ラマダンとイド・アル＝フィトル（レバラン）

フランスに引越して初めて目の当たりにした、イスラム教の断食。パリにもたくさんイスラム教徒（主に北アフリカ出身）がいますが、それほど厳しくないようで、断食をしっかり１ヶ月している人は周りにあまりいませんでした。

イスラム教徒を抱える国としては最大のインドネシアでは、当然多くの人たちが８月１１日から９月９日までの１ヶ月間、断食していました。

町の変化としては、

• 旗 ：主にインドネシア国旗の白・赤のものでしたが、それ以外にもカラフルな旗が街一杯に飾られていました。


• 渋滞：毎日夕方６時前後の断食明け時間に合わせて帰宅する人が多いため、道路がとても混みました。普段は４時から４時半ころ職場を出ていましたが、ラマダン中は４時を過ぎると（６時過ぎまで）混み始め、普段２－３０分くらいしかかからない道のりが、早くても４５分、時には１時間半以上かかることがありました。


• 爆竹と花火：日没後の夜食の時間に、とても騒がしくなり、爆竹が毎日聞こえます。おかげで我が家の愛犬はストレスで、自分のお腹の毛を食いむしってしまいました。


• その他の騒音：夜遅くまで、また早朝からモスクのアナウンスが大きい。特に９月９日の夜から１０日の朝にかけては、ノンストップで歌やコーランの朗読やが聞こえてきました。また、日の出前の食事の準備する女性達を起こすため、３時前後に太鼓を叩いて街を歩く人たちがいたため、うるさかった。


• レストラン：通常のように営業しているかちょっと気にしていましたが、心配無用でした。大きなモールのフードコートやレストランは、お客さんでごった返し。金持ちのイスラム教徒は断食を実行しない（または挫折する）という話もあるし、クリスチャンや仏教徒も多いのでしょうか。中華料理レストランでビールを頼んだら、急須に入って出てきたのにはびっくりしました。
  

身の回りの変化としては、

• 職場の現地職員が早く始め、早く終える：お昼時間をとらないということで、ほとんどの現地スタッフが朝７時から午後３時での勤務時間。午後６時には、オフィスに誰もいなくなりました。お昼ごはんもなんとなく、隠れるように食べていました。


• お手伝いさんの勤務時間：断食明けの時間の午後６時には仕事を終わりにできるよう、勤務時間をちょっとだけずらしました（運転手さんはいつも５：３０で終わりなのでそのような調整は無）。また、事情による夕方６時以降働いてもらう際は、６時から３０分、休みにした。また、極力彼らの前では飲食を控えました。
  

今年のレバランの祝日は、１０日（金）・１１日（土）だったので、ロングウィークエンドとして都合がよかったです。運転手さんやお手伝いさんが里帰りするため１週間休暇を与えました。その間私は自分で車運転して勤務。前もって食材を確保し、ほとんど外出しませんでした。金持ちのインドネシア人は、レバラン中、メイドさんがいなくなってしまうため、ホテルに泊まったり外国へ旅行したりするそうです。そのため、街はガラガラに空く、と聞いていました。

我々はこの時期、ジャカルタに残りました。土曜日の昼、食事するために外出しましたが、それ以外は家でのんびり。土曜日は車の量は少ないものの、がらがらという印象ではありませんでした。特に木曜日の夜は外出するなと注意されていたので外には出ませんでしたが、主な道ではパレードが行われていたようです。外は騒がしかったですね。我々が住んでいる外国人向けのコンパウンドでは、みんなロングウィークエンドを楽しんでいる、という感じでした。

いずれにせよ、早く平常な生活に戻ってほしいものです。

Photo taken from http://www.asajikan.jp/wmphoto/reporter66/archives/20

Pelabuhan Ratu の Ocean Queen Resort

また行ってきました、海への週末旅行。今回はジャカルタから南へ Pelabuhan Ratu まで下りました。泊まったのは、この漁港から西に１０キロちょっと離れたとこにある、Ocean Queen Resort。この近辺にはいくつか外国人向けのリゾートがあるのですが、７月に行った Tanjung Lesung Sailing Club と同様、ここも Family Guide to Jakarta で推薦されていたし、なにしろ海の目の前のロケーション、犬ＯＫということで、ここに泊まることにしました。

ここのビーチは波が強く、ちょっと泳ぐには適していませんが、バンガローのテラス、または砂浜にあるバンガロー専用の東屋に座っていると、波の音に癒されます。バンガローに配属されているハウスボーイが、Pelabuhan Ratu の魚市場まで買い物へ行き、ロブスターや魚、えびやいかなどをＢＢＱしてくれるのが最高！また、ハウスボーイ経由でお願いすると、一時間なんと 40,000 IDR（約3,700円）でマッサージを体験。とても気持ちよく、金・土と２回もお願いしてしまいました。バンガローは広く、シャワーはお湯が出るし、キッチンも整っている（２つのガスコンロ、冷蔵庫・冷凍庫、食器や料理道具など）施設は快適でした。プールも広く、子供用のプールもあって、家族で楽しめました。

