Malaysia

I visited several schools in Malaysia.
Malaysia was interesting for me... mixed culture, mixed language, mixed people!



Curry. Wehere are the silverware? We dont use them. yes we use our hand. you gather the rice with and try to make a small ball, and dip it into curry.
i awas trying to eat as instructed, but since this was so spicy, from the middle of lunch, my stomach got upset ;; toooo spicy


everything is on a Banana leaf!!




Middle school in Penang. School assembly in the morning.
They all had uniforms, some students had differnt colored ones.



School Policy


]
A visit to musk. Like visiting japanese temples, i suggest you to know some of the dos and donts before entering.
take off your shoes, no photos inside, etc it may just bea fun visit to "one of the sightseen places" but for most people who visit here its a respectful place.
You need to appriciate to be there even if you are only there on holiday


This person is curving the board for signs.
these are written in chinese

SUSHI TALK 4 Sushi restaurants Over sea WONDERS

What does SUSHI restaurant look like?


Japanese Sushi restaurant and one oversea is somewhat different.
In US, you can find a japanese sushi restaurant in many cities as it getting popular, however its menu is something new to Japanese.

1. MENU
I will introduce some things i was shocked seen in the menu.

This is one of the dish from a menu in one japanese sushi bar in USA.

" house salad" spring mix, tomatoes, carrots, cucumber, and daikon radish with a honey/soy/ginger vinaigrette. topped with wasabi peas
When we go out to eat "sushi", we normally only eat Sushi or fish, and maybe some Tempura,but we rarely see "salad" on the menu.

"edamame" chilled edamame topped with sweet soy vinaigrette
Yes, we eat edamame a lot, but sweet soy? ugggh, never heard of it! its salt!

"kimchee and rice"
korean pickled vegetables, sushi rice, and cucumber
IKimchee is Korean food :)

"pan fried vegetable dumplings"
This is very popular food in japan- in Izakaya(Traditional Grill and Bar style jp restaurant), or Chinese restaurant, but in Sushi bar.
Its like you order Pancake and then eat Pizza afterwards. Each food is good, but we dont eat both of them together



2. NAMES
When you see JP restaurants names, many of them sound very boring.
In foregin countries where English is spoken, you will not wanna name a fast food restaurant "Hamburger", or "Statue of Liberty".
majority of the Sushi bar names i have seen is
City names- Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara etc..
Simple words that represents Japan- Fujiyama, Sumo, Kabuki, Geisha, Taisho,Hinomaru, Bonsai, Kimono



We would NOT choose these to name a restaurant.

to be continued...

SUSHI TALK 3 "Nigiri and Maki"

IF we say Sushi, it normally means "nigiri"

but there are several types of sushi :)
this.


a slice of fish called "sashimi" is on top of vinegered rice.
the toppings, are called " sushi thosoe toppings are wrapped around a thins strip of nori (seaweed) those are Tamago-egg, tako- octopus. and so on.

it is pretty hard to make nigiri sushi, well anyone can make any nigiri sushi, but not a GOOD one like my mom can make!
oh she is good.
If you come to Osaka, anyone who wants to try "home made sushi made by mom"
come to my place! haha

since i was a little child, i loved sushi.
my mo says its b she and my daddy loved it so much that they
had sushi for dinner often, whenever they had a chance.
so of course baby me would ge a bit of sushi but cooked.
beause sashimi fish, are raw- not cooked (but very very fresh)
ts not good for a baby baby. so she used to boil the fresh fish (which is like washing your hair before going to a pool or something.) haha such a mottainai thing to do. ut for little babies we need to be extra careful about food!!
anyways, so i was raised eating lots of lots of fish :)
love it.


fairly easy to make- makizushi
looks like this





its commonly eaten everywhere and also easy to make it for lunchbox or bring to work because its simple!!!
you can put different veges, thin omlet, even chicken , actually anything you like. but NOT anything with waterly things. if you go to a sushi restaurant in foregin countries i often see makizushi with interesting neta inside. chicken, teriyakichicken! thas very very foregin... we dont eat teriyaki as much as foreginers do :) haha but its yummy, i tried it in Australia and i thought it "was pretty good. but maybe Sushi masters of japan will say " this is rediculous!!

