Moving

Got the key to my new place, phone hooked up tomorrow, looking forward to finally unpacking my suitcases (after 5 months).

Watching Dateline on TV. They're doing another sting on men who hook up with teens online and then go to their homes expecting sex. The guy they just caught even admits he's seen these sting shows before, where the predators are basically set up and go to houses where the TV cameras are waiting for them. And he didn't get the message that this is not OK?!? There are some really sick people in this world. Guard your children, people.

Enviro Cleaning

One of my friends emailed me asking what products I had found for cleaning the home that are enviro friendly. The answer, not much. I haven't really been looking, thinking it was a project I'd give more time to after moving. Which I'll do soon. So, wait and see. But in the mean time, I have been told that baking soda, vinegar, and tea tree oil are all you really need to clean a house. I also noticed that there's a cloth called the Natura Cloth which the TV ads claim is always antibacterial without needing anything more than a rinse with regular water. And the friend with the inquiry sent these links:
http://www.seventhgeneration.com http://www.methodhome.com


I did find, through a friend, a store called Lush that sells earth-friendly personal care products, shampoos, deodorants, facial masks, soaps, and more. You can check them out at their website, which you'll have to google. Or you can go to Polo Park, or see if there is an outlet in a store near you.

One more. I found a company called Irene's Soaps that makes a fantastic laundry soap. Her shaving and the one body soap I tried are also great.

Fun for me!

Did you notice my new visitor counters and map? You have to scroll down, waaay down, and you'll see them on the right. I think they're funky. The map will change in a couple of weeks. It's a trial version, and I'm not going to pay so they'll change me to the free version. But I like seeing where the sun is shining at any givin moment.

Baby Steps

Have you ever seen the movie What About Bob? It's old. [Which reminds me. Raiders of the Lost Ark is 25 years old this week. I can hardly believe it. I enjoy Indiana Jones so much I still think of him as current and cool. And to think I can remember anything that is 25 years old is terribly aging. I guess seeing Harrison Ford age should have given me a clue.]

Anyway, back to Bob. I don't think it's as old as Jones. That's not my point. In that movie the Bob character is trying to get to a better state of mental health, and he keeps talking about baby steps; ie. the change won't come fast or all at once. And the last time I was watching that movie, a year or more or go, that concept of baby steps really stuck in my head, and I thought I should apply it to the changes that need to happen in my life, mostly connected to weight loss.

Anyway, I gave up Coke a couple of months ago, 'cause I love the stuff so much that there just doesn't seem to be any middle ground for me. Either I'm drinking it too much, or not at all. "Goodbye to Coke" was my first baby step. I soon after decided I have to give up all pops because of the sugar, and I don't really like them anyway, and for me they're like a gateway drug (leading back to Coke.) So that was baby step 2. Then I gave up MacDonald's, then most fast food burger joints (actually, just the big chains like Burger King and Wendy's. I got to have a burger sometimes, so I saved my fave spots, like George's and Burger Factory). Last week I decided eating ice-cream when I'm alone has to stop (which leaves a few loopholes I can sneak through occasionally), and yesterday eating out alone got cut. Well, in theory. I usually stumble a few times before I really adopt my new lifestyle changes. Like last week I had ice-cream a couple of times when I shouldn't have. But I'm not going to hell for it.

So I was inspired to blog about all this today because when I put on a pair of pants this morning that I haven't worn for a week or two, they fit better. And I feel good about that. And now you know.

Yeah for me! Baby steps.

Back to Life

It's been almost 5 months now that I've been living out of my suitcases, literally. It's been good actually. I've learned a much truer definition of the word "need". Everything, and I really mean everything, I need to live fits in my suitcases, with room left for extras. Not everyone I need to live is in there, but they're probably grateful for that anyway.

In a week or two I will be out of the basement and into a suite I hope to call my own for a long time to come. In 7 years I've lived in eight different places (just in Winnipeg) and house sat a couple. I am so sick of moving around I could scream. However, I will kind of miss this particular basement. I've found some friends that are good to live with (not all friends fit that description). But I want to have a place I can decorate with my things and fill with my friends, basically a home. Right now, lovely as it is, I'm in someone else's home. So I'll leave the basement, even if it is comfortable.

I am looking forward to taking all the things I've collected, many of them gifts attached to memories and love, and turning them into objects of art, or at least using them to make the suite feel like a home. And, I'll have an extra bedroom, so y'all can come visit and stay if it strikes your fancy. (not at the same time)

For about 5 months, I have felt like I'm camping. Even now, my new job is new enough and my time is free enough that I don't feel like I'm into any kind of routine. I'm thinking routine and a new place will make me feel like my nomadic existence has come to an end.

