07.20.09

Finrando no desain (Finnish design in Japanese)

Posted in F-Design, Finnish, Friends, Japanese at 16:06 by krause

Some time ago I blogged some Japanese traditional garments (kimono and obi) made of Finnish design printed cotton (Marimekko’s Unikko). Now I spotted the same design on the cover of a booklet about Finnish fabric(s): Finland Fabric 2.
After all, it is not surprising that there are books about Finnish design in Japanese – one can search for more Finnish related stuff in Japanese just by typing (or copying) フィンランド into the search engine. It was actually entertaining to look at what for example Google finds on that search string. Somehow it tells us how the Japanese see Finland. Who would have guessed Santa, Lapland, Aarikka, Iittala, Arabia, Marimekko, Moomin, the cathedrals and churches of Helsinki, big ferries to Sweden, old Russian coins, snow, salmiakki, wooden artifacts, kahvila Suomi are well documented? Haha.

I would have liked to find more of viili, acidofilus / lactobacillus products, piimä, xylitol – just to name a few. No Eliel Saarinen, not much Alvar Aalto. But true, this was only Google. I found some funny ones, though.

Pikku Finland day21.6 was a surprise. First of all the place for the festival is Kanazawa, the city where I happened to live. The caption is about sausage being served, Iittala and Artek…

I also found a calling card I received in Japan: Café Kiitos (Thank you in Finnish).
So we have Kamome Shokudou (Kahvila Suomi) and the Japanese have カフェ＆レストラン キートス that is Kafe & Resutoran Kiitosu! Here’s anohter blog entry on kafe Kiitosu.

What’s more, there is a bakery by the same name:
(Blogged in Yuki-san’s blog Another Time).

And if I do kumihimo, there is Finnish himmeli straw craft in Japanese:

From the category Finnish horror stories, メンミ = mämmi, the black stuff fermented from
blogged by “Malion” form Japan: If you can’t understand the Japanese description of this traumatic event, look at the numerous smilies .

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09.05.08

Isle of Sheep [ I Love Sheep ]

Posted in Dance, Finnish, Friends, Outings tagged Adile, dancing, Isle of Sheep, Jakke, Lammassaari, Manne, Mikko, tango, tanssi, Timo, Vallilan Tango at 16:42 by krause

The one and only, legendary Isle of Sheep event hosted by Vallilan Tango was a success, once again. August 29th the evening started around 4 PM, when people took off to the trail through the marsh. We were invited to have juice, cookies, and candy, then to follow the signs to Lammassaari along the path.

[Photo: Jakke. Path to Lammassaari]

A short person, all I could see for 20 minutes, was grass. Halfway, there was a platform from where I could see the beautiful city skyline in the evening sun. After a while we heard a voice coming from the grass, reciting old thruths about social dancing in the olden days. The player was hidden so it was a surprise – an “experience”, as the organizers called it.

[Photo: Jakke. Pohjolan Pirtti / Koitto]

When arriving at the site we were greeted by Mustalaisprimas plays blonde, a blond violinist playing outside the century-old red villa originally a social club for a sobriety society. No alcohol was to be sold, but we were well prepared. There were some other performances, as well. A band called The Barn Sparrows (Musiikkia syvästä/-ltä etelästä) entertained us with music from the deep south or from deep … and as last year, also Granny (Mummo) had a word or two to tell us.

[Photo: Jakke. Antti the musician peeking]

[Photo: Jakke. Guests and hosts]

“Jyrki Katainen”, both a female and a male version greeted everybody and reminded us to make a deposit – to buy badges and neckties to support the band.

[Photo: Jakke. Mr. Playback Boy]

The show inside started with Mr. Playback Boy, the only Drag King I’ve ever seen. I’m soo in love with him (her). Mr. Playback Boy is Laura , a “theater and music professional” as she calls herself.

[Photo: Jakke. Mr. Playback Boy = Laura Murtomaa]

(S)he was the slimiest latino ever, the playboy evergreen singer, the obscene pop star, a frustrated base vocalist in an acappella group, a pompous male choir member, and finally, a director of orchestra.