残念だったのが、レストランの食事。美味しくないだけでなく、食器が洗剤臭く、２回食べてあきらめました。バンガローにキッチンがあるので食事はＢＢＱだけにし、自炊するのが無難でしょう。あと、蚊が多いのに蚊帳がなく、エアコン付きのバンガローで締め切っていたのに、蚊に悩まされました。深夜２時過ぎまで騒いでいる若者や、プールの入りながらタバコを吸ったりお酒を飲むマナー違反の人たち、バンガローのすぐで物を売る子ども達もちょっとうるさかったです。残念。私のTrip Advisor のこのホテルのレビューはここを参考。

ジャカルタの生活は意外とストレスフルなので、１ヶ月に１回は週末旅行をエンジョイすることにしようと思っています。今回の Pelabuhan Ratu はジャカルタから来るまで４時間半、１７０キロ（細い道を使って近道すると１５０キロ）。そのうち高速は１時間ほど。高速降りてから途中で渋滞する町が２つあるのと、中間地点で休憩が取れるところがないので、ちょっと行き辛いです。また、ビーチも子どもと楽しく水遊びという感じではないのが残念。Pelabuhan Ratu と Ocean Queen Resort の間にある、Samudra Beach が一番静かなビーチということですが、それでも波はあり、娘は残念ながら水に入りたがりませんでした。彼女がもうちょっと大きくなるまでは、この海は無理かな。

Child abuse and neglect

Ever since I gave birth to June, I find that any news item on child abuse and/or neglect totally breaks my heart. Every time I look at my daughter, I cannot help but wonder: how could anyone have feelings other than complete love and devotion for their child? Yet child abuse occurs daily. I know that I am very lucky because I have a child who hardly gives us any trouble. I have a partner who adores her and looks after her. We have a maid/nanny who also takes good care of her. In addition to all the help I have in raising June, I also have fond memories of my childhood and the love given to me by my own parents. I am aware that child abusers have often been abused as children, so I am fortunate to be able to pass on to June love, instead of abuse.

As I have been following the media coverage about the 23-year old single mother who abandoned her two young children in her apartment and thus starved them to death, the initial shock has been replaced by sadness, then with anger. The anger is not directed at the mother, though. It is directed at the media, and at the young woman's family.

I am in no way denying the atrocious neglect committed by the mother. How could someone in charge of two young lives be so irresponsible? She says she wanted some time of her own. Well, the moment we give birth, we mothers no longer have time of our own. That's the life of a mother. Didn't she think about this before, and after, she became a mother?

But these descriptions of the young mother's behaviour, and the accusations against her, make me more sad than anything else. What makes me angry, though, is the way the media has chosen to depict the mother: she is an irresponsible prostitute who killed her children. She was selfish, she wanted her freedom, and went partying and enjoyed herself while her children were slowly starving to death.

But the question that haunts me is this: WHY, oh why, was this young woman prostituting herself? Why did she feel like she did not have any freedom? Because no one was helping her raise her children, that's why. What's conspicuously missing in most of the media coverage is mention of this woman's family members--people who, in my opinion, should have been providing her with the support she needed to raise her children. How could it be that she was tasked with raising two children all by herself--without any support from her former husband, her parents, her ex-parents-in-law? What about daycare centres where she could have placed her children? How on earth does anyone expect a young woman with limited skills--who had left her job to give birth to and raise her children--to raise them after she was divorced? If she had financial support from her ex-husband or other family members, she probably would not have had to resort to selling her body to make a living and raise her children; if she had childcare support, she would not have felt so trapped, so lonely, so constrained, in raising her children. In the Japan Times article above, the former mother-in-law of the mother is quoted as saying "I hate her now". Well, I would like to say to her: hate yourself, for not helping the mother, and your grandchildren.

The media's focus on the mother and the inability of the child abuse SOS centre that had not sufficiently followed up on repeated anonymous phone calls by a fellow resident of the apartment building is pointing the finger in the wrong direction, and will not save any more child abuse and neglect cases in the future. This is because it is not just the young mother that failed her children. It is her family, and the society that failed them.

Another news item that's been prevalent in the media is that many centenarians in Japan are missing. Children of these supposed centenarians have been quoted as saying that they have not seen their parents for decades. So it's not just the children we are neglecting--but also, the old. What has our society come to? How can any society call itself civilized, and yet neglect the young and the old?

May the souls of the young children rest in peace.

