Continuing Adventures of Cha-chan

Thinking back to warmer days

2012-01-15T23:31:00.004+02:00

I finally managed to upload some pictures from my husband's digital camera (after several issues with incompatable cords, wrong software, etc.) And it's nice to recall warmer days this past summer in England. We went to Wimbledon one day (what a dream for me!), and although we had quite an experience waiting in the "The Queue," it was all worth it once we were inside and able to catch a few matches.

We managed to get seats right near the bottom of one of the "show courts" which was fantastic. One of the highlights was when a very high lob started coming down right in front of us, and we suddenly realized that it was going to hit a cameraman (who was carefully filming the court and therefore oblivious) right square on top of his head. Time slowed. And the ball bounced off his head dramatically. He pulled away from the camera in shock, pulling out various audio and visual cords with him. He had to explain to the control room what had happened, as they must have lost all their feeds. (That's his head there).

It's a whopping 8 degrees Fahrenheit where I am now, so definitely nice to remember that unseasonably warm day in July at Wimbledon.

I don't know what's behind the guarded door -- unfortunately our tickets didn't get us into there!

There is snow and then there is snow

2012-01-14T04:22:00.002+02:00

It snows a lot up here in Maine. Just FYI. In fact, so far, it hasn't really snowed anything less than one foot at a time. Pretty much. There was that foot the day before Halloween. That melted (thank goodness). And then the foot the day before Thanksgiving (in the photo. That melted, too, remarkably). And then there were a few minor inches here or there (child's play).

And then there was yesterday. I naively wore my "short boots" to work -- boots that were perfectly adequate for two winters in Indiana -- because there was no snow on the ground when I left for work.

Mistake.

By the time I got home, there were about nine inches. And the assorted exotic snow removal machines that they have up here in Maine were here, there, and everywhere. Along with copious sirens due to accidents. The snow here is always so epic. And the response to it is always so epic (layers and layers of chunky salt piled up on the sidewalks, for example), that it is quite entertaining for me. At least until Sunday when the high temperature is something like twelve degrees Fahrenheit.

Things I Love and Things I Don't

2012-01-04T01:37:00.004+02:00

Things I love:

1) Great food (including fresh seafood, like lobster)
2) The ocean
3) Travel

Having recently sort of relocated to Maine, I am so excited to have easy access to #1 and #2. And with Maine more populated with cool things to see, I am also enjoying #3. The pic is of some lobster traps we came across in Camden, Maine.

Things I don't love:
1) Cold weather and snow
2) Old houses

Of course, Maine has both of these in quantity. By Dec. 3, it had snowed over 2 feet here (the first foot coming before Halloween). But remarkably, we are without snow on the ground at the moment. Though the constant clack, clack of studded tires reminds me that it will be coming. And staying. I've been told that at graduation in June, there is STILL some snow on the ground.

And old houses are, for me, fun to look at from outside, but not the kind of place I generally like sleeping, let alone living in. And Maine has plenty of old houses. I'm living in one now. I've never lived in a place with radiators before (though I once lived in a mid-late 19th century log cabin that had a gas heater where someone, not me, had to light the pilot anytime we wanted to "turn it on").

Transitions

2011-09-02T04:14:00.002+03:00

I lost contact with my blog after Sweetie and I bought a house last year. We have had such a great time working on the backyard (well, not really a great time, but rewarding time). But, I grew frustrated with my job situation and knew it was time to move on. I knew that to save my professional viability, I had to move on and do it this year. So, now I'm 1,000 miles away from Sweetie, our beautiful home, and kind, caring, fun neighbors.

It's a new journey now and I am going to make it work!

Fall Light

2010-11-24T22:48:00.002+02:00

The leaves are down. The mornings are frosty. Our annuals have long since been thrown into a pile in our future flower bed in the backyard. The deck furniture has been moved out of the elements. And all that remains now is a watering can. Why we've left it out there, I'm not quite sure. There's nothing left to be watered. Maybe it's a last vestige of summer to console us.

Tranquil places

2010-11-06T21:59:00.006+02:00

Sweetie and I spent nearly one month in Japan this October. It had been almost two years since we had been to Japan, and this trip wasn't as rushed as last time, so we were able to enjoy visiting various places that were sentimental to us. Sweetie had previously lived in Kamakura, so that was one spot we wanted to revisit. On our way there, we stopped at a lesser-known temple, which offered some welcome quiet and tranquility. It was fun to explore the cemetery up the hillside, and dodge the giant spider webs that proved very few people made their way up that far.

Kamakura in October

2010-10-31T23:59:00.002+02:00

My Addiction

2010-10-30T20:15:00.003+02:00

I am addicted to saving money. I like to think that I'm not one of those people who spends money to save money, and I think this is generally true. Approximately 90 percent of my non-food shopping is done online, mostly because I can't tolerate visits to our local mall.

My most recent online orders have been a set of guest towels (actually, TWO full sets, of organic towels for $40 including shipping), and a belt for Sweetie because he left his beloved, reversible, Mont Blanc belt in a hotel room recently (and not surprisingly, the cleaning staff did not report it as being found...).

My most favorite shopping sites are bargain fashion sites. But I should tell you all about www.ebates.com. Go there. Register. And remember to go there first whenever you want to shop on any one of many hundreds of different websites. You will get a percentage CASH back (well, actually a check). I've been using ebates for about a year, and have saved about $50 already. Of course, the MOST popular online shopping sites, like Amazon, are not on ebates, but soooo many ARE.

Happy shopping!

The Great Curry Disaster and other adventures

2010-09-11T04:03:00.003+03:00

Yes, again I have transgressed and seriously neglected the blog. I blame it all on the New House. The Trip to Hawaii. My new Obsession with buying art on eBay. The Trip to
Chicago. Choose any or all of the above.

The New House
The pictures are hung. The cars are in the garage. And I've planted pots and pots of annuals to brighten up the deck. The wicker furniture is arranged on the lower deck and is accompanied by a lovely iron plantstand I picked up for 25 cents at a garage sale (had to get there the second the seller on an upscale street dragged the for-sale goods out of her garage at the strike of 8AM on a Friday morning). We have Japanese katori senko (mosquito coils) and citronella candles in reserves for evening drinks and dinners outside.

Speaking of which, last week we hosted a party for 23 and then a dinner for 6 the next night. And then I promptly fell ill just as we were headed to Chicago for a fabulous weekend with Sweetie's daughter who was visiting from England. Heftily drugged on Tylenol, I persevered through a most amazing dinner at a restaurant called The Gage on Michigan Avenue. Fabulous food and even better service. Not cheap, however. Gochisosama Sweetie!!

I booked us into Second City's show, "The Best Frickin' Time of Your Life," which we all thoroughly enjoyed. I busted up laughing at the solidly-built ladies' singing "Reubenesque."

We had brunch at the Fox and Obel on the recommendation of a chef I randomly met in Indianapolis, who is originally from the town where we live now. Little did we know that we had stumbled into the just-opened "bistro" at the Fox and Obel, and were not in fact eating at the "cafe" that had been recommended. Well, despite some service issues (which were explained in a conversation we overheard), we had a wonderful brunch. We totally cracked up, when, AFTER eating, it occurred to us that not only was Sweedle's bacon served on Sweetie's plate, but we realized that a nearby diner's Eggs Benedict was ALSO on Sweetie's plate, which explained why that customer got served AFTER we did, even though he was there before us. So, essentially, Sweetie unwittingly ate three people's breakfast.

We followed brunch with a river cruise with the Chicago Architectual Foundation. We'd previously done their bus tour, and I really enjoyed seeing a different part of Chicago. I especially loved the housing developments along the North Fork.

After our return, my cold transitioned into a mystery illness. I unofficially called it West Nile Virus. It involved blurred vision so bad one day that I couldn't even read emails or see people's faces properly at work. And then it resulted in...

The Great Curry Disaster
So, after a long, blurry and confused day at work, I stopped at the grocery store, picked up a few things, and then proceeded to make an Indian dal. The recipe called for pureeing, so I got out the Vitamix and spooned about 1/2 the cooked soup in. I carefully put the lid, on, held it, and then turned the Vitamix on. And then...the soup exploded out of the Vitamix and all over the kitchen. And all over me. I was wearing glasses, but it nevertheless was on my eyelashes. It was in my hair. It was on anything within about a 15 foot radius (open plan kitchen). The cookbooks were dripping in it. The cupboards were covered. The flattop cooktop was encased. Sweetie ran over and flipped out: "Oh my god!!!! What happened here?????"

What happened is in my ill, confused, West-Nile-afflicted state, I had forgotten to start the Vitamix on low.

After a massive cleanup effort (Sweetie calmed down quickly and did most of the work), we sat down to dinner and Sweedle very graciously said, "This is delicious." And then I broke into tears.

Still not in Kansas anymore

2010-07-30T04:41:00.002+03:00

After nearly two years, we are still adjusting to life as relative strangers in a strange land. Only 3.5 hours by car from my hometown, it's still nothing like home. We try to find the amusement in it all as much as possible.

Today, I received a catalog in the mail. In the first pages are hunting clothes. Then you find gun holsters. After that are $2000 pairs of binoculars (for hunting??). And then I saw something that I was sure was a wine refrigerator, but it was a food dehydrator. A few pages later, I finally found my wine refrigerator. But wait, no, it's a "smoker with window."

Proselytizing
Everyone we meet asks us what religion we are. They all want us to join their church. And there's nothing subtle about it. One neighbor announced the first time we met her that she was sending her pastor to our house to "call on us." Apparently, all British people must be Episcopalian. It told Sweetie that we're about to become Quaker by default because it's the only way to fend off the proselytizers.

Hydrangea

2010-06-17T03:46:00.003+03:00

I love hydrangea. And all the tons of rain we've had lately has been very good to the ones in our front yard. Please enjoy them with me.

Drowning in Reading Material

2010-04-24T04:04:00.002+03:00

(Another pic from springtime in Borrego Springs) Whoever says that newspapers and magazines are going to die out is just plain wrong. That is, if our house is any indication. This year, I was enticed to subscribe to three additional magazines (all three for a grand sum of about $10 -- Oprah, Smart Money, and Good Housekeeping). On top of that, Sweetie renewed my coveted Practical Photography (a British mag). And, we get the New York Times 5 days a week, plus the local "rag" 7 days a week. And then there's the weekly student newspapers at the college where we work.

If you ever need kindling for a fire, just pay us a visit.

Anyway, this is largely just my way of making excuses for neglecting the blog.

The House
We continue to plow forward with home improvements. The painting continues. Today, a gutter company came by to give us an estimate to add a downspout that was clearly forgotten about when the house was built (there are 3 turns in the gutter before the next downspout AND we found a length of downspout disposed of under the wooden stairs on the side of our house...). We've had a landscaper by, since I was proven wrong about the "ornamental grass" in the backyard. There ain't nothin' ornamental about it. It's pure weed. And once the sun came out, the whole backyard became a jurassic weed park.

But I'm really looking forward to moving out of this rental and getting settled into a house with two sinks in the master bathroom. The house could not have a kitchen, a living room, nor any bedrooms, but as long as there are two sinks in the master bathroom, I will be happy.

The Sun, the Sand, the Jumping Chollas

2010-04-05T05:40:00.004+03:00

The Blog has really been taking the backseat lately, and I do apologize for that. On our recent visit to California to visit my mom, there were a few references to my lack of updates.

Things have been busy. Sweetie and I resigned ourselves to living in this town, after my job search in more "civilized" areas (ie: cities where we aren't among a minority of people who don't drive a pickup truck -- though nothing against pickup trucks) turned up dry.

So, we bought a house.

And now we must tend to yard of said house. And hire painter for interior of said house (we have -- and he's busy at work -- using no-VOC paint so the place does not smell whatsoever). And choose colors for rooms of the house. And trim the liriope in the front yard (after figuring out that it's liriope and not some other random ornamental grass). And raking approximately three years of leaves from the back yard (ornamental grass in the back remains unidentified). And hire someone to clean and stain the deck. And exterminate the wasps.

But, it's all good. We're looking forward to settling into our new digs. I need to get some custom tea ceremony cabinets made this summer, so there will be numerous boxes left in the garage, but otherwise, we hope it's a smooth move. Certainly better than an international move!!

Hooray for Healthcare

2010-03-23T04:21:00.002+02:00

Praise the Lord. I am so pleased that the healthcare bill passed. I don't really care what might be wrong with it. There will always be something wrong with such a bill. But what's right is so much more important. That we will no longer be a country that thinks it is acceptable to leave 32 million people (my mom and a colleague among them) uninsured.

It's quite possible that my taxes or premiums could go up. Even on my pathetic salary. But, maybe I will no longer have to make career or life decisions based on healthcare coverage. And if I have to pay a little bit more so that others can have health insurance, then so be it.

Thank you, President Obama.

Punch Brothers and other fun

2010-02-15T04:07:00.004+02:00

On Friday night, Sweetie and I dragged ourselves back to the college after a long day in order to see a group called Punch Brothers with Chris Thile. I wasn't really sure what to expect. I had the impression that I SHOULD be impressed that they were playing at our dinky little college.

Well, they are hard to define. A bit of bluegrass. A bit of alternative. And a ton of technical musical supremacy and creativity.

There were some rather serious bluegrass fans in the audience and I couldn't help to think that Sweetie and I and many of our colleagues were watching the band as if they were some sort of alien life form. Studying them, if you will. But also thoroughly enjoying them.

Good eatin'

As remarkable as it may sound, Sweetie and I have actually found some good eatin' in our neck of the woods. There's a privately-owned historic mansion in town and they are now hosting dinners twice a week. So, Sweetie treated me to a Valentine's dinner there. The chef is a caterer/personal chef (I can't imagine anyone in this town actually HAS a personal chef), and she even caters to my vegetarian needs. She's a genius. It was a wonderful evening and we sipped on a wonderful Bordeaux that we managed to smuggle over the Ohio border with the help of various friends and family (we are unable to get wine shipped to Indiana, so we had to have it shipped to Ohio). Really, really wonderful and we book one of these special dinners about once every two months. We never eat out in this town otherwise, so it seems worth it to indulge in a really wonderful dinner now and then.

And the owner of the mansion loves Sweetie's accent:-)

And just when we've shoveled the driveway

There is apparently yet another major winter storm headed our way. Our weather alert went off today and nearly gave me a heartattack (usually it only goes off during thunderstorm/tornado season). Just as Sweetie was finishing off our last-ditch effort to clear enough space for two cars in our driveway, I was informed by the National Weather Service that we are going to get hit by massive amounts of snow YET AGAIN. Please, tell me it's not true.

Where Am I?

2010-02-08T05:07:00.004+02:00

Nothing like a trip to the local mall to remind me where I am living.

I avoid the local mall at all costs, and I don't think Sweetie has even been there once.

But, I needed to get a tiny little battery at Radio Shack. There was quite a line when I got there, but there's always a line, so I decided to just suck it up and wait.

