leibster award: in which we ask intriguing things of each other

A few weeks ago the swashbuckling Sarah of Bookshelf Pirate – fellow St Andrews almuna, book worm and blogger – nominated me for a Liebster Award. As far as I can tell, it’s like a very interesting update of the chain letters you used to send in school, without the playground gossip and infighting, and a fun way to keep in touch long-distance! The rules are as follows.

1) Thank the person who nominated you and link to their blog.

2) Answer their 10 questions.

3) Nominate your blogger friends and give them your own 10 questions.

Thanks Sarah for nominating me with such kind words! Here are my answers…

What flavour of tea defines you as a person?

The only type with any kind of personal resonance is good old-fashioned builder’s tea: Tetley with milk and two sugars. That’s the kind my Gran would give me with a slice of toasted white bread slathered in salty butter (Scottish Grandmothers, driving the obesity epidemic singlehandedly), as well as to my dog in a little bowl! The perfect antidote to cold, fever, drowsiness, jitters, shock, and homesickness, for me it’s the taste of comfort and familiarity.  I was roundly mocked on my first summer home after university for drinking  herb and mint teas “just like a student”. 

That said, green tea is becoming an addiction...

If you were to become a super villain, what would your one weakness be?

My weakness would be the ability to envision the world from everyone’s perspective, to the point of immobility. I’d have my prey captive, tied in chairs back-to-back with the saw/ laser/ steamroller approaching them, when they’d begin, “But Sophie, what you’ve got to remember is that from where I stand…” and before long I’d be second-guessing my villainous plans and sympathising so much that I’d have no chance but to press the big red stop button.

What is your favourite poem?

This is like trying to choose my favourite friend! So many poets spring to mind – Larkin, Ovid, Catullus, Rumi, Cummings, Bukowski, Neruda, Breton, Yeats, Duffy – so I’ll post one here from a poet I don’t know anything about, but love nevertheless. I think I found it on the back of a worksheet in high school and liked it ever since.

C Major

When he came down to the street after the rendezvous

the air was swirling with snow.

Winter had come

while they lay together.

The night shone white.

He walked quickly with joy.

The whole town was downhill.

The smiles passing by –

everyone was smiling behind turned-up collars.

It was free!

And all the question-marks began singing of god’s being.

So he thought.

A music broke out

and walked in the swirling snow

with long steps.

Everything on the way towards the note C.

A trembling compass directed at C.

One hour higher than the torments.

It was easy!

Behind turned-up collars everyone was smiling.

Tomas Transtromer

You can only eat the cuisine from one nation for an entire year. Which do you choose?

The beautiful goodness of tomato ramen

Right now I’ve got to say Japanese! Before coming here my knowledge only extended to sushi and sashimi, but now my favourites include nabe (a delicious kind of hotpot), shabu-shabu (thinly sliced meat and vegetables instantly cooked in boiling broth), tempura udon (battered king prawn with thick noodles in broth), tomato ramen (tomato broth with ramen, chicken, melted cheese and whatever else you fancy), okonomiyaki (omelette stuffed with layers of cabbage, bacon, shrimp, rice wafers and barbecue sauce), chicken nanban (fried chicken with tartar mayo), guidon, tonkatsu and oyakodon (all combinations of meat and egg over rice). That’s not to mention the sushi – which is cheaper, fresher and tastier here of course! Are you drooling yet?

Tempura udon for lunch at school

If you could live a happy and healthy life without ever needing to sleep again, would you give it up to save time? Or are you a contented bed bug?

I think I’d save it for weekends – I’d miss dreaming too much to give it up completely! I read a book once where a character savoured sleep so much that she could taste it, “like good bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich” and I can understand that perfectly! Plus it’s what happens either side of sleeping that’s interesting ;)

Rainbow fairy lights or white ones?

White for ambience and general classiness – but you’ve gotta break out the rainbow ones at Christmas.

Fairy lights galore!

Are you a good driver? Are you an honest judge of your own driving abilities? What do you family and friends have to say on the matter?

Much to my dismay, I’ve yet to take my driving test. It’s number one on the to-do list when I get home. In the mean time, I pride myself on being an excellent listener, chat partner, and music/ snack provider for my designated drivers.

Would you go into Outer Space if given the opportunity?

Absolutely. My plan is to wait till I’m old and it’s commercially available, like a bungee jump or deep sea dive. Then I’ll go see the sun rise on the earth and be jolted out of my old-person habits, assumptions and cynicisms. Plus if it goes disasterously wrong, I’m old anyway.

Do you prefer reading/ writing outdoors, in public spaces, or at home in the peace and quiet?

Reading is best done in peace, quiet and warmth: either in a sunny patch of a sheltered garden, or lying in front of an open fire. My favourite place to write, particularly poems, has got to be public transport – trains preferable, buses tolerable. You have just enough distraction to be stimulating rather than irritating, an end-point to motivate you, and a window of unused time to feel completely free and relaxed. Try it!

