This week has been busy, I'm busy all weekend and next week and weekend too, so this is going to be a short Things I love Thursday list... here goes...
- ONSEN! I spent last weekend with my advisor, a group of school friends, and U at my advisor's weekend place in the onsen town of Ito. The building where my advisor has his apartment used to be partly a hotel, and has great big baths in the basement. No outdoor baths or anything terribly impressive, just good hot onsen - BLISS!
- friends - I hadn't seen most of this group of friends since I graduated. Most of them have already graduated and gone on to other things, so it was great to have everybody back together again (one girl came from Hiroshima!) and to be able to relax and have fun (without one of us having the pressure of a thesis to write hanging over our heads). U has met a couple of the girls in the group before, but it was his first time meeting my advisor and a few others. Since the rest of us are girls he got to share a room with my advisor. Despite all that, however, U had a great time and in the car on the way home told me how lucky I am to have such a great group of friends and an advisor - and how happy he was to have joined us.
- sashimi - when we weren't soaking in the onsen we were eating (and drinking...). Ito being on the coast has good seafood - really good seafood. Dinner on Saturday and lunch the next day were both amazing fresh sashimi and absolutely delicious.
- unexpected kindnesses - on the way home U and I stopped at a smallish temple we wanted to check out and got chatting with the wife of the priest as he stamped our books for us. She was so impressed that "young people" were visiting the temple that she brought out tea and sweets for us and chatted with us. I'm sure she was equally impressed that a foreigner was there, chatting with her in Japanese, but she never let on and didn't treat me any differently at all. It didn't even occur to me until afterwards, but when I realized I was very impressed. She made us both feel perfectly comfortable and we came away feeling as rested spiritually as we did physically after the onsen.
Showing posts with label kindnesses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kindnesses. Show all posts
Thursday, 10 June 2010
Friday, 23 April 2010
A scarf for a scarf
Last year for my birthday I got a whole bunch of yarn from one friend. There were five balls of beige-y grey-y linen/cotton/hemp that I turned into the checkerboard scarf I already wrote about, for the friend in question, but there were a few single balls, including one of a gorgeously soft pale green yarn. It was a pleasure to knit, and I turned it into a small lacy scarf, with the idea in mind of giving it to T-leader, one of the older women who had long been in charge of the Brownie troop I'm with, but who had retired last year. Having finished the scarf, however, I convinced myself it wasn't big enough, and so I shoved it into the back of my knitting shelf because I couldn't track down any of the same yarn (but I did stumble upon some other gorgeous yarn by the same company and somehow ended up ordering it in two different colours, in rather big batches for larger projects... hmmm, wonder how that happened!).
I eventually found a similar-ish soft yarn in a beige/brown colour that I thought would be complementary, and dragged out the lacy green scarf to steel myself for the mamoth job of picking up all the stitches. But before I did I decided I should try to block it... rather aggressively... and so I wet it thoroughly and stretched it rather vigorously before pinning it out on an extra futon. The next day I un-pinned it and after trying it on decided that it was perfectly acceptable as a small scarf (of course this had nothing to do with my avid dislike of picking up stitches... nothing at all!)
And, to make a short story long, as my father often teases me, on to the title of the post...
I took the green scarf to Brownies last week, in the hopes of giving it to T-leader's daughter, who is a leader in the troop as well, working with the junior and senior high school-age girls. I was somewhat disappointed to find out she wasn't feeling well and so wouldn't be there, and figured I'd have to take the scarf home and wait for our next meeting. Fate decided to help me out, however, as T-leader herself showed up suddenly about a half an hour after we started practicing for our fly-up and investiture ceremony. I grabbed the wrapped scarf, angling in to try and talk to her, but she had been immediately surrounded by other leaders happy to see her.
I started to hand her the scarf, just as she handed me a parcel about the same size... a hand-made scarf! We both started laughing when we realized what was happening.
She's a weaver, and had long been promising to make all the Brownie leaders cashmere scarves when she bought a huge batch of un-dyed cashmere a few years ago. She had bought a few huge cones of plain cashmere yarn for weaving and then dyed it herself in small batches. The first scarf she made was a deep pink with squares of magenta, for herself, then a brown scarf with herringbone ribs for one of the other leaders, but two of us were still scarf-less. Until last weekend when I was presented with this gorgeous scarf in shades of blue (some that match my Girl Scout uniform perfectly). It is soft and warm and absolutely lovely.
I eventually found a similar-ish soft yarn in a beige/brown colour that I thought would be complementary, and dragged out the lacy green scarf to steel myself for the mamoth job of picking up all the stitches. But before I did I decided I should try to block it... rather aggressively... and so I wet it thoroughly and stretched it rather vigorously before pinning it out on an extra futon. The next day I un-pinned it and after trying it on decided that it was perfectly acceptable as a small scarf (of course this had nothing to do with my avid dislike of picking up stitches... nothing at all!)
And, to make a short story long, as my father often teases me, on to the title of the post...
I took the green scarf to Brownies last week, in the hopes of giving it to T-leader's daughter, who is a leader in the troop as well, working with the junior and senior high school-age girls. I was somewhat disappointed to find out she wasn't feeling well and so wouldn't be there, and figured I'd have to take the scarf home and wait for our next meeting. Fate decided to help me out, however, as T-leader herself showed up suddenly about a half an hour after we started practicing for our fly-up and investiture ceremony. I grabbed the wrapped scarf, angling in to try and talk to her, but she had been immediately surrounded by other leaders happy to see her.
