Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Martin's Bräu

　　The title of this entry is the name of the drinking spot to which we were invited by people in Freiburg. I enjoyed chatting over genuine German dishes and BEERS! As you see in the pictures, a variety of sausages, cheese and potato dishes, all of which were my favorite, were served on the tables. I had a really good time there. To my single regret, however, I sat on a remote seat from the aisle and couldn't freely wander in the bar to say "hello" to every person from Freiburg. Anyway, I'll show you some pictures taken here.
　　One of the pictures shows that our leader was giving an interview to the TV media crew who had been accompanying us from Matsuyama. Just after the interview, I told them to join the party, but they seemed to have other work to be done promptly. According to my wife's e-mail, things about our tour were aired in Matsuyama, though I didn't appear on the screen. Their work must be the transmitting of the motion pictures to their company, EAT.
　　By the way, did you notice that the beer appears cloudy? It was the white beer which I wrote about this (link) and wanted to drink again. I heard it was brewed with a large proportion of wheat in addition to malted barley. I didn't remember clearly about this party. :-)

(Vocabulary)
malt 〈大麦など〉をモルト［麦芽］にする

Wandering in the Old City

　　We separated from the Matsuyama municipal group and moved to the district called the old city by street car. The first picture was shot in the car. In the center is my daughter and the right-hand lady is our tour guide who accompanied us during our whole trip. I have made several trips outside Japan, but it was the first time to be accompanied by such a professional tour guide. I have hired some guides where I visited before, but no one has followed me all the way from Japan. To tell the truth, I didn't know what she would do for us during the trip. I'm going to write about her in entries about Italy, but anyway, it was easygoing to spend every day with her. I didn't need to bother with meals to eat, places to go, when and where I should be. My daughter had lived in Freiburg for a year to learn German and German culture, so she looked so happy to see old friends and acquaintances.
　　After an hour's wandering in the old streets, we dropped in at an art gallery where lots of Ukiyo-e, Japanese woodblock prints and pictures of the floating world, were displayed. Champagne and nibbles were offered there by courtesy of members of the Freiburg-Matsuyama Association. We were really grateful for their hospitality and kindness. Some of the members of the association will come to my hometown next spring. I wondered what I could do for them for some time.

(Vocabulary)
(by) courtesy of sb/sth  ＜人・組織など＞の好意によって, 無償提供で
Everyone on the flight was put up in a local hotel courtesy of the airline. 乗客は全員，航空会社の負担で現地のホテルに宿泊した．

 

Japanese Garden

　　We visited the Japanese Garden next after 10 minutes' walk from the ökostation through the park of late autumn. I'll show you several pictures below. The first one is the entrance of the garden. You'll see the flags of both cities of Freiburg and Matsuyama. Additionally, there was the logo of Matsuyama City on the ground. I was grateful for a favor from citizens of Freiburg. The entrance closely resembled the gates of Matsuyama Castle. Just after stepping in the garden, I found the stone monument on which "肝胆相照" in Tokio Nakamura's original handwriting was carved. For your information, he was the mayor of Matsuyama City when the sister city treaty was signed 25 years ago. If this Japanese phrase could be translated literally into English, let each other see to the liver and gallbladder. That is to say, say what you think without pulling your punches and be good friends. I admired that he chose this phrase as the words on the monument which stood there.
　　The present mayor of Matsuyama City was formerly a popular announcer of the local broadcasting company. He was well known and some people wanted to take pictures with him. I don't have permission to upload pictures from them, but it would be no problem. The last picture shows me and my daughter. Do you see that I wore a blue pin to express my opposition to the kidnapping by DPRK (North Korea)?

