tings.

幸せすぎると、僕達は何も残せない .snippets. loves cello, crochet, pretty pastry, martial arts, tea, ukulele .chronicling my life in nagasaki, japan.

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Mochi nage: When the main frame of a new house is completed, it is good luck to throw mochi from it. The first five thrown from the corners and the centre of the house are huge mochis that may contain money. This is then followed by a shower of small mochis and snacks. Everyone at the scene was well prepared with plastic bags. And the real pros here are the obaachans who go home with their bags stuffed with mochi. I was lucky to get one. #islandlife #shinkamigoto #kamigoto

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Whoa wait what?

I really meant to keep a record of my time here in Japan but as usual, I lacked the consistency. And now I’m beginning my third and final year on JET. Whoa. 

But I’m gonna try. In the raging wind of this typhoon day. 

Today, for the first time in 2 years of the occasional typhoon, where of course we have to go to work, the buses were cancelled. I stood at the makeshift bus stop that at least had a panel at the top while rain blew in sideways all around me. 15 awkward minutes of getting stared at by people in cars passed before I realised that I hadn’t seen a single bus pass me by. 

Lol. 

Shortly after, I got a call from Kouchou-sensei (the principal) telling me how scary it was for him to bike to work and that I shouldn’t. 

A little about Kouchou-sensei: After Magic Kouchou-sensei got a promotion and left, O Kouchou-sensei, a very skinny man (in his late fifties/sixties?)of slight build came in. In his little yellow scooter (I believe he has 3 scooters lol). I was very glad he got to school safe. Because a scooter really doesn’t do well in the typhoon. 

The buses started up again later in the day so here I am at work. All’s good. I promise to post about the Osaka trip! Haha. 

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#とっとろ calendar in tsuwasho. #上五島 #新上五島 #kamigoto #shinkamigoto

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It's been awhile since my last kyushoku post. Today's kyushoku looks different because I'm eating this at home for dinner having been sick the past two days. K-sensei brought it over. *cries with happiness* Thank you!

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Another piece I've been sitting on, that's finally completed. I've been wanting to make these Kitachu indoor shoes. Love the colour of the yarn. Lucet cord base with soles attached.

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Free pattern from momomints.com. The moment I saw it I wanted to make one for Chan. It's rice ball body was ready way back. I probably sat on this simple project for a year before I got down to completing it. But hey, it's the year of the sheep! Have a meh-ry year! Haha.

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Finally completed this dinosaur blankie for M-sensei’s baby. Just in time!

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Oh yeah

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勝負! Richard and Nathan settle scores at the abandoned Kamigoto Airport with a race.

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This imo from the supermarket is so clean I can't stand it.

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So I'm finally able to start on my #100typographydays. Before my fingers freeze off, here's number one. @itsmeemy I did it!

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あけましておめでとう！平成27年に入りました！今年もいろいろ凄い思い出を作りましょう！

"Smile & be happy"

(The very talented) Kris, Em, and I ended off 2014 writing our New Year’s resolutions (which I shall not post here since it’s their intellectual property but they can totally post my stupid face pictures like the one above - I really don’t mind). Wasn’t very sure what to write since none of my resolutions sounded meaningful or deep enough to warrant a card, so I resolved to be happy.

2014 had been a pretty epic year. Some of the highlights include: 1. Visiting the famous Meijijingu shrine on New Year’s Day with Car and Qing 2. Getting my bike license and my bike 3. Getting lost on a small mountain that makes up an island on it’s own and having to swim in the sea 4. Going on national TV in Japan to sing for my students 5. Scuba diving for the first time 6. Going on a bike trip to Mt. Aso for my birthday 7. Staying up all night in a car on a road trip that was awesome 8. Picking up Kendo and receiving my first dan 9. Coming home after a year and a half

I don’t think I can have a more epic year than that, but I look forward to what 2015 brings.

Here’s to a less reckless, safer, but equally fantastic year ahead.

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Because the cat keeps entering our school. "shimete nyan"

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The life and perils of Ninja Kohei