Photo by by robertpaulyoung, available from flickr.com/photos/robertpaulyoung/151452810/

Olive Nails

先日行ったネイルサロンは、Plaza Senayan の Sogo にある、Olive Nails 。現在 Sogo が改装中なので、１階の出入り口の近くというちょっとオープンなスペースにありましたが、改装が終わったら（おそらく）もうちょっと落ち着いた場所に移るのでしょう。韓国人の女性がオーナーで、印象としては、全てのスタッフがとてもきちんと訓練を受けている感じでした。ネイルのカラーを選ぶのも、センスのよい色をサジェストしてくれて、きれいな色に仕上げることができました。普通のマニキュアとペディキュアで、250,000 rp. 二人のスタッフが同時にやってくれるので、乾かす時間含めて１時間で終わるのがうれしいです。

それにしても、ネイルポリッシュやポリッシュリムーバーはとても体に悪い化学物質が使われていることが知られているでしょうか。私はあの臭いがとても嫌いで、閉め切ったサロンには行かないようにしています。アメリカの National Healthy Nail Salon Alliance のサイトにあるように、サロンでよく使われているもっとも体に悪い化学物質「the toxic trio」とは、トルエン（toluene）、ホルムアルデヒド（formaldehyde）とフタル酸ジブチル（Dibutyl phthalate: DBP）。このサイトからダウンロードできるガイドには、この３つの毒を使っていないネイルポリッシュのリストがあります。

Sogo にあった Olive Nails には、とてもお腹が大きい妊娠後期の女性が働いていました。上記の３つの化学物はとても体に悪く、特にトルエンは胎児への影響が心配されているようです。私が妊娠しているときは、ネイルサロンにもヘアサロンにも行きませんでしたが、これらのサロンで働いている女性達は誰が守ってくれるのでしょうか。本人が知らなく、サロンのオーナーも何もしなければ（害があることを知らないかもしれないし、知っていても何もしないかもしれない）、我々消費者が行動を起こさなければなりません。インドネシアでどのようなことができるのか、調べてみようと思っています。

Firing household staff

I've had to let go of my driver today. It was a very difficult experience for me.

It was difficult because there wasn't any major problem with him (i.e., he hasn't been in an accident or stolen money or anything of that sort). But accumulation of little incidents can get pretty stressful.

He was a good driver in the sense that he has never got into accidents (there is not a scratch on my car yet!), drives carefully most of the time, doesn't use the horn excessively, and has been honest with cash when we asked him to run errands for us. He washes the car daily and is punctual (although once he was sick and did not call me ahead to say that he was not coming). He had no body odour (something that's common here apparently).

The problems I had with him were:

• he would ask to borrow money, amounts that were more than his monthly salary.
• he did not know the streets around Jakarta very well, and his knowledge of the non-expat frequented neighbourhoods was limited. He knew the major roads but not the back roads to avoid traffic jams. He would often take the long way to get to a destination and made no effort to find shortcuts. He would not tell us when he was lost.
• he could not read maps (another common problem in this country).
• his English was very limited, despite the fact that he had been working for expats for over 10 years.
• what's worse, I did not realize how poor his English was until some problems arose with (mis)communication.
• this was because he would say "OK, no problem" even when he does not understand something. He never checked/confirmed instructions, even when he did not understand them.
• he would never say he was sorry.
• because he lived far away, he would often sleep at our house (in the maid's quarter, which is currently not being used).
• he did not like to work late on weekends.
• he was a different person when he was dealing with men as opposed to women. Even though I was his employer, he had a more deferential attitude towards my husband.
• he was a chain smoker and the car often smelled of cigarette smoke.

Some of the above are cultural. Some are personality conflicts. Maybe some were issues I should have discussed with him before firing him (except, of course, there was the problem of my inability to communicate with him). Perhaps I should have been more tolerant of this person (even though being tolerant of a sexist male is pretty difficult for me, admittedly). But then when I found out that he did something I asked him not to do, and he lied to me about it, then I thought, here's a legitimate reason for me to sack him.

The most difficult thing of all, perhaps, was not the decision to let him go, but HOW to let him go. I wanted to be a good employer so I thought it would be best to give him at least two weeks' notice, and then to explain to him the reasons why I am letting him go. I mean, if I were fired from my job, the first thing I would ask is "why?".

But friends and colleagues advised me that it's best not to tell him the reasons, as he will probably talk back to me and worse, may argue and get upset. The last thing I want, according to them, is an upset/angry Indonesian (see, for example, the unfortunate incident of a Japanese couple, who were long-time residents of Indonesia). It's probably best to give him a simple reason to which he can't refute/argue back (e.g., I found someone who lives closer to me, or I found someone who speaks excellent English) and just let him go like that. Another person said that "he would know why you are firing him" so there is no need to give him the reasons. Also, I should only tell him the day I am going to fire him. Who knows, he may retaliate and our safety may be in danger.

So in the end, I asked my neighbour (a tall man who speaks Indonesian) to translate for me. I told him I was letting him go because I found someone who speaks very good English and communication was very important for me. I thanked him for his services, gave his salary and severance pay, oversaw him packing his things, took the keys to the garage and the car, and made sure that he was out the gate before breathing a sigh of relief. He was surprisingly civil about it, more sad than angry, which made be feel worse. I also gave copies of his identity card to the security guys and made sure that they knew he was no longer working for me.