(Vocabulary)
in sb's original handwriting （人）の直筆の
original 《[名]の前でのみ》自筆の, 原画の, 真作の
not pull any punches (informal)  (反対・非難などで) 手かげんしない, 遠慮せずに述べる

Ökostation

　　After lunch, we moved to Freiburg in a hurry. We, the citizens' group, were scheduled to join another group at a municipal facility called Ökostation and learn what the ecological education was like in Freiburg. The train track along the road on the way to Freiburg seemed to be built with immense labor and I could take a picture of the railroad bridge through the window, which looked so old. I'm an enthusiastic railroad fan.
　　By the way, I had a question about this train track and the road on which we were then. I wondered about the same question four years ago. I asked the translator about it. His answer was simple and totally acceptable. My question was why this route, both the railroad track and the road, were poor in their transportation ability. I knew the road lead to Munich. I thought it should be wider and less winding to carry more freight and people. Why wasn't the autobahn constructed through the Black Forest? The answer: the war or regional conflict had been taken into consideration. German people feared that the troops could invade from the east. So, the capacity of transportation in the east-west direction is far worse than in the north-south direction.
　　One of the pictures shows my daughter, who is a good German speaker, giving an interview from the local media in the main building of Ökostation.

Route Map

(Vocabulary)
give an interview (to sb/sth) （＜…＞の）インタビューに応じる

Titisee, the Lake Resort in Southern Germany

　　After we left the monastery fairly later than our schedule, someone shouted for joy at finding an interesting truck outside the monastery. It was a garbage collector. I had seen a similar one in Prince Edward Island, but most people were staring at the truck working for some time. The driver would be surprised to see us admire it with delight. Just the tour guide and the translator were feeling pressed from the delay of the schedule. We headed for Titisee next and I put together the route map of this bus trip here(link). Our bus made for the opposite direction from Freiburg and went on and on into the forest. The next village which appeared was deep in snow. I found a ski jump in the small town of Hinterzarten and I heard that the Japanese ski jumper, Mr. Funaki, held the record at this ski jump.
　　We arrived at the southern German lake resort of Titisee in 30 minutes or so. In the designated restaurant, I ordered a local beer and ate the specialty of the resort. It was nice. When I saw Titisee (the name of the lake) first, I was on a day trip bus from Freiburg to Bodensee. It was four years ago and I wished at that time that I would come back again. Then, it came true.

Route Map

(Vocabulary)
ski jump スキーのジャンプ台

ボーデン湖ツアー(４年前にこのあたりを旅行したときのアルバム)
http://kumo.typepad.jp/Euro09/Mainau.html

Zähringer Städte

　　The lecture of the priest continued longer than I had expected. It was maybe due to our sincere attitude towards him. What interested me most in his lecture was the story of the royal house of Zähringer, which originated in this area. People who had a royal connection with the Zähringers had scattered across Europe and finally built twelve cities in Europe through several rises and falls. Bern, the capital city of Switzerland, is one of the cities related to the Zähringers. You can see those cities on the front cover of the book in the picture below. St. Peter is also shown on the 9th line. Our sister city of Freiburg im Breisgau is also shown. The priest emphasized that St. Peter had been the center of Europe.
　　While listening to his story, I was thumbing through the book and found that St. Peter was exactly located at the center part of Europe. The Schwarzwald area is the source of the Rhein and Donaueschingen, which is said to be the source of the Donau. That is to say, , , If I could urinate on the hill that I saw in the distance,  half of my urine would have flown to the North Sea and another half eventually to the Black Sea. Wow, I was on the top of Europe! When I told the priest such an idea, he laughed with a satisfactory expression.

(Vocabulary)
royal house  王家
rise and fall  盛衰
the Rhein ライン川
the Donau ドナウ川
urinate (フォーマル・専門) 排尿する, 小便をする
St. Peter 　Schwarzwaldの中に位置する村
Schwarzwald　《黒い森の意》ドイツ南西部の山地。長さ約160キロ、最高地点は1493メートルのフェルトベルク山。針葉樹の密林に覆われ、温泉・鉱泉が豊富。シュワルツワルト。
Donaueschingen ドイツ南西部、バーデン‐ビュルテンベルク州、シュバルツバルト山地の都市。「ドナウの泉」と呼ばれる湧水池があり、観光名所になっている。毎年10月に現代音楽を中心とするドナウエッシンゲン音楽祭が開催される。

