Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

The Last Ski Day

　　Happy time would pass really fast. Today was the last day when we could enjoy our stay in Whistler. Looking back on the past six days, we didn't have even one cloudless day with brilliant sunshine. I'd like to have taken lots of pictures for two couples, Mr. & Mrs. K. and Mr. & Mrs. W., who visited Whistler for the first time, but I couldn't.

　　Today, Mr. & Mrs. W. chose a walk and shopping in the village rather than skiing. Our group leader visited a physical therapist's clinic. Mr. & Mrs. K. and I went up heading to the summit of Blackcomb mountain. I was going to take pictures on the summit, even if we had to wait for the sun's appearance for some time as long as we could put up with the bitterness. When we got to the summit, a strong wind blew a blanket of dense fog and clouds around us and surprisingly we could view the Black Tusk, the most symbolic pinnacle of volcanic rock located in Garibaldi Provincial Park of British Columbia. The goddess of the mountain might smile on us.

　　When we were skiing down the slope and passed under the Peak2Peak gondola, we happened to find that one of the Peak2Peak gondolas has a window in its floor. Height scares me, but I'm a man of curiosity. I tried to get on, and was predictably filled with fear. I just wanted to show the picture to my friends.

(Vocabulary)
blanket  一面に覆うもの [＋blanket of]
a blanket of snow  一面に積もった雪
a blanket of fog   一面の霧
thick/heavy/dense fog  濃霧, 深い霧
pinnacle
《[C]通例単数形で》 (経歴などの) 頂点, 絶頂, 脂の乗りきった時期
reach the pinnacle (of sth)  （＜経歴など＞の）頂点に達する
(建築物の) 小尖塔(せんとう), ピナクル;  (高山の) 峰;  大きくとがった岩
predictably  予想どおり（に）; 予測しえたように, 予想にたがわずに

5th Ski Day, Lunch

　　We brought our lunch up to the mountain today too. That's because most of the menu items in the lodge were too oily for us. To my surprise, my friends grew accustomed to having lunch in the lodges and they used the hot water provided for tea bag users to prepare cup noodles. The instant noodles packed in a cup or pot are called "cup noodles" in Japan, but I don't know what they are called in Canada. Is "cup noodles" the acknowledged name? Anyway, the combination of rice balls, hot noodles and a bottle of domestic beer was perfect.

　　The weather was not so good in the afternoon. We got back soon after lunch and whiled away the early evening. As for me, I rushed to the jacuzzi, which was one of the best amusements.

　　The second picture was of the driver's seat on the shuttle bus. I visited here after a 4 year interval and found that shuttle buses had become very stylish and clean. Judging from the logo, "Fuel Cell", printed on the bus, the buses must be driven by electricity. It will contribute to green action. As for the drivers, I often saw Indian people working. It was the same for taxis. I didn't know why, but the security of Canada is great and they can communicate with English. I wondered whether these ideas might be the reason.

(Vocabulary)
while away sth  ＜時＞をのんびり過ごす
fuel cell:   a piece of equipment that combines two different ELEMENTS, such as OXYGEN and HYDROGEN, to produce electricity in order to supply power to a vehicle or machine

5th Day, Peak2Peak Gondola

　　As you know, Mt. Whistler and Blackcomb were the places for the 2010 Winter Olympics. The Peak2Peak gondola was built for transportation between both mountains. This gondola directly connects busy points on both mountains. Before the construction of the gondola, the skiers had to go back to the base if they wanted to move between the mountains. It was 2008 when I last visited there. I saw a gondola which was placed in front of the lodge.

　　I used the Peak2Peak gondola two days before when it was cloudy and foggy. To tell the truth, it was lucky for me, because I don't like heights. To the contrary, however, it was temporarily clear when we got on it today. I was so scared but I could barely conceal my fear. Look at the picture. All my friends looked happy to be enjoying the magnificent view of the Canadian mountains.

