Hooked On A Feeling

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUXWCL7pVbY&feature=fvst

I love cooking. Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, Italian, French, American, Mexican... You name it!

For many years I have been collecting cookbooks and recipes. Everywhere I visit, I go to the local bookshops and buy a cookbook or two. Having said that, I don't really know why I collect them, because I never follow the recipes anyway...

Although most people find cooking therapeutic, I simply love the experiments. It's exciting because you never know exactly what will come out of them. The results are different every time! And even if they fail miserably, you can usually eat the results anyway, in case you don't have a dog, I mean.

I believe my passion for cooking is probably genetic. We have this uncontrollable urge to feed people. Oh hang on, or perhaps it's just our habit of vicarious eating?

My kitchen is my pride and joy, specially designed for any hardcore, heavy-duty experiments. I often have cooking parties here and try my best not to mass-poison people.

Although over the years I have learned some tricks, for example, in general, people's appreciation of my food is directly in proportion to the length of time I keep them waiting and the amount of alcohol I provide.

Well, I am proud to say people usually leave my parties gastronomically content and helplessly drunk!

Ice Ice Baby

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rog8ou-ZepE&ob=av2e

Everybody likes ice cream. I am not really ashamed to admit my addiction to ice cream. Everyday I find an excuse to go to the local Baskin-Robbins to have my fix.

Yesterday I met a friend for a chat and of course we had to conduct it while wolfing down 3 big scoops of ice cream each.

On a hot day like today when I have absolutely no appetite, what else can I eat, other than something as refreshing and nutritious as ice cream?

And the flavors! After carefully sampling all they have to offer in their tiny shop, now I always have the same 2 flavors every time I go there, Love Potion 31 and Jamoca Almond Fudge, every single time.

You see, once I figure out what's the best, I stick to my choice. I am adventurous by nature, and I will normally give everything at least one chance, as long as it's not the remains of some exotic animals on my dining table.

The same principle also applies to men in general, exotic or not, although I am even pickier if nothing else. You see, I don’t give just anyone a chance. I choose carefully, but once I commit, I stick to my choice stubbornly because I know only my favorite flavor can satisfy me.

Tomorrow I am taking a student out to celebrate the job offer she just got from her dream department of her dream company. Hmmm, I wonder where we will go...

Mess Around

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TgxQg3Z818&feature=related

The flea markets in Tokyo are real treasure hunts. I love going through other people's junk and add to my own junk collection.

Japanese people throw away all sorts of stuff still in perfect conditions, or sell it in the flea market at unbelievably low prices.

So if you go to the flea market, you can find something you didn't know that you always wanted! For example, last month one of my friends got a wig for free at a flea market! And once I bought a helmet for the bicycle I still haven't got around to buy but I know I most certainly will one day.

But usually I go to the flea market to buy clothes and jewelry, then fix or redesign them at home. It's great fun to produce even more junk!

The people in the flea market are often very friendly, although they can also be brutally honest. Once I was trying on a leather jacket and its first owner, a young and fashionable girl, kindly informed me that the big jacket looked aesthetically offensive on my rather petit form.

Having said that, it’s great to be petit sometimes. I always find superb size-2 castaways at the flea market, while I usually have trouble finding my size in the shops, especially when I go abroad where huge people live, and then I have to shop at the children’s department.

Now after years of shopping at the flea market, I have collected enough junk to open a proper shop myself, although I would definitely make the worst shopkeeper because it often takes me more than 10 minutes to locate anything in my closet. It's like a treasure hunt at home too!

Soul Bossa Nova

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLQ7xYnyIBQ

I talked to a friend on Skype yesterday. Perhaps it was something in her voice when she told me how much she loved music, so I decided to tell her about this amazing dream I had the night before. In my dream, I was playing the piano, composing 2 very different pieces, and I felt as if I was flying in the sky, so free and happy!

I still remembered the tunes when I woke up from the dream, but then my brain was still half asleep, so I didn't write them down. And the next morning when I woke up again, I completely forgot about the tunes, of course.

When I was a little girl, I used to have vivid dreams of composing music or conducting an orchestra, but the dreams stopped after many years of learning how to play the piano properly. Now if you put me in front of a piano without any score sheets, my fingers get frozen automatically, too afraid to move.

