日本の冬

As the seasons "change" here in Southern California, I always get a little bit sentimental for the real seasons I experienced while living in Japan. Here, "winter" means wearing long pants instead of shorts and carrying a light sweatshirt to cover up the ubiquitous So Cal T-shirt.

Here's my ode to all things that winter means to me in Japan. For those kanji-impaired, just click on each set of characters for a more in-depth description.

きれいな富士山　　温泉　　鍋物　　初詣　　お節　　福袋　　カンコーヒー　　ババシャツ　　こたつ　　紅白

Rei of Sunshine

I wish I were Rei Shimura. She's half Japanese, half American, is bilingual, and has lived in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Tokyo, plus Yokohama. Also, she has a string of really かっこいい and ハンサム paramours. What a cool chick.

I love, love, loved this 10th installment of the Rei Shimura series, Shimura Trouble, by Sujata Massey. After poking around some sites, I found others weren't too happy with this offering that is slated to be the last in the collection.

But hey, a character's gotta grow, and that's exactly what Ms. Shimura has done ever since Massey introduced audiences to this plucky part-time antiques dealer and spy in the first novel, The Salaryman's Wife, a little over a decade ago.

A great friend and former student from my AEON teaching days turned me on to the Shimura mysteries. I devoured them instantly and always eagerly awaited the next book. For those of you who'd like to try them out, I do recommend reading in order.

Don't expect a great literary epiphany. They're just fun stories that you can breeze through in a day or two. For anyone who has a connection to the Kanto area in Japan, you'll revel in the detail that Massey provides about various areas in Eastern Honshu; she has both worked and studied extensively in that area throughout her career and the understanding and respect for Japanese culture shows.

One thing is for sure, Massey does plenty of research on her settings and topics. The particulars provided in each novel add narrative strength and build a clear picture for readers, regardless of if they are familiar with the subject and place at hand. Happy reading!

MEDICINE IS WAR

The visit with my mom earlier this week for her two MRI procedures sure set my wheels in motion. I now understand what all the fuss is about.

In a prostrate position, you must lie still as a cadaver for about 30 minutes per procedure in this coffin-like apparatus while you're assaulted with a very loud assortment of beeps, grunts and other air raid-esque symphonies.

Although I couldn't hold her hand or anything, I remained in the room for "support." I was instantly transported back to my high school days of spinning vinyl from the likes of Test Dept. and Einstürzende Neubauten.

With nothing to do but think for the whole hour, my mind wandered to my recent metaphor studies. Spurred by the classic, Metaphors We Live By, by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, I created my own (and surely already existing) proposition: MEDICINE IS WAR.

This book from 1980 was a landmark argument for the links between thought and language, perception and culture. L & J provide detailed analysis of metaphors such as: ANGER IS HEAT, SADNESS IS DOWN, and what I based my 18-page paper on, POLITICS IS SPORT.

The following few examples are what I came up with while being serenaded by modern technology for over an hour:

• We fight a war against terrorism = There are wars against cancer, depression, any malady basically.
• We battle an enemy = Sickness is to be battled against.
• Doctors drop a bomb regarding the diagnosis of a terminal illness.
• Medical malpractice is akin to friendly fire.
• The emergency room after a natural disaster can look like a battlefield.

Is it any surprise that both domains have their share of acronyms as well?
War: AWOL, MIA, SNAFU
Medicine: HMO, PPO, ER

And finally, my favorite metaphor: We shoot a loaded gun to take a life, while a nurse shoots us full of an injection to save a life.

Now that's an oxymoron.

Ho Ho Ho

Happy Holidays

Stay Warm

Brush Your Teeth

All I want for Xmas is...
to escape the embarrassment of knowing I have become one of those pet owners who deigns her pet worthy of being dressed up for a cheap laugh.
I'm ashamed, so ashamed.

雪国

Currently occupying my nightstand is Snow Country by Kawabata Yasunari （川端康成）. At first, this quick read left me a little cold, but I'm warming up to the love triangle of a hardened Tokyoite and two mountain geisha.

This book is always referenced as a must-read for Japanese fiction, and I'm finally getting around to experiencing it. Not to culturally pigeonhole, but sometimes my "Western" mind has trouble adapting to the "Eastern" style that values aesthetics over narrative. Still, the descriptions of this "Snow Country" (the mountain ranges that border Gunma and Niigata prefectures) are vivid and brilliant.

