Ever wondered what you would of looked like way back when? I saw a cool link on Martine`s site here for this very cool site. And well it looked like fun so I gave it ago!
Presenting…1952 Lulu
1964 Lulu
1968 Lulu
1978 Lulu
1984 Lulu
1994 Lulu
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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 have noticed though that participating in this has not improved my writing at all and I am way behind really because I should be trying to do at least one a week- oh well, hopefully I will try to get it done by the end of the year!!!
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S is for Sandlot Kids
When I was about 8 my dad took us to the movies to see The Sandlot Kids in town. I am pretty sure we were in there visiting mum on one of her many hospital stays and it was our first time to see a film in the city and probably also one of the first movies I saw at the cinema. My brother was about 5 or 6 and it was most definitely the first time we had gone to the movies with just dad.
We bought our tickets, popcorn drinks and lollies (My father spoiled us rotten) and headed into the cinema and dad asked the question “Where should we sit?”…any mother would know you don`t ask your kids that you just choose seats somewhere in the middle and tell the kids to sit there but my dad was new at this so my brother and I pulled him down to the very very front row.
Two years previously my father had lost an eye at work when a nail went through it so he has so vision from his left eye and sitting in the front row, and been so close to the screen, meant he was constantly swinging his head from side to side to try and catch the movie. Despite this, we left the cinema that day and dad could not stop raving about the film. Despite it having been a children`s film he had loved it.
Tonight, I watched The Sandalot Kids DVD with dad and Shun and it brought back memories of that day. We had the video when we were younger and a couple of years back dad bought himself the DVD. My father has a strange collection of DVDs most of them old concerts and shows about old and or dead singers and pop groups. His others include Happy Feet, Jeremiah Johnson, The Man who Shot Liberty Valence, The Blues Brothers & Across the Universe. All of which he has introduced to Shumpei since has been here.
What is your favourite childhood movie? I would have to say mine were probably The Sandalot kids, Mighty Ducks, The Little Mermaid or The Lion King. But I am sure there are some I am forgetting.
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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 have noticed though that participating in this has not improved my writing at all and I am way behind really because I should be trying to do at least one a week- oh well, hopefully I will try to get it done by the end of the year!!!
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R is for Rainbow Bright or Rainbow Brite…
Rainbow Brite was a animated cartoon that was around when I was little. And on my first Christmas, at 10 months old, I was given a Rainbow Brite green Colour Kid stuffed toy from my Godfather. I loved this toy with all my heart and it was originally named “Rainbow” but was quickly shortened to just “Bow”. I am not sure I ever saw the show when I was younger or not but doing a You Tube search brought up some fun watching!
“Bow” went everywhere with me, and I mean everywhere. I am pretty sure in year one mum let me still take him to school as long as I left him in my backpack. Soon after receiving “Bow”, who as previously mentioned was green, my dad went out and bought me two more stuffed toys exactly the same but in a yellow and in blue. See the squashed green one in the photo below? That was what “bow” originally looked like. The yellow/blue colour kids in the photo is what the two my father bought me still look like. They are in a box somewhere and from doing a bit of research online trying to find pictures I now know I could sell them on ebay and make a bit of money! hehe!
And well, here is a photo of “Bow” now -taken 10 minutes ago
As you can see “Bow” is not quite in the same condition he was when I got him. It turns out, despite my dad buying me two brand new Rainbow Brite Colour kids after I received “bow” it turns out that I didn`t want to have anything to do with them and it was “Bow” alone that received my attention.
As time went on he got rattier and rattier. At about age 2 I ate his nose. Before that he had a tag on is back which I would swirl around to fall asleep until one day while watching flying doctors when I was about four, it promptly fell out which was more than a little distressing. So I switched to the star shaped ears…which are definitely no longer star shaped.
Most children growing up have a favourite stuffed toy to sleep with or a blankie of some kind. For me, I had “Bow”. We had tea parties together, we played in the sandpit together and we always slept together.
