Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Against Thieves

　　Japan is known as one of the secure countries, but the security is getting worse even in my hometown. Fortunately, my family hasn't suffered any damage, but you never forget to lock the door.

　　My scooter is equipped with some special gadgets such as a navigation system and an electronic toll collection system (ETC). I'm sure to remove the navigation computer from the scooter when I leave the scooter. As for the ETC, I conceal it in the back of the front panel so that no one knows the scooter has the kit.

• (Vocabulary)
  
• electronic toll collection (system) ; ETC　ノンストップ自動料金支払いシステム、道路通行料自動徴収システム

 

Not Borrow But Buy Books

　　This is the word of Mr. Shoichi Watanabe whom I respect for his integrity and intelligence. Reading books is one of my hobbies and I have read considerably more books than ordinary Japanese people have done. Reading various books would help, I think, widen the view of each person. It is preferable, but it has two problems. One is that it requires a lot of money, and the other is that it requires a large store space. The panacea is to utilize the municipal library. I have frequently dropped in at the library on my commute. However, I wanted to keep good books in my hand. I decided to make a room into a private library in my house. At first I set up a sturdy set of shelves as you can see in the picture. I think that it's common to be put along the wall, but I placed it so I could walk around it like in a library. Numerous books are being published in Japan now. I should borrow books in the library firstly, and if the book was good, I'd make it a rule to buy it after examining the contents. And good books would gradually occupy my library. I can read those books again whenever I like. I should arrange good books on the shelves that my grandsons and granddaughters could read in the not too distant future.

(Vocabulary)

widen one's view  視野を広げる

panacea  万能の解決策

sturdy  丈夫な, 頑丈な

Egg Vending Machine

　　I dropped in at a bakery shop that was referred to as the best bakery shop around me. The French bread of the bakery sounded like very nice. I lost no time going there. I brought back some famous jam from Alsace in France, and wanted to eat them with real French bread. As a result, the combination of both was wonderful.
　　By the way, I found a vending machine that sold eggs. There are lots of vending machines in Japan, but I saw the egg-selling machine for the first time. I didn't buy anything, but I'll try to use it next time. As for the automatic vending machines, there are so many in Japan, but I don't remember seeing them in Germany during my one week stay. The number of automatic vending machines in Japan tells us how secure Japanese society is, I believe.
　　Additionally, there are lots of unmanned and non-mechanical vendors in Japan. Foreign tourists who find them are sure to take pictures. Then, all of them wonder if the commerce is really possible.

See also;

http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2009/11/conscience-stall-.html

http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2007/09/mini-touring.html

(Vocabulary)
go straight to / lose no time (in) doing  早速～する
call in (英）立ち寄る
as a result その結果、、
remember doing sth ＜…＞したことを覚えている
He didn't even remember getting home.  彼は家に帰ったことすら覚えていなかった．
unmanned (乗り物・駅などが)無人の
commerce  商業, 商取引

Kyoto 2

　　On the second day of the meeting, I visited Nijojo Castle. One of my brothers, who is an orthopedic surgeon, had lived near there while he had been attending a school that is referred to as "yobiko" in Japanese. Yobiko is a special preparatory school that students who have failed university entrance examinations often attend to prepare for the following year's exams. My brother was struggling to pass the entrance exam of the medical school living near the castle away from home. I recalled those days and visited the castle. This story is 30 years ago, but nothing had changed in Nijojo.
　　This castle is known as the site where the last tycoon, Yoshinobu Tokugawa, had made up his mind to put an end to the Edo Era. This decision leads to the bloodless restoration of Imperial power in 1868. This castle may as well be called the starting point of modern Japan.
　　My brother used to pass by in front of this castle every day on his way to and from yobiko. This castle might be the turning point of his life too.
　　The first picture is of the garden of the castle and it was really beautiful. The second one is of the Shinkansen Express Train. I got on the Shinkansen for the first time in 10 years. It was a totally nice and relaxing time.
　　I used what you call German Shinkansen, ICE this spring and I felt that it was comfortable and just like Japanese Shinkansen at that time, but I was wrong. The Shinkansen was far above the ICE.