And wait.

And listen to the man in front of me fighting very loudly with his S.O. on his cell phone.

And listen some more.

And more.

And then make a desperate face at a normalish-looking man who was wheeling around a baby in a stroller and debating whether he could handle waiting in line as well. He bailed.

And I listened some more. And of course the two people at the two cash registers were BOTH buying cell phones that needed to be activated. Which means I listened to the guy in front of me fighting on the phone with his S.O. (may I remind you --- LOUDLY) for a very long time.

These are the moments that really make me wonder, How the heck did I end up living here? It must be even more mind-boggling for Sweetie, because this isn't even his country.

After living in places as cosmopolitan as Tokyo, Tel Aviv, Washington DC..... Most of the time I try to look on the bright side. No traffic. A 10-minute commute. Ummmm.....I'm thinking......I'm sure there are other things. Cheap food. No decent restaurants or stores to tempt us into spending money (of course there's the flipside that we're not actually making much money either).

But sometimes, I do wonder how we ended up here.

Winter Tells Us Who Is Boss

2010-02-08T04:24:00.004+02:00

Snow descended upon us in mass quantities Friday and Saturday. I love that my employer doesn't allow people to go home until AFTER the county has said NO ONE is allowed on the roads except for emergency vehicles. I love when the head of security sends out a message, that we all read at work because we haven't been allowed to go home, that tell us it's EXTREMELY DANGEROUS to drive and that you should STAY WHERE YOU ARE.

What I really do love

I love being married. This morning I was preparing my grocery list and had assorted recipes and cookbooks strewn about the countertop. I was also simultaneously preparing some food to put into the crockpot for dinner and had used my Vitamix in this endeavor. I did notice that various loose papers blew across the countertop when I turned on the Vitamix.

What I did not notice was what was on the backside of one of those pieces of paper (a recipe).

Sweetie came into the kitchen, glanced at the countertop and read out loud, "How to Break Up With Someone Who Drives You Crazy"?!?!

I laughed so hard I almost fell over.

Sandhill Cranes Part II

2010-01-03T04:45:00.006+02:00

Sweetie and I got home yesterday and realized that we hadn't quite found the perfect vantage point for seeing the cranes. So, after a bit more research, we ventured out again this afternoon. We first drove down across a bridge, and turned into a curious little village. If you want to know more about that, you'll just have to ask me.

We eventually reached our planned destination, but there were too many trees in the way. Sweetie scrambled down an embankment slightly, but then the 1000+ cranes all flew up and relocated further up the lake (someone assured us the cranes were NOT skittish...).

So, we rumbled back to the car in the zero-degree windchill weather. And headed back to the state park and our original vantage point on New Year's Day.

We eyed the mudflats, and having heard yesterday that someone else had walked across them, we decided to try. I had my long camera lens and its teleconverter. So, it was worth trying to get closer. We made our way down the mudflats and looked north to find a suitable crossing point (ie: one that did not involve crossing 20 feet of thin ice). We eventually made out way to within about 60 yards or so of the cranes. The low light made picture-taking challenging, and as I told Sweetie, there was NO WAY I was dragging my tripod out there and setting it up. As it was, I think we were mildly hypothermic, certainly I was, by the time we made it back to the car.

At any rate, it was an incredible site to be so close to thousands of cranes. At one point, they started flying around up above us and their sound is so distinctive. Truly a New Year's to remember!

Happy New Year

2010-01-02T05:24:00.003+02:00

Today, Sweetie and I drove about 25 minutes south of our house to a lake where we heard cranes had been hanging out the past week or so. I wasn't sure they would still be there. It was bitterly cold, but sunny, and after driving cluelessly around a state park that we had never been to before, we finally found what appeared to be the "mud flats" that people who had seen the cranes had referred to.

So, we got out of the car, and Sweetie stopped and said, "Listen." We heard birds. And they weren't geese. We walked down a short path. And heard more birds. Then I looked up. And saw them. Hundreds. They were flying into the mudflats for the night. They kept coming. There were about 1,000 in all. It's very good luck in Japan to see cranes on New Year's Day.

It was incredible!!!

Another Blog Challenge question

2009-12-28T21:25:00.001+02:00

Stationery. When you touch the paper, your heart melts. The ink flows from the pen. What was your stationery find of the year?

Ummm....stationery? What's that? Doesn't everybody just use email these days?

Blog Challenge

2009-12-18T21:09:00.003+02:00

I just read about and joined a Blog Challenge where bloggers like me answer a different question for each day of December. Today's is:

Shop. Online or offline, where did you spend most of your mad money this year?

EASY. Amazon.com. It's just so easy to buy things on Amazon. We all know have to navigate the site. Everything is clear. There are no nasty crowds. I find shopping in our little town very unpleasant, for various reasons, most of which if I explained them, you would think I was uncaring and elitist.

So, I'll leave it at that.

Further Tales of Family Christmas Decorating Moments

2009-12-16T19:21:00.001+02:00

Sweetie and I have absolutely NO lights on the outside of our house. We are clearly the Grinches on the block. Our next door neighbor said he and his wife only had two fights while decorating the mailbox.

Speaking of outside decorations, my dad used to do an amazing job with the lights on the outside of the house. It was the best decorated house on the block!! So one fine spring day when it was time to take down the lights, Dad was taking the lights off by the living room windows when Mom came home and drove in the garage and heard a "crunch, crunch, crackle, crackle" sound. Not realizing what it was, she put the car in reverse and heard some more "crunch, crunch, crackle, crackle" sound but not as much. She then looked over to the sidewalk by the front door and saw Dad with his jaw dropped down to his chest and realized by his expression that she had just run over most of his Christmas lights. She wisely decided she had not finished running her errands, said same to him and got the "heck out of Dodge." She really could not help laughing - without him seeing - as she thought "Well, whatever I did not run over the first time, I think I certainly got when I put it in reverse."

It Wouldn't Be Christmas Without....

2009-11-29T01:14:00.004+02:00

It wouldn't be Christmas without a tree.

So, yesterday, Sweetie and I went down to the local golf course where the YMCA was selling live trees as a fundraiser.

I've never had a live tree before due to my allergies (they have better drugs now). Sweetie and I were slightly limited in the sense that whatever tree we got, it had to fit in the Fit. So, we went for one about 5 feet tall. And we fit it into the car with no trouble.

Then we got home and retrieved Sweetie's German tree holder. And we proceded to put the tree into the holder, except that the trunk was too wide for the holder. Lovely.

Sweetie luckilly noticed that if we just sawed off one of the knobby things sticking out of the trunk, we could probably slide it into the holder. So, he ventured next door and got a hand saw from the neighbor. And he sawed off two knobby things. And then it fit. Hooray.

I boiled some sugar water, as that is what the lady at the golf course told us. And we filled the basin. Ta da.

It wouldn't be Christmas without lights on the tree

I dragged out my various dregs of Christmas lights and at some point yesterday evening gave up finding a set that actually worked properly.

This morning, I resumed the tree light production. And Sweetie commented that I was "all happy putting up the tree lights." I stopped in my tracks and said, "If you knew my family and had known my dad, you would know that putting up tree lights is NEVER a happy occasion."

Indeed, as we were growing up, there were the various stages of the tree light production. Stage One probably ran until we were about 7. That's when Mom and Dad cooperated in the tree lighting/decorating venture. Then Stage Two ran from about age 8 until age 16. That's when Mom left the house during the tree lighting/decorating venture. Thereafter, I think everyone except for Dad left the house for the tree lighting/decorating venture. Dad, may he rest in peace, had VERY specific ideas about how the tree lighting/tinsel placing production had to be implemented. And unfortunately, the rest of us did not always follow his vision (it wasn't insubordination -- just a lack of attention to detail on our part).

So, I was not exactly "happily" lighting the tree.

It also wouldn't be Christmas without....

This evening, after I painstakingly arranged our new bow on top of the tree and painstakingly placed assorted new bulb ornaments on the tree, Sweetie admired my work. Then he made some comment that the tree "seems to be leaning." And "we better keep an eye on it."

With Sweetie at the table grading papers, and me at the computer doing some Christmas browsing, suddenly there was a mighty "WHOOSH!" sound from the corner of the living room. "No way!" I thought, as I turned. And sure enough, the tree was no longer standing.

So, we both raced over as Sweetie sat at the base of the tree declaring, "I knew it!!!" and "&*%$^%&!" I meanwhile got behind it and pulled it up with my brute strength. Of course, at that point I'm pretty sure the gallons of water in the holder had already been deposited onto the carpet. It was also at that point that I realized maybe it would be wise to unplug the lights, given that I was sitting in a pool of water.

(Of course, as I am writing this, I keep glancing back to make sure it's still standing).

Anyway, the tree is back up, this time sitting on a marble cutting board and surrounded by forest green towels....

More of Sunny, Summery England

2009-11-28T00:10:00.009+02:00

It's getting down into the 30s here now, so I'm going to carry on with my summer England travelogue.

Salisbury

Sweetie and I paid a visit to the town of Salisbury, which was really cool as I read "Pillars of the Earth" last year (fantastic read!!!) and I could just imagine it in medieval times. The Cathedral is stunningly large and very impressive inside.

We grabbed some soup and a sandwich for lunch at a small cafe in the town before heading off to our next stop.

Kingston Lacy

Since Sweetie has a National Trust membership, getting him into NT properties for free, we stopped at every NT property we could as we traversed the countryside. Kingston Lacy was a grand specimen -- an enormous estate house with expansive gardens showcasing everything from hostas to Japanese maples. They even had a "Japanese garden," which, while not quite my vision of a Japanese garden, was very nice to look at.

From there, we headed to the town of Swanage, along the coast, where we spent several nights in a neat little boutique B&B: "Swanage Haven." The owner showed us up to our room and pointed out the various amenities. Sweetie and I took a brief nap and then showered and got ready to head out for dinner. Except I couldn't find the hairdryer. Which was really odd, because I absolutely positively remembered seeing it when the owner showed us the room. I remembered him opening the top drawer of the dresser and there it was. But it wasn't there now.

Sweetie and I actually BOTH remembered seeing the hairdryer, which made it all the more perplexing . We eventually gave up and went downstairs in search of one of the owners. We found David and we enlightened us about the "secret drawer" which was hidden INSIDE the top drawer. DUH. Anyway, crisis resolved.

Swanage was a great launching point for some amazing sites. The town itself was impressive mostly in the sense that it had an INDIAN restaurant which we definitely took advantage of (somewhat unfortunate that we were so stuffed from good-eating on our trip that we could not quite finish our meals), and lovely seaside scenery.

Just a short drive or train ride away was the village of Corfe and the ruins of the mighty Corfe Castle, which could not have been more spectacular. Despite some pretty ferocious winds at the ruins, Sweetie and I explored them at length and got some amazing photos.

The site was actually pretty mobbed with people, but you can't really tell that from the photo. The village itself was absolutely adorable, and the ancient stone houses were so old that the doorways were noticeably shorter than average.

After exploring the ruins, we indulged in some delicious Purbeck ice cream, named for this region of England.

Forcing my way out of the doldrums

2009-10-24T22:57:00.013+02:00

We've endured entirely too much unseasonably cold, cloudy, and sometimes downright nasty weather this fall. I actually feel like summer never came. I kept waiting for it to get steamy and sweaty, like a Japanese summer, but it never happened.

And now I feel like winter is upon our doorstep. I missed my best chance for fall photography last weekend when I was attending a conference. A reminder of why I left graduate school after my M.A. Who wants to be cooped in a dull classroom discussing the finer points of say, pornographic Japanese fiction, when you could be outside frolicking in piles of golden leaves?

So, I'm taking us on a virtual tour back to summer, and my warm and wonderful trip to England.

I already wrote about the world's greatest country boutique hotel ever.

The New Forest

The hotel was in the New Forest, which is basically a big national park area, with towns and villages within it, that hosts thousands of wild ponies. They are everywhere. In parking lots, in the street, and in fields everywhere.

Besides our stay in the Whitley Ridge, we also attended a family wedding in the New Forest. Sadly, rain paid a visit, but Sweetie and I had fun with the children in the hotel garden. We had run out to the car to get something, and the children were slinking around the garden and running from everyone they saw. When they saw us, they'd run in the other direction. This was amusing for about 5 minutes, and then the kids saw us, pointed, and shouted "Murderer!" and at that point, we decided we were very much done playing their game!

Motisfont Abbey

We visited the most glorious garden at Motisfont Abbey. I could have stayed there for hours snapping photos of the bright flowers and bumble bees flitting from bloom to bloom. The sun made an appearance and really warmed things up.

Porchester Castle

Sweetie took me to the impressive Porchester Castle, in his home town (castles and gardens were tops on my list of things to do on our trip). Located on the sea, it was an impressive fortress, still in very good condition. We climbed up to the top, with its panoramic views of Portsmouth.

Boo~~!

2009-10-16T01:40:00.004+02:00

Have you been "Boo"-ed yet? Or ever? Do you know what I'm talking about?

Last night, the doorbell rang wildly. It was pitch black outside and we didn't have any outside lights on. I was scared. I didn't know who it was. I gingerly approached the front door. I then went around to the kitchen and peeked through the blinds. I didn't see anyone.

Across the road, I saw that our neighbor was outside his house, so I figured that if I opened the door and someone tried to attack me, he would notice. So, I opened the door.

And there I saw a small, elegantly-wrapped bag with "Boo" written on a piece of white paper sticking out of the top.

After a moment of deliberation, I decided that a bomber would probably NOT wrap an incendiary device so elegantly. So, I grabbed the bag and opened it up inside.

There was a poem with the "Boo" sign that explained that I was to do the same thing for two other neighbors within the next 24 hours. The bag was full of all sorts of cool goodies like a really nice Halloween candle, some apples with caramel dip, Georgia pecans, assorted candy, and a Halloween towel. It was really sweet!!

At that point, I figured that many neighbors had not yet been "boo"-ed and that I would have my pick the next night. But alas, by the time I returned from a post-work shopping run, all of the friendly people we know on the street had already been "boo"-ed. I found it interesting that the none of the folks we don't really care for had been boo-ed! Apparently others share our taste in neighbors.

So, I ventured down to another cul-de-sac, where the two other people who work at the college live. They didn't have Boo signs visible. It wasn't quite dark yet, but I didn't really fancy walking around on a dark, cold, rainy, windy night, so I went out just before dark. I think I might have been spotted after my first drop. And by the time I made the second drop, I was very hesitant when I pressed the doorbell. I'm not even sure it rang. Oh well! Hopefully they use their front door occasionally:-)

Try starting a Boo tradition in your neighborhood! Now is about the time to get started -- two weeks before Halloween.

What ARE you doing?

2009-10-01T03:10:00.004+02:00

This is what Sweetie said to me the other day. I knew he was going to ask. It's not everyday that you see someone boiling strawberries and rasberries and then setting them out to dry on the counter.