I started to hand her the scarf, just as she handed me a parcel about the same size... a hand-made scarf! We both started laughing when we realized what was happening.
She's a weaver, and had long been promising to make all the Brownie leaders cashmere scarves when she bought a huge batch of un-dyed cashmere a few years ago. She had bought a few huge cones of plain cashmere yarn for weaving and then dyed it herself in small batches. The first scarf she made was a deep pink with squares of magenta, for herself, then a brown scarf with herringbone ribs for one of the other leaders, but two of us were still scarf-less. Until last weekend when I was presented with this gorgeous scarf in shades of blue (some that match my Girl Scout uniform perfectly). It is soft and warm and absolutely lovely.
Sunday, 11 October 2009
Thanksgiving
Monday is Thanksgiving Day in Canada and Sports and Health Day (Tai-iku no hi) in Japan. U is off hiking in the south and I'm stuck home supposedly working on my thesis but really just sniffling and feeling sorry for myself as I've come down with a cold. My usual source of turkey didn't happen this year, but I decided that one of my other Thanksgiving traditions - coming up with a list of things for which I'm thankful - was a definite must to snap myself out of my stuffed-sinus induced mood. So here goes:
10 things I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving:
10 - mega electronics stores - all you could ever imagine you wanted and more... one dizzingly large floor after another!
9 - helpful electronics store staff who listen to stupid questions from stuffed up and cotton-ball brained foreigners and who calmly tell you all you need to do is plug it in and you're good to go.
8 - Points cards - while the sheer number of them doubles my wallet in size, using them faithfully can actually add up to sizable rewards - if you're patient.
7 - 100 yen stores - selling everything you could want for your house, including flashlights used to shine at laptop screens with a dead backlight in an attempt to troubleshoot why the "just-plug-it-in" screen is not working although it is in fact plugged in
6 - my cell phone - in addition to the obvious making phone calls (which I actually do rarely), it also surfs the Internet to troubleshoot computer problems, and sends frantic texts
5 - U - my kind and caring boyfriend who, 1000 km away, who replied to the frantic email by immediately calling me.
4 - U - my smart boyfriend who remembered that pressing "function" and "F8" does something to displays, and that proves to be the solution to the problem.
3 - my new screen - its purrrrty! and it works!!
2 - lemon tea and honey - soothing on a sore and scratch throat
1 - grapefruit scented lotion containing Kleenex - soft and fruity and so nice on a sore red rudolf nose!
Happy Thanksgiving!
10 things I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving:
10 - mega electronics stores - all you could ever imagine you wanted and more... one dizzingly large floor after another!
9 - helpful electronics store staff who listen to stupid questions from stuffed up and cotton-ball brained foreigners and who calmly tell you all you need to do is plug it in and you're good to go.
8 - Points cards - while the sheer number of them doubles my wallet in size, using them faithfully can actually add up to sizable rewards - if you're patient.
7 - 100 yen stores - selling everything you could want for your house, including flashlights used to shine at laptop screens with a dead backlight in an attempt to troubleshoot why the "just-plug-it-in" screen is not working although it is in fact plugged in
6 - my cell phone - in addition to the obvious making phone calls (which I actually do rarely), it also surfs the Internet to troubleshoot computer problems, and sends frantic texts
5 - U - my kind and caring boyfriend who, 1000 km away, who replied to the frantic email by immediately calling me.
4 - U - my smart boyfriend who remembered that pressing "function" and "F8" does something to displays, and that proves to be the solution to the problem.
3 - my new screen - its purrrrty! and it works!!
2 - lemon tea and honey - soothing on a sore and scratch throat
1 - grapefruit scented lotion containing Kleenex - soft and fruity and so nice on a sore red rudolf nose!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
Friendship
I've noticed that quite often foreign bloggers in Japan comment on how difficult/impossible it is to make meaningful and close friendships with Japanese people. While I agree it can be difficult, days like the past few remind me just how possible and rewarding those friendships can be. Here are just two examples.
On the weekend I spent a few hours at a museum with a good friend from school. She is my sempai (student senior to me), having graduated last year, and was assigned as my tutor my first year at school. We became friends quickly, sharing a love of museums (duh, we're both in museum studies!). We both tend to spend far far FAR longer in any given exhibit than those we call "regular people." We are a good fit and have gotten to know each other really well. Her tendancy to be late drives me crazy on a regular basis, but I feel very lucky to have met her.
I recently met a different kind of somebody else. It is still very new and I don't know where it is going, but it has brought a smile to my face and a skip to my step. This is a bit of a change from the past few months when I have been rather frustrated and unhappy. Many of my friends have noticed both my uncharacteristic blues and my recent happiness. Today at work I had two close male Japanese friends tell me how happy and relieved they were to see me smiling again. I was touched by their evident concern and realized how lucky I am to have two big brothers to worry about me. Just like big brothers, however, they gleefully took every opportunity today to make fun of me and my goofy grin.
So there is my two cents...