　　I heard that the midway point of the gondola is the highest in the world. When we passed the lowest point, I was going to look at the bottom of the valley between Whistler and Blackcomb mountains even for a few seconds. However, I could only glance at it for a moment. I managed to take snapshots of the gondolas, the valley and Whistler village. Lastly, I'll show you the URL linked to the picture that I took 4 years ago.

http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2008/03/ski-helmet-mar-.html

(Vocabulary)
last [副] この前, 前回に
They last won the trophy in 1992.   彼らが前回優勝したのは1992年だ．

Canadian Medical Service

　　When I arrived at the emergency hospital, her treatment had already finished, but I knew from her what it was like. As many as 7 staff members were involved with her treatment, and their roles were seemingly strictly arranged; some only helped her take her clothes off, some just took her to the consulting room using a wheelchair,,, and so on. How inefficient it was!

　　I wanted to attend to her even in the consulting room, because I was interested in the consultation and treatment in Canada, but she is a woman. I refrained from being there. After the consultation, it was proved to be not serious. I was relieved to hear that.

　　She paid the consultation fee and was told to go to a pharmacy, where she would get some medicine. I accompanied her. She was a wonderful English speaker, but I thought I might be handy knowing more technical terms than her and naturally I wanted to see what things were going on.

　　At the pharmacy, I was surprised to see the pharmacists working slowly. Though no one but her was waiting for the medicine, she had to wait for a small bottle of tablets for more than 30 minutes. When she received the medicine, she was told to go to the physical therapist's clinic to get a knee brace. She was fed up. If the pharmacist had been smart, she could have got it during the time she was waiting for the medicine.

　　To my surprise, the analgesic which was prescribed for her contained a kind of narcotic. In Japan, narcotics are not used against benign pain. It is used for pain from malignant diseases. Additionally she had several bills from the orthopedic surgeon, the pharmacy, the ambulance, the physical therapist's clinic, and so on. What a complexity! Moreover, it was incredibly expensive. It was more than ten times higher than that of Japan. The ambulance fee is free in Japan. I heard that poor people couldn't consult physicians in the States, and I realized firsthand that it was true. Common Japanese people make a contract with a travel insurance company when they go out of Japan. Of course, Ms. O. had a contract and her injury would be fully covered. I learned that such kind of insurance was essential to travel overseas.

　　She started consulting the physical therapist for the last two days in Whistler. When I went out for skiing leaving her alone, I felt sorry, but there was no other way. Looking back a few days ago, the tall foreigner with his crutches waiting for a shuttle bus, whose crutches I was interested in, might be visiting the physical therapist's clinic. Finally, I could see and handle the crutches from Canada, which were produced in China though, and learn how to control the toboggan.

http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2012/03/woodrun-nanami-or-shichimi.html
http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2012/03/rescue-stretcher.html

(Vocabulary)
firsthand (経験・知識が) 実体験に基づいた, じかの; (説明・報告などが) 目撃者［当事者］による
first-hand reports from former prisoners  元捕虜自身による説明

A Tragedy

　　The story started when our leader, Ms. O. dropped her glove from the chairlift, Jersey Cream Express. She had the good grace to give it up and bought a replacement at Glacier Creek Lodge. On the next ride on the same chairlift, however, I found something from the chairlift which looked like her lost glove. I told her that and we decided to recover it, but the point was hard to access. We explored into the bush, but, , , . From now, I'll explain each picture below. The number stands for the order of the pictures.

1. The silhouette which looks like a bear is our leader, Ms. O. We looked for the glove around one of three posts of the chairlift, but in vain. This area wasn't packed and it was really hard to evacuate from. I managed to get out, but she was trapped in some heavy snow that had accumulated the previous night. At that time, she unfortunately twisted her right knee. We called for the rescue team.

2. A lady climbed up to us with her big skis on her shoulder. We were so surprised to see her physical strength because we expected that someone would ski down from uphill to us. Now, at first she positioned her skis with tips up crossing in the snow to show other skiers our existence on the ski slope. Next, she questioned Ms. O. about her ID, her condition and her medical history like drug allergies, and so on. At last, she started digging a grave-sized hole, and I couldn't understand what it was for.