All I want for Xmas is...
a drama-free trip to the doctor with my mom this morning. She's going for another MRI, which always freaks her out. I hope to provide some calm.

Firehouse Fixins

You know that quaint cafe in your neighborhood that you always see and think, "Hmm, I should try it out sometime?" but instead you pass it up and fall back on the old standards when the stomach starts rumbling? Yesterday I finally visited one of those neighborhood places and was pleasantly surprised.

The Firehouse Cafe (3858 Cerritos Ave., Los Alamitos, CA) is tucked away in a business complex and is only open for breakfast and lunch. The parking lot is always packed, which was a good sign to start. Upon entering, Mark and I were warmly greeted by the Korean family owners, and promptly offered to sit wherever we pleased.

The menu covers the basics: omelettes, pancakes and waffles. Lunch looks even better with a nice variety of sandwiches and side offerings. Our order arrived quickly and was quite delicious. Service was friendly and efficient. Price, even better. The two of us got out of there with drinks and entrees for under 20 bucks. Needless to say, we'll be back.

All I want for Xmas is...
smooth sailing on the trip to Catalina this week.
The weather's been kind of wacky lately, and I don't want anything rockin' my boat.

R.I.P.

Despite all the good things that happened in my closing week of the semester, there was one black cloud. My favorite neighborhood store is going out of business.

Imagine my delight when three years ago, an actual 百円 shop opened right around the corner from my house. It was so exciting to pop in occasionally and pick up all sorts of goodies, straight from Japan and priced just right between $1-$2.

Well, I guess not enough people in my neighborhood were as overjoyed as I was to have this little piece of Nihon in their backyard. I chatted up the 店員さん in Japanese as I was being checked out to express my sadness at their closing. From now on I'll have to slum it at Big Lots for all my discount item purchases.


All I want for Xmas is...
a pony, a Bratz doll, a Hannah Montana CD, a Barbie bicycle...冗談だよ！

Button Mashing & Expletive Shouting

Lest I sound like a pompous, self-important idiot going on about all the books I'm going to read these days, I'd like to tell you about another less "academic" pursuit I'm extremely excited about catching up on: video gaming.

During the school year I have to be content with watching Mark play whatever is on his list that particular day (usually Rock Band or Guitar Hero), but now it's my turn to helm the controller.

This little guy on up there on the right is who I'm particularly interested in interacting with. He's Roald from the Wii's Animal Crossing, which looks thoroughly addicting. For those of you not familiar with this game, it's like a cuter, kid-friendly version of the Sims genre.

On another note, regarding the button mashing and expletive shouting, there's two situations where I suddenly develop Tourette's Syndrome: while driving around total jerks and while playing Mortal Kombat. You will never hear me curse more, I'm quite proud of my sailor potty mouth. You name it, I say it.

I put my lovely locutionary skills to work just the other night while battling Mark in the new Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. In this game I can play as my all-time hero Wonder Woman against the likes of Baraka, Liu Kang and Subzero. Fun fun fun. Also a great stress reliever as I smash the buttons in an uncoordinated symphony of frustration.


All I want for Xmas is...
success with all the new recipes I'll be trying out since I now have time to actually cook.

Allow me to introduce...

Belial

While I'm hibernating the next six weeks, thought I would show who will be right by my side enjoying the nothingness of vacation. Belial came to our lives about two years ago after we had to put our previous kitty, a beautiful Applehead Siamese named Tweak, to sleep because of various health complications.

Cindy and Tweak, 2005

Throughout my life, I've always owned cats. Belial is special because he's more like a dog, really. Very responsive, devoted and always wanting to hang out with his humans. I hear that's a common trait of this breed, Burmese, and even as I type this he's on my lap vying for attention.

The most-asked question I get from other pet lovers, "How did you choose his name?" is often answered with a short reply, "From an early '80s horror movie."

Just what movie? Just what character? The title is "Basket Case," and the tagline for the flick reads: The tenant in room 7 is very small, very twisted and very mad. Much like this tenant of the same name, kitty is quite cranky and always wants to be fed.

