Bits and pieces from today

Today a Japanese friend asked me if Australians wore hats a lot. Her observation was that foreigners generally don't wear hats. At CAJ that is largely American foreigners. It is true - the Americans notice the strange hat-wearing Australian family in their midst. Why other Caucasians don't wear hats, I don't know. Perhaps Australians are more sun-aware because of the high skin cancer rate in our country? 

Then later some Asian and partly Asian classmates of my sixth grader asked me why my son's skin was so pale. I didn't say a word - just showed them my winter-white arms. They got the picture very quickly! He is one of the few 100% Caucasian kids in his class.

Are you getting a picture of CAJ? A totally Caucasian family is pretty rare here.

This morning I had coffee with a couple of friends, a meeting that might not have taken place except for this blog! It was an encouraging time, one we hope to do again in September.

This afternoon the kindergarten class went on an excursion to the local bamboo park along the local "river". They've been studying river life, so it was a fun way to make that learning more true-to-life, even if we didn't see an awful lot of such wildlife on our walk. It was a pleasant walk too. A number of the mums were there, but I was the only first-language-Caucasian there (we do have a Romanian). Come to think of it, I'm not sure if there are any other such mums in the class. We have a number of such dads. I frequently found myself talking with the American teachers who were with us. Probably I have more in common with the teachers than the other parents in the class. My role at the school is mixed - not only am I a parent, I am also a staff-wife and friend of many of the staff members. It can get complicated. Speaking of hats - I often ask myself, "Which hat am I wearing now?"

Date and dried apricots, pineapple and kiwifruit.

Someone told me about a shop on the concourse at our local train station that sells dried fruit, dried fruit not being easy to get in Japan (in my local shop I can only buy raisins). I stopped in there today and found dried fruit I've never seen before. Of course they sell a whole lot of dried seafood too. Actually a lot of stuff I have no idea what it is. Plus boiled lollies (US=candy), jelly lollies and the ever present sembei (Japanese rice cracker). But I was very excited to see dates. I don't think I've ever seen these in Japan, and they're in my own suburb!?! They were about A$17 a kilo, how does that compare to dried fruit in Australia?

Now I have a cross-stitch to frame. I've finished my latest birth sampler. Will take a photo and show it to you later on (after the recipient receives it). I'm very pleased to have finished another biggish project. My next project? I have a backlog of smaller cross-stitch kits that are clogging up my craft drawers. I'm going to have a go at getting some of those stitched. It will be nice to do something smaller (and hopefully less complicated) for a change.