3. Another staff member came to us with a toboggan. They put it in the hole and held it. I finally understood what she did. By the way, when hearrived, he asked her, "Did you hear a pop?" I learned the word "pop" at that time. Japanese has lots of onomatopoeic expressions and it makes it difficult for foreigners to learn Japanese. I knew that "pop" matched lots of Japanese words depicting sound.

4. The right knee of Ms. O. was about to be fixed by a knee brace.

5. Our leader is always really tough and stubborn, but she was silent with her eyes downcast. I deeply realized that she was a woman. (grin) However, she was apparently thinking of her job schedule after coming back to Japan. She wasn't depressed.

6. She was ready to be transferred to the base. Then I found us on the trail of a Black Diamond, called "Blowdown". Black Diamond means the most difficult as I wrote the other day. I wondered how they took her to the ambulance. The answer was simple. They schussed on the BLACK DIAMOND! Wow! Incredible. They seemed to schuss down to come across the Green (the easiest route) and Ms. O. was picked up by a snowmobile, which took her to Olympic Park, where she was put in the ambulance.

(Vocabulary)
odd   《[名]の前でのみ》(靴・ソックス・手袋などが) 片方だけの
odd socks/gloves  左右ばらばらのソックス［手袋］
have the good grace to  潔く～する
pack [他]〈雪・土など〉を押し固める
pack sth down  ＜…＞を押し固める
Pack the soil down firmly.  土をしっかりと押し固めます．
twist [他]〈手首・足首など〉をくじく, ひねる, 捻挫(ねんざ)する
twist your ankle/knee/wrist   足首［ひざ，手首］をくじく
position  (特定の位置に) …を置く, 配置する
Position the cursor before the letter you want to delete. 削除したい文字の前にカーソルを置きます．
position yourself  位置につく, 陣取る
onomatopoeia  擬音（語）, 擬声（語）, オノマトペ
toboggan təˈbɒgən  a light wooden board with a curved front, used for sliding down hills covered in snow
stubborn  負けん気の強い
be silent with one's eyes downcast  シュンとして黙っている
schuss ʃus  直滑降する; 直滑降

(Vocabulary from comments)
sustain 〈損害・損失など〉を被る, 受ける,〈傷害など〉を負う
Two of the firemen sustained serious injuries.  消防士のうち2人が重傷を負った．

Rescue Stretcher

　　Firstly, I don't know the exact name of the stretcher used on the snow. So, the title of this entry might be wrong, but you'll see what I mean. The picture was shot at the upper end point of the chairlift, Jersey Cream Express. I found a stretcher placed near the control room.

　　Long ago, during my student days, I had worked for two days as a temporary staff member of the rescue team on Mt. Daisen. When we transfered an injured person to the base, one snowplow in the front controlled the direction of the stretcher. Two other persons, likewise a snowplow in the rear, prevented a runaway. Therefore, the rescue stretcher of Japan had no steel handle, but the Canadian stretcher had it as you see in the picture. I wondered how they used the stretcher. I wanted to see the scene whereby an injured person was transferred, knowing that it may sound imprudent.

　　Snowplowing is hard work for the legs rather than skiing with the skis parallel, and this ski area is incredibly vast. The rescue personnel must be tough. Even if they were tough, however, it would be a difficult and tricky operation to take a person on the stretcher to the base.

　　To my surprise, 30 minutes later, I came to witness their devoted work. The right person on the chair is our leader and this picture capturing her and the stretcher means something significant, when viewed in hindsight.