It's just one of many cheesy B-horror movies that Mark collects. I'm often subject to watching these with him just because I have nothing else better to do, and I find myself actually enjoying the films in my own twisted way. For sure, anything put out by Troma is a hit!

Word is that Belial will be starting his own blog soon to keep himself busy while I immerse myself in books over this winter holiday...I'll keep you posted on what he comes up with.

All I want for Xmas is...
two A marks in my current classes to keep up my 4.0...sorry had to toot my own horn there.

Let the Reading Begin

To continue in the vein of yesterday's celebratory post, I'll be writing about all the glorious books I will be consuming during my upcoming six weeks of vacation. For all intents and purposes, I'm done for the semester: turned in my metaphors in political reporting paper yesterday...18 pages!...and tomorrow I'll hand in my curriculum design group project...80+ pages!

This all kicks off what I've been dying to do since the fall semester began--laze around on the couch with my cat, my favorite blanket, and the printed word.

What I'm currently indulging in is: Slam Dunks and No-Brainers: Pop Language in Your Life, the Media, and Like...Whatever by Leslie Savan. It took me a while to get into this book, as it just seemed to be a string of catch phrases perpetuated by pop culture (see anything Friends-related). But, the book has grown on me as the author has started to take a more indepth look at various categories of 'popisms' that serve to encapsulate cultural values and mores.

All I want for Xmas is...
a day playing in the snow that has been dumped in our local mountains after a particularly rare and robust winter storm.

やった！

Remember this post?

Well, guess what? I did it! Last week I had an interview as a finalist in the CSUF Library Book Collection Contest, and I found out recently that I won the top spot. I guess this goes to show that a little power of positive thinking will go a long way.

All I want for Xmas is...
to see the smiles on my nephews' faces as they unwrap (and hopefully use) the gifts that just came for them from Amazon.com.

Stressed to the nth degree

Thank god I only have one more week of school left, because my body is telling me I need a break. Stress can wreak havoc on your system, and I'm exhibiting several signs of this: back and neck ache, severe nausea, restless sleep, and a little bit of mania thrown in there for my mental health.

Needless to say, this sucks. I know the core reason, but to protect the innocent, I'm going to refrain from spilling my guts on this issue in cyberspace. Let's just say I'm exhibiting my more "Asian" traits of saving face and promoting group harmony to tough it out during this last week of class. Suppression of my boiling ire on a particular issue is taking its toll on my body.

Oh well, seven days and counting.
I'll do my best to "Hang in there" as the saying goes.

All I want for Xmas is...
Six weeks free of stupid PowerPoint (don't ask)

The List

Poking around on the blogs that I regularly follow, I found this intriguing "list." The bolded items are things I have done, the others are yet to be experienced. Feel free to cut and paste to add the list to your own home page or blog.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland - It's a rite of passage to work here if you grow up in So Cal. I was in Fantasyland.
8. Climbed a mountain - Mt. Kurodake in　北海道
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch - Does cross stitching count?
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning - Hospitalized TWICE, both in Japan nonetheless
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors - Paternal Great Grandfather: Pinerolo, Italy
35. Seen an Amish community.
36. Taught yourself a new language - Pochino Italiano
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karoke (somewhere else than Japan)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance - Car accident in '97
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business - Tried, and failed this past summer
58. Taken a martial arts class - Took Tai Chi, "the root of all martial arts," twice
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies - Simply degrading
62. Gone whale watching - The coolest thing ever. Truly beautiful creatures.
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check - And it was for the rent, damnit!
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job - My first job, for wearing an obscene nametag. Hey, I was only 16!
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle - Up the hill to Griffith Park
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
81. Visited the Vatican - Was thoroughly disgusted at the lavish opulence
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper - I was a journalist, remember? Had my own column with pretty (?) pic to accompany.
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House - And hurled the appropriate slurs
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life - Panicked rush to the ER when we discovered Mark's fish allergy as he was in anaphylactic shock (suffocating to death)
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone - Begrudgingly so
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day - During my upcoming vacation, I hope to surpass my record of two in one day. I've got them lined up already!

Don't Plagiarize

It has happened at least once every semester, and it's always funny to me how blatantly obvious plagiarism can be. Do the students think they can really get away with it?