What was your favourite toy growing up? What did you sleep with?
Tomorrow I am thinking of going through all the boxes in my Dad`s spare room which might contain the other two Rainbow Brite Colour Kids I talked about- perhaps I should take one back to Japan to give to our kids one day when we have them!!! I will also have to track down a Rainbow Brite DVD I think!
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I have a fear of falling down stairs. Yet I almost always run up and down them in particular those at train stations which are actually the stairs I fear the most.
In my last year of highschool I fell down the train station stairs while running for a train…I almost hit my head but luckily I didn`t. Instead I scraped all down my legs and blood spurted out every where…turning one of my white socks red. I am pretty sure someone stopped to help but I can not remember- I do remember been so embarrassed though that I wanted to die.
My boyfriend at the time was on the train and while he didn`t see me fall, his friend sitting with him did and apparently laughed all the way to the next station where they got off to wait for me since I would be on the next train. I ached for days! I ran into this guy last week (the friend of the ex boyfriend who saw me fall down the stairs) and that is when I remembered this and started to worry about falling down stairs again.
Another male friend heard about me falling down the stairs (A lot of people did- high schoolers are shocking!) and made me a cape with a star on it that he attempted to hand sew himself…He nicknamed me queen of stacks and I am sure I have that cape somewhere.
I fell down another set of stairs in primary school too and scraped up my legs and hands then too. Big concrete stairs and I still have a scar just below my knee.
But why is, even though I am so scared of falling down stairs, that I continue to run up and down them?
Does anybody else have any fears?
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I arrived in Tokyo on a rainy March night with way too much luggage and no Japanese language skills to speak of. My great uncles old host student met me at the airport- and she was the only person I knew in Tokyo- although It was technically my first time meeting her. She was kind enough to come to the airport and show me the way to my new home- my Japanese university dorm in Kichijoji.
The bus ride there went slowly and out the window I caught sight of Disneyland and then later, the lights of Shinjuku. I remember wondering why the buildings all had red lights on top. From the highway I also caught glimpses of love hotels although I must admit I had no idea what they were…
Cherry blossom season was starting but I didn`t know that until the next day….
It was after 10 by the time I reached the university dorm- we woke up the land lady (Kanrinin?) and she let us in but visitors were not allowed after 9pm so she quickly asked my friend to leave and there I was left with this little Japanese lady talking 100 miles an hour about how she thought I would be there earlier and how she would have to go through everything with me in the morning. But of course I did not understand her so she went in search of someone to translate- I met several people that night in my very tired state one of whom, Cat, is now my best friend and will play the part of maid of honor at our upcoming wedding!
My first impressions of Tokyo? Confusing, bright and wet. Oh and the toilets were weird although now I just think a warm seat is genius!
But it grew on me, and the first few months were definitely tough because I was constantly relying on people to translate for me. But my love for Tokyo started to grow and surprised me by growing and growing. I never wanted to leave.
And now, I am back in Brisbane, and I miss Tokyo. But I know I will be back before I know it, and then my love of Tokyo will continue to grow. Through each 100 yen store I discover and each cherry blossom tree I stand under and each izakaya I visit- I know that my impressions of Tokyo and Japan will continue to change …….but my first impressions of the city will never be forgotten.
What are your impressions of Tokyo? Did your first impressions change into something else? Maybe you have never been there but have an impression anyway that you might like to share?
This was written as part of the Japan Blog Matsuri-Impressions of Tokyo! For more information check out this site and this site!
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Last time I left Japan for awihle was almost three and a half years ago and it was three days before my 20th birthday. I knew I`d be back, and while I said a year, I didn`t really know how lon it would take. With out a doubt, the best year of my life was coming to an end.
To make it worse, five weeks earlier I had met Shumpei. I was in Japan almost 11 months and for some crazy reason fate couldn`t have brought us together any earlier it seemed.