(Vocabulary)
snowplow  ボーゲンで滑る；除雪車（機）、（スキーの）全制動
runaway  暴走
whereby  《関係詞として先行詞にかかり，「それにおいて…する…」などの意味となる》
a new system whereby patients pay directly for medical care  患者が医療費を直接支払う新しい制度
knowing that it may sound imprudent  不謹慎かもしれないが
imprudent  (金遣い・決定などについて) 無分別な, 無思慮な, 軽率な
tricky  〈状況・仕事などが〉 面倒な, 扱いにくい
Getting everyone to use the new computer system will be tricky. 全員に新しいコンピュータシステムを使わせるのは面倒なことだ．
when viewed in hindsight  後から考えれば
hindsight /ˈhaɪndsaɪt/  後知恵
in/with hindsight (with the benefit/wisdom of hindsight とも)  今にして思えば, 後になってわかったが, 後の祭りだが

(Vocabulary from comments)
toboggan  təbgən    トボガン (先端を曲げた木製のそり)

Lunch

　　I'll do a piece on lunch at the restaurants in the mountains. I couldn't take pictures of the show windows of the cafeteria, but they served a variety of dishes that were unknown to us. We tended to choose oily, high-caloric or highly-sweetened, what you call western, dishes from curiosity at around the beginning of the stay. The first picture shows the lunch on the first day. I don't remember the name of the dish and the soup. I wore my ski boots and was unstable in walking and I had spilt the soup a little. A bottle on which "Kokanee" is printed is one of the Canadian beers.

　　The second picture shows what they say are Japanese noodles, but I couldn't define its name. My friend said, "The taste was not bad! It's OK." As for me, I ordered consomme beef soup. Some might wonder if that was all? Actually No. We brought rice balls that we prepared this morning as we cooked too much rice the previous night. Now, we had lunch today in Glacier Creek Lodge in Blackcomb. Shortly after we started eating, I found people around us having a quick look at us. I was afraid at first that we weren't allowed to bring food in the lodge, but that was not true.

　　We wrapped rice balls with thin sheets of dried seaweed, which is called "Nori" and is very popular and everyone in Japan knows it. People around us seemingly looked at them as if they were grotesque. (grin)

(Vocabulary)
piece   (新聞・雑誌の) 記事, (テレビ，ラジオの) （1本の）ニュース
write/do a piece (on/about sth)  （＜…＞について）記事を書く
Robert wrote a short piece on the earthquake.  ロバートは地震に関する短い記事を書いた．
highly-sweetened  糖分の多い
from curiosity  物珍しさから
consomme beef soup  ビーフコンソメ
glance at sth/sb  ＜…＞をちらっと見る
glance at よりも have a quick look at のほうが日常よく用いられる
I had a quick look at my watch.  腕時計をちらっと見た．

4th Ski Day

　　The first picture was shot from the terrace of the condominium early in the morning. Our room was situated over the entrance of the condominium and this picture shows the entrance. You see that it's snowing. Snow had already accumulated an inch. The next picture was taken with the shutter kept open for a few seconds. Don't you think it's beautiful or romantic? I love seeing such scenes over a cup of hot chocolate.

　　My condition was perfect due to the rest for a day, but the snow was too much. We were going down on the compacted snow, but lost our way in the heavy fog. I'll explain the sixth picture. The left side of the orange markers was the compacted trail for beginners and intermediates. I was going to lead my friends there, but looking back, there was no one behind me. Additionally I couldn't find our leader who was a good skier. I wondered if she might be ahead of us, but actually she was almost buried halfway down the hill. I really regret that I didn't take a snapshot. The second person from the right was the leader in the last picture.

　　Let me explain the sign of the ski area. All trails or areas are classified into three groups by the challenge level. A green circle means the easiest route. A blue square is likewise intermediate. A black rhomboid (usually called a Black Diamond) stands for the most difficult. We were entering the intermediate level of Jersey Cream Trail just now in the last picture.

(Vocabulary)
compact  …を圧縮する, 固める
compacted  圧縮された, 固められた
intermediate  中級者
challenge level  難易度
rhomboid  長斜方形 (隣り合う辺が平行四辺形の方形); ひし形の, 斜方形の

3rd Ski Day

　　I took a rest for a day to remove the muscle pain. In the morning, I firstly managed to start washing clothes using the electric washing machine and dryer provided with the room. It was rather bigger than the average Japanese machine. Our chef also had some difficulties in using the enormous electric oven the previous night, because he usually uses a gas oven of Japanese average size. However, such difficulties are also lots of fun.