Before I came to Jakarta, the thought of hiring household staff seemed very foreign, something that totally went against my beliefs. Sure, in France I had a cleaner that came in once a week for 2-3 hours, and a nanny that we shared with another family, to look after our daughter. But a full-time maid? A driver? This sort of thing just seemed such a luxury reserved for the very rich, a bit wrong, even. However, having household staff is a part of everyday life for Indonesians (middle class and up) and foreigners alike--it is not unusualy for families with more than one child often have a cook, maid/cleaner, and nanny. Our maid/nanny--whom we finally found after extensive search--will be coming to work for us from next month. I have also hired a new driver. Perhaps there will be more to come.

I would like to be a good employer to my household staff.

The story of cosmetics: The ugly truth about personal care products

Finally, an up-beat, easy-to-digest, and non-preachy short film about toxic personal care products!



According to the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics,

The Story of Cosmetics, released on July 21, 2010 at storyofcosmetics.org, examines the pervasive use of toxic chemicals in our everyday personal care products, from lipstick to baby shampoo. Produced by Free Range Studios and hosted by Annie Leonard, the 7-minute film reveals the implications for consumer and worker health and the environment, and outlines ways we can move the industry away from hazardous chemicals and towards safer alternatives. The film concludes with a call for viewers to support legislation aimed at ensuring the safety of cosmetics and personal care products.

The main messages of this film are:

• many personal care products have chemicals ingredients that are toxic , including those that are linked to cancer or other problems like learning disabilities and asthma.
• less than 20% of all chemicals in cosmetics have been assessed for safety by the industry’s own safety panel.
• claims made on bottles (such as "organic" "natural") are meaningless (unless they are certified by a third party), as is clear when we actually take a look at all the ingredients listed on a product.
• No governmental entity (in this case, the Food and Drug Administration of the US) is making sure that the stuff in our personal care products is safe; the FDA doesn’t assess the safety of personal care products, nor their ingredients. Instead, it is "self-regulated" by the cosmetics companies themselves.
  

This is pretty depressing. But there are things we can do.

• protect ourselves by identifying the best possible choices in the store;
• take action: demand the government to pass laws/regulations to ensure that our personal care products are safe;
• but most important of all, don't fall into the trap that we must use lots of products (the average woman in the U.S. uses about 12 personal care products containing about 180 chemicals daily, while the average man, about 6 products containing about 85 chemicals) to feel beautiful.
  

I did say that the film is easy to understand, right?

Another thing I really appreciated about this film is that it doesn't take ages to download. Here in Jakarta, where the internet connections aren't top-speed, it can be pretty frustrating to try to watch YouTube and trailers of films.

After discovering this film, I have added The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics to my link list titled "Raising healthy children sustainably" on the right-hand side of this blog.

Tanjung Lesung Sailing Club

ジャカルタに来てから初めての週末旅行は、ジャヴァ島西海岸にある、Tanjung Lesung でした。ここはホテルや別荘などがあるリゾート地で、我々はその中で Sailing Club に泊まることにしました。私がよく参考にしている Family Guide to Jakarta でよいレヴューが書いてあったし、このリゾートのホテルはネットで調べる限りそれほど評判がよくなかったから。

天気にそれほど恵まれなかったけれど、とても楽しく時間が過ごせました。宿泊用のコッテージは、２ベッドルームと１ベッドルーム。値段はエアコンが両方のベッドルームについている２ベッドルーム、１つの部屋にしかついていない２ベッドルーム、そして１ベッドルーム（エアコン無し）の順に高い。今回は１つのエアコン付きの２ベッドルームコッテージにしましたが、１ベッドルームで十分かな、と思いました。夜は風が通って涼しいので、エアコンはいりません。

ペット可で、子供フレンドリーなのもいいです。子供好きなスタッフが娘を面倒みてくれたので、おかげで我々二人でセイリングや海水浴を楽しむことができました。砂浜には珊瑚や貝がたくさんあるので、海に入るまでがちょっと足の裏が痛くなります。また、ちょっと入るととても細かい砂（粘土のよう！）になっています。ここの砂浜で歩くには、かかとがあるビーチサンダルがあった方が便利。あと、蚊取り線香、蚊よけネットと網戸はコッテージにありますが、蚊もすごいので蚊よけも忘れないよう。

オーナーの David さんはアジアに３０年以上住んでいて、１３年前からここに住んでいるそうです。とてもフレンドリーでおしゃべりで、色々なお話をしてくれました。この Sailing Club の施設はシンプルでテレビなどもないので、インドネシア人のお客さんはあまりいないそうです。また、レストランの料理は美味しいのがうれしいです。お勧めは、カラマリ、豆腐のから揚げ野菜詰め、バナナのてんぷら。子供用のメニューのフィッシュフィンガーも美味しかった。 David さんはベジタリアンなのでベジタリアンメニューも豊富でした。冷凍品は一切使っていなく、全て１から作っているようです。

ホームページにはジャカルタから３時間と書いてありましたが、行きも帰りも約４時間半かかりました。高速を Serang で降りてからの約１００キロの一般道が長い。それほど道もよくないし、広くない道にバスやバイクを追い越しながらの道のりは結構大変でした。Sailing Club のメンバーになると、宿泊費や船のレンタル代が安くなります。現在６０人くらいのメンバーがいるそうです。もうちょっと近かったらもっと気軽に行かれるのに。 それでもできれば頻繁に行きたい、weekend getaway です。

