Christchurch in the beginning of Spring

This is my first time to come to New Zealand. They are similar to Japan at some points. Their land consists of small islands. They have volcanoes and earthquakes. However, my impression is... they are quite different from Japan. The buildings, towns, foods, language and nature are all different.

Interestingly,  I found their similar point with Hawaii. Their native culture is based on Polynesian and so their words sound quite similar to Hawaiian words. I found some words have the same spelling and pronunciation as Hawaiian words, such as Kai and Poi.  Kai means food in Maori but ocean in Hawaiian. Poi means Maori dance or a ball in Maori and taro paste in Hawaiian. These similarities make me a little sentimental. The meaning is different but they have the same pronunciation!

Anyway, their view of the town is very different from Hawaii or Japan. It is quite British!

Curator's house in the Botanic Garden, Christchurch

The street near University of Canterbury

My first destination of this travel was Christchurch because I work with people in University of Canterbury. So I visited some parts of Christchurch. As you may know, Christchurch is a town which affected by some earthquakes seriously. They are still in the process of recovering from the 2011 earthquake.

A university building under the construction

Some buildings in the university are still under the construction, and the vast area of the city center is very flat because the building were destroyed by the earthquake.

Large flat area in the city center of Christchurch.

In fact, I went to the city center for the dinner one day after I arrived, and I was so shocked that the city was quite empty. My friends explained me that it was the downtown, while now it is large space with only few buildings. And my friend added, "We now have good new restaurants coming. It was sad, but because of the earthquake, now we can have new good shops and restaurants". He is very optimistic even he was affected by the earthquake.

In 2011, I was in Geneva, Switzerland. I didn't feel any shake, but an east part of Japan and Christchurch had big earthquakes separately. At that time, I was so shocked and couldn't concentrate on my work. I was looking at the website of Japanese TV news. When I was so sad, one of my friends in Geneva said "Japan is such a strong country and they will recover soon. Economically, maybe the loss for the moment is very big. However, with this earthquake, the requirement of employment will increase and they will become stronger than before".

I am not sure that we became stronger than before. Many people in Tohoku area are still suffering from the loss of their life. However, I think that it is very important to stay optimistic in such a difficult situation. It is a chance to be reborn for everyone!

Tea time at the cafe in Botanic Garden

I myself was in a difficult situation this year. I had an impression that nothing goes well with my life. However, this city and my friend reminded me that this is my chance. I can find something new for myself and my life. For a while, I haven't had a feeling that I have been enjoying my life, but I started to enjoy my life again. The Botanic Garden was beautiful and the cafe in the garden was nice and comfortable!

Snow Observation in Nagaoka

Nagaoka City from a hotel

Nagaoka is a city where they have much snow in Japan. I went there for taking a course of snow observation. I stayed at the hotel just in front of the Nagaoka station.
 I went around the city in the morning. There were Hinamatusri exhibitions at some locations in the city.

Hinamatsuri Decoration 1

Hinamatsuri Decoration 2

 Hinamatsuri is a festival for girls. We pray that a girl have a good marriage. It is on March 3rd and also called "Momo no Sekku" which means seasonal festival of peach flower. We have two festival on the same day probably because a peach flower is a symbol of Spring.
At the tourist information, I asked about the place to stay only for one or two hours. Thesn, they recommended me "Tanita cafe" close to the station.

Tanita Cafe in Nagaoka

"Tanita" is a name of a company who makes scales. These couple of years, they make good health scales and promote healthy life. Their scale can measure the amount of fat and muscles with electric current. In the cafe, we can have an advice after we measure the precise value of body weight, fat and muscle.

Result of my measurement!

 This chart shows the amount of muscle (upper, blue) and the amount of fat (lower, green). If the value is higher, the color is stronger.　It means I have much muscles on my arms and legs, while I don't have much muscles in the center part of my body. And I have much fat on my arms. Totally, my body balance was not so bad. They calculated an Index of Athlete (how much you are close to an athlete??). For me it was 72/100. It means my body is quite athletic. Wow!!

