>
Wednesday, February 04, 2004
like, do we mesh?
personality tests! not a huge fan, perhaps being a product of UT psych and having a tumultuous history with the quizzes created by the erai writers at YM and Seventeen. but i arrived at Joyo today to find another newsletter from the nurse`s office (hokenshitsudayori!) on my desk, with an insert on personality derived from sleeping positions. new! cool! =) plus i know that the newsletter is made by Mari, so I made an effort to read it.
Last month`s edition included a section on frostbite. I was really puzzled as to why she would write about frostbite since it hadn`t gone below zero in Osaka in like, fifty million years... Mari explained that when it gets really cold, students run the risk of frostbite after they wash their hands in the washroom and immediately step out into the bitter cold. i seriously almost started laughing. i remember going up to vivian conservation centre and mrs weatherill giving us a lecture on frostbite, warning us to keep our layers on and not expose our skin to the cold for too long, which makes total sense when the temperature is -25...hahahah... frostbite from the washroom. sigh.
anyways, here is what i learned about sleeping positions:
a) a very curled fetal position means you are shy and sensitive
b) sleeping very straight on your side means you are carefree, easygoing
c) sleeping in a more open fetal position with arms stretched out in front and legs in front (think a "backwards C" figure) means you have a warm heart but can be sarcastic
d) sleeping on your back with your arms at your side (think a corpse) means you are very quiet, introverted
e) sleeping on your stomach means you like people a lot but sometimes can lose your confidence
f) sleeping on your back but with your arms out at your side and legs apart (think the japanese/chinese character for big) means you are a good listener
list for the girls:
1. to all my woomans: i will work on the patent for the machine that figures out what guys are thinking. and, as per kathy`s request, it will have very sharp prongs.
2. nagano sensei said (i think) that she will go and see Love Actually with me!!! woohooooooooo!
3. curved mascara brush... a revelation
4. wow u girls are totally putting smiles on my face with all of your strong-progressive-brave-woman actions
5. i miss hanging out with you guys. and microwave popcorn.
u know what? i think i am adopting an american accent when i say certain words, like "a lot"??!! what the heck?????
i went to see bunraku (puppet theatre) with amacho sensei on sunday. it was at the NHK hall, which is a fairly new building in Osaka and super nice. the hall is connected to the Osaka museum of history, has a very open floor plan and reminds me a bit of the atrium in the CBC building. two of amacho sensei`s friends, frances and bob were there as well. they are australians, and frances is working as a lecturer/prof? at Kobe College, teaching myth and english literature. the first thing she said to me when i met her was, "Look at you and your accent!" in a very warm and friendly way which made me smile, and soon after, upon finding out i was from toronto, both her and bob (the husband) erupted in joyous exclamations about how much they love Toronto, deeming it the best part of Canada. I felt super warm and fuzzy =) After my heightened awareness of how much Victoria and I don`t really click, i had irrational transferrence, thinking i couldn`t get along with any australians. frances and bob sure proved me wrong. they are genial, down to earth, bright and observant people, and i hope i get to hang out with them again before they leave in march. their friend, mary margaret, or MM, was really nice as well, one of those big motherly types: tender, blustery and enthusiastic about everything and anything. and puppet theatre surprised me as well. i had pretty low expectations going in to it, i mean, it`s puppets! and in japanese. the story i saw was like romeo and juliet, which is funny because it was written in the early early 1700s (1703?), so really not that much after shakespeare. like the noh play, the narrator sang the plotlines and the dialogue, in that very old-fashioned Japanese style, that makes the syllables sound so pliable. in one of the most famous scenes from the story, the male character T ..? is hiding underneath his lover, Ohatsu`s kimono to avoid being seen by his backstabbing friend. to signal that he is willing to die with her in order to avoid a forced marriage to someone else, he presses his neck against her ankle. they staged that so well, and i was surprised to find myself fixated on the scene, able to block out the puppeteers and only see the puppets. from that act till the end where they die a dramatic and bloody death, i felt totally involved. i`m still slightly surprised. puppets. who knew? but i think i feel really encouraged to attempt more cultural events in japan... i was slightly hesitant before because i wasn`t sure how capable i would feel around really archaic art... but i think i can deal with it, or at least have a better appreciation for it since i`ve been here for a while.
oy time to go.
personality tests! not a huge fan, perhaps being a product of UT psych and having a tumultuous history with the quizzes created by the erai writers at YM and Seventeen. but i arrived at Joyo today to find another newsletter from the nurse`s office (hokenshitsudayori!) on my desk, with an insert on personality derived from sleeping positions. new! cool! =) plus i know that the newsletter is made by Mari, so I made an effort to read it.