(Vocabulary)
preparatory 《[名]の前でのみ》 準備の, 進学準備の
restoration / restoration of Imperial power in 1868 明治維新
on the [one's] way to and from school  学校の行き帰りに
as well ～もまた

Kyoto

　　Kyoto is obviously one of the world renowned cities in Japan. Numerous tourists gather there every year to feel the solemnity of history. This city might be the most popular city among foreign tourists in Japan.
　　By the way, the annual meeting of the Japanese Respiratory Society was held in Kyoto and I attended it. The main purpose was to refresh my knowledge about the state-of-the-art medical science. The medical technology as well as lots of other fields is fast-evolving, so I must learn them, all the while I work as a surgeon.
　　Another purpose was to see old friends who also joined the meeting. We escaped the meeting a few hours early and took a walk around the area where we had walked during college days. The pictures are the garden of Giouji Temple and Katsuragawa River. Both are located in the Arashiyama area of Kyoto.
(Vocabulary)

obviously 言うまでもなく

solemnity [U] 厳粛さ, 荘厳さ

state-of-the-art  最新鋭の

fast-evolving 日進月歩の

all the while  (接続詞的に) …する間ずっと, (副詞的に) その間ずっと

cutting-edge 〈研究・芸術などが〉最先端［最前線］の

Travel Notes

　　After coming back from Germany, I've been writing travel notes under the pressure of the piled work that I had left for a week and also under the influence of jet lag. Some of my friends think it's too much trouble to keep record of my travels. I think so, but these notes remind me of the details of the travels even long afterward. It's fun to write entries and show pictures to my friends and relatives.

(Vocabulary)

trouble [U] 面倒, 手間, 骨折り

「手数がかかって面倒だ」の意味でtroublesomeは不可．too much troubleを用いる

Some people find it too much trouble (×troublesome) to separate out different types of waste.

種類の異なるごみを分別するのは面倒だと思う人もいる．

afterward あとで、その後

soon/shortly afterward  その後間もなく

Severe Jet Lag

　　I've suffered from jet lag for about one week, and now finally I feel better. When I got back eastward from Germany last autumn, I had jet lag too. The jet lag that I had on my eastward flight was always worse than that of the westward flight from Canada. The time difference between Vancouver and Japan is 7 hours and it's the same as between Germany and Japan. The direction of the flights would have more effect on how serious the jet lag is than the net time difference.

　　I have thought above about jet lag. Then, comparing the flight from Japan to Canada with that from Germany to Japan, both flights are eastward and the condition is just the same, but my jet lag gets better in a day in Canada. It is very curious.

　　I found a clue to this question today. What I usually do on my arrival day in Canada is take a walk in Whistler village, and I get a lot of ultraviolet light from the sky and snow. However in Japan, I have to work under fluorescent lights all day from my arrival day. Having more sunshine might work for the recovery from jet lag.

　　When I got back to my office a week ago, a huge amount of work was waiting for me and both the work and jet lag annoyed me. Now, I could go through it successfully, and am going to start writing my blog again about the trip to Germany.

Frankfurt Airport

　　I had a concern about Frankfurt Airport since my last trip to Germany. I couldn't get souvenirs after the embarkation procedure on the last trip because the duty-free shops were closed due to the renovaton of the airport. The massive renovations were still under way this time, and I couldn't find any good items for my family again. I'd like to show you what the airport was like and took pictures for you. The first picture was taken just while I was waiting for boarding. You should know that the space I was in was make-shift. Most passengers couldn't sit down and had to look up if they wanted to watch the T.V. As you can imagine from the high number of the boarding gate, B60, my gate was far away from the center of the airport and moreover I had to take a bus to reach my plane. I turned on my data logger just before the departure of my bus to know where we were heading for later. The last picture is of the breakfast I had just before my arrival in Japan.
　　I felt that the bus moved a considerable distance, but it was only a small part of the runway judging from the following map. I realized the vastness of the airport was to be expected as it's one of the three biggest airports in Europe.

http://kumo.typepad.jp/Euro10/Frankfurt_Airport.html

(Vocabulary)
embarkation procedure  出国手続き
make-shift  間に合わせの, 仮の

 

Pfand

　　I had reserved the Sheraton Hotel at Frankfurt Airport for the previous night of my departure. This hotel was very convenient and I used it again. I checked into the hotel at 3 o'clock and went out for a walk in the airport. The renovations were still underway. I bought some beers and drinks at a stall in the airport and got them back to my hotel, because such items were usually a higher price in the hotel. On that night, I found the word "Pfand" on my receipt as I am showing you in the picture. Pfand means the guarantee money and I took the empty bottles back to the same stall the next morning and successfully got payed back a small amount of money. This would be the German or European way of recycling. I wondered if they would do the same thing without any refund.

