Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Alsace Wine Street

　　Alsace Province is located on the western border of France and noted as the production area for vintage wines. A road that runs north and south through the area along the Rhine river is called Alsace Wine Street. We set out for Riquewihr that lies about midway on the Alsace Street. To tell the truth, I wanted to see the scenery of the street last autumn, but I couldn't because of the last-minute cancellation of the sightseeing bus. So, the offer from Mr. D was really great. Pictures were taken through the windshield. Almost all of the things in the pictures are grape vines or terraces of vines. It was a magnificent view under the warm sunshine.
　　I almost forgot. I bought 10 bottles of jam in Colmar for my family and friends, which are shown in the last picture. I didn't know about them at that time, but Mr. D advised me to get them. This jam seemed to be famous world-wide. They were fine flavored and wonderful. I'd never eaten such tasty jam.

(Vocabulary)

vintage   (ワインが) 当たり年の, 極上の

north and south　〔日本語と語順が逆〕南北に

midway 中間点

windshield　《車》〈米〉フロントガラス

grape vine / vine ブドウの木

terraces of vines ブドウの木の段々畑

I almost forgot. 忘れるところだった。

 

 

 

Wandering in Colmar 2

　　Meandering steps took us to a bridge. It was the scene that I had remembered. I'd seen it in the travel guide last summer when I was preparing for the trip to Alsace, though I couldn't visit Colmar at that time. Mr. D took the first picture for us. Colmar is often referred to as "Petite Venice". Venice is of course one of the cities in Italy that was known as the lagoon city. I'll show you some pictures of canals.

(Vocabulary)

meander (川・道などが)曲がりくねっている, 蛇行している

meander through/along sth ＜…＞の中を［に沿って］曲がりくねって流れる

meander around/through sth ＜場所＞をぶらぶら歩き回る［歩いて通る］

Meandering steps took us to the beach.　ブラブラ歩いているうちに浜辺へ出た。

the lagoon city of Venice 水の都ベニス

lagoon  潟(かた), 礁湖(しょうこ);  (大きな湖・川へ通じる) 小さな池

海の一部が、砂洲などによって外海と遮断されてできた湖沼。多くは1カ所から数カ所の口があり外海と水が出入する。塩分は海水に近いか汽水。遠浅の海岸にできやすい。潟湖（せきこ）。

Wandering in Colmar 1

　　We enjoyed wandering in Colmar. As you can see by the pictures below, where we were was sometimes like the bottom of valleys, and I was afraid that my data logger (GPS) wouldn't be able to catch the waves from the satellites. I'm going to show you our journey later, but the data might have errors. However, what a beautiful wonderland it was! It was a kind of make-believe world. I thought that this village must have been usually crowded, but it was Holy Friday when we visited there. It might have been lucky. We could walk around freely. I didn't prepare for sightseeing in Colmar, but I realized in Japan that we took enough walks around the main tourist attractions after checking the travel guide and the pictures that I took in Colmar. We were in Alsace province in France, but what do you think of the houses in the last picture? I felt as if we were in Germany.

(Vocabulary)

error 誤差

make-believe  空想, まねごと（遊び） [形]空想の（中の）, 作り事の

a tourist attraction   観光名所

French Bread

　　Once I entered Franch territory, I was urged to try genuine French bread. Luckily, a bakery was open and we had a bite there. The taste was really nice. When I got my bread, I talked in English. Yuri and Mr. D were chatting with a young girl at the counter in German. She looked more fluent in German than in English. According to what I heard later, the French kids in Alsace province seemed to learn German and French in compulsory education. I wished that I could talk in many languages.

(Vocabulary)

genuine/ real 本場の

Colmar

　　Our car went through the deserted forest for some time and we hardly saw any oncoming cars. I recalled that today was Holy Friday. People might stay in their houses. I was afraid that all the shops and restaurants might be closed in Colmar, and my bad feeling finally turned out to be right. Lots of shops were closed and there were few people. However, one thing I could do was stop anywhere to take pictures as long as I liked. Because we seldom saw tourists, I wasn't urged to move on. Holy Friday wasn't always a bad thing for tourists. If you are Japanese, you'd know the movie, Howl's Moving Castle. The town where the main character lives in the movie is described to look like Colmar. This town was really beautiful. The last picture was of the sightseeing bus? or train? and shows the driver for want of passengers.

(Vocabulary)

car coming from the opposite direction/ oncoming car 対向車

bad feeling 悪い予感

turn out to be right 的中する

be not always a bad thing  必ずしも悪いことばかりではない

to look like Colmar  コルマールをモチーフにして

for want of occupation  手持ち無沙汰な

Neuf-Brisach

　　The road veered to the right fifteen minutes after our entry into France. At that time, Mr. D told us to look to the right side and a town surrounded by historic ramparts jumped to my eyes. This town was called Neuf-Brisach and is one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites. He continued to tell us that the street was not so special so let's go straight to Colmar. I felt like stepping onto the walls, but followed his advice. After coming back to Japan, I was surprised to examine this town and its history. This town used to be a fortified town built by a French king, Louis XIV. The shape of it really resembles a Japanese historic fort, Goryokaku. I'll show you pictures of both sites from Japanese and French Wikipedias. Additionally, I didn't know that the designer of Goryokaku was born in Ehime prefecture. It's the same as me! I was also born and grew up in Ehime prefecture. He learned the western art of warfare and built the first western style ramparts in Japan. I was excited to find the similarity of both sites. What do you think of it?

