Dear Diary, I believe in wormholes

These past two weeks have been...very strange. I can't even explain why.

Let's just say that I feel like I have been in a wormhole...

I'd be in one place and before you know it...wham!...somewhere else...

Totally trippy week.

So...instead of going on and on about time and space...here are a few snippets of what I saw and did....

I went shopping for new slacks because I ripped a pair (!?) and at the department store I noticed the displays for yukata...the traditional Japanese kimono for summertime. Times are changing, the bow arrangements (obi) are so different these days!

I finally got my visa renewed....it cost 4,000 yen for a three year VISA.

After you get your VISA renewed in Japan, you have to go to your local city office or ward office in order to have them update your residency status on the "alien registration card" you are required to have with you 24-7.

A few years ago I forgot to do this and got "scolded" at my ward office.

Hilarious.

When I went to my local city office to get this done, I noticed that they had an interesting sign out front...

It says:　photochemical smog official report bulletin board
There are 4 different levels and the higher the forecasts get the more you are urged to stay indoors.


We haven't had an alert since I moved to this city, but it is historically known for pollution with a few lawsuits still pending.


I think it was last year or the year before, a city I used to work in had to actually cancel schools because of this "photochemical smog" stuff... Children where becoming ill from running around outside! Argh.


...


Oh, and then it was the 4th of July and since (according to my passport and all those VISA papers), I am American I had my own little celebration...senkou hanabi! (Japanese sparkler type fire crackers).
The picture came out...really...weird...but here it is:

Happy Independence Day!
I forget who is independent of whom sometimes...but I love America for all it is and all it can be.

And after July 4th comes my special anniversary.


I came to Japan 24 years ago on July 7th.


July 7th in Japan (and I think China too?) is Tanabata.
The day Hikoboshi and Ori Hime (a couple who became the stars Altair and Vega) get to meet in the heavens after a year of being seperated by the Milky Way.


Setting aside the Milky Way's major control issues..it is said that if you write a wish on pretty paper and tie it to a bamboo tree, the two stars will make your wish come true since they are so happy to be together on this one special day... if it doesn't rain.

I use to wonder if I came to Japan to meet my Altair...

as my husband guzzles beer and stares at his mobile phone on the couch...

I wonder....

ANYWHOO

I went outside on Tanabata night to see if I could see at least one star. But even without a "photochemical smog alert" it was just plain cloudy since it is the rainy season...

But I did get a glimpse of the moon:

turned out harry Potter-ish...

In between shopping for pants, getting my VISA and staring at the sky, I did a teeny bit of housework and found a box of books that I had brought with me to Japan 24 years ago...

The one in the middle (Girl Sleuth by Melanie Rehak) is a new edition (obviously since it was published just a few years ago, a non fiction book about the people behind the name of the author Carolyn Keene):

I use to be an avid reader of Nancy Drew books... I was shocked to find out that Carolyn Keene was not a "real" person... Although I don't read these books anymore I can't bring myself to get rid of them...
I'm hoping that one of these days I will be able to display them on my "mystery-books-shelf"...

(I'm aiming for a look similar to Delwyn's and a tad bit similar to what I found on Jamie's blog with a pinch of Laura's taste....)

Without sufficient shelf space I have recently made my pile of books larger with these:

I also bought a magazine, something I haven't been doing lately since they ARE SO EXPENSIVE...
(2000 yen for the latest issue of MONOCLE!)

The Big Issue is a magazine I buy every chance I get...I wrote about it before here.
And since Willow introduced some of her favorite magazines and I thought it would be neat for me to do too, here are some of my favorites:

I can't buy the New Yorker and Mental Floss now because the company that I used to work for was the importer of these magazines...and well...the company went bankrupt last year.

The Rolling Stone I can still buy as well as Marie Claire idees (which I can't read since it is in French but I just love the pictures and crafts!)

One of my favorite Japanese magazines is Tennen Seikatsu and it features recipes, eco friendly crafts, and lifestyles....

Speaking of lifestyles, hopefully I will be able to get back on track soon.
I will be going to Nagasaki over the weekend for a Buddhist ceremony...my father-in-law's third year after passing away...
...

Before the weekend I will have to write 1 report, update an English manual (all for work) and pack... and all the other stuff in between that people need to do...like read.

!

Which reminds me that I need to write about Pope Joan ( a book I finished reading which was great!) and I still haven't blogged about a concert I went to....

!

which reminds me that I am going to a Simon and Garfunkel concert next week!

...

I better go to sleep now before I remind myself of more stuff...

Hope you are having a splendid week!

The Big Issue

One of the things I do when I get to Motomachi Station in Kobe is

look for the guy who sells The Big Issue. If it is not raining he is usually out front with the latest issue in hand. The Japanese editions are 300 yen per magazine and there are two issues a month, each sold on the 1st and 15th. The Big Issue is a magazine sold by homeless vendors who get a portion of the sales they make. This job requires a lot of self discipline and management skills and will help the vendors get back on their feet. Several countries around the world have their own issues.

Right now even 300 yen (about $3.15) can be big spending for a lot of people, but if you are going to buy a magazine it might as well be something with great articles as well as a good cause.

One of my favorite articles in the magazine is written every month by a young Japanese veterinarian, Asuka Takita. She has two sites, one web page in Japanese and the other in English (which is extraordinary!) Unfortunately, she hasn't updated it recently, and with her schedule I can understand why. The official site for Wild Life Direct is a gem and you can find lots of updated information there on endangered species etc.

Asuka writes about the hardships she encounters in Africa while helping local government and veterinarians to help save the wildlife from poachers and other disasters. Sometimes it seems like a lost cause with all of the conflicts raging in Africa, but the determination of this young vet will give anybody hope! She is younger than I am but wiser a million times over.

In Japan there is a saying "tsume no aka wo senjite nomu". It is used when you want to be like someone or have even a speck of someone's wisdom. The translation sounds kind of gross being: brew and drink the grime of a fingernail...

Ehem.

It means that - even the grime from the fingernail of someone that worthy is worth brewing into tea for someone like me to drink, in hopes of becoming more like that person.

IN OTHER WORDS - I'd do just about anything to be more like that.

Sometimes parents say this to their kids in hopes of disciplining them but nobody takes it literally so you don't have to worry about getting a strange type of tea when you are in Japan.

Speaking of tea, green tea canisters are fairly cheap and nice things to buy when you visit Japan.

They are air tight so you can storage any type of dried food or tea and they come in all sorts of sizes, colors and designs! I have two for two different types of green tea.