whisperings

In Japan, I often played internet radio stations of various stripes, though the one I played most often was Whisperings Piano Radio. It was simply a lovely wallpaper for the lessons happening in the classroom, especially when my students were middle aged women. It seemed to make them more at ease and I wondered at the time whether certain kinds of music (in this case, gentle piano solos) had an influence on learning or learning outcomes.

More than likely it just relaxed them, or took away the moments of complete silence, when students were thinking of or in the process of forming sentences. Anyway, it was a popular addition to my teaching armoury.

Since getting a new laptop a couple of weeks ago, and having to knuckle down and study, I've taken to playing Whisperings again. And occasionally, perhaps because I'm on the free stream and there is a shorter play loop, I hear songs that used to shimmer and twinkle through the classroom doors in Mukogaoka. And then, well, memories and feelings coming flooding back. You know, sometimes it's quite overwhelming. Almost like I can taste Japan again.

autumn thoughts again

We are really in autumn now. The nights are cooler and there is that sense of decline about. Some of the leaves are beginning to turn, while others are just plain bailing out. A little early, in my estimation. Autumn is my favourite season, when the sun still has a kick but you know this is the final hoorah. And that somewhere else, it's warming up too.

About five years ago I wrote some autumn haiku in a letter to friends back home. And I thought,upon finding them again, that perhaps they were worth adding here.

thinking of home,
I storm the cupboards clutter
finding dry leaves

A couple written about autumnal life in and around Sandadani Park:

in the traffic,
leaves drown in puddles
veins upwards

and

old man shuffling,
this path bears the sandal marks
of summer's late stroll

There's something I love about haiku - perhaps the collision of brevity with deeper thought, or observation. Well not mine particularly, but certainly many that I have read.

new directions

I started a new blog recently as a kind of diary for the correspondence course which I enrolled in last month. Then I somehow forgot both the email address and the password, so that project is currently on hold. The blog part, I mean.

The other side is coming along quite well. It's a diploma in professional counselling through the AIPC, an Australian provider. I've been interested in human behaviour and psychology for as long as I can remember and its kind of a natural seque from teaching. Whether I come out with any marketable skills remains to be seen.

That's not the only reason for studying. I need something to do with my spare time now Tom is at pre-school and I'm interested in self-improvement. Even the idea of self-improvement seems a little bit noble.

As Nadia would say, any improvement would be long overdue.

js32 around the tango-hanto peninsula

In the summer of 2006, we took a short vacation to the Tango-Hanto peninsula at the top end of Kyoto prefecture. We had obtained a booking for a few days at a ryoukan in Amino, directly across from the main beach. The establishment was traditional, with tatami mats, low tables and futons, exactly how we wanted it. There was a fabulous ofuro, a rotenburo and an oversized plastic crab on the roof. Well, it was a region known for its seafood!

It was a nice and very doable trip, given that we were travelling with a baby. Tom could fall asleep anywhere. We could go to the beach(I especially remember the beautiful Kotobikki), or zip around the coast, dipping into little towns that did not appear to have changed in a hundred years.

The photos above give a little taste of our trip, that summer.

js31 here and there with hankyu

At the risk of alienating the reader(that happened Day 1 - ed.) I want to shout the praises of the Hankyu Railway. Serving the greater Kansai conurbation, comprising Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe, it's a company that is immediately identifiable by its gorgeous burgundy carriages. Its also cheaper than the JR services that often run (vaguely) parallel on some lines.

We took Hankyu whenever we could, especially from Takarasuka into Osaka, or to Kyoto. The trains were smooth, clean, charming really, and I am indebted to the conductor who always appeared to be pinching his nose when he announced 'sugi wa Juso'. I loved to do impersonations and Japanese friends always got the gag. Or kindly, pretended to.