The Renga Renga Lillies that weren't....

Way back in 2006 I wrote about incorporating a taste of home (ie New Zealand) into my garden and there was this photo of some Renga Renga Lillies which I had proudly grown from seed.  They have grown well under the magnolia tree and each year have gotten bigger and bigger.  Unfortunately each year they have also become more and more like cabbage trees... and I now have finally started to acknowledge that either the seeds I bought were mislabelled or I somehow mixed up the labels when they were seedlings.  I personally can't believe that I would ever make a mistake with labelling so am thinking it was the seed company's fault..... much easier to blame someone who isn't here!

Either way I now have a dilemma - the trees need to be removed...  if I try to dig them out and replant them somewhere else I am likely to kill off the magnolia tree which my husband planted when his second daughter from his first marriage was born.  But, if I don't try to dig them out and just cut them down then I lose a little bit more of New Zealand from my garden.  I think I'll just think on it for a few more months and see what happens...... a much easier option than actually making a decision!

 

Spring is in the air again....

Spring has definitely arrived in our part of the world.  It used to be the season I would look forward to the most.  The warm sun finally arriving after a cold winter, the daffodils blooming all over the place, the reports on the news of predictions of cherry blossom viewing (which seems to be about 10 days earlier than usual this year.....).   Unfortunately with the onset in recent years of allergies to the cedar pollen around here I don't look forward to this season quite so much!   

I used to laugh at the "pollen watch" on T.V. which had cartoon faces of smiley faces for days where they predicted low volumes of pollen and frowning faces for the days when they expected large volumes.  I used to laugh at the people wandering around in their masks and refusing to hang their washing outside in this season.  I used to snicker as I walked passed the rows and rows of items relating to allergies that sprung up in all the shops during this season.  

But that was in the past.... now with a continually runny nose, itchy eyes, inflamed mouth, regular sneezing. I don't laugh quite so much and my excitement relating to the onset of spring isn't exactly as great as it used to be!  Medicine helps a lot (when I remember to take it...) and I'm hoping all of the trees around here have given up most of their pollen to the wind and I can now really enjoy the onset of spring.

For anyone interested in what volumes of pollen cedar trees produce I found this video... just skip passed the advertising at the start.  The views of the forests are very similar to what we saw around here this year.   

Gifts from neighbours

I know that I have written in the past about neighbours and how they love to stop and chat while I am trying to get on with weeding the garden.  I don't have a lot of time to spend in the garden during the week, so when I can get out there I tend to try to keep my head down, blinkers on and get one area cleared... having neighbours come to chat is nice, but it does mean my weeding time decreases and motivation often flies out the window.  Sometimes these chats are actually very productive though.  The best one I have had so far was when I was complaining about how long it takes to weed the path areas around my garden, leaving me with less time to actually weed the garden parts.  The neighbour I was chatting to agreed with me and said she'd drop something off for me the next day.  As promised the next day I came home from work and found some rolls of weed mat stuff that she was given and that I have put down and from what I have seen so far will reduce all path weeding to zero!  Not the most attractive way to make paths, but definitely effective. 
The kind neighbour saw me doing it and saw that there is not enough to do all the paths... so she'll bring me some more in the very near future.  I'm thinking maybe I shouldn't complain quite so much about chatty neighbours from now on!!

Wearing thin

This is the view  of the world my bottom has when I am in my gardening clothes. 

I don't think of myself as a stingy person.  I try to be as generous as I can with friends and family and I even give lemons and eggs to random mountain climbers who happen to pass by and admire the chickens and lemon tree.  I am not obsessed with money - when we have it I spend it and when we don't we don't spend it.  I am pretty good at throwing away unnecessary things.  

But....... when it comes to some things I just don't seem to have the ability to throw them out or replace them with something new.   From memory the above trousers came to Japan with me when I first arrived 16 years ago.  They were my lazing about at home in the weekend trousers and then became my gardening trousers a few years ago.  They now provide wonderful airconditioning on hot days, but as most of my gardening is done in a squatting position I have to be a little careful which direction I am squatting when cars drive past or friendly neighbours come to chat.  I'm thinking that one day very soon I'm going to have to say goodbye to these trousers.  Perhaps next week.... or perhaps I'll wait till they turn more into a skirt than trousers.  I'm sure that would give the neighbours something extra to talk about!

