Weekend Round-up (and a look ahead)

Rebecca was in town visiting this weekend on her way around Ontario. (Honestly, she did have an endpoint in mind, but you wouldn't know it judging from that post of hers - poor fried brain!) Unfortunately, it poured rain most of the weekend, so we couldn't frolic on Parliament Hill with the Mounties like last time, but I am pleased to report we went shopping. I even got up early Sunday morning so we could go shopping again at Chapters before she left for lunch at her aunt's!

Purchased (by her):
1. tea (different flavours)
2. smelly soap from Lush
3. one pair of sensible brown dress shoes
4. two books (one biography, one cultural studies book)

Purchased (by me):
1. one pair of girly black sandals
2. one black, grey and white tweed purse
3. two books (one art book, one book of poetry)

It seems to me I'm missing something but really, that's not bad for a day's work.

Yesterday I had my Art History final exam, and I think I did all right on it, though not stellar by any means (I just wasn't in the mood to rack my brains for the names of old Renaissance paintings that inspired Manet's Le déjeuner sur l'herbe).* I also got back my paper on Norval Morrisseau and am pleased to report a 90% mark on it! That was nice.

Thursday we are leaving for Toronto for 4 days. A friend of ours is having a roving art gallery opening on Thursday night so we decided to go. Rion must stay home for the evening with the grandparents, however. Then we have 2 1/2 days free to roam the city and eat sushi till we burst! Because who knows when we will have a chance to eat sushi ever again... :)

I will try and update from the road.

* Argh. I just looked it up online and at least one of the paintings which inspired him was Giorgione's Concert Champêtre. I wrote down Concert Pastorale (which, ooh, I just Googled and it turns out they are alternate names for the same painting - one point, yay!), and couldn't remember the artist's name (though I knew it started with a "G" and I should have written that down too!), nor the other painting which inspired it (apparently Raphael's The Judgment of Paris). Possibly worse, I just realized that I named Concert Pastorale and then described Raphael's Judgment. Eek!

bōken

This week's Japanese Word is bōken, which means "adventure". It's also just an excuse to post the text of my final speech for my Japanese class, which finished about a month ago. Thankfully, I was able to find the copy of the text that was corrected by my teacher, so all the hard-core Japanese out there will not have to suffer through my sad attempt at particle and verb conjugation. Simultaneous English translations. Plus I've decided to be fancy and post the accompanying photos too!

Bōken no Kyōto
Adventure in Kyoto

Watashi wa Kyōto ni ototoshi yokka taizai shimashita.
The year before last, I went to Kyoto to visit for eight days.


Tomodachi wa Okayama de sensei o shiteitta, hōmon suru ni tassurimashita.
My friend who was teaching in Okayama, came to visit me.


O-tera o takusan tazunemashita, soshite yama e haikingu ni ikimashita.
We visited many temples, and then we went hiking in the hills.


Subete no saīn wa Nihon-go deshita, ga watashitachi wa Nihon-go no yomikata ga dekimasen deshita!
All the signs were in Japanese, but we couldn't read Japanese!

San-jikan michi ni mayoimashita ...
We were lost for three hours ...

Futsuka kan wa ashi ga itakatta desu, watashi wa tsukaremashita.
For the next two days, my feet were very sore, and I was tired.


Ga, yakakatta desu!
But it was fun!


Nihon to Kyōto ni mata kotoshi ikitai desu.
I want to go, this year, to Japan and Kyoto again.



And now I will be!!! (Well, at least to Japan. I still have my fingers crossed that I'll be placed in or near Kyoto. We'll know by mid-May.)

If you want to see more photos of Japan, and other such exotic places, go to my Flickr site. I couldn't post directly from there, for some reason.

uten / unten

There are two Japanese words this week, thanks to the fact that I am not yet very good at deciphering spoken Japanese. In class yesterday, one of my classmates said something to the effect of, "Watashi wa uten suki desu," instantly sending me into a flurry of "jisho o yonde imasu" (reading my dictionary) in order to figure out what he had said. Ahhh, he likes uten - "rainy weather." Nice. What a great sentence. Kind of poetic.

During the class break, however, it turned out that Devon in fact was not particularly a fan of rainy weather at all and that what he had actually said was, "Watashi wa unten shite imasu" - that he is able to drive a car (or to operate a machine, depending on the exact context in which the statement was intended to be made).

