"Don't buy me the things you wish you'd had growing up, teach me the things you wish you'd known growing up"
Finally getting caught up on video work shot, but not produced.
We are very fortunate to have many great interactions with people as we circle the planet. Often the best days are surprises that take on a magic all their own. November 19th, 2017 in Beijing was no exception. What follows is a collaboration between Nicky and Stacia filming, Nicky editing, Alexander and Annika playing, dad writing and narration by Alexander. Hoping you enjoy our message of hope.
Annika clearly enjoys sharing her room with her two brothers!
(Welcome to the second half!)
Japanese gardening with the master.
Little one, where does your heart take you?
Sensei, is it the items in the garden, or the space without, that makes the garden complete?
Master, how does one know when the garden is complete?
Your garden is complete when the heart says it is complete.
Growing up with only brothers, I’m not quite sure what exactly is the definition of “a little girls best day ever”, but I suspect heading out in Kyoto with Maman to get kitted up in full makeup as Geisha is pretty darn close.
I believe the story will begin, “Once upon a time…
They strolled…
And rode in a Rickshaw…
And had a jolly photo shoot that I imagine they will both remember for a very long time. My two beautiful Geisha princesses…
“The highly accomplished courtesans of these districts entertained their clients by dancing, singing, and playing music. Some were renowned poets and calligraphers. Gradually, they all became specialized and the new profession, purely of entertainment, arose.” – Wikipedia
Annika’s Musings on the Subject
“Geisha and Meiko by Annika Balog
I went to the Geisha salon. Then I went to the back room. We sat in chairs while the workers put on the make-up. And then we put on the dresses and took our pictures. Then we went outside and took more pictures and went in a rickshaw. I enjoyed it very much. Everyone was waving at me and taking pictures of my mom and me. I hope to do this again someday. And I hope I will enjoy it that day too.”
Yesterday we hiked up a hill in Kyoto. On top of the hill was a monkey park. Here is my brochure of the rules.
8/20 Sounds of letters, beginning sounds, ending sound, short vowels, blends, Add 3-digit numbers with tiles
8/21 Add three digit numbers with carrying over the units, simply algebra, coloring for business card, Chinese tea ceremony, Hike to sacred cliff dwelling, Tanah Lot
8/22 Classical music, reading her stories, business card drawings, add 3-digit with 2 carrying over
8/23 Classical music, game theory, paper airplane contest, re-writing her Tea story, adding, intro to fractions, nature hike, rice cultivation
8/24 Cooking class, writing fractions, Assisted next town research
8/25 Walk through local town, Bali architecture, traditional Bali reed weavings, subtracting, subtracting with borrowing, presenting Tea Ceremony story
8/26 Subtraction, drawing research pictures, technology: uploading photos, creating documents, email with attachments
8/27 Culminating activity: ATV, fractions, story time, kite flying, exit interviews
8/28 Travel day. Car bingo. Site reading with day. Visit to sacred lake. Story time.
8/29 Fractions, adding with tiles, grouping tens, spelling list 1, story time
8/30 Equivalent fractions, subtracting with carrying over, spelling list 2, story time, reading
8/31 Ubud with parents, French
9/1 Green school. Reading with parents
9/2 Reading with parents, clock intro, shapes intro
9/3 Time, spelling, congruent sides, French
9/4 Geometric shape dissections, vocabulary, practice speech, story time, parts of an insect, exit interviews
9/5 Travel Day, Carpe Diem boat, water activities
9/6 Komodo National Park, spelling, sea creature art, story time, water activities
9/7 Adding carrying over paper, spelling, story time, water activities
9/8 Spelling, math equations, place value, story time, comic book writing, water activities
9/9 Water activities, video-taping commercial, French
9/10 Travel day
9/11 Time, rounding, place value, Singapore video, classical music, reading, writing, story time, insects
9/12 Art & Science Museum of Singapore. Travel to Tokyo, time, TM geometric shapes, reading, Japan videos
9/13 Travel morning. Walk to Imperial gardens
9/14 Buddhism, Shintoism, Sumo, Tokyo research, reading, add WP, spelling, compound words, Planet Earth science, bus ride & train rides through city, reading
9/15 NYC video, Japanese business card ceremony, Planet Earth science, Museum of Innovation, reading, time, producing a business card
One could try to describe this, but why bother. I’ll let her speak for herself. Enjoy
Kids, your new teacher, Arthur has sent your first assignment. “In a brief video, no more than 3 minutes each, tell me about yourself and show me who you are.”
Teacher feedback:
“Annika’s vocabulary and comprehension are off the charts. She will be (is?) a force to be reckoned with.