Shodo

During the three years I was in Japan, I studied shodo at the high school I taught at (Tottori Higashi koko) in Japan. During the first month of school, I was "urged" to attend classes once a week with Shubayama sensei. I was later told that I could probably never afford to take classes with Shubayama sensei and I was lucky to be getting the lessons for free. This did not mean much to me as I spent the majority of my time that first year in frustration and really not enjoying the free lessons very much at all.

Then something clicked and I can't really put my finer on it, but blam: suddenly the squiggly abstract lines made sense to me and I began to enjoy it. Shubayama sensei didn't speak a word of English and I barely spoke Japanese, but it was a friendship that surpassed language and culture. Oddly enough, the fact that we could barely communicate did not impede us becoming great friends at all.

The print on the left means "Success" and it was the last drawing I did in 1999. To give you an idea of the size, the photos below it are in 5x7 frames. It is probably the best shodo I have done, but it is not my favorite. The drawing on the right means "Ocean" I did this my first semester in Japan, in the Fall of 1996 and it is still my favorite. I grew up on an Island, have always swam in and loved the ocean and I am also a water sign. Shybayama sensei did not know any of this but still picked the perfect character for me to draw during my first few months in Japan.

When I left Tottori in 1999, the high school asked me what I wanted as a good-bye present (Yes, can you imagine?). I asked for one of Shubayama's prints, thinking this was a respectable and practical gift. You can imagine my surprise when, expecting an 8x10 print, I was presented with a MASSIVE, beautifully framed print, in a beautiful silver frame at my good-bye party. It is gorgeous and I will treasure it always. Sadly though, it is carefully wrapped and stowed away at my parent's home on PEI.

Tottori Higashi High school, Tottori, Japan

Grammie's mat

This is the first mat I hooked by myself, which was completed in 2004. I bought the stamped mat on PEI, used wool from MacAusland's woolen mill in Bloomfield, PEI., and hooked it with my great-grandmother's (Sarah Lewis) hook. I had recently returned from a trip to the Magdalene Islands and had been inspired by the colorful houses I saw there. The white car represents my very first car (1995 olds achieva) and the blue car is my second car (2000 buick century). Upon completion, I gave the mat to my grandmother. 

Roddie Steele's fiddle

This is one of my most treasured possessions - my great grandfather, Roddie Steele's fiddle. I have taken lessons, but nearly enough....let's just say it is hard to "pick up" an instrument at my age. I will always be indebted to Mel MacPhee for giving me this fiddle and returning it to our family, and to Timothy Chaisson for trying to teach someone to play who does not have "an ear."

Namibian needlework

I still have not got pillows made for these pillowcases, my favorite purchase from my summer '06 travels. Bought in Windhoek, Namibia, these pillowcases represent the needle work for which Namibian women are well know. I purchased these items at Penduka, located in the township just outside Windhoek. There were many beautiful items for sale - curtains, oven mitts, you name it.

There were two aspects of these pillow cases that attracted me. First was the use of color. I love the combination and presence of orange, red and yellow. I also liked the folksy feeling the images provoked.

More about Penduka:

Penduka is a community-focused women’s project in Katutura district of Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. Women with disabilities and women living in the Katutura, Windhoek district, plagued by poverty work for Penduka. In addition to this women from the agricultural region around Windhoek are involved in embroidery projects in Penduka.

The project runs a handicraft shop, cloth printing workshop, embroidery and sewing activities, a restaurant and a cottage hostel for backpack travellers. About 400 women are working for Penduka. Some of the women are full-time workers while others participate in projects.

Almost all the woman in the embroidery projects is a single mother, making the earnings from the projects critical for the survival of the families. Together with other income sources and the food supplies from farming it is enough to make a living.

Besides income Penduka is offering other prospects for the women. It is considered positive to work together with other women and learn new skills. Sharing their skills with the women of the community is important.

Women can take care of the children while working at home. There is a gathering in Penduka once a week where the products are collected. In each three embroidery groups there is a quality controller and a leader.

Some African souvenirs

I love my souvenirs and now have quite the assorted mix of "stuff" from the various places I have visited. Below are some things I purchased while in South and southern Africa this summer. The art I purchased in Johannesburg. I had a nice long chat with the artist and I liked the pinks in the painting. The ladies in the picture are "Anna" and "Sarah." I also bought a mask in each country I visited with the exception of Lesotho. From left to right, the masks were bought in South Africa, Swaziland, Namibia and Botswana.

Homemade

I made Cole and Chase each a small afgahan for Christmas...

Chase's favorite colors are pink and purple.

Cole loves his superheros - so in honour of Spiderman and Batman.