So, the Japanese Words of The Week:

uten = rainy weather
unten = operation of an automobile or machinery; with the verb form being unten suru.


Wakarimasen ka?

The guilt stops here...

I have been recently accused (mostly in email) of not updating this blog often enough to satisfy the insatiable curiousity of my readers ... a number of whom, I feel obliged to add, do not in fact have or maintain blogs and so are clearly unaware that, in most people's lives, blog-worthy events do not happen everyday (we cannot all be as prolific and interesting as Rebecca, for example).

I obviously need a hobby or something. I'm not going to get married anytime soon, nor have a baby, so those kinds of keeping-your-blog-frequently-updated-events are out of the question. Maybe I need to travel overseas again. Yes, that sounds ideal, but I'm afraid I'm not in a position to divulge further information on that topic at this current point in time ... however, STAY TUNED (hehehe - see? now I've suckered you all in to continuing to read my blog, at least for a little while yet*).

In other news, the weather seems to be finally turning the corner here in the nation's capital. Yesterday, it was about 6°C, giving some of those giant piles of snow a chance to melt a bit. It was a gorgeous mild day and as I donned my sparkly green scarf (a fashion, not for-warmth, scarf) and my jean jacket (yippee!), I actually entertained the thought that Ottawa might not be so bad after all. (A common misconception held by many people who have just suffered through yet another Ottawa winter.) Anyway, Randal and I celebrated by going to the National Gallery of Canada. Neither of us had been in ages (him about two years, and me about seven!). I had to go see the exhibit on Norval Morrisseau, an influential, and pioneering, Canadian First Nations artist, for my Art History class. Anyway, the exhibit was great - it is apparently the first at the National Gallery dedicated solely to a First Nations artist - and while I am not overly familiar with this style of art (though my mother owns a number of items obviously influenced by it), I was really impressed by the exhibit (and now have to figure out what aspect of it I shall write about for my 2500-3000 word essay which is due in a few weeks - yikes).

Today it rained for the first half of the day, reducing those snowbanks even further. I really feel no sadness in saying goodbye to winter - that either makes me a perfect Canadian, or an unusual one, I'm not sure which. We took the dog for a walk toward the end of the day, resulting in our little white fluffball being completely black on his underside, so Randal gave him a nice long bath upon our return, and now he smells GREAT (Rion, not Randal...though Randal does smell nice too). Like vanilla and roses, with a dash of fresh puppy ... mmmmmmm.

Anyway, that is all. In other updates, you will note I have added a number of features to the blog's sidebar over the past week or two. I have also added a few reviews to pixxiefish in the stacks as well as modified somewhat the layout there. And for those who persist in claiming I don't update the blog enough, hopefully you have noted that I have added quite a few photos to my Flickr account over the last month or two (and a good number of Malaysia photos in the past two weeks). So there.

* Because I am terrible at keeping my own secrets, here's a hint: pixxiefish in the sea may be going over the sea to a land of plenty that starts with "J" and ends with "n", but pixxiefish will not know anything for sure until April or May, so please be patient - she will let you know as soon as she knows.

The balance is restored to the julieverse

I am feeling complete again: this academic session, Algonquin College did not cancel Japanese Level II and so once again I am able to pass my Tuesday evenings trying to remember the proper response to "Gambatte kudasai".* Tonight was the first class.

Same teacher as last time. No one from my previous session has continued this time, however, but this group seems like a good bunch. Randal is also taking the class with me this session (his last Japanese classes dating to a few years ago, he feels a bit rusty but up to the Level II challenge). Right now we can only ask each other out to movies and restaurants, and say that we are going to the grocery store together; I am looking forward to the day when he and I are proficient enough to conduct entire arguments in Japanese.