SUSHI TALK- 2 Why WASABI?

Do you know Wasabi?
Yes, its the green spicy stuff we eat with Suchi.
What is it made of?

Wasabi leafs look like this.

Japanese horseradish


Yes its damm spicy, and when i was a child, i had to ask the chefs to make a special one without swasabi. we calthis "sabi nuki" meaning "wihout wasabi"


Wasabi is generally sold either in the form of a root.
But its hard to it at home.... so we normally buy the tube ones.
its a ready to use wasabi, and normally it has briger coloring in it so its more green than a grated ones.


it looks like a tooth paste, but dont you dare brush your teeth with it, you will get very very sick.

So why do we put Wasabi in Sushi if its so spicy?
To answer this question, we go back to old times- edo period.
Wasabi is like a natural herb that has medical effect to prevent from food poisoning when served with uncooked fish

For me, i canot eat sushi without wasabi- thats how much i love wasabi., sometimes i make wasabi dressing for salad. its pretty good, i just add lemon juice to a pinch of wasabi it goes well with fish of course, seafood and even beef!!! its great flavor!!!


wasabi dressing with soy sauce. yum yum

it is also used in snacks .

rice crackers covered with wasabi




wasabi flavored peanutes

Sushi TALK- 1. Maguro 2.Salmon 3.Hamachi

For many many years, my answer to this question hasnt changed.
what is your favorite food?
of course... SUSHI!
WhenI was in America, some people asked me if i ate sushi every day in Japan and maybe Japanese people would consider this a "stereo typical question" but for me it wasnt. because it was my favorite food and i wouldnt mind eating it everyday. So i didn't get sick of this question, iused to say " i wish!"


So, what is my favorite sushi?
I couldnt decide, so i wrote three sushi that i normally order, absolutely never miss.

MAGURO- also known as TUNA
(bright red ones are regular Maguro, the pink ones are called TORO, which are translated as Fatty tuna, since there are only little that can be taken from one Tuna fish, they are expensive!)


When i was still a child, i didnnow all the names of fish but i loved sushi. so When eating out with my family i used to say " i want the red one"
and my father knew what it was. They never taught me the word was Maguro because they thought it was cute that i said " the red one" so they didnt want me to get the name right. Now im 26 but sometimes i tdaddy " i wanna red one" and he says "ok, ill order for you"
Maguro can be eaten as just a regular NIGIRI which is rice ball with a slice of tuna fish on top, or also like this

This is called TEKKA maki(鉄火巻き)　and it is rolled with seaweed. its so yumy

Salmon-Many foreginers love Salmon sushi, i was watching TV the other day and they talked about the popular sushi fish by foreginers living in Japan and umber one was salmon!



Just for information, according to "what is your favorite sushi fish?" ranking by goo, women answeres salmon sushi to be number two!!
Salmon is not too popular among "REAL SUSHI MASTERS" because its history is not too long. compared to MAGURO. after having the Kaiten zushi( Kaiten-zushi are inexpensive sushi restaurants where plates of sushi rest on a circular conveyer belt. You can take any plate that is available or you can ask the sushi chef to prepare something different orspecial.) Salmon appered on a menu.

Salmon has a rich taste like butter, so if you like something very very simple, salmon might not be your favoite.Go for Maguro first.

At last, i cannot talk about suchi without Hamachi....
Hamachi is translated as young yellow tal.
Why is it "young" yellowtail? because when its "grown" the name changes to " buri"
So, its a same fish- but let me tell you, it tastes different! personally i like Buri better, but it is seasonal stuff, and you dont often get to eat it. whereas hamachi is eaten almost year around so this time for may ranking i put Buri.
would they look different?



hamachi (young)




Buri (gorwn up)


you can tell its much fatter than hamachi


I hope this entry helped you to gain some knowledge on my favorite sushi!!! next time i wil talk about different types of sushi!!! Thanks to my friend Abi who suggested to talk about Sushi- probably the most famous Japanese food in the whole world :) she wanted to know about it and i thought itll be great to introduce Japanese fod culture on my blog!