One of the games I had my students do to practice the relative pronoun "who" involved casting their friends as characters in a movie and writing "who" sentences. At the end, I left a section for them to narrate a story out of their characters (in Japanese). I've had well-written epic plots, surprise endings, and imaginative story lines. Here, I translate some of them. 1. The life and perils of Ninja Kohei In a certain town lived a Samurai who always plays the flute, TH. He lives with a lazy Ninja, Kohei. Samurai TH earned some money helping farmer Ky and fisherman Y but Ninja Kohei took that money to attend a rock concert by musician K who has a scar. One day, he went to the church and the blind priest, T, said to him, "Are you truly satisfied with living like this?". This shook him to the core. On his way home, he met doctor M who has a pet wild boar, who said if he continued living like this, he'd get sick. As he thought about what he should do, he decided he would work and thus enrolled in school. At school, teacher KT praised his cleverness, and Ninja Kohei quickly completed his studies and got a job. That night, samurai TH said to him, "Up till now, you've been using my money. It's time for you to return me that money as you work." "Majika" Ninja Kohei is still working to return the money even now... 2. The rap of misfortune One day, a man called TH, and a student, K, got into a fight. As they exchanged blows, TH accidentally injures K with a knife. Policeman KT who happened to be there, arrested TH. He then began gathering eyewitness accounts from those present. Just as he started, rapper T began to rap. "Yo-Yo- I am T, musician. Today, my sister, Princess R and, Prince KH, matchmaking. Make appointment with, my house butler." The butler, who heard the rap, looked upset. When asked what happened, he related that the four of them, Princess R, Prince KH, himself and rapper brother were at lunch when a drunk TH tried to pick up Princess R. K, who saw what was going on, tried to stop him and they got into a fight. TH and his wife S, began to quarrel and decided on a divorce. Policeman KT took TH to the police station. To express their gratitude for K, Princess R's crew staged a performance. T sang, the princess played the harp, and the butler danced. S regretted fighting with her husband and awaits his return... 3. The twist. This is a certain city. Politician Y is giving a speech. His doctor, K, is operating on S. On this day, T the serial killer went on a killing spree. Hidden in the clouds is a God who is always sleeping. A gardener chops down a very tall tree as his brother KY teaches a bunch of animals... Such was a picture drawn by the artist KT that claimed the first prize. ... In a book written by the novelist M. 4. An epic misunderstanding The third witch R of the three great sorcerers has come back to life. But rumour has it that the already revived witch N and wizard M who uses Black Flames failed the spell and was set to destroy the world. They allegedly schemed with the great criminal KH and R's always sleeping jack-o-lantern. Three legendary warriors who had the three legendary items of sword, shield and armor, came to defeat this nefarious plot. Then, many things happened and they resolved the misunderstanding. They worked together to rule the world.

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Today, the kids harvested the いもs we planted awhile back. They found 4 baby moles.

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Poot Poot Poot: Mifune Dinosaur Museum

This post is dedicated entirely to the Mifune Dinosaur Museum. I don't know much about dinosaurs, but as you may or may not know, Jurassic Park is one of my favourite novels. While the novel has its many flaws (one of which being the entire velociraptor species depicted in the book and movie), it's still a pretty good dinosaur read. The first time I read the book, I was 11. And little of the unfamiliar scientific details made an impression. I have re-read the book 5 times since, and each read was a fresh experience. Each time, I understood something more. At the last, it was with the understanding of most of its flawed and outdated premise. 

It was still fun to read. And I still love Michael Crichton. 

Anyway. 

Reptilian T-Rex greets you the moment you alight at the Mifune Dinosaur Museum bus stop. So far, everything conforms to the conventional image of dinosaurs. 

I was very lucky. The museum was hosting a special exhibit with displays from Mongolian expeditions. This is a holotype of the Deinocheirus. Its name means terrible hands, as you can probably imagine from this set of limbs...

A Harpymimus. Also a holotype. This is a primitive form of Ornithomimosaurs (I'm getting this from the Japanese description, of course). After its death, the neck muscles contract and that causes the neck to curve backwards. Many dinosaur fossils display such a trait. (This was mentioned in the book and I was very excited to see it in real life)

What it looked like in the Cretaceous period. 

Types of dinosaurs. The ones in blue are theropods. Namely, Tarbosaurus (a close relative of the T-rex, or maybe its Asian counterpart), Avimimus, and the Velociraptor. The walk on two legs and have very short fore limbs.

A relative of the Ornithomimus.

An illustration of the ornithomimidae. Notice the downy feathers?

Garudimimus. 

It had long been suspected that non-avian dinosaurs had feathers. But only recently do we see them depicted with such. 

The movement of the present day Japanese islands between plate boundaries caused a violent change in the earth's crust, and resulted in the hardening of the stratum that contains the dinosaur era, which in turn affected what fossils there may have been. On the other hand, Mongolia sits on the Tairiku plate. So it experienced little movement and change. Dinosaur fossils were preserved and could thus be excavated. This chart tracks the movement of the various plates, and the area the specimens came from. 

Dinosaur eras - Cretaceous, Jurassic, Triassic, and the various stratum names corresponding dinosaurs would be found in. 

Citipati. Another famous specimen of a nesting citipati had also been found.

Next up...

Another pictorial depiction of the late Cretaceous. On the left, the predators staring at prey below... are the Velociraptors. 