On the weekend I spent a few hours at a museum with a good friend from school. She is my sempai (student senior to me), having graduated last year, and was assigned as my tutor my first year at school. We became friends quickly, sharing a love of museums (duh, we're both in museum studies!). We both tend to spend far far FAR longer in any given exhibit than those we call "regular people." We are a good fit and have gotten to know each other really well. Her tendancy to be late drives me crazy on a regular basis, but I feel very lucky to have met her.
I recently met a different kind of somebody else. It is still very new and I don't know where it is going, but it has brought a smile to my face and a skip to my step. This is a bit of a change from the past few months when I have been rather frustrated and unhappy. Many of my friends have noticed both my uncharacteristic blues and my recent happiness. Today at work I had two close male Japanese friends tell me how happy and relieved they were to see me smiling again. I was touched by their evident concern and realized how lucky I am to have two big brothers to worry about me. Just like big brothers, however, they gleefully took every opportunity today to make fun of me and my goofy grin.
So there is my two cents...
Tuesday, 23 December 2008
Memory Lane
I'm back in Canada at my dad's (don't even ask about the trip back - I'm not ready to talk about that yet! garrrgh!)
Anyways.
The house my father now lives in is one he moved into only a few years ago, long after I had moved away. The house itself may not have a long history for me, but it certainly holds one. From my maternal grandmother's gorgeous wardrobe in my bedroom, to the boxes of books I read as a child, and all the other bits and pieces that my family of packrats have kept over the years.
One of my favourite things to do when I am here is to go through old photo albums. Sometimes I look through my parents' wedding photos, or my baby albums. Other times I look through the albums I made of my summers spent working in the Canadian Rockies or of my exchange to Japan.
With the number of times I've moved, you'd think I'd be good at moving on and starting afresh. But I've always hated goodbyes, and when I start looking at old photographs the first thing that I think about is the people that are no longer in my life. The family members who are not here to share the holidays, the friends I've lost touch with, or those with whom staying in touch was just too painful or awkward or difficult for one reason or another.
It is this last group of people in particular that I've been thinking about recently. I worry (I inherited my paternal grandmother's highly developed worry gene) about them and wonder how they are, hoping that wherever they are they are happy (and that maybe, just maybe, they occasionally think about me?). Today I got a holiday email greeting from one of them - an old friend that I worried I had carelessly scared off. His message was only two lines, but just getting it at all was what mattered. It made my day.
Happy Holidays! Whatever you celebrate, why don't you pass the greetings along, you never know who's day you might make.
Anyways.
The house my father now lives in is one he moved into only a few years ago, long after I had moved away. The house itself may not have a long history for me, but it certainly holds one. From my maternal grandmother's gorgeous wardrobe in my bedroom, to the boxes of books I read as a child, and all the other bits and pieces that my family of packrats have kept over the years.
One of my favourite things to do when I am here is to go through old photo albums. Sometimes I look through my parents' wedding photos, or my baby albums. Other times I look through the albums I made of my summers spent working in the Canadian Rockies or of my exchange to Japan.
With the number of times I've moved, you'd think I'd be good at moving on and starting afresh. But I've always hated goodbyes, and when I start looking at old photographs the first thing that I think about is the people that are no longer in my life. The family members who are not here to share the holidays, the friends I've lost touch with, or those with whom staying in touch was just too painful or awkward or difficult for one reason or another.
It is this last group of people in particular that I've been thinking about recently. I worry (I inherited my paternal grandmother's highly developed worry gene) about them and wonder how they are, hoping that wherever they are they are happy (and that maybe, just maybe, they occasionally think about me?). Today I got a holiday email greeting from one of them - an old friend that I worried I had carelessly scared off. His message was only two lines, but just getting it at all was what mattered. It made my day.
Happy Holidays! Whatever you celebrate, why don't you pass the greetings along, you never know who's day you might make.
Friday, 12 December 2008
Another one of those days... and singing-dancing-penguin-Christmas tree!
Yesterday it seemed like no matter what I felt like a stupid foreigner at every turn. Just little things - like the little old lady on the train who barely came up past my waist and kept glaring at me. Or the clerk at the post office who decided my Japanese skills were non-existant and so proceeded to speak to me as if I were a three-year old with hearing problems. (I had a brain fart and couldn't remember why I had walked into the post office in the first place) Or being left out of conversations all day, like the one about pop idols from the 80s.
Of course, my brain was not plugged into its langauge socket either, so everytime I tried to say anything I seemed to be searching for words which frustrated me and getting frustrated I ended up making stupid grammatical mistakes. Being largely stupid mistakes I wouldn't normally make, I noticed them and got even more frustrated with myself.
Gargh.
I know these days happen when you live in a foreign country and communicate in a language that is not your first. Most of the time it doesn't bother me. But when I'm under stress and exhausted... Sigh.
So I came home yesterday, after my long, exhausting day. There were two parcels waiting for me. One was a book I ordered for my thesis - which is pretty exciting (its in English instead of the German one I've been using, and no, I haven't taken German since first year of university!) But there was also a parcel from a good friend in Canada and this...
I LOVE penguins. This little guy sings, dances, and ensures that I have a Christmas tree in my room to give me a little holiday spirit... Yeah. It TOTALLY made my day.