I read about this method of keeping berries fresh and mold-free for longer in the New York Times. I read that parboiling them could not only stunt or prevent mold growth, but actually REMOVE moldy bits. And I needed a miracle, as roughly half the box of rasberries I had bought the day before was moldy.

Definitely the boiling seemed to freshen up some of the berries. But the clumped masses encrusted in mold, sadly remained....clumped masses encrusted in mold. But, the boiling definitely seemed to improve the flavor, remarkably!

Try it sometime!

Scrabble Injury

2009-09-17T19:51:00.002+03:00

Sweetie and I have pretty serious Scrabble games. They tend to involve words such as "thrashed." And the other day, I think I broke a rib. Or bruised it. I might even have a collapsed lung. It was intense.

How it happened was....I was carrying Sweetie super gigantic Cambridge English Dictionary to check a word, and I wasn't watching where I was going. I managed to walk full-force into a wall. Which thrust the dictionary into my ribs. Yeah, super-coordinated. Way cool.

IT Hero

2009-09-04T19:29:00.005+03:00

Sweetie and I finally caved and bought a wireless router for our house and a laptop for Sweetie (well, Sweetie bought the laptop for Sweetie but I picked it out). I was a little apprehensive about the whole router thing, particularly as the reviews for the router, while sterling, said to all sorts of mysterious things like: "I had a little trouble getting it to work. It turned out that there was an IP conflict. To fix it I did the following: In ''DHCP Settings'', I changed the ''Start IP Address: 192.168.0.100'' to 192.168.0.1. I also cloned the mac address with the one I had on my last router. Finally, I changed the ''Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1'' to 192.168.0.1. After that, everything was working fine."

O-KAY.

Yeah. And, I did also recall that I paid approximately $100 extra to have my router in Israel installed by a professional and I do recall that it took Techo Geek roughly 3 hours to install it. So, quite how I expected that I would be able to install this darn thing, I don't know.

Well, I followed the instructions and booted up Sweetie's new computer and NOTHING. Then, I plugged it directly in my computer, ignoring the whole wireless aspect and... NOTHING. Then, I plugged my computer directly back into our modem and....NOTHING. Crap. So, now, not only did the router not work, but NOTHING worked. We had NO INTERNET WHATSOEVER. Lovely.

So, a small (okay, large) marital meltdown ensued as Sweetie was nastily (he will agree, it was nasty) accusing me of screwing everything up and declaring that he wanted me to repackage the whole lot of equipment and send it all back. Meanwhile, I was crying and screaming in indignation: "I was just trying to improve our lives!!!!"

Apparently, this is all very normal human behavior surrounding a non-professional attempt at self-installing a wireless router.

What I didn't know is that sometimes it takes up to 12 hours for the router to kick into gear.

So, the next morning, Sweetie turned on his laptop and had an internet connection.

And all was well in the world again.

I told Sweetie he could call me "Hero" for one month. He said he would go for "IT Hero," which I actually prefer.

The Last Straw

You may remember my tirade about our crazy neighbor "Rodeo." Well, he just returned from one of his jaunts on his ear-blastingly loud motorcycle and is now "dusting" his motorcycle with a leafblower. Not joking. Wish I were. I am about to lose my mind entirely. The sound carries through the entire neighborhood when he has that thing blowing. As if the nightly 11PM blasts from his motorcycle going past our house were not enough.

Is it, or is it not?

2009-08-29T23:21:00.003+03:00

So....it started with a sore throat. And some nasal issues. So, I took some daytime cold medicine and went to work. Then, in the evening I took some night-formula cold medicine. I slept really well, only waking Sweetie up once in a coughing fit. But, then the alarm went off and I could barely lift my arm 2 inches to turn it off. I tried to sit up in bed and it was clear that I wasn't going to be making it to the living room anytime soon, let alone the office. I dashed off an email to my colleagues, stumbled back into bed, and slept for another full 4 hours and 45 minutes. Extraordinary.

I didn't have a fever, but then again, I was already taking antibiotics for an unrelated medical issue, and my body temperature is naturally a degree or two below normal, so what defines a fever for me is not entirely clear.

Yesterday I felt somewhat recovered -- at least enough to take a shower and comb my hair, so I went to the office and managed to eek out about 4 hours of work.

Sweetie has since displayed similar symptoms.

And then there was the email from the college where we work saying that a student has probable swine flu.

Hmmmm.....

So, at this point, we're thinking, maybe what we had/have WAS the swine flu?? Can I now run around campus touching door handles and drinking fountains with abandon, flaunting my new immunity?

Or, was it just a head cold?

Catching up

2009-08-13T19:34:00.007+03:00

I'm a bad blogger. I just realized that I'm averaging one post a month. That's bad. Well, patient readers, this is what the RSS is for. Click the magic orange button on the side of your screen and you be alerted via email on those increasingly rare occasions that I post something:-)

Shock and School

As some of you know, I work at a college. And I just recently settled into a nice, quiet, work-on-projects-I-never-have-time-to-work-on summer mode, and all of a sudden, there are STUDENTS around. Making noise. Talking in the halls (horror of all horrors!). Using the bathrooms. Shouting. Interrupting my productivity-inducing tranquility. It's quite a shock to my system.

And presumably bringing swine flu back with them from all reaches of the country and world. Should be a fun fall!

Taking a break
As some of you might also know, Sweetie and I have been house-hunting for some time now. It finally reached a point where we were so disgusted with the process that we needed to stop. So, we're taking a break for a month or two. We're not meeting our realtor, not making offers on any houses, and not visiting any open houses. Hooray for sanity.

England

I still haven't written about our trip to England. Well, it got off to a great start when I breezed through immigration and customs (my suitcase was one of the first off the carousel) so quickly that Sweetie had to do a double-take when he saw me emerge through the glass doors.

This time, we had wisely reserved a room at an airport hotel (I arrived at night), so we took a shuttle there and were able to crash for the evening before heading out to the countryside the next day.

Brockenhurst and the Whitley Ridge Hotel

After a brief stop in the quaint, pony-populated village of Burley, we proceded toward Brockenhurst, a town which we drove around in circles approximately twice looking for our B&B for the night. We finally asked a woman walking down the street (a non-English speaker it turned out -- isn't it always the case that the foreigner gets asked for directions?). She was able to point us straight in the correct direction.

We entered a private, wooded driveway and at the end of it was the most elegant ivy-covered building. An assortment of young French men greeted us and got us settled in our room. We had some time to explore the grounds before our dinner reservation at the Michelin-starred LePoussin restaurant on the ground floor of the hotel.

They had an enchanting walled garden bursting with vegetables. And beyond that a wild garden with a waterfall and a serene lilly pond.

Dinner was so good, it was practically life-changing. I shudder thinking about the pasta with canned beans and sauce that I made for dinner tonight. You cannot call that food in comparison to what we ate at Le Poussin. Sweetie actually declared upon eating a white truffle (of the dessert variety, not the mushroom -- those kinds of truffles were in my first course risotto) that he would never eat in a non-Michelin-starred restaurant again. (Needless to say, that lasted all of 24 hours). To put this comment into perspective, Sweetie is not the type to get excited about food. He usually barely notices food. In fact, once I came home from work looking forward to eating my leftover cheese-free vegetable pizza, only to find that Sweetie had consumed it without even noticing that it was my pizza and not his own meat and cheese encrusted pizza.

So, to make a long story slightly less long, if you go to England, you really must spend the night at the Whitley Ridge and reserve a dinner in advance at Le Poussin! Well worth it!!! (Easy for me to say, since it was Sweetie's treat. Thanks Sweetie! I love you!)

Gardens and Castles and Great Food

2009-07-22T03:39:00.003+03:00

Sweetie and I recently escaped to England. In short, it was wonderful. I'll write more later, but here's a picture to get things started -- it's a place called Mottisfont Abbey and has the most wonderful and extensive walled garden.

Note the appropriately cloudy sky. Miraculously, we dodged the rain for most of the trip!

Secret Gardens

2009-06-20T21:41:00.005+03:00

Today we saw the neighbors' gardens, or yards as most Americans call them. Little did we know what wonders were hidden behind the non-descript homes on our street.

It turns out that this year's local garden tour featured homes exclusively on our street. Luckilly, we learned about this two-day fest from someone where I work. Our neighbor across the street (Rodeo) was not so lucky and was out in all his shirtless, drunken glory from 8AM until about 2PM providing the masses with some unexpected entertainment (ever watch a completely toasted man hack away at a small tree with an 6 foot electric trimmer from an 8 foot ladder? Well, lots of unsuspecting folks witnessed the spectacle today).

It was really eye-opening for us to see what secret worlds our neighbors were hiding beside and behind their homes. There were colonies of hostas, trickling waterfalls and fountains, fragrant gardens of basil and verbena, lush hydrangeas, benches nestled in shaded hillside nooks, large swaths of wooded areas providing privacy, built-in professional-grade out-door grills, and all sorts of gorgeous flowering beauties that I cannot name.

One home was actually showing off its kitchen (we were a bit baffled until we went inside). It turns out the owner is a builder and built the house and now has added a cabinet business. We had complete and total home envy. The home was like a luxury lodge inside, with refined yet hearty woods (the hardwood floors were the most gorgeous I have ever seen), stucco walls, a pretty amazing kitchen, and all sorts of built-in wooden cabinets. We had no idea walking by that house on our evening walks.....It was pretty amazing.

So, we walked home to our "power sub-station"-looking house slightly dejected. :-) We look forward to the day when we have some at least semi-permanent, a place that we feel like investing in. Somewhere I can plant herbs and flowers and we can build our own private paradise.

Dear Neighbor

2009-06-13T22:19:00.003+03:00

I need a Zen moment like this chipmunk. Why? Because our neighbors are driving us crazy....

Dear Neighbor (aka Rodeo),

I know that life is tough when you have Adult ADHD and other assorted conditions that cause you to use your leafblower approximately 18 hours a day for no purpose whatsoever than to blow non-existent dust off your driveway and into your yard, at which point you crank up your lawn vacuum (a new and very exciting toy for Rodeo) and suck up all the dirt and leaves in your yard. And I know that you really LOVE hacking your trees and bushes apart with your various electric cutters, so that you can then repeat the leaf blower+lawn vacuum process. And yes, I am sure there are many pieces of wood that then really must be sawed apart in your garage at 10PM.

But, for the love of every human being within earshort (roughly 5 miles) of your machines and toys, can you just.....stuff it!!!!

Dear Neighbor #2 (aka Crazy Guy)

Listen, I know some people are really dedicated to their Lawn Boy mowers. It's a bit like a cult, I believe. But when the day comes that you have to run the mower over each patch of grass roughly 15 times, I think the mower needs to be laid to rest. When it takes you one hour and approximately 10 gallons of sweat to mow a patch of grass the size of my dining room table, I think that's a problem.

Dear Neighbor #3 (aka Guy We Like)

Although it was slightly irritating for about a week when you had heavy equipment moving between a two-story-tall cement pile on the street and your back yard multiple times a day, we now praise you for your very considerate gesture of paving over your entire backyard and creating some sort of entertainment masterpiece of tiered patios and assorted amenities such as a hot tub. Pure genius!!

Wild Kingdom

2009-05-30T20:54:00.005+03:00

Lately our backyard has become quite the wild kingdom. Some robins hatched on a ledge just underneath our deck. Whenever mommy bird isn't there, the dad stands watch in the yard and squaks incessantly at me if I dare to walk anywhere in the backyard. He's also been known to buzz through the narrow area under the deck in some sort of intimidation move.

Perhaps this is why I've seen less the past few days of our family of chipmunks, who have a rather substantial hole in the backyard.

They tend to poke their heads out one by one at around 8AM each morning, surveying the surroundings until they determine it safe to leave their hole.

They then head over to the fish pond and frolic around on the rocks surrounding the pond. They like to stand up on a large rock and I've even seen one leap onto Sweetie's Japanese lantern and sit up on top of it like a king.

And occasionally we'll catch sight of one of the goldfish we bought recently for the pond, although they tend to stay on the bottom. I hope they will start to surface more once they grow a bit and are less intimidated by all the other creatures in the yard.

Unplanned Travel

2009-05-13T03:52:00.004+03:00

I can't believe it has been so long since I've written. Sweetie and I have had a lot of travel lately, much of it unplanned. My wonderful grandma had a heart attack a few weeks ago, so we rushed home one weekend to visit her. She looked suprisingly well and it was wonderful to see her.

Everytime I have gone overseas since 1992, I have worried that it might be the last time I would see my grandparents. It proved true with my grandpa during my last overseas stint, but that means that he had many great healthy years with us, for which I am very grateful. I do miss his handmade Christmas chocolates and peanut brittle, and the hugs he gave me, particularly after my father died 6 years ago unexpectedly. For some reason, Grandpa's consolation was the only thing that helped me at that time. I felt like he really understood how I was feeling.

Then we were off to Virginia for my college reunion (I cannot believe it has been that long...and how long that is, I will not say!). How interesting it was to meet up with the same girls who I shared a hall with all those years ago (and it really does not feel like that long ago AT ALL). We've stayed in touch fairly well, and I'd seen them all within the past 3 years, so there were no big shockers. I think the only shocker is how little we have all changed in the grand scheme. Even though we've all grown and matured, the lush is still the lush, the study bug is still the party pooper, the perky one is still the perky one...and you know how it goes. It's such a fun group and we all balance eachother so well!

Gorgeous vistas

2009-04-18T22:31:00.005+03:00

Last weekend, on a rare sunny day, Sweetie and I ventured to a nearby "environmental center" that Sweetie had scoped out last fall shortly after we moved here. I LOVED it. Unlike the nearly arboretum, which has wooded trails that look largely the same, this place had obviously been planned out and offered different ecosystems and vistas, largely for educational purposes.

Despite the bone-chilling wind that whipped up as we emerged from the forested area, I thoroughly enjoyed our visit and can't wait to go back -- maybe next time with tripod in hand. I recently bought an amazing tripod and even more amazing head (both Manfrotto and ridiculously easy to adjust).

Tea time

Today I had three students over for a chanoyu (tea ceremony) experience. I felt oddly satisfied for getting up early on Saturday morning and preparing the dogu (utensils). I do miss my regularly weekly lessons that required early wakeups each Saturday. I admired the students for getting up early themselves! And being ready ON TIME for Sweetie to pick them up. There are few young (or old!) people these days with the discipline necessary to commit to a "Way" (such as tea or the martial arts). I know a few at the college where I teach and I admire them immensely.

The pic is not of my current tea room, but of my teacher's in Okinawa. I miss her and my fellow students there so much, but I carry their spirit and enthusiasm with me.

Make up your mind

2009-04-06T04:26:00.002+03:00

This is a stylized photo that I took while in California last month. We haven't had great weather for picture taking here lately. In fact, we've been having typical Midwest weather lately. Sweetie thought spring had solidly arrived, but I knew better. I remember May blizzards in Ohio. So, it did not surprise me that we have snow forecast for tomorrow.