Yufka

　　The last meal in Freiburg was Yufka, the Turkish flatbread. Meat and a few kinds of vegetables were enveloped in this flatbread. It was nice and was my favorite. Additionally, there was a chinese fast food shop next to this Yufka shop, and the owner looked relaxed. I felt like trying the Chinese fast food in Germany, and ordered the dish on the first line of the menu that I showed you in the last picture. It was also nice. Suppe stands for soup. The dish was noodle soup with vegetables.

 

Leave

　　Yuri was living in her room designated by the dormitory after arriving in Freiburg, and I was staying in its guest room. When we were in Japan, we were living away from each other, so I had nothing special to say, but today was the last day for me to spend in Freiburg. I felt a little lonely and was afraid that she might have some difficulties from then, but I had to leave her alone in Freiburg. I took a walk around her dormitory in the early morning to see her living arrangements. The first picture shows her dormitory, which was beautiful by the lawn in the bright natural light. Next, I found a graveyard near her dormitory. Most Japanese tombstones are uniform and off-the-shelf, but what do you think of these tombstones and the flowerbeds in front of each tombstone. I prefer the German style tombs to our traditional type ones.
　　When I got back to the dormitory, a yellow bicycle was parked at the entrance. It was for the delivery of letters. A small box attached to the rear frame might have been the battery. I was interested in the tough stand. How does it work when its running? Doesn't it hamper making turns?
　　The last picture is of the Freiburg station. When I came here for the first time, I was literally a mere stranger and felt uneasy, but this time I was at home.
(Vocabulary)
arrangements 《[C]通例複数形で》 仕組み, やり方, システム
living arrangements  生活（様式）, 暮らし（方）
sleeping arrangements  (宿泊時の) 部屋割り
security arrangements  安全［防犯］システム
seating arrangements   座席の配列［配置］
ticky-tacky  画一的な；〈建物などが〉 安っぽい, 安普請の
off-the-shelf 画一的な；　できあいで, 既製（品）で
uniform 〈外見・性質などが〉 同一の, 均一［均質］の
flowerbed  花壇

 

 

 

Alsace Driving Route

http://kumo.typepad.jp/Euro10/Alsace2010.html 

Return Journey

　　We left the castle and headed for Freiburg. I took pictures from inside the car. The Black Forest that had been far away from Haut-Koenigsbourg Castle was coming up. The sign says "41 km left to Freiburg" in the picture. I found a cluster of motorcycle freaks on the roadside. I wished that I could have ridden a motorcycle there. We crossed the river Rhine and entered Freiburg city. The Black Forest was looming in front of us.

(Vocabulary)
come up  ぐんぐん迫ってくる
loom 《常に＋[副]/[前]》 大きく（威圧的に）現れる, そびえ立つ; 〈問題・困難などが〉 迫っている, すぐそこに待ち受けている
War was looming. 戦争が差し迫っていた．

Inside the Castle 3

　　We climbed up inside the castle and looked out from the window. The first picture shows the scenery at that time. The view from the castle was wonderful, but I guessed how hard people had worked to carry the necessities of life up there. They must have utilized horses, donkeys and/or something like that.
　　I took a picture of the wall of the castle from one of the windows. Can you imagine where we were? We ascended up to the higher level of the castle. The next picture is of us in a storage room, where old weapons were exhibited. You can see an old cannon behind us. The next picture shows the base of the castle. It was built on a big rock. The last picture is of an emblem that was attached to the wall over the entrance, which was a deer. It must have been a kind of god to the people who lived in the castle.

(Vocabulary from comments)
test  評価［判断］基準
Profits are the ultimate test of a company's success.  利益は企業の成功度を示す最も重要な判断基準だ．
intrusive  立ち入った, でしゃばりな

Inside the Castle 2

　　If you saw such a castle in a movie like the Indiana Jones series, you'd expect a scene of sorcery, such as a sorcerer praying in front of a victim. While I was thinking such a thing, I found the skull of a deer hanging from the chandelier. I was surprised and felt sick. I saw lots of deer antlers too. The deer might have been a guardian angel for the owner of the castle.

(Vocabulary)

sorcery  (悪霊の力を借りる) 魔法, 妖術(ようじゅつ)

sorcerer (悪霊の力を借りる) （男の）魔法使い, 妖術(ようじゅつ)師

chandelier  シャンデリア

antler 枝角(えだづの)

guardian angel（人と土地を守ってくれると信じられている）守り神

Inside the Castle 1

　　Inside the Castle was really fantastic. I had a strange feeling as if I had gotten lost in another time era. The Castle was for battles, the government and the king's daily life. There were some kitchens, the king's living room, a brilliant conference room, a few wells, a few water storage tanks, storage facilities for food, weapons, a panoply of armor, and so on. All of those were interesting to me. I'll show you the entrance and the backdoor of the Castle. The first four pictures are of the entrance, and the last are the backdoor. The entrance is so narrow that lots of people can't enter the castle together. A portcullis flipped up when the Castle was attacked. On the inside, a device of the same sort existed. The heavy barricade flipped down to shut the entrance door. The backdoor was likewise. I imagined that Indiana Jones passed through them at the last moment.

