Must resist...

I first learned about Shinzi Katoh in the spring of my first year in Japan. My parents, Brenda & Ceci were spending a couple of days in Tokyo and there happened to be a mini Shinzi Katoh fair going on in the Ginza Mitsukoshi.

There was so much stuff that I wanted, but I limited myself to a bag, an aluminum water bottle, and two "clear" files:

My friend lives next door. A boy has a black rabbit. A girl has a white rabbit.

 

I went shopping with my neighbor.

We bought black&white rabbits, a big-eared monkey and three pigs.

I got a hairstyle like a mouton when I went to the hair salon today.

I've also seen a variety of Shinzi Katoh mugs, teapots, etc. in various stores but have always managed to resist the temptation to purchase any for myself...

But then recently I had the urge to check out the Shinzi Katoh Collection Online Shop (there's also an English site). Probably not the smartest idea since Christmas is around the corner and I have ZERO presents purchased so far, but now all I can think about is how much I want to get a mug for myself (or two or three or...) !!

The only thing saving me from spending a ridiculous amount of money ironically is that there's such a huge selection available that I can't decide what to buy! =P I know that I want a cafe mug (it has a small dish for candy, etc. that stacks on top), but there are three different types to choose from--"upside down" "ボミ(bomi)" and "ワイド(wide)"--not to mention the "ダンダンマグ(Dan Dan Mug)" which is pretty much the same thing except the dish stacks on the bottom rather than the top. And of course within each category of mug there's a variety of designs to choose from as well.

The "upside down" mug seems the most practical, since it has a small cup that can be used as either a cup or a candy, etc. dish.

 

In particular, I like the "murmur" design.

But the "bomi" style has a really cute set of  bunny characters - "Oui."

 

But the "wide" style has some fairy tale themed mugs which of course call to the book lover in me. I particularly like the "Snow White(白雪姫) - poison apple" one.

In terms of overall cuteness, though, the Dan Dan mugs really call to me with their bright colours and super cute animals. I love the giraffe and monkey and pig and...

Apart from the cafe mugs, there are also a bunch of different mugs with lids. It'd be perfect to use during the summer at Kirita when tons of flies are around... There's the basic "ノンラップ(non-wrap)" type with the plastic(?) snap on lid, and the slightly funkier "Facile" style.

Then too there's the Paint Club Mug Set which is just a regular set of mugs, but has really cute characters and gives you 5 mugs for the price of ~3 of any of the other ones I've mentioned so far...

And finally there's the "Tea for Two" series which is a stackable set of two mugs plus a teapot! Again, super super cute!! I like the "ソラベア (Sora Bear)" one--and I also happen to have ordered the picture book (illustrated by Shinzi Katoh, of course!) recently, so...

Wah! Too many choices and not enough money!! Oh well. I'm definitely not going to order anything (for myself at any rate) until the new year because, as I said earlier, Christmas is coming up and I need to "save" my money for buying presents!

Maybe it's time...?

Recently I've been wondering if I should finally learn how to use make-up properly.

For one thing it's rather embarrassing that at my age I still have to ask someone to do my make-up for me for Nihonbuyo performances.

But really the main reason is that I'm starting to think that it would be the best way to make myself look older...

At the Kaminari Daiko nijikai (the after party--lit. second party--following the wedding of one of the group members) a member who hasn't really been around since I joined the group was shocked when I answered his question re: my age. He told me that he thought I looked like a high school student! @_@ (A step up from being mistaken for a junior high school student--which happened in October--I suppose, but still...)

And earlier this month, a regular taiko member made a comment about how he would leave re-tying the taiko strings to us "young people"--even though I'm actually 6 years older than him! (Since he's only 21 he must have thought I was 20 or younger?)

It's flattering if people think I still look like I'm in my early rather than late 20s, but somehow it doesn't really make me happy to be mistaken for a teenager...

I was used to people getting my age wrong back in Canada because Chinese/Japanese/Korean people generally look a lot younger than their actual age. But I rather figured that in Japan people would be able to guess my age fairly accurately... So I'm thinking it's the fact that I don't use any make-up that throws people off.

But the thing with make-up is that it's expensive and it takes time to apply. Since I'm really not a morning person, finding even an extra two minutes in the morning is really really difficult for me. Plus I get the impression that make-up is one of those things that you have to keep using once you start using it routinely--meaning it'll become a regular expense. And quite frankly I'd rather spend the money on books/manga/eating out, etc.

Guess I'll just have to put up with being mistaken for a student until I (naturally) start looking more like my actual age.

More "fun" with English

Here are some other recent gems from English class:

From a third year dialogue activity. There are two pictures: 1) Ken is reading a comic book with his notebook open in front of him and his English textbook on the desk; 2) his mother comes in with cake; the comic book is peeking out from his now closed notebook and Ken is holding his English textbook upside down.

Students had to choose from a selection of responses to fill in [correct answers here]. Then students had to write original sentences to finish the skit:

Ken: Just a minute.
Mother: Here's some cake. Are you studying hard?
Ken: [Yes, of course.]
Mother: Really? What subject are you studying?
Ken: [I'm studying Japanese... I mean, English.]
Mother: What's that in your notebook?

Ken: Oh my god!
Mother: You are [a] bad boy and fool!

Ken: This is my friend.
Mother: I'm sad to hear that.

=D I was particularly impressed with the originality of the latter ("I'm sad to hear that").

Then, today the second grade students got their Unit 5 tests back. For one of the questions they had to write original sentences using the pattern: "I think that [friend's name] likes [something]." I'm not sure if these answers (emphases are mine) are so much funny as mildly disturbing....

I think that [friend's name] likes little boys.
I think that [friend's name] likes little girls.

@_@;;

That was unexpected...

Students never cease to surprise/amuse me. Two original sentences from today's classes at Kirita:

"My favorite place was the [hotel] bathroom."

The second years went on a school trip to Tokyo last week. In today's English class they wrote about the experience using a fill-in-the-blank style worksheet. The student originally only had "bathroom" written, but made it more specific at my prompting.^_~  (The student did eventually replace "bathroom" with the more appropriate "Gekidanshikigekijo," a.k.a. Shiki Theatre.)

"Tuesday, November sixteenth, cloudy

You nooooooob!!"

Before class each day, a different student is in charge or writing the day, date and weather on the board (in English, of course). The third year students often draw pictures nearby (Doraemon, poop, etc.) but today "You noooooob!!" was written in very small writing under the weather. It turned out that the student had picked it up while playing an online game. =P

I was pleased that the student was able to understand when I explained the term using English appropriate for a third-year--something along the lines of: "A noob is a new person. It usually means a new person who doesn't understand the rules or can't play the game well."