The day I left was also the day two other exchange students were leaving so the kaikan, where we lived, was a buzz of activity and rushing around. Quite a few people had gathered to say goodbye. Shumpei had come by car the night before (Monday night) after work to stay. He had taken the following day off to drive me to the aiport.
I knew it would be hard to say goodbye. We all gathered downstairs, loaded luggage into the cars and I said goodbye to those not coming to the airport. And I started to cry. Leader, an awesome and dear friend, also had takent he day off work to drive the others going home to the airport plus a couple of others who were coming all the way out to say goodbye.
I cried halfway to the airport (It is a long drive!) and with Shumpei driving not really knowing what he could say to make it better. Of course there were dramas at the airport. I had sent two boxes of stuff to Australia already but my suitcase still weight eight kilos over (I was literally pulling out clothes from my suitcase and throwing them in the bin at the aiport!) and I had so much hand luggage (My backpack was 18kg! Not to mention a laptop, large handbag and a bag carrying goodbye gifts I had gotten!). In the end, I can`t remember how much they charged me for the extra weight in my suitcase but it was about $500. I think mum is more likely to remember! I had an emergency credit card and I rang her in a panic not knowing what to do (While Leader and Shumpei were withdrawing money from their accounts to pay for it also!) and she let me put it on there.
We ate dinner and Shun gave me a letter to read on the plane and we all got ready to say goodbye. I was crying so much and as I walked through the doors to get my handluggage x-rayed I was still crying and waving goodbye to everyone that had come.
Less than 12 months later I landed back in Tokyo on a delayed flight from London, where Shumpei was waiting for me at the airport!
This time is a little different! Again, I know I will be back. I even know it will more than likely be at the end of May or June. But I still have mixed feelings. I want to go back to Australia for a little while, I do. But I know if it is anything like the last time I left, I will miss Japan terribly. Shumpei and I will only be apart for 2 months but that is still the longest we have been apart since I returned to japan two and a half years ago. And my friends here, I will miss them so much. They are so great to me, especially Catherine and James. I don`t know how I will go in Australia without them!
Tonight is my goodbye party that Leader, Catherine and James organized. It is a formal place apparently so I have a dress and Shun will wear a suit and we will be meeting Cat and James early in Roppongi for a couple of drinks before we head to Omotesando! I am very excited but it will also be sad because today will be the day I say goodbye to my friends here in Tokyo, and for most it will be the second time I will be saying goodbye!
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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!!!!
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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...) Today`s post is a little delayed…I have published D is for.. and E is for… before C is for Cancer…
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I think almost everyone has had someone close to them affected by cancer…This disease sometimes seems as if it is taking over the world. In my life, several family members, friends, parents of friends have had cancer…It is a horrible disease.
When I was fifteen my father was diagnosed with lymphoma, stage four. It was one of the biggest shocks of my life. We grow up thinking our parents are invincible and when something threatens that our lives feel like they are falling apart.
I remember that I didn`t know how to tell my friends at school that it was happening. I had told one or two of my friends but didn`t know how to tell them all….It is such a hard thing to stand up and announce without breaking down, or crying…especially when you are fifteen and an emotional mess. I wrote them a letter…and when I gave it to them I apoligised for not been able to say what was inside.
It took a year for him to have chemo, a stem-cell transplant and go into remission. Since 2001 he has been in remission until now. Then a month ago they found cancer cells, in a routine check-up. My father has had other health problems over the last couple of years and we were waiting for test results on another check when these results came in. It was the last thing we expected…after a stem-cell transplant, for the same cancer to come back is a rarity….one we thought we had bypassed…
I am so far away from my family…I can`t zip home for the weekend or for dinner once a week…I can`t be there to help my dad. or my family. This is not the only thing I haven`t been around for, in the last couple of years a lot of stuff has happened, stuff that I can`t go into on a blog that is as open as this one, stuff that I can`t control. But that still makes me upset that I am not there for my mum or my dad or little brother….
