Between SENSE AND SENSIBILITY.... where should we stand?

I remember as a child, I thought that crying during movies can't be anymore childish -
.... until I watched 'My Girl' one evening with my cousins, and cried like a baby.
Then, believing that incident to be an exception, I remained 'tearless' for a while -
.... until I watched 'Titanic' and cried whenever Jack Dawson cried.
And, finally, I gave in to the crybaby in myself, and to the few awesome filmmaking in recent years.

Recently, too many scenes from a few movies and drama [惡作劇之吻〕have caused my precious tears to fall, hehe, and I wonder if this is a process of growing up (Funny, since some would think that being more efficient in controlling one's emotions would be a step of maturity... or is that just me?).

Also, when I come across lyrics that just speak to the heart......

*this is when someone should just jump in and shout: 'GET A GRIP, CHOCO/DO/LU!'
... and convince me that there are other things that are more worthy of my tears... but they might just get ignored, because THIS SONG is simply beautiful.




至少還有你
我怕來不及　我要抱著你
直到感覺你的皺紋　有了歲月的痕跡
直到肯定你是真的　直到失去力氣
為了你　我願意

動也不能動　也要看著你
直到感覺你的髮線　有了白雪的痕跡
直到視線變得模糊　直到不能呼吸
讓我們　形影不離

如果　全世界我也可以放棄
至少還有你　值得我去珍惜
而你在這裡　就是生命的奇蹟
也許　全世界我也可以忘記
就是不願意　失去你的消息
你掌心的痣　我總記得在那裡

我怕來不及　我要抱著你
直到感覺你的髮線　有了白雪的痕跡
直到視線變得模糊　直到不能呼吸
讓我們　形影不離

我們好不容易　我們身不由己
我怕時間太快　不夠將你看仔細
我怕時間太慢　日夜擔心失去你
恨不得一夜之間白頭　永不分離


It's always amazing to see words come together in the most dazzling order and form moving lines such as these. I may be misinformed, but I heard that the lyricist of this song dedicated this song to his kid.. or was it the singer to her kid? Or maybe none of the above, but if it were, it can't get any sweeter than this, eh?

And, I'm going to make another leap here, tell me if I'm going too far (I won't listen anyway =p), but can anyone see a link between this beautiful song and this even more moving verse?

'He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart:
He gently leads those that have young.'

ISAIAH 40:11

One of my favourite verses.
While referencing one of my favourite songs.
I feel this is a sequel to my previous post.

* * * * *

On a random note, I'm enjoying my week at the Dazaifu Junior High School VERY, VERY, OH-SO VERY MUCH.
Maybe it's because I only teach 3 classes at most a day, but this also allows me to join my students' classes and pretend I'm 14 years-old all over again. And nothing can compare with that feeling of.......
-Laughing along with the entire class at the CLASS JOKER's comments
-Comparing test scores with the BOY WHO TALKS TOO MUCH beside you (yes, I took a KANJI test and scored 14/100 =.=;)
-Chatting in a low voice with the chatty girls around me while fearing that the teacher will ban me from her class forever
-Telling the BOY WHO TALKS TOO MUCH in front of me to focus instead of talking to me about how he doesn't know how to cook but bet that I make the most delicious curry
-And just.... being a 8th grader in Japan... is the one of the most priceless moments I've ever had.

Furthermore, today, during cleaning time, one 3rd grader boy came up to me and pointed out the fact that I am shorter than him while indicating the difference with his fingers - by 'this (2-3cm) much'. He flashed me a proud smile as if he deserved a pat in the back. Then I suddenly realized that..............

MY KIDS ARE GROWING UP!.......... sniff. sniff.

..... someone stop this crybaby from overtaking me.....!

(I LOVE MY JOB.)

Raindrops on Roses, Blue Lights on Pine Trees

Maybe it's the heat... maybe it's the teeny tiny bit of nostalgia hidden somewhere in the back closet, maybe it's that urge to buy the long-wanted red scarf, or... maybe it's really just the heat.



Oh, I wish that WINTER was just around the corner...

... Did I mention that my Christmas lights from last year is still hanging from my window?


'My Next-Door Neighbour' seems to be enjoying these tiny lights as much as me





Or maybe I just secretly adore Winter... but Autumn is still my official favourite season. At least that is what I say during my Self-Introduction time in schools. And I can't even begin to tell of how eager my kids (or probably, most kids are) when it comes to their 'favourite' things.

*allow me to interrupt with a memorable moment from SOUND OF MUSIC*

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens;
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens;
Brown paper packages tied up with strings;
These are a few of my FAVOURITE THINGS...

*back to my post*

And I remember chatting one time with my N-Z friend, and how we both realized that it wasn't until Japan/JET that we really began to distinguish between what we generally like and what our favourite things are. I guess we're never too old to discover new things about ourselves...!

