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Life and Project Updates
Apr. 19th, 2023 08:28 pmI forgot to update LJ, and a lot has happened in the last month or so. I made a playlist and a write up here and here celebrating Music Travel Love/The Moffatts.
I spent this last week reading The Guest Cat by Takeshi Hiraide after having the book in my possession for almost ten years. The copy itself is quite dog eared and beat up. (I even have cherry blossoms from the previous season pressed inside!) This is because I carried it in my bag based on the idea that seeing in my bad would pressure me to read. It didn't work. I can't say why I attempted to read it so many times only to quit about halfway through.
I think that at least part of the reason is due to burnout from my university days. The piles of assigned readings that kept me up late for many nights sucked the joy out of reading for a long time. And, I really enjoyed my Japanese literature classes!
This last week has been a blur. (Even this week is passing by quickly!) But I started the book for the umpteenth time on Sunday or Monday last week. Part of this is because I wanted to have something to do on the train during my work commutes. Recently, I haven't been able to connect to the Nagoya public WiFi - it doesn't even show up on the list of available networks on any of my devices. I'm not sure if the service is undergoing system maintenance, if the service has been removed all together, or if I've been banned. What happens if you've been banned from a network? Does it not show up on the list of available networks? What do you see?
In the past, I've seen messages displayed on a public WiFi homepage reading, "Your IP address has been banned," likely due to abuse from a previous user who used that IP address. In any case, the situation is weird, and I will have to discuss it with train staff to troubleshoot the problem. And yes, I realise that I'm living my life like it's 1999 with no mobile internet.
But, I digress. The limited internet access outside of my home has forced me to find other thing to do on the train other than to mindlessly scroll through Reddit for the duration of the commute. Once I actually sat down with The Guest Cat and maintained my focus, I came to the realisation that it was a light reading. Once I got started, I couldn't put it down.
Although the novel gives the readers many reminders that the story takes place during the final year of the Shōwa Period and the early years of the Heisei Period, it could have taken place during the present. Even with the rise of the internet and technology, I like to think that the relationship with our pets has remained mostly the same - though technology has made it easier to share pictures of our pets, and the internet has brought us an endless assortment of cat videos to easily fill a Saturday afternoon.
The story of The Guest Cat chronicled the relationship between a couple who didn't much care for cats in the beginning. But over time, they gradually warmed up to a curious and sassy neighbourhood cat that they would affectionately name Chibi or Tinkerbell. Names that they used interchangeably. The setting heavily focused on a location coined, Lightening Alley, which was said to be part of a neighbourhood in the Shinjuku ward of Tokyo.This resonated with me a lot because I used to live in a flat not far outside of Shinjuku. I've even walked home on multiple occassions after all night karaoke. It's quite nostalgic for me because it has been many years since the last time I've been to Tokyo.
A neighbourhood lady, Ms. Muddy came up in the story struck me at first as a nondescript NPC, but I suppose her name stuck in a way. This is because I was teaching a kinder student when I slipped up doing printing corrections, writing muddy instead of mud for the student to trace as writing practise. I ended up having to use a red pen to write "mud" over the text that I already wrote for her in Mild Liner. The student went on to ask me what mud/muddy meant, and I checked my dictionary to confirm in Japanese that the word was 泥（どろ）. I also recognised this as the first part of 泥棒（どろぼう）, translated as thief. I thought it was interesting to learn later that this was actually noted in the footnotes at the end of the book. I later explained to the student that teachers aren't perfect either - we make mistakes too.
As expected, the novel also touched on mono no aware without directly addressing it by name, marking the eventual passing of Chibi, as well as the sale and demolition of the guest house where the couple lived. But, we're reminded at the end of the story that life does go on. There are ways to help us process and compartmentalise the past, while simultaneously preparing us for the next stage of our lives.
My present life is a reminder that, where I recently got the experience of teaching at a 保育園 (ほいくえん, nursery). I found out while I was subbing there that I'm very good with babies and toddlers. I quickly realised that aside from eating and sleeping, they just want our attention. I've found that some of these kids will cry incessantly until they are held and walked around. I incorrectly believed that some of these kids had a case of colic at first.
One of the babies I cared for preferred the vantage point of an adult because there was so much more stimuli. She could see everything that was going on in the room, and she watched very intently as other teachers retrieved supplies.
These kids were quite responsive to 1950s-1960s style do-wop types of songs that I free styled outside of the designated "English Time." I distinctly remember the baby that I was usually paired with got excited and clapped at Totoro Stroll in English, and The Beatles' HELP.
Another note about mono no aware - I documented during my travels last week the removal of the Shōwa Era signs from Imaike Station.You can tell the signs are dated from the Shōwa Era because of the serifs, and the overall style of the hiragana. I think it's a shame, but I can only hope that the sign ended up in a museum somewhere.
Just by a quick look at my YouTube page, you can tell that this month has been a busy one for me. I spent a great deal filming during the peak of the cherry blossom season for another video that I hope to release after my upcoming vlog documenting the Traveler's Company Caravan event in Inuyama.
I hope that going forward, I can update this blog on a more regular basis. I have to remember the reason that I started it in the first place is because I want to try to get away from corporate social media where possible, and connect with people on my own terms.
I sit here at a Denny's Diner as I write in my Traveler's Notebook, and I will more than likely be at home to transcribe this on my blog. I hope that today will be my final day of filming for these upcoming videos, but we'll see. I have began to hear the faint chirping of cicadas at night, which means that the hot and sticky Japanese summer is looming.
