in Japan at the end of November 2003 and began working at an English conversation school called Nova. My workplace was right over a Starbucks cafe, which was a much nicer place to relax than the teacher's room.

Christmas decorations and fairy lights appear all over the place at Christmas, especially in shopping areas. And strangely, it's considered on a par with Valentine's Day as a romantic occasion for young couples. Some families give their kids presents, and people eat Kentucky Fried Chicken and Japanese Christmas cake. But for the majority of Japanese people it's just another day. So on my first Christmas day in Japan it was off to work as usual.

Except that...

It was my first winter Christmas (December is mid-summer in New Zealand.) And when I woke up and looked out the window, it had snowed lightly. So it was my first white Christmas too! I walked to work with snowflakes drifting down and catching on my eyelashes. I went early because I decided to treat myself to a Starbucks coffee before work. At that hour of the morning there weren't many people about, and I got an armchair by the window. They were playing my favorite Christmas album - Bing Crosby - and the coffee was good. I sat watching the snow and enjoying the ambience. It was a perfect moment.

It's a really precious memory!

Related articles

• Christmas came early to Starbucks this year (seattlepi.com)
• Bing Crosby - "White Christmas" (joetroiano.wordpress.com)

TED STRIKES AGAIN

I'm a big fan of TED. I don't watch TV, but every so often I check out the videos on the TED website. The videos are mostly talks by all kinds of people on all kinds of subjects. I often find food for optimism on this website. I always find something to entertain and inspire me. Today it was this talk by Rachel Botsman on how sharing via internet and cellphone technologies can transform our economies and our lives.



Maybe the future will be good after all!

Related articles

• TED Talks - Ideas Worth Sharing (connectwithyourteens.blogspot.com)

KINDERGARTEN CONCERT

I teach English to little kids - or maybe it's truer to say I play games, sing, songs and read storybooks to little kids, and somehow they learn a little English. Recently my school put on a end of year concert for the families of the children attending their kindergarten and day care center.

And my goodness, they went all out! They hired a huge hall with a beautiful stage, lighting, and sound system, and they put on quite a show. The children seemed to really enjoy themselves. In the whole three hour extravaganza there was only one tearful episode, where one of the year old babies fell on his nose. And he only cried for a couple of minutes, which I find remarkable under the circumstances. 

I enjoyed every minute of it, but for me the highlights were the babies in Santa suits (because they're my baby class), and the boys in black who performed a very cool dance.

None of the children involved in the concert were over six years old. I wasn't involved in the preparation so I don't know how the teachers managed to produce such a high standard of performance with little kids. But I suspect magic...

ROTTI BUNS

 There's another new shop in Teramachi... (or maybe it's actually Sanjo)... and it's my idea of heaven (well, almost!) "Rotti Bun". It doesn't sound immediately appealing, does it? I'm not even sure it sounds edible. But the glorious smell hooked me as I was walking past, and drew me into the shop. It smells like your mother is the best baker in the whole world, and she's been baking cookies and cakes just loaded up with love all day long. Seriously!

They had a selection of drinks (comparable in price and style to Starbucks) and a choice of three different buns - regular, vanilla, and chocolate. I ordered caramel macchiato and a regular rotti bun, and took a seat by the window. The coffee was just how I like it, and the *bun* ... was... !!!!!... even better than it smelt!

So what is a rotti bun? Well if you know what melon pan is you've got a starting point. A sort of cross between a sweet roll and sponge cake with a slightly crisp shell covering it (if it's any good at all.) And if you've ever eaten a freshly baked melon pan while it's still warm, well you're getting closer to a rotti bun. But its  better than that. And in the center it has just the right amount of sweet butter. Every mouthful was divine, right to the last, and it was so good I didn't rush up to the counter and buy another one, because it was unthinkable that I should sully such a perfect experience with greedy repetition.

But I want to go back and have another perfect experience very soon...