(Vocabulary)

veer  (急に) 向きを変える, 曲がる

rampart  《[C]通例複数形で》城壁, 塁壁

jump to the eye 目に飛び込んでくる

UNESCO's World Heritage ユネスコの世界遺産

fortified 〈都市などが〉要塞(ようさい)化された, 防備を固めた

Historic Fortified Town 歴史的要塞都市

fort  砦(とりで), 要塞

the art of warfare/ war 兵法

Autobahn

　　Our car headed toward the southwest for a short time on the Autobahn. It was my first time to drive on the Autobahn. The toll was free, and the vehicles around us were speeding at the speed of 160km/h or more. It really surprised me. I'll make up the map of our journey today and post it here later. It will be fun for you.

　　Mr. D told us that the autobahn originally had no speed limit, but in the area we were at that time, the speed was limited  to 120 km/h. However, most cars were speeding and it was just like in Japan. I found a Mercedes towing two motorcycles. Were they going to take the motorcycles to a certain distant place and enjoy riding around the place? I began to feel like riding a motorcycle not only in Germany, but in Europe.

　　Before long, our car exited from the autobahn and crossed the Rhine. It was France. At the French side of the bridge, there was an open space. There used to be a check point for passports. When I visited Strasbourg via Kehl last autumn, I had seen the same scene through the window of my bus.

　　The next picture is of a motorcycle shop. The main brand that the shop handled looked like Kawasaki, one of the Japanese manufacturers, judging from the signboard. I was surprised at the fact that there was a Kawasaki motorcycle shop in such a rural village in France, a few kilometers from the border.

　　I was disgusted by lots of unkind things that French people said to me last autumn and I had made up my mind not to visit France again at that time. However, contrary to my belief, I stepped into France again. Let's see how it goes.

(Vocabulary)

toll  (公共サービスの) 使用料, (道路・橋などの) 通行料

highway tolls 　高速道路の通行料

speed along/down sth 〈車などが〉 ＜道路など＞を疾走する

speed sb/sth to/toward sth  ＜…＞を＜…＞へ急いで連れて行く

pay no respect to the speed limit  制限速度を守らない

speed 《[自]通例進行形で》 スピード違反をする

before long  やがて

Rhine ライン川

disgust〈人〉に嫌悪［反感］を抱かせる, をうんざりさせる, むかつかせる

unkind  不親切な, 意地の悪い, 薄情な

contrary ＜印象など＞とは反対に

contrary to popular belief/opinion  世間一般の考えとは反対に

Audi

　　An Audi came to pick us up in front of the dormitory. The driver was Mr. D. His car was nice and sporty. As soon as he stopped his car, we got in the car and started out. The first picture is of a filling station which we dropped in at. I had felt that the prices of commodities in Freiburg were lower in general than those of Japan, but the gasoline was more expensive. According to him, the gasoline was much more expensive in France and he filled the tank in Freiburg.

　　Next, we were shown the soccer stadium. I'll post the picture of the stadium. The electiric power for the maintenance work of the stadium was provided from sunshine via the solar power panel on the roof. We got some detailed stories about the stadium and were surprised to know of how the lawn was grown. The stadium skillfully takes in fresh air and sunshine, and keeps it warm for the lawn. I was impressed with, what you call the ecological city, Freiburg.

(Vocabulary)

filling station / gas station〈米〉 ガソリンスタンド

prices of commodities 　物価

grow [他]〈植物・作物など〉を育てる, 栽培する

My mom used to grow roses. 母は昔バラを栽培していた．

Holy Friday

　　April 2nd was Holy Friday and lots of shops and restaurants were closed in Europe. I couldn't prepare anything for Yuri today, so Mr. D was kind enough to take us out for a drive to Colmar in the Alsace Province of France. He had a nice car. To tell the truth, we couldn't visit this rural town last autumn and it was a great disappointment for us. I didn't bring the guidebook of France this time, but I remembered the outline of Alsace. I asked him to also take us to Riquewihr and Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg in Alsace. He had never been there, but the navigation system of the car showed us the way to the destination.

　　The first picture is of the electric kettle which came with the room. I was surprised at how soon the water boiled and recalled that the voltage was 200 volts, double what it is in ordinary Japanese houses. I wouldn't have minded that until then, because my gadgets such as the PC, the cellular phone and electric shaver were adapted for 100 and 200 volts. Anyway, the power of 200 volts was wonderful. Yuri will get accustomed to 200 volts, and will feel it's inconvenient back in Japan.