[Photo: Jakke. Vallilan Tango]

After a short while of dance instruction, the band started to play, and people floodedon the dance floor. Vallilan Tango is this strange but excellent band featuring among other things, a vocalist who sings in broken English or broken Finnish as I think he is Dutch. And, they excel in Finnish tango, although they play cha cha, waltz, fox, and even polka, too.

As the villa is old and has no heating, it was chilly when I first arrived. I had to change clothes halfway in the night, as I was soaking wet, and it wasn’t the slight rainfall we got that night.. The Youngest R had found me a pussikalja somebody forgot in the bus, so I drank my present – I was so thirsty I didn’t care what it was.

There are more pics and even more to come. All photos are taken by Jakke. To contact Jakke, leave a comment.

There are more photos of the event by Jakke. These require you to log in to Facebook.
These are in Picasa (Isle of Sheep 2008) / Reeta Viljakainen.
These are also in Picasa (Isle of Sheep 2007) / user: Christian
Also Isle of Sheep 2007 photos by Jungle/Arctic at Flickr

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08.10.08

Another Dome, the Hiroshima Atomic

Posted in Friends, Japanese, Outings tagged atom bomb, Hiroshima, Ishikawa, Kanazawa University, Komura, Nagasaki, Noomi, Ogoya, radioactivity, 　小村, 　広島, 　放射能, 　石川, 　野美市, 　長崎, 尾小屋 at 15:07 by krause

August 6th and August 9th are not and should not be forgotten, although this year they are left in the shadows of the Olympics. 63 years later, the artifacts collected in the cities are still somewhat radioactive, not to mention the suffering of individual people and the collective devastation of the nation. Estimates of direct casualties range from 90,000 to 140,000 according to Wikipedia. Some estimates state up to 200,000 had died by 1950, due to cancer and other long-term effects. The building on the left is the 原爆ドーム Genbaku Dome, Hiroshima Peace Memorial, a former industrial exhibition hall.

I had the opportunity to visit 金沢大学自然計測応用研究センター,　低レベル放射能研究施設 尾小屋地下測定施設 (尾小屋鉱山トンネル) Kanazawa University’s Ogoya Underground Laboratory of Low Level Radioactivity （ＬＬＲＬ） in Noomi shi, Ishikawa ken　（野美市　石川県）　with Professor Komura　小村先生　and his wife Komura san 小村さん.

At the time, Professor Komura was measuring radiation of a men’s pocket watch found after the Hiroshima A-bomb had been dropped.

Nature here is subtropical, like a jungle, and the road to the entrance is small.　Neareby there is a mining and railroad museum.　The temperature was around 40 centigrades, but inside the tunnel it’s so cold one needs a jacket.

Previously there was a copper ore mine, now the tunnel hosts a laboratory 300 meters inside the mountain. The tonnes of stone covering the tunnel makes Ogoya lab one of the most sensitive radioactivity labs in the world. Stone blocks cosmic radiation to its minimum and makes it possible to reach more exact results in measuring low levels of radioactivity found in, for example, items found in Hiroshima after the nuclear bomb was dropped.

An ore mine 100 years old, there used to be little artificial light. Now as there is electricity, wallｓ begin to get color from moss and other growth. Also pretty stalagtites grow from the ceiling, which is dripping water.

300 meters in, there is a small construction site trailer-like cubicle where the detector and other instruments are. The tunnel is damp, slippery, badly lit, wearing a helmet is mandatory, the lab, only a few square meters, is very crowded but the computers are state-of-the-art. What an interesting contrast.

Being a professor does not mean your work is purely white collar. Professor Komura needs to put in place and remove 300 kg of lead blocks every time he needs to measure the radioactivity level of an object.

Whether Japan’s history as the only nation being attacked with atom bombs has impacted the radioactivity research in the country, I don’t know. I do know that Ogoya lab is one of the most sensitive labs in the world, and that they have a world wide cooperative network. I have never met a person who has been to the Antarctic before, but professor Komura has – measuring radioctivity, of course.

