Nomura Tailor

Here are some pictures of the fabric shop in Kyoto.

Nomura Tailor Fabric shop in Kyoto.

Here, they have pieces of the fabric with price and info, displayed above the rolls. You can see and touch the samples, then find the roll if you want it. Nice that you don't have to mess with the rolls until you know you want the fabric.

Close up of some fabrics. The price is yen per meter.

In the stairwell, they had some completed projects and design ideas. Notice the holiday projects to the right. Halloween is popular in Japan, but I got the sense that they don't understand what it's really about in America. They have Christmas, too, but it's treated more like a Valentine's day.

I thought this was hilarious! But, of course they'd have Katakana and Hiragana appliques, just like we have iron-on letters! In the lower left corner are some "modifiers" you can add to your "letters." They're kind of like accents in European languages.

A brief Vent

My job is still new and I haven't learned how to deal with everyone just yet. I've met so many people and I've been terribly exhausted.

I think there's one in my group I might have a problem with. She's somewhat passive aggressive. Maybe she feels insecure? Ugh. We've had some communication issues in the 2 months I've been there and I think she thinks I'm an idiot.

But what annoyed me this time is that I get a feeling of superiority from her. Today it bugged me, and I identified what it was: she called me kiddo.

I'm forty fucking five years old.

She uses her little terms of endearment with everyone, but she doesn't always use kiddo. Sometimes it's "honeybun." Sometimes it's Fred.

We were having a discussion and I had a wrong impression about how a process works. She got this amused look on her face, and explained things to me as if I didn't get it. Well, in a way I didn't, but in a way I did, I just saw it differently. The kiddo interjection really made me question her attitude during the conversation.

Eh, whatever. I will work despite.

Japanese Fabrics

Here is some of what I bought in Kyoto.

First is a sampling of Japanese linen fabric. Linen is very hot for Japanese designs and I haven't been able to find anything suitable in my local shops. (I would probably have better luck online.) The top print is a fun whimsical design in green and brown on beige/natural linen. The middle one is a small piece (like a fat quarter) of chocolate brown linen.

I have not sewed with linen before, so I didn't buy very much of each piece. There is a meter of the natural linen at the bottom. That should keep me busy for a while, working through my Zakka Sewing book.

Above is a 2011 calendar printed on linen. I bought this "blind" - they had a small pail with a bunch of these calendars in it, all rolled up. I could not see the design but could tell there was a variety of styles and colors. I'm pleased with the gardening girl design. Very organic looking. I hope to post close ups of the designs in the center and on the corners; I tried taking some pictures, but they didn't turn out.

The calendar has all the holidays displayed in red! Oh wait. Holidays for Japan.

I plan to hem the edges and made a sleeve for a dowel for each end, then hang it up.

What is it about the Japanese and bunnies?

I personally don't like bunnies all that much - they're cute and all, but they don't do it for me like puppies and kitties. But these fabrics were exceedingly cute! The upper one is a slubby fabric with very Japanese style designs on it - a leaping rabbit, a mountain, a wave, a bit of clamshell pattern. I picked this out for the backing my Japanese fabric quilt/wall hanging (or whatever it turns out to be). 

I have been collecting Japanese fabrics, particularly indigo dyed linen and sashiko on linen for a patchwork project. Now I have 2 meters of real Japanese fabric for the back!

The lower fabric was in the remnant bin and it was just so cute, I had to have it. I don't know what I ll do with it, and it's only a quarter of a meter across. 

I bought several other items and will post pictures soon, once I get some good photos of them.

And after a week

After a week back from our overseas trip, I'm almost back to normal. My sleep is almost normal, although I'm having some trouble falling asleep at night.

Stress from work is back - yay - maybe that has something to do with the sleep? Ya think?

Sheesh, I still haven't posted pictures of my beautiful Japanese fabrics. Bad blogger.

Speaking of blogging....
I never thought being a blogger would help me a work. But it does help, because my group has a Sharepoint website on the Intranet for the nurses related to our electronic medical record (EMR). I have volunteered to post the tip of the day and other helpful hints about our EMR system. Since Sharepoint is something like a blog and a file system, the learning curve has been gentle. My experience with reading blogs, writing posts and using web based editing/posting tools has helped.

Hm.

Lost in Translation

I am back from Japan.

It was another successful trip, but it wasn't as magical as the first one in 2008, I'm sad to admit.

First, we hit a very rainy two weeks, and we were not prepared for the cool rainy weather. I had tank tops, crop pants and skirts, and only one long sleeve shirt and one pair of long pants. I had a scarf (just-in-case) and I ended up having to wear it almost every day. We had to buy umbrellas and rain jackets, and I got frustrated being cold and wet all of the time. My sneakers and lower pant legs got soaked.

It rained on our day at Tokyo Disney Sea park. It rained on our day at Tokyo Disneyland. It rained on our travel day to Nikko. It rained in Nikko. It clouded up on our trip to Hakone. It rained all day on our day in Hakone, ruining any chance to see the spectacular views of Mt. Fuji from the Hakone sites. (Heck, on the ropeway in Hakone, we couldn't even see the ground from all the fog and mist.)

It was finally nice for our day in Kyoto, but then it clouded up on our trip back from Kyoto to Narita Airport in Tokyo.

No fair.

This time, we took the Intrepid Japan Basix trip. The destinations were more mainstream, more touristy, therefore less exotic. In fact, I didn't have to use a single squat toilet the whole time - I could have, but there was always a western style toilet available.

The exchange rate is pathetic for the US dollar (approx 83 yen per dollar), so it was an expensive trip.

Nevertheless, it was fun and I got to see some wonderful and very Japanese things. The guide for the Intrepid tour was really good.

I did not get to go to the onsen, which was a big disappointment. I got my "monthly" while on the trip (which was expected) but it came a bit early. The general consensus on the Internet was that it was tacky and kinda gross to use a public bath while menstruating, even if you use internal protection. Just to add insult to injury, my period rendered me achy and sore. At least there were private baths two of the ryokan where we stayed, and I took advantage of them - hopefully not too gross for anyone. Yes, internal protection and vigorous scrubbing before jumping in.

I didn't write a journal this time. Kinda wished I did, but I just didn't have the motivation.

Now, here I am at 4:30 am, suffering from jet lag, having awakened at 2:00 am. I feel disoriented and anxious, and I really want to watch the movie Lost in Translation, as it mirrors my feelings right now.

Note for a future post - I got to a sewing shop and bought some authentic Japanese fabric! I'm so excited!!!