What’s the best book you read in the past year? Why do you recommend it?

Around this time last year I was writing my dissertation on media coverage of the Congo conflict, and reading The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver to try and enhance my knowledge. I’d recommend it to anyone, but especially if you’re interested in the region, colonialism or anthropology. It follows the family of an American Bible Belt missionary who move to a village in the Congo in 1959 just as it is transitioning into the post-colonial era. She can fool you into thinking you’re reading only about home or guilt or loss – hefty themes in themselves - when boom! You realise you’ve somehow acquired a far more nuanced understanding of power and oppression along the way. Aside from that, Kingsolver’s ability to inhabit the voices of all five women in the family as they age is extraordinary and utterly convincing (she displays this virtuosity in her other fantastic novel, The Lacuna, too). I’ll definitely be re-reading it soon.

And now I present my (12, not 10) questions for the next round of nominees! Johannah, Francesca,  Kayla, I like you and your writing very much and, if you have the time and the inclination, would love to know what you think.  Or, if you have only one or neither, no worries - just an invitation :) 

Sarah, I’d love to know your answers to my questions too in the comments section.  And that goes for anyone reading this post!  Or you could just answer a select few – whatever floats your boat.

1. What is your earliest memory?
2. If you could live in any period and place in the world, where and when would it be? You’d be the same person and your family, opportunities etc would be generally the same too. (When we played this at Christmas my uncles answered unequivocally and gloweringly, “Scotland in the days before the smoking ban.”)
3. What would your last meal be?
4. What’s your favourite book?
5. Name eight people, dead or alive, fictional or real, who you’d invite to your ultimate dinner party.
6. What is a law, custom, common assumption or norm you would change: why and how? (It can be as serious or as trivial as you like!)
7. Describe your perfect day.
8. What is something you have learned in the past year? (It can be a skill or specific interesting fact, but general realisations about yourself or the world are more fascinating).
9. Name three qualities you most admire and three you most despise in a person.
10. Which three places do you most want to go in the world?
11. When do you feel most yourself?
12. Name a skill/ ability you have and wish you didn’t, and one you don’t have and wish you did. And, one you do have and do enjoy or value, just to end things on a positive note! 

graduation musings and a mammoth photo diary

This Saturday morning saw me up a 6.30, primped and prepared and cycling to school as normal, but this time for my third graders’ graduation ceremony. I don’t get to teach third year high school classes (much to my dismay, since they’re great kids), but I do get to see them in cleaning time, at English club, practicing for English proficiency exams and interviews, and just general lunchtime and after-school chat. This week I received cookies, letters, and gifts from various students: all extremely hard-working, focused and mature young people. It’s been my privilege to help them even a little towards confidence with English speaking and with foreigners, and I mean that in the least cheesy possible way!

The ceremony was quite different to the prize giving I was used to as a senior school pupil in Scotland. I stood and bowed 12 times over the course of the event, not counting mini-bows, and most other people did a whole lot more. First we clapped for about 10 minutes as the third graders slowly trooped in by homeroom class, the brass band music stopping abruptly once they were all in. We sang the national anthem conducted by the singing master, on the flag and flower-bedecked podium.

Then each student shouted “Hai” as their name was called, and, accompanied by soft bittersweet music, their class representatives accepted some kind of certificate from the principal, sporting white gloves and a morning suit. A home economics teacher dressed in a beautiful hakama and flowers helped him. Speeches, punctuated by a lot of standing, sitting, and bowing, were given by guests and a valedictorian who cried from start to finish (the progressively sadder music really didn’t help!) We sang the school song, and Auld Lang Syne with Japanese words (of course I sang the Scots and just about started myself crying). Before being clapped out of the hall, the students stood by class and shouted their thanks to the teachers, bowing, giving thumbs up and punching the air respectively and very sweetly.

To an unsympathetic eye the ceremony may have seemed a little restrained – sterile or joyless, even. When I first saw the conclusion of a speech contest I was bewildered that the winning students didn’t look at all happy, that everything was so serious. I was trying to compare it to my own experience of funny speeches and asides by the headmasters, prize-receiving students taking selfies with the governor’s wife who gave them out in her pastel suit and wedding hat, impromptu standing ovations for the dux, etc. But I’m realising that the formality is just the way here, and that the ceremony is just one way of expressing the respect and gravity of the rite of passage. Of course everyone is feeling the same joy, sadness, and humanity that these occasions provoke. But, culturally, restraint and silence are seen as more profound than words and outpourings, which is reflected in the pageantry.

It was my first time not being the one graduating, taking a new step, transitioning, and I enjoyed it immensely. I was surprised by the strength of my own hopes and happiness for these teenagers whom I barely know and may never see again, but I do know I feel very lucky for the time I’ve had with them. 

