4/28/2011

The cutest stray Shiba puppy!

Oh, God. I don't know it is a girl or a boy...but I met someone(?) who I want to snatch home immediately.


The cuttest stray Shiba puppy!!

S/he was wandering around my tea teacher's house.

Since s/he has the collar and the leash on, I took him/her to the tea teacher's.

S/he knows "Sit" and "Wait," and sooo cute when s/he smiles being praised and petted.



My tea teacher called some neighbors who know whose puppy s/he is, and s/he kicks onto the neighbor.

"Hi!" "I know you!"








"Let's play!! Hey...hey!"











Bye Cutie!!

I wanted to take the puppy back home to have him/her untill I can find the owner.Gee...

Tea ceremony

This is the last tea ceremony that I can serve tea before moving into the States.

I am in the spot to serve tea. I shouldn't do the peace sign in such a solemn place...but I did. I cannot smile without it. Sad nature.










My tea teacher and Me.

I have known her for 12 years!!
Always very generous. Loves the way of tea and flower arrangement.  Wanna be like her.

I am lucky to have many senior women I do respect.

4/22/2011

Work out my way

[Re-edited on the plane]

Oh, God, I am already bored. We left home at 4:30a.m., seeing my Taiwanese mom off around 6:00, waiting for 2.5 hours until my check-in time at 9:00a.m., and I am now at a café near my gate, which is supposed to open at 11:35a.m. Five-six hours have already passed. However, I heard some story from my Taiwanese parents on this way so now I update my blog before getting on board soon.

The story is about the time when they came to Canada 22 years ago, how they worked out their way to settle there. For the first two years, they couldn’t get a decent job. Since they had 3 little daughters they absolutely needed regular income. My Taiwanese mom started to work as a part-time teacher, also attending a high school with her daughter, handling all the household chores, and going to an unemployment office once a week to find a job for her husband. Her husband had to have some degree taken in Canada in order to get hired; he started to go to college. He studied there for 1 year, working at a bakery at night for 2 years. While she was commuting to the unemployment office regularly, one man there came to take care of them, always prepared with some possible job vacancies appropriate for him. He now works at the Pearson airport in Toronto, but the whole process of selection lasted for 5 months to be completed. They advised me, “To start, you’ve got to do any job and find a good one later.”

Listening to how they have made the way is always learning. I want my husband to find a job soon and work hard, and I am also excited to work in the States challenging myself like my Taiwanese mother. I realized whether English is the second language or not doesn’t matter to survive thanks to her. I will just learn more vocabularies, find a job and work hard there as I did in Japan. Being with her encourages me and inspires me.

This feeling was reinforced all the more because I read blogs by Japanese females who write about their international marriage life. I referred to one blog at “A “successful” survivor for Japanese girls,” but mostly other blogs at the top ranks in the genre are also basically boasts about their lives overseas with their foreign husbands and cute “half” babies. They might just want to show their lives to their families or friends, but I don’t understand why their titles have to be like this:

“My husband is a Korean younger than me!”   
(Okay, you are happy with his age and being Korean),
“My international marriage life with a French guy in New Zealand”
(You are proud that your husband is French. It is a good country, isn’t it?)
“My second marriage life with the Roberts in real-estate business”
(Okay, you could marry to a rich guy from a wealthy family
despite the fact that you had been a divorcee.)

…and the pictures of their top pages are often from their weddings…

Why do they have to specify what nationality their husbands’ are in the titles?

I wish their husbands could read what they write in their blogs…but I don’t know… They might not feel anything. It is true that some foreigners take advantage of such another type of “racism” and just feel comfortable. However, I would kill myself if my husband wrote a blog entitled “My wife is Japanese.” Oh disgusting…writing this even makes me sick… 

I have to say I am different from them. I blog NOT just because I married to an American guy or living overseas or intend to make my name through it like them BUT because I can clarify my thoughts through writing. I will work out my new life, teaming up with my husband like my Taiwanese parents. That’s my focus. I am just more than happy if I could share my perspectives and experiences with my husband, my family and friends, and someone I don’t know at a neutral standpoint through my blog.


4/21/2011

Good-bye my Taiwanese Mom and Dad

Today is the last day in Canada. We didn't do much at all. We have a lot of food still from Easter feast. We just gave a gift to the girl nextdoor as a token of gratitude, and bought souvenirs that I have to give to more than 40 people working in the high school which I quit last March. 

(It is a custom to give some money to people leaving as a going-away present in Japan. Also, it is mandatory to give something around half the amount of the cost back...I can do this because I am convincing myself that I won't have to do this stupid thing again.)

Anyway, early next morning (by 4:30am) I am leaving here. 