What did surprise me was the siren that I faintly heard while cooking this afternoon at home. Sweetie and I both noticed it, I turned off the stovetop fan, and confirmed that it was an emergency siren, and said to Sweetie, "We must go downstairs. Now. Right now."

I knew that it had to be a tornado siren, and once we hunkered down and turned on a radio, we found out that indeed it was.

So, we spent part of our evening debating the relative merits of a particular corner of the "tea room" vs. the "office" closet. We requisitioned my exercise mat for cover. And I managed to clean up my mess from a tea presentation yesterday at the college. So, all in all, a rather productive and instructive 30 minutes of so.

And thankfully, we did not have to assume the position!

Making Your Own Trail

2009-03-03T05:06:00.006+02:00

Recently, Sweetie and I spent a week in the desert of California with my mother and her friend who I will affectionately call VW (more on that later).

We visited them in a tiny desert town (not even one stop light) two hours from San Diego. Our only goal for the week was to do some hiking in the desert, but those plans were flatly denied on Day One by the 2 inches of rain that fell (please note: the town only gets 6 inches of rain in a good YEAR.)

After a day feeling like caged animals, we made our way to Pam Canyon on Day Two.

I was nervously watching the threatening clouds, as we plunged further into the desert CANYON (not the place you want to be in a rainstorm). VW, with his many years of experience living in desert, finally declared that it would not rain, so we forged ahead. At one point, I do recall asking mom if there was a river in the canyon, because I could hear the sound of water flowing. I think she attributed the sound to the wind.

But, as we neared the oasis of palm trees the beckoned us from the deep in the canyon, we reached a point where we had to cross a raging stream. After watching a young boy mis-step on a rock in the stream and get wet up to his knee, I declared that I would just have to see the oasis next year. Btw, this is one of mom's pics, as is the one below. Sometimes I wish I used a plain old point-shoot camera and didn't feel compelled to take my pics in RAW, which requires complex converting later (but allowed me to Photoshop the sunrise photo -- sunrise over the "badlands" had me wishing I had some filters...those will be my next camera purchase!)

Anyway, on the return, members of our party were determined to take a different trail back and this necessitated crossing the Raging River. The menfolk took to building a bridge by throwing assorted rocks into the stream. My desire to cross the stream further deteriorated when VW threw a rather large rock into the stream and it was swiftly and without hesitation swept downstream. Meanwhile, Mom (who is proud of her farm upbringing) felt like moving the process along, and took off her shoes and waded across the brisk waters slightly further downstream. In the end, we all followed suit, except for VW, who forged onward, ultimately finding a spot where he could cross and remain completely dry. Those of us who got wet were able to use Mom's white shirt, which was the first "flesh wound" casualty of the day. We used it to clean our feet and our wet feet cleaned the blood of her shirt -- a fair trade.

We had other hikes in store for us -- but many involved my least-favorite line of the trip: "You just sorta make your own trail." This was really NOT a popular line when Mom and I emerged from the "Slot Canyon" only to be faced with a rather sheer rock face leading up to the parking area. Mom took a very flexible approach to the ascent trail. I wanted her to identify the official, approved trail up this sheer rock face. Ie: the trail least likely to result in loss of life or limb for me. She said, "Oh, well, you can go up there. Or you can go up down here. Or, well, you just sorta make your own trail."

Umhum. Thank you for that great wisdom, Mom.

I nearly slid right back down the sheer rock face. Hiking boots only provide so much traction, you know. And I had visions of various friends and relatives who have visited my mom (and dad, back in the day) in California, and found myself asking, "Did so-and-so go up here?? I can't imagine that Aunt Such-and-Such would have been too fond of this!" I will quiz (or warn) them all at the next family picnic.

This pic was taken from the guest bedroom window. Quite striking!

Oh yes, and the VW nickname -- I have decided that all VW drivers are maniacs. Yes, VW-driving friends, I do mean you. VW is the only person I know who can do about 50 mph on a steep mountain road hairpin turn AND spot a big-horn sheep off in the distance AT THE SAME TIME. Thanks VW -- that sheep-sighting made our trip complete!

We really had an enjoyable visit. Despite all the random trailblazing, we had a great time and will plan this as a regular winter escape!

Going crazy

2009-02-11T01:55:00.002+02:00

Just a quick post to say that I'm still here, just a bit overwhelmed with administrative tasks at home these days. I hope there will be a light at the end of the tunnel soon, but in the meantime, we are plugging along.

We did get to spend the weekend in Chicago due to a meeting for my work. We managed to get amazing seats at the last minute for a sold-out performance of "The Seafarer" at the Steppenwolf Theater. We really enjoyed it and recommend it to anyone in Chicago.

Also, I highly recommend the current photography exhibit at the Art Institute: Yousuf Karsh: Regarding Heroes. An extraordinary collection of photographs of some of the 20th century's most extraordinary personalities! From Castro to Mandela to the head of the Kita school of Noh drama. Queen Elizabeth to Albert Einstein.

2009-01-17T22:53:00.002+02:00

Another wintry pic to illustrate the mood here. We've had exceptionally cold temperatures lately (how about a -7F during the daytime?), but the snow on the ground has shown us each morning just how many night visitors we get. One day, it was clear a raccoon had gone around our house (and many neighbors' homes) trying to get in at every door. He had even come up our back deck and down a 360 degree turn at the top of the staircase.

Today, Sweetie noticed deer tracks(!) leading to a bush right outside our kitchen window. We often drive to other, more isolated neighborhoods to see deer in the evening, so we had no idea that they are in our own backyard during the night.

Moving in

2009-01-08T04:15:00.003+02:00

First of all, huge thanks to VegetableJ for reminding me about her amazing cornmeal pancake recipe that I can now dig out of my collection of recipies!! Our "STUFF" finally arrived -- literally SIX months after we had it all packed up in Israel, and after shelling out an additional $900(!) to US Customs authorities so that they could X-Ray it and rifle through it at their leisure. What a wonderful country!

So, needless to say, we've been knee deep (literally) in unpacking, though thanks to Sweetie's errr, encouragement, I managed to get my tea room set up for all intents and purposes, adorned now with an amazing scroll sent to me by one of my unbelievably kind and generous friends in Kyushu. I will photograph it soon.

Winter has arrived with a vengeance here, and any illusions I had about this part of the US being considerably less-wintry than where I grew up have been handily shattered by the two ice storms we've had recently.

The fruits of our Christmas Day excursion to our favorite neighborhood are above. Sweetie and I often take evening drives to a nearby neighborhood that tends to have deer out and about. We did that Christmas Day. No deer this time, but plenty of peace and quiet and gorgeous ice formations.

Shamed

2008-12-05T19:06:00.004+02:00

I am feeling completely shamed by the fact that my friend Kuri, who has a toddler and has recently moved into a new house, updates her blog approximately 100 times more often than I do.

There is the usual litany of excuses. One being that I recently spent almost two weeks in Japan -- my much-loved second home. It was a work trip, and I felt woefully deprived of adequate shopping opportunities ("You have 20 minutes in Jusco" -- RUN!). But, most disturbing, were the changes I observed in Japanese culture.

1) The JR shinkansen conductors do not bow with the aplomb and pride that they used to.

2) The JR shinkansen conductors do not even check anyone's tickets in reserved seats on the train (which resulted in Sweetie and I having to boot someone out of our seat, who then moved to another reserved seat, only to be booted out of that one too by new passengers).

3) Service is not what it used to be. Sweetie and I dropped in on a cute coffee shop in the train station mall and it was so appalling that on my way out, I warned a woman with two small children who was waiting for a seat. We waited 40 minutes for our coffee and tea, which were supposed to come with cookies and cake. We waited another 20 minutes for our cake and cookies, which I had to ask for TWICE (actually walking up to the kitchen myself in one case), and needless to say, our coffee and tea had long since been consumed by the time the cookies and cake arrived. All the staff were running around like complete idiots -- we observed our waitress alternately serve as waitress, dishwasher, and kitchen staff. Someone was furiously washing dishes, while no one could seem to muster the time to put two cookies and a pre-sliced piece of cake on a plate.

In addition, while staying in a rather expensive hotel, the hotel power went out for THREE HOURS one morning (it went out while I was showering for work) and the hotel offered NO explanation and no compensation (fortunately, we were only on the 5th floor). This was in the middle of winter in a major northern Japan city. There were several inches of snow on the ground. The room became intolerably cold during that time.

And to top it off, when we asked if we could check out two hours late they next day, they grabbed a calculator and told us how much extra it would cost!!! Hel-lo!

Also, Sweetie sent a shirt off for dry cleaning, and it came back looking like no one had bothered to iron the sleeves or shoulders. The staff at the front desk looked at me like I had three heads when I took it back and said it was unacceptable. No "moshiwake-arimasen"s and not a single bow of apology. It was more like a disbelieving, "Soo desu ka???"

4) One of my perhaps greatest disappointments was while staying at a ryokan and eating their overwhelmingly large dinners served in the room. We were served up piles of fish and sushi one evening and I was delighted to see one of my favorites, uni (sea urchin). (I've recently tried giving pescetarian-ism a try after 11 years as a vegetarian, as I've become increasingly plagued by respiratory illness). Although I was slightly dismayed by the obvious supermarket packaged-tray that the uni was served on, I figured that we were, after all, inland, so maybe they couldn't get the fresh stuff.

But, my forgiving attitude took a turn, when I glimpsed the back of the uni tray and a sticker that listed the origin of that uni as THE UNITED STATES.

I nearly wept.

New Lady

2008-11-05T05:00:00.008+02:00

I've brought a new lady into my relationship with Sweetie. And it's one of the best things I ever did. Her name is Jill. And she's the voice on our GPS unit. It's absolutely brilliant, because now, when we get lost, Sweetie can yell and curse at Jill. While I sit perfectly innocent in the passenger seat. It's amazing. Highly recommended. In fact, she was recommended to me by several sets of aunts and uncles. Always listen to the wisdom of those older than you (I don't dare call them "elders"!)

Last weekend, after a fairly uninspiring trip to an international supermarket called "Jungle Jim's" (I'm sure it's much more pleasant on a weekday when it isn't completely mobbed), we spent Sunday strolling along the local "gorge trail," which skirts some historic sites related to the early days of jazz recording. We've been blessed with absolutely amazingly warm and beautiful weather lately (Sweetie thinks I'm a big liar for all the horrible tales I told him of Midwest weather).

Today I inaugurated a "Hebrew lunch table" at the college where I work. One student showed up (others are interested, but were busy today with the election), which I actually found to be highly encouraging. We spoke Hebrew for about an hour, and I was feeling really proud of myself afterwards, especially as I headed off for 80 minutes of observing a Japanese class. This must be good for my brain! Right?!

Happy Birthday

2008-10-27T03:01:00.002+02:00

This month, it was my turn for a birthday. Sweetie spoils me and showered me with gifts and surprises. For my actual birthday, we went to Yellow Springs, Ohio for a brunch at "The Winds" restuarant, which was really lovely. I had a delicious borlotti beans and orzo dish, which at the time, did not seem that large, but it filled me up for about 6 hours! Unusual for me, because generally I like to eat every few hours. We walked around quaint Yellow Springs, enjoyed the fall colors, and visited some artists' galleries.

It's really a cute little town, but sadly, the college located there (Antioch) has apparently GONE OUT OF BUSINESS, which is really quite sad for a town like that. I am not sure how it is going to affect the local businesses.

This past week, I did a bit of traveling for work, and ventured to three liberal arts colleges in Minnesota. I really enjoyed the town of Northfield, in particular. It had a very British feel and had the usual assortment of upscale college-town gift shops, bakeries, and decent restaurants.

I think that is what our town is missing -- it has a college, but really is not in any way a "college town."

Back on the Grid!

2008-10-11T23:40:00.002+02:00

Sweetie and I FINALLY got Internet service at home after many trials and tribulations that I will not even go into. In the end, we subscribed for a wireless service called BridgeMaxx, which is working fairly well (if a tad slow sometimes). Hooray!

We've been trying to get away from the rather, ummm, limited town where we live, at least once each weekend. One weekend we ventured to Indianapolis for an incredible dinner for Sweetie's birthday. Oakley's Bistro has a somewhat uninspiring location at a strip mall, but the food was divine! We really enjoyed our dinner and I enjoyed having some inspired food for a change.

Last weekend, we took a train from Connersville to Metamora, where, little did we know, a HUGE "Canal Days" festival was underway. This photo was taken there in one of the few square feet that was not occupied by several people. We really enjoyed ourselves and the injection of "Americana."

Today, we ventured to Oxford, Ohio, which is a nice college town. We had a nice lunch at Kona Bistro (bistros seems to be the theme...) and walked around the town and filled up on the much cheaper gas there. We've learned that virtually everywhere has cheaper gas than our town, so we justify our weekend journeys by filling up the tank at a much lower cost!

Still No Internet

2008-09-30T19:25:00.003+03:00

Despite many valiant attempts, we STILL do not have Internet access at home. Our attempt with a THIRD provider failed on Friday and after approximately 30 calls over the weekend, I finally rescheduled the install for today. But, I have little faith that someone will actually show up and finish the install job that was begun on Friday. And let's not even think about when/if we might get someone from the cable company to come out and dig up our yard to bury the newly layed cable.

All very disconcerting. The owner of our rental house had a HOME OFFICE that was operational until a few days before we moved in. So, I am completely baffled why no one has been able to get any form of communication activated in our home. No phone lines working. No cable working.

So, we are feeling very isolated (Sweetie much more so than me, since he remains many thousand miles away from his home country and family and friends).

Living in the Boonies

2008-09-12T22:33:00.002+03:00

A quick post to stay that I WILL revive my blog asap. I was unaware when we moved that we would be living in a "rural" area for internet purposes, and my first attempt at home internet access failed. So, now I am trying another provider. One that is rumored to be going out of business. Yes, it's that bad. There just aren't any good options. Earthlink offered to hook me up to satellite(!) internet for $99.99/month. HEL-LO. No, thank you. I am tempted to return to a life of dial-up....

Transitions

2008-08-22T00:29:00.002+03:00

A photo from Africa -- I believe it needs a little Photoshopping magic but that will have to wait!

I apologize of the lack of posts recently. I have been rather unrooted lately, and general busy-ness aside, I find it hard to muster any inspired, coherent thoughts.

On the good news side, my job search has come to a conclusion and I was able to snag a fabulous position at a small, private, liberal arts school. My position involves coordinating exchange programs with Japan, so I really could not imagine anything better for me. I start soon and fortunately do not have much free time to become apprehensive about my return to the working world after 1 1/2 years.

As many of you know, the US economy is not in great shape these days and I was concerned about the prospect of job hunting in these conditions. In the end, it will have been exactly two months from my arrival in the US to my start in a new position. I think that is excellent and am quite proud of myself!