　　The second picture is of her dormitory. It was really nice, and I a little envied her opportunity to live in Germany in her youth.

(Vocabulary)

voltage  電圧

 

Acquaintances

　　After our lunch of awful sushi, we headed for Freiburg University to see some acquaintances. They advised Yuri to stay in Freiburg for some time to learn German and showed us some language schools, Freiburg University and a comfortable dormitory, where she would live from now. If I hadn't known them, she wouldn't have come to Freiburg. We saw them for the first time in a half year, and she was introduced to a postgraduate student who could speak German and Japanese. He would be helpful for her. I thought she was really happy, surrounded by nice people in Freiburg too.
The pictures are of the lobby and the kitchen of the guest room.

Dry Sushi

　　We got back to downtown Freiburg and went to the huge shopping center that I wrote about in the former entry. Yuri didn't have a desk lamp and we looked for one, but in vain. We couldn't find what we needed, but found packs of assorted sushi there and tasted them. They were incredibly bad. The rice was dry and I could see the air space between the grains of rice. I couldn't believe it. The title has the Japanese words like Edogawa, Arakawa and Bento, and it meant that Japanese had something to do with them. German people might have thought that this was  sushi, but if so, I'm very sorry. I wish they could eat sushi in Japan or Vancouver. Sushi is really nice there.

(Vocabulary)

desk lamp / desk light  電気スタンド

grain of rice 米粒

Memorandum

　　Every time I go on a trip, I bring a small notebook for memoranda. The detailed schedule of the trip is written in it in advance. Everything, such as what I thought or noticed during the trip, prices of things, addresses and telephone numbers are noted down. Additionally, I use my digital camera as a kind of pad. This picture was taken to remember the name and spelling of the site. It's the signboard of the bus stop in front of the valley station of the ropeway.

(Vocabulary)

in advance  前もって

note sth down  ＜…＞を書き留める, メモする

Schwarzwald or Weißwald ?

　　What I wanted to do in Schauinsland, which lies at an altitude of 1284 meters in the midst of Schwarzwald, was to get a wide view of Schwarzwald. However, it was not Schwarzwald (Black Forest) but Weißwald (white forest). (grin) The first picture shows Oberried district from the top of the hill. It was a snow world. What I wanted next was to visit a kind of museum about the lead mine. You can see the name of the museum, "Museums-Bergwerk" on the second line on the signboard in the next picture. We had to walk 500 meters in the snow, but visited the museum. The third picture is probably of the entrance. I went into it, but a security officer found us and told us that the museum was closed now. The last picture was just when I came out. My glasses were misted by the wet air in the cave.

(Vocabulary)

mist over [up]  （水蒸気によってガラスやメガネなどの表面が）曇る

Schauinslandbahn

　　We got off the bus to climb up to Schauinsland on the way to Horben. You can use the ropeway that is called the Schauinslandbahn to Schauinsland in the midst of Schwarzwald. I'll show you pictures taken from our gondola.

　　You can see Talstation (the Valley Station) in the first picture. There are some inns around the station. In winter, many skiers would stay here. In the next picture, you can see four areas. Did you notice the unseasonable soft frost? It was such cold and non-seasonal weather in the upper area, but you can also see a peaceful village surrounded by green. This village is Horben. I wish I could stay here for some time and do nothing special. It must be great for relaxing. Additionally, you'll see the built-up area, and this is the center of Freiburg city. Lastly, there are mountains far off in the distance. These mountains belong to France. This area is called Alsace, where there are the small villages of Colmar and Riquewihr which we couldn't visit last time.

　　When I was flying to Frankfurt, I checked through the travel guidebook and found this ropeway on the map. After arriving at the dormitory, my room was equipped with internet access and I looked for details about this ropeway. I knew of Schauinsland by this means. I'm going to write about Schauinsland in the next entry.

(Vocabulary)

non-seasonal weather 季節外れの天気

out-of-season / unseasonable / untimely  季節外れの

untimely  (formal) (時期的に) 早すぎる, （予定より）早まった

somebody's untimely death/demise ＜人＞の早すぎる死, 早死に

frost 霜 =rime [U](文学的) 

soft frost  樹氷

built-up area / urban area/district/zone 市街地

built-up   建物が立ち並んだ

a mile off / far off in the distance / far off / way off ずっと遠くに

Alsace 〔フランスの地名〕アルザス

by this means / in this way このようにして

At Günterstal

　　The first picture shows the crossroads which we call "the corner of NORDSEE". You can see a statue in the center of the crossroads and it seemed to be of a person who saved Freiburg, I don't remember exactly. Anyway, we got on a tram and went to Güenterstal district. This area was located in the south of the city, and I wanted to wander in the village. The second picture is one of the pictures that was taken near the last stop of the tram. This scenery was typical of Germany. After 20 minutes' walking around, we got on a bus. This bus would climb up to the Horben area on a hill and I really wanted to see the area, but we got off on the way to climb up to the second highest mountain in the black forest (Schwarzwald).

(Vocabulary)

be typical of  いかにも～らしい