St. Peter

　　The first day in Freiburg started. The staff members of Matsuyama City, including the Mayor Mr. Noshi and councilors, were supposed to visit various eco-friendly facilities to learn the environmental strategy in Freiburg. You know, this is a business trip for them. On the other hand, we, the Matsuyama citizens' group enjoyed sightseeing in and around the city along with people in Freiburg who belonged to the Freiburg Matsuyama Friendship Association.
　　After breakfast without fresh vegetables, we headed for St. Peter by bus. I didn't have any preliminary knowledge about St. Peter but it seemed that Freiburg city authorities wanted us to see the small village of St. Peter. Do you know why?
　　As our bus went into the black forest, its beautiful and peaceful scenery fascinated me. As soon as we reached the village, a magnificent church and monastery surprised me. To begin with, we were invited to the town office for a short lecture about the village. The vice-mayor of the village gave us a brief lecture about the history and environmental policy of the village. I was strongly impressed with both.
　　Then I entered the historic church and monastery of the village and was overwhelmed by the magnificence of its traditional beauty. The priest also gave us a lesson in the library, which was very similar to the library that I had seen in the movie of the Harry Potter Series. I felt as if I had stepped into the world of fantasy.

(Vocabulary)
monastery  (キリスト教の) 修道院, (仏教などの) 僧院

Arrival in Freiburg

　　I took a nap for a while and when I woke I found that I was over the three Baltic countries, the map of which reminded me of the Baltic Fleet which had attacked Japan in 1905, coming over from here through the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean and South China Sea all the way. I wanted to see the coastlines of the countries, but a sea of clouds was spread in my sight. Anyway, I made a soundless prayer for Russian soldiers who couldn't return to their home. As the plane passed over Leipzig, I heard an announcement to tell us to stay seated and fasten our seat belt. I couldn't suppress my excitement, knowing that I would reach Frankfurt in 20 minutes or so.
　　On the last two trips to Freiburg, I utilized the high speed train, ICE, at the Frankfurt Airport station, but this time a bus was used for transportation to the Novotel Hotel in Freiburg. It was about 21:00 hours when I arrived at the hotel. The last picture shows our 4th meal served by the hotel. It was not bad, but the simplicity of the meal made me feel that I had actually visited Germany. I preferred ICE to the bus, but it was nice to call in a rest house along the autobahn. You can point out the location of the rest house on the map below, which shows our route from Frankfurt to Freiburg.

(Vocabulary)
the three Baltic countries　バルト三国
Baltic Fleet  バルチック艦隊
spread, spread, spread vt.
be spread across/over/throughout sth  ＜場所＞一面に広がって［散らばって］いる, 〈店舗などが〉 ＜地域＞じゅうに展開している, 〈地域などが〉 ＜範囲＞にわたって広がっている
The company has more than 2,500 stores spread throughout the country. その会社は全国に2,500以上の店舗を展開している．
[同意] be spread out
make a soundless prayer for  ～を祈って黙とうする
4th meal 夜食

Route from Japan to Freiburg

 

スクリーンに表示された地図ではバルト三国の上空あたりにいる。すぐに下を見たが雲海で海は見えず。バルチック艦隊を思い出した。日本海海戦で命を落とした兵士達に黙祷。彼らはきっと帰国したかったはず。１００年後、ワインを楽しみながら１２時間で到達できるようになると想像しただろうか。フランクフルトからはバスでフライブルクへ移動。ICEを利用したかったが、アウトバーンとサービスエリアを経験できた。マップは是非拡大してご覧ください。ホテルの用意してくれた夜食はやはりドイツ風。シンプルの極み。

Over Siberia

　　This flight which departed at noon and arrived in Frankfurt at about 16:00 hours flew in sunshine all the way. The view of Siberia was also great fun for me. However, the 12 hour flight time was so long. The plane's speed looked slow on the world map.
　　My relationship to Germany dates back 37 years. German was an essential subject in most medical schools in Japan at that time. I had wanted to stay in Germany for research work after graduation from the school, but I had no opportunity to visit it and I came to think that I would never visit Germany in my life. However, the situation dramatically changed when I attended a reception party to welcome the official guests from Freiburg in spring five years ago. I visited Freiburg to see an acquaintance whom I had met in the party in autumn in the same year. It was my first visit to Germany. Five years have passed since then.
　　Around the time when Finland came up on the magnified map, beef braiser was served. It was also nice.
　　By the way, I was reading a German conversation book all the way after departure. My German vocabulary is considerably poor. I crammed for chatting with German people. When I went to a washroom, a foreigner who was sitting three rows behind me was reading a newspaper throwing his leg in the aisle. This phrase came out spontaneously, "Entschuldigung!", which means "Excuse me". My brain was successfully changing into German!

