Cherry Blossom Adventures

In an effort to improve on my writing I have decided to sign up for Encyclopedia of me which started over at Bella Dia (and which I found out about by reading Laura`s blog here...)…

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P is for Possum Magic & Picture books…

Possum Magic, is a picture book for those who don`t know, and it is one of my favourite children`s books of all time. In fact I even bought it when I was in Australia last year for the kiddies at the preschool I worked at in Tokyo.

I love children`s books, and I got a great joy from reading with the kids at the preschool  every day. I found some beauties! Books that I hadn`t read when I was younger, and that I hadn`t known existed. I have a list in my head of the books I know I must read to my kids one day and Possum Magic is at the top of the list. I think some people when they are pregnant get worried about the essentials like clothes and nappies-but I am going to be one of those mothers that has bought 100s of books for their child before they are even born! I Will try to remember to buy the necessities too of course!

This book is such a delight. I think that most Aussie`s reading this blog will know this book–> It was published in 1983, before I was even born  and it is around in a lot of bookshops even now. I read, while looking for some pictures from the book, that it is one of the most sold picture books in Australia and still has hardcovers about despite being 25 years old.

It was written by Mem Fox and illustrated by Julie Vivas and it follows the adventures of 2 possums, Hush & Grandma Poss, who performs bush magic, turning Hush invisible then forgetting how to turn her back- although she does remember that it was some kind of Aussie food so they go off on adventure around to all the capital cities eating different Aussie foods in each (including lamination’s, pavlova, anzac biscuits, pumpkin scones and vegimite sandwiches) and Hush begins to be come visible again. But it is not just the story that is magical but also the beautiful illustrations done in water colour- these pictures really add to the book and also one of the reasons it remains a favourite of mine!!!

It is a beautiful book and if you have never read it then I highly recommend it! Now fess up, what are your favourite picture books?! What about your kids, what are their favourite books?

Popularity: 10% [?]

In an effort to improve on my writing I have decided to sign up for Encyclopedia of me which started over at Bella Dia (and which I found out about by reading Laura`s blog here...)…You probably all thought I had given up on this, but I will get to the end of it before the year is out (I hope!)*************************************************************************************

O if for Occupation…

I don`t really have an occupation, or a career…and that was never my plan. I always thought I would finish uni, travel a bit and then find a job, most likely in the PR industry and then work and be able to say “Hi I`m Lulu and I`m a ____” (Whatever I was) but it never really happened. Now that I am temping I say “Oh I`m a temp and at the moment I am a student coordinator for medical students at so and so hospital” But in three weeks that could change and I might be saying “Yeah I`m a temp working for the department of whatever working in admin” or as a personal assistant.

I do wonder if I`ll ever have a career yet I know the answer is probably not. In Japan I would say I was a preschool teacher but that never ever felt like me career since I never planned on being a teacher.

I went for an interview last week for the job I am currently doing as a temp and I was asked “Where do you see your career going” and I couldn`t very well say “No-where” now could I.  I would be happy to get the job since it would mean a little bit of job security while I am here in Australia but I never thought I would get a permanent position anywhere since I am only here for the year but if I get it, then that would be a bonus. (I will find out by the end of the week)

Anyway, the question was asked and I stumbled and then said ” Well, once I return to Japan I would love to get into translation and proofreading work or doing some work writing” and hey while that isn`t completely untrue it was a bit random and out of context. It did make me wonder though….what will I do when I return. Sure I could teach again, but I don`t really want to do that full time. I could improve my Japanese and try and get into translating but I am not really sure I want to do that either (Or if my Japanese will ever be good enough). The truth is I really have no idea what I want to do- and sometimes that is more than a little worrying. It also makes me think of the fact that i might go through life and never truly have a career…and if I never do, am I missing out?

Popularity: 12% [?]

In an effort to improve on my writing I have decided to sign up for Encyclopedia of me which started over at Bella Dia (and which I found out about by reading Laura`s blog here...)

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N is for Nancy Drew…

As a child I could always be found with my nose in a book…Once I bought 200 books at a school fete for $10 because it was the spending money mum gave me but I was on crutches so couldn`t go on any of the rides or walk much.