Of course, my brain was not plugged into its langauge socket either, so everytime I tried to say anything I seemed to be searching for words which frustrated me and getting frustrated I ended up making stupid grammatical mistakes. Being largely stupid mistakes I wouldn't normally make, I noticed them and got even more frustrated with myself.
Gargh.
I know these days happen when you live in a foreign country and communicate in a language that is not your first. Most of the time it doesn't bother me. But when I'm under stress and exhausted... Sigh.
So I came home yesterday, after my long, exhausting day. There were two parcels waiting for me. One was a book I ordered for my thesis - which is pretty exciting (its in English instead of the German one I've been using, and no, I haven't taken German since first year of university!) But there was also a parcel from a good friend in Canada and this...
I LOVE penguins. This little guy sings, dances, and ensures that I have a Christmas tree in my room to give me a little holiday spirit... Yeah. It TOTALLY made my day.
Friday, 5 September 2008
Three Years
It has been three years three years since I moved to Japan.
Three years since I uncurled myself from the fetal position and convinced myself that no matter how scared I was, I couldn't let down my friends and family and even some strangers as well. All of whom seemed to believe that one rather crazy Canadian girl could actually work in a Japanese museum. I was pretty convinced I couldn't, but there were too many people to let down and besides, hiding in the basement of my dad's house didn't seem like a very good long-term plan.
Three years since I left my family and friends and stepped onto a plane. I had only just gotten back from a year in India, but there I was leaving again.
Three years since I stepped off of the plane in Tokyo. A city I had visited before but had never lived in. A mega-city home to 5796 people per km2. Of those 12,790,000 people, I knew only 5.
Three years since I walked into the museum for the fist time. I've written about it before, but on that first day when I went in to meet with the director, my stomach was in knots and I was a nervous wreck.
The past three years have seen a lot of changes. I've lived in three different places (hopefully making that four in the not too distant future), had six different jobs/part-time jobs (a few of which I'm still doing), and, most importantly, met and befriended a number of those nearly 13 million people. I've learned a few things about what makes me happy. I've been given the support and confidence to believe in and reach for my dreams. (Don't worry, I've had some not so rosy memories too, but I'm trying to ignore those right now...!)
I don't know where the next three years will take me, but if the last three are anything to go by, I'm excited - bring it on!
Three years since I uncurled myself from the fetal position and convinced myself that no matter how scared I was, I couldn't let down my friends and family and even some strangers as well. All of whom seemed to believe that one rather crazy Canadian girl could actually work in a Japanese museum. I was pretty convinced I couldn't, but there were too many people to let down and besides, hiding in the basement of my dad's house didn't seem like a very good long-term plan.
Three years since I left my family and friends and stepped onto a plane. I had only just gotten back from a year in India, but there I was leaving again.
Three years since I stepped off of the plane in Tokyo. A city I had visited before but had never lived in. A mega-city home to 5796 people per km2. Of those 12,790,000 people, I knew only 5.
Three years since I walked into the museum for the fist time. I've written about it before, but on that first day when I went in to meet with the director, my stomach was in knots and I was a nervous wreck.
The past three years have seen a lot of changes. I've lived in three different places (hopefully making that four in the not too distant future), had six different jobs/part-time jobs (a few of which I'm still doing), and, most importantly, met and befriended a number of those nearly 13 million people. I've learned a few things about what makes me happy. I've been given the support and confidence to believe in and reach for my dreams. (Don't worry, I've had some not so rosy memories too, but I'm trying to ignore those right now...!)
I don't know where the next three years will take me, but if the last three are anything to go by, I'm excited - bring it on!
Thursday, 10 July 2008
Drunk Men... and Knitting
I am amused sometimes by the random conversations I end up having with people in Japan. People who speak to me for no other reason than I am a foreigner. A perfect example is the conversation I had with a semi-tipsy salary man on a late train a few months back. The original conversation was in Japanese, an English recap is as follows:
STS - "Wow... You are knitting!"
me - "Yes, I am."
STS - "A scarf?"
me - "Yes, a scarf."
STS - "Wow, your Japanese is good!"
me - (all I've said is a few words buddy, don't get overexcited!) "No, not at all."
STS - "It is getting warm, you had better hurry up and knit it soon!"
me - "Yes, I should!"
STS - "Your Japanese is good!"
me - "No, not at all. You see, I'm a student."
STS - ...
STS - "So where are you from?"
me - (I knew this one was coming!) "Canada."
STS - "Your Japanese is really incredible!"
me - (this again?!) "No, not at all."
STS - ...
This conversation went on, as every few minutes STS asked me another random question (about Canadian winters, did I know how to ski, how much could I knit in one day, how did I switch colours for the stripes, etc). I would reply. He would make impressed noises and compliment my Japanese. I would do the polite Japanese thing and refute my abilities and he would lapse into impressed silence. A few minutes later he would rouse himself out of his drunken stupor and come up with another question and we'd start it all over again. The entire conversation (if you can really call it that) was amusing and I felt in no way threatened by the guy, so I had no problems chatting with him (although I made sure to give him no personal info).