(Vocabulary)
My relationship to Germany  ドイツとの縁、なれそめ
beef braiser  ビーフブレゼ
braiser (少量の汁でゆっくりと) 〈肉・野菜〉 を蒸し煮にする

シベリア上空にて雑感：

ドイツは学生時代からあこがれの国。しかし、渡航は叶わず。ところが、５年前の春、フライブルクからの一行を歓迎するパーティーに呼ばれてから状況が一変。知りあいができ、その秋に初めてドイツへ。これが縁で次女のフライブルク留学、そして２回目、今回が３回目の訪独となる。フィンランドの上空にさしかかった頃、２回目の食事。これも良かった。またまた横の娘に睨まれながらワインを注文。飲み放題は辛い、、、(^_^;)　トイレに向かったとき、後ろの外国人が足を投げ出していたので「すみません」と声を掛けた。無意識に自然に出てきた単語はドイツ語だった。(^o^)機内ではずっとドイツ語の一夜漬け(^_^;)

On the Plane

　　I got on board All Nippon Airway NH0209 at Narita International Airport at about noon. The runway was jammed and the plane took off after about 20 minutes' delay. After the flight changed from ascending to cruising, a variety of drinks were delivered and I chose a small bottle of white wine. I could see Inawashiro Lake in the distance, which is well known as the symbol of the birthplace of Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, a medical researcher in the Meiji period. Soon after the drinks,  lunch was served. I chose the breaded chicken cutlet with cheese. The dessert was a vanilla ice cream from H?agen-Dazs. It's a feeling of supreme luxury to eat ice cream at an altitude of 10,000 meters. Even Napoleon couldn't do it! By the way, I have assumed that H?agen-Dazs is from Germany, judging from "?" of the brand name of H?agen-Dazs, but it originated from the U.S.A. I was surprised to know that.
　　When I was wondering what I should do until the arrival, like watching movies, reading guidebooks or learning German conversation and so on, the plane abruptly swerved to the right over the Sea of Japan. I didn't know why, but I was disappointed because I had expected to see Vladivostok and Harbin from the air. I remembered that there is a Russian navy base in Vladivostok.

(Vocabulary)
breaded veal cutlet  子牛のカツレツ
swerve  (ぶつからないように) (道などで)〈人・車などが〉急にわきに寄る［それる］
Vladivostok　ウラジオストク
Harbin ハルビン〔中国・黒竜江省。冬は-40℃にもなる。哈爾浜は満州語「網を干す場所」。〕

出発は２０分遅れ。滑走路混雑。寝てしまい気がついたら日光上空。猪苗代湖が見える。野口英世のふるさとだ。まずワインが出てきた。嬉しい。料理はチキンチーズカツレツを選んだ。そしてデザートがアイスクリーム。こんなサービス初めて。高度一万メートルでアイスクリームなんて秀吉でも経験していないだろうなあ(^^;) ハーゲンダッツはその文字からしてドイツなどヨーロッパだと思っていたらアメリカの会社だった。驚いた。飛行機が大きく右に舵を切った。ウラジオストクには軍港があるから上は飛べないのだろうか？

Formal Visit

　　My usual overseas trips were always easygoing with old and tried friends. This trip, however, is a formal visit as a representative of citizens in Matsuyama City. I'm not so familiar with a half of the tour members. What would become of the trip? To tell the truth, it's the first time for me to attend such a group tour accompanied by a professional tour guide. Seemingly, I have only to follow her.
　　Let me explain the picture below, which was shot at Matsuyama Airport just before the departure. I'm a member of Matsuyama Chuo Lions Club and four of the members are going to join the tour. The second person from the left, my superior general surgeon, is my sponsor in the club and at the same time he is the former chairman of the Matsuyama Freiburg Friendship Association (MFFA). He pulled me into MFFA at the last anniversary event held in Matsuyama City five years ago. (http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2009/04/visitors-from-1.html) As a result, this event lead me to Germany three times and my second daughter came to stay in Freiburg for a year. Additionally I was invited into the Lions Club. He is really a precious one for me.
　　The plane soared into the clear sky just like my growing sense of expectations, heading for Tokyo, where we would change planes.