PS - apologies to those who tried to comment on the last post.  I tried to block anonymous commenters, but ended up stuffing up all the settings....

Kindergarten music

On Saturday I was lucky (???) enough to be invited to attend a girls festival concert at one of the kindergartens I teach at.  While I get a bit sick of the singing and dancing I am always impressed by the music education they have at kindergartens here.  There are two instruments in particular that seem to be very common at kindergartens and both teach not only rhythm, but also actual "melody".  The first is hand bells.  This class of 4 year olds managed to use the bells to play a pretty good rendition of a dolls festival song.  Each had their own bell with its distinctive sound and they not only played them in the correct order, but also with the correct timing.  The 5 year olds then played with their mouth pianos - another great way to teach kids basic music without having to have a classroom crammed full of actual pianos.  I think there are about 2 octaves on each keyboard and they power it by blowing into the tube.  Again they played a relatively complicated tune and all managed to do it really well.

I can remember when my children were at kindergarten and they were doing marching.  I always admired how the teacher managed to get all the children to be able to play at such a high level.  Having taught the children in these photos I know that they are far from angels all the time.... but somehow they always produce a great show.  They seem to have a performance switch.  Now if they could just turn that performance switch on for me when I teach them for the last time next week I would finish the year happy!

Braces part 2

In June last year I wrote about getting my daughter braces for her teeth.  She coped really well with them and I think in the end was a little sad about getting them off.  But, on Saturday she had them removed and spent the next few days smiling and smiling and smiling some more!  She chose not to tell anyone that she had had them removed and it was interesting that no one actually noticed.  She has to have a retainer for another 2 years, but the orthodontist managed to attach one on the inside of her teeth so nothing is visible from the outside.  She is finally starting to enjoy eating foods that require a bit of extra chewing and biting - something that she was unable to do with the original positioning of her teeth.

As I have never had any orthodontic work done in New Zealand I can't compare the service etc., but my experience here was very positive.  They told us up front exactly what the costs were going to be, they told us how long each appointment would take and it took exactly that time, we never waited after our appointed time, they had free tea and coffee in the waiting room for me and lots of comics for my son to read.  Of course the final result also looks pretty good.  The only advice I have for people who are thinking about getting orthodontic work done here in Japan is to do it before the children enter junior high school.  Apparently the costs rocket even higher after that....

I know I promised, but...

I know in my last post I said it would be the last post about wood till next season, but... there have been quite a few questions in the comments about where we get our wood etc., so I'll answer them and then promise once more that there will be no more talk about wood for a while!

 We have never paid for any of our wood.  To be honest, I am not sure that there is anywhere around here that actually sells it.  There are an increasing number of people putting in wood fires, so the potential is there to start a business, but it won't be us starting it!.  We have a lot of land which has many trees on it, so in theory we could just fell trees every year and get enough wood to keep us warm, but in reality this is the first year that we have actually felled any trees - and the trees we are felling are the sawtooth oaks which are used for growing shitake mushrooms and which regrow from their cut-off trunks.  So I don't feel too guilty about cutting them down.

Until now we have contacted the electricity company, construction companies etc. and when they fell trees to make way for power lines, new roads etc. they are more than happy for us to come and take them away - grateful in fact.  Neighbours are also a great source and we often discover a neighbour has felled a tree and then brought the logs to us to use.  Of course they are not always cut in perfect 1m lengths, but we tend not to complain!

Before we put in our fire we used a standard kerosene heater... it wasn't so much the cost of running it that bothered me, but the fumes which it produced - especially when you turned it on and off.  With small children around I just hated it and found that I was getting headaches every day from the fumes.  I know the heaters are starting to get a bit better here now, but you can't beat the heat from a real fire.... and that is all I have to say about fires till next season - I REALLY promise this time!