Being chatted up by drunken Japanese men of any age is a somewhat common occurrence for me (and many foreign females in Japan, I am sure). Most of the time said conversation can be avoided by simply ignoring the guy and moving away. While there are likely others who would disagree with me, I have found that this tactic works well for most circumstances. It is unlikely that the guy will pursue you or cause a problem. This is not always the case, I realize, and can be a bit of an issue if you are, for example, riding a long-distance train and are unable to get off or otherwise extricate yourself from the situation. Having headphones on (even if no music is actually being played) can help with the whole ignoring thing, and if spoken to then feigning no comprehension of Japanese or English can also work (a stream of random French caused one particular guy to move off rather quickly!).
As a result I have developed a defense mechanism. When approached I tend to brush strangers off as quickly as possible. After one incident, the comments of my male foreign friend got me thinking, and after another incident, this time with female Japanese friends, I got to thinking again. I know it is a defense mechanism, and in both of these instances it helped. It got me (and my friends) out of a potentially uncomfortable situation before anything happened. The trouble is what about when the person I'm brushing off is not drunkenly trying to hit on me in non-existent English? What about when it is a friendly and somewhat lost foreigner trying to chat me up on the train? Or when it is a kindly and cute Japanese guy with excellent English offering to help a lost-looking Canadian in the supermarket dairy aisle? How and where do I find the line between ignoring the drunks and crazies on the one hand, and not being rude to people who are honestly trying to help or be kind?
STS - "Wow... You are knitting!"
me - "Yes, I am."
STS - "A scarf?"
me - "Yes, a scarf."
STS - "Wow, your Japanese is good!"
me - (all I've said is a few words buddy, don't get overexcited!) "No, not at all."
STS - "It is getting warm, you had better hurry up and knit it soon!"
me - "Yes, I should!"
STS - "Your Japanese is good!"
me - "No, not at all. You see, I'm a student."
STS - ...
STS - "So where are you from?"
me - (I knew this one was coming!) "Canada."
STS - "Your Japanese is really incredible!"
me - (this again?!) "No, not at all."
STS - ...
This conversation went on, as every few minutes STS asked me another random question (about Canadian winters, did I know how to ski, how much could I knit in one day, how did I switch colours for the stripes, etc). I would reply. He would make impressed noises and compliment my Japanese. I would do the polite Japanese thing and refute my abilities and he would lapse into impressed silence. A few minutes later he would rouse himself out of his drunken stupor and come up with another question and we'd start it all over again. The entire conversation (if you can really call it that) was amusing and I felt in no way threatened by the guy, so I had no problems chatting with him (although I made sure to give him no personal info).
Being chatted up by drunken Japanese men of any age is a somewhat common occurrence for me (and many foreign females in Japan, I am sure). Most of the time said conversation can be avoided by simply ignoring the guy and moving away. While there are likely others who would disagree with me, I have found that this tactic works well for most circumstances. It is unlikely that the guy will pursue you or cause a problem. This is not always the case, I realize, and can be a bit of an issue if you are, for example, riding a long-distance train and are unable to get off or otherwise extricate yourself from the situation. Having headphones on (even if no music is actually being played) can help with the whole ignoring thing, and if spoken to then feigning no comprehension of Japanese or English can also work (a stream of random French caused one particular guy to move off rather quickly!).
As a result I have developed a defense mechanism. When approached I tend to brush strangers off as quickly as possible. After one incident, the comments of my male foreign friend got me thinking, and after another incident, this time with female Japanese friends, I got to thinking again. I know it is a defense mechanism, and in both of these instances it helped. It got me (and my friends) out of a potentially uncomfortable situation before anything happened. The trouble is what about when the person I'm brushing off is not drunkenly trying to hit on me in non-existent English? What about when it is a friendly and somewhat lost foreigner trying to chat me up on the train? Or when it is a kindly and cute Japanese guy with excellent English offering to help a lost-looking Canadian in the supermarket dairy aisle? How and where do I find the line between ignoring the drunks and crazies on the one hand, and not being rude to people who are honestly trying to help or be kind?
Monday, 2 June 2008
Flying the Unfriendly Skies
I just got back from a whirlwind business trip for the museum. The director, one of the curators, and I spent two days at meetings in the US Midwest related to an upcoming collaborative exhibition. The exhibit is trilateral - with us, a museum in the US and a Chinese institution but at the last moment the Chinese delegation had to pull out of the meeting as the government rescinded their travel permits citing the need to focus on reconstruction after the earthquakes. Despite only having two out of three of the institutions present, the meetings were very productive. I did a bit of simultaneous interpretation, took notes for the minutes, and even raised a few points of my own during the meetings. It was a great learning experience and as an added bonus I even got a quick tour of two local museums from one of the American curators (and a quick trip to the Walgreen's to restock those things that I just can't get in Japan).
When we arrived in the US the director of our partner museum asked us if our flight had been uneventful, and thankfully it had been. That said, I still found myself writing down my thoughts on the state of air travel these days...
What is it with air travel these days? When were the friendly skies replaced with new rude and inconsiderate skies? There are the big issues, like when I flew home at Christmas and the lady at the boarding gate saw no problem with snapping at me to "sit down now and wait." When I finally got her to listen to my question she then yelled at me for not having the issue dealt with sooner. Granted, it was the holiday season, the most stressful time of year, and there was bad weather playing havoc with air travel up and down the US western seaboard. But yelling and snapping at passengers before they have a chance to even say anything? Passengers are delayed because of weather issues and there are no gate staff to answer their questions. Then a single staff appears and starts yelling at people to go away and stop asking questions. Then you wonder why you have a waiting area of angry and cranky passengers?!