I did encounter enormous amounts of competition for all the positions I applied for. In the end, connections (recommendations from people who know the hiring manager) really made a difference for me. I think utilizing good connections is virtually the only way to get a position these days, and even with them, you do not always get the job (this wasn't the first time I had used my connections -- it was just the first successful time).

Well, I cannot possibly explain in words how excited I am to be able to work on Japan-related activities again. It involves a move to a very small town with very limited dining and cultural options, but I think being part of a diverse and vibrant college campus will make all the difference. As I told Sweetie, we must befriend the international students and invite them over for potlucks to keep our tastebuds amused!

Finally - my Africa Trip Log

2008-08-05T04:34:00.005+03:00

First of all, huge thanks to everyone who comments on my blog!! Much appreciated!! I do enjoy having this creative outlet, even if I haven't been able to update it as frequently as I would like!

Africa

It has been three months since our return from Africa, and I'm finally sitting down to write up some of our adventures.

The Start

I vaguely recall that we took another one of those extremely early flights (for some unknown reason, there is a huge swath of time during the day in which no flights leave from Tel Aviv, therefore, most flights are at one ungodly hour or another). Sweetie and I ran into an acquaintance at the gate, who was boarding our same flight. Small world. "Friend" was happy to have met us, because we had booked an escort in Johannesburg to get us through immigration and onto our next flight and he tagged along. As we were waiting for our bags, we made some joke about how my bags often go missing and were surprised that my bag was actually spit out on to the conveyor belt. I did a small dance of joy.

The route to the domestic terminal was not entirely straightforward and our escort was able to jump us through all the lines at various junctures. Hooray.

Our flight to Cape Town was over an hour late departing. I had one of those experiences where I fell asleep on the plane, woke up later expecting us to be halfway to our destination, only to look out the window and see that we were still on the *&*$ tarmac!!

I was very happy when we finally arrived in Cape Town, only to pull Sweetie's bag off the belt and then wait and wait and WAIT for mine. I knew the drill from Sicily (didn't get my bag for five days) and raced out to the claim desk like a mad woman, dragging our driver behind me. Once inside the baggage office, Sweetie took over while I had a small breakdown in the corner of the office. It's just that this has happened to me so many times and I was just EXHAUSTED and totally not wanting to deal with a missing bag YET AGAIN on my vacation.

It was all very civilized in the office and no one was panicked about their missing bags. An African woman dragging a kid along actually tapped me to see if I was in line. How refreshing compared to life in Israel!!

Word was that the bags would be delivered by midnight and no one was worried, so I decided to stop having a breakdown. We left with a form in hand.

We arrived at the lovely Villa Belmonte, which I selected using Tripadvisor.com since we arrived one day before our tour group. It was a nice room, but had no view. There were, however, chairs outside with a great, close view of Table Mountain. We had dinner at the Villa with some much-needed wine. The food was decent, though service was slightly spotty and the Kenny G Christmas music was about 8 months early (or 4 months late, take your pick) and a bit odd.

DAY TWO

Word on my bag (via the customer service number) was that it came in on the 10AM flight and we later learned that it really DID come in on the 10AM flight!

Breakfast was fabulous on the terrace -- gorgeous weather, nice tea, great selection and cook-to-order options too.

Streisand show tunes were slightly odd background music (but better than Kenny G Christmas, I suppose...).

Sweetie's South African friends picked us up and took us to Camps Bay for lunch -- gorgeous area on the seaside. We indulged in some lemon merengue pie and Malva pudding for dessert. YUM-MY.

We later transferred to our lodging at the Mt. Nelson hotel. We settled in. I took advantage of one of the spa services, as there is not a single place in Israel that can perform any sort of waxing under even moderately hygienic conditions. Only problem was that there was a screaming child in the waiting area and I actually found myself saying out loud, "OMG - get her out of here." The mother shot me a dirty look, but to be fair to me, it was completely inappropriate for a child to be in there.

We had an amazing dinner at the hotel's restaurant -- the kind of inventive, cutting-edge foods (foams and the like) that I expected but never found in Israel. We had oysters, and then I had a mushroom arrancini -- like a risotto in deep fried balls with foam and a tapenade. For dessert, we had "Green or Red?" -- six apple-inspired desserts, including an apple sorbet with some liquor in it that was absolutely exquisite!

Sunset on the Zambezi

2008-08-01T06:39:00.001+03:00

My new wheels

2008-07-25T04:15:00.002+03:00

The new 'mobile! It is growing on me, most definitely, even though it's a boring grey color (err-wait, my aunt says "silver" sounds better. She's another proud owner of a "silver" car).

Slow Progress

2008-07-18T03:22:00.004+03:00

I am slowly establishing myself back in the US. I started out the day buying a printer. I was holding out and going to Kinkos to print resumes, but that was getting old. This morning, I called Sweetie and he said, "I think we can afford a printer." Well, yes. We can (at least we could at that point in the day. Read on). But, but, but...I have this problem. Buying a printer is my most dreaded shopping experience. It's so incredibly stressful, because I know that whatever I get, it's going to be a lemon AND it's going to consume mass (and expensive) quantities of ink cartridges. That's just the way it goes. Basically, it is cheaper to buy a BRAND NEW PRINTER (which comes with a fresh set of ink cartridges) than it is to replace the cartridges in your printer. Seriously. The old guy at OfficeMax didn't believe me, but the price tags on the cartridges back me up on this.

Anyway, I bought one on the spot, spinning the roulette wheel of the printing world. And sure enough, when I got home and looked it up on the Net (big mistake), that particular model is completely panned by virtually everyone who owns it. Lovely. Not only that, but the customer service number is a TOLL number. Can you just imagine -- being put on HOLD at YOUR EXPENSE for 30 minutes before finally being connected to some completely incoherent service rep somewhere in New Delhi? Ayeyeye. Oh well, I hooked it up nonetheless and printed out a resume.

My next shopping experience

I have also determined that I need to buy a car soon. I have been sharing a rental with my mom who is temporarily back in town, but when she leaves, I need wheels and renting indefinitely doesn't make sense.

I wanted to get a hybrid, but guess what -- three-month waiting list. I don't have three months.

Plan B -- smallish car with great gas mileage. I read a few things about the Honda Fit and when I read that it has twice the cargo capacity of a Civic (my other top choice and what I previously owned before moving to Japan 5 years ago), I was intrigued. After all, I have another 61 kg. of luggage arriving tomorrow via DHL. I need to transport that stuff to my next temporary dwelling somehow and UHauls are not my forte.

I submitted some quote requests for the Fit last night online, and today ran down to the local dealer to take a look. Well, it turned out that they had already sold the ONE Fit they had in stock. I was able to take a peek at it as they prepped it for the owner, but it wasn't even the model I wanted, so it wasn't entirely helpful.

After further discussion with the dealer, I realized that my chances of getting a 2008 Fit were fast disappearing and that they were selling them even before they arrive on the lot. Not only that, but Civics are in extremely short supply as well, as scads of people try to replace their gas-guzzlers with more economical vehicles.

My mom convinced me that I HAD to immediately drive up north 21 miles to a dealer who had three in stock. So, we did. And guess what, they were all sold. The salesman said he had one "on the way" that day. But, when we walked out to the lot, I noticed a rogue Fit Sport and he said, "Oh! Maybe that's it!?" It was -- had literally just arrived.

Long story short, I took it for a short test drive (first person EVER to drive it) and though it felt VERY SMALL and not as sexy as the Civic and was not at all the color I wanted (there are only two in blue in the entire STATE and those would have been sold before I ever got to them), I decided to buy it on the spot. No negotiating possible, sadly. These things are selling themselves. Every review by an actual owner that I have read has been most favorable, and in the end, it's $2,000 cheaper than a Civic.

Sweetie will have to be the one to get the sexy car! I'm sure he will not protest:-) I've gone for practical!

The Interminable Job Hunt
I am persevering with the job hunt, but it is getting exhausting and demoralizing. I am not taking the rejections personally (and in fact, in most cases, I never know if they ended up hiring someone or not), but I'm just getting bored and tired. I often go back to my grand idea to start a company with all my brilliant, underutilized friends and seek world domination.

Snoop Dogg

2008-07-09T05:29:00.003+03:00

I just confirmed what I thought was true -- I spotted Snoop Dogg on the escalator at O'Hare airport yesterday. I just confirmed that he had a concert in Chicago the next day. Of all the people on the adjacent elevators to notice and recognize Snoop Dogg, I have to say that the white girl from Ohio was quite possibly the least likely person to ID Snoop Dogg. Maybe it was those years living on a military base. Or maybe my college days.

The sighting occurred shortly after my mom commented that it's amazing we had not seen anyone we know at the airport. Well, I don't exactly KNOW Snoop Dogg, but anyway.

[Photo from Snoop Dogg Official website].

Coming Home

2008-07-09T05:03:00.003+03:00

A cheetah spotted on our safari at Ngala Private Reserve, which is adjacent to Krueger National Park in South Africa. I was in such awe when we first spotted these creatures. It's just amazing to see such dangerous animals up close and in the wild!

Home

I'm home. It's great to be home. Last weekend, on the sad occasion of my uncle's death, I was able to meet up with numerous family members who I rarely see. We were all so sad that my uncle wasn't there with us (indeed, we planned to get together while he was still alive, but instead the day planned for the family get-together became his funeral), but I cherished the time with all who were there, as I am sure my uncle would have wanted.

I come from a big extended family. You could probably call it huge. When my aunt called for a family photo, virtually the entire crowd from the funeral lined up. I had no idea.

When we showed up at the funeral home, a gentleman standing outside said, "These must be my cousins." He identified himself and all I could say was, "No way!"

It's great to be home.

2008-06-29T14:29:00.002+03:00

Today's photo is of a wildebeast in Ngala Private Reserve. I am very grateful now that I did not delete it because it was "blurry," because in fact, it's a really cool picture. Sometimes, you just don't know. Believe it or not -- I did virtually no Photoshopping on this. I believe in taking photos properly in the camera. Which is why I have ordered the $75 Photoshop Elements with my new laptop, as opposed to the $700 full Photoshop version. Get it right the first time and save money.

Moving
Well, the dreaded moving day has passed without much incident, though with international moves, you always wonder if that will be the last time you see your stuff, particularly in this part of the world (Second Lebanon War resulted in a re-routing of my crates when I moved here two years ago). The movers came and packed up the house in about 8 hours and as there were only three of them, it was actually pretty manageable. Hooray.

Question though: why do movers always leave little random items in your drawers and on the shelves? It always happens and it is clearly deliberate, as the items are left in plain view. Maybe they feel like having some control over the process. They feel like they need authority. So, they silently state that they see no reason why I should be taking items such as 1) A New Zealand coin 2) A disposable razor or most-interestingly 3) Pieces of surgical-grade tape for a backless/strapless bra.

Fine, they're all going into air freight.

South Africa pic

2008-06-21T22:56:00.002+03:00

Bird of Paradise at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens in Cape Town. A gorgeous garden and quite extensive - I could have spent all day there!

Garage Sale - the Final Episode

2008-06-14T16:52:00.006+03:00

Penguins in Cape Town -- they were sooo much fun to watch -- such comical animals!

Today we held the final garage sale installment. Sweetie's daughter, her boyfriend and I had held one for 5 hours on Wednesday, but with few results and one really, really horrendous incident. Today we had even fewer results. So, that's it. What is left is going to charity or the trash.

Back to the horrendous incident -- during the sale, I went inside briefly to make a salad while Sweetie's daughter Sweedle manned the sale. I was quite a distance away (the garage is detached) and had the house door closed. But, even so, I suddenly heard a commotion coming from the garage. So, I rushed out, and watched in complete horror as this very tall and big-boned middle-aged Israeli lady walked around the garage kicking things and generally wreaking havoc for no apparent reason. I was shocked!! I didn't know what to do. I imagined that if I tried to intervene, she would become even more destructive. At one point, she picked a very heavy electrical transformer off the floor and set it down on some delicate Japanese decorative sushi plates!!! I nearly screamed.

She couldn't carry everything she bought (probably because she shoplifted one item and hid it in the double baby stroller she had with her, unbeknownst to us until she left), and came back the next day to pick up the rest. I had her ticket and knew she would try to have a second go at the garage. So, I had her items ready at the front gate and used them as a barrier when she tried to push her way in. I told her everything was gone.

Horrible.

These sorts of experiences really sour us on life here.

Busy Days

2008-06-10T21:59:00.004+03:00

Today's photo is of a cell on Robben Island, the island where Nelson Mandela was once held prisoner. A truly incredible place to visit and highly recommended to anyone traveling to Cape Town.

Sorry posts are few and far between these days!

Spent a night at Amirim in the Galilee this weekend. Beautiful and peaceful and lots of good food.

But now it's back to reality.

We're continuing our garage sale efforts -- we held one for two hours on Saturday and it was something else. It was advertised only via our housekeeper and we had almost more of a turnout than we could handle! OMG. My head was spinning. I was powerless against these experienced garage sale mavens who lined up ONE HOUR before opening time. Brilliant strategy, however, as we felt pressured to open the door early and they got first dibs on our priceless treasures (okay, pseudo-junk).

Seal Island

2008-06-03T11:57:00.002+03:00

We took a boat trip to Duiker Island which is famous for its seals. The ride was VERY rough and a few times I was afraid the boat would tip as it rode huge swells. Fortunately, that didn't happen and we were able to enjoy watching the seals.

Cape Town

2008-06-01T15:44:00.002+03:00

I wish I had more time to write about our fascinating trip to Africa. Though it was marred by the news of the burglary of our house in Israel (got the news on Day 2), we did see some amazing things.

Cape Town had a lot to do, and wonderful weather. Clear skies with great views of the famous Table Mountain. The only problem was security -- it was not advised to walk outside the hotel grounds after dark. Even just to walk a few blocks down the main street.

This pic is from Cape Point.

Photos are Back; Next Steps

2008-05-26T16:07:00.004+03:00

I am slowly working my way through my list for insurance -- every day I remember another treasured piece of jewelry that I will never see again. Even some of the smallest, least expensive pairs of earrings I had will be sorely missed. As I expand my list, I realize that most of my jewelry pieces were gifts. With fond memories attached. Of visiting friends in Japan. Of farewell parties and small packages opened at the airport.

I have decided, as VegetableJ so wisely suggested, to focus on going home first, finding a job later. I'm going to book a flight to Ohio and stay at the old homestead until I can get my bearings again and/or find a job. This has all upset me much more than I thought it would. Though I am dealing with the theft and the resulting sense insecurity, all the fallout from it (losing my computer, harddrives and all their data; trying to fill out insurance forms; trying to sell much of our stuff prior to the move which has now been brought forward by about two months and is imminent; etc.) has added stress to my plate that I'm honestly not handling all that well. I can't say I've ever felt this ungrounded in my life.

On the good news front, I am plunging forward with organizing some of my trip photos -- so here's the first one from Cape Town -- the lovely Villa Belmonte where we stayed on night prior to the rest of our tour group's arrival. It was gorgeous and I wish I could transport myself right back to their open-air veranda for breakfast!