ヘルシー・チョイスでのマッサージ

Healthy Choice とは、ジャカルタで唯一の（だと思う）オーガニック専門食品店です。野菜だけでなく果物もあるし（オーガニックの野菜は Food Hall や Hero、Ranch Market, Kem Chicks でも売っていることが多いが、果物はジャカルタであまり見かけない）、肉や魚も売っています（これらは冷凍）。お魚の dory はとても美味しい！お勧めです。

食品店は品揃いが悪い日もあるのが、残念。冷凍の輸入品と国産では値段がかなり違うので、果物・野菜を買うときをは気をつけれなけれべなりません。例えばかぼちゃや玉ねぎ、オーストラリアから輸入しているのは国産物の１０倍くらいします。雑貨もあるのですが、これは行く度に種類も在庫も少なくなっています。以前は Weleda などの化粧品も置いてあったらしいのですが、今はかなりセレクションが限られています。

ベーカリーもお勧めです。特に、ストロベリーチーズケーキはとても美味しい。食パンも何種類かあって、賞味期限間際になると、１つ買うと１つただになるのでお得です（我が家では冷凍してしまい毎朝トーストしているので賞味期限は気にならない）。

レストランはオーガニックの食材を使っていて、料理するのも（有害のガスを出す）テフロンのなべを使わないなど、徹底しているようです。とても美味しい料理を出すレストランなのに、なぜか人が少ないのが気になります。トイレにはオムツ換え台もあるので、便利です。

また、１ヶ月に 1,000,000 IDR (= 9,700 JPY) 以上買い物すると、会員になることができて、10% - 15% 引きで買い物をすることができます。

さて、先日、気になっていた detox centre でマッサージを体験してみました。試したのは、Hot stone massage（90 mins / 200,000 IDR = 1,900 JPY）とてもリラクシングでしたが、強いマッサージが好きな人には物足りないと思いのでは。次回はオーガニックフェイシャルを試してみようと思います。

お店情報：

Healthy Choice Kemang
Jl. Kemang Raya 32,
Jakarta Selatan
(021) 719 8482

食品店：9am-10pm
レストラン：10am-10pm
デトックスセンター：8am-8pm

他にも、ジャカルタ市内に支店はいくつかあるようです。

インドネシアでのスパ体験

スパ経験が手軽にできるインドネシア。私はマッサージやフェイシャルは定期的に受けるようにしています。日ごろのストレス発散にもいいし、なんといっても１時間～２時間、全く「自分だけの時間」が持てるのがとてもうれしい。

実は、生まれて初めてのスパ経験は、インドネシアでした。2003年にバリへ行った際、バリに住んでいる友人に連れて行ってもらいました。とてもシンプルなサロンでマッサージしてもらった後部屋から出てきたら、友人に、「とってもよかったのね、顔を見ればわかるわ」と言われたほど。その後東京・横浜やパリで色々行きましたが、やはりインドネシアの値段にはかないません。値段が１０倍する割には半年に１回くらいは行っていましたけれど。

フランスでお勧めなのはタラソセラピーとハマム。中でも気に入ったのは：

• フランス南部Saint-Jean-de-Luz にある、Helianthal. 以前もタラソをやったことがあるのですが、ここの１日体験コースをしてはじめて、１週間くらいの滞在コースをやってみたいな、と思いました。
• パリにある、O'Kari。いくつかハマムを試した中で、ここが一番。かなりいい値段するのですが、価値はあります。オーナーの女性は若いころ日本人の男性と付き合ったことがあるらしく、とても親切で、セラピストの教育もしっかりしています。
  

さて、ジャカルタに来てからこれまでトライしたのは：

Blossom Nails のフェイシャル・マニキュア・ペディキュア
一度に３人の女性に囲まれ、一人が手を、もう一人が足を、３人目が顔をしてくれました。時間節約にはなったけれど、これだけの人に囲まれると、リラクシングではありませんね。全部で 450,000 IDR (= 4350 JPY) くらいだったと思います。出来具合は悪くなかったですが、指のネイル・ポリッシュはすぐ欠けてしまいました。色のセレクションもあまりなかった。このネイルサロンは、いくつか支店があるようですが、私は Pondok Indah のアパート敷地内にある小さなサロンでやってもらいました。

これから時間が許す限り、体験・情報をアップしていきたいと思います。できるだけエコロジカルな、自然化粧品を使っているスパを探してトライする予定です。

お店情報：

Blossom Nails
Pondok Indah Apartment Golf Clubhouse
Jl Metro Kencana IV
(021) 766-1122/1133 ext 2802

