March 19, 2016 @ 2:00 PM
AMS takes the 5th kyu aikido test (highest level blue belt). She passed with flying colors! She’s now the highest ranking teen in the teen class.
5th Kyu Aikido Test
Winter Retreat 2016 – Aikido Center of Mountain View
February 12, 2016
Group Photo
Arrived at CYO, Occidental.
B: “Nice… how’s your ankle? How are you liking it so far?”
A: “Ankle is doing okay. Having allergic reaction to pollen. 6:30 am aikido is my next class”
February 13, 2016
B: “How’s that working out – being the only teen? How’s the food?”
A: “food is great. i have to eat a lot more since i’m doing 4 hours of aikido. kinda tweaked my sprained ankle today in the last class; sitting out of afternoon zazen. it’s alright, nobody is super talkative and we all just sort of sit and chill on our own, so there isn’t a lot of pressure on me.”
B: “Glad the food is good. So you’re not sitting zazen? Other women besides Emily? The retreat is for reflection and camaraderie. ”
A: “I’m gonna sit zazen in the morning. I didn’t this afternoon bcuz of ankle and cough. there are 3 other women besides me n emily”
February 14, 2016
February 15, 2016
15th Birthday Celebration at Buca de Beppo
November 14, 2015 (Saturday)
Halloween 2015 – Mad Max
October 30, 2015
Mad Max : Imperator Furiosa
Winner of “Best Costume in the Solo Category”. $50 prize.
In Memory: An Unexpected Trip to China
October 19, 2015
Depart SFO for Beijing. Grandma passed away last week (October 14, 2015) and we’ll be attending her memorial service in Beijing.
Honoring Grandpa & Grandma
Sankai Juko UMUSUNA – Memories Before History
October 11, 2015
We saw Sankai Juko once again at the Yerba Buena Center for Performing Arts. The last time they were in the area was 5 years ago and we saw them then as part of Amelia’s birthday celebrations. This time it’s to celebrate Dad’s birthday.
Once again we were treated to a profound incomprehensible mystery of the universe through the dance and movement of Sankai Juko.
Program Notes:
“UMUSUNA is a very old word originating from ancient Japan that has the same root as ubusuna (one’s place of birth). Ubusu means birth, the beginning of life, or entering the world. The word umusu also embodies the concepts of everything and nothing, existence and nothingness. Na evokes the land, the ground/soil and one’s native place.”
- Atokata: Imprints
- All that is born
- Memories from water
- In winds blown to the far distance
- Mirror of forests
- Sedimentation and erosion, ad infinitum
- Ubusu
Dancers: Ushio Amagatsu, Seminaru, Sho Takeuchi, Akihito Ichihara, Ichihiro Hasegawa, Dai Matsuka
We went with long-time friends Terry Ku and Dennis Cheng. Dinner at Buca de Beppo as usual.
Sources of Strength
Sources of Strength
AMS has been nominated by her teacher to participate in this new program at Paly. See the excerpt of the email sent out to her parent.
“Dear Paly parent,
Congratulations! Your child has been nominated by the school’s teachers and administrators because theyve been identified as a leader on campus and someone whose voice is heard by other students. They will be receiving an invitation letter this week (SEE ATTACHED) to participate in a new school-wide program at Paly called Sources of Strength.
What is Sources of Strength?
Sources of Strength ( sourcesofstrength.org) is a training program that brings peer leaders together in partnership with caring adults. Sources is a widely used national best practice program. More than 10,000 youth leaders have participated from across the U.S. and Canada. The program uses a fun-filled style of active learning to encourage open discussion about the very real problems that youth face and the sources of strength that help in navigating those problems. It trains peer leaders on how to connect their friends – and themselves – to the help and support they need when they’re struggling, aiming in particular to significantly reduce those in severe distress who may consider ending their lives by suicide. The program will be led by a certified trainer and adult leaders from Paly. Ultimately, Sources is an “upstream” wellness program designed to leverage student voice to help change the culture of our school for the better – one that helps youth identify, discuss openly, and strengthen protective factors in their lives.”
Celebrating the Birth Centennial of NVM Gonzalez
September 11, 2015
Joining friends and family to celebrate NVM Gonzalez’ Birth Centennial at the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco. A postage stamp will be issued by the Philippine Government in early 2016 to commemorate NVM.
“The Bread of Salt”: http://nvmgonzalez.org/works/pandesal.pdf
We also got on the official Department of Foreign Affairs web site for this celebration.
Aikido
August 20, 2015
AMS started training in Aikido by joining the Saturday Teen Class at the Aikido Center. After about a month she was invited to start attending the Beginning/Basic Aikido class on MWF. So she’s going to Aikido 4 times a week. Her progress has been meteoric due to the amount of time she’s spending on the mat and her 10 years of ballet training.
September 19, 2015
AMS is now attending the Adult program on Saturday. Soon she will join the other adult classes on Tuesday/Thursday. We’re still trying to balance her schedule between school work load and Aikido. She is also a founding member of the Paly Aikido Team. Her teacher for that is also a black belt at the Aikido Center. He has suggested she’s ready to test and because she’s training with the adults she will be able to skip two belts and go straight to BLUE.
November 21, 2015
Amelia has been accepted by the circle of black belts practitioners. Although she has enough practice time to rank, she will wait to test for 5th kyu in March 2016.
Philippines 2015
June 5-6, 2015
San Francisco to Narita, Tokyo
Narita (Tokyo) to Manila
Manila Hotel
Intramuros and Fort Santiago
Culasi
