Sunday School

Oliver's been having a tough time adjusting to sunday school. Even though I sit right outside the door during class, he's in tears everytime I sign him in. I've caved a little the last couple of times and 'helped' in the classroom. The Christmas party they had for the children was nice and it's little treats like this that help him think it's okay to be there. Ronan has no problem going to class. Every Sunday as we get ready to go he asks, "Where's my book?" and stands by the door waiting for us to go. I think he enjoys the routine of it. The boys ate donuts and drank apple juice with their classmates and received candy canes with a little attached paper that detailed the story of the candy cane.

Some favorite shots from my USF class

The students were fabulous this semester and I can say they were my favorite class yet at USF. They were so into the readings that many dressed up to fit the themes of the week's readings or the holiday calendar. Here are some of my favorite shots. Above, Sayaha dressed up in her hip-hop dance clothes to lead discussion on Ian Condry's book _Hip-Hop Japan_. She is actually a professional dancer who has worked with the top names in Japanese hip hop.

The day before Halloween, some of the students dressed up in costume and came to class.

Sayaha shows her gothic-lolita fashion

Cassie, Sayaha, and JJ dress up in their gothic-lolita best for the class on subcultures in Japan.

Christmas knitting projects

I am so glad that I've take up knitting. I made three bibs for my orchestra stand partner, Meredith and coasters for Dahin's teachers. Dahin chose the blue and white color theme for the coasters, and it works since Ms. Berman is Jewish. I made 5 coasters for Ms. Berman and 4 for Mr. D., the assistant teacher (because I ran out of time to make one more). I love that Kendolyn from knitting circle taught me how to knit from a corner and add. It mades a perfect square with a nice little design built in. Very easy. You just caste on 3, knit 3 for row 1 and 2, and then for row 3 you knit 2, yarn over 1, and knit to the end of the row. You keep adding stitches like that until you get to the number of stitches you want (for a coaster, it's 20) and then you start decreasing. To do that, you knit 1, knit 2 together, yarn over, knit 2 together, and then knit to the end of the row. Once you get to as few as 4 stitches, you just cast off and, voila!: you have a great little gift. I made the scarf on the left for a friend of mine. It was just a simple garter stitch with two strands of yarn knitted together throughout.

OCO Holiday Concert

The Oakland Civic Orchestra had our holiday concert at St. Paul's Epicscopal in Oakland. We played the concerto for violin and oboe by Bach and Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite and Handle's Royal Fireworks Overture. It was a lot of fun. Dahin and the boys sat through the rehearsal the day before the concert. I am so glad the church has a playroom! The day of the concert, Dahin opted to go to a birthday party instead of the concert, so it was just me and the boys. They were so good; eating crackers and cheese and coloring. The concert went very well and it was a full house; packed to the max! The audience was so appreciative and you could feel such a positive energy in the air. Kendolyn from knitting circle (a jazz pianist) came to the concert and told me, "It was absolutely delightful!" I was nervous about the Tchaikovsky, especially the first movement since the violins are divided into 4 parts. There are 4 stands of 1st violins and, because I am sitting on the outside, had the highest and most audible part of the strings. Very nerve-racking, but all went well and there were no audible squeaks or audible mistakes. If I can make it work, I will post some video from the performance soon. It was sad, because this is my last concert with them (for now) and the last time I can play with Meredith, my stand partner. As teenagers, we attended Sewanee summer music camp together and it was so cool to discover that we were both living here with our kids. She's pregnant and expecting her third in January. Sigh...I know we'll meet up again someday soon.

Cozy Evening

It's been so cold lately. Those of you from places where the temps dip below 30 degrees will laugh, but here 40 degrees feels frigid. Combine that with winds whipping off the Pacific and rain/hail and it's freaking cold. We've been trying to create warmth at home through fires in the fireplace and our own little knitting circles and tea time. The other day, Dahin was feeling a little under the weather, so I had her sleep on the futon near the fire while I knitted. We watched ghost stories on the Travel Channel together. It seems Dahin shares my propensity for ghost stories and trying to guess whether the silly boys on the true ghost stories show are just acting (and laughing off camera) or really experiencing supernatural phenomena. It was a very nice, cozy evening.

Dan Zanes Concert

Perhaps the best singer, songwriter, arranger of children's music these days in Dan Zanes. A lot of people might recognize him from Playhouse Disney on which his short music videos, called Dan Zanes House Party, show him and his band singing and dancing with friends and kids. I have a lot of respect for Dan Zanes. He's performed with the likes of Natalie Merchant, Joni Mitchell, and others. This concert in Herbst Theater was Dan Zanes and friends special Holiday House Party and they premiered it in San Francisco. Dan Zanes and Friends are based in Brooklyn, NY and they delivered a few holiday messages to us from the East Coast. The concert featured guests artists who are specialists in Chicano music, Hasidic music, shadow puppetry (from Manchester, England), tap dancing, old tyme music, and more. It was a fabulous concert and he invited people to come up before the stage and dance. I was able to take some great pictures. The photo directly below is of the group performing the Korean New Year's song. The woman playing the guitar is Korean American (she was born in Oak Ridge, Tennesee!). She's a violinist (amazing skills) and a trumpet player. It was such a treat for the kids to here the seollal song and to see a bit of Korean culture and music celebrated in front of a San Francisco audience. Dahin has become a huge fan of the violin eonni (as you can see from one of the pictures below). The kids rushed to get her autograph after the show. Meeting Dan Zanes was a close second : ). The best part of the concert? It was FREE. Not for everyone, but a parent at Dahin's school works for San Francisco performances. Right before Thanksgiving, she sent out a message asking if people wanted to go to the concert since she had free tickets to give away. I had enough money to buy Dan Zanes's "Catch That Train" cd and a poster for the artists to sign after the concert. Rock on!

Frisco Kids

San Francisco has got to be the most beautiful city in the world. In addition to the mild climate and abundance of recreational opportunities, it is just gorgeous with the most impressively designed buildings. When we go there, crossing the bridge from Oakland into "the city" (when we first moved here, it took me a while to figure out what people meant by "the city," but now it's become a regular part of my 'local' lexicon), I am always in awe knowing that these landmarks are world-renowned places. For example, the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House houses one of the world's best opera companies, perhaps the world's best childrens choruses (both boys and girls choruses will be performing at Obama's inauguration on January 20th), and one of the world's best ballet companies. The San Francisco Ballet's Nutracker was the first Nutcracker performed in the U.S. City Hall, as well, is one of those places where so much has gone on. The site where so many same-sex couples rushed to tie the knot just months ago became the same site of despair over the passing of Proposition 8, a proposition banning gay marriages in California. While I am, obviously, not gay and have a hard time understanding it, I fully believe everyone has the right to marry. I love that people here are so openly political and opinionate, despite that fact that, admittedly, it gets on my nerves sometimes. It's refreshing coming from a place where speaking about one's political leanings is a no-no. Here, it's really out in the open, but a negative is that many left-wingers (the majority here) tend to shut out right-wing opinions. It's assumed here that everyone is liberal and shares the liberal viewpoint. I am not super conservative, but believe everyone should have a voice. While I can get annoued at some of the things about life here, I just look around and know I live in a beautiful place. This morning, on my morning run, I watched as the sun rose over the lake and the stars slowly faded in the morning light. Seagulls were doing their thing as the midnight blue of dawn gave way to the brilliant blue skies that are the norm here. I am amazed that, even in such a densely populated area, I can still see the starts at night. Despite San Francisco's many problems (mild tolerance of panhandlers and a seeming over-abundance of crazies roaming the streets), the positive aspects certainly trump the negative.