Really. Customer service 101. Basic human politeness. The Golden Rule. You treat somebody rudely, they'll get pissed off and treat the next person they meet rudely, and its a snowball out of control - the evil twin of paying it forward.
There are also the little things, the ways in which flight attendants and passengers show their consideration (or lack there of) for other passengers. I try to remember to always pull up my seat back when eating, so that the person behind me can actually see the meal on their tray. I remember when if you were asleep at mealtime, the flight attendant would leave you a note telling you to push your call button and ask for your meal. On my most recent flight, however, no such notes were in evidence.
"Eggs or noodles?" - asked once in a normal voice. No response?
"Eggs or noodles?" - hollered loud enough to wake the dead. No response?
poke-poke-poke (jabs in the shoulder) "Eggs or noodles?" - No response?
shake-shake (grabbed by the shoulder and shaken back and forth) "EGGS. OR. NOODLES?"
This normally caused some version of "mwfarmw mfwfarm??" from a sleepy and befuddled passenger, to which the flight attendant repeated, again "EGGS. OR. NOODLES?" with as much eye-rolling and sighing as a moody teenager.
There was also the flight attendant who wasn't thrilled to be asked to fill up the water glass of the girl sitting beside me, so he did so without really looking at her or her glass (held above my lap). When he dripped all over and dumped an ice cube on me he simply said "oops!" and without apologizing, he disappeared into the cabin to refill the water jug. When he came back out he walked right past me as if nothing had happened and didn't offer me anything to help mop up.
Nothing major, I suppose, but still. Welcome to air travel in the 21st century. Sigh.
When we arrived in the US the director of our partner museum asked us if our flight had been uneventful, and thankfully it had been. That said, I still found myself writing down my thoughts on the state of air travel these days...
What is it with air travel these days? When were the friendly skies replaced with new rude and inconsiderate skies? There are the big issues, like when I flew home at Christmas and the lady at the boarding gate saw no problem with snapping at me to "sit down now and wait." When I finally got her to listen to my question she then yelled at me for not having the issue dealt with sooner. Granted, it was the holiday season, the most stressful time of year, and there was bad weather playing havoc with air travel up and down the US western seaboard. But yelling and snapping at passengers before they have a chance to even say anything? Passengers are delayed because of weather issues and there are no gate staff to answer their questions. Then a single staff appears and starts yelling at people to go away and stop asking questions. Then you wonder why you have a waiting area of angry and cranky passengers?!
Really. Customer service 101. Basic human politeness. The Golden Rule. You treat somebody rudely, they'll get pissed off and treat the next person they meet rudely, and its a snowball out of control - the evil twin of paying it forward.
There are also the little things, the ways in which flight attendants and passengers show their consideration (or lack there of) for other passengers. I try to remember to always pull up my seat back when eating, so that the person behind me can actually see the meal on their tray. I remember when if you were asleep at mealtime, the flight attendant would leave you a note telling you to push your call button and ask for your meal. On my most recent flight, however, no such notes were in evidence.
"Eggs or noodles?" - asked once in a normal voice. No response?
"Eggs or noodles?" - hollered loud enough to wake the dead. No response?
poke-poke-poke (jabs in the shoulder) "Eggs or noodles?" - No response?
shake-shake (grabbed by the shoulder and shaken back and forth) "EGGS. OR. NOODLES?"
This normally caused some version of "mwfarmw mfwfarm??" from a sleepy and befuddled passenger, to which the flight attendant repeated, again "EGGS. OR. NOODLES?" with as much eye-rolling and sighing as a moody teenager.
There was also the flight attendant who wasn't thrilled to be asked to fill up the water glass of the girl sitting beside me, so he did so without really looking at her or her glass (held above my lap). When he dripped all over and dumped an ice cube on me he simply said "oops!" and without apologizing, he disappeared into the cabin to refill the water jug. When he came back out he walked right past me as if nothing had happened and didn't offer me anything to help mop up.
Nothing major, I suppose, but still. Welcome to air travel in the 21st century. Sigh.
Saturday, 17 May 2008
Mummy Jhaveri
At the end of March I got sad email telling me of the passing of a wonderful woman that everybody I knew simply called "Mummy."
Many years earlier the Jhaveri family had adopted Sangam (the centre in India where I volunteered/lived), inviting staff, volunteers and many event participants into their homes. A normal visit would include a long conversation over cups of hot chai, followed by a delicious home-cooked dinner (after which it was time to leave, as it was Mummy's bedtime!)
I can't imagine how many strangers from around the world this incredible family welcomed into their home, but each and every one left feeling like they had made lifelong friends. The entire family had a way of making you feel at home in their home.
This evening when I came home from work I found a letter from India in my mailbox, with a printed page bearing a poem titled "A Celebration of Mummy." I'm a little late, but in honour of Mother's Day and a wonderful woman, I wanted to share a section of the poem:
Good-bye Mummy Jhaveri, and thank you.