Would you believe....

2008-05-14T15:15:00.003+03:00

Thank you dear readers who have sent your sympathies! You've put smiles on my face -- no easy task these days!

Well, things just go from bad to worse.

For example, the local police had put a note in our mailbox while we were on vacation, stating (in Hebrew, of course) that they stopped by and we weren't home, but we could call them with any questions. My Hebrew teacher encouraged me to do so, and so that is what I did yesterday. Well, "Roni" of the local police said that if there was anything they could do, to let them know. And I wasn't quite sure what the police would be willing to do -- for example, would they increase patrols on my street? Or keep an eye out for my car? Or maybe add some lights to the alley behind our house? I didn't know, so I asked. And do you know what he said? He said that if I needed to BUY some INSURANCE, that he could help me.

Yeah.

Can you say "Corruption"?

Absolutely appalling.

Israelis out there -- you need to start speaking out about this if you care about the future of your country. Not only are the police horribly corrupt, but theft is incredibly rampant. Pretty soon, people are going to have to put up electrified and/or barbed wire fences.

AND, yesterday (just before calling the helpful policeman), I spotted a man standing on a dumpster in the alley behind our house. He had a camera pointed toward our basement patio doors. Hmmmm... When he saw that I spotted him (he was literally only 7 feet away from me even though I was in the middle of our kitchen and he was outside our yard wall), he brushed me off with a hand motion, but I raced out the back and confronted him. He claimed to be taking pics of "the roof next door." Ahyuh. And that's why he was standing on a dumpster with his camera pointed at our patio doors? I raced back into the house and got my camera, but he had split by the time I got outside.

Needless to say, I am now completely terrified that they are coming back for what they didn't get the first time.

Anyway friends, sorry for the dearth of pictures lately. I've taken my camera equipment to a "safehouse." Sad:-( But, I am feverishly applying for jobs in small, quiet towns back in the US, so wish me luck that I can move to a kinder, gentler place very soon!

Open Letter to the Nasty Person Who Took Our Stuff

2008-05-12T10:01:00.002+03:00

This is to the person who broke into our house while we were on vacation and took "all the important stuff" (as a former fellow burglary victim put it).

What exactly are you going to do with my 4-year-old Japanese hard drive that requires a transformer (which I noticed you took) and plug adaptor? It's only 100GB -- completely obsolete by today's standards. Why bother? You've managed to take all my photos, my iTunes, and other things too large to back up on discs. I hope you're happy.

And how much money are you going to get for my 2-year-old laptop? A hundred dollars maybe? Is that really worth the time it will take to clean the drive and the gazillion programs I had installed?

You can have my brand new 250GB hard drive, but could you at least transfer the vacation photos on it to a DVD and drop it in the mailbox?

I'd like you to know that the ribbon was out in my fax machine. Good luck finding a new one.

As for my jewelry, including the custom-designed necklace with diamonds from my parents' wedding rings, I hope karma comes back to haunt you. Those can't be replaced. I also can't replace the jewelry Sweetie gave me because the series is discontinued. So, instead, I'll be treasuring the memory of my joyful reaction when I opened the boxes of the diamond necklace and later, earrings, that he gave me.

Regarding the other diamond jewelry you stole, you can have it. It was from an ex-boyfriend, so enjoy.

As for the car, in case you care (which I know you don't), it was NOT insured for theft (unbeknownst to me), so we just lost that money, and contrary to what you might think, money does not grow on trees for us. I will be walking to the grocery store for the hot summer months to come. And when I move back to the US, I'll be riding a bicycle. Thanks for keeping me fit.

As for Sweetie's cufflinks, tie tacks, and watches: low blow. As for ALL my costume jewlery (except for one pair of earrings and some tarnished silver bracelets), another low blow. As for all the change Sweetie had in his car and desk drawer, LAME. And that half-empty bottle of Chanel perfume, who do you think is going to buy that???

[Side note to the Israeli government: I am completely appalled that you are now going to charge us HALF the value of our stolen car in taxes simply because it was stolen and is no longer in our possession!!!!!!!! So, a citizen of YOUR nation steals MY car, and I have to PAY YOU for it???????!!!!!!!!! How is that acceptable in any version of reality?]

Still Around -- sort of

2008-05-09T11:49:00.003+03:00

Hello to my wonderful blog readers. Just a quick note to let you know that I have not been sucked into a black hole. I hope to resume my blog asap, but unfortunately, someone decided to come into my house last week and take all my valuable stuff, including my laptop. It's very sad, but at least Sweetie and I are okay and we still have each other.

Please do subscribe to the RSS of my blog. That way, you'll be notified when I'm back up and running.

Action Shot

2008-04-23T09:45:00.003+03:00

Here's an action shot from my safari park adventure. Didn't realize what I had captured until we looked at it on the big computer screen. Obviously animals don't have the same need for privacy that we humans do.

Can I get some sleep?
Life in Israel continues to frustrate. On Friday, we were awoken at 0430(!) by road crews getting an apparently very early start on their never-ending "tear up the road, over and over again, for 7 months" project. For some reason, the road workers and the garbage man cannot enter our neighborhood in any gear but REVERSE. So, for several minutes, we hear, "beep beep beep beep BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP! BEEP!" as they come all the way down the street and past our house. It baffles me.

Also, the dog across the street (or rather his irresponsible owners) has tested our last nerves. We've asked the neighbors
kindly TWICE now to manage his barking during the nighttime hours. His bark is so loud that it pierces right through our shutters and double-glazed windows, jolting us both awake. We end up sleeping on twin bedrooms in Sweetie's daughter's bedroom on the opposite side of the house about 2-3 nights a week....Any tips or hints on how to get better results from the neighbors are welcome! It's clear that they do not walk or interact with the dog at all. He's a huge bull mastiff-type, who doesn't get any exercise, and can't see through the fence and hedges surrounding his yard, so he's barking at EVERYTHING. And NOTHING.

Dragonfly

2008-04-18T14:44:00.003+03:00

The red dragonfly that spends summers by our pool is back. I stalked him yesterday with my camera and telephoto.

おかしい話

2008-04-18T12:10:00.002+03:00

最近とてもおかしいことが起こりました。私は茶道について記事を書いて、それをイギリスの外交官の家族向けの雑誌に載せられることになったのです。その雑誌をずっと期待して待っていたのです。先日、ともだちに、「あなたの記事を読んだよ！」私が「そう？もう出たの？」友達：「うん。だけど、ひとつ質問がある。なんで名字が「チャン」なの？」

私がビックリ。ショック。

編集者が間違って、私のメールアドレスが私の名前と名字だと思い込んでそのまま出したみたいです。信じられない。だけど、わらっちゃうよね。

Safari Preparation

2008-04-17T20:57:00.003+03:00

Yesterday, my photography instructor and I went to a local safari park so that I could practice taking pics before I actually go on safari. It was an excellent learning experience. Needless to say, I learned a lot about what NOT to do. Like, don't cut off the animal's legs if you're going for a full-body shot. Or, actually focus on the animal and not some random point in the background. Anyway, I did get some decent shots and will post some of the better ones, and some of the more interesting ones, here.

For example, the photo above. I had this great shot of zebras set up and then this waterbuck strolled into my shot. Just like people would do. As my instructor said, "You've got to be a little quicker off the mark." Indeed.

Tips

2008-04-15T20:40:00.005+03:00

For all you construction workers who may (or may not) be reading this blog, cat-calling a woman of my age is completely inappropriate. You would know this if you were to see my knees up close, which leads me to my second tip:

For all you women under the age of 30, you must leave your computer NOW, go out to the nearest store, and buy a large bottle of something called SERUM, and apply it liberally to your knees each night. Now, usually this is something recommended for women over the age of 30 to put on their FACE, but I am telling you, if you are going to be needing it on your face, it is already too late. You might as well start saving for Botox. Save your knees instead.

I swear, my knees are seriously showing my age, while my face has none of the expected laugh lines around the eyes or furrows around my
mouth. On the other hand, NOBODY ever warned me to put creams and serums and daily sunscreen on my knees, for goodness sake.

No photo is being supplied here for obvious reasons.

Peace and Quiet

2008-04-11T16:53:00.007+03:00

Sweetie is upstairs napping before our Friday pilgrimage to the gym, so I'm using this time to write a post. I wanted desperately to nap, but the two thousand-billion decibel level of the children's party (probably about a mile away, but it might as well be in the living room) was disrupting my efforts to join Sweetie in blissful sleep.

Yes, it's Friday late afternoon/early evening, it's April, it's children's birthday party season again. No children's birthday party in Israel is complete without
professional entertainment, usually a man, equipped with a really loud sound system that will blare not only his voice, but also every irritating techno beat known to mankind. They tend to last from 1600-1900.

I have determined that whenever we buy a permanent dwelling for us to live in, it should be surrounded by many acres of land. Either that, or be thoroughly soundproofed.

Trip to a Ship

2008-04-04T13:53:00.006+03:00

Here's a photo of my new camera lens!

Ship Trip
This past week, Sweetie and I had the opportunity to participate in a reception onboard a Turkish vessel that is part of a NATO group of ships currently docked in Haifa. I had never been on a warship before.

We arrived early, and representatives from the boats of all nations in the flotilla were there and held up flags for us. Then, there were representatives from the various boats also at the reception on the Turkish ship. Sweetie and I managed to scope out some Americans and I talked to the top enlisted sailor on the US ship, who answered some of my questions about uniforms (it was really hard to tell who was from what country). Then, I ended up talking to a group of officers, while Sweetie sought out the Brits. It was great, until another officer swooped in and would not stop talking. I did not catch on when all the other officers discreetly walked away. This guy was a serious motormouth. I think part of the problem was that he was on this Turkish ship for a few months, without any other native English speakers. He was making up for lost time and I was his victim.

I kept waiting for Sweetie to rescue me, from apparently, to the outside observer, it looked like I was having a nice conversation -- but in fact, I was playing therapist (and not getting paid $110/hour).

Anyway, I FINALLY escaped and got some food.

Slow Blogging Season
I really must apologize for the lack of blogs recently. I am job-hunting and that has been consuming lots of my time (read: if you want to hire me, let me know!). I want to write more often, but it just hasn't been possible. I will try to post at least once a week.

Unwelcome Guest

2008-03-30T21:01:00.005+03:00

I was working late in our home office the other night when I heard a noise on the patio. The office is in the basement, but there is a lower level patio cut out about 12 feet under ground level -- it's great because it gives the basement lots of natural light. Anyway, I called up to Sweetie to see if he had thrown something down into the patio or something like that. He hadn't. He instructed me to close the shutters and we'd see what was out there. So, I closed the shutters and turned on the patio lights. He looked down from the upstairs and said, "It's a cat."

A cat. A small, very mangy, nasty-looking cat. It had apparently jumped, or fallen, into the basement patio and now couldn't get back out. We watched as it got up on the patio table and did a spread-eagled leap into the air toward the wall of the patio, falling to the ground like a ton of bricks. Yeah. He hadn't quite mastered the whole jumping thing.

It is cases like this where my 7th and 8th-grade gifted students class ("Project Challenge," which my classsmates and I affectionately called "Project Reject") proves its worth. I start brainstorming 101 ways to get a yucky cat out of a basement patio WITHOUT bringing it into the house and tracking fleas all over the place.

My first idea was to put our tall ladder on one of the patio chairs so that the cat could climb out and make the short leap to ground level. So, Sweetie did that. For the longest time, the cat wasn't getting it and kept leaping off the table fruitlessly.

So, I put Plan B into action. I put a bunch of canned tuna into an empty tea bag and tied a roll of string around it. Then, I lowered the string down into the patio from outside, resting it near that chair with the ladder on it. However, the cat didn't appear. In fact, I couldn't see the cat anywhere on the patio. Sweetie came to investigate and noticed that the ladder had moved. The cat was gone. Hooray. And it was waaaay past our bedtime.

The Hunt

2008-03-25T16:19:00.001+02:00

The Hunt for Irises
I have been reading about the legendary "black irises" which apparently can be found in Netanya (a city north of here), Mt. Gilboa (a mountain north of here and very close to the West Bank), and also in the Negev (the south of Israel). The problem, however, is that newspapers and magazines in Israel are never specific about WHERE exactly things are located. For example: WHERE in Netanya, on Gilboa, in the Negev, can I find the irises?? No idea. Anyway, I wanted to see the irises and decided that Mt. Gilboa was the best bet because there is only one road on it, so surely the irises would be along that road.

So, on Monday, Sweetie and I booked lunch at one of our favorite restaurants (called Herb Farm, located on Mt. Gilboa), and left a bit early so we could do iris viewing on the mountain.

We drove up the mountain and initially stopped off at the spot where I encountered Mr. Lizard last month. But, everything was parched and the flowers were gone, so we didn't linger. Sweetie took over driving at that point, because I was not well (the smog/sand that has been around for a week finally did me in) and though I didn't tell Sweetie, I had been feeling like I would pass out during the previous 1+ hour of driving.

We ventured on, with me going cross-eyed as I scanned the roadside for the elusive irises. We eventually decided to give up and turn around in a parking lot labelled "The Irus Way." Fortunately, Sweetie is not blonde like I am and he figured out that this was where the irises (with an "i") were. So, we disembarked and wondered along the path. We managed to find about four irises (or "iruses," whichever you prefer) and couldn't help but wonder if people had walked off with the rest (a la that Finn recently who knocked an ear off a Moai statue on Easter Island).

Anyway, I felt a great sense of accomplishment that we found the irises!

Sweltering (and Coughing) in March

2008-03-22T13:46:00.003+02:00

We're experiencing a "sharav" here in Israel this weekend. It's basically a massive influx of hot air and dust from the desert areas east. Usually, I'm not too bothered by it, but this one seriously has me coughing, much along the lines of the "Cairo cough" that plagued me in Egypt. Today, I spent much of the day inside (some of the time wearing a surgical mask), while Sweetie was out basking in the sun.

Veggies
I finally remembered to take a picture of my organic veggie box this week before putting everything away. Doesn't it all look yummy? I've really been enjoying having a nice, fresh salad every day. Did you know that if you wash lettuce, break it into pieces, and put it in a tupperware container with some water in the bottom, that it will keep really well for about a week?

I do have to be very careful washing the veggies though. They are really fresh and not at all prewashed. So, there are lots of spiders, caterpillars and other assorted guests in
with my veggies. Today I actually had to throw away much of my broccoli because it had some bugs on it that I couldn't get off, even after soaking in vinegar-water and boiling! Oh well.... That's the exception, though. And I'd rather deal with some bugs than pesticides!

Technical Difficulties

2008-03-21T12:20:00.007+02:00

These are the fresias blooming on our patio and making the whole garden smell wonderful!