Yesterday I had my first bellydance lesson. We mostly stretched. The instructor warned us that we'd find and use muscles we never knew we had. And she wasn't kidding. Who'd have thought a few stretches and a little wiggling could make a person so sore! But I think it's going to be a lot of fun.

The girl who loved Sniff

My last entry drew a comment from an old friend I haven't heard from in a while. She found me via the blog of another old friend who found me online. So I am definitily motivated to keep up this blogging thing. Anything that attracts friends is a good thing.

Anyway, Rachel is the latest old friend to show up. She can explain this entry's title on her blog, if she so chooses. She brings a lot of joy and laughter in to people's lives--great sense of humour. She probably doesn't know, but is about to find out, that she is one of the people I most respect in the world for her wonderful, sincere heart for justice. And she's not just wishing for world peace, she does what she can to bring it on. She also introduced me to the Winnipeg chapter of Mother Teresa's Sisters of Charity (isn't that their name? I may have it wrong.) Beautiful women, oozing Jesus. I should have kept in touch with them. Anyway, nice to "see" you Rachel. Hope you don't mind if I link to your blog.

By the way, check her blog out. It's got some great quotes, and it's still small enough at this point that it won't take long to check out.

New News

New in Manitoba. The Amish. Don't know the details, but they're coming. Am listening to the radio about them now. Will fill you in.

Also new. A white bison. Sacred to the First Nations. Brought to Winnipeg from a ranch in Montana. Currently living in Winnipeg zoo and going by the name "Blizzard". Why didn't they let the natives name him?

Ok, back to the Amish. An as yet undetermined number moving in somewhere near Gladstone from Ontario. The Gladstone area municipality had to lure them in somehow. Apparently they were looking at a few places in Manitoba. Now the reporter is just asking about their lifestyle. You can google that info. I'm not going to type it all out.

And finally, also new to the zoo, a white black bear. Yes, you read that right, a white black bear. The one that was found north of Winnipeg this spring when a car killed it's mother. It's not albino, I don't think, but some sort of recessive gene like with Blizzard, who is not an albino bison, by the way. His eyes are brown.

The natives believe a white bison represents the beginning of an era of peace....

Going granola

Didn't mean to imply that all bloggers don't have lives. Sorry, rj. I did get a great laugh out of your comment though. But in defense of my comment, I'm not a person who really likes computers, so I only tend to blog when I haven't much else to do.

So I'm really getting into a "clean the house without killing the environment-or myself" mode. Did I already mention that this has been spurred on by the precautions the government is requiring my workplace to take with common household cleaners? I have found out at work that substances we use everyday are suspected of causing cancer and doing other nasty things too. I'll have to do more research to get all the details. But I feel lied to and conned. Ever since I was a kid, various chemicals have been the way to clean, and I just assumed they were safe (I know, I know, never assume, it could kill you), with the logic that people wouldn't sell stuff that was going to harm other people. (What was I thinking!? I know about arms dealers!) And of course the manufacturers would claim their products are safe, but it turns out "safe" is a relative term. Like, using household cleaners is safer than jumping out of a plane without a parachute, but not "safe" as in these-things-could-never-hurt-you-cause-they're-absolutely-harmless "safe".

So, I experimented today, and I learned something amazing. A mirror wiped with a wet cloth and then dried and buffed with a dry cloth COMES JUST AS CLEAN AS A MIRROR CLEANED WITH WINDEX!!! Who'd have thunk it. The proof is in my bathroom. Come on over and I'll show you. So why spend my money on a glass cleaner? And why risk my health?

By the way....

...thanks for the cleaning tips. I will be sure to use them.

Who needs to blog when you've got a life? Funny how my blog has lost its attraction since I got back home. I can find so many things here I'd rather do. I've been reading and exploring the city, working, taking care of some things I have to do in order to move, and lots of other bland, boring stuff no one cares to read about on a blog. I signed up for belly dancing lessons. That'll be fun. And I might sign up for a French course. I got a full time job. I'll be paid to sleep! And I found a place to live, but I'm not moving in until October.

So what can I entice my blogging audience with? Not much. I'd love to entertain you, but I'm just plum out of entertaining tidbits. Japan was good for entertaining tidbits.

Help, please

I am looking for environmentally friendly household cleaners, especially since hearing and reading about how caustic and cancer causing our regular commercial cleaners are. I want to find a Canadian supplier, and preferably a Canadian manufacturer. Anybody out there know of any such place? I have just started my internet search. So far I have found a supplier called Ecover, but I don't know where their products are made. Here's their website if you're curious.

www.ecover.com/ca

Thanks.