豚のいた教室 a japanese movie- buta no ita kyoushitsu

I think this movie was made for audiences to seriously think about "life" and "death" through the experience of keeping a pet, however in many european, north american countries would probably not allow children to watch this particular movie.

in Japan whn it cmae out it wasnt PG 13 or anything- everoyne could watch it.

The story takes place in a primary school in japan, a class of 6th grade.

in japan we graduate primary school after 6 ears, and they will go on to middle school which is three years long. so a teacher comes in to the classroom one day at the very beginning of the school year and said " This is a little piggy we are going to keep!" and children got happy andall said

"wow, what a cute little guy" but that didnt last long because the teacher said...

" and, after keeping it we are going to eat it"

the whole class went "eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!" (in japanese, whaaaaat?)

of course, the other faculties were against his idea of keeping a pig.

he stated this was a "very big decision making process for the children, and a chance for them to really think about what life is"

so the princepal thought this was interesting because noone has ever done it befor, so she approved this idea and watchedd over. soon the 6th graders started to make a big house for the pig which was their own idea to surprise the teacher. they remained after school to work on it and when a princepall saw them working together for one purpose, she thought that approving this idea wasnt mistake.

then the time passed and pig was getting bigger, and needed more and more food.

children and the teacher asked the kitchen staffs to give them leftover veges- but there was a problem, some kids started to spend money on the pig's food, and others left their lunch on purpose to give the pig full. of course, parents were not happy about the whole "pig" situation and one day some mums came to school with their angry faces and met wit a princepal and the teacher.

"It is hard to understand whether my child is going to school to study, or to only take care of that pig!"

"I know you are very young and unexperienced, so maybe you are not really aware of the class management yet."

"my daughter comes home smells soooooooooo bad"



and the complains continued.



the princepal asked the moms

" WE are so sorry that you are feeling very angry about this. and we understand how you feel now.

let me ask you, has any of your children ever complained about taking care of the pig at home?"

and noone said yes.

and the principal continued,

"this young man, next to me, is a very good teacher, a great one who is dedicated to children' education. and he works his best at all times.his way of doing things may be a little different and something new to you, but i couldnt deny that his passion toward this lesson of life is very big. so please, could you watch it over and see what happens? please."

they couldnt say anything. and they leave.



many children started to feel very sad about making decisions whether the pig need to be eaten or not. So the teacher had the students to say any opinion they have and said there was no right or wrong answers. one needs to respect another's opinion just the way it is and raise their hands if they wanna say something.

so each child started to say their opinion, and many of them said that the pig has become a part of their class and that they would feel to mean to kill it and eat it afterwards.



but others said that everyone had started keeping a pig as a pet knowing that at the end they will take responsibility by eating it. so if it is so easy to say "we are too sad to kill it now" its giving up taking responsibility, after we graduate from this place who will take care of the pig?



so the discussion went on and on. some started to argue very loudly and said that the others were so mean and cruel that they had no heart for saving animals' life- but others said that the pig will die no matter what miracles happen, and if we have to risk the pig will not be taken care of and being ignored we can see it as he also will "graduate" fro, this school with the whole class.



The teacher doesnt say anything for the whole time, and the discussion gets hotter and hotter.



one girl asks the biiiiiiiiiii question.



" teacher, who decides the length of life?"



he sais " i think noone can decide it"



and the girl said



" but right now we are trying to decide how long "pchan" will live."



the time passes and the class is much stronger and closer in a relatinship as a result of everyday discussion. and there are no secrets, everyone is free to speak their own opinion.



the pig issue was known all over the school and one female teacher who was at first against this idea came up to him one day and said " Im in charge of the third grade, and i have talked about the pig to my class. my students all want to take over your duty and keep the pig next year. i have made a brief plan so could you go through it"

he said thank you, and next day he told the 6th grades this.

so all the students visited 3rd grades and from that day they started to teach how to take care of pchan. they are so much smaller and younger, what they could do wasnt good enough to keep the big pig under good care. the pig ran off the fence and the 6th graders had to chase it after and bring it back.

they all had decided that it is too hard for 3rd grades to take care of the pig. they had a discussion again, and they also said that 3rd gardes also will have huge trouble just like them what are they going to do after a year? passing it onto someone else seems like a smart idea but really is

running away from a problem, not solving one. so they go overto 3rd grade classroom again and apologize and explain that they will not be able to give the pig to them.

