east and west
Last Monday I went on a school visit and spoke to fourth graders about the differences in Eastern and Western culture. Simple things, like house design/features, clothing, food, school life... one of my pictures was of myself dressed up for Halloween many years ago. I had on face paint and black robes and I guess it's hard to tell who I am.
Today I got a book of small essays that they had written with their thoughts on my talk. They were adorable, and actually retained things I had told them! One of my favorite comments, re: Halloween was: りささんもいっきにこわくなるなんておどろきました。 (I was shocked at how you turned scary so easily!)
This Monday, I went to a kindergarten and read The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I miss reading to kids! Not these kids, perhaps. There were 3 year olds punching me, complimenting my clothing, clinging to my arms and attaching themselves to my thighs... kindergarten teachers must be superhuman!
After that chaotic but fun day, I spent Tuesday and Wednesday doing occasional translations of letters to and from the Prince of Wales. I'm not kidding. This has been a very surreal week.
It has been a while since I read the Nightrunner series, but I only had good memories of it. The fourth book came out fairly recently, so I picked it up before coming to Japan and finally got around to reading it.
To begin from the conclusion (this is a Japanese turn of phrase that I'm liking!), I was disappointed. It is very easy for fantasy-type stories to fall on the wrong side of the tasteful-cringeworthy balance, what with renaming the months and continents and all. It read too much like an overenthusiastic fanfic-- not enough grace, not enough ease. Also not enough subtlety!
The story in itself was interesting enough, and I would pick up the next book to see what will happen next, but with lowered expectations.