Shumpei and I had decided to go back to Australia in July, part of this was so that he could learn English and get to know my family and part of it was because I wanted to, needed to, be around my family…and then this happened. So I know we have made the right choice. I have decided I will be returning to Australia a little earlier than planned…in mid-May…I will be finishing up work in April….As I mentioned on here a week or so ago, I have a stomach ulcer which they say is caused by stress….I have had a lot of stress recently with all this going on back in Australia and also with work….So I am going home a little earlier, even though it means Shun and I will be apart for about 6 weeks to two months. We have done long-distance before and we both think it would be a good idea for me to spend time with my family alone before he follows me over.
Nothing has been decided with my fathers Cancer at this stage…It is stage one and the lumps are not even big enough to be felt…We are waiting for other test results, and at this stage it is definitely not as serious or as advanced as it was seven years ago…A decision will be made about treatment in the next month or so. You may wonder why no treatment has been decided as of yet but there are other test results and tests that needed to be conducted before anything can be decided….
Cancer is a horrible disease and it is affecting so many people…people we love and care about, people we admire….I can not believe it is affecting my family yet again….
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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...)C is for… will not be posted for a couple of weeks although it has already been written…
This is technically my fifth post…(Although I just realized this is also my 250th post on Cherry Blossom Adventures)
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Have you ever had a year where you could consider it the best one of your life? March 2004-Feb 2005 was like that for me. I have no way of knowing if it will be the best year of my life for the rest of my life but for now it is definitely number one.
I came to Japan for the first time ever in March 2004…I had studied Japanese in my first year of university….but my Japanese was considered basic at the most….I had applied to go on exchange and was accepted based on my grades…I turned 19 just before I arrived in Japan. The first few months my Japanese didn`t improve at all and I struggled but once I got into the swing of things I never wanted to leave… (For those of you who every wondered…I only studied Japanese 8 months before coming here and could barely say my name and where I was from when I first arrived here…so when I say basic I mean BASIC)
It was my first time living away from my family and I consider it to be the year I grew up a lot also… I have so many wonderful memories of that year…It truly was the best year ever. We all wish (meaning those of us that were on exchange together) that we could go back to living in the Seikei University Kaikan (International dorm)…there was always something happening, always people around and so many life long memories formed!
I had so many great experiences and formed many great, lasting friendships…(and relationships…Shun!).
Seeing my first cherry blossoms, trips to Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima and beyond, izakaya experiences, summer fireworks and yukata, my first view of snow, my first attempts at snowboarding, reggae bands and clubs, Fuji Kyu Highland and Disneyland, meeting Shumpei at a house party and then having to say goodbye a month later…
I made a slideshow of photos, which describes my year a lot better than I can put into words!(You will need Macromedia Flash Player to view it…oh and the photos do have some weird names like tobesorted 472…because I am lazy and have never gone through and named them all)
I had to go through over 5000 photos last night to choose some to put in the slide…I hadn`t seen some of those photos in over a year and it was a good chance to look through them and reminisce about that year. Anyone that gets a chance to go overseas, and experience another culture and step out of their usual surroundings should jump at the chance…If you could go for more than a holiday, even better! If it is something you have thought about doing and put on the back burner for now well pull the idea out and play with it a little bit….what have you got to lose?
Going on exchange changed my life…If you had asked me 5 years ago when I had finished highschool if I had thought this is where I would be today I would have answered with a `No way`…It is funny what can happen in a short amount of time…I never thought I would be living in Japan at 22, or planning to get married to a Japanese boy and live in Japan…I never even thought that I would be a kindergarten teacher. Coming to Japan on exchange in 2004, changed the path of my life that I thought I would follow.
Do I have any regrets? No, now, I couldn`t imagine my life any other way!
