It's June!
I am in a sort of summer mode, as it's slightly hotter than it was when I arrived a month and a half ago. (Ish.) It doesn't help that Boyfriend works at a high school and is therefore on summer break, as are the large amount of my friends who are still in college/grad school.
This just means that in between working furiously, trying to sing through asthma attacks, and studying endless amounts of Japanese for a test I'm planning on taking in December, I take breaks on the weekend!
I mostly wear work uniforms (which at the moment is simply our work t-shirts) 5 days a week, so on the weekend I am free to wear whatever I want. Which is shorts and sandals, because it's hot. I don't generally care what shirt I wear, but I noticed this past weekend that I ended up with my Captain America and Spiderman tshirts.
I like superheroes. Some of them. They seem to be a summer-y thing as well. So why not blog about them?
There are a few movies out already, and we've seen two. The first was Captain America: Civil War. I have been against this from the beginning, since any kind of civil war, especially when involving favorite superhero characters, is a Very Bad Thing. We saw it anyway, and it was surprisingly good. The second was X-Men: Apocalypse. I love X-Men, and I was all for this movie. We did not like it. It was violent and wraught with tension that felt very undeserved. I don't want to wait 20 minutes while someone onscreen figures out a simple solution.
Those were fun for us, but I really don't understand the large amount of people who brought their kids.
The vog lately completely awful lately. So, in my quest for air conditioning, we hung out at the library and Barnes and Noble for much of the weekend! Nothing quite as exciting as a yet-unexplored library. Browsing through B&N is up there too. Both had ample supplies of comic books (and cookbooks, and Japanese books, and books about cats...)
In my last bit of superhero-related blogging, we had our first summer recital at work! My student (adopted from a teacher who quit, so he's only been mine for a few weeks) played the Superman Theme. He did a great job, looked good, and everyone loved it. We had about 18 students perform, and it zipped by! Next week is our "big" recital with the other 80. Phew!!
Until next time!
Monday, June 6, 2016
Monday, May 23, 2016
SPAM!
I am writing this post from my phone as I wait for my bus, because waiting for buses takes up a good amount of time that could be used for other things. Like the kanji I should be studying. Or procrastinating.
Case in point: We went to the beach yesterday. (The only worthy beach is on the other side of the island in Waimanalo.) It took an impressive 4 hours to get there, at least half of which was waiting for the buses we had just missed. Much as I love the beach, 7 hours of travel time for an hour of swimming wasn't quite what I had in mind...
But it was a party, and there were musubis. Well, one musubi. I brought my own instead of risking soy-soaked chicken and noodles. It gave me the distinction of not only being the only haole but also the only one not eating the food - both of which not my fault!
Spam has been my go-to food from college days, either from being too lazy to cook something fancy but needing protein or from looking at the price of uncanned meat that would have to then wait at the bus stop with me. My favorites are fried rice and musubis. Spam on rice on rice.However, I did discover Garlic Spam, which is one of the best things I've found here in Hawaii. I fried it with vegetables and could almost pretend it was healthy!
In an inedible display of spam, I also found this book to read:
Yes, that is a murder mystery. With spam.
Themed murder mysteries tend to be the literary equivalent of junk food (tasty, tasty murder), but this one was written by someone I know! From Hilo! I taught her kids in my very first Japanese class, and they were the best students I had.
The book itself was, in my opinion, quite good, although rather depressing for someone with a toe in the education career pool. The main character was decidedly NOT a local, but the book still managed a bit of local flair without being too condescending. It felt very strongly like Hilo. Which is, of course, the best. Sorry, Oahu. I'm not a big Hawaii 5-0 fan, either.
I just realized that as of last Friday, I have officially been living here for a month! So far, so good! I have enough work to keep me busy and enough coffee to keep me awake to do it. (The other nice part about Hawaii - lots of GOOD coffee.) Here's to many more!
Case in point: We went to the beach yesterday. (The only worthy beach is on the other side of the island in Waimanalo.) It took an impressive 4 hours to get there, at least half of which was waiting for the buses we had just missed. Much as I love the beach, 7 hours of travel time for an hour of swimming wasn't quite what I had in mind...
But it was a party, and there were musubis. Well, one musubi. I brought my own instead of risking soy-soaked chicken and noodles. It gave me the distinction of not only being the only haole but also the only one not eating the food - both of which not my fault!
Spam has been my go-to food from college days, either from being too lazy to cook something fancy but needing protein or from looking at the price of uncanned meat that would have to then wait at the bus stop with me. My favorites are fried rice and musubis. Spam on rice on rice.However, I did discover Garlic Spam, which is one of the best things I've found here in Hawaii. I fried it with vegetables and could almost pretend it was healthy!
