Craft & language bonanza

I couldn't think of another title. I realise today isn't the normal Friday post, since I skipped a few posts this week. Life got busy, as it does.

At the weekend I made this coconut cake for work.

It was demolished within 2 hours of putting it out. The reason it looks so broken....I'd put Green & Black's white chocolate on top, and sprinkled pieces of coconut. During transit in the car as I commuted to work, the silly cake decided to reach up high to the cake tin lid...so it stuck to it. A knife soon separated the two combatants. Although the cake looked a bit worse for wear, it still tasted yummy.

This week I have made these baby booties

And I continued on with the dark blue of this tapestry hanging/cushion (it can be either) for a friend at work (she doesn't know about it).

I worked on the straight lines (I'm working the top down, going through the colours from darkest to lightest).

I finished watching Season 1 of the Winx Club.

 Due to various things going on, to keep me sane until my treatment date, I managed to accidentally buy season 2....and season 3.....and season 4....and.....book 1 in the series (there are English versions, but since I'm watching it in French I'm opting to read it in French). The question is how many times can I watch all the series before May 26th?!

What else have I been watching....not a lot else. With a friend nudging me I'm going to be watching the Avatar series (I love Kytara or however you spell her name).

Tonight it will be....the Winx, with 1 episode of Avatar (see, I can compromise on what I watch). I'm going to try and knit another bootie, (first of a new pair), knit a little more of a hoodie I'm doing for a colleague's son, and that'll be it for today! More reading after a morning of writing tomorrow. I can promise that I'm reviewing some very cool books soon. Have a great night, whatever you're doing!

Foreign Language Friday Meme #4

I'm typing this as fast as I can because I'm eager to get into the prequel to 

Sugar Rush by Kimber An - 

Crushed Sugar! 

Apart from today I haven't been able to read all week - I've been busy sewing a picture for a fund raiser at work. I forgot to take a picture...but I do have the picture from the kit, so I'll post that up soon. 

Right, I've mostly realised that FLFs will be about anime, which is no bad thing. 

This week I finished Noir. 

I remember reading about Noir, and thinking it sounded pretty awesome. That is an understatement. When I first watched it, I was a little confused about what was going on, because there is a lot to grasp in Noir. Mirielle is an assassin whose family has secrets she begins to unravel when Kirika comes on the scene. Kirika has lost her memory, but her skills as an assassin beat Mirielle's. There's a reason for that, a reason hidden by the group Soldats. (It's set in France - which might seem strange because it is a Japanese anime, but the French theme works well). The soundtrack is addictive, you know what to expect when certain tracks start up. There are some pretty amazing ways people get killed (not just with guns, every day weapons are used too). I realise that might make me seem a bit...um...well not a good person. But it's just very clever. Every time I watch this series I love it a bit more. I wish there was another series, to find out what happens next, but I guess I can just contemplate what might have happened. There is lots of violence, but little to no blood when people are killed. There is no swearing, and only 1 adult romance scene. I think it's rated 15, which I'd agree with. 

I also finished Bamboo Blade. 

(from left to right: Satori, Kirino, Tama, Saya, Miya-Miya)

I got into this when a fellow writer said that I might like the story. It's about a school Kendo team, which for various reasons needs to put a girl's team together. There's the captain Kirino, who is always full of energy and motivating her students. She's good at making things, and part way through the series makes little charms for everyone, giving them a super hero identity). 

There's Tama whose skill at Kendo is as good as, if not better than her teacher. She's quite young though, and doesn't always grasp what the right thing to do is. She wasn't on the team, but got coerced into it. Originally she said no because her father runs a dojo, so she's always doing Kendo - why should she join a club? It's joining the club which helps broaden her personality. I love her not just because of her skills, but because she learns so much. Plus she is an anime addict, which I found hilarious when I first saw it. She likes the hero in an anime, and she meets a girl who adores the antagonist. They end up being friends though. 

There's also Satori, Saya and Miya-Miya (her nickname). All three girls have distinctive personalities. I might have got this the wrong way round (their names are similar), but I think Satori is the clumsy one. She loves Kendo, but gave it up because her school grades are terrible. She studies every minute of the day that she isn't eating/at school. However, Kirino is determined to get skilled players and uses various methods to win Satori over. Saya is already on the team, but she is highly strung, really throws herself into projects and will disappear for days/weeks at a time for no reason. She and Kirino are super close friends and provide a lot of laughs. As for Miya-Miya, she is portrayed as an extremely attractive girl, whose boyfriend is a short geek type person. I only mention that because there's a dark side to Miya-Miya, which the others call 'black' because when she's angry or annoyed, there's a black and purple aura around her which people mess with at their peril! She is a perfectionist and gives herself a hard time. 