(Vocabulary)
old and tried ［trusted］ 気心の知れた
tried and tested (tried and true とも) 〈方法・技法などが〉立証済みの, 確立された
tried and tested research methods 確立された調査方法 [同意] well-tried
sponsor 〔…の〕引受人, 保証人〔of, for〕.

Carry-on Luggage

　　I started packing my possessions into my two suitcases and carry-on bags. On my usual trip, I had worn casual clothes, but this time I had to bring my formal suits and a coat for attending the anniversary event of the sister city treaty. I didn't want to pack these clothes tightly. That's why I'm bringing two suitcases. I'm a gold member of Star Alliance and am permitted to use two suitcases without an additional fee. The carry-on bags are a daypack and a waist pouch. I'm carrying a digital single-lens reflex camera and another wide-angle lens, and moreover a compact digital camera. So, I need two types of carry-on bags.
　　In spring two years ago, when I headed home from Vancouver, I was supposed to arrive at Narita International Airport, but I awoke to something different. I found my plane flying near Incheon International Airport in South Korea on the private screen when I awoke. My plane couldn't land at Narita due to strong seasonal winds. I had to spend a day in Seoul with possessions in my carry-on bag only, without underwear, a battery charger for my cell phone and my mobile PC, my electric shaver,,, it was extremely inconvenient. I decided to pack minimum necessities for spending a day into my carry-on bags. The picture shows a compression bag for clothes. It's for space-saving and is very nice for packing clothes. Underwear and socks for a day are in the bag.

(Vocabulary)
carry-on luggage  機内持ち込みの手荷物
awake to sth ＜…＞という状況で目が覚める
We awoke to a beautiful sunny day. 目が覚めるとすばらしい天気だった．
awake to sth [句動詞]  ＜…＞に気づく, を悟る
check  （乗客が荷物を）（同じ飛行機やバスなどの貨物室に入れるために）預ける

Notice

　　While this entry is shown on the blog, I am staying in Germany and Italy as a member of the official envoy to Freiburg, the sister city of my hometown. This blog system has a function of receiving e-mails and posting them at the same time. Using this function, I'll post my trip memos in English or German. Don't mind these articles. They are just trip memos and I'll write lots of entries detailing them later.

　 　松山市とドイツのフライブルク市が姉妹都市になって２５周年となります。松山市からの公式訪問団の一員として、フライブルク市で行われる交流会に参加してきます。この時期はかなり寒いので交流会が終わったら野志市長や市議会議員とは別行動でドイツを脱出して暖を求めてイタリアへ移動し、数日間の観光後、帰国します。いつものように帰国後に詳細な旅行記録を書くつもりです。それまでこのブログは単なるメモになります。帰国後に書く記事の参考とするためのものです。

　では！　Auf Wiedersehen!

(平成２１年、南朝鮮坡州（パジュ）市臨津閣にて撮影、後方は非武装地帯)

Uniform of Matsuyama Chuo Lions Running Club

　　I sometimes wrote about the Ehime Marathon in my blog, which has been held in my hometown for 50 years. It had been only for professional or semi-professional athletes for a long time, but now it is open to the public. Moreover it's getting more and more popular across Japan. About 8,000 city runners are permitted to join the marathon and the competition rate has been more than double every year recently. The other day, four members of my Lions Club, including me, were drawn to obtain permission to join the marathon. The president of the club is an enthusiastic supporter of the marathon and he instantly established the running club in the Lions Club.
　　As I attended the regular conference of the Lions Club today, several dozen uniforms, shown below, were prepared for not only the runners, but supporters. Seemingly, several club members will support the runners along the route wearing the same uniform. It's really cool, but I would never be allowed to retire from the race. I have to definitely pursue the completion of the marathon.