In an inedible display of spam, I also found this book to read:
Themed murder mysteries tend to be the literary equivalent of junk food (tasty, tasty murder), but this one was written by someone I know! From Hilo! I taught her kids in my very first Japanese class, and they were the best students I had.
The book itself was, in my opinion, quite good, although rather depressing for someone with a toe in the education career pool. The main character was decidedly NOT a local, but the book still managed a bit of local flair without being too condescending. It felt very strongly like Hilo. Which is, of course, the best. Sorry, Oahu. I'm not a big Hawaii 5-0 fan, either.
I just realized that as of last Friday, I have officially been living here for a month! So far, so good! I have enough work to keep me busy and enough coffee to keep me awake to do it. (The other nice part about Hawaii - lots of GOOD coffee.) Here's to many more!
Friday, May 13, 2016
Books, Music, and Spam: Part II
Hello all!
After my last weekend adventure, things have been mostly work, with exciting interludes of sleeping, imploding banana bread and new housemates.
Work itself (teaching music and Japanese) is highly stressful and fascinating. In between lessons with my students, I am frantically trying to rectify years of... not being musical. I WAS at an advanced level of piano, but now am struggling on basic exercises. Lots of fun.
Since I also teach Japanese, it would make sense for me to teach Japanese kids piano, right?
Wrong!
Japanese piano method and theory is VERY different than what we use in the US. First of all, instead of letters (A-G) for notes, they use solfege (do-re-mi). Not too hard; vocal lessons use solfege as well. However, key changes use a different and unrelated Japanese system. Instead of the Italian do-re-mi, there Japanese syllables for each note and therefore each key.In addition, much like Suzuki method for violin (I learned), some Japanese students are initially taught to play music without learning the theory behind it. For instance, several of my students are working to distinguish quarter notes and half notes (1 beat and 2 beats, respectively) and counting rhythm. Sometimes this results in playing the same phrase 10 times, because reading music is hard and they don't want to do it.
The Japanese kids were playing more advanced music, with eighth notes, sharps and differing key signatures, but didn't know these concepts when I asked about them. Instead of hitting them with a new and unfamiliar method, I passed them off to my Japanese boss.
In another interesting adventure, I had a student dropped on me who only wanted to learn jazz piano. What is jazz piano? It's the art of making stuff up in an organized fashion. That is basically it. And, in a very classically trained studio, I am the only one with any jazz experience at all - which was in jazz band, where I played mallets and keyboard but improvised almost everything. Still, I gave it a shot and had a lot of fun doing improv exercises with the student. Student's mom wasn't impressed with my lack of formal training and methodology. Oh well. It's jazz.
It's my day off today (woo!) and I have ventured to the State Library, which is a large and many-winged structure that I get lost in every time. I love the local library, but the collection here is enormous, and has a lot of books about musical theory and teaching. And hula. Since I have yet to find my own halau, this is the closest I can get.
I know I included "and Spam" in my title, but I'm proud to say that I haven't had to use my emergency spam reserves all week. Normally I eat a lot of spam, as it's one of my very few options when eating out, but I've been able to actually cook lately, which is really nice! More on that next time :)
Until next time!
After my last weekend adventure, things have been mostly work, with exciting interludes of sleeping, imploding banana bread and new housemates.
Work itself (teaching music and Japanese) is highly stressful and fascinating. In between lessons with my students, I am frantically trying to rectify years of... not being musical. I WAS at an advanced level of piano, but now am struggling on basic exercises. Lots of fun.
Since I also teach Japanese, it would make sense for me to teach Japanese kids piano, right?
Wrong!
Japanese piano method and theory is VERY different than what we use in the US. First of all, instead of letters (A-G) for notes, they use solfege (do-re-mi). Not too hard; vocal lessons use solfege as well. However, key changes use a different and unrelated Japanese system. Instead of the Italian do-re-mi, there Japanese syllables for each note and therefore each key.In addition, much like Suzuki method for violin (I learned), some Japanese students are initially taught to play music without learning the theory behind it. For instance, several of my students are working to distinguish quarter notes and half notes (1 beat and 2 beats, respectively) and counting rhythm. Sometimes this results in playing the same phrase 10 times, because reading music is hard and they don't want to do it.
The Japanese kids were playing more advanced music, with eighth notes, sharps and differing key signatures, but didn't know these concepts when I asked about them. Instead of hitting them with a new and unfamiliar method, I passed them off to my Japanese boss.