I've been told it's a cultural thing; the explanation is that many students in Asia are taught that it's a way to "honor" the original scholar by copying their work verbatim and passing it off as their own thoughts.

Well, welcome to another bit of culture shock. This "honor" in one part of the world amounts to academic dishonor in these parts. I've dealt with this issue in various ways in the past: direct confrontation, or printing out the matching portion that I've Googled to show them and say, "Heh heh, I caught you!"

This time, though, I was a bit more stealthy. In retrospect, I could have handled it better in order to really nail the student, but instead I chose the embarrassment route. Here's a truncated version of my interaction with the offender.

Teacher: "Wow, student X! This is a really great speech. You don't have any mistakes. You worked very hard."

X: "Thank you. Yes, it took a long time."

T (pointing out some idioms): "Hmmm, let's see. Where did you learn these words? It's very natural, native-like speech. That's good."

X: "I found them in the dictionary."

T: "Really? That's funny, they usually don't have full idioms in the dictionary, that's what these are."

X: "..."

T: "Okay, what about this word (shortcomings)?"

X: "Oh, that means when someone does something really good."

T: "Uh, sorry. It's actually the opposite. It means something the person can't or doesn't do well."

X: "Really? Oh."

T: "Your challenge is to rewrite this speech using your own words. I'd like to see you work a little harder."

X (seemingly understanding my implied message): "I guess you're right. Okay."

It will be interesting to see what X comes up with. If X were a more serious student, I would have really driven home the point that this kind of behavior can result in failing grades, or even expulsion. But, since I've lost all hope for X for a variety of reasons, I just tried to deflate X's ego.


All I want for Xmas is...
A big, fat, winning lottery ticket. A girl can dream, right?

My Students Rule

Another reason that I love my job: little thoughtful things from my students. At the end of class yesterday, they presented me with a card. I opened it in front of them, and had to put on my best poker face as I read the front, which said:

"Sometimes planning a wedding
can get a little stressful,
but before you know it, you'll be happily married
and looking forward to the rest of your lives together--
and that's what really matters..."

I was a bit confused, but then opened the card and realized they had chosen this as a post-Happy Thanksgiving greeting. All of the students had signed it, and their sincerity in offering this token was clear.

I find this act awesome for many reasons:

• The theme of the card had nothing to do with Thanksgiving
• In America, Thanksgiving is not really a "card" holiday
• They grasped the concept that as a holiday, they should do something

I commend them all for this small act of kindness. I was beaming all the way home at how quaint and touching this gesture was in trying to make sense of the onslaught of American cultural customs that begins as Halloween ushers in the busy holiday season.

All I want for Xmas is...
plenty of couch time with my cat and books I'm already starting to check out from the school library.

Vacation Vacuousness

...is unfortunately over.
Did I meet my list of goals as outlined in the previous post?

1. Metaphors in Journalism Paper - I'm in denial about writing this. Did all the necessary research, but still don't have a clear picture in my head of where I'm going with all the relevant points: sports/war metaphors, the newspaper as an authentic teaching resource, culture and thought, media manipulation of popular opinion, politics framed as war. How am I gonna cram all that, in a cohesive manner anyway, into one 10-page paper?

2. Curriculum Project - Did my part. Met with group. We're on track. Will be glad to finish up with our presentation next week.

3. Submit Article for Publication - Overcame my niggling lack of self-confidence and followed Nike's advice: Just do it. Received a confirmation from the CATESOL Journal that they received my submission and will be going through preliminary rounds of review.

4. Write Christmas Cards - Halfway finished. Still have all the cards for my 日本人お友達 to address. Haven't written a lot of 漢字　for a while, so I know this task will take some time. No hurry. After that it's the dreaded 年賀状 lurking around the corner to design, address and send off. Actually, I don't dread this, it's a fun way to reconnect with my friends across the Pacific. Many say that it's めんどくさい, but I am one of those crazy people who do enjoy the process.

5. Gain Weight Through Excessive Turkey Consumption - Since I don't have a scale at my house, I'm not sure if this was accomplished. I probably tacked on more calories through eating all the yummy homemade desserts that I encountered in the last week.

All I want for Xmas is...
a quiet getaway to Catalina with Mark. Must make reservations soon.