[Some of] My favourite things are....... (in the most random order)

1) Christmas Lights [outdoor, preferably on trees, not green, pink, orange, or any other unbearable Christmas Light colors, please, but yellow, silver or light blue, with even sparklier snow in the background]
2) Cakes [with the right company, even in the most horrendous weather]
3) Dark brown Steinway grand piano in a classy restaurant [in the evening, preferably with good food]
4) Road trip [in a +10~20 degrees, with the windows half-rolled down, and the chilly autumn breeze on my face, and maybe 'Better Together' in the background, 'yeah.... it's always better when we're together, oh... ')
5) Late midnight-chats with Mom
6) Unbelievable fast speed-walking with Dad in Deer Lake
7) Playing Chess with Og - making him think he's winning, but then suddenly foil his seemingly-well devised, unbeatable attack plot with my single pawn... VICTORY, I say!
8) Bugging Jodie with Boy Questions
9) Yuex2 sleeping on my lap
10) A bouquet of Baby Breath tied with plain yellow ribbon [no fancy bow]
11) Biking through rain while basking in the morning Sun [did that on Monday]
12) Laughing nonstop with Hiukei about random, hard-to-get jokes that I'm not even going to try posting here
13) Chatting with Maggie about 'many things' on the couch with my Christmas lights on
14) Receiving emails from long-distance friends - Jen, I still owe you that email... Sir Peanut... I want to see pictures, even if you ARE fat now
15) Looking out the window during take-off and landing (daytime for the former, nighttime for the latter)
16) Re-watching old favorite movies alone at night, while sipping hot milk with honey
17) Hearing my favourite songs on the radio or at the mall - while convincing myself that they're being played especially for me, right then and there
18) Seeing comments! ...
19) Bumping into my students on the street and seeing their HAPPY EXPRESSIONS, not one of those 'Oh.... no.... not her' - which I rarely get. hohoho...
20) Remembering my favourite hymn randomly during the day
21) Waking up with JOY, and THANKSGIVING
22) Talking about old times with old friends... Just had a recent one with Meika, and Flanders
23) Realizing that..... I'm blessed with so many favourite things, so so so many that the list could just go on, but I will choose to end on this significant number.



Now can you guess why I like Winter so much? I just found out myself, actually.

Plum Wine... Addict?

Plum Wine is the first and last drink I usually order in Izakayas. It's sweet, and goes well with almost any dish - unlike Kalhua Milk, another favourite drink of mine reserved for after dinner (...along with many delicious Japanese sweets such as ALMOND TOFU, RED BEAN ICE CREAM, and SESAME PARFAIT....). Unfortunately (or maybe Fortunately, depends how you look at it), it has earned me the title of PLUM WINE LOVER, and I've received 4 bottles of them from different people, all convinced that if they had to bring any alcohol gift into my home, it HAS to be Sweet, Sweet, Sweet, 1 litre (or 2) of 梅酒　(ume-shu).

One of the Jr High teachers I work with kindly gave me a... JAR of Plum Wine her mother made. Very nice of her! Now I must add it to my collection... and drink the night away!


'Aaaaaah. Now that's something I've never seen before.. a JAR of sweet alcohol.'


苦笑，為難．．．硬著頭皮收下了。


Tribute to my dear neighbour, Jen.

.... Maybe I should make RED WINE my personalized drink now?
My new goal - to receive a '84 bottle by the end of the year. Anyone deem it possible?

Movies, movies, movies

10 minutes bike trip, and I find myself in VIDEO AMERICA.
A huge video rental place, from Japanese anime to Hollywood blockbusters, and the best part is not the tons and tons of Japanese dramas... but the 3 & 8 Specials. Ont the 3rd and 8th of every month, every video is one hundred yen - approx. 1 dollar american. Great deal, indeed!

This week, I have BRIDGET JONES: EDGE OF REASON, BEFORE SUNSET, and SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE.

The first one, I watched with my movie buddy, Mitsuyo and it was light, entertaining, FUNNY, and very enjoyable. One of my favorite scene/quote from the movie is the following:

'Well, maybe it is romantic because it's not. l mean... I know there's no music playing, and it's not snowing, but that doesn't mean that it, that it can't be really be something.'

Some finger food for thoughts for the hopelessly romantics.

And BEFORE SUNSET is a movie suggested by a friend, and it's a sequel to BEFORE SUNRISE, which I watched about a month ago. A very TALKATIVE movie, but with quite a few scenes that made me nod and go 'Mmm..., 分かる、分かる...' Anticipating the sequel...

SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE. Ah.... old movies always bring nostalgia closer to heart. And I must have seen that movies at least 3, 4 times when I was in elementary, high school, and then caught glimpses of it while I was browsing tv channels a while back. So, I wonder how I would rate this movie now, as I watch it again, being 23, being in Japan, ....

Funny thing worth mentioning, I always had a great impression of Seattle BECAUSE of this movie, and thought that if I had to live anywhere in the States, it had to be Seattle.

Oh... two wonderful movies saved for a Sunday afternoon.

And that's tomorrow!
Ah, have a lovely evening everyone.

KIMONO CLASS BEGINS!

KIMONO CLASS


My Newly-wed friend, Yuko


My movie/cake/coffee buddy, Mitsuyo


Co-worker at City Hall and now, Kimono Lesson classmate, Eri


MEIKA!!! It's a blessing indeed to meet up with old friends...... all the way from Korea, then California, and now, FUKUOKA, JAPAN! ^-^


Come back soon, Meika! and bring Fat Boy with you! =D

=(

I really think I might cry...