Photography Stuff
In the past three days, to support my new-found photography habit, I have acquired a 70-200mm Canon f/2.8L telephoto zoom lens, a 1.4 Canon extender, a Kata Digital Rucksack, a very expensive B+W circular polarizer, and a 250 GB portable external hard drive. Ayeye. I've also downloaded a trial version of Adope Photoshop Elements, which is so confusing to me that I am really glad I don't have enough money to buy the full Photoshop software right now.

Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L telephoto zoom lens
Big thanks to MOM who contributed a big chunk toward this fabulous purchase! It's a very serious-looking lens and I am so proud!

For camera freaks out there, you might notice that this is NOT the IS version. Of couse, I wanted the IS version, but right now, I don't exactly have an unlimited supply of money, and I read reviews for this lens (written by poor folks like myself, who only have $1200 to spend on a lens and not $1600) and those who have it are VERY satisfied with its performance. With the caveat that if they had an extra $500 lying around, the would have gone for the IS version.

Canon 1.4x II extender
Again, the poor man's version (in a sense). I didn't want to have to pay for a stronger telephoto, so I got this extender instead. I opted for the 1.4 instead of the 2.0 because the 2.0 apparently degrades image quality noticeably and this is not what I wanted. Also, it significantly multiples your minimum focal length, which is not good for me because I have the non-IS lens. I need to maintain wide aperatures so I can keep the shutter speed up to account for any shake.

B+W Circular Polarizer
This was basically the most expensive polarizer I could find. But, it got great reviews, so knowing virtually nothing about polarizers, I decided to give it a try.

Kata Digital Rucksack DR-467
Haven't tried to fit my new acquisitions into this bag yet (ironically, made here in Israel!), but am looking forward to it!

Technical Problem
I got a wonderful TINY external hard drive to support my photo habit, but it is totally slowing down my computer. I think I made progress today toward getting things back in order (honestly, I think Photoshop was the problem). Fingers crossed.

Anyway, my Easter weekend will be spent playing with my new toys. The above photo was taken with the old lens (in full manual mode, and in RAW format -- hurray for me). However, to upload it, I had to shrink the file size considerably, so it's not as good as the original. Handy excuse:-)

Photo for Today

2008-03-17T10:00:00.003+02:00

It has become clear to me that I need to get a macro lens for my camera. I am taking lots of flower photos. Unfortunately, this purchase will have to wait, as I have just shelled out lots of money that I shouldn't really be spending (the past year of unemployment has nearly decimated my savings, but it has been FUN!!) for a telephoto lens, a backpack that can hold my oversized media-verson laptop with my camera equipment, and an extender for my telephoto lens, none of which I have actually received yet, as the shipment is apparently being held in customs at Ben Gurion airport awaiting confirmation (from me, presumably) of what is inside. Of course, no one has actually tried to contact me about the shipment, so I am just waiting.....

My Passport

2008-03-14T11:59:00.003+02:00

Yesterday I made a long-awaited trek to the US Embassy for an appointment to get additional pages added to my passport. Yes, my passport is nearly full, with four more years to go before it expires. This is even considering the fact that I used my diplomatic passport for much of my travel (prior to last March). So, I guess I've spent a lot of time on planes! Anyway, I followed the directions on the embassy website and left ALL personal belongings in my car, with the exception of my passport, my application form, and my car keys. As I arrived at the embassy, they swiped my hands for bomb residue and then I got to wait behind several dual-citizen families who had clearly paid no attention whatsoever to the embassy regulations and were trying to bring in electronic
dictionaries, telephones, hair picks, etc. I was less than pleased, as this was all delaying my progress in the line.

And I must say that I was slightly dismayed that all the instruction were being given to me in Hebrew, despite the fact that I was waiting in line for American Citizen Services. Anyway, I eventually made my way into the Embassy and waited about an hour until my name was called. When I got to the window, the guy told me that I need not have made an appointment! I waited four months for this appointment!! Anyway, they did take care of it and I had my passport pages within the next hour, for which I was very grateful.

Anyway, I just checked the embassy's website, and indeed, it does state there that an appointment is REQUIRED. So, I am completely perplexed.

Note to any US citizens living in Israel: try to take care of all passport issues and other official business when you are back in the US visiting.

A Taste of Israeli Wine; My Favorite Show

2008-03-10T14:16:00.006+02:00

Israeli Wine
Ever since I heard about it, I've been wanting to visit the Jerusalem Hills area and check out some of the vineyards there. On Sunday, Sweetie and I visited Tzora Vineyards in Bet Shemesh. I had previously tasted a Tzora bottle, and I have to admit it wasn't my favorite (to be fair - it was a bottle of their "Judean Hills" which is intended simply for everyday consumption - ie: it's nothing special), but Tzora was the only place I called that welcomed us for tasting that day, so off we went.

It was very easy to find and Shula who assisted us was really kind and helpful. She explained where the grapes are grown (at three different locations near Jerusalem) and the history behind the vineyard and its founder (who sadly just passed away a few weeks ago). I tasted a Merlot that I really liked, but Sweetie preferred the Cabernet. In the end, I decided to buy a bottle of their dessert wine called "Or" ("light" in Hebrew), which apparently received a tasting score in the low 90s from a renowned wine expert. They don't provide tastings of the Or due to its limited quantity, but I decided to take a chance. I'll let you know how it is. Sweetie picked up a few bottles of the Cabernet. Neither were cheap -- my dessert wine was 119 NIS (over $30). But hopefully the taste will be worth it!

We ate a picnic lunch on the tables outside of Tzora. There was a "sharav" that day -- a weather phenomenon that entails unseasonably hot, sandy weather. So, the views weren't that great. But, we were the only ones there and it was shaded and pleasant.

My Favorite TV Show
I have to confess that I LOVE watching American Idol. This drives Sweetie absolutely insane. He just barely tolerates it when, on Friday nights at 1930, I sequester myself in the bedroom to watch American Idol (while he goes to the basement to watch anything else). But, I LOVE music and I really love the show. This year, I am soooo impressed with the men on the show, and I have to say that at this point, there is not a single one who I think should be eliminated. They are all excellent. Of course, one of my favorites is David Archuleta -- he's just a perfect singer. But I am afraid he might be one who would not be able to sing hits. And ultimately, that's
what the show is/should be looking for.

I've been much less impressed with the women. That said, I did download Brooke White's version of "Love Is a Battlefield" from iTunes. Totally worth a listen if you have iTunes. It's a ready-made hit.

Cosmos

2008-03-07T09:32:00.008+02:00

This cosmos in our yard finally bloomed. Hooray. I have been watching the stalk grow for months -- first straight upward, but then it got too tall and collapsed sideways under its weight. Even so, it stayed green and eventually blossoms formed and now it has bloomed.

コスモスです。我が家の庭に咲いています。九州の行橋市の市の花ですね。行橋に住んだときから好きで、ここに引っ越してきたときに庭師に頼んで植えてもらいました。椿も今咲いていますよ。でも椿の花はすぐ落ちますよね。

I've had it

2008-03-05T16:17:00.009+02:00

Today I am really thinking evil thoughts toward Israel and most Israelis (I say "most," because some truly are nice and this doesn't apply to them). Why? Well, last night at 0230, Sweetie and I were very abruptly woken by an ear-piercing house alarm. We both were jolted out of bed by it and upon investigation, discovered that the house under construction behind us (which has already ruined large portions of our lives/time here in Israel) had a house alarm fitted. And it was going off. And we thought, no wonder because the house has no windows, no doors, no gate, etc. DUH! Anything could get in there (eg: birds, cats, dogs, etc.) and set the alarm off at any time!

It went on for about 10 minutes. Both of us were entirely too disturbed after the alarm finally ceased to get back to sleep. I think I was awake another hour seething with anger at people's complete lack of consideration for others. I was trying to decide how I would handle it -- who to talk to about it, what would be likely to get them to do something about it/care, etc.

Long, irritating story short, our kind, quiet next door neighbors know the lady building the house and told her to turn the alarm off. Apparently, the lady (we call her FB) was going out of town and gave our neighbor the alarm code. But, like us, the neighbors were rudely awoken by the alarm at 0230 and our neighbor said "What, does she expect me to get up in the middle of the night, get dressed, and walk over there and shut it off?? And to have my whole family woken every night?" Indeed. And frankly, anyone who wants to mess with a crappy unfinished house rather than robbing any number of luxuriously appointed, occupied homes in the area has a serious priority problem.

I've just really had it with noise and lack of consideration for others in this country. Our whole neighborhood is a giant construction site. Virtually every third house is being either torn down or gutted and renovated. We might as well be living in the middle of the Big Dig. Sundays are ruined. Every day from 0700 until at least 1500 is just full of noise. We can't wait to leave.

私の急須

2008-03-05T16:08:00.004+02:00

私が5年ぐらい使ってきた急須です。とてもおいしいお茶ができました。だけど、この急須はもう古くて、蓋を2回も割れちゃって、中についている網にゴミが溜まってお茶があまりでなくなって、捨てることにしました。

南部鉄瓶の急須があるからそれを出しました。だけど、使ってみたらお茶があまり美味しくできません。網が口についていなくて、網みたいなものをポツンと入れるものがあるのです。そのせいですかね。

今度日本へ行ったときに新しい焼き物の急須を買いましょう。

Flowers

2008-03-04T15:03:00.003+02:00

For some reason, I find myself photographing a lot of flowers lately. 'Tis the season, I suppose.

This is from my camellia bush which FINALLY bloomed. I've only been saying to Sweetie for about 6 months that it's going to bloom "any day," and it finally did. I sacrificed one bud for my elegant vase (for the tea ceremony) but learned that they wilt quickly! This was taken after just a half day....

Giving up the veg

2008-03-03T17:59:00.006+02:00

I've been vegetarian for about ten years. And I've decided that I'm going to try to start eating fish again. I originally became vegetarian for health reasons, but for the past 4 1/2 years, I've found myself getting sick way too frequently. I'm not sure if this has anything to do with the lack of fish or meat (or even dairy, as I don't consume much of that either), but I'm going to TRY to start eating fish again (I say "try" because after not eating it for so long, it is completely unappealing to me!) and see what happens.   My other possible explanation for my health issues is that I've been living in warm climates (where during a "cold" winter it gets no lower than 50F) the past 4 1/2 years and perhaps there are different bugs in these climates that my body just can't handle.  Not
sure, but I need to try something different and since I can't exactly up and move right now to a cold place (nor do I really want to! I'm not a fan of winter).

That said....
That said, I just got my first delivery today from an organic vegetable farm. Woohoo. Very exciting. I was impressed with the assortment -- cucumbers, red bell peppers, beets, yams, onions, beet greens, lettuce, cilantro, tomatoes, fennel, carrots, kohlrabi....all in excellent condition.  And it's a luxury to have enough time to actually plan out how I am going to use all
these vegetables.  I might as well take advantage of that time while I can!

For the Israel-dwellers
On our recent trip to the Galilee, we had dinner at Auberge Shulamit -- a restaurant in Rosh Pina that I have read great things about.  I was excited to finally give it a try.   It was lovely -- nice setting, quiet (we were one of only two tables occupied -- great for us, but doesn't necessarily bode well for the restaurant).  It is on the old road to
Tsfat (nightmarish twisty turny road up and around mountains) -- but not far along that road at all - just enough to get up the hill and see the twinkling lights of Rosh Pina.

The food was fine, but I was not overly enthusiastic. I had chestnut soup, which was lovely, but not exceptional. My pasta was really good, but not THAT memorable. And Sweetie's and his sister's chops were rather thin -- they said they would have preferred fewer, thicker chops.  Dessert was just okay.  When I ordered
souffle, I was expecting a REAL souffle, not the typical microwaved one that you can get at any coffee shop in Israel. So, it was a bit of a disappointment given the amazing reviews I had read. That said, the service was excellent and I would return.

The sounds of Israel

2008-03-03T12:18:00.005+02:00

Here's a pic from the waterfall (yes, a waterfall in Israel! It was a wondrous sight!) at Gamla Nature Reserve in the Golan. A gorgeous place and an easy, fairly level walk to the waterfall.

Noise
Now, let me tell you something. Israel is not quiet place. It really isn't. Rocket attacks and jets and army helicopters flying overhead aside, it's still not a quiet place.

For example, in good times, the sweet sounds of birds chirping in our garden is completely drowned out by either:

1) someone's house alarm, since apparently few people in our neighborhood have actually bothered to hook theirs up to a monitoring company. The alarms can go off incessantly for hours.

2) someone's car alarm. You might be surprised to learn that 9 times of out 10 that I hear a car alarm, it was set off by the owner. For some reason, people here can't seem to figure out the basic workings of a car alarm. If you've ever had one, you know who utterly simple they are. Nevertheless, many, I dare say MOST, people in my area can't seem to get in or out of their car without setting off the alarm.

3) a backhoe tearing apart cement and/or blacktop (either a street or a house that's being torn down). The past 4 days, I have nearly been driven insane by the sound of a little JCB (mini backhoe thing) tearing apart a house 3 lots away with its constant revving and then BEEPBEEP as it backs up. On good days, I merely have to listen to the posse of diggers that have been tearing up some of the surrounding streets (thank goodness not ours, YET) for some sort of drainage project (mind you -- I have seen no progress whatsoever in the past 5 months of this).

4) Neighbors/workers on houses under construction playing loud music. Saturday, our neighbors across the street decided to blast Garth Brooks into our house and garden. There is a time and a place for Garth Brooks and a Saturday afternoon in Israel was definitely neither.

5) Barking dogs. Our neighbors (not the Garth Brooks ones - neighbors on the other side of the house) have a dog with serious issues. We have nicknamed him "Buster." He looks something like a Bull Mastiff and he produces the loudest sound known to the animal kingdom. He has incredible stamina, too. Can go on barking for a solid hour. Needless
to say, we can hear him through our double-glazed windows and shutters. Likewise, we can hear him when he is INSIDE the neighbors house with all their windows closed and all of ours closed as well. He is the bane of our existence.

We've talked to Buster's owners and the situation has improved somewhat, but that isn't saying much as Sweetie and I had basically permanently encamped in his daughter's room at the opposite end of the house on two twin beds before we spoke to them.

Something is definitely not right with Buster though. Sweetie ran into him yesterday in front of our house (the owners just let him roam freely now and then, though unfortunately he doesn't go farther than one block and always comes back.) Sweetie stepped toward Buster threateningly, and Buster completely cowered. A dog like that should not be cowering. So now we wonder if he's being mistreated. Well, clearly he's not being treated well since he's barking (and howling -- now that's something to hear) all the time, but maybe it's more than that.

Anyway, all this noise makes me really want to go find a quiet island with no cars, no electricity (and no dogs!) :-)

A Tipsy Morning

2008-02-27T16:56:00.009+02:00

Today's photo -- a rose from the garden of Pilgerhaus in the Galilee.