I am not sure when I first read Nancy Drew…or who gave it to me but I would say I was about nine and I think it was my mum who maybe gave me a three in one book which I probably went through in like a day! It was easy to get a lot of other Nancy Drew books second hand or at the public library!

I loved those books!!! I wanted to be Nancy Drew! eighteen, a blue mustang and a gorgeous boyfriend named Ned not to mention who two best friends (George and Bess I think it was?!) I thought she had it all…Not only that but she had curly strawberry blond hair and was smart enough to solve any mystery! She was a bit like the Scooby Doo Gang, except so muc cooler!

It isn`t even that my favourite books from childhood and adolecence were Nancy Drew (My favourite were Anne of Green Gables, The Orphan Series by V.C Andrews, Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta, Alison by Margaret Watts and Dear Venny and Dear Saffron….oh and maybe chuck in some Judy Blume books also!) but they were easy and fun to read and I must have gone through hundreds of them.

I donated most of them to a hospital when I moved to Japan for the first time but once I have children old enough to read Nancy Drew I am going to go out and buy lots of them for them. I do hope my children are big readers like me!!!

Mandy was a sweet valley high junkie! Do you still have them babe? While I never really got into Sweet Valley I did read a lot of teen trashy romance novels from the 80`s (I picked them up at that fete!)….I don`t remember the name of them….sweet teens or something?? Oh and lets not forget the Baby Sitters Club….I think I read all of them also! Actually I read everything including some of my mums mills and boons I think!!

Did anyone else read Nancy Drew? Or did you have a different favourite series and hero/heroine that you read? I have many favourite books from childhood and would love it if you could share yours also!!!!

Popularity: 26% [?]

In an effort to improve on my writing I have decided to sign up for Encyclopedia of me which started over at Bella Dia (and which I found out about by reading Laura`s blog here...)

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M is for mother…

I don`t write a whole lot about my family on my blog although in the past I have written posts about my dad and also my grandmother in New Zealand but as I looked though my archives recently I realized I have never really written much about my mum.

A lot of the blogs I read are by women, in particular mothers or those already planning their first children. In fact Sarah has written about this recently which started a discussion between Nay, Sarah and I on our blogs and also on facebook because we will probably be having children around similar times, and in Japan to boot! Actually I think they will both have babies by the time I get around to even getting pregnant. So the discussion of what it is to be a mother has come up a lot….some people have talked about how they are not sure if they would make good mothers or not due to their own experiences with their own mothers.

I am extremely lucky, and I don`t say it enough, that I have a terrific mother. While we have had our ups and downs over the years (as most mothers and daughters do) we are at the point in our lives now where we truly are great friends…I am old enough now to respect her in the way I should for all she has done for me! Her and my father raised us well and a lot of what she instilled in me as a kid I know that I am going to want to instill in my own children. Some very important lessons she taught me is that I could do whatever I wanted to do (My parents have always been very supportive of my decisions and what I have wanted to do with my life) and that I should always treat people the way I want to be treated.

My mother and I are very similar (which is why we often clashed when I was in my teens) and I can see myself in a lot of her (and I am sure she can see a lot of me in her). Looking at photos of my mother as a child is often like looking into a mirror….My favourite photo of my mother is of her in a yellow bikini with her hair in pigtails and she is about 18 or 19 and she had just moved to Australia from New Zealand (All by herself I might add). I like it because she looks so happy and because it looks so much like me but with long hair! Our personalities are also very similar also….we are both highly emotional! And we both tend to think we are always right! We are also very organized….I definitely get my organizational skills from my mother!

I love my mum and I miss not been around her all the time (Although I think we both know that we could never live together again for long periods of time….). We speak on the phone twice a week or so, she reads my blog and we email occassionly. The year I was on exchange in Japan we emailed almost everyday and she printed out every email I wrote and gave them to me when I got back to Australia…..It is kind of like a journal of what I did that year!