　　At noon, I went out for lunch and a walk. Walking around was really refreshing and must be good for my legs. Not only the crowded village paths, but the forest trails with few walkers were great. Everything unusual to me was really delightful.

　　I enjoyed a hot tub and the swimming pool from about 3 o'clock. As I wrote before, the hot tub and pool were located just in front of the backdoor. I was waiting for my friends there.

　　I forgot to upload the picture of my new boots in the last entry. They fit my feet better than I expected. It was toward the end of the ski season and the shop didn't have a wide selection of boots, but I could buy some desirable ones. I was relieved.

Our Chef

　　Two consecutive days' skiing completely exhausted me. I realized that I lacked physical strength or everyday exercise. The muscular pain in both thighs and calves was serious and made me decide to take a one-day rest on the next day. I bought an analgesic ointment and knee supporters, which I'll show you below.

　　The main dish of dinner was roast chicken. The person who is smiling in the picture is our chef, Mr. W. In everyday life he is an anesthesiologist, but also a skillful cook as well. He was seemingly happy to show his cooking skills to us. I'm not good at cooking and, to tell you the truth, I envied him his cooking skills. It was a great pity that what I could do was only wait for the finish of his preparation over beer.

　　I first met Mr. K and Mrs. K this time, but we hit it off with each other. We drank nice wines until late at night from the Okanagan, on the label of which a beautiful woman's legs were printed, though I don't remember the name of the wine. Our chef's cuisine apparently became an ice-breaker.

　　There are two liquor shops in the village. They sell a wide variety of wines, beers and other alcoholic beverages. I like to drop in on them. Canadian beers and wines are rarely seen in the liquor shops in my hometown.

(Vocabulary)
calf  ふくらはぎ
envy sb sth  ＜人＞の＜…＞をうらやむ
He envied Rosalind her youth and strength.  彼はロザリンドの若さと体力をうらやましく思った．
hit it off  (インフォーマル)  会ってすぐに意気投合する

(Vocabulary from comments)
assuage əswéɪdʒ (フォーマル) 〈苦痛・怒り・心配など〉 を和らげる [同意] relieve
ailment  軽い病気
spirits 《[C]通例複数形で》 蒸留酒 (ウイスキー，ブランデーなど)
to boot  そのうえ, おまけに

2nd Ski Day

　　Do you know what looks like dog dirt? I found it at the meat shop in the IGA on the previous evening. I hadn't seen it before, and I wanted to try it even more. It was a kind of salami and nice. Unknown food is also full of fun.

　　The second picture was shot when we were preparing for skiing behind our condominium. One of the features of this condominium is that the visitors can go out and come back with their skis on from the backdoor. Additionally it was provided with a heated pool and a hot tub. A hot tub after skiing is incomparably comfortable. You can see a small part of a heated pool in the picture. We were going down to the base of Blackcomb and going up by the chairlift.

　　The sun emerged from behind the clouds and we headed for the summit of the Blackcomb area to view the scenery, but when I arrived at the top, a blizzard had started to blow. The third picture shows our get-away from the col, the highest point we could reach by chairlift.

　　The last picture is of me in the 7th Heaven ski area. The upper half of this area has no trees and the lower half is rich in woods. Here is my most favorite area in Blackcomb mountain. By the way, did you notice my new boots? They fit my feet and were really nice.

(Vocabulary)
dirt   (インフォーマル) (犬の) 糞(ふん)
dog dirt  犬の糞

Miserable Boots

　　The ski areas of the Whistler and Blackcomb mountains are  large enough and are seldom crowded. It means that the skiing distance per unit time will increase. There's no comparison between Japanese and Canadian ski areas. After 2 hours of skiing, we took a rest at the biggest lodge in the midst of the skiing slopes.

