tabi, zori, and juban 2

so the zori and the juban came in on the 7th! i had a friend bring them to be a couple of hours before it started so I could sew the chikara nuno i made onto the juban. it was horrible though! my juban was too long!!! so i had to fight and tuck it. i also had a hard time getting the zori straps loosened so i left them for another day. (it took me: 1 exacto knife, 1 paint can opener, 1 bottle of wood glue, and 2 hours to get them loosened 0_0 ) international night was ok. there were some people representing japan (wearing yukata) and... PRETIED OBIS. i wanted to scream, cry, and pull my hair out when i saw them i was so upset. especially since the average person wouldnt know too much about kimono... i couldnt really take any pictures due to the lighting troubles. at least the food was good.

wolf run 2

Wolf's Run [version 2]

I know why the wild wolf runs.

He runs to feel the sharp wind through his soft fur.

He runs to feel the hard, cold ground

Beneath his taut paws.

His feet thumping a repetitious rhythm

On a snare drum of ice and snow.

He runs to feel the beat of his heart

Blood coursing through his rigid veins

Warming his skin beneath the sharp wind

Which whistles through his flying fur.

His muscles scream in protest

Yet he doesn’t stop. He can’t stop running

His ears pick up the faintest scratch

His nose twitches as he smells a distant scent

Near indescribable through the rushing tumult

And his eyes strain through the falling snow

That rushes past his face

As his warm air crystallizes

Fogging up the air in front of him

His long pink tongue hangs out as he pants

Water sliding past his sharp, pitiless teeth

And down to cool his hot throat

Which stiffens as he summons up his remaining strength

To howl at the moon

And to begin his run again.

wolf run 1

Wolf’s Run [old poem, version 1]

I know why the wild wolf runs

He races to feel the sharp wind

Whistling through his rippling fur

In sharp gusts he can feel his breath

Searing his lungs with a rush of exhilaration

And his paws hammering the frozen ground

Muscles hot from continuous movement

Ears cocked and waiting

Straining through the sound of his thumping heart

Beating a tattoo against his ribcage

He can smell the rich tang of the earth

And taste the wind, heavy with sweet scents

Of herbs and berries

His movements are fluid like

Time flowing into eternity

He sees all through a rushing vortex

Of blurred, half seen shapes in his speed

His pink tongue hanging out, sides heaving

Panting and dripping flecks of water

As he feels the icy rush

Hurrying over his tongue

On its way to unknown seas

His throat tightens and his muscles tense

All time stands still as he sounds his voice

In a lonely cry

Through the crisp air of the full moon night

tabi, zori, and juban

I need to buy some tabi i think... I copied the how-to from Marshal's book, but its really complicated, and involves blowing things up on the copying machine... It might just be easier to buy some. I found a couple of pairs cheap on ebay, S&H only $4. Anyways, I bought a juban and zori from ebay a little while ago, but I'm afraid that they won't arrive in time for international night. That's going to suck. I'll have to wear my yukata for a juban and my geta for zori.

I think I'll go look for a sock pattern and adjust it to make tabi. I'll keep you (meaning anyone in the future who decides this post is worth reading) posted.

starbucks woes

I was in the mood for some chai today so I stopped in at Starbucks. I can't stand how when you order an iced chai, they fill a quarter of the cup with tea, and a quarter with milk, and the rest with ice. You take a few sips and your done. If you buy a bigger cup, then it costs a ridiculous amount more. So I normally just buy hot tea. Its not as refreshing on hot days, or when you're in Peck and they decided to turn the heat up to about 90 for some reason... Seriously. Its not even cold outside. I can't wait till Nov 7th. I'm going to international night, and I'm going to take pictures!

my chinese teacher is secretly a ninja

I was sitting around today in the FLL, and it occurred to me that my teacher was a ninja. or something like that. He's been to China a lot, so maybe he picked something up there. I'd be walking along in Morris, completely alone and suddenly I hear a quiet 冯照宁，你好。I turned around and there he was! I still can't figure out where he came from.... He's very good at quietly surprising us. I put two and two together, and realized that laoshi is a NINJA!

heidi

my miniature schnauzer Heidi, and the first one is a little bit of my lhasa apso, Gretchen

code lyoko

i came across a code lyoko video the other day on youtube. i used to love that show so much and i watched every day until it was canceled. i know that it was french, but i didn't realize just how many langauges it was translated into. i found this site in chinese, and hopefully once i get home (and can use the joy that chinesepera-kun is!) i can see if theres any lyrics i can get. im going to need something new to sing for the final!
http:// www .codelyoko .cn/

vaarsuvius

i feel so sorry for V :(

冯昭宁

so i decided to look up my names to try and figure out what it means, since i lost the paper that told me. sorry laoshi! heres what i found:

冯 feng2
radical: ice, combined with horse, to mean something like speed or galloping. it was listed as the 31st most common surname in china in 2006

照 zhao4
we learned this in our book as "to shine" but chinesepera-kun has several variations，including: "in accordance to", "to shine", ”to illuminate", and "to reflect"

宁 ning2
chinesepera-kun: "peaceful" and "rather". i doubt laoshi meant "rather" so i took it to be "peaceful".

putting it all together, shining peace, illuminating peace(fulness), reflecting peace. interesting. i guess ill ask him tomorrow which one it is. :)

j-fest at botanical gardens

Japanese Festival went off pretty good for me. I wanted to go on Saturday, but I was concerned about the rain, so when Dad had gotten about 1/4 of the way there I made him turn around and go home. We stopped at a restaurant for breakfast since neither of us had eaten. It was pretty good. I was a bit worried at first, since I was wearing a yukata, and I was afraid people would stare or laugh at me. I got some odd looks but nothing too bad, so I guess it was a success! We ended up going on Sunday, which was cloudy, but no rain. I got the last morning ticket to the tea ceremony. They increased the price $10, which I was a bit pissed at, but they gave us a new sweet: it had this crunchy outer shell with a nice, soft, sweet, gelatin inside. I worked everything around the kimono show, but ended up skipping out of it to go to the cooking demonstration, which was worth it. I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked, since I had a bit of a cold. Here's some pics:




(i have so much hair i had a hard time putting it up into a bun- it kept falling out. i wonder what i was trying to do with it here?)



(note the red feathes around the ducks eyes and the odd coloring... i found this guy swimming with koi.)




(is my obi straight? does it look nice? no- not really. but not bad for being done in a rush w/no mirror)

i remember this book...

i remember reading a book awhile ago(Lost on Planet China?), about china. it was a biography and the man was talking about how this chinese man went up to him, yelled in his face, and then randomly started hitting him for no reason before walking off. I remembered it after reading an article that had absolutely nothing to do with it.