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07.17.08

Finnish newspaper on geiko and maiko

Posted in Friends, Japanese, Word and print tagged Dalby, geiko maiko geisha Japanese newspaper HS at 11:57 by krause

As the international edition of HS taking a summer recess, here is a brief summary of the news from the Japanese front.

Geisha and maiko were mentioned in the leading Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat: Geishan ura houkuttaa jälleen japanilaisnuoria (Japanese teens again interested in the geisha profession) and Geishan työ painottuu iltaan (A geisha’s working hours are mainly in the evening).

The first article:

Walking down the narrow streets of Kyoto one may be in for a surprise. In the evening, around the corner, there might be a geisha on her way to meet her clients. Kyoto is known as the cradle of traditional Japanese culture, and for its geisha. Geisha have become a vanishing tradition, however.
The number of geisha peaked in the 1920’s, when there were around 80, 000 geisha, but since that the number has come down to around 1,000. The trend seems to have shifted. Asahi Shinbun newspaper reports there are now more maiko, apprentice geisha, in Kyoto than in the last four decades. The number of geisha hit the bottom in 1978 with only 28 maiko. Now, in Kyoto, there are a hundred. “Although the number of maiko began to decrease in all of Japan in the middle of the 1950´s, the Kyoto geisha community seems to have stabilized by the end of the 1990’s,” writes anthropologist Liza Dalby in the revised version of her Geisha book that will be published in the fall. Dalby studied the gaisha in Japan, living with them and studying their profession.

One reason for the recent interest towards geisha and maiko is their publicity in the media and the information in the Internet.
“I dreamt of becoming a maiko ever since I saw one on TV,” told Keiko, 16, to Asahi Shinbun.
Another newcomer is 17-year-old Ayano, who told she had searched the Internet. Only the Kyoto geisha have managed to keep their community strong. It could be one of the reasons why Kyoto maiko no longer are only local girls. Keiko is from Osaka and Ayano comes from Tokyo.
The background of maiko today differ from the olden days. Today’s newcomers aren’t necessarily trained in traditional arts. In the past a girl pursuing maiko career was usually trained in some art form, most often dance. It is also easier to be accepted as maiko today. In the past the biggest obstacle was to find a person to introduce the girl to the tea house matron. Now the ones aspiring to the profession just click away to the tea house home pages and send email directly to the owners.
The places where customers wine, dine, and enjoy the performances and company of the geisha are called tea houses, or ochaya.

Also the tea houses have changed with the times. “Most tea houses have remodeled their lounges to Western-type bars where modern customers can relax in comfortable chairs in the company of one or two geisha,” Dalby writes.
The entrance is no freer than to traditional socials on the tatami mats: money and networks count.

The second article says geisha and maiko take part in evening socials that start around 6 PM and end around midnight. During one evening they attend three or four parties, or zashiki. They converse with guests and perform dancing and playing instruments. For one zashiki they are payed 25 000–35 000 yen, so one night makes 600 euro. In addition they might get tipped or attend occasions in the afternoons. A popular geisha of Kyoto earns approximately 120 000 yen (ca. 720 euro) and her annual income is 28 800 000 jeniä (ca. 172 000 euro).