　　When I took my skis off, I felt something pop, but I didn't mind it at all. I just wanted to take a seat and have a bottle of beer as soon as possible. When I entered the lodge, I surely heard the pop, but I ignored it again, imagining that ice or something attached my boots had fallen off. At the exact moment, however, an uneasy sensation around my right toes occurred. Look at the first picture, and you'll see that the tip of my right boot was blown away. Having examined the opposite boot, I found a crack shown in the second picture. I was so astonished. My friends, including people around us, told me that I would be severely injured if the crack had been made during skiing and in that sense, I was lucky. I realized that.

　　I went down by gondola to the village and bought some new ones. As I walked, the boots fell to pieces and finally they became what appears in the last picture.

(Vocabulary)
there's no comparison   (話)  比べものにならない
pop  ポン［パン，パチッ］と音を立てる
The wood sizzled and popped in the fire.  火の中でまきがシューシュー，パチパチと音を立てた．
uneasy  (人が)不安な, 心配な; 気にかかる, 不自然な

1st Ski Day, Blue Sky

　　I posted the picture shot from the terrace of our condominium at first. The sky was blue, an extremely clear day. We finished breakfast and went out. We could use the backdoor facing the Blackcomb skiing area, but we headed for Whistler village by bus because one of us had to rent a set of skis in the village. Therefore we decided to ski on Whistler mountain.

　　The second picture shows all of us except the person who released the shutter. That person appears in the last picture. He was a really nice guy and we chatted every night over the excessive use of alcohol. I won't write any details about him, but he taught me really good lessons in life.

　　The last picture was shot on the Emerald Trail on Whistler mountain. Finally, the weather during our stay in Whistler was the best today. I regretted that I didn't take more pictures of everything at that time. I mistakenly thought we would have five more days and would be sure to have another chance to take pictures in the sunshine.

　　By the way, take a look at my boots. This picture became the last picture of my boots. The details will be explained in the next entry. Bad news will come up one after another.

(Vocabulary)
release the shutter  （カメラの）シャッターを切る
could use something  (話)  ＜…＞が欲しい, あるとよい
I could use a drink.  飲み物が欲しいなあ．

Sunday

　　After dinner, we dropped in at a supermarket, the IGA, to get daily food and other necessities. Everything in the fridges looked nice and I was obsessed with an appetite to try everything. We got at first something for tomorrow's breakfast. I eat Caesar salad every time in Whistler. The main ingredient of it, romaine lettuce, is rarely seen in my hometown, and so it's much more valuable for us. Of course, I found the lettuce arranged in the vegetable area.

　　I was going to buy several bottles of alcoholic beverages on the way back to our condominium, but it was Sunday. Both liquor shops in the village were closed. Did they go to church? Anyway, I was so disappointed. I should have bought something at the duty free shop at Narita International Airport.

　　While walking, I found a considerably large space, which was formerly a forest, almost untouched. The first picture is of it. Yes, this was the place for the closing ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics. It must have been pomp-filled at the ceremony. Two couples were taking pictures.

　　At the bottom of Whistler, a snowboarders' event was being performed. People were cheering to watch the acrobatic snowboarding. Snowboarders were jumping through a flaming hoop. On the opposite side, I found a nice place for drinking whisky around a fire. Inside the house called the "Irish Pub", a group of artists were playing guitars. Finally, our alcohol for tonight was a 200ml pack of Japanese sake for cooking.

(Vocabulary)
romaine （lettuce）  《植物》ロメイン・レタス
Caesar salad  シーザーサラダ
so much the more  それだけ一層
pomp-filled  華やかさに満ちた
pomp  (フォーマル) (式典などの) 壮麗さ, 華麗さ
pump  ポンプ
cheer 〈聴衆・観客などが〉 歓呼する, 喝采する, 歓声を上げる
jump through flaming hoop  （曲芸などで）火の輪くぐりをする

Olympic Memorial

flaming hoop

Irish Pub

Japanese cooking sake

Woodrun; Nanami or Shichimi?

