Ayumi's Every Other Day

Happy link

Ayumi — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 06:49:00 +0000

A Choir

If we ruled the world, by kids

Ayumi — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 04:54:09 +0000

While aiding a class at Sunnyside Elementary School, I came across a grand proclamation.

If we ruled the world…

1) There would be less homework and video games would be homework.

2) The school day would only last 5 seconds

3) We would learn a new language instead of math

4) There would be more field trips to fun places

5) Everyone would get good grades

6) There would be chefs from other countries to cook food, and there would be soda at lunch.

7) We would have more time to spend with family

Family game night would be every night

9) People would be nice to eachother

10) If you were mean, you would owe the person $10

11) Every building would have a garden

12) All buildings and houses would have solar panels

13) Cars would not pollute

14) There would be world peace

15) There would be lower taxes

16) Everyone would have a lot of money

17) Kids would get whatever they want

——–If kids did rule the world, I think they would come up with non-polluting cars and have it running in no time. Math, homework, grades and school wouldn’t be an issue if families and teachers got together and said, “hey, we’re really going to figure out a way to make non-polluting cars of your dreams, and it involves a whole of math and work, are you ready?”

Update

Ayumi — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 07:44:49 +0000

In part I keep this blog as a record, like a diary. These few days were packed, I’ll just write them so it’s not lost.

Friday: I meet S at Juvenile Detention Centre (she got caught for petty theft), we hug for a long time, the other girls look at us strange. They’re all wearing purple. She’s going to court soon, to decide where her placement is going to be. Rooting that she gets to stay with a family member and not at a high facility group home.

Friday: Paul and I stay the night over at his sister’s place, to look after 6 year old nephew. “You’ve seen Avatar?” “Ya! It was so good! I really really wanted to go pee. But I didn’t!”

Saturday: Sleep in. Work on homework. Dress up like a pirate. Birthday party at a bar. Band mate suggests we all partake in a sprint triathlon. 400 meters swim in a lake, 10 miles on bicycle, 2 miles run. Beginning of May. The thought never occurred to me, but why not? Feel stoked.

Sunday: Go run with Paul. Ouch, this body part and that, feel like a rusty jalopy. Good to sweat, though. The rest of my day is energized. Go for a gospel choir practice. Watch here. Have dinner with the family I used to nanny for. The kids are wild and adorable. Their 2 garages are filled with household odds and ends. They give me a car load full, I take the boxes back home.

Paul’s writing a song on the piano now, and I’m super sleepy.

YouTube and T.V.

Ayumi — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 05:55:49 +0000

I was watching a music video by M.I.A. on YouTube so intently that I didn’t notice Paul come in the room and rest his hand on my shoulder. Boy, was I surprised.

If a t.v. is flashing within sight, it’s the same thing. I have awkward conversations.

Music too, I get distracted. I can either listen to it, or do something else. Like eat.

Malaria and sickles

Ayumi — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 02:09:16 +0000

Which is worse? Malaria or sickles? Apparently, carrying the sickle gene prevents the chance of dying of malaria. So people who live in areas where malaria is common, more people carry the sickle gene. Having sickles may shorten life expectancy, but malaria can kill you at any age, especially when young. So nature has deemed sickles the better of two sicknesses, it seems.

Chance encounter x 2

Ayumi — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 07:58:50 +0000

I was to take the boy out to a museum that’s located in a park, but I couldn’t find parking so I kept driving through the greenery, looking for a patch of land to let him run like mini-Tarzan. I drove farther than I intended. Across the road I saw some kids playing, and it looked like they were having fun so I walked over, just to see. They were the boys I used to nanny for!

I haven’t found words to describe how happy I was to see the children play together. There’s a place you go when you play with children, like the first time you visited Disney Land, when you didn’t see people in costumes. It’s a beautiful world. Freedom to make up rules, curiosity, innocence, excitement, happiness. It’s never lost in us neither, children help bring it back.

Later that night, I drove to see if I could find my CASA girl, at her cousin’s home. She’s 16 now, and recently went missing. She ran away. She wasn’t at her grandma’s, nor at the homeless shelter where her mother frequents. She wasn’t at her cousin’s home either.

This girl is special. When she is happy, her happiness is deep. When she is sad, she is still kind.

Some time soon I want to play with her, and make up rules like it’s all okay.

American baby

Ayumi — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 04:48:31 +0000

The boy I look after is 17 months. Two words tell me how he is a true American.

The way he says bottle: “BA-LO” and water: “WA-LA”.

(I only talk to him in Japanese).

Do you say I love you?

Ayumi — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 20:25:39 +0000

Long time ago on Valentines, somebody at church (I used to live with a Mormon family) told us to say “I love you” to our parents. I couldn’t bring myself to make a phone call, nobody says “I love you” in Japan, especially to family members, and even with my British father it was odd that we would say “love” to each other. Well, I’ve long since dismissed that assignment as culturally irrelevant, but every now and then I wonder “should I?”

High notes, low notes

Ayumi — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:30:27 +0000

A scientist friend told me a study she was involved with. In most languages she said, notes are called “high” or “low”, as in you think of “up” when hearing a high note, and “down” when hearing a low note. This is interesting, and quite biazzare, as notes have nothing to do with height, but frequency of the sound wave. So why do most cultures associate notes with high and low?

Well, that’s the question that concluded their experiment.

Karate Kids Birthday Party

Ayumi — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:32:30 +0000

When I first nannied for them, the eldest girl was 4, the second one 2, and the third one not yet born. Now the girl is 8, the birthday boy 6, and the third one almost 4.

Theirs is a karate family; their father’s chosen path. During my recent visit I saw, just how sophisticated and natural their movements had become in playful sibling fights. (Though karate teaches you that its not about fighting, but being aware and keeping in balance).

At the party, there were 50 children. Mostly 6 year old boys. First thing first, the teacher made them meditate.

What impressed me the most was that in the course of their 40 minute lesson, they were taught discipline, endurance, patience and fairness. At one time a few kids (birthday boy and his sister) were made to kick and break a board. It took the girl ten times before she broke it. The teacher made that a lesson, chanting “never give up!”

I made a video of it: click here to watch. What a genuine party!