Bananas, Grapes and..

12th May, 2010

This is a small thing..
I have told GoEun a wrong answer and it hasn't corrected yet.

One day, when she pass by my room, she found some Soseki Natsume's books on my shelf.
"Sanshiro","the Mind","And then","I am a Cat" and "light and darkness".
All books are old and written by Japanese. I surprised because she'd choosen them quickly from my messy shelf (She's Korean).

She told me that she's interested in Soseki and she's reading "The Gate" in Korean at the moment.

I'd started to get excited, and I talked to her about a Japanese female author, Minae Mizumura.
She wrote her first novel as a sequel of "light and darkness"
which is Soseki's post humous works and unfinished work. Minae Mizumura continued the story from a female side of a couple.

Go Eun was interested in that, and then asked me,

G: "What's the meaning of SOSEKI exactly?"

T: "I don't know..it's his pen-name. I have just known that it came from an old Chinese poet."

G: "Hm-hum, what's his real name?"

Incorrectly I remembered his grand-son's name,"Fusa-no-Suke", instead of Soseki's.
Fusa-no-Suke works as a columnist about Manga in Japan.

T: "Well...Fusa-no-Suke?"

G: "What's the meaning of Fusa-no-Suke?"

T: "How I say...'Fusa' means, like, shape of Bananas and Grapes. Many fruits on a stalk.
We count 'One-Fusa', 'Two-Fusa' with this situation..."

G: "Ahhhh, OK! We say △×◎ in Korea!"

T: "(was a bit surprised because I could not imagine how she gets clear with this explanation) Ah, OK? Then, 'no-Suke' means meaning nothing, just something for boys name."

G: "Hm-hum"

After she'd backed to her own room, suddenly I could remember that Soseki's real name was 'Kin-no-Suke'.
But I wasn't in a mood to knock her door and tell her such a small correction.
It's a small isn't it?

So, Soseki's real name and its meaning haven't been corrected yet.
I should have told her that means "Gold". Not bananas and grapes and so on...

May 14, 2010 7:01 PM

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from mess to welcome

10th May, 2010

Today we're cleaning our storage room.

We're gonna have a guest from Japan but our guestroom has already had a roommate, Go Eun, so we're cleaning our storage for the new guest.
we're planning to make a lovely room more than her, the new guest, imagine and we're excited with that idea.

BUT me, Daishin and GoEun, three of us, doesn't work together smoothly..of course, all we wanted to work hard together but it made mess. I don't know why...

Anyway, we have done to make a lovely and cozy room for her in the end.
GoEun says it's nicer than her room (I think GoEun's room is nicer).
So, now we're proud!!!

Yokatta--

May 12, 2010 4:14 AM

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It's broken...

9th May, 2010

My printer has been broken.
I've got this printer from Brody, a former residency artist of Rijksakademie, about 4 years ago because he back to States. This printer can print A3 paper, for professional, but the ink was empty when he gave it to me.

It was not easy to find refilling ink for this printer, a made-in-US printer, in Amsterdam 4 years ago.
I researched by internet first but i didn't find it. Then I visited computer shops/ ink shops/ electric appliance stores in Holland when I have any chance, but I didn't find it.
Finally when I found one (it was in Amsterdam in the end), the refilling ink's price was 70 euro.

I really considered about should I buy 70euro refilling ink or should I through away the printer. Then I decided to buy the 70euro ink. Why not? I found it after all my hard work!
Now I remembered an old Japanese quote, 'There are nothing more expensive than free.'

Today, this ink is marketed everywhere in desk equipment stores or stationery stores in Amsterdam. Around 20 euro.
But my printer doesn't work anymore....

Well, Thank you for working till today.
What a pity that I didn't print out anything important with you, but thank you.
Now I start to worry about how to disposal you in Amsterdam...

May 11, 2010 3:36 AM

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TOSA-no-Nikki

30th April, 2010

I'm back to Holland.

I was free just some hours in Japan before day to back to Holland.
I had no plan to do, and I just walked around my home town.

I found a calling car for blood donation, so I jumped in the car in a way and intended to respond of donation of blood.

But I couldn't. The staff says, the person who lived in Holland more than 6 months, cannot donate blood in Japan because of mad cow disease founded in UK in 90's.

I didn't know.. anyway I had got a little gift (a mechanical pencil) without donation, and I left the car.

Next, I jumped in a book shop, and I bought 'TOSA-no-Nikki (Tosa-Nikki)'.
This is the oldest diary in Japan,written in 934.
The male author wrote this diary impersonated as a female author...interesting.
He(She) lived and worked at Tosa, and he(she) started the diary from return way to Kyoto from Tosa. He(she) has lost his(her) own child in Tosa.

There are many poets /songs in the text.
Mostly He(She) mentions that,
'voyage makes me feel lonely, voyage takes me time for waiting, that's why I make songs like this.'
...something like that, and I could agree it.

By the way, today's Queen's day.
I had nothing orange-color stuff with me but this Frisk what i found in Japan.

I also didn't know Frisks are made in Holland! I could find them more often in Japan than in Holland.

May 1, 2010 3:40 AM

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