The job I am currently in, teaching, sometimes makes me think I would make a terrible mother. I get stressed out and lose my patience when patience is something a teacher really really needs. It is one of the reasons I am leaving early to go home in May instead of the original plan of July. I need a break from teaching, I need to figure out what I want to do and I need to spend some time with my own family. I think teaching at my current school for 18 months has helped me realize the things I need to work on before I become a mother also….patience been one of them! But it also has taught me a lot…it has taught me to try to help kids reach their full ability without crowding them too much and also that some kids are naughty and that giving them time-out or getting angry is not always going to be the way to handle it…. In fact sometimes they act out because all the need is a hug! Sometimes I still think I won`t make a very good mother and I had this discussion with my school owner about a month ago and she told me she thought I would make a great mother. I am not so sure, but I hope so! I think at this stage in my life I am still too selfish to be a good mum…

I want to be a mother one day. Shumpei would be happy to have kids as soon as we are married (actually I think he would be quite happy if I was to get pregnant now) but I have told him that we need to be more realistic. We need to come back to Japan, set ourselves back up here with jobs and start saving before we can have a baby. Having a baby here costs anywhere between $4000-$10,000 dollars and while you get something similar to the Australian baby bonus it usually isn`t enough to even cover half of the medical costs (Pregnancy is not covered under National Health Insurance from what I can understand…which sucks since that is what I have) and that is just to have the baby! After the baby comes or even before there are a lot of other things that you need to think about that are going to cost money! I have promised that as long as we are in a fairly secure place financially then we can start trying for a baby before he turns 30 (May 2011).

I want to be a mother. I see so many people around with their children and I read so many blogs of those who have babies and children and I am a little clucky I suppose. There is so much I want to teach my child (children) and so much I want to do with them. I have always wanted a boy and a girl, like my family, but I know I will be happy either way. Shumpei and I are thinking about having two kids….

I think I am extremely lucky to have had my mother as a role model! Sure I am sure she made mistakes, but I turned out ok and if I can give as much love to my child as my mother has given to me and continues to give to me then I think my children are going to be pretty damn lucky!

Thanks mama, for everything! I love you lots!

xoxo

Popularity: 40% [?]

In an effort to improve on my writing I have decided to sign up for Encyclopedia of me which started over at Bella Dia (and which I found out about by reading Laura`s blog here...) I am now almost half way through…

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L is for Life list…

I wrote a life list at the end of last year and posted it up on my blog at the beginning of the new year. I haven`t crossed as many things off as I would of liked but I have done some, and after all it is a life list and I have the rest of my life to complete it! I thought it was about time for an update though…..seeing as though even though I have done some of the things on the list I have not always written about them here. Will also show the ones that are in progress…

You can see the complete list here

8. Keep a decent journal for at least a year -In progress

I started journaling again while in China last year so that is since August…So if I make it to August this year then I will be able to cross it off. I write in it on average 4-5 times a week! Sometimes blog post ideas, sometimes I just stick in cool stuff or postcards I have lying around and other times I will go to coffee shops and write about what is happening in my life. I enjoy it, and I hope to keep it up. I used to keep journals when I was in primary and high school and also last time I lived in Japan and while I started again last year in Feb or March I soon gave it away. I always come back to it, even if I have a break!

39. Do all night karaoke with friends at least once a year- Completed for 2008

On my birthday…..well after my birthday party! I don`t have photos unfortunately because I forgot my camera but anybody that has me as a friend on facebook can see photos that friends tagged me in!

41. Learn how to play Mahjong- Completed

Shumpei finally taught me this passed weekend. And I beat him three games in a row! I rock! I don`t understand all the yaku (point system??) yet but I really enjoyed it!

47. Keep a reading journal and read 100 books in one year -In progress

I wasn`t specific enough with this perhaps but I record the books I read each month in my journal…sometimes I write mini comments. I have read over 30 books so far this year so am on target to complete the 100 in one year goal!

55. Get in contact with at least 5 old friends who I am no longer in touch with -Completed

Thanks to facebook I would have to say this one is done! Hope to catch up with a lot of people too when I am back in Australia for a longer period of time this time around!

63. Tell someone I love them everyday- In Progress

This one will obviously never end. But I do it everyday! I think I tell Shun I love him more than once everyday! He would probably say that I say it 10000 times a day though! I tell my kids at school I love them also!

