Japanese Green Whiskey....

I was fortunate enough to spend some time in Japan in 2006 on a Fulbright and I love going through my old photos and reminiscing about my immersion into their culture.

One thing I enjoyed was visiting the elementary schools and having conversations with the inquisitive children.

I never dreamed we would be wearing masks in the US, quite like they wore while serving lunch for me and their whole class!

The side trips were amazing:

Hiking Mt Fuji is a day I will never forget!

The food was a challenge for me - I lived on salad and fruit and offered the rest to whomever was lucky enough to sit beside me!

I am not fond of fish nor rice, so when pickled radishes and orange slices showed up as garnishes I was always excited!

My point to all this is to share a cocktail with you.

 I have to say this was refreshing:

It is a strong drink, but I liked it more than Sake!

Watercolor....

Watercolor, or Aquarelle, has always been my favorite art medium, and it is a tricky one to master!

I am drawn to it and unfortunately, even after some art classes, I haven't mastered the skill!

So, instead, I purchase it!!

Jenna @ The Painted Apron has beautiful pillows for sale on Society 6.  

Watercolor Bouquet throw pillow

It really brightens up my little reading corner: 

Another one of my favorite watercolorist is Susan Branch....

and I just got lucky and found another on of her books, published years ago - with 2 engaged daughters, this will come in handy:

Another Cape Cod artist whose work I love is Robert Kennedy:

I have been a collector of his art for quite a while...

Grant Dolge is a local artist....

...and this was painted for me by another local artist, Shelly Truitt, over 36 years ago...

Angie Strauss, from Niagara on the Lake, is also another one of my favorites...

...and when I travel I like to pick up local artwork...

...for my "travel gallery wall"...

...in the guest room

So what do I do because I can't master this style of painting?

I use an app!

So, now I wonder....If I took the photo, and used the app, can I now consider myself a watercolorist?

Do you enjoy a special medium of art?

Summer's over...

I'm a teacher. This is the last weekend of the summer. I'm sad.

A few years ago I went to Japan for 3 weeks as part of the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher's Program. We visited schools, government, and industry, participated in numerous educational seminars and "I shopped til I dropped" in Ginza:
I survived with a vocabulary of about 35 Japanese words, almost starved to death because I don't particularly like fish or rice, and I met the most interesting people.

Tokyo is just fascinating and I would love to return. The Japanese are the most welcoming people, kind and helpful. The elementary children were so eager to learn and the middle school students were typical adolescents: arm wrestling, rambunctious boys and make-up sharing, giggly girls. The high school and university students take education very seriously. The teachers work longer days for less pay and the schools are very competitive. They are beginning to face some of the challenges we have here in the US: kids skipping school, drop-outs, drugs, etc.

My favorite photo was this one. The fourth graders were preparing and serving me lunch - can you tell which one is me?And here was my morning view during a week in Minami Alps:

Here's a view from Mt Fuji. looking back to my hotel:
Summer's over....and kids are kids....and teachers are teachers. We work very diligently to help children develop into healthy, happy, functioning adults....Cheers to all the teachers out there!