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11.30.07

Vi ska uuh ääh hela natten

Posted in Dance, Friends, Gender at 15:54 by krause

Osis, kaudenavajaiset 2007, disko. Seison kahden tanssikerholaisen miehen kanssa lattian sivussa, ja osislainen mies, jolla on sanojensa mukaan tyttöystävä, tulee ja todella lujaa ja isosti kouraisee minua takapuolesta. Tanssikerholaiset miehet katsovat hämmästyneinä päältä, ja huomaan, että he ovat valmiita tarvittaessa toimiin puolestani. Ihana huomata, miten he valpastuivat heti, äimistyivät ja jopa paheksuivat aivan siinä missä minäkin, sekä juttelivat asiasta kanssani ystävällisessä ja kannustavassa hengessä. Totesin, että näköjään, jos minä en ole mitään, niin eivät edes he ole mitään, sillä heidän “riviirilleenhän” klähmijää tuli. Seurustelin aivan selvästi heidän kanssaan, ja kuka sanoo, etten olisi voinut olla kumman tahansa tyttöystävä. Mutta siitä huolimatta minua näköjään voi kouria heidän silmiensä allakin. Tähän on pari vaihtoehtoista selviytymisstrategiaa: voi ärtyä ja hankkia loukkaantuneen vihamiehen pienessä yhteisössä, jonka jäsen pitää ja haluaa olla; voi olla kuin ei huomaisikaan; tai voi suorastaan mennä mukaan “huumorimielellä”. Huumori on tuosta kaukana, sillä minä voisin loukkaantua, miehet olisivat voineet loukkaantua ja jopa suuttua minulle oikean syyllisen sijasta.

Olen pari kertaa ollut osin samassa seurassa diskossa, jossa yleensä ennätysajassa joku liimautuu kylkeen, jos erehdyn liian kauaksi seurastani. Aluksi väitteeni siitä, että näin useimmiten käy, ei oikein uponnut, mutta myöhemmin arviot olivat: “Hei, sä sait taas heti ihailijan.” “Ja olisit nähnyt kun koko toi rivi kattoi sun tanssia.” ” En olisi uskonut, mutta näköjään pitää paikkansa. En vaan ole koskaan nähnyt ihan tossa mittakaavassa aiemmin.”

Mietin, että yleinen näkemys tuntuu olevan se, että minulla ei voi olla valittamista, tai että minun kadehtimiseni on loogista ja perusteltua. Olen eri mieltä. Siinä, että seurassani olevien miesten, olivat varattuja tai eivät, joutuvat jatkuvasti pitämään huolta minusta ja toimimaan portsareina, järjestysmiehinä ja body guardeina ei ole mitään hauskaa, ei varmastikaan miesten itsensäkään mielestä. Olen vaikeaa seuraa baarissa, kun aina saa olla valppaana hätistelemään kutsumattolmia vieraita kauemmaksi.

Eilen loppuillasta tuli vielä narikassa joku kutittelemaan käsivarresta, joka suuresti jo nauratti minua. Lähestymistapa oli uusi. Siitä saakka kun tämä alkoi, eli joskus vähän päälle kymmenvuotiaasta, olen tärmännyt mielestäni kaikkiin mahdollisiin ja mahdottomiin versioihin klähminnästä. Mutta tämä oli jo hulvatonta: “Kuti kuti”, rapsuttaa aivan tuiterissa oleva hyväntuulinen nuorimies käsivarttani, vaikka juttelen ryhmämme kanssa. Pojat valpastuivat heti, mutta heitäkin rupesi naurattamaan, kun minua hihitytti. Absurdi tapa, mutta pojat totesivat, että ilmeisen toimiva, sillä se sai minut nauramaan eikä ärtymään.