Cleaning glass

I promise that this will be the last post about wood and fires until next season... but before I forget, here's a helpful hint for anyone who has a fire and sometimes needs help getting the glass cleaned.  Despite letting our wood dry for 2 years (George - we get all kinds of wood from different sources....) there are times that we have to close the fire down while it is still roaring, or when the wood is not 100% dry and therefore leaves a huge blackened mess on the glass.  I have tried zillions of ways of getting it off and usually hard elbow grease and a combination of baking soda or vinegar is the only way to get it off, unless I want to resort to strong chemicals (which I don't!).  

This year I did a bit of researching and saw a few people saying that using the ash from the fire worked well, so I sceptically tried it and discovered it was a miracle cleaner!  All I needed to do was wet a paper towel, dip it in ash, rub it very gently on the window, wipe it down with some dry newspaper and voila a perfectly clean window with almost zero effort.  The fire just feels and looks so much warmer through a clean window!

Now that the fire season is over it must be time to start thinking about the garden again.  I'm almost too scared to go and see what state it is in.....

Wood pile full at last!

We did it!  All our wood sheds are full (bottom photo) plus we have a big stack by the car (top photo).  The wood sheds are 6 rows deep, which hopefully means we have a two year supply.  My husband is a bit pedantic when it comes to the wood.  It has to be cut two years in advance and dried.  The felled trees initially need to be cut into 1m lengths and then brought home and cut into 33cm logs before being split.  As I am the main stacker of the wood I do actually appreciate having wood all exactly the same length - it makes it a lot easier to stack.  

This year I had another job apart from the stacking.  I was responsible for marking the 1m logs into 33cm sections with chalk.  My husband then took to them with the chainsaw.  I took the job very seriously, but unfortunately I didn't quite measure up.... My son was also helping and at one stage my husband asked him to re-measure one of the logs that I had marked.  As suspected I had made an error... I had marked one of the logs at 34cm rather than 33cms.  Fingers were wagged and I was asked to be more careful, but my son and I just turned to each other and laughed!  In the end my husband also decided that maybe he was being a little pedantic and that perhaps the log wasn't actually exactly 1m to start with.  I chose not to point out that 33cm plus 33cm plus 33cm only makes 99cm....  Somethings will never change though so I'm not sure I will be asked to measure again next year.  I will feel so deprived!

Great times

I'll do a photo update later when I steal my husband's camera, but... we have had a great few days.  We had some friends visiting and it was great to do nothing in particular, but just talk and eat and talk a bit more and of course eat a bit more too!  They are German friends that used to live in Japan, then France and now live in Hong Kong.  Their two children are tri-lingual in German, French and English.  The thing I always enjoy most is comparing the different ways of different countries and laughing at the way the Japanese do it.  Fortunately for me I am happy to just laugh at it and not get too worked up about it (in most cases anyway....).  When we have visitors I often realise that I have been here too long when I see something as completely normal, but a visitor points out that it is really very strange.

One example of this on this trip was when I took them to visit the kindergarten that the children used to go to when they lived in Japan. Their old teacher was there and was so excited to see them and show them all the places they used to play etc.  Of course the children (who are now 12) had no memory of it, but managed to smile and nod and even make a video-letter for their old classmates.  It was my first time to visit the kindergarten and also to meet the teacher, but as we were leaving she told me that she would get my contact details from my friend and she would come and visit me.  I smiled and nodded and said she would be welcome any time.  This happens to me a lot - it often feels like a form of greeting here and most of them don't actually come and visit, but there are a few who do and sometimes we create a friendship from the initial visit.  Most often we chat for a bit and I never hear from them again as we usually have nothing in common apart from the mutual friend..

It wasn't until my friend pointed out that she thought this was very strange that I started thinking about it.  I'm pretty sure it is a "foreign" thing in that I don't think Japanese people who don't know each other invite themselves to each others houses for a chat.  It seems to just be with foreign people and a "if she is friends with my friend then of course I will also be her friend" kind of thing.  It will be interesting to see if she does actually ever contact me.