(Vocabulary)

get lost in another time era 別の時代に迷い込む

panoply 《常に単数形で》

(フォーマル) (多種多様な人・物の) 勢ぞろい

(儀式・式典などにおける) 見事な装い［装飾］

armor  甲冑(かっちゅう), よろいかぶと

portcullis  (城砦(じょうさい)の) 鉄製落とし格子, つるし門

flip up/down/open  パタンと上がる［下がる，開く］(自他）

of the same sort 同様の

Haut-Koenigsbourg Castle

　　Our next destination was Haut-Koenigsbourg Castle, 20 minutes north from Riquewihr. I didn't expect much from this castle because it was not so famous as Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany. However, as you can see in the next entry, this castle was a really castle-like castle. It had the smell of a medieval king's life. Mr. D had visited Neuschwanstein Castle before, and he told us that Neuschwanstein Castle was nice outside, but inside there wasn't anything interesting. Haut-Koenigsbourg Castle was literally just like coming out of the medieval world. The first picture was shot in front of the castle toward Germany. You can see the Black Forest in the distance. The second one was taken just before entering the castle.

Pearl of Alsace

　　"Pearl of Alsace" is another name for Riquewihr. This village was so beautiful that it had been given this name. We used the sightseeing train-like vehicle to climb up the hill looking down on the village. I'll show you the pictures of the bus and the scenery from the hill. Riquewihr looked like it was embedded in the vineyards of Alsace when I saw it from the slope of the hill. You can also see snow on the top of the mountain in the distance in the picture. It is Schauinsland, where we had been the previous day. You know, we could see the Black Forest across the Rhine river.

 

Lunch

　　Have you seen the dish in the first picture? It was escargot. I saw it for the first time. The plate is called escargotiere in French and is specially made for cooking escargot. As for the French dishes, foie gras and escargot are famous as unique cooking ingredients. I have wanted to try them for a long time and I ate escargot in a small restaurant in Riquewihr. It was just like scallops or clams and tasted good. Escargot is called snail in English. I had thought any escargot was all right for cooking as long as it was snails, but my idea was completely wrong. Edible snails are limited to two kinds and snails that grew up in vineyards are said to be best for cooking. I was in the midst of a vineyard at that time, and it meant that I was in a desirable location.
　　The last picture is of the main dish. I felt that it was really roughly made. Various kinds of meat were just put on a fistful of Sauerkraut in an offhand manner. I like Germany, but I'm not fond of this German traditional dish. It was totally at the other end of the spectrum of Japanese traditional dishes. If German people visited Japan and had an opportunity to see our traditional food, they would be surprised about the subtle work of cooks.

(Vocabulary)

escargot〈フランス語〉エスカルゴ

escargotiere〈フランス語〉エスカルゴ皿

foie gras〈フランス語〉〔ガチョウの肝臓〕フォアグラ

cooking ingredient 食材

scallop  ホタテガイ

clam 食用二枚貝

vineyard (ワイン製造のための) ブドウ園

snail [C] カタツムリ

edible  食用になる, 食べられる

desirable (フォーマル) 望ましい, 好ましい

Sauerkraut ザウアークラウト(塩漬けキャベツ)

in an offhand manner 無造作に

offhand 《[名]の前でのみ》 うっかりした, 思いつきの; そっけない, ぶっきらぼうな

It was only an offhand remark. それは単なる失言だった．

at the other end of the spectrum その対極にある

spectrum　《[C]通例単数形で》 (変動の) 範囲, 幅

a broad/wide spectrum (of something)  （＜…＞の）広い範囲

a wide spectrum of opinion 広範囲にわたる意見

subtle 巧みな, 手の込んだ; 繊細な

 

Riquewihr

　　I arrived at Riquewihr and found a big vacant parking lot outside the wall. If today wasn't Holy Friday, there would have been many buses and cars in the parking lot. Riquewihr was a really tiny village, and the village would have been packed like sardines when the parking lot overflowed. Inside the wall was another world that was different from the real world where we live.

(Vocabulary)

be packed like sardines  すし詰め状態である