Many years earlier the Jhaveri family had adopted Sangam (the centre in India where I volunteered/lived), inviting staff, volunteers and many event participants into their homes. A normal visit would include a long conversation over cups of hot chai, followed by a delicious home-cooked dinner (after which it was time to leave, as it was Mummy's bedtime!)
I can't imagine how many strangers from around the world this incredible family welcomed into their home, but each and every one left feeling like they had made lifelong friends. The entire family had a way of making you feel at home in their home.
This evening when I came home from work I found a letter from India in my mailbox, with a printed page bearing a poem titled "A Celebration of Mummy." I'm a little late, but in honour of Mother's Day and a wonderful woman, I wanted to share a section of the poem:
We remember you...
Your love
Care
Patience
Sensitivity
Your warm smile and
Those sparkling eyes
The fun and laughter you shared
The peace as you endured
And your internal strength
...
We respect you...
Your generosity
Kindness
Compassion
Open heart and open door
Unassuming hospitality
Welcoming all into your home
Serving those from distant lands
And close to home
Indian mother to us all
Good-bye Mummy Jhaveri, and thank you.
Sunday, 9 March 2008
Kindred Spirit in a Taxi
My little cousin (who is a full head taller than me and legal just about everywhere so no longer so "little") spent a week in Tokyo on his way home from visiting his sister in Australia. It was his first visit to a non-English speaking country and it was really interesting for me to see Japan through his eyes. As often happens when I spend time with a non-Japanese speaking foreigner, I found people around me assuming I didn't speak the language, which is always interesting.
We spent most of our time exploring the modern urban centre that is Tokyo - electronics shopping in Akihabara, riding the 5 floor escalator in Ikebukuro, people watching in Shibuya, exploring the Sony Showroom in Ginza, and taking puri-kura photos.
I did sneak in a museum visit - taking him to the Tokyo Electric Company's Denryokukan (complete with a "scent computer" that randomly enough has a library of Canadian recipes complete with olfactory accompaniment). We also explored some more traditional sites - wandering around Ueno park with a friend, getting fortunes at Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa, and going to Kamakura to see Enoshima and the big Buddha. We ate lots - sukiyaki, Korean BBQ, Krispy Kremes, giant tako-yaki, sushi rice-bowls, Japanese pub fare, pork katsu rice-bowls, monaka (Japanese ice cream sandwiches)...
People watching is one of my favourite sports, and rarely does Japan fail to provide interesting fodder. We spent an amusing 30 minutes in the Starbucks overlooking the famous Shibuya crossing, looking down at the masses of humanity moving everywhere, and imagining stories for a few interesting characters. I must admit I am rather glad that there seemed to be nobody who understood English around us - from the 60 year-old lovers eloping to Brazil, and the drunken fight master rendez-vous-ing with his gang contact, our stories were quite fanciful! My favourite people watching moment came in Shinjuku, however. We were sitting outside of Krispy Kremes, eating our doughnuts in the sun. I looked up and saw an older woman approaching us carrying two rather incongruous items. The fresh cut flowers under her left arm were not surprising. The large hockey stick in her right hand, however, made my jaw drop!
While I see my cousin every time I go through Vancouver, and would say that I am close to that part of my family, it was our first time to spend an extended amount of time together. We've always teased each other a fair amount, however, and our sibling-like antics surprised a few of my friends! (Another was un-impressed by my nagging of my little cousin... sorry 'bout that cuz!)
So when I dropped him off at the airport and came home to my dorm room I was feeling rather sad and lonely. Since I had a suitcase I caught a cab from the station. The driver, commenting on my baggage, asked if I returned home to my country. I replied that I had been staying in a hotel in Tokyo with a visiting family member, and the driver made approving sounds. Half to myself I added "but then it is lonely when they leave, isn't it?" My driver sighed deeply and agreed with me. It turns out he's from outside of Tokyo, and his wife and children still live there. He works in Tokyo and can only go home infrequently. We commiserated and bonded over a discussion of the trials of living far from one's family. From there we chatted about what I was doing in Japan, the differences of Japanese and Canadian climates... This simple conversation made me feel far less lonely. As I got out of the cab, the driver offered a piece of fatherly advice that put a big smile on my face... He told me to focus on my studies and not let any bad Japanese boys distract me (perhaps better advice than he realized!).
I've unpacked, done a load of laundry, and begun to think about the million things I have to do before school starts in early April... Sigh, back to my real life!
We spent most of our time exploring the modern urban centre that is Tokyo - electronics shopping in Akihabara, riding the 5 floor escalator in Ikebukuro, people watching in Shibuya, exploring the Sony Showroom in Ginza, and taking puri-kura photos.
I did sneak in a museum visit - taking him to the Tokyo Electric Company's Denryokukan (complete with a "scent computer" that randomly enough has a library of Canadian recipes complete with olfactory accompaniment). We also explored some more traditional sites - wandering around Ueno park with a friend, getting fortunes at Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa, and going to Kamakura to see Enoshima and the big Buddha. We ate lots - sukiyaki, Korean BBQ, Krispy Kremes, giant tako-yaki, sushi rice-bowls, Japanese pub fare, pork katsu rice-bowls, monaka (Japanese ice cream sandwiches)...