Anyway, since I am so good at instituting and maintaining new aspects of my blog, I am hereby announcing the Japanese Word of the Week section, coming soon to a sidebar near you.**

In other news:

Long time since I last posted and for that, I apologize. Here's the Christmas rundown, not as eloquent as Stuart's (parts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) or Rebecca's (while she didn't shame me by multiple posts on the topic, she, like Stuart, has multiple photos also posted), I'm afraid, but hey - they were timely, which I am not, and they had pictures available, which I do not (but I am working on ways to up the pictorial content of this site). Randal, Rion and I flew to Toronto on Friday, December 16. Early Christmas with my family on Saturday night. Visited some friends (Mala & Mark, Shoshanah, Heather). As per usual, much shopping. On Wednesday the 21st, in the evening, the three of us proceeded by air once again to Winnipeg. Spent Christmas and the next few days (until the 29th) in The Peg. Usually it is quite cold this time of year, but they were having quite mild weather (in fact, a 134-year-old temperature record has just been beaten in Winnipeg). Remained around zero degrees most days. Visited all of Randal's sisters' dogs (there's a lot of dogs in that family ... also a lot of sisters ... and a lot of family generally, actually). I hope to get some pics from then up on Flickr soon. (Randal has the fancy digital camera, not me, so it takes time to remember to remind him to download them and send to me.)

Back to Ottawa on the 29th and we spent New Year's here. We went for dinner at Al's Steakhouse (mmmmmmmmmmmmm) and were back in time to watch some of the end of Mars Attacks! and, of course, the ball dropping in Times Square. Then, as per tradition (started last year, Randal and I played a board game over and over and over in to the wee hours of the morning. The culprit? Ticket to Ride a train-building board game that is totally addictive. Present from my brother Jerome and sister-in-law Agnes in Vancouver which had arrived by snail just the day before - timing was perfect! Thanks guys! (A proper thank-you shall arrive on your doorstep soon ... uh, plus your Christmas and (one late, one early) birthday presents.) Hit the sack at 7:15. In fact, the next few days also followed that pattern, until I had to return to work (on the 3rd? 4th? I don't even remember now).

Since then, back to work. I have been reading lots. Haven't been updating my Currently Reading list, but am remedying that. In the last week alone, I have read Falling Sideways by Tom Holt, a sci-fi book about frogs taking over the world, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie, a fictitious story about two boys being re-educated in 1970s China and what happens when they discover some forbidden books, and Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams, a sci-fi book about the interconnectedness of everything. Plus my Art History textbook by Marilyn Stokstad, since I am taking Art History, part II, at the University of Ottawa (in French this semester, incidentally), and of course the beloved Japanese for Busy People plus other related Japanese-language materials. In addition, Randal and I are taking a 60-hour TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) course this month, which takes place over three entire weekends (last weekend and the next two). There is reading for that course as well, plus assignments.

Will continue work on my Flickr site soon - I'm thinking about "leaving" southeast Asia for a while and putting up some Amsterdam pics and pics of the dog. Plus, contemplating a site revamp for pixxiefish in the stacks - preferably in some way that makes me want to update it more often. I am way behind in my list of books.

So it's been a busy month and will continue to be until about mid-February.

Other than that, I am still the same. 10 fingers, 10 toes, brown curly hair except for the days when I wear it in a ponytail and then take it out later, which causes it to be straight (don't worry, Shoshanah; it will always be curly again the next day).

You are now up-to-date on my life.


* For those dying to know, see here for the answer.

** As soon as I figure out how to say that in Japanese, I will add it to the site - LOL :)

The weird small world that is my life...

Recently, I've been running into people whom I haven't seen in a while. Yesterday, at work, I am helping a student when I suddenly look up and see a prof I had at Dal. I first met Anne when she was doing her LLM at Dal. That was when I was in first-year law. In my second year I took one of her courses, Law and Technology (and wrote, I am afraid, a somewhat mediocre paper (at least I thought it was) on the feasibility of enforcing publication bans on the Internet). She has just started her doctorate in Law at University of Ottawa, which is pretty cool.

Today I had just finished doing a tour of the library with some students, when I turn around and see a girl who I also knew from law at Dal. Josephine was doing her LLM when I was in my first or second year of law, and has actually been at U of O doing her doctorate in Law for about three years now.

And finally, someone un-law-related!!! I am taking a course in Art History at the U of O (as an employee, I get to go for free!), and the first class was tonight. It's an introductory-level course (2000-level), and at least half the students there were in their first year. I was not the oldest person there, but pretty darn close. Anyway, during the break, I'm waiting to speak to the professor (I needed to ask her about the course book) and I realize the person she is talking with is someone I know. Anna is the girlfriend of a guy I know who is a first-year lawyer at the federal Department of Justice. She herself is a teacher (high-school, I think). It was nice to see a familiar face (especially one in her mid-twenties rather than 17).