Although I will miss my Taiwanese mom and dad, I don't want to recall of this shed. 
I had to read the directions for him in the end and helped him build it in the wind, in the snow, and in the cold...

There is no groundwork under it. He says he will do it later, but how can he do the groundwork later?? I am sure it will be blown away on some windy day as soon as the roof is installed. I hope Buddha bless them, their house and the neighborhood. He seems to be satisfied with his job (although some parts are already torn due to strong wind) and appreciate that I happened to be here and helped. I am happy if he thinks that way.

They are like my parents. I really appreciate this opportunity and their kindness which allowed me to stay here for no less than 2 weeks. Without it, I wouldn't have stayed that long here or have learned anything from her. Especially I shared a lot of time and fun with my Taiwanese mom. She is my another mom I love, I respect, and I will care about always in my heart. How lucky I am. 




  

A "successful" survivor for Japanese girls

Since I have a lot of time, I surf on the Internet everyday.

I just wanted to know some useful info/possible problems before moving into the States. 

I happened to find a blog by a Japanese woman who describes herself as a winner since she "could" marry to an American doctor. She came to the States and went to a language school over 30 without any careers. She registered herself on an online matching service and met a doctor after having met dozens of guys. In the blog, she described how happy she was when she finally got a message from a doctor for the first time, how hard she tried to make him crazy about her, how much her husband loves her now as a result, and how successful she is now living in Hawaii. 

Good that she didn't get involved in any crimes.

I admire her, so strong to survive, but I was just shocked: she doesn't show any embarrassment or hesitation to talk about the ambition she had. She proudly talks how she chose who to meet by their professions and properties in the States. Her blog is Top 9 in the category of International marriage in a Japanese blog site. There seem some bunch of Japanese girls left their comments, saying something like they want to marry "any rich foreign guy" like her.

In their mind, those who "could" marry to foreign men are winners, and those who "could" marry to "rich" foreign men are the best winners of the winners.

When I got married to my husband, my students said, "I wanna have an international marriage too!" "How did you attract an American guy so as to make him marry you?"

Their mindset is wrong...

"There is no hierarchy among humans." 
One 19 year old Thai friend said this when I compared my little sister with her, who was around the same age as my sister. She was sent by the Thai government to study political science in Canada in order to become a high-officer in the future.


Although I believe that there are some people who this saying shouldn't be applied to, but I really want Japanese girls/my students to understand that saying and do away with their misbelief about race.


"Looking up to people by race hurt them as badly as looking down on people by their race."
- Pan :-P

Easter feast

Since both of my Taiwanese mon and I are leaving here (hers is just a short trip to the US) before the weekend, we had a Easter feast today.

I apologize in advance that today's content doesn't have such a strong impact as yesterday's...  Sorry, nothing gross.

She was making rice noodles. Here's the recipe....

Soak dried shitake mushrooms in hot water. Cut them when they get soft.
Cut other vegetables too.

Boil water. Add some vegetable oil. Put rice noodles in (should be "made in Taiwan"). Be sure not to over cook it till it gets soft.


Take them out onto a dish and cut them in pieces.







Put vegetable oil and soy sauce in the pan.






Mix the sauce with the rice noodles.






After stir fry the vegetables one by one,
mix everything on the plate.






Yay, Easter feast!
The turkey is soo tasty.
She just seasoned with soy sauce and salt and roasted only for 2 and half hours.  Amazingly tasty. I will make it someday.

Chinese people have soup at the end of the meal. They say it is for better digestion.






After we ate, she cut meat off the bones and made soup with them.

They never waste food and know how to make tasty and nutritious soup.











4/20/2011

Black chicken (Real)

Today, we are making special soup...

with this ↓↓↓↓↓↓



This is not a big frog having the long neck and legs, soaked in black ink for a long time.

It is thoroughly black chicken with everything black, just "bred in the bone."

I know, I know...but it is nutritious, good for women after childbirth.

If something is new to us, we've got to try! I'll eat it!!





Add some water in a pot.
Put paeoniae radix in cold water, and boil it.
(This is the kind of Chinese medicine I take)




Put the chopped chicken and wolf berries in.
Cook it for one hour.



The chicken is also called "Silk chicken." The meat is finer than the usual chicken. No smell.

The skin is black but the meat is white.
Surprisingly, the bones are black.
Yes, it looks scary and gross.




  
I made okonomiyaki. They loved it, no, maybe they loved the sauce. I was banned to put the sauce on it a lot 'cause they want to enjoy the sauce long. Magic sauce...makes everyone crazy about it.

I love the dish, stir fried mix of corn, edamames, chopped carrot and pork. Colorful and tasty.











Magic sauce


Easter is coming. My Taiwanese mom bought a pumpkin pie.  Yum Yum.