Lots o' Wine

Yesterday, Sweetie's sister (who is visiting) and I went to the opening of the Israwinexpo in Tel Aviv. I didn't really know what to expect -- Sweetie received an invitation to the "opening event" and so we aimed to go to that. We registered and then went into the hall where the opening event (with various high-ranking government officials scheduled to speak) was to take place. There was a jazz band playing, an open bar with champagne on offer, and canapes of all types being offered by a bevy of servers who were fluttering around the room like butterflies. We procured some champagne (what else at 10:30AM?) and found an open table and stools that were conveniently located right where the servers were entering the room with their trays full of goodies. We feasted on avocado cream puffs, ceviche, roasted vegetables in crispy filo bowls, mini-quiches, passionfruit tarts, etc. It was difficult, but somehow we endured it.

We kept waiting for the opening event to start, but there was no end in sight, so after consuming what we thought was a respectable quantity of appetizers, we headed into the large hall where virtually every Israeli wine producer had an area set up with wines on offer. I have never seen so much wine available in one place for tasting in my life.

Yesterday was open only to "wine professionals," journalists, etc. so as "diplomats" we were complete and total posers. BUT, that said, I think we did VERY well holding our own. People were very interested in serving us, and it was only when the mayor of Tel Aviv walked up that we were pushed aside at one of the producers stands while the paparazzi (who were already there taking photos of US) snapped a flurry of photos.

Each vineyard's representative would say, "Why don't you try our entire range of wines?" and they'd have like 20 bottles lined up. Uhhhhh---did we look like complete boozers or something? I was driving, so I really had to try to limit myself. Not easy! I think by about the 20th tasting (which happened to be at the Dalton vineyard's stand - they have a SUPERB 2003 Merlot in their Reserve line), I could no longer distinguish tastes and actually begged a cracker out of the hostess's secret snack stash for herself (only one exhibitor had any sort of cracker on offer).

A difficult life, let me tell you! :-) We really had a great time -- I'm so happy Sweetie thought to pass his invite along to me and his sister!

Cha-Chan's Heartattack/Mr. Lizard Hangs on for Dear Life

2008-02-27T10:37:00.004+02:00

Over the weekend, we made a brief stop on Mt. Gilboa since we were a little early for our reservation at the Herb Farm restaurant. I was admiring these flowers and took my hand down to the leaves to show Sweetie that we have the same flowers popping up in our garden. It was then that I nearly had a heartattack. It was then that I noticed Mr. Lizard reclining between the two anemone flowers like he was in a Barcolounger. He became very very still and was only moving his eyes (independently of eachother), presumably to gauge whether we could see him or not. He started slipping, losing his grip. But he held on for dear life hoping that we still hadn't noticed him. We left him in peace. (You can click on the picture to see a larger version).

Fruitful Trees

2008-02-27T10:11:00.002+02:00

I found this gorgeous tree just outside the same church where I took the previous two photos. It's the time of the year when all the trees and plants start growing again at warp speed here in Israel. The Galilee was literally a different world this weekend as compared to our visit one month ago. Plants that were nowhere to be seen four weeks ago were now several feet tall. Everything was so green that I almost thought I was in Ireland. Apparently, in March there are even more flowers in bloom, so I am determined to return then to see for myself.

Koi and ruins

2008-02-27T09:57:00.004+02:00

This was my second visit to the Church of Multiplication of Fishes and Loaves and I always struggle to capture the beauty of the serene koi pond in the courtyard in front of the church. This is one of my attempts.

Church of Multiplication of Fishes and Loaves

2008-02-27T09:38:00.003+02:00

A lazy Sunday for the doggie at the Church of the Multiplication of Fishes and Loaves. No tourists wreaking havoc upon the premises.

Bird in the Tree

2008-02-27T09:27:00.002+02:00

I took this photo with a Canon Telephoto Zoom 75-300mm L IS lens that I am borrowing from a friend. I'm trying to decide whether I really need the IS or not because it's an extra $500. I'm thinking that for an amateur like me who happens to not be employed right now, it's not really necessary. I'm sure I'll want it later when I get more serious about taking photos and have more funds, but for now, I think I will live without.

Lemons on our tree

2008-02-27T08:59:00.004+02:00

We kept a few lemons on our tree for Sweetie's sister to see during her visit. I've been making lots of lemonade now that it is warming up. It's nice to know that they are organic!

A Photo a Day

2008-02-21T13:43:00.005+02:00

I've decided I'll post one photo each day, if at all possible. Now that the sun is out again, I can carry my camera around and get some practice.

Yes, the sun. It's glorious. Israel is blessed with lots and lots of sunny weather. And the sea. I'll try to walk there tomorrow for some seaside photos. In the meantime, you'll have to settle for this one of some trees in my friend's garden.

The pic here was taken with my standard 18-55mm Canon lens, which I was told by a serious photographer is "crap." But, for a casual photographer like myself, it's a great multipurpose lens and I think I will use it a lot.

It's a little embarrassing that the more photos I take, the more I realize that my pics are not so great! Anyway, I'm learning, so that's the important thing.

Worth Its Weight in Gold

2008-02-20T13:28:00.003+02:00

Sweetie's sister arrived for a visit yesterday and the one thing he asked her to bring was Weetabix cereal. The reason? Well, it costs approximately $9 per box here. I am not exaggerating. It's actually $9.16 per box, to be precise. I'm not sure why anyone would want to eat something with a consistency somewhere between balsa wood and styrofoam, and that congeals so hard and solidly that it would rival duct tape as an adhesive. But Sweetie really loves his Weetabix. So, his sister brought mass quantities of it, basically paying for her plane ticket in the money we've saved on Weetabix. Bless her.

日本語でちょこっと

2008-02-18T14:23:00.003+02:00

ブログ

いつもブログを日本語で頑張ろうと思いながら、なかなか。なぜか日本語でブログを書くとき、書いたものが2回出てくるので、かなり不便です。だからあまり日本語で書いていないのです。ごめんなさいね。

発見！Internet Explorerでやれば、大丈夫です。私は最近Operaというブラウザーが気に入って、それを使っていましたが、ブログを書くにはIEがいいみたいです。

イスラエル
最近イスラエルの天気が雨と嵐で、家にいる事が多いです。11月に彼にいただいたDSLRカメラを練習したいけど、中で写真をとるのが面白くないのです。友達にWide angle lensとTelephoto lensを貸していただいてそれを使ったみたいけど。

先日イスラエルに地震が起こりました。私は気づいたけど、自分の体が触れているだけと思ったのです。体に感じる地震は日本にすんだとき意外初めてでした。

日本といえば、秋から私が再び働くことになり、日本で仕事をしたいのです。彼も日本語できるし。もしいい仕事の話を聞いたら是非！

一期一会

悲しい話ですけど、先日こちらでの知り合いが交通事故で重傷を受け、無意識で、近いうちになくなる可能性が高いらしい。彼女が10月に我が家で開催した「お月見茶会」に来てくれた方で、沖縄に住んだことのある何人か子供がいるお母さんです。いつも何が起こるのかわからないので、Each momentに大切にして、一所懸命楽しむことが大事だと再び気づきました。最近、皆が他のことをしながら携帯電話で話したり、SMSを送ったりしています。全然やっていることや一緒にいる人に集中していない、気づいていないことが多いです。それは本当に残念だと思います。

皆さん、一期一会を思い出して、FOCUSをして生きていきましょう。

More Photos

2008-02-14T10:56:00.008+02:00

I hereby promise more photos on my blog. One kind reader suggested this and I know that I've been a terrible photo slacker. A real shame because I have my fancy DSLR now, so I truly have no excuses. So, I promise more photos.

That said, yesterday I met with a serious photographer to get some advice on lens purchases. I need a zoom telephoto for my upcoming trip to Africa. Easy enough. He gave me some great suggestions that I am going to investigate and see what I can afford. But, he also told me that I really need to be taking my photos in the
RAW format, which means that in order to do anything with them,
I have to convert them using software that is basically like a digital darkroom.
UG. As if uploading and organizing my photos wasn't enough of a trial already:-)

Free Food

2008-02-11T14:16:00.000+02:00

I had to make the dreaded grocery store trip today. I often enjoy grocery shopping, but buying all the items on my list here, like everywhere else I have lived, requires trips to about three different stores. I'm tired. I already made a pilgrimage to the largest natural foods supermarket in Israel late last week. Anyway, I am on the hook for some homecooked meals since last night Sweetie took me out to dinner (to the scene of our first ever dinner out together - needless to say, the same level of suspense and tension was not in evidence between us last night).

All I wanted today was a red onion. Was that too much to ask. Apparently so. My usual general purpose supermarket only had one soft and squishy red onion at the bottom of a crate. No thank you. So, I ran across to the health food store. All I found there was a decorative string of red onions made of paper (though it was useful in showing the non-English speaking produce guy what I was looking for). No dice. So, I made a bargain with myself. If the little strip of shops on the way home had a parking spot, I would try there for my onion AND get Sweetie's suit from the cleaners. What a coup that would be.

There was a spot. And I went into my favorite neighborhood veggie shop and they had a whole bunch of red onions. I picked one out. Told the shopkeeper I didn't need a bag and tossed it into my $200 purse (those were the days, when I could afford purses like that) and asked him how much it cost. "It's on the house," was the kind reply. I really do like doing business with small shops in Israel. The staff are friendly. They'll spot you $10 and trust you to pay it back. They'll toss little veggies in for free. It's all good.

Hazards; Close Call

2008-02-08T21:28:00.000+02:00

Hazard #1

What's that statistic about the vast majority of accidents occuring in the home? Well, the other day I was diligently peeling some beets for a stew for dinner. And then the peeler slipped. And I felt pain. However, seeing as how I was peeling beets, it was hard to tell much damage I had done. Lovely. Anyway, I will spare you the gory details, but it was pretty amazing what a simple vegetable peeler can do!

So, now my typing is slightly hampered. But that's what painkillers are for, isn't it?

Hazard #2
Yesterday, I was walking home from the pharmacy at about 12:30 in the afternoon. At one point
I paused and tried to decide which way to walk home. I elected to take a slightly scruffy street since the other route was blocked by a massive truck that looked to be doing something sewage-related. We call this particularscruffy street "drug dealers' row" because the street itself is in pretty poor condition and it just generally looks seedy, but at the same time, some of the most massive, sprawling homes in the 'hood are on it.

Anyway, I went down that street and then turned onto a very narrow alley-like street that leads toward our house. For about 50 yards, there are no gates to houses -- just tall walls surrounding the properties on either side of the alley. I was walking through this part and I heard footsteps approaching...quickly. I looked back and tried to keep looking back at the figure approaching me so that he knew I saw him, but also not wanting to look directly at him, lest he think that was an invitation to harrass me.

Anyway, my fears were realized when he sidled up beside me (entirely too closely) and started talking to me. In Hebrew. I knew what he was saying, but I just kept saying that I didn't speak Hebrew. He was asking if I had a boyfriend....said he loved me....other assorted creepy comments. YUCK. I was eyeing my options as we emerged from the walled area and approached some houses with gates. I decided to keep walking quickly toward our street. Fortunately, there is an official embassy residence close to our house that has guards 24/7, so I figured I would walk there if the freak kept following me. Fortunately, he got bored by the one-sided professions of devotion and walked the other way.

Close call. I am NEVER walking down drug-dealers'-row again. I am boycotting that street. And I have been reminded that although street crime is pretty rare in Israel, Israel is not entirely immune and I need to be careful.

Israel - bombings and beaches

2008-02-04T15:12:00.000+02:00

Suicide Bombing
In case anyone is wondering, I am nowhere near Dimona, where the suicide bombing killing one Israeli lady took place today. Dimona is in the south, whereas Tel Aviv is in central Israel. That said, as a precaution, Sweetie asked me to cancel my meeting with my conversation partner today in Tel Aviv, just in case there will be a cluster of bombings. There were two bombers in Dimona, maybe there are others working there way up north. Who knows.

I am pretty sure we have the border break between Gaza and Egypt to thank for this. When that happened, everyone imagined that some terrorists would go into Egypt and then infiltrate Israel from Egypt.

Ironically, about 10 minutes before I heard about the bombing, I was opening my backpack for a security guard at the nearby medical center. I was thinking to myself that a packpack has the be the LAST thing an Israeli security guard wants to see, and I do sometimes feel bad for using one, because even I get scared seeing someone carrying a backpack.    But life goes on.

If it had just been me, I probably wouldn't have cancelled my trip into Tel Aviv this afternoon, because I just don't believe in living like that. Also, I tend to think that an attack is more likely to occur in Tel Aviv in the coming days, rather than today, because it will take would-be suicide bombers that much longer to surreptitiously make their through the desert up to Tel Aviv. At any rate, I think I will keep my mall excursions to a minimum until some time has passed and also until the border between Gaza and Egypt is solidly shut again.

Happier times
On the nice-news front, the weather has been spectacular and Sweetie and I ventured to Caesarea for lunch yesterday. It was lovely -- we sat outside, nestled between the ancient ruins and the Mediterranean sea was practically lapping at our feet. Lovely.

But it did occur to me that Israel doesn't really take advantage of its coastline like it should.  Okinawa, where I lived for three years,
had soooo many "destination" restaurants and cafes. I can think of so many charming seaside places that I would drive anywhere from 15-75 minutes to eat at because they had great food, great atmosphere, and stunning views of the sea.   But here, there is really only one "destination" cafe that Sweetie and I know of, and it's not even on the water. A real shame. Israel does, however, have its share of mediocre bars and restaurants here and there along the coast, but nothing like what I wish it had!

Hebrew; Ant Invasion

2008-01-31T15:23:00.000+02:00

I just saw a notice that Blogger (the site hosting this blog) is now available in Hebrew. Just in case I feel inspired, I guess! Actually, I continue to prod along with my Hebrew studies, even though I feel like it's basically futile, because when am I ever again (after leaving Israel) going to use Hebrew? I take have a weekly private lesson and also have recently started meeting with a conversation partner (we meet an hour each week: 30 minutes of English and 30 of Hebrew). And I keep wondering why I am doing this. I have to admit though, it does come in handy during my daily life here. Most people do speak English. But some don't. Also, there are many occasions where being able to read Hebrew is really helpful (at the grocery store, reading street signs, etc.) So, it does help alleviate the general sense of alienation one might feel not speaking the language here.

Rain = Ants in the House

You might have heard that Israel has had some pretty extreme weather this week. Snow in Jerusalem. Three straight days and nights of thunderstorms here on the coast. It was pretty strange. There was one clap of thunder so loud the other night that if Jesus was going to rise again, he would have then. I started thinking about building an ark. It just kept going and going.
And now peace and tranquility have returned (at least weather-wise). And so have the ants. I was just going to lie down on the sofa with my book and rest for a bit when I noticed ants swarming that particular area of the living room. I should have known. They did this the last time we had really heavy rains. They come in via the hole in the wall where all the wires for our sophisticated sound/plasma TV system are (which we don't really use because we don't have any sophisticated stereo systems or plasma tvs).

Question: When you vacuum up ants, could they potentially crawl back out of the vacuum cleaner? These are the sorts of things I really need to know.