However, I need strong muscle in the center part of my body because muscle of body trunk is very important for classical ballet. I am now thinking how I can train this part.

Anyway, it was very nice day with blue sky!

Snow Observation Course

I enjoyed a course of snow observation. In the yard of the institute, it was easy. However, it must be hard to observe snow layers and measure physical parameters in Mt. Fuji. OK, I don't need to worry too much for the moment. Let's just enjoy!

Autumn in Europe 2

I like this café and often went there by myself and with my friends.

  I came here, Geneva for my work.  However, I have many friends here! I enjoyed meeting with them. I went a cafe, where I can eat nice scone with butter and jam. They also have many kinds of teas. I had a chat over cups of tea because the tea is served by tea pot. So, our chat becomes longer.

Parc des Bastions

 Parks in Geneva is beautiful and cozy. Especially in autumn, colored leaves decorates them. One of the most historical parks is this Parc des Bastions. Here, we can see the statue of Calvin who made our university  (Universié de Genève). Also, you can have a nice brunch during weekend.

Carousel at Place de la Madeleine

 Just on the foot of St. Pierre cathedral, there is a carousel. I liked this place and I came many times by myself, but this time, I came with my sister's family. I haven't imagined my niece playing with this carousel! What a happy day!!

I worked a lot in Geneva as it is the purpose of my visit to Geneva. Sometimes, the work is not easy and I am so stressed. However, I know that there are places where I can heal myself in Geneva.

Honestly speaking, I didn't like Geneva when I arrived in 2007. I couldn't be happy easily. After four and a half years, it became my second home town. I dream to come back to Geneva as a professional scientist, one day.

Independence Day

Today is "Independence day" of United States of America. It's big holiday in Hawaii, too. So I don't need to rush to the work. I had an organic breakfast at Island Vintage Coffee. This cafe has "organic" dishes, some magazine and websites say. I wanted to try but I didn't have a chance.

It was good. I like sprout in the sandwich. Here, sandwiches often have this sprout. It's nice! It makes sandwich so fresh.

I wondered if I can see the fireworks (Alamoana Beach park) from my apartment??
Yeeeeeees. Even it is farther than Friday fireworks (Hotel in Waikiki), it was higher and larger!! It seems NY fireworks is much bigger than one in Honolulu. But I am happy to see the fireworks from here, my apartment.

Happy Independence Day!

Working for a cafe

Hello! I haven't written for a long time. I accepted by a professor in Geneva University in Switzerland, and will go to Geneva this summer. I don't know when I can go to Geneva actually because staying permit is under examination now. I quit my previous job related to disaster prevention in the end of April, but I need money for dairy life. Therefore I work for a cafe in Yokohama, now.
This cafe's name is "Lina's sandwich cafe". Original cafe was born in Paris. In Japan, there are two cafe. One is in Tokyo, and another is in Yokohama. You can eat delicious sandwich and dessert in this cafe.
I really enjoy working here. My colleagues are so friendly and gentle. Moreover, I can eat sandwich at a staff price. Staff price is about one-third of regular price. Sometimes, I can eat some dessert because it's almost passed over.
Last friday, I made an Italian dessert named "Tira mi sù"there. My colleague who is good at cooking taught me how to make it. Once I tried to make it, but unfortunately I couldn't whip fresh cream well. I wanted to know a knack for it. My teacher was good and I understood the reason of my failure. I hadn't cooled fresh cream and egg yolk. And so, the fresh cream hadn't become stiff.
Yesterday, I tried again. I cooled fresh cream and egg carefully and it became stiff! After all, I successfully make Tira mi sù. This time, I used Japanese green tea in stead of coffee and cocoa. Japanese flavored Tira mi sù is so new and exotic taste.
I dolce, per favore.