Modern Art

(For 25 April)

While everyone back home was having a break for ANZAC Day, here it was off to school as usual.  We had fun producing various photos (on our phones, laptops and cameras) and asking each other, “Who is the person wearing glasses and a green jumper” and “Who is the person wearing jeans and a grey jacket” etc.  This was great practice for various grammar structures and vocabulary.



With Sakurai Sensei

We were asked whether we’d like to present an Australian song at tomorrow’s graduation, so we’ve agreed to do “Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree” as a round.  I did suggest “I’ve Been Everywhere, Man” (I’ve been to Kanazawa Yamanaka Goshomachi Katamachi…) but for some reason I didn’t get any support from my fellow performers.

We all scattered in various directions after class and Ulla and I went to visit the 21^st Century Museum of Modern Art.  We caught the 200 yen ($2.00) Loop Bus, for which my feet were very grateful.  After yesterday’s non-stop drizzle, it was lovely to be sighseeing in the sunshine.  The Museum was great – I think that the pool was our favourite.

Kids having fun outside the Museum

 

Having fun in the Museum Pool

 

After that, Ulla wanted to see a quilt exhibition and I wasn’t too enthused, so I found us a table in Starbucks while she went off and did her thing.  I messed about on the Internet and did some people-watching and eavesdropping.  There was an American man having a coffee with a Japanese woman and he was trying to teach her some of the finer points of English.  They were discussing the concept of ‘to drop off’, as in “I dropped her off at the station”.  It’s not something that we usually stop to think about, but to ‘drop someone off at the station’ doesn’t really sound like a kind thing to do.  I think the poor lady had a vision of taking someone to the edge of the platform and dropping her off.  Language is a funny thing.

Sculpture near the station

Once Ulla came back and had her caffeine fix, we caught a bus to the station and visited the nice souvenir shop that she discovered previously.  I bought a nice pottery cup with a gold leaf design which will be a nice reminder of my time in Kanazawa.

 
Tomorrow after class and our ‘Graduation Ceremony’, during which we’ll dazzle the teachers and school staff with our amazing singing talents, we plan to visit the Samurai House, followed by returning to our Home Stay homes to fit 3 cubic metres of clothes, souvenirs and ‘stuff’ into 1 cubic metre spaces.  My Home Stay family have offered to ‘drop me off’ on Saturday as my bags are a bit heavier than they were two weeks ago.