At any rate, the Art History class is going to be interesting and fun ... plus I don't think I've ever taken anything so approximately equating a "Bird Course". At least it will be for me. The readings are moderate and hey - they sure do beat both library school and law school readings in terms of interestingness. (I know, I know: you're shocked to hear it.) We have two in-class exams worth 35% each (memorization of terms and selected works of art, short answer questions, etc.), plus a take-home that we have a month to do which should be about - are you ready for this? - 3 pages long.

Let me make this clear: I have no desire to recreate my law school or library school experiences in any form whatsoever. I have written 25- to 30-page papers worth at least 70% of my final mark, taken exams worth anywhere from 80-100%, and completed complex computer multimedia projects worth at least 60%. I really don't need to do any of that again, at least not at this point in my life. And I'm sure when I was in my undergrad, I had smaller assignments that made me squirm then, at which I would likely laugh now. This Art History course is going to be very interesting, I will find it enjoyable, and I am taking it for credit as well as interest, so I do plan on putting my "all" into it, so to speak. But I doubt it will keep me up late at night with worry. Right now, however, that is OK with me. (Besides, I can't stay up late anymore - I have to work in the mornings!)

The only "bad" part about the course is that, despite a number of chapters on it in the textbook, we shall not be touching upon any East Asian art. I'd been looking forward to that. If I take the second introductory course next semester (which I am planning on doing), maybe we will then.

Oh, and on a sad educational note : last night was supposed to be my first Japanese Level 2 class. But it was cancelled due to insufficient enrolment. So now I must learn Japanese on my own. Any budding Japanese speakers out there who'd like to set up an online study group???

Dōmo Arigatō (Mr. Roboto)

So last night I had my first Japanese class. I have wanted to take Japanese for a while - I almost did in my first year of undergrad but took German instead - and finally enrolled in a beginners course at Algonquin College. Of course, all the way down on the bus, I had the aforementioned Styx song stuck in my head.

My Japanese teacher is soooo hyper. She's maybe in her mid-30s, from Kyoto originally (sigh) and just way more hyper than anyone should probably be. However, it was great. She drilled us and drilled us first on phonetic Japanese and then with simple phrases. I am already starting to dread the moment when she will spin around in my direction and fire off an entirely-too-rapid "Gambatte kudasai" or "Anata wa gakusei desu" in my direction, at which point I start scrambling through the handouts she has given us and my scrawled notes on them in order to find the appropriate response ("Hai, gambarimasu" or "Iie, watashi wa gakusei dewa arimasen" respectively).*

General introductions and counting to ten (ichi, ni, san, yon, go, roku, hachi, nana, qyū, jū). We learned a bit of Japanese culture. For instance, there are four types of bowing, depending on how formal an occasion. Men keep their hands at their sides when bowing, but women should have theirs clasped in front of them. In the last half-hour, we watched some videoclips from Japan: a commercial for some creamy refreshing drink with Brad Pitt ("Dare desu ka?" / "Brad Pitt desu"); a clip from a wedding with a 10-metre tall cake; a shogun talking to his court (meant to demonstrate the word "Sā" which means "I don't know" - a good thing to know! - and always done with a tilt of the head); the Empress getting her hair done (2 hours) and getting dressed in her wedding kimono (over 20 minutes to put it on); and a bunch of sumo wrestlers eating al fresco in Vancouver ("Kanpai!" or "Cheers!").

Anyhow, it was fun and oh so different from any class I have taken in years. It's been almost two years since I was last a student (I love going to class! how can I get back???), and learning a language is way different than databases or administrative law. Challenging, and fun.


* For the linguistically-challenged in the group, this would be "Please do your best" - "Yes, I'll do my best" and "Are you a student?" - "No, I am not a student." Also note that where a word ends in a "u", at least so far, the "u" is not pronounced, and there is no "r" sound in Japanese (hence Japan's reputation as the land of "flied lice"), so all "r"s are actually pronounced as a cross between "l" and "d" (or for the Westerners among us, who have trouble doing the proper sound, an "l" sound is fine).