Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Surprise Party

     The weather is cloudy and sometimes snowing. Though we went up to the top of Blackcomb Mountain, we couldn't enjoy a panoramic view of the mountains. However, the snow conditions were wonderful. It must have snowed last night and today is the birthday of my youngest daughter. I and my buddies had a surprise party for her.

 

First Ski Day

     It's fine weather. I'm lucky. I went up Whistler mountain with my buddies, my daughters, and a video camera. I could take beautiful movies and enjoy the comfortable atmosphere to my heart's content. However, my jet lag is serious. I fell down twice on an easy course. Something is wrong with me.

     The photo was taken at the top of Whistler Mountain.

Sushi Bar

     Just after getting on the bus, I fell deeply asleep like in a coma. I found myself at Creekside just before getting to Whistler. I'd like to have enjoyed seeing out of the window, but I couldn't. I knew that I was seriously suffering from jet lag. Anyway I could see my ski buddies and my daughters. Tonight's dinner was sushi. Sushi is very popular for Japanese but Canadian sushi is good too. Vancouver is famous for good sea food.  Can you imagine what's a caterpillar roll or spider roll? Of course both were so delicious. This time, I made a big mistake. I left my dictionary in Japan. I'm going to correct this blog after returning to Japan.

     The photo shows caterpillar rolls.

 

Back in Vancouver

     I'm back in Vancouver. I had jet lag trouble, but enjoyed the beautiful scenery of Vancouver Island and a ferry in Horseshoe Bay. My group, except me, are already in Whistler. They chartered a minivan this time, but I have got to go there alone due to my work. I'm waiting for the bus now.

Kansai International Airport(KIX)

     I'm in KIX for the first time in five years. I flew to Hokkaido last time with my motorcycle. There are several new things. Firstly, there are many Korean characters. I'm not sure, but that feeling of mine might be because I'm learning Korean. Japanese, Korean, English, and Chinese are on most information boards. I'm trying to add all of those Korean words into my vocabulary. It seems that Korea has become closer to Japan. The second is internet accessibility. I can access the internet freely. Incredible! I can access any information freely with my cellphone, M1000.

Prep Done

     I just finished all of the prep now at 1 o'clock after midnight.  I have to get on the plane at 8:15 in the morning and have to be in the Airport at least by 7:30.

Arrested?

     I got an e-mail from my youngest daughter in Canada. She writes that one of her group was kept under restraint by police at immigration. She was allegedly considered to be bringing drugs into Canada.  A drug detecting dog caught the smell of drugs from her backpack. She seemed to be questioned for about one hour. After one hour's investigation she was released. She had brought rice balls and soft-boiled eggs in her backpack. The drug detecting dog seemed to point out the smell of it.
     By the way, how did my youngest daughter feel about this incident? She loves dogs and wants to become a vet in the future. She wrote to me, "Dogs are great!" I shared laugh with my wife.

Winter Is Over

     I changed the tires of my minivan today. I removed tires for snow and fitted tires for summer. Yes, the ski season is over in Matsuyama city. But, there's lots of snow in Whistler. I'll fly to Canada the day after tomorrow. I usually clean up my skis and ski boots to put them into the storeage room when I change the tires every year. However, this year is unusual. I packed my skis and poles into my ski-bag. My heart is already in Canada.

Depature

     Two of my daughters left for Canada this morning. The one has been in Vancouver once 10 years ago. The other left for Vancouver for the first time in two years. I and my wife saw them to the airport. They will get together with my friends at Kansai International Airport in Osaka and then fly to Vancouver. I felt a little anxiety about their trip without their parents. To tell the truth, I reluctantly agreed to their trip. The proverb says "If you love your child, send him out on a journey". I'll obey this proverb this time.

 

English

     I'll be in an English environment in a few days. I feel I can't wait. I'm so happy. I'm going to try to talk a lot with native English speakers. I know my ability is not enough to enjoy chatting with native speakers because I don't have enough knowledge about reduced English or colloquial English. I am struggling to know how to use simple words, for example; "get", "come", "go", "hold", "put", "take","look",,,and so on. I'm going to try to use simple words.

Rental Cell Phone

     I rented a cellphone for communicating with my daughters who are going to visit Canada this weekend. I don't know the details about the roaming service of cellphones abroad. Anyway, it is very convenient. I can talk to them anytime, besides sending and receiving e-mails. Moreover the phone number and mail address are the same as those of the phone which one of my daughter is using in Japan.

So Many Visitors

     I cleaned my house today because 14 friends of my eldest daughter will come to my house and stay the night. They are members of the karuta club, "Tohdai karuta kai". They will attend the annual competition held here in Matsuyama city the next day.
The basic idea of any karuta game is to be able to quickly determine which card, out of an array of cards, is required and then to grab the card before it is grabbed by an opponent.
Anyway, I have many things to do. I must rent futons. A futon is a type of mattress that makes up a Japanese bed. I must order sushi. I have to buy beer and some drinks.