*None of this content is sponsored.
I spent this last week reading The Guest Cat by Takeshi Hiraide after having the book in my possession for almost ten years. The copy itself is quite dog eared and beat up. (I even have cherry blossoms from the previous season pressed inside!) This is because I carried it in my bag based on the idea that seeing in my bad would pressure me to read. It didn't work. I can't say why I attempted to read it so many times only to quit about halfway through.
I think that at least part of the reason is due to burnout from my university days. The piles of assigned readings that kept me up late for many nights sucked the joy out of reading for a long time. And, I really enjoyed my Japanese literature classes!
This last week has been a blur. (Even this week is passing by quickly!) But I started the book for the umpteenth time on Sunday or Monday last week. Part of this is because I wanted to have something to do on the train during my work commutes. Recently, I haven't been able to connect to the Nagoya public WiFi - it doesn't even show up on the list of available networks on any of my devices. I'm not sure if the service is undergoing system maintenance, if the service has been removed all together, or if I've been banned. What happens if you've been banned from a network? Does it not show up on the list of available networks? What do you see?
In the past, I've seen messages displayed on a public WiFi homepage reading, "Your IP address has been banned," likely due to abuse from a previous user who used that IP address. In any case, the situation is weird, and I will have to discuss it with train staff to troubleshoot the problem. And yes, I realise that I'm living my life like it's 1999 with no mobile internet.
But, I digress. The limited internet access outside of my home has forced me to find other thing to do on the train other than to mindlessly scroll through Reddit for the duration of the commute. Once I actually sat down with The Guest Cat and maintained my focus, I came to the realisation that it was a light reading. Once I got started, I couldn't put it down.
Although the novel gives the readers many reminders that the story takes place during the final year of the Shōwa Period and the early years of the Heisei Period, it could have taken place during the present. Even with the rise of the internet and technology, I like to think that the relationship with our pets has remained mostly the same - though technology has made it easier to share pictures of our pets, and the internet has brought us an endless assortment of cat videos to easily fill a Saturday afternoon.
The story of The Guest Cat chronicled the relationship between a couple who didn't much care for cats in the beginning. But over time, they gradually warmed up to a curious and sassy neighbourhood cat that they would affectionately name Chibi or Tinkerbell. Names that they used interchangeably. The setting heavily focused on a location coined, Lightening Alley, which was said to be part of a neighbourhood in the Shinjuku ward of Tokyo.This resonated with me a lot because I used to live in a flat not far outside of Shinjuku. I've even walked home on multiple occassions after all night karaoke. It's quite nostalgic for me because it has been many years since the last time I've been to Tokyo.
A neighbourhood lady, Ms. Muddy came up in the story struck me at first as a nondescript NPC, but I suppose her name stuck in a way. This is because I was teaching a kinder student when I slipped up doing printing corrections, writing muddy instead of mud for the student to trace as writing practise. I ended up having to use a red pen to write "mud" over the text that I already wrote for her in Mild Liner. The student went on to ask me what mud/muddy meant, and I checked my dictionary to confirm in Japanese that the word was 泥（どろ）. I also recognised this as the first part of 泥棒（どろぼう）, translated as thief. I thought it was interesting to learn later that this was actually noted in the footnotes at the end of the book. I later explained to the student that teachers aren't perfect either - we make mistakes too.
As expected, the novel also touched on mono no aware without directly addressing it by name, marking the eventual passing of Chibi, as well as the sale and demolition of the guest house where the couple lived. But, we're reminded at the end of the story that life does go on. There are ways to help us process and compartmentalise the past, while simultaneously preparing us for the next stage of our lives.
My present life is a reminder that, where I recently got the experience of teaching at a 保育園 (ほいくえん, nursery). I found out while I was subbing there that I'm very good with babies and toddlers. I quickly realised that aside from eating and sleeping, they just want our attention. I've found that some of these kids will cry incessantly until they are held and walked around. I incorrectly believed that some of these kids had a case of colic at first.
One of the babies I cared for preferred the vantage point of an adult because there was so much more stimuli. She could see everything that was going on in the room, and she watched very intently as other teachers retrieved supplies.
These kids were quite responsive to 1950s-1960s style do-wop types of songs that I free styled outside of the designated "English Time." I distinctly remember the baby that I was usually paired with got excited and clapped at Totoro Stroll in English, and The Beatles' HELP.
Another note about mono no aware - I documented during my travels last week the removal of the Shōwa Era signs from Imaike Station.You can tell the signs are dated from the Shōwa Era because of the serifs, and the overall style of the hiragana. I think it's a shame, but I can only hope that the sign ended up in a museum somewhere.
Just by a quick look at my YouTube page, you can tell that this month has been a busy one for me. I spent a great deal filming during the peak of the cherry blossom season for another video that I hope to release after my upcoming vlog documenting the Traveler's Company Caravan event in Inuyama.
I hope that going forward, I can update this blog on a more regular basis. I have to remember the reason that I started it in the first place is because I want to try to get away from corporate social media where possible, and connect with people on my own terms.
I sit here at a Denny's Diner as I write in my Traveler's Notebook, and I will more than likely be at home to transcribe this on my blog. I hope that today will be my final day of filming for these upcoming videos, but we'll see. I have began to hear the faint chirping of cicadas at night, which means that the hot and sticky Japanese summer is looming.
*None of this content is sponsored.
