writing

I recently read a book titled "Good bye orange" (written in Japanese, and for a small part in English).

It is about two women moved to Australia each from an Asian country (possibly Japan), and an African country as a refugee.  They met each other at an ESL school and became good friends.

The narrator is the Asian woman.  She tells stories about the African women named Salima who has a great ambition and guts for life. Salima was married to an African man with two sons. They moved all together from their home country but after moving, her husband became a bad guy and left them to go to a big city. She struggles to live her life with her two sons, working as a meat processing worker at a supermarket because the job doesn't require language skill.  She had a very had time to find the job before that.

Meanwhile, the narrator. Sayuri, is having a hard time too.  Her husband has a job in a university as a researcher and keeps himself busy on his research about languages.  So she is always left alone with their baby daughter.

This book is consisted of two parts, one for her narration about Salima's story, another for her letters to her former English teacher, who encouraged her to keep writing anything in English.

Then I remember, that writing used be my favorite thing to do, especially keeping my journal here! Why I stopped doing it? Because I get busy?

I thought, I should restart it any soon, even for a few lines each day.


So.... please accept my apology, my dear journal.  I love you, so much!


I have to go now, for my piano practice.  See you later!

recovery week -after the flu week-

Takao got a flu last week and we both had to cancel all the appointments and work for the whole week.  We just stayed home and rested. So this week is a kind of "recovery week". He started to go to work from Monday, and I started to have lessons with my students also.

I realized how much I enjoy having a musical time with my students because not only I teach them but also I can learn from them, too!

Yesterday I had a wonderful moment with my vocal student.  She is in her late 60's and having lesson with me for the past 5 years, always passionate to learn things, want to improve as possible, and also a very honest and kind woman.  I like her so I want her to improve more and more.  Yesterday, we just reached a the best moment where she suddenly understand how to breathe effectively for singing then her voice improved so beautifully!  She seemed so happy almost jumped around! I was so happy for her, too!

If I learn music just by myself I must not have this kind of moment!  That's why I love not only learning but also teaching.  I'm not so excellent with performing but I think I'm good at understanding what's going on with people's body or mind, that is perhaps my strong point. I want to thank God who make me do this, bring students to me. Thank you!

Momo sleeping like an angel!

Android machine

This is the first post from my android machine.
This photo was taken at the nursing home where my father-in-law lives. He moved there in January last year after getting worse with his Alzheimer disease. For the first few weeks, we struggled to accept the new situation. Especially for my mother-in-law, it was quite difficult because she is a very caring person so she was ready to take care of her husband at home until the last minute of his life then the situation became just above her control. She cried a lot about she couldn't take care of her husband at home and felt guilty about that.  We, family members, just kept encouraging her, saying it was not her fault and she shouldn't blame herself.  She gradually accept got it and started to smile after a while.
On the 2nd of March, Takao and I had the 22nd wedding anniversary.  I've been feeling happy all the time since we got married. I love his family a lot and I believe they love me, too. I cannot believe 22 years already passed away with our marriage life!
As I'm writing this, we are watching the Hanshin Tigers baseball game on TV.  Takao got a flu so cannot go to work for the rest of the week. We had to cancel all of the schedule for the week so we have plenty of time to be together this week, unexpectedly!  Perhaps also I have plenty of time to write on this blog!
Bye for now!
 

Spring!

Which of the four seasons do like most? I love spring most because I feel as if everything looks so beautiful and everything just has started in spring! And spring has come here in Japan and now all of the cherry trees are in full bloom here in Osaka!
I'm planning to visit the US this summer after four years of absence. I'm so excited about this! I'll be staying there for one and a half month. Will be participating two choral workshops one in Massachusetts, another in DC. I'm also hoping to visit the residents of the nursing home I worked as a volunteer in 2008. I want to join the Friday Night Singing Group again, and see my friends there.
Keeping my diary here in English is not easy for me but I want to try it again to improve my writing and also to record what I feel, do, think, see and everything!
Hello, my journal again and just keep in touch with you!
Naoko

sometimes you need this!

it was so yummy! Vanilla ice cream, fresh cream, sweet chestnut crepe. I love sweets especially when I feel tired or stressed out! It was then I had this. Last Sunday..... I got revived, thank you, Mr. Crepe!

Osaka Castle

Visited the Osaka castle with my mother-in-law last month. Look at the beautiful building!

good morning!

yes, it's a good beautiful morning we have today! I'll have my piano student at 11 AM. Hope we have a good learning time together.

Currently I have 5 piano students and 5 voice students. I really want to be a better pianist and a better singer not for myself but for my students. If I could be a better player, then I would be able to share my process with them!

Hi there, after almost a year of absence!

I'm sorry for the long absence. I've been doing well, but just didn't have enough energy to update my English blog.  I just remembered today "Oh I haven't written anything on my blog for so long!!", then came back here to read the last entry and found it so dark!!!

The situation about the recovering efforts with the mega earthquake and tsunami in Tohoku area are not going well, I must say.... People are trying to work hard but it's not that easy, right?


As for me, I'm living my life. I'm trying to feel grateful with everything I have right now.  I've realized how much I'm happy, happiest enough with all loved people around me!

We can feel happiness from anything if you open your eyes so widely even if you are in the hard situation, this is what I believe.

I'll be writing more soon. Good night for now!

making any negative event to be positive

I'm trying.... trying what I put on the title of this entry.

I've been practicing my piano quite hard since the quake occurred, I guess. I don't know why. No I knot why. Because, I want to forget something negative. I want to ignore something unhappy. I don't want to see the sad scenes on TV, newspapers, and so on.

The situation with the nuclear plants in Fukushima has never been seemed any better.  Every time new information reported it makes everything worse.  Now it seems our government and the electric company intendedly has been hiding some very important information which is crucial and bad.

Today we felt doomed as we watched the documentary program on NHK about the private research project by some nuclear specialists for the past two months. We learned that the situation in Fukushima, or perhaps not only Fukushima but also around that area or perhaps in wider areas, has been much worse than we had known it, or we had been informed by our government.

After watching it, I thought... then what?  Yes, I got angry: why the government didn't tell the truth? They were afraid of the panic happening? They were afraid of too much worse reputation going around?  They were afraid of losing trust?  Then I thought.... if I were living in that area, and the government told the truth to us, would I have believed them?  I wouldn't say so.  I wouldn't have believed them and would have remained there with the personal property, with the pets, with the beautiful nature, the wonderful home town. I don't know what would be the best solution for this very very difficult questions.

Where are we going?  "we" means not only the people living in the area, but also all Japanese people, also all people in this planet.  Where should we be going? What should we do about this?


I might be escaping from something I don't want to think about by practicing the piano, by singing, by being into music, by enjoying eating good food, just for now, then what?  Life is short.  It's true.  But we have children.  They are not our own children but children of the earth.  The earth should be going on and should be thriving, not only by means of development of technology, but by means of seeking the best way of living our lives on this very beautiful planet.  The blue planet, the lovely earth.


I hope what I'm doing, music, talk, eat, restoring my energy, to be helpful to something, to someone I love.


I don't think what I wrote today makes any sense but I just wanted to record what I thought today, on this very day.



good night anyway... from Osaka, Japan.


Naoko