THE HARE WITH AMBER EYES

Edmund de Waal about The Hare with amber eyes, posted with vodpod

Edmund de Waal is the writer of the fascinating book „THE HARE WITH AMBER EYES“

in which tries not only to explain of how the netsukes (very small objects made by Japanese craftsmen) came into the Ephrussi family

but he also writes about the identity of his family, about loss or about  survival of stories.

This is the link to a Hot Potatoes drag & drop exercise which you can correct online.http://www.langedi49.ch/EPHRUSSI.htm

In this video he starts speaking about the netsukes and their story. The object he is holding in his hand is quite heavy, made of ivory,

it’s a well fed or fat hare with self-satisfied amber eyes. It’s from the 1^9th century Japan or Kyoto. This little carving used to be hanging

from a belt.

The writer thinks of going back to when he was 17 years old and when he was being apprenticed as a potter and to the first time he

went off to Japan, to pottery villages and  finally turning up at his great uncle Iggie’s, an elderly Jewish gentleman in Tokyo. There

were books everywhere and there was also a vitrine which lit up and which was full up of  264 ridiculous little netsukes. In the

course of many years Iggie tells Edmund the story  of these tiny things and how they brought him to Tokyo. By the years Edmund

gets more and more involved with Japan.

The Mosquito Coast/Exercises

I’ve read the above mentioned book by Paul Theroux.  and then written the following  summary about it. You can listen to the text which I’ve divided into five parts.

In class we read excerpts of the book and watched the film.

The story which is narrated from the point of view of Charlie, Allie’s oldest son, and which has given me goose pimples, was published in 1981. It starts with father or Allie Fox

complaining about the  rottenness of America. Everything about that country seems to be awful. The Americans are said to just eat junk, sell junk or buy junk and it seems to

be full up of criminal millionaires and the moral sneaks  which seem to include the politicians and the schools. Last but not least there are all the savages who have come to America

to find paradise. While Allie is complaining in this way his is driving with his son Charlie in front of Tiny Polski’s mansion house. Mr Polski is his employer and is in the asparagus

business.

ALLIE/The Mosquito Coast 1

Julia Child/cooking/kitchen+

Due to the fact that Julia really spent a lot of time in her kitchen there are

first of all some questions concerning that room.

Describe the kitchen

1)Where is the window? Is it open or closed?

2)Are there any curtains in the kitchen?

3)How many cupboards can you see?

4)Where is the oven?

5)Is there a microwave? If yes, what’s its colour?

6)Where is coffee maker?

7)Is there a sink in the kitchen?

8)Can you see any drawers?

ANSWERS:

1)yes, closed, 2)yes, there are,3)8,4)yes, it’s between the cupords and it’s black,5)yes, 6)it’s white,7)yes, there is, 8)yes

Click here an you can unjumble a sentence about Julia.Chicken

JULIE & JULIA

I’ve recently seen the movie “Julie & Julia”, which stars Meryl Streep as Julia Child, this famous American lady who fell in love

with the French cuisine and have therefore written a short summary of her life and an multiple choice exercise which you can correct (level approx.B1)

right online. Click here:About Julia Child

Click here and you can watch a video where Julia is explaning a recipe:omelette recipe

Worksheet:Julia Child

Link to my articles about Andreas Caminada, Swiss three star cook Andreas Caminada