67. Buy new flowers for apartment as often as possible- In Progress

I try to do this each week! And will continue to do it until we have to leave the apartment at the end of April! Then I will cross it off (When I return to Japan I will start again!)

83. Print photos from China and Europe- Completed

Finally! I went to Europe in January 2006! And this is how long it took me! I did China at the same time and have them in photo albums….Might take the China one back to Australia to show mum!

92. Start eating at least three more vegetables- Completed

I ate no vegetables as a child….and gradually as i have gotten older I have added more and more vegetables into the mix of what I eat. The three vegetables that I can now eat are gobou (In English it is call Burdock although I have never hear of it), Green beans and pumpkin! I have also started eating daikon sometimes which is HUGE for me because I used to hate it! I am also starting to eat more cooked carrot instead of picking it out of my food…

109. Revamp blog or start a new one!- Completed

Did this when I moved my blog to wordpress!

110. Complete the two reading challenges I am doing at the moment (Japanese lit and 888 challenge)- In progress

I completed Japanese lit earlier in the year….and wrote about it on my blog somewhere. Still working on 888 challenge but I have til December to finish it off!

168. Find my old journals and read them- Completed

I did this while I was in Australia earlier in the year. They were in a box at my dad`s house….They were funny to read but I couldn`t find the one I kept in my first year of high-school….Only the ones I kept when I was 15-17 and the one from when I was in Japan the first time! When re-reading them it didn`t seem like very long ago that some of that stuff happened yet some of it was more than 8 years ago!

A lot of the things on my life list are to do with traveling and while I wish I could fly off and go to all those places now I can`t!! Hopefully one day I will be able to though! Look forward to crossing more things off!!! It is nice to have some goals. I am a huge list maker also, lists make me happy! I LOVE getting a pen and crossing things off, no scribbling, no ticking or marking with an x, nope just a straight line through each task as it gets done (I write down what we will eat everyday for dinner every sunday night and sometimes put it on the fridge so Shun can know too!)…I also have packing lists, weekly to do lists, monthly lists, lists of stuff to buy, lists of people to email etc etc et…..They go on and on. Anyone else out there a list maker? L is for LISTS too you know!

Popularity: 18% [?]

In an effort to improve on my writing I have decided to sign up for Encyclopedia of me which started over at Bella Dia (and which I found out about by reading Laura`s blog here...) I am now almost half way through at K and while today`s entry is not so much about me, it has been very difficult to come up with a K something to do with me….so I present K is for Kokyo!

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Today Shumpei and I went to the Tokyo Imperial Palace, also known as kokyo…although we only went into the gardens! We were going to have a picnic but by the time we got up and left the house it was almost 2pm so we stopped and had Chinese food on the way! Spring is definitely in the air and it was nice to be out in the sunshine especially since the rain is meant to start again tomorrow (It rained from Wednesday afternoon to Friday last week!)

Some of the sakura were already blooming and it was nice to walk around, take photos and just take in the atmosphere. I have only been to the gardens once before, several years ago, with my mum while she was in Japan….I would love to go on the emperors birthday when they open up not just the gardens but the most of the palace…

I took heaps of photos and you can see them all here but these are a couple of my favourites! I suppose this is where the encyclopedia of me part comes in even though I am not in any of the photos….but I did take them all! I have always liked to take photos but have gotten a lot more interested in the last couple of years…

Sakura season is just starting here but I think next weekend or the weekend later will be the best weekends for hanami (flower viewing!)……this is by far my favourite time of the  year in Japan! I will miss it next year since I will still be back in Australia!

It was nice to have the day out with Shumpei too!!!!

Popularity: 50% [?]

In an effort to improve on my writing I have decided to sign up for Encyclopedia of me which started over at Bella Dia (and which I found out about by reading Laura`s blog here...)

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J is for Japanese…

I have a love hate relationship with language learning….technically Japanese is the only language I have actually tried to learn (apart from some basic phrases while going through Europe and a couple of Maori words). I have talked a lot before on this blog about why and how I came about studying Japanese but hey, who wants to hear it again?