　　It was the second time that I had stayed here, because I used it 6 yeas ago. At that time I was with my daughters, who were still high school students. Time flies really fast.

　　After we settled in a living room for some time, we went out for dinner. The 3rd picture is the bus stop of the shuttle bus which transported us for free in the village.

　　We came across a young man who was using a pair of crutches. He was rather taller than me. The top of his crutches might be the same level as that of my jaw. I was interested in them; How long could they extend? There were more than 10 notches left. I wanted to handle them, but I refrained from asking him to let me use them. He looked to be in pain. However, my hopes did come true a few days later. Who knows how such things play out. We came across several unpredictable happenings on the trip and these happenings are sure to make you subscribers amused, I believe.

　　At a sushi bar, one of my friends ordered a bowl of Udon noodles. Then, the waiter asked him immediately whether he needed "Nanami" or not, but what's "nanami"? The waiter naturally saw we were Japanese, and he also looked doubtful. Anyway, he brought a small bottle of "Nanami", and it meant "Shichimi". We thought that he had memorized it mistakenly, but he was right as the pictures show below. I don't know yet why "Shichimi" is called "Nanami".

one of washrooms


my room

crutches

menu

Shichimi

Nanami

Whistler

　　There were several taxis aligned on the opposite side of the bus depot. To my surprise, more than 80% of taxis were Prius. I thought that taxi companies had chosen this type from the viewpoint of gas mileage and green action. The view of the alignment of the same kind car of every hue was beautiful.

　　By the way, the condominium we would use this time was the Woodrun located in the upper village of the Blackcomb site. One of the features of the condominiums in this area is the accessibility from the Blackcomb skiing area. It's really convenient for skiers that the backdoor of the condominium  faced the Blackcomb skiing slope, but on the other hand, we had to use the free shuttle bus to move to the village center, for example for shopping. When I was supposing that it would be tough to carry our baggage from the bus stop to the shuttle bus depot and from nearest to the Woodrun bus stop to the Woodrun, our bus abruptly stopped at Creekside, 5 minutes before Whistler, and we were required to get off. The driver started to transfer our baggage from the bus to a small bus and told us that he'd take us to the entrance of Woodrun. The idea was delightful.

　　Our short bus trip was comfortable. I'll show you two pictures shot on the way to Whistler and the scene of changing buses.

(Vocabulary)
green action  環境対策

 

 

Viva Vancouver!

　　I got back to Vancouver after a 4 year interval. I don't know why, but this city always makes me high. Moreover, the sky was clear this time. I had never arrived in Vancouver under the sunshine, always cloudy or raining for the past 20 years. This time, however, I could view the beautiful scenes of nature through the window. The first picture shows the fjord coastline, along the east side of which I moved up to Squamish. The second is of Lighthouse Park, which pokes into Burrard Inlet. The third one takes the silhouette of a Black Tusk? I don't know exactly, but the shape of the highest mountain in the picture seemed like that of a Black Tusk to me. Whatever, anyway, I could enjoy the magnificent view of the Canadian mountains.

　　The last picture was shot at the bus depot outside of the Airport. When I came here last time, I was alone. I was restrained by my tight job schedule and my friends had gone ahead 2 days earlier. That's why I was alone here four years ago. At that time, I felt the urgency to urinate. If in Japan, I would have left my possessions around and gone to a restroom. However, I didn't trust the security of my luggage and had to wait for my luggage to be put into the trunk space of the bus. Finally I could rush to a restroom only several minutes before departure.

(Vocabulary)
Fjord Coastline  フィヨルド海岸
inlet  入り江; (機械内の燃料・空気などの) 注入口
feel the urgency to urinate  急に尿意を催す

 

 

 

Narita Airport

　　I flew into Tokyo International Airport. The sky was blue and the flight was really comfortable. The picture is of the Dreamliner that took me. As soon as I got to the airport, I headed for the bus station. I had to use the bus service to move to Narita International Airport.