A PEI Christmas

There IS no place like home for the holidays. I always spend Christmas on PEI with my family. Even the three years I was in Japan, I came home every year. It just would not be the same anywhere else.

As a child, I recall being very upset when we would have a green Christmas. As an adult, I have come to my senses of course, and am thrilled beyond words when I can take a walk on the beach Christmas week. The beach in this photo is referred to locally as the “Skunk House.” I know, such a beautiful spot demands a more romantic, or at least a name that doesn’t make you unconsciously twitch. It is not as nice as the “Bierhaus’ beach” of my childhood, but it does have an easier access in December.

This is the view from my parent’s living room taken Christmas day.

In typical PEI custom, however, company spend most of their time in the kitchen. Below are my parents with my aunts and unlcles on my mom's side....Margie, Danny, Alan and Betty. We were delighted when they all arrived Chirtmas evening.

My bother Peter with Owen - the latest addition to my mom's side of the family.

Lillian's garden

From 1996 to 1999, I taught at Tottori Higashi high school in Tottori, Japan, on the JET program. During those three years, I participated in clubs with my students. I studied Shodo (Japanese caligraphy) with Shubiyama sensi for three years, and I also studied Ikebana, Japanese flower arrangement for two years. Ikebana arrangements are simple, yet beautiful. Returning to PEI, I can't remember how or why, but I began helping my neighbor and cousin, Lillian, with weekly flower arrangments for our church. Then I began helping her with flowers for local weddings. I loved it. I spent many hours in Lillian's garden throughout the past two summers. Lillian taught me the direct opposite of what I had learned in Japan: that in order for arrangements to show up on an altar of an old country church that seats 500 comfortably, they had to be big!

Below are photos of arrangments I did for Rita MacAulay's wedding in August of 2005 - from Lillian's garden.

Hairspray

This fall, I wandered over to Roncesvalles to visit my best pal Crowtzie. We took a tour of the movie set for "Hairspray," starring John Travolta, which is set to be released later this year. It was cool to see all 50's storefronts, and especiall all the old cars.

Taking you on a road trip...

Our last day of work at the NMF was on Saturday, July 31st - the day of the NMF's Annual Lecture. The following Monday morning, Jill and I left on an eight-day road trip, which took us through eastern South Africa and Lesotho. The scenery was beautiful, the people were kind, and driving on the left was not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be...although I spent most of my week dodging cows, goats and minibus taxis.

The Nissan we rented.

Let's begin with Lesotho...dreary, oh man was it dreary. It poured rain the entire time we were there which did not help. Known for their weaving, we visited a shop to purchase some products from some local women in Hlotse or Teyateyaneng - can't remember which place. The weaving was beautiful and well done. Upon leaving the shop, we discovered a herd of cattle had surrounded our rental car! If it hadn't have been pouring, and if the weaving ladies had not dragged me back into the shop, I would have taken a photo. I wish I had as in retrospect it was quite funny.

These "public phones" were a common sight...

...as were donkeys wandering along the roadside.

Leaving Lesotho, we drove to the Drakensburg Mountains, which were beautiful. Professor Doug Thompson told us that we simply HAD to go hiking in the mountains and not just look from the car/bar. So, we did. We felt we had to and I must admit if it had not been for his email, I probably would have simply looked from the car. From the car though, it was still spectacular.

This was the view from our B&B in Underberg. We desperately tried to get up the Sani Pass with no avail. As this 'donkey road' was too much for our wee Nissan, we decided to take a tour. The Sani Pass takes you into Lesotho via the mountains and while there, we were going to go to the highest bar in South Africa. Mother nature must have sensed some Canadians were en route as the night before our trip it snowed to beat the band and the border into Lesotho had to be closed. Days later we heard that there were some South Africans were trapped there for days because of the snow so I suppose it was not meant to be. Next year the Sani Pass will be paved and it therefore would have been neat to go up while it was still a donkey road.

This is one of my favourite scenic shots of Kwazulu Natal, taken near the Valley of the Thousand Kings. The fields of sugar cane were so lush and green, which was such a nice contrast to the winter yellow fields of central South Africa.

St. Lucia was a wonderful little town on the east coast. It was a welcome relief from the hustle and bustle of Durban. The scenic shot above was taken in the St. Lucia Wetlands Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The other shot was taken out of the B&B we stayed at in St. Lucia, where we stayed in a "Leopard" themed room. This room even had a leopard carved into the door, which at the time seemed cool, but now, I realize was quite gaudy. Maybe it was an omen because within two days, we had a very up-close and personal encounter with a leopard in the Umflozi Game reserve. I think I now prefer the leopard carved in the door.