 Uuh, ääh, osa kaksi

Kalle, siis helsinkiläinen disko Kaarle XII. Olen oppilaiden kanssa tanssimassa, kun erään tanssioppilaan tuttu lähestyy. Minua varoitetaan etukäteen siitä, että mies on täynnä itseään. Mies hoippuu paikalle ja katselee minua kiinnostuneena ja kysyy: “Kukas tämä kaunotar on?” Oppilaani vastaa: “Tämä on tyttöystäväni”, ja halaa minut kainaloonsa. Yritän näyttää täysin lumoutuneelta hymyillessäni ja katsoessani miestä yläviistoon. Istahdan penkille, ja saan Tulokkaan viereeni. Istuutuessaan hän jo ojentaa kätensä ja kun hän pääsee penkille on hänen oikea kätensä jo sujahtanut selkäni takaa pakaralle. “Olet siis ystäväni tyttökaveri?” Vakuutteluni ei vakuuttanut, tai sitten Tulokas ei välitä tuttunsa tunteista. Vaikken reviiriajattelusta pidäkään, tässä kyllä mentiin ensinnäkin minun reviirirajojeni sisälle, ja koska Tulokkaan tapaiset miehet oletettavasti ovat erittäin kiinnostuneita “omista reviireistään” eli mm. “naisistaan”, kokeilimme yhteistuumin tyttöystävä-lähestymistapaa. Ei toiminut, ei. Luullakseni Tulokas kyllä saattoi uskoa minut oppilaani naisystäväksi, mutta ei se estänyt häntä jatkamasta: “Miten olisi ihana ja ylellinen illallinen jossain hyvässä ravintolassa, mä voisin tulla hakemaan sua.. eikä ton tarvitse koskaan tietää.” Huh, jos oletetaan oppilaani ajattelevan monogaamisesti. Ehkä tässä kulttuurissa se on kuitenkin turvallinen ajattelutapa, kunnes ehkä toisin todetaan. Jos todella olisin ollut oppilaani tyttöystävä, ja jos mies sattuisi olemaan mustasukkaista laatua tai sellainen, joka ei osaa ajatella, olisi perheriita ollut valmis. Syy olisi hyvin voitu laittaa minun niskoilleni ja väittää, että flirttailin. Tässä kokeilussa olin onneksi vain tuttu, enkä perhettä, minusta ei oltu mustasukkaisia eikä siis kukaan loukkaantunut, paitsi minä, jonka takapuoli kyllä sai illan annoksen hierontaa. No, minua ehdittiin onneksi varottaa Tulokkaan meitä lähestyessä, joten klähmintä ei tullut yllätyksenä. Tyttöystävä-kortti vedettiin kyllä aika yllättäen esiin, mutta mielestäni pelasin hyvin mukana. Kun tuo pokeri on niin muotia, pitäisikö tällä pokerinaamalla osallistua?

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09.02.07

Isle of the Sheep!!! Ohjelmallinen iltama

Posted in Dance, Friends, Outings at 23:18 by krause

Boy (Girl??), what a night!

I wasn’t going to go. People called me, even tried to extort me (”My younger brother would like it, if you came”) … but I wasn’t in the mood. After the numerous attacks I gave in, and wow! Did I have a good time! After a laborous hike through the marsh and high-growing rush on wooden walking boards, after coming into close contact with native Finnish abusers of canned heat (= deekuja) along the way, we arrived at this romantic red wooden hundred-year-old villa, that was built by and for a sobriety society called Koitto.

The “Isle of Sheep” event, the title being inspired by the island of Lammassaari outside Helsinki shore in town district called Arabia is this amazing evening of odd music, well-played, though, happy people and – strangely enough – booze at a sobriety society, and NOBODY is drunk. Not at least according to Finnish definitions. No rähinäviina, mean drunk people, only happy faces. Totally unbelievable. I wish I’d find a photo of the small boat they had filled with cold water and ice cubes, carts of beer and cider… What a neat way to improvise a refrigirator. Next year: Be there.

Vallilan Tango, probably the “best” ensemble in the social dance scene in Helsinki at the moment, ensured aching abdominal muscles from laughing (out of joy, not, say, shared embarrassment or to ridicule the band. The band was without rival, as odd as it were. Everybody had a rage, and We, the Dancers, we promised to be there again next year. More pics by Jungle / Arctic

The place is so beautiful, the atmosphere so unique: the old villa is jammed with young, happy people, interested in dancing regardless of style or “level” – the band vocalist, Hans, singing in English or his wonderfully broken Finnish calling for some input on belhalf of the spectators – everybody rushes to the dance floor once Hans asks us to join in the Jenkka (a rowdy dance) and everybody knows at least the basic steps – and almost nobody is a serious dancer. Cool! This is how it should be, basic dancing skills are a part of common good manners. (IMHO) So we more serious dancers tried to keep our feet to our selves, not kick anyone, and not ruin the reputation of partner dancing enthusiasts. Hopefully we succeeded :-0

If someone finds more pics I am most definitely interested. Keep me posted. Bäää (that is bleating in Finnish: baa-baa) and see you there next year.

