Monthly Archives: December 2021

The Christmas Doll

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Rosemary

Funny, just when I thought I had nothing to post, I turned my head and saw Rosemary sitting in the corner of my study, my ‘walkie talkie’ doll from childhood. I met Rosemary on a Christmas morning when I was six years old. My sister also received a doll, but there was something different about our parcels. Mine had a note pinned on. It read something like this. “Dear Vivienne, I have an apology, but on the way over one of my reindeer stood on your dolly, and now its ‘Mama’ doesn’t work. I know your parents will have it fixed as soon as they can. My best wishes, Father Christmas.” My reaction?

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A very short Christmas message and a weird photograph.

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Christmas wishes from me

We are in the unique position here in New Zealand of Christmas arriving a day before many other countries in the world. Tomorrow will be Christmas Eve here, and it will be a busy day, so today is my chosen day to forward my good wishes to you all, as I haven’t managed to write the post I had intended. I found this photo of myself, decorated as a Christmas ‘something’. It was taken while I was in Japan, by my lovely arty friend who made these wonderful adornments / ornaments. I remember sending the photo to my daughter who was living in New York at the time. I’m sure she laughed a lot when she saw it, because I certainly did when I viewed the image again the other day. What was I thinking??

To all you lovely WordPress bloggers, and friends. I would like to wish you the very best for the end of a year that has been pretty chaotic for so many. May you enjoy family, friends and good company this Christmas.

Vivienne Lingard.

New Year Usa, Japan 2002

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I met Mutsuko in Nakatsu. She wasn’t part of the art group I wrote about in my last post, but she was an artist all the same. She was years younger than me but we connected right from the start through our love of travel and art. Her family home was in Usa, just a few kilometres from Nakatsu, and I visited often. Mutsuko was a teacher of English, but loved teaching me Japanese. Our classes were weekly, but often shorter than planned as she liked to show me the sights in her wee Toyota. I was introduced to her family, as well as the Sagara family whose girls she taught. And when my husband came to visit, he got to meet them all too. It truly was a special time.

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Back to Japan: Nakatsu 2001

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Yep, this is me, new to Nakatsu

I first lived in Nakatsu, in Kyushu Japan, arriving in August 2001. It was a freezing day when I left New Zealand and a sweltering one when I touched down in Japan. On the train down from Osaka, sweat pooled in my boots, after I’d removed my woollen socks to supposedly help cool me down. I was met off the train and taken to my apartment, a short walk away. Everything was close in this old castle town. Some might have called it ‘sleepy’, but I found it a perfect place for finding friends and cycling around.

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