Like most people when they finish high school I really had no idea what I wanted to do…but I had decided that doing a course in Business/Creative Industries at QUT was what I wanted to study….but I didn`t get in…..In fact I didn`t get into my next four choices either. I got into my last choice, which I had put as a safety net (lucky huh?) and it was a straight up arts degree from Griffith University. I just want to say I have nothing against Arts Degrees (In fact I am so happy I did it because if I hadn`t I wouldn`t have ended up in Japan)

I was more than a little upset about it but by the time I started I figured that I better make the most of it and I had also discovered that I could do a PR major or Journalism major through the arts degree at Griffith which was something I had thought about studying if I had gotten into business! In my senior year at school I had also met Kanako a Japanese exchange student and had admired the fact that she learnt to speak English so well in her year in Australia. So I enrolled in elementary Japanese classes as well for my first semester as well as some psych courses and simple journalism/media courses. I had no intention of staying in the arts degree, I still had dreams of transferring out, that was until about three months later…

Uni wasn`t my first time studying Japanese….technically we did some basic Japanese at school in primary school (With good old Mrs Shield!) and also at my high school studying Japanese and German once a week was compulsory in year eight! But studying Japanese at uni, five hours on campus a week, plus home study was completely different! I loved it…and I was actually ok at it!

I applied to go on exchange mid year and left the following year for a year abroad at Seikei University in Tokyo….I hadn`t realized how hard it would be….Seikei didn`t really offer courses for beginners and that pretty much still what I was…( It didn`t help that I had not studied from Nov-Mar while I was on summer break waiting to go to Japan)I had one on one tutoring for the first couple of months because I wasn`t up to the same level that others on exchange were….Most of the friends i made in the first couple of months always spoke a little bit of English meaning I didn`t have to use my Japanese…..and my foreign friends all spoke English and Japanese really well so they could translate for me. I was gradually improving but not nearly as fast as I would of liked.

I loved Japan, I love the culture and the people and I was gradually getting a hang of the language and making friends that only spoke Japanese forcing me to speak more and more and then one day it all seemed to fall into place over the summer….and I could hold conversations and communicate and order in restaurants and read the menus and ask for help at the train station if I needed it. I think anyone that is learning another language gets to that point…where everything just clicks…

I am still a long way off from being fluent…and I still have a love hate relationship with Japanese study…..sometimes I love it, get right into it will study for a couple of hours a day and then it goes away again. I hit a brick wall and just give up on it for awhile……I always go back to it…..and I hope one day to pass level 1 of the Japanese proficiency test!!! Obviously the fact that Shun and I talk to each other in Japanese 95% of the time helps my Japanese except he knows the Japanese I know and talks in a way that is easy for me to understand!

My dream is to become fluent enough to read the newspaper and pass level one of JLPT….the problem is if I achieve that once I might just give up, and from what I have heard, If you don`t continue to study then it all just goes out the window!

The only way, for me anyway, to really learn a language is to immerse yourself in a country that speaks that language….so to all those language learners out there…..go spend six months in Spain or South America if you are learning Spanish, or a year in China if you are learning Chinese….It will make the world of difference to you language study…Not to mention it will be an experience you will never forget!

I am a little stuck with K is for….I haven`t decided what I will be doing yet! I can not believe I am almost half way though this writing exercise already!

Popularity: 46% [?]

In an effort to improve on my writing I have decided to sign up for Encyclopedia of me which started over at Bella Dia (and which I found out about by reading Laura`s blog here...)

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I is for Internet and Blogging…

How could I not include the Internet and blogging in the encyclopedia of me? I don`t remember the first time I used the Internet…It was probably in last year of primary school or first year of high school…..In the days when I still used ICQ and chatted in chat rooms…We had a computer in our house from the time I was about 9 but even that I am not so sure of. I think most bloggers feel a similar way, but I could not live without the Internet, at least I do not think I could. No email, no facebook, no blogs, no wikipedia, no knitting tutorials, no google, no forums…I just couldn`t imagine it.

I started blogging almost two years ago now…. after I moved back to Tokyo. It was after reading an article that a friend had written (for a publication and company I used to work for) on women bloggers in Japan. I checked out the links she had provided (Suzy, who wrote the article keeps a blog here) and from there I was hooked. I started my own blog soon after! I couldn`t imagine not blogging now, I am not sure if I will continue with it forever but for now I really do love it! I think there was about five or six links to blogs in Japan in that article and I still read all of them, to this day!!!

