Small Friday Finish - Bookmark

I backed this with some tan fabric and sent it off to an elderly friend, who no longer stitches, but is still a stitcher at heart.

Shizuoka Prefecture Board of Education Bans Teachers from Social Media Contact With Students

Starting with the new school year this month, the Shizuoka Prefecture Board of Education is prohibiting teachers from any kind of social media contact with students. (I live in Shizuoka Precfeture, but have nothing to do with the school system). Previously the conduct code simply forbade "inappropriate speech and actions". The new policy says communication with students on social media will be considered inappropriate and will be the cause for disciplinary action against the teacher. Teachers will be allowed to send non-personal announcements for things such as school events and activities where the teachers serve as coaches or advisors. In Japan, I'm assuming that means by Line, not by Facebook. Facebook sin't as popular with Japanese as Americans.

Technology has changed things for us in so many ways. The only way I remember my teachers having any kind of communication outside of the classroom was a paper note, and that was probably to the parent, not the student. Maybe there was some type of inappropriate communication by landline telephone between students and teachers, but I wasn't aware of it. With so many students using smart phones and social media, it is probably much easier for predators to reach out to students, but it would also be pretty easy to be caught, wouldn't you think?

What is the policy where you live? Do you think there needs to be a policy in place? Have you heard of teachers contacting students inappropriately by social media?

Work In Progress Wednesday - A Bit of This and That

Here is the little skiers cross stitch I started last week. It comes from the Danish Handcraft Guild Book, Counted Cross-Stitch Designs for Christmas. I think I will finish it into a flat ornament.

I found a small strip of fabric and stitched what will later be finished into a bookmark.

Another little piece of fabric became this.

I put a few more white cross stitches into this afghan block.

And the Mola.

Stitch Group Mola Start

 The Stitch Group met on Sunday, and as always, I was happy to get together with them! First we had some show and tell.

Then we started a new project - the mola. (I've been working on mine for a few weeks.) They had to come up with the design idea and choose the fabric colors before getting started.

We didn't have time to do all the basting, but enough was done to get a little start on the reverse applique.  I don't know what happened to the colors in these next pictures.  The blue looks black.

The tea time is always wonderful.

Next time we will continue with this project.

Monday Morning Star Count - Week 50

Year four of the temperature quilt 

Week 50

April 4 - 10 

70, 63, 55, 64, 66, 61, 59

I am reporting the high temperature each day.  My Year Four temperature/color (Fahrenheit) scheme remains the same: 

100 + Brown 

90-99 Red  

80-89 Orange 

70-79 Yellow  

60-69 Green  

50-59 Blue 

40-49 Purple 

30-39 Pink 

20-29 White

10-19 Black  

You can see my finished Year One Quilt here.   

Former President Clinton's Childhood Home -- In Japan

 

No, the former president didn't live in Japan as a child.  This is an odd but true story.  In Nago, on the main Okinawan Island, a Japanese businessman constructed an exact replica of Bill Clinton's childhood home in Hope, Arkansas. The home was completed in the year 2000, when Mr. Clinton visited the island for the G-8 summit, although there is no record of him visiting the home. 

ABC News reported the cost of the house, complete with imported period-appropriate furniture and appliances from antique stores in the USA, cost $730,000 USD. For awhile it was a popular tourist attraction, but now seems to be forgotten.  It is on the private property of the Kanucha Bay Resort, across from the golf course in Nago, northern Okinawa.  

I visited Nago but I didn't know about this home at the time. If I get to travel to Okinawa again, I would like to have a look at this place. I'm not such a big fan of the former president, but I am curious to see what the home he grew up in was like. 

Here are the directions from the Stars and Stripes website:

Clinton House, Kanucha Bay Resort, Okinawa

Directions

Kanucha Bay Resort (www.kanucha.jp/en), with its hotel, villas, restaurants and golf course, is located at 156-2 Abu, Nago-shi, Okinawa-ken, 905-2263. To get there, head north on the expressway to Nago and take 329 to 331.

Times

The Clinton House is not open for tours, but visitors can view it anytime.

Japanese Pet Expenses Survey

Do you think Japanese people spend more on their dogs or their cats? A survey by Japanese pet insurance company Anicom Insurance revealed that pet owners spent more than twice as much on dogs as on cats!  The internet survey among the company's policy holders received 3,532 responses. Average annual spending on dogs was 347,104 yen, with only(?) 164,835 yen being spent on cats annually. 

The biggest expense for both was food and treats, amounting to 64,745 yen for dogs and 42,925 yen for cats a year. According to the chart below, over 10,000 yen a year is spent on dogs' clothing.  That might sound strange if you've never seen Japanese dogs.  They have more clothes than I do! Owners reported spending more on their pets than themselves on grooming and medical fees.  One answer was "I only get my hair cut once every two or three months but the dog goes for a trim every month." 

Do you have a pet? Does this line up with how much you spend a year on your cat or dog? Do you think Japanese pets are pampered and this is too much?  I'm curious and want to know what you think.

Friday Finish - Three Gift Bags

 I like using fabric bags for gifts instead of paper wrapping.  I made these three drawstring gift bags in an evening.

Dream Jobs of Japanese Children

Adecco, a Japanese company that provides human resource services, conducted a nationwide survey of 900 elementary and junior high school boys and girls about what they wanted to be when they grow up.  I always like these type of surveys. This one is especially interesting because it shows the differences between children of different school ages. Here are the survey results.

Does any of this surprise you? Why do so many Japanese girls want to be pastry bakers?  Is it because of all the cute little desserts here? Why do office worker type jobs go from the bottom of the list to the top in both girls and boys from elementary to junior high school?

What do you think would be the answers from children in your country today? What about children when you were in elementary or junior high school?

Work In Progress Wednesday

 More of the Mola Fish

 A little more of the Bunnies Afghan

A new start - a little cross stitch piece.