People watching is one of my favourite sports, and rarely does Japan fail to provide interesting fodder. We spent an amusing 30 minutes in the Starbucks overlooking the famous Shibuya crossing, looking down at the masses of humanity moving everywhere, and imagining stories for a few interesting characters. I must admit I am rather glad that there seemed to be nobody who understood English around us - from the 60 year-old lovers eloping to Brazil, and the drunken fight master rendez-vous-ing with his gang contact, our stories were quite fanciful! My favourite people watching moment came in Shinjuku, however. We were sitting outside of Krispy Kremes, eating our doughnuts in the sun. I looked up and saw an older woman approaching us carrying two rather incongruous items. The fresh cut flowers under her left arm were not surprising. The large hockey stick in her right hand, however, made my jaw drop!
While I see my cousin every time I go through Vancouver, and would say that I am close to that part of my family, it was our first time to spend an extended amount of time together. We've always teased each other a fair amount, however, and our sibling-like antics surprised a few of my friends! (Another was un-impressed by my nagging of my little cousin... sorry 'bout that cuz!)
So when I dropped him off at the airport and came home to my dorm room I was feeling rather sad and lonely. Since I had a suitcase I caught a cab from the station. The driver, commenting on my baggage, asked if I returned home to my country. I replied that I had been staying in a hotel in Tokyo with a visiting family member, and the driver made approving sounds. Half to myself I added "but then it is lonely when they leave, isn't it?" My driver sighed deeply and agreed with me. It turns out he's from outside of Tokyo, and his wife and children still live there. He works in Tokyo and can only go home infrequently. We commiserated and bonded over a discussion of the trials of living far from one's family. From there we chatted about what I was doing in Japan, the differences of Japanese and Canadian climates... This simple conversation made me feel far less lonely. As I got out of the cab, the driver offered a piece of fatherly advice that put a big smile on my face... He told me to focus on my studies and not let any bad Japanese boys distract me (perhaps better advice than he realized!).
I've unpacked, done a load of laundry, and begun to think about the million things I have to do before school starts in early April... Sigh, back to my real life!
Saturday, 1 March 2008
Lessons from a Translation - Take two
Having now finished the translation, and gotten a bit of sleep so that my brain is working again (or as close to it as I can get), I got to rethinking my “lessons learned” post. There are a few things I want to add.
- Friends – I am so incredibly lucky to have such wonderful friends. Every time I go “home” to Canada the realization that my life is in Tokyo comes a little bit stronger. Don’t get me wrong, I am Canadian and dang proud of it, but my life is in Tokyo, and that is where I feel I belong. I have a challenging and rewarding academic/professional life, a good support network, and, most importantly amazing friends. I turned to three friends for help on the translation in three different ways. One dropped everything and spent 24 hours translating for me. One spent hours the night before his university entrance exams to track down people to help me with translations. One gave up his only free day in about two weeks and spent hours in transit to check draft translations in the galleries. I had also met each of these three for coffee or a meal while I was working on the translation, and the social contact was also greatly appreciated! To these three people, my thanks. Just typing these words isn't enough to describe how grateful that I have people like you to lean on in my life! I hope someday to be able to repay you for your kindness.
- Translation is hard. Writing is something I enjoy. My friends at school and grad school were always shocked when I admitted that I enjoyed writing papers. I do. I love writing, putting into words the thoughts and ideas in my mind. (I guess that’s why I enjoy this blog too) Translation is similar to writing in that you are putting words onto paper (or a computer screen). It is not your own voice or ideas, however, but those of somebody else. You have to be faithful to the words and tone they chose, and yet make it understandable in the new language. It is a delicate balancing act. For museum-related translations there are two further complications. One is subject matter. When translating text on historical or cultural subjects the problem is that quite often no one specific word exists for a direct translation. That means that either a foreign word gets used, or a long explanation is needed (or both). The second complication is something I don’t feel I took into consideration adequately enough while working on this latest contract, and that is the issue of media. When writing text for a brochure or panel text, you can get an idea of what it will look like while you are still working on it. You can put text into the layout to be used and see immediately how it works for length, etc. But for an audio guide? I thought it would be enough to simply read it aloud, but it isn’t, as that is my voice and I am looking at the words as I read it aloud. Listening to somebody else read it, without the text in front of me, while I look at objects in the gallery, would be completely different. I don’t feel I kept that in mind well enough while translating and so I am unhappy with the appropriateness of the finished product.
- Endurance – I realized just how far the human body (or at least my particular body) can be pushed. I’ve pulled all nighters before, every grad student has, I’m sure. But I had never pushed myself quite so hard as I did this week. In the space of 50 hours I was in bed for about two hours and had two short naps on the train. I also missed meals and didn’t eat properly. I drank large amounts of caffeinated beverages. After 40 hours my brain was no longer processing thoughts properly, but after two short naps and non-sugared food, I was able to think (somewhat) coherently again. After just 2 hours of sleep I was able to spend another 5 hours of editing/rewriting. The human body is incredible. But I am very lucky. I feel healthy and fine, but I also know that I owe my body. I intend to treat it very well for a bit now. I am trying to get good nights of solid sleep, eat good food, and maybe get in a soak in a hot springs to thank my body for all it has put up with.
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