I had known about this long before I saw these depictions. But it still came as a shock. In 2007, quill knobs were found on Velociraptors on the posterior forearms - the most direct form of evidence that they had feathers. Just... look at them. Terrible lizards are in fact, terrible birds.

A clutch of eggs belonging to dinosaurs related to Oviraptors. 

Baby Hardosauroid.

Saichania.

This is a famous exhibit of a Velociraptor and a Protoceratops in a tussle. They were killed mid-fight probably due to the collapse of a sand dune. The discovery provided clear evidence of predatory behaviour. Instead of slashing, it believed that the raptor used its claws to pierce prey. 

Different angle.

Illustrated. 

Baby protoceratops... Newly hatched, then buried by the collapse of sand.

Velociraptor head!

And this, is the Velociraptor. It is actually much smaller than the raptors of Jurassic Park as those were based on a species called the Deinonychus. 

A Protoceratop.

More Protoceratops. It's kinda amazing how big they grow, and how small the babies are. 

Saurolophus. A 10 metre long herbivorous dinosaur. It's mouth is shaped like a duck's and its distinctive feature is the protrusion on its head. 

Tarbosaurus. The biggest carnivore found in the Gobi desert. The lived in the late Cretaceous. Like their North American relative, the T-rex, Tarbosaurus had very small forearms. 

Gallimimus. They are believed to be able to run fast. Judging from their duck like beaks, they may have fed on things in the water. 

Tail of an Ankylosauridae. 

At the end of the exhibit, we see a picture of the Japanese archeology team.

On to the normal exhibits. 

In 1979, an elementary school first grader found this dinosaur tooth. It has been named the Mifune Dinosaur. 

The main exhibit hall of the original exhibits in Mifune. 

A collection of feet. 

More teeth. Oh dear. 

T-Rex! They have yet to update the figurine as you can see. 

Very predatory. I sought comfort in the crowd. 

For some reason, all the kids I know know the Stego. 

In the body of an Apatosaurus (Brontosaur).

I never knew Triceratops were so big. Imagine that horn going through your body. 

And above them all soar little flying Pteradactyls (???). 

Almost alive. I wonder how long it would take for the tiniest one to get to the size of the biggest one. 

At the end, you could touch these bones. I don't think I've ever touched bone before, and I'm glad the first I touched were dinosaur bones.  

To see feathered dinosaurs on display in the museum was a surreal experience. Words from the last pages of the book "Paradigm shift" was all I could think of when I walked out in a half daze (...I was hungry).

I was glad I came to this museum.

Anyway, my day had yet to end. In the next post, I'll continue with the rest of Day 4, 5 (really short) and 6 (the birthday).

Good night.

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Poot Poot Poot: The Birthday Scooter Trip Day 3

I'm gearing up for the next post - the dinosaur museum - so this post will be short (comparatively haha).

August 2nd, Kumamon, mascot sensation across Kyushu greets me as I arrive in Kumamoto City. The typhoon made landfall in Nagasaki but Kumamoto wasn't that affected. It was rainy though. Oh so rainy. 

An uninteresting look at my disastrous dietary habits. Breakfast on the ferry.

This was the hostel I stayed in. It does dyeing. Space was made for my scooter. 

Having spent a good part of the morning travelling, I got some advice on what to eat and headed for the shopping arcade. Oh the city. How I've missed you. There was a sense of elation as I took a deep breath of that polluted air. 

Komurasaki. 

Such. Good. Ramen. 

Many celebrities' stamp of approval adorn the shop. 

I've been to Kumamoto Castle before. I was in charge of doing the write up for it on that school trip. But well, when in Kumamoto, go to the castle. 

Kuragari Tsuro: The Passage of Darkness. The basement of the castle. It was dark even in the day, and thus its name. 

As a ninja, it is important not to fall sick. 

I don't know what to say. 

The prosperous town that was Kumamoto City.

Apart from the castle, there was also a reconstruct of the royal palace. 

Great effort had been put in to replicate various aspects of the palace in its former glory, down to the smallest details, like the motifs on the doors. Door...handles? 

So pretty!

These paintings are from the 1700s, hung in the third most formal guest receiving rooms.

The Wakamatsu room - the second most formal guest room. Guests were received here to meet with the lord. 

The most formal guest receiving room, with paintings of Wang Zhao Jun decorating the sliding doors. It seems that her fame is known even outside of of China. This room is called the Zhao Jun room. 

I finished my tour and exited via this very familiar gate. Back in 2009, we also passed through this gate. The Akazuno Gate. As it is located at the northeast corner of the castle, it was believed that evil spirits enter through this gate. So the gate was kept closed back in its day.

Tomorrow, I will put up Day 4 - the dinosaur museum - not the aim of this trip, but definitely the highlight of it.