Blood Transfusion

　　Saturday afternoon I'm in my office to care for a patient in a critical condition. She is over 90 and has been bleeding from the digestive system. She has been bedridden for more than 10 years and fed through a gastrostomy tube. She can't communicate with others, even with her family members. The bleeding focus is considered to be the large intestine, and it's probably a malignant tumor. If she was a little bit younger or had a little more physical strength, I wouldn't hesitate to resect the focus, but,,,,
　　She has already been transfused 5 units of irradiated red cell concentrates equivalent to a liter of whole blood. Only when receiving blood, a slight flush springs into her thin cheeks and her respiration condition gets better. She critically needs to be transfused again right now, but blood infusion to her is just like pouring water into a cup with a hole. The blood is donated by peoples' good will. We, medical personnel, aren't permitted to use it in vain. What should we do? Even if I continue to infuse blood into her, her life will be terminated in a week or so. I'm going to have a conference with her family.
　　It's getting cooler in Japan. The chill of today's morning air reminded me of the fresh air of Whistler in Canada. The following picture shows me in a tense situation on the Peak2Peak Gondola connecting the tops of Whistler and Blackcomb Mountain. I get scared at that height.

(Vocabulary)
irradiated red cell concentrates 放射線照射済み濃厚赤血球
a slight flush spring into her thin cheeks  こけた頬に赤みが差す

Long Running

　　Nov. 3rd is a national holiday in Japan, which is designated to celebrate the birthday of Meiji Tennoh, who had been the Emperor of Japan from 1867 to 1912. On this holiday, though the weather wasn't good, I took on a shot at running 25 km without stopping, even if the speed would become slow. I wasn't confident about myself and asked a friend for the support to lead me at a constant pace because I'm going to attend a half-marathon on Dec. 7th. The time limit for the half-marathon is set to 3 hours. I could manage to attain the limit this time, but I didn't think that it was enough for the Ehime Marathon, which will be held in February. I have to complete it within 6 hours.
　　Though more than 3 months are left until the Ehime Marathon, there were several dozen runners on its route  and several signboards for runners were seen on the way, which indicated where you were on the route. I'll show you one of them at the bottom. As the fitness fad is growing more and more powerful in Japan, the number of city runners has increased. More than 20,000 people applied for the Ehime Marathon which is staged in a local city of Matsuyama City. The competition rate was nearly 3 times.

(Vocabulary)
take [have]a shot at　～に挑戦する
fad はやり, 流行
a passing fad  一過性の流行
city runner　市民ランナー

　

Matsuyama Garrison

　　I joined an annual event of the Matsuyama Garrison of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) today. The inside of the garrison was open to the public and lots of goods related with the JGSDF were sold at the event. It was one of the PR activities of JGSDF. I wanted to see the inside of the garrison and first of all, I was eager to get on the tank. In order to get on the tank, I had to get a numbered ticket as soon as the gate was opened because it was the most popular activity at the event. However, I didn't know that and I was too late to reach the ticket counter. Then, to the sound of cheers, the JGSDF and assumed invaders performed a mimic battle using blank ammunition. It was really impressive. I have no words to describe how big the sound was.
　　What impressed me most in the garrison is the tidiness of things. I've never seen other country's military garrison, but I felt that it implies the strength of the JGSDF.
　　I dropped in at the outdoor tea ceremony and outdoor stalls run by young SDF personnel and SDF support persons. I talked with several young SDF personnel in the stalls. Their attitude was really invigorating and it made me happy.

(Vocabulary)
garrison  (都市・要塞などの) 守備隊, 駐屯軍; 駐屯地
numbered ticket  整理券
to the sound of　～の音を聞きながら、～の音と共に
blank ammunition/blank shot  空砲
live ammunition  実弾
mimic battle/warfare; mock battle  模擬戦
invigorating  元気づける, すがすがしい
The weather was cool and invigorating.   空気はひんやりしていて爽快だった．