Other characters include their teacher, the two boys on the team, other Kendo teams & teachers. Oh, Miya-Miya has a girl who stalks and idolizes her. Although it is full of laughs, a few serious issues are explored too (friendships, family taking ill, bullying). I've seen this a few times now, and it always makes me smile. There are mangas of the series too! In English as well:) Go check them out, they're fun! 

What with finishing some anime I got to start a new one - Claymore! 

Now, I'd seen a few episodes of this before. I think it might be classed as horror (turns out it is dark fantasy) . There are monsters in the world (yoma) which can take on the appearance of a human before causing chaos and eating people up. Then there are Claymore, the name given to females who are half human and half monster. That's how they are successful in hunting the monsters down. People give them a wide berth, and they aren't overly friendly. They have good reason for that, which gets discovered in the anime. A male teen is involved in a monster battle - it took over his brother. The village dump him, and he tries to find the Claymore who saved him. Claire (the Claymore) rescues him and walks off without him. He shortly finds her and stays by her side. He feels that there is love in her cold heart. He's right - at the moment I've watched several episodes which are all about Claire's past. It is a real eye opener into who the Claymores are, and I've got a hint of why they are so repulsed by some people. There are lots of major plot twists, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the rest of the body pans out. There's a lot of fighting, full of blood and gore (lots of gore). Most episodes I end up feeling a bit green because of the gore and the animation of the monsters. I'm about half way through, and this is becoming a much loved anime of mine. f

I've also started watching Alias! 

I've seen the first two seasons before, but I got all 5 this Winter so I'm starting from the beginning. One day I thought it would be a nice break to watch it. Sydney works for what she thinks is the CIA, but when her fiance  is killed she discovers they are a splinter group who have nothing to do with the CIA. She goes to the real CIA and becomes a double agent. She finds out her father is a double agent too - and she is fighting to shut SD6 (the organisation down). Her friends stand by her but they don't know the truth and get into trouble (one is a reporter...definitely asks way too many questions). I love all the action. That particular day it turns out that I relate more to Sydney now than I did the first time I watched it. I needed tissues. I love all the gadgets that Sydney gets to used (tailored for women), I love the different weapons she uses, the tactics she uses to get away from enemies. It's really good! Got a lot to it too. 

I think that's it...no, I've got one more! 

Ages ago I saw a few episodes of The Winks Club on TV. 

I really liked it, so thought I'd buy the dvds. I looked Amazon UK, and it was quite expensive to get each season as a box set. I tried Amazon.com, but that too proved expensive. In my research to find out where I could get a reasonably priced copy, I discovered that it originated from Italy. I had a eureka moment, and checked whether Amazon France had it. They did! They have every single season as a complete box set! I bought the first one, and it arrived yesterday. It is in French, there are no subs or dubs. That's fine because I can understand 80% of French. I can't knit or sew while watching it though - because I'm not used to listening to French, it seems as though they are talking super fast so I have to really concentrate when I'm watching it. Plus it is a really faced paced one. It's about a girl called Bloom, who discovers she is a fairy, and goes of to learn how to develop her powers. She's quite a strong one, although her father has a hard time accepting it until he sees proof (Bloom helps another fairy battle a monster). It is clearly aimed at teens (Bloom is 16, she and the other girls wear clothes which show off their tummy, they are super skinny with tiny waists, there are guys who the girls seem to fall over, this is possibly everything I'm not keen on in a show but thankfully most of it is really cool). She has a pet rabbit which looks a bit demented, and he follows her everywhere. I think there are at least 4, if not 5 seasons of this, so it'll keep me busy for a long time! 

I know that definitely is it for now - I'm off to go and read! Have a great weekend, and I'd love to hear what you've been watching lately. 

Foreign Language Friday Meme #3

Wow, this week has whizzed by! I'm keeping this post short since I'm not feeling amazing this afternoon. But at least I rested up with lots of anime!

I love foreign languages because even if you don't go to classes, even if you don't have a native speaker it is still possible to hang on to the skills you learn, and reinforce them too.

My favourite way of reinforcement for French and Spanish is reading. I've seen a few French films, but not that many. I love those languages just for reading. Although I haven't really read them in ages, so perhaps I'll start doing so.