In another interesting adventure, I had a student dropped on me who only wanted to learn jazz piano. What is jazz piano? It's the art of making stuff up in an organized fashion. That is basically it. And, in a very classically trained studio, I am the only one with any jazz experience at all - which was in jazz band, where I played mallets and keyboard but improvised almost everything. Still, I gave it a shot and had a lot of fun doing improv exercises with the student. Student's mom wasn't impressed with my lack of formal training and methodology. Oh well. It's jazz.
It's my day off today (woo!) and I have ventured to the State Library, which is a large and many-winged structure that I get lost in every time. I love the local library, but the collection here is enormous, and has a lot of books about musical theory and teaching. And hula. Since I have yet to find my own halau, this is the closest I can get.
I know I included "and Spam" in my title, but I'm proud to say that I haven't had to use my emergency spam reserves all week. Normally I eat a lot of spam, as it's one of my very few options when eating out, but I've been able to actually cook lately, which is really nice! More on that next time :)
Until next time!
Sunday, May 1, 2016
Books, Music, and Spam: Part I
Aloha mai kakou! Happy May Day (is Lei Day in Hawaii...)!
I have been officially living in Honolulu for a week and a half now, enduring the pitying stares of the locals as I bumble along, sunburnt and frizzy-haired, but I am no longer constantly lost!
This weekend, having rented a car on my day off to pick up things like heavy furniture and bulk items (riding the bus with a large amount of paper towels is comfortable, but really inconvenient), the boyfriend and I went on an adventure!
By a lucky coincidence, we happened to be here during the Hawaii Book and Music Festival! Due to rental car timing and the ever-obliging rain showers, we missed much of the music portion, including a few halau hula performing, which was very disappointing.
However, we did schlep around all the booths, poke at books both shiny and well-read, and discover a few familiar ones:
I HIGHLY recommend this book ;) At the Hawaii Wildlife Center booth - lots and LOTS of bird stuff!
My English/Fiction professor at Hilo - he has a few books published. I own this one, but haven't read it yet, I am ashamed to admit.
In case you can't guess, this is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland... in Hawaiian. I already have this, and I am SO excited to read it. I have spent most of my time in Hawaii's libraries browsing the Hawaiiana sections, so I found myself sucked into the Native Books booth at the festival, eavesdropping on conversations in Hawaiian.
Speaking of eavesdropping, I find it funny that, after moving to where I am in order to speak the languages I speak, I am constantly surrounded by Tagalog. Life always has more challenges :)
A hui hou!
I have been officially living in Honolulu for a week and a half now, enduring the pitying stares of the locals as I bumble along, sunburnt and frizzy-haired, but I am no longer constantly lost!
This weekend, having rented a car on my day off to pick up things like heavy furniture and bulk items (riding the bus with a large amount of paper towels is comfortable, but really inconvenient), the boyfriend and I went on an adventure!
By a lucky coincidence, we happened to be here during the Hawaii Book and Music Festival! Due to rental car timing and the ever-obliging rain showers, we missed much of the music portion, including a few halau hula performing, which was very disappointing.
However, we did schlep around all the booths, poke at books both shiny and well-read, and discover a few familiar ones:
I HIGHLY recommend this book ;) At the Hawaii Wildlife Center booth - lots and LOTS of bird stuff!
My English/Fiction professor at Hilo - he has a few books published. I own this one, but haven't read it yet, I am ashamed to admit.
In case you can't guess, this is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland... in Hawaiian. I already have this, and I am SO excited to read it. I have spent most of my time in Hawaii's libraries browsing the Hawaiiana sections, so I found myself sucked into the Native Books booth at the festival, eavesdropping on conversations in Hawaiian.
Speaking of eavesdropping, I find it funny that, after moving to where I am in order to speak the languages I speak, I am constantly surrounded by Tagalog. Life always has more challenges :)
A hui hou!
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Housed and Employed!
Aloha!
I have successfully settled in my new home in Salt Lake, Hawaii, an area right next to Pearl Harbor. As such, it's mainly military, and although I live in the "local" part of the neighborhood I can see the fancy military housing from my window. I can also see Pearl Harbor from my window.
So far I have gathered the essentials - coffee, a rice cooker, a bed...
I work Sunday-Thursday, which meant I got my weekend immediately after a day on the new job. I work at a small but very busy music studio, where my main objective is to... invent my new job.
The studio offers Japanese lessons, so I am going to be the primary Japanese teacher. They already offer individual classes, so I will be developing an organized curriculum and programs for preschool age kids.
In the meantime, I am a piano instructor, which is great, and a voice instructor, which is terrifying. I will also eventually become a certified Music Together teacher, which is music for.... babies and toddlers!