St. Lucia is known for its hippos that wander throughout the town at night, which we did not encounter. Upon leaving St. Lucia, however, we did come across a herd of elephants by the roadside. Apparently this was not a common occurrence as many locals joined the tourists in the mad frenzy of photo taking.

Visiting the Umflozi game reserve was a great way to end the trip. We saw tons of giraffe and zebra, my favourite, but there were two moments of the visit that stand out in my mind. The first was the EARLY morning walk with a ranger where we came within five feet of a leopard. The second were the monkeys that got into our tent, threw all of my cosmetics about and made off with my toothpaste. Little buggers. Although the leopard was too fast to catch a photo of, here are some other animals.

And to end, my favorite...

That will probably be it for tales of South Africa. Thanks for reading and enjoying the experience with me. Now it is back to the books.

Cape Town and Cape Point

Cape Point was BEAUTIFUL. I only thought that the St. Peters Bay R.C. Church was one of the most windy spots in the world. The wind literally "moved us," but after our ascent, we were rewarded with beautiful scenery.

This was taken en route to the top of table mountain in Cape Town. I thought of my mother while on this thing, recalling her description of a gondola in Banff as a "helicopter on a string."

The view from Table Mountain, overlooking Cape Town. I now know why it is called the "Mother City" of South Africa...and yes, it does somewhat resemble Cape Breton!

From inside Mandela's former prison cell on Robben Island.

Thanks y'all

I really had no idea until I got back to FIS, how many of my fellow students had been visiting my blog all summer. Thanks so much for the comments and I am glad that you all seemed to enjoy the photos so much.

Now that Jill I have done our presentation at FIS, I am going to load a whole bunch of more photos onto this blog. I enjoyed the talk and sharing all the memorable moments from my summer's travels and work. Thanks again to FIS and the NMF for such a wonderful opportunity.

Rare Books

Wow, have I not posted since July? To put it mildy, friends have been pestering me to death to add more postings about my summer in South Africa. To this, I make a promise to add some more photos soon, but not until after the 12th of October. For on this date, Jill and I will be making a presentation to faculty, fellow students and perhaps even a few friends about our summer's adventures in southern Africa. Mark it on your calendars folks:

When: Thursday, 12th October 2006
Where: FIS, 7th Floor Lounge
Time: 4:10pm - 5ish

I want to have some "never seen before" footage/photos for this presentation, thus no more postings until after that date.

Today I began my practicum at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto. I spent the majority of my day leafing through old dusty ledgers and papers and was completely in my element. At the end of the day, the director of the library gave us a little tour...which turned out to be more than just a little tour. It left fellow archives student Lindsay and myself, well, nerding out over almost everything we saw. This included a five-page letter written by Galileo, a clay tablet written in 1798 BC, and Banting's Nobel Peace Prize. Oh yes, we also got to hold Banting's medal. I will surely never hold that much gold consecutively in my hand ever again.

Stay tuned....

Swaziland

As promised, here are some more photos of Swaziland. For those of you like myself who did not know, the King of Swaziland currently has 13 wives. Every year there is a traditional reed dance held in late August. Only the childless, unmarried girls may participate in this dance. The ultimate aim of course is to catch the eye of the thirty-seven year old King!

I knew very little about this custom before we went, and was surprised when the women I saw carrying the reeds appeared to be, well a little long in the tooth. I took way too many photos of women and reeds, although many of the women seemed to be happy to get their photos taken. I wasn't sure what to say to them - "Good Luck" or "God Help You." Am still not sure. Anyway, we found out later that day that the women who took part in this dance were older women, who were in fact dancing for the Queen Mother and not the King. Nevertheless, it was an impressive sight and the cultural highlight of our trip. Carrying these reeds are not for the faint of heart.

Another highlight for me was visiting the Ngwenya glass factory. My boss Verne Harris has a little glass elephant from this factory on his desk, and I just fell in love with it. So, I had to go and get myself one. Then I fell in love with the glass hippos, glass rhinos, agh! One only has so much room in one's carry-on I am afraid.

Later that day, we visited the Mantega Cultural Village. This village was built to represent and display traditional aspects of Swazi life. There was a small outdoor theatre where the cast below put on a beautiful performance of both singing and traditional dancing. What was unfortunate was that they made us dance with them...

Saturday is out last day at work - hard to believe. On the 29th is the Foundation's annual lecture. This year, South African President Thabo Mbeki will be giving the address. On Monday morning, we are leaving for a week long trek through the eastern provinces of South Africa, as well as Lesotho. If any of you have driven through the Sani Pass in Lesotho, we could use some advice. Are we crazy to attempt it in a rental car? It looks spectacular, albeit a bit of a donkey road.