Japanese - I find reading a bit trickier, because of the different writing systems. I can read them, especially if the kanji is written in small hiragana/katakana (the other 2 alphabets), but it's still slow going. My favourite mode of learning Japanese by far is watching anime. I'm really recognising various grammar structures now, as well as going over vocab I already know, and learning new words as characters repeat them all the time. I'm learning different types of speech - formal and informal, and the variety used among friends.

Today I've been watching Sasami Magical Girls' Club. A group of girls who are mostly loners each have magic, and it brings them together. They train up under the guise of a cooking club, with a teacher and the handyman/janitor person. They get to go to the world of witches, which is full of glitz and glamour. However, beneath the surface there are secrets abound, and the girls end up being split from one another, as one of them takes the side of the witches and carries on learning offensive magic. That hasn't quite happened yet, but I'm in the 2nd season (which really is half of the first, since the seasons were only 13 episodes long). Misao hasn't cut her hair yet, although the way the last episode ending she's nearly taken in by the other witches! I love this anime because it's a feel good one. The central themes are friendship, and the troubles & joys that go with it. I love the girls hair, and the magic they can do is cool. I like it that the witches manages to turn Misao, but eventually she comes around.

One last thing...I'm hoping to maybe try sashiko, which is a particular form of Japanese sewing. I'll give more details when I get a book or a kit :) Hopefully I'll have pictures then too!

Have a great weekend, be sure to pop in both tomorrow and Sunday where I'll have book reviews here!

Foreign Language Friday! Meme #2

Once again it is Friday, the sun has set, and it's time for my weekly meme about languages! (First one is here).

Today is a quick one because a) I'm sleepy since I saw my Japanese teacher after work instead of going straight home b) I have a craft deadline looming. I'm seeing my sister on Sunday, and I'm giving her a belated birthday present of a country companions cross-stitch mouse holding balloons. I've yet to sew the balloons, the half-stitch background, the butterfly, and the backstitch outline (more next week on my Thursday craft meme). So I need to get sewing!

Languages are an awesome opportunity to meet people. At school a lot of students go on language exchanges. I never did, but I did go on work experience to a book shop in Strasbourg (my entire class went there for 10 days when I was at sixth form). That was brilliant fun. I didn't make pen-friends with any French or Spanish students, but I enjoy reading the books.

As for Japanese, well I'm glad I have my tutor (lessons suspended due to my health and she's just had a baby). My lessons were always fun, I got on well with her and enjoyed our weekly/fortnightly (depending on circumstances) lessons. I've missed her since I had to stop my lessons, but today I went over to see her and her new baby boy. He's so adorable! I probably could write an entire post on the cuteness of babies. But the point I'm making is that firm friendships can be made with people who you meet while learning a language. Be they the teacher, other classmates, or just people that you bump in to. In my experience they are always friendly, like to hear how you are getting on with the language, and eager to explain cultural differences.

As well as baby talk, today I learnt that her son will have to make up his mind whether he will be Japanese or English citizen when he is 22 years old. How in Japan, people don't really buy houses. A second hand house is rare. Japanese (at least where my teacher is) buy land (which is expensive like our houses are expensive), then build a house of their own design on. She says it isn't exciting looking for a house to move into. She has to accept someone else's design, their layout. It's very different to what she's used to (she's been here for years but been in the same place).  Japanese babies generally have short arms (this is so true! He was swamped in the cardigan I'd knitted), and whereas in England a lot of women prefer not to know the gender of the baby until birth, in Japan it is considered odd if you do that. It is these nuggets of information that you can't learn from a textbook. It's a feel for the culture that has to be experienced rather than taught.

I'd love to hear if any of you have formed friends with people you've met through learning a language, or just by living near/working with someone who isn't native to your country (or whose origin isn't native, since I know a lot of people born here but of a different culture).

Date Publisher Pages Format Review copy / Personal copy / Library copy Genre Content: Violence? Romance? Swearing? Mystery, suspence, etc?(if so, please put without mild, moderate or a lot/graphic, and frequency in the book) example: moderate violence occasionally Summary from [publisher] [my] thoughts: Final conclusion: [links to author site/book site] If you like this, you might like [put which book you would recommend]

Foreign Language Friday! Meme #1

The sun is setting, not that I can see it with all the rain-laden clouds around. I've nearly ready to start my evening of relaxing. That usually involves watching anime!