I have been here for over 16 years now so I wonder how many times people leave our place after a visit and go home laughing about all the strange things I now do....... fortunately we have another few groups of fantastic visitors lined up over the next few months so they can bring me back to reality!

The next Hollywood?

At the start of this year we had fun watching as the town next to us tried to make themselves known by erecting a sign on the hill above the station.  For quite a while it was just "US" and then they finally got around to adding the final "A".  Although we don't live in this city, it is the city the children were born in and I always wonder if it will be questioned at passport control when we hand over a Japanese and New Zealand passport stating that they are born in USA.  As foreign things are highly regarded here there are also stories of people using this city name to their advantage - writing "Made in USA" on their products.  Of course they are not being dishonest.... just using their name to their advantage. 

Unfortunately I'm not sure how long the sign will be visible for.  Like so many things here I'm guessing that the trees around it will grow up very fast and it will become only partially visible.  Also the construction work looks a little bit dodgy so I'm guessing the houses underneath it may end up with a part of the sign in their backyard as soon as the first typhoon comes through.   But in the meantime we can take pride in our big white sign......especially on days when we have our binoculars with us!

Growing up!

Yesterday Emily found the apron that she had when she first started school six years ago...... I guess it is evidence that she really has grown up.. and out!  She has grown 41cm in six years.

As we start thinking about the things we will need to start junior high school I found it interesting to look back at my entry from 6 years ago which shows all the things that we needed before she started primary school.  At the time it was a bit nerve racking trying to work it all out and justify paying so much for a school bag etc.  But, now that I look back at it she has managed to use a lot of her things for the full 6 years and therefore the expense probably wasn't so over the top.  Her first sports uniform is still being used by her skinny brother, the mouth-organ piano thingy is still being used as it is the tray for her desk, the sports clothes bag, the red and white hat, the umbrella and of course the school bag..  I'm really hoping that she won't grow too much in the next 3 years and I will be able to say that she used all her new junior high school things for the entire 3 years.... I think I might be fooling myself, but all you can do is hope! 

Wood chopping....

My husband spent most of last night putting together this video of his wood chopping efforts and kindly said that I could share it with you.  Unfortunately I can't find the original videos as from what I heard I could actually remake it and add a very good bloopers section...... He has definitely gone for the good selection of chopping action - if you watch right till the end you can even see a double bammy chop!!

This year I have been much more relaxed over the help that my father-in-law is giving us.  I think in the past I have been determined to show that we chose to put in a fireplace and therefore we are responsible for supplying the wood for it.  Every year my father-in-law tries to help and I feel the need to race out and help him if I am around, or even better try and get it done before he can.  But this year... I get the feeling that he really WANTS to chop the wood so I tend to hibernate when he is doing it and then sneak out later and stack it - still a big job, but not as bad as having to chop it.  So with the combination of my husband needing to make a video and my father-in-law wanting to feel needed I am yet to pick up an axe this year.  The wood shed is over half full..... what are the chances I will actually be able to get through the entire wood chopping season without lifting an axe?  High I hope.....

Snowy Friday

On Friday I had a muffin and coffee date planned, but.... when we woke up the world was white and I opted to stay home in front of the fire instead.  My husband tried to get the kids to school on time, but the main road was at a complete stand still (Hokkaido residents would laugh!).  Apparently a truck had jack-knifed and was blocking the main road and it was taking people about an hour and a half to drive 5kms.  Fortunately my husband has a big car and he isn't scared of driving in snow so he backtracked and took the kids to school via the mountain route - and after slipping and sliding most of the way he got the kids to school only 10 minutes later than usual.  But, of course most of the teachers were a couple of hours late so they didn't really need to rush anyway.  The kids here are so used to having no teacher in their class (no relieving teacher system here so if a teacher is away for any reason the kids are just given handouts to complete and are left alone....) so they didn't seem particularly worried that their teacher was so late.   

I didn't have to teach till late afternoon so I spent the whole day lazing around and hoping the roads would clear before I had to head out - which they did.  Another good reason to stop teaching in the mornings!