The walk home (or at least to the nearest street) was fascinating in the dark – yes, fall fell early this year – and we almost fell, too. The planks of the walking board crossing the marsh and swamp had frozen, so they were extremely slippery. Luckily someone had read the instructions and brought a flashlight. Otherwise we would have been forced to crawl back, on our hands and knees, feeling the way.

No buses in the desired direction, so a shared taxi home, and sweet dreams of a party to remember!

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08.25.07

Taiteiden Yö / Night of Arts

Posted in Dance, Friends, Outings at 20:08 by krause

Helsinki: Aug. 24, 2007. Some of us dancers went window shopping for art and events on a slightly gray, but later beautiful night. We met at the main Post office, where my fellow Tango Argentino dancers had a stylish show. The only band playing Argentinian tango music that has a vocalist also performed. We then headed out for the swaying Australians; Strange Fruit. Six dancers on 4 meter plyable poles, secured by straps around their thigs and some concrete weights on the ground, swayed back and forth, closer and further away, bending themselves in strange positions, suddenly spinning, turning themselves away from eachoteher, flirting with the audience far beneath them, speeding to bend the pole enough to reach out to someone in the audience in order to hand her a flower… The statives were carefully positioned so that it was barely possible to reach the next dancer, hold on for a while and then let go, suddenly flying in the opposite direction. Three women and three men, in their tails and hoop skirts, looking like wooden dolls of some game, reached out to eachother, taking distance, holding on, pushing eachother away… just like people do in real life. It was, at the same time, hilarious and sad, and it did touch me, although the event had popularized the performance. With so few elements, restricted by their anchors, the group managed to convey a message and a feeling that was strong untill the end. I think the show was about 45 minutes, and every minute was filled with either the soothing beauty of swaying figures, or strong emotions, most of the time wrapped in slight comedy. But the Tears of a Clown…

Later, we saw a fire performance in the dark, and before that we danced to a band doing almost swing on the green in front of the Helsinki City Museum, Hakasalmen huvila.  The last art stop we made was a female choir singing Finnish folk songs and modern ones in the spirit of old ones. Sadly, I had no-one to dance folk dances with, so we headed to Manala (The Underworld) to dance, and sure enough, met some dancers there. The girls/women were happy to dance with our guys, so everybody thought it was a perfect end for an artsy night out in the town. Pics will be coming…

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08.17.07

Akemi-san at the flea market

Posted in Friends, Japanese, Outings at 03:21 by krause

It is quite possible to speak Japanese in Helsinki during the summer. There are tourists that are interested in personal communication, that need help or the like. It is up to oneself to just make contact. For a Finn it is hard, but is it any easier for the Japanese? And a foreigner gets so much more of a trip when a local drops a few inside hits. This is Akemi and her friend, shopping for Moomin pins in Hietalahti. Maybe I should become a city sherpa? At least I speak a few languages… and I do know historical Helsinki a bit… that is always an idea, too.

Akemi lives in Kyoto, which is the place to be for someone interested in traditional arts, like me… not bad if I get a personal sherpa over there, if I ever have the chance to go. The experience is indeed very different if locals are taking you to do everyday things or invites you to their home. (Here I could have used his/her, but I put in plural instead, and got rid of the problem.) It is something money can’t buy. I am SO thankful to all that have helped me abroad, or showed me something not intended for tourists, invited me home, guided me or just talked to me. I want to pay something back. I asked my senseis in Japan, what I could do to repay them. They urged me to establish a culture center or some organization that would provide foreigners what I have received. I must admit a Japanese cultural center is often in my mind with some ideas already forming, and I’d very much like to promote the idea. I should have some of the qualities needed for the job, too, I think. Other japanophiles, how do you think?

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08.04.07

All things Japanese in Finland 2

Posted in Friends, Japanese, Outings at 01:24 by krause

Pique nique of Pasi 2007: Töölönlahti, Helsinki.

Went on a pic-nic with Ville and Eero. I was wearing my red yukata, although it was hot. However, it isn’t half as hot and humid as it is this time of year in Japan, so I didn’t mind.