Gorillas and Dharmas

Following my earlier post about raising multilingual child(ren), I am happy to report that in the past few days June's language skills have developed tremendously. English is still a little weak, although she has added another word to her vocabulary ("gorilla"--and yes, Eric Carle's From Head to Toe has been her favourite book for a few weeks now). Words she currently uses most frequently are kore and koko ("this" and "here" in Japanese, respectively) in Japanese, and in French, la (used as "here"). The amount of babbling has increased tremendously, though most of the time it is difficult for us to decipher what she is saying. She is also pointing at everything and asking what it is. Or at least that's what we think she is doing. She also says "caca" a lot, which, although it means "poo" in French, she is using the word to indicate her (wet or dirty) diapers. She also says o (in the "tail" sense, in Japanese) a lot, due to another favourite book of hers, a series of three books with a Dharma doll (だるまさん) as the main character. I am surprised that despite all the talking we do, it's the books that are teaching our daughter vocabulary.

According to some recent studies, the amount of books one has at home is correlated with the years of schooling a child will complete. This finding is not at all surprising, from my point of view--my father's hobby is buying books (but not necessarily always reading them, to the great frustration of my mother). We grew up surrounded by books, and both my brother and I have our PhDs. What's intriguing is that, according to another study quoted in "Book owners have smarter kids",

simply giving low-income children 12 books (of their own choosing) on the first day of summer vacation "may be as effective as summer school" in preventing "summer slide" -- the degree to which lower-income students slip behind their more affluent peers academically every year.

This finding gives us a lot of hope in putting a stop to the vicious cycle that perpetuates poverty--lack of education. At the same time, I cannot help but wonder about the important role of libraries--libraries are an important place where children from lower-income households can access books.

Fortunately (or unfortunately?), I have inherited my father's hobby, and our house is full of books. I do hope that the shelves full of books will have a positive impact on her--we want to encourage June to pursue higher studies, and will certainly give her every opportunity she needs.

An unproud car owner

I am ashamed to publicly announce that I am now the owner of a new car. Well, ashamed is probably not the right word, but I am definitely not proud about it. But I have discovered that living in Jakarta is very difficult without a car, unless you:

• live within walking distance to your office;
• live within walking distance to a shopping centre;
• live within walking distance to your child(ren)'s daycare(s)/school(s);
• are happy taking taxis (inconvenient unless you are going to a major landmark or know exactly where you are going, and have lots of small bills), bajajs (three-wheeled auto-rickshaws: only good if you want to go short distances, willing to bargain, and are happy inhaling exhaust fumes all the way to your destination), buses (usually not recommended due to the time it takes to get you anywhere, plus the high crime rate), or ojeks (motorcycle taxis: considered pretty dangerous unless you are happy to have scratches or worse to your limbs!) to get around the city.
  

So, I have had to throw away my environmental ethics and purchase a car. A new one, even. And it took me ages to get this car.

Basically, what one needs to do is to identify a car dealer, provide 5 million Rp to the dealer so he would start the process of getting the car for you, provide a down payment for the car (more than half the price of the car) and give a copy of your Indonesian ID card so that the dealer can begin the process of getting the legal papers, then as soon as you provide the rest of the funds, you will get the keys to your new car.

Sounds simple, no? Well, deceivingly so. And deceived I was. It took exactly 6 weeks for me to get the keys to my new car, due to a combination of factors:

• negotiating an international transfer of funds from my French bank account to a local bank account of the car dealer;
• trying to transfer funds via the internet and an ATM from my local bank account (which I could not open until I had my Indonesian ID card, which is issued more than one week after the official visa is issued, which takes more than one week after arrival in Indonesia) to that of the car dealer without knowing that one needs to get a "token" (a small device that looks like a calculator) for all internet transactions;
• the car dealer not happy with my Indonesian ID card;
• the car dealer lying about the availability of the colour of the car that I wanted (things may have been quicker had I wanted a black or a silver car, which are the most common colours you would find on the streets of Jakarta);
• the car dealer not being honest about the time it takes to get the legal papers processed.

It was only after I wrote a not very nice letter to the car salesman's boss, that the whole process was speeded up by a couple of days.

Funnily enough, when I complained about this to a colleague who has been living in this country for nearly 10 years, he said, "what, you got a hew car in 1.5 months, that must be a record!" Sigh.

So the lesson to be learned from this is what, exactly? That one needs to write nasty letters to get anything done in this country? No, what I learned from this episode is to be very careful of people's recommendations. Think twice before taking recommendations of someone unless you are sure that you can really trust this person. I made the mistake of going with the car dealer recommended by my office's driver. Who is rumoured to be taking some sort of commission from car dealers.

Next time I act on someone's recommendations, I am going to be just as careful of the person who is recommending something, as much as of the thing/person that's being recommended.

image taken from www.cardekho.com/Toyota/Toyota_Avanza/pictures

Raising multilingual child(ren)

Having grown up bilingual and bicultural, I am quite determined to bring up June multilingual. From even before she was born, I have spoken English to her, while my husband speaks in Japanese. The nanny we had in France was francophone. Since moving to Jakarta, June has been going to a French daycare 3 days a week. In August, when daycare centres and preschools start again, we are planning on putting her in an English-speaking preschool 3 days a week and a French-speaking daycare 2 days a week. We will soon get a nanny, who will probably speak Bahasa Indonesia to her.