I have met so many wonderful people through blogging and made many great friends. I think anyone that has stuck with blogging will agree that it is just such a wonderful experience and such a great thing to be apart of….It has become part of me, which is why I have included it in this A-Z Encyclopedia of me….

Popularity: 16% [?]

In an effort to improve on my writing I have decided to sign up for Encyclopedia of me which started over at Bella Dia (and which I found out about by reading Laura`s blog here...)

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H is for Happy times…

On Friday Shumpei and I got engaged….I know I have been slack with blogging in the last week or so and part of the reason is that I haven`t had time to sit down and write a post and part of it is I didn`t know how to put it all into words.

We had talked a lot about weddings and getting married etc and recently and we had decided that we would have the ceremony in Australia. I said to Shun on Friday that if we were going to get married in May (2009) then we would need to start planning otherwise then we should come back to Japan next June and then go back to Australia to get married later in the year 2009 or in 2010…and I asked him what he thought, and what he wanted to do and he said (Im translating and paraphrasing a little bit also) `Lets get married in May, lets get engaged` and I said Ok!

Hehe, there is nothing terribly romantic about it but I am over the moon ecstatic! There was no ring, or formal proposal and Shun still wishes to ask my dad for permisson in Australia but we have started to tell friends we got engaged and are planning on getting married in May next year….We have told my parents and his parents also (On Sunday because we were out in Chiba for dinner…..I was releived that they didn`t seem to mind it was going to be in Australia…and said they would come)

So yeah, I am engaged! To the love of my life, who I couldn`t imagine not being with….so it is indeed happy times!

Popularity: 47% [?]

In an effort to improve on my writing I have decided to sign up for Encyclopedia of me which started over at Bella Dia (and which I found out about by reading Laura`s blog here...)

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G is for Growing up

When I was younger the thought of being in my 20`s was just so far away, not to mention it seemed so old and then on Monday I turned 23…I am heading towards that mid 20`s point yet half the time I still feel just like a child playing dress-ups and  pretend games and it as if I am just `acting` like an adult…

It almost doesn`t seem right…but here I am….all grown up. I think Shun is more of a child than me…but he assures me I am the more childish of the pair (While I think he is delusional) He assures me that he will  always be the one that is more mature, simply because he is four years older than I am.

Last year in July, my best friend from primary school, Mandy, came to visit me here in Tokyo…she is the kind of friend that when we see each other we talk and talk and talk catching up and then by the end of the conversation we are all caught up and it is nothing has changed. We can simply pick up from where we left off…I think this is a sign of true friendship. A friendship that has evolved through time…

See we met in preschool when we were four, and by eight years old we were inseparable. Sure we had our ups and down (we are both stubborn and opinionated) but this friendship has evolved over 19 years now…She is my oldest friend and I can still remember taking baths together, playing crazy board games, talking about our far off future weddings and secret crushes…. It just doesn`t seem possible that 19 years has now passed since we met (Or even that 6 years has passed since my 18th in which she threw up in the garden while my mum held back her hair and called her him to come and get her…)Even in the last 6 years we have grown up so much…finished uni, travelled, lived overseas, gone through boyfriends and we now both live away from home with our partners in our own apartments….It somehow just seems to grown up for us….

In five years I will be 28….married, and more than likely I will have a child. And here I am wondering, is that what makes you an aduld? Is that what kicks the `child` in you out? Do I even want the child in my kicked out? Can you really truly live your life and never feel completely `adult`?  I am still waiting for that `OMG, I am an adult` moment to hit me!

Anyway since this is all about growing up I thought I would share some photos of my recent 23rd Birthday. But it turns out I can`t because I did`t take my camera and the photos my friends uploaded onto facebook can not be transferred onto here (Although I did just spend the last 30 minutes trying)

But here is a rundown…We went to an Italian restaurant on the 58th floor of a building in Shinjuku, while I was still a bit under the weather I had a great time and I am so glad I didn`t cancel it!!! After dinner a group of us headed out to karaoke! Always good for a laugh and some fun! I got thoroughly spoilt!

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