The blue styrofoam box is actually for sushi, and the kawaii thingies to sit on are also Made in Japan. There an umbrella is obligatory wquipment, whether the weather is sunny or rainy. I was a tough one: I wore real hard-core geta, instead of plastic ones. Itaiii!

The host, Pasi, was running round in his swimwear, skaring the passers-by. We were sitting , lieing, dancing and singing there, a bunch of roudy Finns, some more well-behaved than others I was just munching away on some bento rice and yakitori I made (we had a grill that we tried to manage responsibly) when Pasi makes this Chinese guy join us. He didn’t speak any English, so at first there was some confusion, and nobody could communicate with him. Then I ealized that I could use written kanji characters, since they Japan and China still share many of them.

So I drew out my notebook and we sat there jotting down things like “Japanese language, you.” “Yes, live, Japan for one year.” “Beijing?” “No. Shanghai, close. Downwards.” “Oh, you mean south?”. “Yes.” “Photoghraph?” “Yes! Two!” We managed to communicate some basic things in this exptremely elementary anner, and exchange e-mail addresses. I hope to get copies of the pictures taken with his camera.

I had, joining the others’ half-nudity, already taken off my yukata to get tanned as a group of Japanese tourists passed us by. I was sitting there in my bikini top and some biking shorts. When I saw them coming I rushed towards them hastily putting on my underkimono.
Pasi also quickly dove into his pants. The older ladies came to dress me back in my yukata, and at first thought I didn’t know how to do it. (Maybe because I said “onegai shimasu”, which means “please”, or “I’m asking for a favor” – but I actually meant that they would join us.) Anyhow, they soon noticed I knew the vocabulary for kitsuke (kimono dressing) and also knew how to do the tricks with obi jime etc.
I don’t know whether they realized that I understood them, when they were talking to each orther: “She knew how to tie that, did you see” and the like. When I criticized the red color of the yukata and mumbling how the “color is too hot for August…” they started nodding in unison. My self-esteem rose to astronomical spheres.. They got me dressed in no time and then all the ladies wanted to take pictures of me – and I wanted the kitsuke-ladies also to be in the photo… Got to say a couple of sentences in Japanese, too

After a couple of hours the Japanese group walked back from the restaurant. They came to chat with us for another minute, and I asked the women with the cameras whether I could get copies of their photos, and they promised me! Cool! Also Paula took photos:

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08.02.07

Also German dance influences

Posted in Dance, Friends, Pedagogy at 01:49 by krause

Got a ride to Riutanharju dance pavillion, and met Mikael (from Bremen) in the car. He had been looking for a place where he could dance Argentinian Tango, but found himself at two dance pavillions – where almost nobody dances Argentinian, but rather Finnish Tango. On the way back I remembered that the next day it would be Thursday practice at Urheilukatu, so I invited him there. We went, and he got finally his Tango Argentino. Me, on the other hand (while also getting as much dancing as I wanted or could) was getting really irritated by this man, who – as I later foun out – is an instructor for beginners… He wouldn’t listen to on single thing I had to say. I tried to be polite and inform him that I have only been learning from others, not teachers, as I have not taken one class of any kind Tango in my life. He made me sorry for telling, since my perspective, interpretation of things, my truth was TOTALLY ignored! By somebody that regards himself as an instructor! And me, I am a dance instructor AND I tend to think of myself as an adult educator, as it is what I am majoring in at the Uni… but maybe I have got it all wrong, maybe I don’t know how humans learn.

How about telling a Follower that she really doesn´t need to know anything. But then she is being told she needs to follow. Well, isn’t following a skill, too? Something to be “known”? And then he ORDERS me to close my eyes, because that is how I WILL FOLLOW better. How the heck does he know that? I am a ballerina, used to balancing myself, but not eyes closed. Besides, I don’t WANT to close my eyes. But for three or for rounds of this subject, he doesn’t take a no for an answer. At this point I tell him I don’t want to. He still insists. And I tell him I don’ t really feel like dancing any longer. At least he understands one hint, takes me back to the table, and leaves me alone. How is it that I still danced ok, or even well for my level, with all the others (who, I might add, are not instructors)!?

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