Raping Incident

     I was on night duty last night and came across a deadly reality. Two ladies visited my hospital accompanied by policemen. The policemen wanted us to swab the secretory fluid of the vagina. It was out of my major. Because there was no woman doctor in our hospital, I advised him to take them to the higher emergency hospital. The ladies seemed to be poisoned from some tranquilizers in beer, taken in the hotel room. However their memory was fractional and inaccurate. They found themselves almost naked in the parking lot of a 24-hour convenience store. They were enticed to go to a karaoke bar by two men who they didn't know. Of course it's their fault that they joined the duo after midnight.
     This sets me thinking because Matsuyama city has been a secure city. Such a crime never happened before. Why did the security of this city get bad? Anyway, I hope the criminals will soon be captured and punished with life sentences or a long-time in prison.

Rechargeable Battery

     I have a plan to go to Vancouver at the end of this month for the first time in two years. I've been excited recently. I'm getting pleasure out of the preparations. However, I have only one concern for the trip. It's how to access the internet.
     As a result of mature reflection, I decided to use a cellular phone M1000, a product of Motorola, which can access the internet over phone lines and public wireless LAN. Though I thought it would be perfect a new problem occurred. It's a shortage of batteries. I'm going to post messages and pictures on this blog or some other places on the internet on the way to Whistler. You know, the battery of an M1000 won't be enough. I know I should have a backup battery for the M1000, but I don't need it in daily life, and moreover it's expensive.
     The other day I found the solution. The photo shows the multipurpose backup battery. I can use this as a backup battery for 2 kinds of digital camera, a cellular phone (M1000), a walkie-talkie,,,and so on. I'm very glad to find it.

(Vocabulary)
mature reflection  熟考

Ski

     I took 2 of my three daughters to the nearest piste today. The youngest daughter is better at skiing than the eldest. She skied in Whistler 2 years ago. The eldest one skied today for the first time in 6 years. I'm going to take the eldest one to Whistler this month, so I asked the youngest one to teach the eldest how to ski. I was wondering if my eldest daughter could enjoy skiing in Whistler. To my delight that concern proved unfounded. My eldest daughter was not so bad at skiing. Something obtained in childhood didn't disappear.

Korean Road Map

     I met a Korean student today.
(See http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2006/01/korean.html)
I practised saying numbers in Korean as promptly as possible after seeing random numbers written on a card. There are 2 ways of saying numbers in the Korean language as well as many liaisons. It's not so easy for me for now.
     By the way, she presented me with a road map of Korea. Of course it's printed in Korean and not Japanese words. I don't have enough vocabulary now, but I can read it by following it with my finger. It's wonderful. Though only 2 years ago the Korean alphabet (hangul characters) meant nothing to me, now I have just started to understand the culture of our neighbor, Korea. I think the way of thinking is alike between Korea and Japan.

 

The Philippines

    The state of affairs in the Philippines has been unstable these days though I don't know the origin of this chaos. The Philippines was the first foreign country that I visited in my life. I entered the country in 1986, just after the People's Power movement, which bore fruit in the ouster of Marcos in February 1986.
     I was a resident in a big hospital group at that time. My boss was a friend of President Corazon Aquino, and he wanted to build a general hospital in the Philippines. I visited the Philippines with 500 co-workers to demonstrate our human resources. One of our purposes was to attend the mass for Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, the husband of President Aquino.
     By courtesy of President Aquino, we could stay at the Puerto Azul Beach Resort which used to be Marcos's private facility. I could also see the Malacanang Palace. I was surprised to know the daily life of the absolute ruler. At the same time I got into cabbagetown in Manila. I was surprised again to see the people's poor life there. I learned so many things from this trip.
     I hope the present insurgency will soon be settled.

Walking

      I enjoyed my long-awaited day off today. I walked my dog with my youngest daughter in the afternoon. My house is located in the west of Matsuyama city and in a quiet neighborhood. Taking a walk is a really relaxing hobby.

Bowling Meeting

     My hospital is a member of the Matsuyama city Medical Association(MMA). Today the annual bowling meeting, hosted by the MMA, was held. Of course I attended. After the bowling, my boss treated all of us to a barbecue. It was a fantastic time. I got the 2nd prize (55th in all hospitals) in my hospital. I think it was pure luck. I'm afraid I could be in bed for lumber pain or shoulder pain tomorrow morning. I tried to shoot a group photo just after the barbecue but I found the battery of my camera was dead. I won a prize as below.

Sewage Leakage

     At 5 o'clock this evening, water burst out from the ceiling of the 2nd floor. I was seeing o.p.d. patients on the 1st floor at that time. I hurried to the 2nd floor to rescue the patients on the 2nd floor. Fortunately the leakage occurred in only the corridor, and every room was intact. Patients placed in this ward are in a vegetative state, so they didn't worry about it. At that time a plummer was fixing a clogged waste pipe on the 3rd floor. Most people, including me, thought that it was due to the decrepid water pipe which he was fixing, but in fact it was not because of a water supply pipe but a burst sewage pipe!
     The photo shows my co-worker, a neurosurgeon, and a clerk walking in the aisle with an umbrella. They didn't know that the raindrops were dripping sewage.