According to the Multilingual Children's Association, there are two most common language systems in multilingual families. The language system I grew up with was "Minority Language at Home", where Japanese was the language spoken and used at home. My parents refused to use English with me, even when it was clearly my preferred language; I am glad that they did, though, because I can speak Japanese fluently. With our daughter, we use the "One Person, One Language" system.

In my job, I work with and encounter multilingual people on a day-to-day basis. From my own experience and from observing others, I contend that there is no one who is "perfectly bi(multi)lingual". While it is true that many people are able to speak two or more languages with ease, it is very uncommon to find people who can use--that is, speak as well as write--two or more languages to the same level of sophistication. There are people who can write well, but I have yet to encounter anyone who can write flawlessly and sophisticated in two more languages, especially when it comes to things that are technical/scientific, and/or require a lot of expertise/specialized knowledge. I am not saying this is impossible--but very uncommon.

For me, it is important for June to have very strong English language skills. Sure, she should be able to speak Japanese fluently, so that she is able to communicate with her extended family members. It would also be nice if she could understand the language of her birth place, France. And of course she should learn the language of any country where she be living in--Bahasa Indonesia, for one. But ultimately, I would like for her to have solid English reading/writing skills, which I expect would be important and advantageous for her future.

Considering that in France, June spent most of her waking hours during the week in a French-speaking environment, and since our move to Indonesia, continues to be exposed to French on a regular basis, it is not a surprise to us that the first comprehensible word June uttered (aside from "mama" "papa", etc.) was French. Words she currently regularly uses are: tiens, de l'eau, doudou, dodo. She also speaks"words" that do not really mean anything in any of the three languages she is exposed to, but she has attributed fixed meanings to them. Since our move to Jakarta, I have noticed that June's English language skills are lagging behind--although I know she understands all languages quite well, her level of English comprehension is suffering, probably due to the fact that she is only exposed to it 1-2 hours a day.

It was thus a great joy to hear two days ago the first English word uttered by June: "apple". We probably would not have realized what she was saying, except for the fact that I was peeling an apple when she spoke the word.

I will be working on increasing June's vocabulary!



image taken from www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/HipparchusGraviation.htm

Things I will miss about living in Paris...

It has been more than three weeks since we landed in Jakarta, Indonesia. I hope to be able to continue this blog in one way or another, but for now, we have been way too busy trying to settle in. So far we are merely surviving in this bustling city, not (yet) really enjoying what it has to offer!

I started the below list a while back, but did not have the time to complete it before I left. But I wanted to upload this on my blog, to mark my days in France!

Things I will miss about living in Paris:

• buying freshly-baked, still piping-hot baguettes every evening.
• beautiful cityscape: my favourites are the views of white/grey buildings tinted with pink right before sunset on sunny afternoons, streets lit up with festive decorations during Christmas season, and the Eiffel Tower glittering on the hour.
• well-dressed men and women: I just love seeing bright (yet tasteful) colours on older women, and men sporting fashionable scarves in Paris. It depresses me whenever I see middle-aged or older women who have just let themselves go; they often dress in drab, shapeless clothing.
• flower shops everywhere: it is difficult not to pass a florist while strolling along the streets of Paris. Whether for gifts or to add a splash of colour on a grey day, there are opportunities to buy flowers anywhere in Paris.

Things I will NOT miss about living in Paris/France:

• customer service (or lack thereof): why are people so rude in this country??? In no other country I have lived, does one need to pay to reach customer service of a consumer product! AND being put on hold so long on the phone, when I am paying by the minute to reach someone who could potentially solve my problem!
• dark, dingy, smelly metro system.
• frowns and furrowed eye brows of French people trying to understand my poor French.

To add, after my short time in Jakarta--things I already miss about Paris:

• being able to walk across the street to a bakery.
• being able to walk a few minutes to reach the closest supermarket to buy almost anything I need.
• being able to go for walks in parks that are located all over the place!
• fresh cheese and wine. I haven't had any since we left Paris.
• the great range of organic products that we could purchase, almost anywhere.

blowing up mountains

(photo taken from Orionmagazine.org, no copyright info available)

I laughed for a full minute when I read this header the other day: Science confirms that blowing up mountains harms mountains. Yes, the reason why Grist.org is one of my favourite environmental news sources is because of its sense of humour.

The content, though, is no joke.

According to the blog, scientists have proved that "irreversible environmental impacts" and increased health risks for local residents occur as a result of mountaintop mining. In an article in journal Science, scientists are calling for a stop in issuing of new mountaintop mining permits.

I first learned about mountain-top removal mining in Orion, a magazine I subscribe to. According to the article Moving Mountains, tops of mountains are being blasted away in order to extract coal. Non-coal material that's extracted/blown away, such as forest and soil (including whole ecosystems that inhabit tops of mountains!) are simply dumped into the valleys, burying streams and polluting water sources. This practice also increases the occurance of flooding and mudslides, leaving residents of nearby vulnerable to such "natural" disasters.