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When I was about 11, grade six, i remember attending the St Rita`s school fete and spending less than 10 dollars but taking home more than a 100 books (I was given 10 days for the day and it all went to books except for a drink I think). A lot of them were light weight crap, but I read them all…I was on crutches at the time (Not the first, and not the last let me tell you!) and my mum`s friend heather had to carry the boxes of books to her car for me since I couldn`t do it. It was near school holidays when I bought the books…and I read a couple a day for the whole holidays. I love books, I have always loved books. There are photos of me as a toddler on the toilet reading books, reading to my dolls and bears and sitting on the floor pouring theough my parents ancient funken wagnells.
My parents were supposed to move while I was in Japan in 2004/2005 so before I left I had to pack up my room and I was limited to one box of books that I could keep. I have over 500 books for sure and I sold a lot of them to a second hand book store on the goldcoast and gave the rest to the mater hospital in Brisbane. I had never parted with books well. No matter how old or crappy they are, I always wanted to keep them. Even if it meant having piles and piles of books in my closet, and the spare room closet, and on my floor and on my book shelves. I kept books that I would want my children to read, especially if they were girls, as well as my favourite books. But I actually did fairly well at clearing them out. Now that I live in an apartment the size of a shoebox I am limited to how many books I can keep here. I have a small bookshelf and one shelf has non-fiction that I keep. Mainly travel guides, writing guidlines and some history stuff. The other shelf has japanese-language and study books. And I have allowed one shelf for fiction that is always overflowing…But I can keep about 30 to 35 fiction books in the apartment at a time…so I have to part with books a lot more than I used to. I realize now though that I have to get serious, stop buying more books, and read the ones I have.
I might not be what the call a `well-read` person but I have read more than my fair share of books. Considering the amount of books I read it is a wonder why my spelling and grammar are still so bad but that is another story. I remember reading Anne of Green Gables for the first time as a kid. My grandmother in New Zealand had sent me a copy and it had been bounded upside down by mistake. By the time she realized and took it back there were no more so she sent it to me anyway, with a note that said `Sorry you`ll have to read it upside down/back to front but you`ll be the only girl with an upside down copy of Anne of Green Gables`. I still have it.
Lately I have had a hard time getting into a book (In fact I have been starting books and not finishing them and putting them back on the bookshelves to start another…This is not like me at all). It isn`t like I read really in depth stuff. There are a couple of reasons behind this I think (This been that I can`t seem to get into a book). One is that I don`t catch the train or public transport much anymore and that was always my time for reading, and if I was into a book then when I got home I would lie on the bed and read some more yet now that I don`t have that I never seem to have enough time to get into a book. Two, my eyesight is getting worse and I kept forgetting to wear my glasses when I read meaning that the words all kind of blur together making me tired very quickly. Three, I haven`t come across a really good book recently and usually when you read a really good book and finish it it makes you want to read more.
I have realized that I needed something to get me motivated and reading again. There are lots of reading challanges out there on different blogs and website (I have been thinking about books and reading a lot in the last week and have started reading a lot of book, writing and reading blogs that review books and blogs of people that read a lot), but most start at the begining of a year. I did come across this one though and the guidelines are fairly loose so I thought I would sign up in the hope that it would give me some motivation. It is for spring, and starts later on in the week and more info can be found here
I can choose any amount of books and while I have a lot of stuff that I already own laying around the apartment and I recently picked up a few classics that I feel I SHOULD read. I aim to read at least 10 books during the challange although since I am a bit of a mood reader I will put up 20 or so books and will choose the 10 from there. I will put the list up in a couple of days, because to be a proper participant I have to give a list.
So who else there likes reading? Leave me info about books if you think I should read them. I usually read anything, (except science fiction mainly…but I don`t like to exclude anything!) and am always up for suggestions.
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Aussie girl with Japanese husband living in Chiba, Japan with a baby boy born December 2009. Just trying to make sense of the crazy Japanese and Aussie worlds she lives in...
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