3rd grades try to stop them and pursuade them but 6th graders said

" we have discussed this so much. and this is our final decision. it is for the best sake. im sorry"



and it was only few days before graduation and they really had to decide

yes or no

so they took a vote.

it was 18-18. a tie.

so they split into two teams and they had a debate.

everyone startd crying as they talked about pchan, because they all love it but they also knows that

they need to take responsibility somehow.



so after they talked as they cry so loud...

he had everyone vote again.

the result didnt change, it was half and half

and they said " what about your vote, teacher?"

and he said



"since i am in charge of your class, i have to deicde the final decision. but this 18-18 is a resulf of your ideas and opinions. and i am so proud of you that you really had loong time expressing your thoughs and really consider about what life is. tomorrow i will tell you."



and it was the day before the graduation and he had everyone gathered up in front of the pig house and said " i thought pchan needs to be here with us.





"You have worked so hard on thinking so much about this issue for the whole year. it was moree than i expected. you did great. but now i have to tell you what is going to happen to p chan.

i have decided that i will send pchan to food processing center. we will not keep him.

so that is my vote, and it will make 19-18. i know all of you feel sad. but im thinking that

this class has become very very good in terms of exchanging our opinions.

everyone take one tomato and feed him. and he will be taken away "



they feed the pig and the truck took off.



at the last part, he talks to the youn teacher who offered to take care of the pig.

she says " i wasnt good enough to tale your responsibiliy?"

and he said

" no, no!!" its not like that. i had promised children that from the beginning and

sometimes i was so worried and concerned if i was asking kids too much, and if i was doing something absolutely crazy to teach kids the importance of life, am i suffering them, and leaving this decision to children was very bad idea. so i had to take my responsibility on making my own decision for them. it was my job as a teacher."



Sorry it was sooooooooooooooooooo long becuase its like a 2 hour movie bu i thought you will be interesting. do u think this kind of movie can be viewd in US, NEW Zealand. Italy, France, Australia, Spain, Canada and others? i think it is difficult in christian based country.. i mean there are many religions but right now basically english speaking countries there are many christians and i find it hard for them to accept that kids will be able to watch this content.



i lerned from this movie that sometimes when kids make decisions, we do not need to really do anything for them, we just guide them to make their own instead of doing it for them, but expressing opinions and be confident with it is not always easy for everyone, but having a chance to discuss anymatter is very important and useful skills for life. I would love to have a whole class have a discussion going on i could come up with great themes. and respecting each other is a grat way for any relationships!

love, friendship, family, even the nation.

if we could respect other country as much as we do our own, there will be no war!

colors in school スクールの中の色

いろんな保育所を世界中で周って思ったこと
建物の中にとりいれている色が
とっても明るいこと。
虹とか　赤青黄　など
やさしい色　よりも　明るい色！　が目立った。
私がスクールをするときは
全体的には明るく
でも、やさしい色の部屋もあったらいいなぁーって思う★
色わけは、字が読めない子のためにも認識がしやすいし
母国語が違う子供たちが共存していても色分けはわかりやすいし、先生たちも
管理しやすいほうがいいと思う★

colors in school are important!!

normally preschool and kindergarten have bright colors on their walls and classrooms, they have colorful foams on the floor and different colored shelves.
its nice. kids will see different colored boxes and know where to put away certain things:)
If i have my own school, i want the school to be bright colored but also wanna have few rooms that are quit colors. ( how big would my schoolbe? haha)
maybe the library should be a little quiet colors- using the child's psychology ;)