Related articles

• New Tea Store in Kyoto (eatplayrove.blogspot.com)

AUTUMN IN KYOTO

Tourists flock to Kyoto in Spring and Autumn. Streets around the most famous places are so crowded with sightseers even a bicycle can hardly get through. The subway is crowded too. From my point of view that makes staying home a good idea. Last month I climbed Daimonji with some friends, but even at the top of this small mountain there were hundreds of people. I also went to a canal-side walk near my home, and because I was able to go on a weekday it wasn't at all crowded. Of course I took lots of photos, and once again I was grateful I live near such a beautiful place for walking and cycling.

Kyoto gradually sheds its visitors through December, as the trees shed their leaves. In my opinion this is the best time to enjoy Autumn and there are still lots of pretty Autumn scenes around town. The red maple leaves seem to last for a long time.

My hometown Christchurch, in New Zealand, Seems to have much more yellow and brown in Autumn, with a little orange colour, and not much red. The overall effect is of a golden Autumn. But in Kyoto the Japanese maple leaves turn brilliant reds, and contrast with yellow ginko and orange cherry trees.

So do I prefer Autumn in Christchurch or Kyoto? Hmmm...

SPELLING

Recently I saw the following headline by Lee Bains....

Is Facebook Destroying Our Ability to Spell? IDK, Y U Askin?  

As an English teacher I'm probably expected to stand against the flood of corruption undermining our language... but it's worth pondering that the people who 'invented' spelling were not gods, but human beings like us. All languages - in both their spoken and written forms - are constantly evolving. So 'text speech' (I wonder if that's the correct and recognized term?) is not the Antichrist. It's just another interesting development. I believe everyone has the right to get creative with the language they use. The real test of 'good' language use is whether it accomplishes communication between the user and the recipient.

Shakespeare was just making it up, you know! So why shouldn't we?

PHOTOGRAPHY

                     Image via WikipediaI attended a photography workshop recently. There were two speakers, both very talented photographers. The first speaker gave us an overview of composition accompanied by an excellent slide presentation with examples and diagrams. He was very knowledgeable and had obviously worked hard on his presentation, so I felt kind of guilty that I was bored. The thing is, I'd probably never take a photography course because I know I don't learn well by listening. I prefer learning by doing. Although I'm seriously considering subscribing to  Kelby Training, because the 'lessons' are in video format, showing professional photographers on location doing real photo shoots and explaining what, how and why as they are working. And I have picked up a lot from David Peterson's Photography tips. They're written in plain everyday language, only tackle one topic at a time, never take more than two minutes to read, and yet they've helped me understand my camera modes much better, and given me lots of practical ideas that are easy to remember.

The second speaker talked about why he believed film was better than digital format. He did have a good point. Because film is more expensive and time consuming than digital, there is a tendency for the photographer to take more care with each shot. He believed that extra care would lead to better photography. It really made me think about the way I take photos. I typically shoot hundreds at a time, and quite a few of them don't work out. As a photographer, I'm not in the same league as the speaker by a long way, but I never could have afforded to progress to where I am using film. Digital cameras give everyone an opportunity to enjoy photography.

Also, I think it's a mistake to assume that the aim of photography is to produce art. Different people use photography for many different purposes. Some people use photography to create fine art. Some people use photography to record history. Some people use photography to document injustice and suffering. Some people use photography to share their experiences. And digital photography makes it all easier and more convenient.

Better photography... better for what? Better for who?

A long time ago I listened to another talk which criticized the digital photography revolution. The speaker said that one side effect would be the loss of the shoe-box of out-takes. You know! Your parents probably have one, tucked away in a closet somewhere, full of embarrassing frozen moments, unflattering angles and lighting, bad hair days and headless wonders....

With digital cameras we just hit the delete button and those out-takes are gone forever. Or we upload them to our computers and 'fix' them. Goodbye acne outbreaks! Goodbye dark circles under the eyes! The problem is we're erasing our humanity. Future generations might be able to look on our perfected images, but they won't have a record of who we truly were.

Maybe I'll make a new folder called 'Shoebox'