I don’t know why I suddenly had the dream again that night, after so many years.

But I still believe perhaps I had some connection with classical music somehow and sometime in my previous lives. Who knows, I might have been one of the many lover Beethoven had!

Ooh La La

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHlhOgQ36m8

Last week after my class, I ran into one of my students, a 27-year-old German who dropped out of my class last year, after writing me a long email explaining he had to quit school for a while due to his depression and telling me how much he liked my lessons and thanked me.

So I was very glad to see him back at school. But he blushed when he saw me, then mumbled something like “nice dress,” and blushed even more.

Yuk, my student! So I had to put my stern professor look on and quickly inquired about his mental state, job and study.

The other day, one of my students sent me an SMS saying, “I have a big problem. Please help me!” Although she is only 18, she is smart, funny and very sensible. I’m really proud of her. So you can imagine how worried I was when I got her SMS.

I replied immediately. But she didn’t answer until that evening, saying she had solved the problem herself, and she would tell me all about it next time we meet, although she was afraid it was rather embarrassing.

Of course I was relieved. But I was also very glad that she had asked me for help. Now I can’t wait to hear her story!

Yesterday another student suddenly called to tell me she just got a job offer from a well-known company. I was so happy for her, because I encouraged her to have a big dream and helped her to write the application letter for that job. We agreed to celebrate at my favorite ice cream shop next week!

This week, we had the midterm. Before the exam, I explained the rules, and told them each mistake will cost 5 points deduction. And then a French student asked me if they could have one  “free” mistake.

I carefully considered his suggestion, but had to say no eventually, since it wouldn’t be fair for those students who didn’t make any mistakes.

But I like his way of thinking, and I love the fact that he knows it is OK to bargain with me!

I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GloZUxqUtNk

I love teaching. It’s so rewarding to be surrounded by many shining eyes, knowing that I’m doing something to inspire people on a daily basis and change their lives, hopefully for the better.

Being with students always makes me happy, and I think they all enjoy my lessons because they know that too.

I am certainly not a normal teacher though. Sometimes I feel more like a Disney character when my students ask to have a pic taken with me!

As you might have heard, Japanese students tend to be very quiet in the class, but somehow I always end up with naughty students, who I prefer anyway.

I often tell them how important independent thinking is. I even ask them to challenge me if they think they deserve higher grades.

Although some students do fall asleep in the class sometimes, I usually have their 100% attention, especially after I threaten to fall asleep too if they do.

My class is always very lively and full of laugher. I am definitely not a clown, but learning doesn’t have to be all serious and boring.

I also tell my students again and again that mistakes are not only allowed in my class, but also encouraged and even required!

Everyone needs to make mistakes in order to learn. Me included!

Shake Senora

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfhsj3b_y48

After the earthquake, Tokyo is definitely not the same any more. Many of my friends have left, and even I’m thinking about leaving myself too.

But most of the Japanese are staying exactly where they are, stubbornly refusing to bulge. They remind me of that Jack Russell terrier I met on the street outside my building the other day.

It was another hot summer day, and I was moving around like a lizard, just to preserve energy. Suddenly I saw this adorable dog down on all four, wouldn’t move an inch, and the owner was trying to drag him up and away at the other end of the long leash. It was a power struggle all right, or rather, a stalemate in fact.

And the sight made me smile, oh, can you imagine a smiling lizard now?

I bent down to talk to the dog, and asked the owner if the dog was too tired or too thirsty because of the damn heat. But he just shook his head and smiled embarrassingly, while the dog finally got up and greeted me.

We played for a while, me and the dog, I mean. And then I stood up to leave, thinking the owner wouldn’t have any trouble to take the dog home now. But as soon as the owner started to lead the dog away, the dog hit the ground all four again, refusing to move. It was so funny and I laughed out loud.

So the owner finally told me the dog was demanding to go to the park in the other direction. Well, guess who won the battle of will in the end?

As I watched the happy little dog leading the reluctant owner to the park, I was thinking to myself, hey, that dog was as stubborn as all the Japanese people here in Tokyo, who stay at their posts and keep on doing whatever they need to do, earthquake or not. 

And their stubbornness makes me smile too.