So far its all very exciting, but we'll see how my first week goes!
I have successfully settled in my new home in Salt Lake, Hawaii, an area right next to Pearl Harbor. As such, it's mainly military, and although I live in the "local" part of the neighborhood I can see the fancy military housing from my window. I can also see Pearl Harbor from my window.
So far I have gathered the essentials - coffee, a rice cooker, a bed...
I work Sunday-Thursday, which meant I got my weekend immediately after a day on the new job. I work at a small but very busy music studio, where my main objective is to... invent my new job.
The studio offers Japanese lessons, so I am going to be the primary Japanese teacher. They already offer individual classes, so I will be developing an organized curriculum and programs for preschool age kids.
In the meantime, I am a piano instructor, which is great, and a voice instructor, which is terrifying. I will also eventually become a certified Music Together teacher, which is music for.... babies and toddlers!
So far its all very exciting, but we'll see how my first week goes!
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Testing!
With less than a month to go until I move back to Hawaii (Oahu this time), I am going to attempt a resurrection on this blog.
We'll see how it goes!
We'll see how it goes!
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Sunday!
I'm writing a blog post!
The only reason for this is because I somehow, magically, got TWO (!!) days off in a row. It is ridiculously relaxing, considering we had a 6.0 earthquake in Napa early Sunday morning. Not a good day for wine country. (I wondered if our Sonoma bees are okay, and then I decided to wonder about it tomorrow.)
And what do I do with my extra free day as my coworker took over my farmer's market?
Go to the farmer's market!
Working at multiple farmer's markets all summer has been enlightening, hard, boring, entertaining, muscle-building, and has resulted in lots of free/discounted fruit and vegetables, but I really miss walking through the market and enjoying myself. That said, the Davis Farmer's Market is not a terribly enjoyable place. It is ridiculously crowded and stuffed full of Artisans. Having lived in Hilo, I got used to a good chunk of my food coming from the farmer's market, and Davis is not conducive to serious vegetable shopping.
However, I succeeded in getting my ingredients to make my last batch of... pickles.
Why? Because I like pickles. It started with a free bag of pickling cucumbers and ended with about 20 jars of vinegary goodness... hopefully, as they're still curing.
In the meantime, I have my kimchi and umeboshi and a family who doesn't know where I came from.
It's nearly September, which means fall and exciting things like pumpkins and apples, but I'm not ready to give up iced tea and fresh tomatoes. It's a dilemma.
Today I also had some delicious homemade almond-milk chai with delicious white clover honey that I may or may not have whisked from the brink of being washed down the drain. It's not easy being dairy-free-almost-vegan-but-can't-actually-eat-vegan, but somedays there are good things. Like almond milk.
Speaking of honey, soon I will be losing a coworker to maternity leave, another coworker to college (ew), and it will just be me and ~300 cases of THIS.
But that's tomorrow. For now I will drink more tea and read a book.
A hui hou!
The only reason for this is because I somehow, magically, got TWO (!!) days off in a row. It is ridiculously relaxing, considering we had a 6.0 earthquake in Napa early Sunday morning. Not a good day for wine country. (I wondered if our Sonoma bees are okay, and then I decided to wonder about it tomorrow.)
And what do I do with my extra free day as my coworker took over my farmer's market?
Go to the farmer's market!
Working at multiple farmer's markets all summer has been enlightening, hard, boring, entertaining, muscle-building, and has resulted in lots of free/discounted fruit and vegetables, but I really miss walking through the market and enjoying myself. That said, the Davis Farmer's Market is not a terribly enjoyable place. It is ridiculously crowded and stuffed full of Artisans. Having lived in Hilo, I got used to a good chunk of my food coming from the farmer's market, and Davis is not conducive to serious vegetable shopping.
However, I succeeded in getting my ingredients to make my last batch of... pickles.
In the meantime, I have my kimchi and umeboshi and a family who doesn't know where I came from.
It's nearly September, which means fall and exciting things like pumpkins and apples, but I'm not ready to give up iced tea and fresh tomatoes. It's a dilemma.
Today I also had some delicious homemade almond-milk chai with delicious white clover honey that I may or may not have whisked from the brink of being washed down the drain. It's not easy being dairy-free-almost-vegan-but-can't-actually-eat-vegan, but somedays there are good things. Like almond milk.
Speaking of honey, soon I will be losing a coworker to maternity leave, another coworker to college (ew), and it will just be me and ~300 cases of THIS.
 |
| Hand-labelling jars. I don't even like blackberry! |
But that's tomorrow. For now I will drink more tea and read a book.
A hui hou!
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