Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Long-awaited Saddlebag

　　I have been waiting for the delivery of a saddlebag for my bicycle for a couple of months. I bought one before and wrote about it here, but it didn't fit my bicycle. So, I threw it away and ordered a new one. Though I haven't attached it yet to my bicycle, it looks like it will fit well. The bag will help me carry stuff like a spare tube and repair tools.

Bifocals

　　I've never been helped choosing my glasses by others, but a professional stylist and about 30 strangers advised me this time and I took their advice. After the choice of the frames, I had to choose the lenses.
　　When I make a round in the ward, I always feel it inconvenient to write the patient's record into the chart. I have to take my glasses off every time. That is to say, I take off and put on my glasses the same times as the number of inpatients. That's why I chose the bifocal ones which are for far-sight and close-sight. Additionally I bought middle and close-sight ones for desk work. They are very useful for using the PCs.
　　However, the principal factory of the lens company is located in Thailand, which is still suffering from unprecedented flooding across the country. I have to wait for the lenses for 2 weeks. I can't wait. I didn't even imagine that I was affected by Thailand's flood.
　　As soon as they are delivered, I'll post the pictures of them here. The size of the lenses is considerably smaller than that of the ones which I use now. The arms of the frames are also elaborately designed . These glasses might make me look more intelligent. (grin)

(Vocabulary)
bifocal  （眼鏡が）遠近両用の
bifocals  《複数扱い》遠近両用めがね

With Style

　　I hardly care about how I look since my younger days. I don't bother to wear nice-looking clothes either. Even while commuting, it doesn't apparently look like I present a doctor-like appearance. I just change clothes for work in my office. It has been enough for my daily life, but my daughters came to ask me to wear something dressy as they grew up. My youngest one bought me a scent for preventing body odor of older people. They seem to want me to become a dandy.
　　In the mean time, an acquaintance who is what you call a big shot and runs a glasses shop chain, invited me to a private meeting with a noted fashion designer who helps in the choice of glasses for lots of celebrities like a former soccer player, Hidetoshi Nakata, the Kabuki actor, Sakata Tojuro and so on. A few dozen clients had an opportunity to know how to choose their best-fit glasses from her. After her short lecture, she said "May I choose your glasses?", but no one raised his hand with hesitation. So, she abruptly called on me for a kind of a model and showed people some pairs of glasses using my face as a specimen. Most people were surprised to see the change of my appearance with the glasses. Finally I decided to buy a pair following her advice because I had just been thinking about the purchase of new glasses. To be continued...

(Vocabulary)
with style  おしゃれに, さっそうと
style  [U] 風格, 品格
Her husband always dresses with style and flair. 彼女のだんなさんはいつもおしゃれであか抜けた格好をしている．
You may not like her, but she certainly has style.  あなたは彼女のことを気に入らないかもしれないけど，品がある人なのは確かだよ．
body odor of old people  加齢臭
call on sb 〈教師が〉＜生徒＞を指名する, 当てる

German Test

　　There are various officially managed language tests for the public to encourage people to acquire languages of their choice. Some goal-oriented people take the tests and aim for the higher level step by step. I am one of those people and I underwent the German test today for the 4th grade. The language skill levels are roughly categorized into 5 levels. The 5th grade is the beginner's level and as the number diminishes, the difficulty level soars.
　　Just after the test, I'm convinced of the success of the test. On the way back I dropped in at a bookstore and bought the books in the picture below. They are  Korean and German textbooks. I'm going to challenge the Korean 3rd grade, one level higher than I am now, in April and also German next fall.

(Vocabulary)
of one's choice  自分で選んだ、自分の好みの［好き勝手で］、自ら求めて
school of one's choice  志望校

State Guests from Bhutan

　　The King of Bhutan and his newly wedded wife visited Japan and left for their country today after a week's stay. During the stay, the media followed them and published in a careful manner what they did in every single place which they dropped in at; the tsunami-hit and devastated areas, the busiest street in Tokyo, historical temples, art factories, traditional gardens in Kyoto and even a tiny primary school in the area worst affected by the earthquake. To start with the conclusion, I was really moved to see how they behaved. I felt their sincere sympathy for us. I'm grateful for their visit.
　　By the way, he made a speech in parliament in front of the Congressmen in English. I was listening to his words live. Also in this speech, I felt his genuine concern for us from his words. Then, I remembered Wen Jiabao's speech given in parliament a few years ago. It was done in Chinese and I couldn't understand it at all. However, according to the story I heard later, he intentionally skipped several sentences, because the Chinese media was shooting videos of his speech at that time. That is to say, his speech must have been different from the draft which was submitted to the Japanese government. I felt his country's dishonesty.
　　Anyway, Bhutan was noted on my list of vacation destinations.

(Vocabulary)
state guest / state visitor  国賓
Kingdom of Bhutan  ブータン王国
genuine concern  心から心配すること
Wen Jiabao  温家宝
a vacation/tourist destination   休暇［旅行者］の目的地

Cleaning Up Reservoir

　　I wrote about my membership of Matsuyama Chuo Lions Club before, which was established a half century ago to serve people in Matsuyama city. After I joined it last year, I have often taken part in various voluntary activities. In this entry, I'll relate one of them.
　　I live in Matsuyama City and half its water supply is dependent on the Ishitegawa reservoir and another half is obtained from underground water. The authorities have recruited volunteer workers once a year for cleaning the water intake. My club has been joining this event for more than 10 years and I attended the event for the first time.
　　The number of volunteers was far beyond my expectation and there were about 700. We got together and listened to the briefing about the cleaning. My club members were manned at the 200-meter long section of the river which flowed into the reservoir. At the briefing, I knew that the water of my house was supplied from the reservoir, not from underground water. This fact made me more serious about cleaning the river.
　　In Japan, all TV broadcasting systems were changed from analogue to digital last July. The city authorities were afraid that lots of TV sets might be discarded illegally in remote areas. However, no TV set was found in the area in which 700 people cleaned up. I was proud of that.

(Vocabulary)
membership [U] 会員であること, 会員の資格[地位]
What is the cost of membership?  会員になるにはいくらかかりますか．