....

I HATE COCKROACHES.

><

I never imagined myself being one day brave enough to face COCKROACH problems - until cruel, cruel reality has found me and cornered me in Japan. I now have COCKROACH problems.

I UTTERLY DESPISE ALL COCKROACHES. They can all............. go............... to..................... wherever else than my pretty, neat, cozy apartment. Je les deteste tous...........!! (wow, being angry in French does make a difference.)

Today, when I was at school, helping to clean the classrooms, the students found a dark brown, pill-sized 'THING' on the ground. Then, they found another. The teacher noticed them, and said the following thing in the most casual tone (you'll see why it's so unbelievable):

'Oh yeah, these, are KOKIBURI NO TAMAGO [cockroach eggs].'

I was very glad to find that there were other SHOCKED faces other than mine when the teacher gently brushed the eggs aside with his broom.

WHAT???

If it weren't for a boy student standing beside me, who looked just as pale as I did, I might have dropped my broom and ran out of there. I kept my cool, and asked for confirmation.

The teacher nodded as if it really was no big deal, and smiled as he said: 'Oh, you city kids... you've probably never seen cockroach eggs before...'

I HATE THESE CREEPY CRAWLERS WITH A PASSION.

And... IRONY finds me in the MOST undesirable situation.

Just as I came out of my shower about 15 minutes ago, I walked into my kitchen, turned on the lights .... and spotted a small, black 'moving thing' on the floor. Unlike the kind, nature lover teacher who ordered the students to throw the eggs out the window -thus letting them live - I flushed that vile thing down my toilet.

The most depressing fact I discovered this evening (through Google.... ah, Google... if only you can solve EVERYTHING) is that each egg will contain at least 10 to 20 of them. No questions asked, I sprayed EVERY corner of the floor creaks, and am hoping for the best. Now, I must lay out more cockroach traps... gosh, I wish someone were here with me to cry with.

WEIIIIIIIIII..... >o<

No problems can seem bigger now.
Thist must be the most angry and depressing post I have written yet.

誰か助けて！！！！！！

Random as Random gets

Okay.
This is going to sound a tad bit familiar to our Coffee Fellowship bunch readers. But unlike Stan's potential coffee romance, I got my own not-so-romantic/funny encounter at work today.

So, at my office, there's an acquaintance that I made about a year ago - we never really talk, and our conversation usually never exceeds over 30 seconds.

Today, I bumped into him three times (Let's refer to him as Mr. X as to avoid pronoun confusion).

First, nothing but the usual - brief, 'Konnichiwa', a nod, a smile and then back to work.

The second time was when I was showing pictures from my cellphone to the lady at the convenience store downstairs; I often go chat with her on my breaks, and she's one of the people that would brighten my day - especially on a rainy weather like today. And then, just as I was excitedly telling her about my brother's visit in Fukuoka not a long ago, Mr. X shows up, taking a pack of mint and lines up in back of me. And, as we both headed back up, the conversation evolved around my brother, and actually exceeded 30 seconds. Wow. Record.

But are you ready for Japanese Randomness that follows?

Okay.

(I will share another Random Conversation Starter after this one, it's priceless...)

15 minutes later.
I am back at my desk, replying Hiukei's email, while preparing for my English Club.
Mr. X suddenly shows up - he rarely comes - and then walks to my desk.
Mr. X: Hi...!
Me: Hi...?
Mr. X: So, I have a question I want to ask you...
Me: ...?
Mr. X: ... So, do you use WORD?
Me: (while having trouble to figure out what he was implying... WORLD? WORD? WARD?...) W-O-R-D?
Mr. X: Yeah, do you use it?
Me: (still confused, but trying hard to understand the purpose of his question) Yes... I... use Word. I think. Ahem...
Mr. X: So, you use WORD to type?
Me: (I'm getting more confused as the conversation carried on. Yes, i do use it! do i? wait, what?) Yes, I... uh, I do.
And then there's a bit of a pause. My supersivor, sitting across from me, let out a little laugh. I didn't know what that was suppose to mean. And he waited. As if I was suppose to eagerly say something else after this.
Me: (trying VERY hard not to let this end on an awkward note) Oh, yeah! I, uh, I can type English, Japanese, Chinese... on Microsoft Word. (hurries over to my WORD and opening a new document) ... Like, this... see?
Mr. X: Ohh... mm hmm. I see.
Another pause.
And, just when I thought that this was it, I kind of slightly turned my head, getting ready to get back to work, he decided to bring our conversation to a next level.



...........




Mr. X: So. Do you use EXCEL?
Me: ................

And - it went on for a few minutes, we then skipped over to my new computer, then back to EXCEL, and how I DON'T use Excel (but other Canadians do!)... and just... Random as Random gets.

I suppose talking about Computer Software is a great conversation starter ...?
Stan? Yao? Jung?

Alright, I'm going back to work.....
in my WORD!
(hehehe...)