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Friday, September 18, 2009

Japan Here and Now



There is a free "Taste of Japan Festival" in Auckland. It features various elements of Japanese culture, from traditional drumming, dance and sports to food and music.

The fashion show will showcase garments ranging from traditional kimonos, yukata and miko, to the outrageous costumes of the modern harajuku and Tokyo Girl subcultures.

I have two little Japanese students Kiana and Hinami. Some teachers couldn't pronounce and call her Hannah. She feels close to me because I am the only teacher who calls her by her Japanese name.

In Singapore, I have a very good friend Chinatsu. We are like sisters because we are both faculty wives. As I was an "old" wife, and she is a "new" wife, I was able to help her adjust to a new environment.

In an earlier post, I related an incident when we met a Japanese Cosmetic Surgeon with her two kids. Last Sunday, we have a female visitor in church. I told her about that few days with them. Click on the link, it is a sweet story.

These photos show Japan day of another occasion. My sister Helen came to visit from Australia. She has a heart for Japan, and she took D to watch the festivities. G was just born, and it was very nice for Helen to take the 3 and half year old D for an outing. Helen subsequently went to Japan to teach English.

2 comments:

Bitsa Lit said...

Is been a long time eh?
I love the photos! Japanese festivites always have the brightest colors and the most impressive everything dont they?
I thik if I were a teacher I would try my very best to be able to use someones real name no matter how hard it was for me to prnounce. A name is an identity for a child and who am I to strip them of that?
Great post!

Deb said...

Thanks for posting these nostalgic photos OF ME heehee.