　　At Narita, all the six members of this trip got together. They will show up repeatedly in the following entries, and I'm going to call them Mr. and Mrs. K, Mr. and Mrs. W and Ms.O respectively. Ms.O is the group leader of this trip. I had no personal acquaintance with Mr. & Mrs. K, but I felt something unusual toward Mr. K. It proved a few days later that he was a leading figure of a big pharmaceutical company. I'll introduce him later.

　　The check-in counter of Air Canada was heavily crowded. I knew the reason after I checked in. The boarding passes of 3 of 6 members had no seat number. An overbooking seemed to have happened. Eventually, Mr. and Mrs. K got seats in business class. I wanted to see how sumptuous the meals in business class were, but I refrained. I tried to have enough sleep to keep the jet lag away. I was asleep except for mealtimes. The picture show the in-flight dinner and breakfast of Air Canada.

(Vocabulary)
have no personal acquaintance with  ～とは個人的な面識がない
sumptuous  豪華な, ぜいたくな
a sumptuous feast  豪勢なごちそう

 

 

Boeing 787 Dreamliner

　　While having brunch on the observation deck of the airport, I saw a plane slip into the airport. It was that Boeing 787 Dreamliner which was the newest model of a Boeing passenger plane and which had been introduced into All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd., a Japanese Airline Company, firstly in the world. I was to get on that plane. I really wanted to see how it would be inside.

　　I had some background information about the plane, such as that a significant part of it was manufactured by Japanese technology to reduce the weight and fuel consumption. The cabin was designed bigger than ever. I had been shooting pictures until the last minute up to boarding time.

　　The number of seats was eight, i.e. 2, 4 and 2. At the center of the central 4 seats, there was tens of centimeters' width of room. Every seat each had its own display for in-flight entertainment and getting information of various kinds. The ceiling actually seemed to be a little higher. Additionally the washroom was tidy and wide. It was provided with a washlet(R), which has the function of washing around the anus. It was invented by Japanese who obsessively love cleanliness.

　　While thumbing through the in-flight magazine, I found an advertisement about the flight between Tokyo and Frankfurt on this Boeing 787 Dreamliner. It would be comfortable and the flight would leave Tokyo late at night and arrive in Frankfurt in the early morning. It must be convenient. I started thinking of another trip to Europe at that time.

(Vocabulary)
background information  予備知識
obsessively  異常なまでにこだわって, 度を越して
in-flight magazine 　機内誌
in-flight  (食事・映画などが) 機内の, 飛行中の;[C] (飛行機の) 機内誌
in-flight entertainment  機内の娯楽
advertisement  広告, 宣伝
a job advertisement  求人広告

 

Matsuyama Airport

　　I had been bit by bit adapting myself to the western standard time of Canada for 2 weeks. Every time I visited Vancouver, I suffered from severe jet lag and couldn't fully enjoy skiing. That's why I moved my bedtime 3 hours earlier, to be exact, 15 minutes a day. However, my elaborate schedule was crushed by an emergency call on the night of 23rd. It was regrettable, but it's not unusual for a job like mine.

　　I woke up at 3:00 recklessly this morning to diminish the influence of jet lag and repeatedly checked my possessions to carry onto the plane. My baggage, skies and ski boots were sent to Narita International Airport in advance the day before yesterday. After I reached Tokyo International Airport, I had to move to Narita International Airport by bus. I thought it was a waste of time and effort to wait for my luggage to come out of the plane and carry them to Narita with me.

　　I got up so early that I had nothing left to do after a while. My wife and I decided to have brunch at Matsuyama Airport, 10 minutes' drive from my house. I like every kind of moving machine, like planes, vehicles, trains, and so on. To tell the truth, I had a feeling that I couldn't wait. I'll compose my next entry about it. Do you know what it is? I'll show you a picture of my favorite means of transport.

(Vocabulary)
move bedtime a little later　就寝時刻を少し遅くにずらす
bedtime 寝る時間, 就寝時間
It's way past your bedtime!  寝る時間をとっくに過ぎてるよ！
to be exact　正確に言うと