Perspective

I went to Kildonan Place today. Had to go by bus, so walked from Johnson and Henderson to the Louise Bridge. And when I got to the bridge, I was surprised at how little time it had taken to get there. See, for the past 7 years I've been driving everywhere in my car, and to walk that far seemed AWFULLY far. Even walking across the parking lot at Superstore seemed a long way. But in Japan I walked a lot for lack of car, and I guess I've gotten used to it. Anyway, distances that once seemed horrendous are no longer a problem. Isn't that good?

Sunday

It's Sunday.

I'm still staying with friends til I find a place to live. Been back in Winnipeg for 2 weeks now. The weather is great. I am even loving the rain. Thought the rain would remind me of Japan, but it's different somehow. Am back to work. Have enjoyed seeing the people again. I work with some great people. Have a great job that way. Never dropped in on a supervisor and ended up chatting for an hour and a half before!! And everyone acts like they're glad to see me. I'm beginning to feel as loved as I did in Japan. Anyway, it's been a good week.

Alright, it was me

OK, I'm fessing up. It was me. I made it rain. I prayed for it, I was heard, it came. Sorry to all the golfers whose tee times were messed up. But hey, next time you head out, the greens will really be green. But I'm not really sorry. We need some rain around here. And it didn't rain on my beach day, so it's all good for me! :)

And by the way....

I feel like I haven't finished my blogging about Japan. My last day was nice, just hanging with the family, and I had absolutely no hassles at any airports on the way home, and my baggage was well under weight, which I'd been worried about. So all that stuff was good. I went back to the train station in Toyohashi, where I'd lived, in order to catch the train to the airport. From the train I could see 2 major landmarks that are close to my apartment and were part of my Toyohashi life. And I cried. I was surprised at that. But as I looked at them in the distance, and realized that I don't know when I'll see them again, I bawled my eyes out. I'm tearing up now. So, as much as I still think I don't want to live there, I love that place. But mostly the people in it. And I miss them.

I'm Back

I'm not in Kans...er, Japan, anymore. I'm back home. Landed at my old apartment for a couple of nights (thanks Cheryl), and now I'm with the friends I had planned to stay with. So many things are relative. I'm laughing at myself this week because before I left when I was talking to these friends about moving in, I thought the basement I am staying in looked so small. Now I'm there and it feels just fine after the place I stayed in in Japan. Quite roomy and comfortable. I have my own bathroom, and even my own TV so I can watch my DVDs when I feel like it. So my perspective has been altered. It's good to go through a little perspective altering once in a while. All my worldly possessions except what's in my suitcase (and my electronics, DVDS, and CDs) are in storage. For the last 3 months I have lived out of my suitcase, which has been a lesson in how much stuff I really need to live. Even now, at least 50% of my suitcase room is taken up with gifts and stuff I don't need (like the pottery I bought in Japan, or the shoes I bought because I thought I'd need them but which to date I've never worn once. I've got 2 pairs like that, actually). After reading the latest issue of Geez magazine I was thinking a lot about living simply. I've certainly seen how simply I can live. Most of the stuff I hold on to that I don't "need" is either of sentimental value, or it is for serving people on occasions when I choose to show some hospitality. So maybe I should just cut friends out of my life, or never invite them over. I'd save a load of cash on stuff I wouldn't need.

See You Later

How can you love and hate a place at the same time? I`m doing it, and I don`t even know how it works. Today is my last full day in Japan, for a while. Tomorrow I get on the plane. I am both relieved and sad. Part of me doesn`t want to go, the other part has been looking forward to tomorrow for 11 weeks (one less than I`ve been here). I guess it`s not so much that I want to stay in Japan as getting back to it is so hard. I wish it were close enough that I could visit every weekend.

Anyway, my second visit to Fukushima was like old times, visiting a couple of the teachers I worked with and who took care of me last time I was here. Mr. Yoshida has grandchildren, so it was fun playing with them. Like the other kids I met, they all think I`m super cool. Nice to be foreign sometimes.

I`ve been hanging out with family in all my free time. Non-free time has been spent packing and cleaning. I`m pretty much done. Then I`m off to spend my last day with the family again.

You know, maybe it`s just as well that Japan is far away. I was just thinking of all the things I want to do and people I like to spend time with back home that I never do or see because they`re close by, or at least closer than Japan, and I always figure there`s time. I think I need to quit taking time for granted. It does run out eventually, sometimes shockingly sooner than you figured.

Umm, I don`t have many interesting quips from Japan today. I`m feeling pretty reflective and kind of tired. But I`m gonna try to make my last day a good one.