Last month`s edition included a section on frostbite. I was really puzzled as to why she would write about frostbite since it hadn`t gone below zero in Osaka in like, fifty million years... Mari explained that when it gets really cold, students run the risk of frostbite after they wash their hands in the washroom and immediately step out into the bitter cold. i seriously almost started laughing. i remember going up to vivian conservation centre and mrs weatherill giving us a lecture on frostbite, warning us to keep our layers on and not expose our skin to the cold for too long, which makes total sense when the temperature is -25...hahahah... frostbite from the washroom. sigh.
anyways, here is what i learned about sleeping positions:
a) a very curled fetal position means you are shy and sensitive
b) sleeping very straight on your side means you are carefree, easygoing
c) sleeping in a more open fetal position with arms stretched out in front and legs in front (think a "backwards C" figure) means you have a warm heart but can be sarcastic
d) sleeping on your back with your arms at your side (think a corpse) means you are very quiet, introverted
e) sleeping on your stomach means you like people a lot but sometimes can lose your confidence
f) sleeping on your back but with your arms out at your side and legs apart (think the japanese/chinese character for big) means you are a good listener
list for the girls:
1. to all my woomans: i will work on the patent for the machine that figures out what guys are thinking. and, as per kathy`s request, it will have very sharp prongs.
2. nagano sensei said (i think) that she will go and see Love Actually with me!!! woohooooooooo!
3. curved mascara brush... a revelation
4. wow u girls are totally putting smiles on my face with all of your strong-progressive-brave-woman actions
5. i miss hanging out with you guys. and microwave popcorn.
u know what? i think i am adopting an american accent when i say certain words, like "a lot"??!! what the heck?????
i went to see bunraku (puppet theatre) with amacho sensei on sunday. it was at the NHK hall, which is a fairly new building in Osaka and super nice. the hall is connected to the Osaka museum of history, has a very open floor plan and reminds me a bit of the atrium in the CBC building. two of amacho sensei`s friends, frances and bob were there as well. they are australians, and frances is working as a lecturer/prof? at Kobe College, teaching myth and english literature. the first thing she said to me when i met her was, "Look at you and your accent!" in a very warm and friendly way which made me smile, and soon after, upon finding out i was from toronto, both her and bob (the husband) erupted in joyous exclamations about how much they love Toronto, deeming it the best part of Canada. I felt super warm and fuzzy =) After my heightened awareness of how much Victoria and I don`t really click, i had irrational transferrence, thinking i couldn`t get along with any australians. frances and bob sure proved me wrong. they are genial, down to earth, bright and observant people, and i hope i get to hang out with them again before they leave in march. their friend, mary margaret, or MM, was really nice as well, one of those big motherly types: tender, blustery and enthusiastic about everything and anything. and puppet theatre surprised me as well. i had pretty low expectations going in to it, i mean, it`s puppets! and in japanese. the story i saw was like romeo and juliet, which is funny because it was written in the early early 1700s (1703?), so really not that much after shakespeare. like the noh play, the narrator sang the plotlines and the dialogue, in that very old-fashioned Japanese style, that makes the syllables sound so pliable. in one of the most famous scenes from the story, the male character T ..? is hiding underneath his lover, Ohatsu`s kimono to avoid being seen by his backstabbing friend. to signal that he is willing to die with her in order to avoid a forced marriage to someone else, he presses his neck against her ankle. they staged that so well, and i was surprised to find myself fixated on the scene, able to block out the puppeteers and only see the puppets. from that act till the end where they die a dramatic and bloody death, i felt totally involved. i`m still slightly surprised. puppets. who knew? but i think i feel really encouraged to attempt more cultural events in japan... i was slightly hesitant before because i wasn`t sure how capable i would feel around really archaic art... but i think i can deal with it, or at least have a better appreciation for it since i`ve been here for a while.
oy time to go.
// posted by naomi @ 1:34 a.m. 