Aside from that, today I'm just posting a bunch of random snaps taken since January - things I want to remember. 

Lakshmi guarding my spices

Back in January I went to a surprise birthday party that involved lots of babies and lots of dogs. Heaven is numerous cuddling options. 

Topher turned out to be a dog  whisperer. 

Also in January I took a little weekend road trip with some girlfriends up to Yufuin in Oita - a snowy little onsen town in the mountains. It got off to an excellent start with a gift from Alissa - one of the best Christmas presents ever!!  

We spent the weekend chatting in boiling water as snow settled on our hair, browsing in gift shops, and watching kagura. It was in a little town hall and all performed by high school boys. Before it started the organisers did an adorable dance. Twenty-something guys in the audience shouted out things that 70-something guys chuckled at. The crowd went crazy for a tiny elementary school kid playing taiko like a demon. 

The boy inside this huge costume somehow managed to move with the grace and power of a dragon... very impressive.

At the end they raffled off postcards and bags of rice, and by the time we left the snow had settled. It was really lovely to be a part of the small-town vibe for an evening. 

Onsening ^^ 

The view from our tatami room at the hostel. 

Winter wonderland! 

When we checked out, the super cute owners of the hostel called us back and sang "Country Roads" for us, with neither an explanation nor a hint of irony or cynicism. 

My alpaca headgear came in handy when I caught a fever! 

And the emojis continue to astound and appall me.  

A bit later in the month there was a mid-year conference, and an era party. 

...Which necessitated a lot of matcha-based foodstuffs the next morning. 

 Interesting interpretations of 'The Notebook" in my kids' textbook. 

This is what strawberries look like in Japan. Juicy, perfect, expensive. You can also buy them separately. As in, one, individually wrapped strawberry. I hate to think what's actually in them...

A typical school bento lunch. 

In February came the World Festa, an international exchange day that many of us ALTs volunteered at, and which involved silly wigs and, inexplicably, a bazooka. ^^ 

I'm not sure we brought enough Union Jacks.

Beauties.

You in the wrong hood fool. 

It was a great day of face painting, tea making, dancing, lip-synching, peace signs, and glitter glue. 

Feeling rebellious. 

Jo and I got the following Monday off, so we spent it in nearby Kagoshima sipping tea and shopping to our hearts' content. 

These bad bitches were the result of our British craft table and are now adorning my walls. God bless you ma'am. 

I went for a mid-week tomato ramen dinner with the lovely ladies of the English department. 

The usual strange sights from around Miyakonojo ^^

A few weekends ago I spent a Sunday at a cooking class and a flea market in the park - and reverting to childhood. 

And we found a cool new shop!  

The first days of spring. 

I did some more decorating... 

 And made a Valentine. Bloody coastlines! 

And spend some quiet time at school making new information boards! 

The view from the afternoon.

And from my Saturday run

On this occasion said run involved a running, barking dog and a very hurried google search "how to survive dog attack." Luckily it didn't quite come to that. 

Then last weekend a bunch of us went skating in some other snowy onsen-y mountains! 

But we stuck to feet-only this time. 

 

 

Our subsequent trip to Fukuoka is singularly undocumented photographically speaking, which is kind of nice in a way. We ate Mexican, found an amazing old bar, shopped and saw kabuki theatre. In the atriums outside vendors sold omiyage and trinkets. People were dressed up in kimono and fancy clothes, or in the case of one old man, in an Hermes suit and tie with a fur wrap around his shoulders. He and other experts shouted out words in the theatre when the actors struck certain picturesque poses. I found out later they were calling the actor's name to show respect and encouragement, or to be even more respectful, the actor's father's name. 

Most stationary here seems to feature a cajoling, pleasant exhortation. 

Last week I strayed deeeep into the manga section of the bookstore in search of gifts. One is about all the powers from WWII characterised as boys. The other is about a girl who has to pretend to be a boy in a host club in a very posh high school. Both are pretty fascinating! 

This is just a magazine. I have no idea what it's about. 

A gift and a letter from graduation day. I exchanged emails with a lot of my students and I really hope they keep in touch! I'm going to miss them being around!! :( :( :( 

Yesterday I went to a pizza party with my taiko group at our sensei's house! He has a huge oven in his back garden/ ume orchard: great way to deal with a shochu hangover. I met a woman who gestured to her daughter and said "Do you know who she is?" I did but couldn't place her for sure. "She's in your class. I heard you were coming here so we came to see you!" It was actually really nice to chill with them both, but I'll never get used to strangers knowing the ins and outs of my social schedule. 

 

Those women are so relaxed and friendly, rolling dough and clearing up the little wooden cooking hut almost reminded my of Sunday dinners at my Gran's back home, when all the women would wash dishes after a 4.30pm roast. I felt really lucky to be allowed into their group for the year. 

 Sensei chillin. 

 

Treated myself to more gorgeous, cheap fresh flowers. 

Anyone know their name?