I'm guessing that this will be the last real snow of this season... or at least I'm hoping.... we have great friends arriving on Friday so I'm hoping we are not snowed in!

Craziness for a good cause

I don't usually use my blog as a way of promoting other people's things, but this one is worth it.!

New Zealand has a large number of unique birds which are continuously under threat from different introduced predators and humans taking over their habitats.  Most people know all about the kiwi, but have you ever heard of the kea?  It is a bit of a cheeky alpine parrot that is diminishing in numbers.  Although it has a bit of a bad reputation for eating rubber off cars and stealing the occasional bit of cash from unknowing tourists, it is a beautiful bird that is extremely intelligent.  The exact number of living birds left in the wild is unknown, but is estimated to be only between 1,000 and 5,000.  It needs a bit of help to prevent it from becoming extinct and that is where my crazy brother-in-law comes in....

He has decided to try and do something to help the kea and has teamed up with his brother to climb 21 different named peaks in the Nelson Lakes National park in New Zealand.  Not too much of a challenge for young, fit men... so they are making it a little more challenging by only climbing peaks which are over 2,000 meters and climbing all 21 peaks within 21 days.  They are collecting sponsorship from organisations and individuals and all money raised will go towards the plight of the kea. They leave at the end of the week... and hopefully will return safe and sound 3 weeks later!

If anyone is interested in following their journey or supporting them please check out the following links:

Facebook: 21 peaks in 21 days  - Please like them as a way of supporting them!

Blog: 21 peaks in 21 days

Kea Conservation Trust

Stress relief

My 10 year old son  will often get frustrated over something small and when I ask him what is going on he will usually answer "I am just so stressed".  I'm not sure that he fully understands what stressed means, but I do know he is a bit of a stickler for the rules at school and that it often means he uses up all his patience and angel wings at school and then comes home and explodes.  I figure I would rather have him being good at school and exploding at home than being perfect at home and exploding at school, but there are times when I would prefer he was just a little bad at school and less stressed at home!

Anyway, the mochi making at school on Sunday seems to have been great stress relief for him and after bashing mortars full of sticky rice for a few minutes he seems very relaxed for the last couple of days. The same can be said for my almost teenage daughter.   Perhaps we should ask them to make it a weekly event... and perhaps the parents should take a more active role.  It may make the world a calmer place!

Next stage of life

Because the children had to go to school on Saturday and Sunday this week they now have today and tomorrow as a holiday.  Yippee!  We used the day off to try and get some of Emily's junior high school shopping underway. I feel a bit like a fish out of water.... I have just got a handle of everything that is required/expected at primary school and now it all starts again with junior high school.  This biggest challenge at the moment is trying to get all the school uniform things organised.  Today we went to three different shops and ordered the main uniform (pictured) from one shop, the sports uniform from another shop and then the compulsory sports shoes and indoor slippers (vomit... I'll do a post on them when they arrive!) from yet another shop.  I think within the next month they should all arrive and will hopefully fit properly - and last for the next 3 years......

Unlike some people, I have no problem with school uniforms and actually think they are a good idea.  Yes, they are expensive and mean the kids can't express their individuality through their clothes on a daily basis.  But in the end I think they probably work out cheaper than having to have a good supply of clothes to wear each day.  I had to wear school uniform at high school in New Zealand and found it so much easier to not have to think about what to wear each day.  Emily is excited about wearing one, but at the same time not too impressed about having to wear a skirt every day.  I'm sure she'll get over it soon!  I'll update the other uniforms as they arrive...

Here we go again

For the last five years the first Friday and Saturday in February have been devoted to making cookies and muffins for the school bazaar. This year was no different... it started on Friday by making close to 600 cookies of various kinds and putting them all into bags.  Then this morning it was muffin time - 3 different kinds (chocolate - iced, vanilla - iced, pumpkin - cinnamon sugar topping), with a total of about 120.  Again they needed to be bagged and priced.  