I've been addicted to video games ever since I was little. I had the original Game Boy (the one that now looks like a brick compared to new devices), and life improved from there. I remember buying the first playstation, and being so happy with Final Fantasy 7 (I'm a huge FF fan). At that time I knew it was a Japanese game. I even ate sushi occasionally. As well as all the different spells to cast, the different weapons to fight with, I enjoyed the longer, film-like scenes in the game.

Everything changed when I visited my cousins in Australia. Both enjoy games, but they enjoy different types. The oldest one - both are younger than me - he prefers games like Final Fantasy. The youngest, he enjoys racing car games. Yes, I did race with him. And yes, I chose my car on how it looked, rather than the specs.

Anyway, the eldest cousin wanted to show me an anime episode of Angelic Layer. Oh boy. I fell in love. I was so over the moon to watch something in another language (sometimes I feel that English is boring, and there's no real challenge to it. That's why I like other languages), and it was Japanese!

When I went back home a few weeks later (it was a trip of a lifetime, just relaxing with my family), my case had a few anime dvds in them.

When I mean a few, I really mean a few.

That's when I gained the passion for the Japanese language. I wanted to be able to understand what everyone was saying. I never put on the English dubbing. I knew from my experience with reading French that some nuances would certainly be lost in translation.

I can't quite tell you exactly how I came across my Japanese tutor, because otherwise I'd be giving away the name of my work town, which I'd rather not do. Instead I can say that I emailed my teacher, whose simple but effective website explained she was a native Japanese and had taught for many years over here in England, and the rest is history.

Mostly due to getting tired easily, joining a Japanese evening or weekend course wasn't an option. My tutor was perfect for me. One hour a week I'd learn new grammar concepts with her, which included some homework. If I was ill, it didn't matter, I could text the day before and cancel my lesson. At the moment I'm not having lessons, but I'm still watching anime. I'm also reading manga. Now, manga is easy to get if you want the English translation. However, if you live in England as I do, it is extremely difficult to have access to manga in Japanese. Amazon Japan charges quite an arm and a leg in shipping rates. American sites also charge a lot.

I found this amazing company, who I'm sure won't mind me mentioning them (I have to add that I receive no gain from giving out their details), Tokyo 15. They are several hours from where I live, but thankfully they do mail order. They don't have heaps of manga listed, but they take special requests and do their utmost to track down the manga I'm after. Their customer service is first class, especially when they have problems with their supplier, or customs decide to hold a shipment for no reason whatsoever. (They ship items all in one go from Japan, so I usually have to wait a short time before expecting my package).

In addition to manga, I've recently bought a Japanese children's magazine. I promise to do a post on that soon.

This post was really about introducing how I came to love Japanese, how I came to learn it, how I came to watch so much anime. I do laugh when the subtitles are wrong, and when cultural differences aren't implied at all. It's nice noticing how more and more I can understand what's being said, depending on the type of anime it is. I say that because some anime have a lot of technical terms, often specific to the anime (especially if it involves warfare, or the Japanese feudal system).

Randomly I must mention that Japan is the home of Hello Kitty :) Who can resist her?

I'm not going to have a post with exactly which anime I have. Firstly, I have a lot. The way it is stacked in my room means it doesn't look as bad as it is (I don't have dozens or hundreds of series. But I have a fair few). You'll get to hear about them either in this meme, or in my What Are You Watching? Meme which runs on alternate Wednesdays.

I will be referring to anime and manga throughout this meme, because it plays a large part in learning Japanese for me. I quite happily stick an anime in, with subtitles, and knit in the evenings. I love my anime fests when I usually watch most of a series in one day/over a few days. Mostly this is when I'm ill, and don't do any knitting. Watching anime makes me feel like I'm still doing something. I can watch anime without subtitles, how much I understand depends on which anime series it is.

I'd love to hear if you speak another language (or just read it...I can understand Japanese, French & Spanish more than I can speak or write them. I learn them just so I can read in different languages (or in the case of Japanese understand anime & manga!). Why do you learn them? Is it for pleasure or business?

If you only speak English, of which there is nothing wrong in that, I'd love to hear your views on other languages. Even learning hello/goodbye/please/thank you/where is the....? in the native language will help you when you travel abroad. Most natives appreciate people learning a few customs and a few phrases.

I'm stopping now, it's the end of the week and I'm not entirely sure how coherent this post is! See you next week, for the 2nd meme in this series.