Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

White Beer

　　Do you know white beer? I didn't know about it. The picture is of the white beer (Weissbier in German). In the same way as there is white and red wine, does beer have such a kind? This beer was also from my second daughter. It seems to be made from wheat. I drank it last February, but I saw it on a German educational TV program. That's why I posted the picture.

(Vocabulary from comments)
fond
《[名]の前不可》
be fond of sb; grow fond of sb; be fond of (doing) sth
be not very/overly fond of something  ＜…＞があまり好きではない
《[名]の前でのみ》 (言葉・表情などが) 愛情のこもった, 優しい
a fond farewell  愛情のこもった別れの言葉 = affectionate
《[名]の前でのみ》 (人が) 優しい, 情愛の深い
[成句]
a fond hope/belief(フォーマル)  (非現実的な) 甘い望み［考え］
in the fond hope/belief that  …という甘い望み［考え］を抱いて
fond memories  懐かしい思い出
be fond of doing sth  ＜…＞ばかりしている
He is very fond of giving out advice. 彼は人に意見ばかりしている．

(Vocabulary from comments 2)
be staffed by sb〈組織・部署は〉＜人＞がスタッフである
The store is staffed by volunteers. その店のスタッフはボランティアだ．
hiatus (交渉・仕事などの) 中断, 休止
on hiatus (米) 中断して =break

Father's Day

　　A brown paper parcel arrived by special delivery. The content is shown below in the picture. It was a nice bag and a present for me from my second daughter. I didn't know why, but after a while, I found that today was Father's Day, the third Sunday of June. The bag was very handy and I liked it.

Train Operating Qualification

　　The picture was shot in the commuting car at about 6:50 am. There were seven personnel of the railroad company in the car. I asked one of them, who looked like a leader, "Is this a kind of test for the operator?", and my speculation was right. These four staff members in the picture were checking the way the operator controlled the car. One was watching the panel of the operating board all the way. Another checked the position of the car at every stop and recited it like "plus 30cm or minus 20cm". I found it very strict. If the operator passed the test, he'd apparently be allowed to operate the car alone. What was the result?

Sake Lovers' Meeting

　　My Lions Club sometimes holds unique parties. Today's was the gathering for the members who love Japanese sake. The owner of a long-established sake brewery belongs to my club and he offered his best products and other company's sake were also served. I enjoyed chatting with friends over a variety of wonderful sake, though I got rather drunk.

(Vocabulary)
established shop / long-established business  老舗

Comfortable Commute

　　Today was really nice weather and I left for work a little earlier on my scooter. I pulled over on the way and had a coffee break for some time. Half of my commuting route is along the seaside. In the picture below, you can't see, but there were several people on the wave-dissipating blocks just below the road, fishing.

(Vocabulary)
breakwater   a wall built out into the sea to protect the shore from the force of the waves
dissipate [他] …を散らす, 消散させる

Astronomy Boom

　　One of the most popular topics at present in Japan would be about an annular solar eclipse which was seen on May 21st. While lots of new and fickle astronomy fans had emerged, ophthalmologists warned the public not to look at the sun with the unaided eye. Teachers of compulsory education urged their pupils to use eclipse glasses when observing the annular eclipse. Sunglasses were of no use for the protection of eyes in this case. Also on June 6th, we could see a wonderful planet show, Venus passing in front of the sun in the daytime. A significant number of children would fantasize their space trip.
　　By the way, I read some bad news from a medical journal. A group of researchers who work on the influence of weightlessness on the human body announced that a long stay in space might cause retinal problems and they might confine human activity in space to a far smaller extent than we expected. The atrophy of muscles is well known as one of the side effects of a long stay in space, but this is avoidable by frequent muscle training. However, I think the degeneration of retina would be inevitable. I gazed at these astronomical spectacles, thinking about such unfavorable circumstances.

(Vocabulary)
eclipse [C] 食, 日食, 月食
an eclipse of the sun/moon  日食［月食］
a total/partial eclipse  皆既食/部分食
annular (solar) eclipse  金環日食
new and fickle astronomy fan  にわか天文ファン
fickle 〈人が〉 気まぐれな, 移り気な, 飽きっぽい
unaided  助けを借りない
with the unaided eye　肉眼で
astronomical spectacle　天文ショー
unfavorable circumstances  望ましくない状況