As has become the norm, I made all the cookies and muffins, but had people come and help to put them in the bags etc.  This way works best for me - I'm not so good at getting people who have never done any baking to help me when large volumes are needed!  I know if I was a very good person who was thinking about the future of the school I would "teach" them how to do it so when I am gone they can continue, but.... my guess is our school will basically be gone by the time my son graduates and it is just so much easier to do it myself...... maybe next year.......

2010, 2012

Dedication or stupidity

On Sunday I spent the day lying on the couch watching TV.  The perfect thing to do on a snowy Sunday when you aren't feeling 100%.  I'm not really sure why, but instead of following my lead my husband decided he had to go and chop down some trees and start cutting them up for firewood that we will use in 2 years time.... his current job means that he often has to work weekends so the time he can do it is limited, but still... I'm not sure if he is just devoted to keeping us all warm or just plain stupid! 

On that same cold, snowy Sunday the road works people decided that they had to continue work on asphalting the tiny k-truck road that about 1 truck drives along every week - if that.  I'm guessing they have a contract and they were falling behind, but again devotion or stupidity I'm not quite sure!  The road was finally finished today and my son is now eyeing it as a great waveboard track....he is not likely to have to look out for traffic!

Initial Concerns part 2

When I wrote my post about my concerns about club activities at junior high school I knew it would get a big reaction from the foreign community living here.  I knew it would get a few eyebrows raised from those in other countries and I knew that most of those commenting would probably support me in my concerns.  At the same time what I also knew, but deliberately chose to leave out until now is the reaction of my daughter to these club activities.  Without prompting her about why, I asked her a couple of questions regarding what she was looking forward to most about junior high school and any worries she had.  This was her response:

I’m looking forward to club activities the most when I start junior high school.  At the moment I want to go into volleyball or brass band.  There were no club activities at primary school, so I am looking forward to doing club activities at junior high school.  At club activities everybody works together.  If it was brass band and we could play the music right till the end there would be a sense of achievement.  If it was volleyball and we won then we would be happy.  I think that the things I can learn in club I will be able to use in my study, for example for Japanese writing about our experiences.  I think that I will be able to make lots of friends in the club.  I really want to make friends with children in the same grade.  I want to have some rivals so that I can get stronger. 

It doesn’t worry me about how long I have to practice.  If I could just do it then I would be happy.  I am worried that there will be too, too, too hard exercise! 

One of my good friends is also in an interesting situation.  She is German and lives in Hong Kong.  Her children are part of the French school system (confused yet).  She sent me an e-mail after reading my blog and said that her son had also read it and his initial reaction to Japanese club activities was  “But it´s great, so I could play soccer after school every day with my friends”.  Their school system requires much longer study hours and little time for sports.  

I am always being asked whether I intend to keep my children in the Japanese education system.  My answer is always the same - my children will always be given the opportunity to go to whatever school they see fit.  My job will be to show them their different options, but it will always be their choice.  There are many things that I disagree about the Japanese system, but there are other things that I don't think are perfect in the New Zealand system.  I think which system suits each child is very much a personality thing.  Of course if I could start my own school it would be perfect for every child, but... .  My initial hunch (which could be proved completely wrong... ) is that my daughter is very much suited to the Japanese system.  She loves school and can't wait to start Junior High School.  She is so excited to start club activities.  Because of this I try very hard to keep my opinions to myself when I am around her.  I know that she is partially happy with this system because it is the only real system she has known and perhaps if she spent more time in a New Zealand school should would think differently.  But, as my German friend said as long as the children are happy then there probably isn't too much to complain about.    I like her attitude, she says she now tries "to accept the “bad” things and be happy with the “good” things" and she has "learned to watch the kids more than comparing the systems".  

Just to clarify, I do not think that the club activities system here is the best system for me.  If I thought my daughter was uncomfortable with it then I would be one of the first on the picket line trying to get it changed.  But if the truth be told she is soooooooooo looking forward to it.  It is all she can talk about.  It may turn out to be a fantastic experience for her.  She is incredibly happy about it.  I'll support her to try and make it a great experience while doing my best to maintain as much communication with her as I can - even adding a bit of family time when I can.  Here's hoping the happiness is remaining 3 years down the track....  Stay tuned!