I Blog, Therefore I Am

I put myself under a lot of pressure to come up with cool blog entry titles. I want to be considered witty and cool. But I should just let it go. Y`all know better anyway.

I wasn`t going to blog tonight, then noticed it`s been a whole week! And what a busy week.

Went to Fukushima, my home in Japan, last weekend. Like most small towns, it has hardly changed a lick in 7 years, and I`m so glad. It was SOOOO good to see it all again, a little like finding out a great dream　I once had is actually a reality! I remember my time in Japan fondly but through a culture-shocked fog. I am glad that fog is finally clearing.

It was wonderful to see my friends again. They look exactly the same too, except for the kids who grew and the friend who`s fighting cancer and looks a bit haggard. I have come to the conclusion that I don`t just want to, I need to get over there more often. Some of the most precious people in my life are over there, and you can`t have a relationship without contact, though you can remain friends over a distance. I need to see them more. God willing, I`ll head over there yearly.

The kids blew me away. There was only one who I thought might remember me. She is 12 now. Her little brother is 9 and last saw me when he was 2. Their little sister is 7. Anyway, they welcomed me like I was a long lost aunt (same amount of enthusiasm I get from Simon, actually). One of the benefits of being a foreigner in Japan. People are quick to like you (usually).

Last weekend I visited my church friends. Was nice to fellowship with them again, and am encouraged by how much Japanese I know. That place was the site of a lot of hard days when I was just sick of not understanding anything or anyone, so it was good to go back and see how far along I`ve come. Still have a loooong way to go though before I can claim fluency.

Tonight I`m off to Fukushima again to visit my Japanese family and other friends I made through work.

This week was very busy. Y`all are going to get tired if you read this in one sit.

Monday I went to a nearby city to visit another English teacher I met on the train. She is finishing 3 years on the same program that brought me to Japan the 1st time. We just had a nice chat at a good restaurant she knows. It was interesting to talk to her. She`s a trained teacher who came to Japan out of university. She`s in a similar place in life to where I was 7 years ago. Therefore, interesting chat.

Tuesday some of the ladies who work in the office at the university took me out for a farewell dinner at an okonomiyaki restaurant. It`s a place where you sit at a table with a built in grill and prepare your own food. I`ve had okonomiyaki before, but only from a vendor at a festival. Anyway, delicious!! It`s a kind of pancake with cabbage in it and a variety of other delicious things you can choose. Then we went to a cafe that is known for it`s over sized desserts and finished off a parfait made in a juice pitcher. It was called "Never give up". I did, they didn`t. We decided we`ll go for the bucket-sized one next time I`m in Japan.

Wednesday night was a party with friends at an izakaya, a traditional Japanese bar. When you reserve a party room, you pay a set amount for all you can eat and drink, within a time limit. We were there for 3.5 hours. I think that we were cut off at 3 hours, though they didn`t kick us out. Anyway, that`s how Japanese party. They don`t often host big parties in their homes. Can`t really. It cost us $30. Worth every penny. Good food(except the raw horse meat and the octopus), good times. Can`t afford it all the time though.

Thursday, another izakaya with Diana`s friends at a place that serves killer wings. More good food, good times.

Friday, today, class party. I wasn`t quite sure how it would go, but we had a great time. There were a few drinks and snacks, and the students started coming at 11am and the party ended at 5:30pm. We played games, talked, and took a lot of pictures. I already got 3 emails from students, and it sounds like they had fun. Good.

So that`s about it. After school I packed then came to the internet cafe and now I`m off to catch the train to Fukushima.

Have a nice weekend.

By the way

I`M GOING TO FUKUSHIMA TONIGHT!!!!! YEAH!

Princess Becky Does It Again

My friend Becky has a knack for making people laugh. And not just giggle either, but side-splitting, pee-your-pants, rolling on the floor laughter. She did it again, and I love this so much I got to share.


These are taken from papers turned in by high school students.

1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.
2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.
3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.
4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room-temperature Canadian beef.
5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.
6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.
7. He was as tall as a 6'3" tree.
8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM.
9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.
10. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.
11. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.
12. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.
13. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.
14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.
15. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth.
16. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
17. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant and she was the East River.
18. Even in his last years, Grand pappy had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.
19. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.
20. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.
21. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.
22. "Oh, Jason, take me!" she panted, her breasts heaving like a college freshman on $1-a-beer night.
23. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame. Maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.
24. The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.
25. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.
26. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.
27. She was as easy as the TV Guide crossword.
28. Her eyes were like limpid pools, only they had forgotten to put in any pH cleanser.
29. She walked into my office like a centipede with 98 missing legs.
30. It hurt the way your tongue hurts after you accidentally staple it to the wall.