In Japan, election campaigning lasts two weeks, not the months and sometimes years like in the USA! You can see who is running on the boards that are posted around town. You can hear who is running because candidates drive around the neighborhoods with loud speaker vehicles, like this one. Their words are wasted on me because I can't vote in Japan, but I always wave to them anyway.
I am so proud of and pleased with the work of these stitchers. Their creativity is amazing!
Here is my simple purse design. If you look close, you can see one dragonfly, two butterflies, and three ants. Japanese has counter words that are used with the number, depending on what the thing is - flat, long and thin, machinery, small things, small animals, etc. I thought these three things would fall into the small animal group (piki, hiki, biki), but found out that butterflies are in the category with large animals (to). I piki tonbo, ni to chocho, san biki ari. Nihongo wa muzukashi desu!
Yes, that's correct! A finish! I thought I would work on the afghan a week, then go back to working on Mary, but I kept working on it. At first I was going to put hearts in the blank squares, but I didn't like how that looked, so I changed to tiny rose buds. I unraveled the edges and tied groups of eight threads together to make the fringe.
This is the first of my 17 in 2017 projects to be finished.
I was invited to and happy to attend the first BEBEC Harunoyoseue ga - denigu cafe or what I called the Garden Party. BEBEC stands for Be Encouraged, Be Emancipated, Community. The group has other events planned for the coming year, including a Mother's Day flower project, a cooking party, and a Christmas party. There will also be a radio interview on station KMIX on April 8th at 6 pm.
The first part of the party was making a basket flower garden. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures when we were doing this. My hands were full of dirt anyway. It was a very professional presentation on how to take the plants from the container to arrange them in the basket and how to take care of the little garden afterwards. My thumbs are not green, but I will try to take care of my garden.
Food preparation is not my strong point so I usually eat very simple meals. This luncheon was just amazing! Quite different from my usual fare. Everything was very delicious!
I really enjoyed this gathering and feel like I've made some new friends. Thank you for including me!
I've started stitching the rows of hexagons together. This cutting mat makes a handy holder for them.
When I walk to the train station on weekend mornings, I see a little flea market along the walking path. Usually I am not able to stop and look because I am going somewhere. Recently, I was just walking, not going anywhere in particular. I stopped to look and made a couple of purchases. It's an interesting mix of food and vegetables and children's clothing and hand made items and old things and other stuff. I bought ten spools and one card of thread, all for 500 yen. I also purchased 12 men's ties, all for 400 yen!
My Japanese "T" word is Temari - beautiful thread covered balls. Here is a description of Temari from temari.com:
A thousand year old craft from Japan, Temari is traditionally given as a gift. From humble beginnings as simple toy balls for children's play, Temari create a magnetic effect on viewers today. As a spectacular decorating focal point, the puzzle of the design is mesmerizing. The concept is elegantly simple, the end result is simply elegant!
Temari. com has a how-to lesson the website, if you are interested.
I would like to really learn to do this! I made one small beginner ball and started another that is still unfinished. Maybe someday....
Linking up with Chiara at The Grey Tail.
The things people will do to get a good view of Mt. Fuji! Just kidding! I saw these workmen when I was walking home from the grocery store.
I really love my job and my students. If there is a better situation for teaching in Japan, I don't know about it.
One of my classes was practicing what to say to show you are interested in what the speaker is saying. "That's interesting", "How nice!", "It is, isn't it?" went fine. When we got to "Oh, really?", the student said it very flat, and I had to laugh when I tried to explain the difference between sounding interested and sounding like you thought the speaker was not telling the truth. The two students understood and I have a feeling that "oh, really" is going to be an ongoing joke.
An upper level class was discussing gestures used in English and comparing them to those used in Japanese. In English, when I talk about myself, I point to my chest. In Japanese, you point to your nose. In English, when I want someone to come to me, I use my arm with palm up. In Japanese, you gesture palm down. One gesture my students had seen on television but didn't understand was the big in-air quote marks. There isn't an equivalent in Japanese. For the rest of the class, everything was in quotes. I was glad the middle finger gesture didn't come up!
I try to make my classes interesting and meaningful and if they can be fun that is an added bonus.
I let Mary rest this week and picked up this cross stitch afghan, another of my 17 in 2017 projects. I completed two more roses. I usually stitch in hand, but this loose weave fabric makes that difficult, so I am using a hoop. The little pattern that came with the fabric shows roses in 10 of the 20 squares and pink ribbons tied into bows on the other 10. I'm not crazy about pink bows, but I don't know if I want to leave those 10 squares blank. I'll think about that as I continue with the roses.
For the last few sessions, the stitchers have been learning and practicing stitches to be used on our little purses. Some are making coin purses, others pencil cases or holders for sun glasses. They each drew out a little design of the stitches they want to use on their project. I could have given them a pattern of the size of the purses and the stitches, but I want them to enjoy creating their own designs with the fabrics and threads they like. We will continue with this next time!