Who is the most popular singer in Japan? ARASHI

私が担当している中3生も受験シーズンを迎え、毎日することはテスト、過去問、長文、文法問題、などはっきりいって「楽しい」とは言えない授業。
受験のために！っていうのがあるけれど、自分自身日本語ばかりの授業でしんどいなぁって思いながらも、その中でも少しでも英語の楽しさとツールとしての英語をぜひ使えるようになってほしいとの思いから
「海外からきたメールの返事を書こう」
という宿題をだした。
3人返事を書いてくれたので、その一人一人に設定な同じ人からだけど相手によって話すトピックをかえ、話を展開していくことにした。
意外にも、それぞれ　好きなスポーツの話とか家族の話とか教えてくれて面白かった。
本当によくありそうな会話に近づけるためにアメリカにいる実在する友達の
プロフィールを元に彼女になりきって返事を書いているのだが
生徒たちにとっても友達とは違う内容の返事がくることや相手のことを英語で知っていくこと自分のことを英語で伝えていくことの楽しさを少しわかってくれたみたいですごくうれしい！

その中でも、架空の人物　jennifer がした質問は
who is the most popular singer in japan?

それに対して全員の答えが
arashi. 嵐　だった

嵐は今大人気のアイドルグループで
グループでも人気、個々でも人気という
絶好調の歌って踊れる人たち。

Arashi is one of the most popular singer in japan, when junir high school girls are asked " who is your favorite singer?" they will answer "arashi"Im not familier with japanese idols even though i am japanese, i cant deny that every channel you flick you will see them singing or dancing or talking on music shows, variety shows (talk shows) quiz shows and so on.

They are ARASHI.
Every teenage girl loves arashi. believe or not...

合格 I've passed!

って今日も★
today one of my student told me she has passed the entering exam for high school.
As i talked in previous entry it is called war of exams. This is probably the time for junior high schoolers to study the longest time ever in their whole life-
whether they passed or not, i want them to feel happy that they did their best after the test.
どんどんいいニュースが聞けることを祈っています

　　This is an image of a group of people who are in front of the board which shows the "winner"'s JUKENBANGOU 受験番号、exam number- if your number is on the list, you've got accepted.

South Bank, Melbourne

hiyo_shock2/}私も、自分の彼も　近くに
楽しい海がない環境で育ち、ビーチで泳いだり日焼けしたり
サーフィンしたりっていうことからはかけはなれている。
だからこそ、海外にいって泳げるってなると
それが　ほんものであろうが　fake であろうが
そんなの関係ねー
こんな風に楽しければね！
southbank, melbourne


無料！　ではいれる　fake のビーチ。
でもお砂はちゃんとほんもので　しかもゴールドコーストのお砂。
私たちは「ゴールドコーストいかんでも、ここでいいやん」っていうくらい楽しんでしまった♪　私はしかも　まわりが日焼け対策を必死にやっているなか
がんがんやいていた。　というかもう太陽の下で昼ねすることが
きもちよすぎて本当にrelaxsしていた

子供がいるファミリーにとっては最高のvacation ができるでしょー
だって、ただ！
平日だというのにたくさんの　パパ　がいたよー★
オーストラリアではパパの育児参加がめちゃ目立つ
新生児のおむつをパパが変える姿は　まじで理想です






1日の日帰り観光のツアーを利用して
TNAGALOOMAって場所にもいった。運が悪くめちゃめちゃ風がつよく
いろんなイベントが中止に。
だけどこういうときに何時間でも一緒にすごせる相手なら
これから先も一緒にいれるって思って
我慢した。もちろん天気が悪くなるのは仕方がない。
もしかしたら、誰かが私たちのことを試すためにしかけたのかもしれない。


of course, my bf was listening to music the whole time - and he asked me if he wanted to listen to his ipod which i wasnt that intrested because his music liking and mine is different
but he had put my kind of music in there as well Nice Jazz sonds, and even my number... my own song, well i was pretty surprised he put THAT in there of course, i never though of hearing my own voice from an ipod


one of the cool activity we participated was the sliding .. which i hated...
BECAuse i had to eat so much sand.. too much.. i almost didnt need dinner, man, he loved it so much that he went up again

{/


Australia is one of my favorite place, i would definitly go there again