Joyce Matzke

A professor once told me that those planning a career could no longer expect to work at the same job for their entire working life. "You must be flexible," he said. Upon completing my MA in Anthropology, I trained to become a Probation Officer in the Canadian province of British Columbia. But after I married and had children, I began doing freelance research evaluating programmes funded by the Attorney General's Department, and Coordinating a study on Foetal Alcohol Syndrome. One study on family violence resulted in the establishment of a womens’ crisis centre. This research allowed me to work mostly at home; that is, if you don't count trips to the Queen Charlotte Islands and the Yukon.

After another stint at Probation, I left to teach English at the Canadian International College in Nelson, British Columbia. In the evenings, I taught Anthropology at Nelson University Centre. When my husband retired and my children left to pursue higher education, he and I moved to Nagano, Japan, where I taught English for four years. 

Upon returning to Canada my husband informed me that I really must do something with the hundreds of used kimonos I had collected. The result was a small business, "Joyce's Kimono Closet," that I currently run out of my home. Before, during, and between the above occupations, it has been my passion to see as much as possible of our wonderful world, while filling journals and albums with memories and trying to figure out what I am going to be when I grow up.

Stories:

The Japanese Nozawa Fire Festival  - Japan has festivals for every conceivable occasion, but one of the most interesting is the Himatsuri, or Fire Festival of Nozawa, held every year in January. Nozawa is a beautiful little mountain town high in the Japanese Alps. It is famous for its beauty, natural hot spring spas, and ski runs... [Visit this Feature]