Incidentally, I had the opportunity to attend a symposium where one of the co-authors of the article in the journal Science mentioned in the Grist.org blog gave a keynote speech. She was heavily pregnant at the time, and I remember being very pleasantly surprised to see her in the fieldtrip (hiking in a national park in Queensland, Australia) the following day. A true inspiration for me--being pregnant (and having children) does not necessarily need to hinder our professional and personal activities, as well as aspirations! I gave birth to my own daughter June a little over a year after I met this environmental scientist.

As the terrible news of the horrible catastrophe in Haiti floods the media, one cannot help but think, why has the aftermath of the terrible earthquake that hit Haiti on 12 January been as devastating as it has been? Why were there so many deaths--as a result of huge numbers of buildings collapsing, inability of the government to deal with the disaster, already poor people desperate for things to eat?

As was the case after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, it is now, more than ever, necessary to emphasize the social, cultural, and policy-based components that determine the extent of disasters when they strike; natural disasters do not just happen; "socio-natual disaster" are made.

Bébés nageurs

June が７ヶ月になったころから、近くのプールで Bébés nageurs へ通っています。直訳すると「赤ちゃんスイマー」ですが、基本的には、水に慣れさせるための水遊び。お風呂もあまり好きでない June ですが、最近ようやく慣れてきて、水の中で大泣きする回数は減りました。

日本ではオムツが取れないとプールに入れないようですが、フランスでは水中用のオムツが売っています。おしっこは通してしまうようですが、大きいのがもれるのを防ぐようです。

パリでこの Bébés nageurs クラスをいくつかの団体が開催しているようですが、我々が通っているのは、Archimède のです。２人のインストラクター（もう一人、ヘルパーがいます）に対し、４－８グループ（赤ちゃん＋親、両親の場合がほとんど）がいます。プールは３０度前後の温められています。

私は大学卒業するまで競泳をしていいました。June に水泳選手になって欲しいわけではないけれど、水を怖がる子どもにはなって欲しくないと思い、始めました。日曜の朝早く、毎週頑張っています。

ode to my breastpump

You came to my house over a year ago, when I was getting ready to go back to work. You were disguised an a sleek black backpack. Not only did you accompany me on the daily commute on the Paris metro, you even came with me to Turkey and to the US. Yes, two international flights under your belt!

Everyday, you would do your work, 15-20 minutes at a time, sometimes up to three times a day. You worked superbly and efficiently, in my office, at home, and in public toilet stalls. You extracted out of me more than enough for what June needed.

Yes it's true that June did not learn to take the bottle, and much of the milk that you pumped out of my breasts was not consumed by her. However, your played an important role in keeping up my milk supply--and I am eternally grateful to you for that.

I no longer need you, as June is eating enough solids during the day, and now that she is over one year old, she is able to drink cow's milk during the day. The last pumping session was over two months ago, and the last of the frozen milk has now been drunk by June.

Thanks, breastpump. You helped maintain my milk supply , you saved my breasts from engorgement, and you allowed June to take small amounts of milk when I was unable to be with her. I can say with pride that except for the first week of her life in the hospital, June did not have to drink a drop of formula. I have been able to raise her on my breastmilk alone.

Rest your motor in peace.

ステンドグラス 初めての作品

ずいぶん前のことですが、２００９年２月に始めたステンドグラス、５月にようやく終わりました。途中写真を撮らなかったので工程を全て見せることができないのが残念。ガラスを切り終わった後は、やわらかい鉛でできたフレームにガラスをはめていきます。この過程は、どんどん作品ができていくので、とても楽しく早く進むことができました。ここの一番の難関は、「工」の形をしているフレームをきちんと開けて、ガラスを入れること。つなぎめ（フレームとフレーム同士が交差する部分）は特に注意しなければなりません。

右の写真は、この作業に使うツール。
左の写真の真ん中にあるのは、鏡。壁の写真が映ってしまってちょっと見難いですね（ちなみに、壁の写真は全て、このアトリエで作られた作品）。


さて、この作業が終わったら、すべてのつなぎ目をハンダゴテで固定しなければなりません。この工程もかなり大変。「ハンダゴテで作品がきれいになるか醜くなるかが決まる」

と先生に言われ、かなり緊張しました。

これが終わったら、全てをきれいに磨きます。

完了したこの鏡、リビングの窓に飾ることにしました。夕方になると日が入って、とてもきれいです。

さて、次はコーヒーテーブルを作ることにしました。これには曲線もあるので、うまくガラスが切ることができるかが不安です。

あけましておめでとうございます / Happy New Year / Bonne Année 2010

２００９年に釧路湿原でとった、２重の虹です。

２０１０年が皆にとって、よい年になりますように。

This beautiful photo of a double rainbow was taken in Kushiro Wetlands, Hokkaido.

May the year 2010 be filled with happiness, wonder & new discoveries for everyone.