Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Einladungen

    Bald ist Winter, aber ich denke an Frühlingsferien. Auch in diesem Jahr habe ich einige Einladungen schon bekommen.
    Ich wollte in Kanada Ski fahren, aber meine Tochter wird an Oxford Uni. für einen Monat in nächsten März studieren, also nach ihrem Studium möchte ich auch Schottland mit ihr besuchen.
    Letzten Abend rufte mein alter Freund mich an und er lud mich ein zum Bergsteigen in den nördlichen Japanischen Alpen.
    Außerdem, die Summe von Flug-meilen reichte aus für vier inländsflugscheine, so ich kann überall in Japan von Haneda Flughafen mit meiner Frau reisen. Die südliche Inseln sind sehr interessant.
    Es freut mich, dass ich nur an meine Urlaubspläne denke.

2014 Chiba Aqua-Line Marathon

　　The Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line, also known as the Trans-Tokyo Bay Highway, is a bridge - tunnel combination across Tokyo Bay in Japan. It connects the city of Kawasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture with the city of Kisaradu in Chiba Prefecture. With an overall length of 14 km, it includes a 4.4 km bridge and 9.6 km tunnel underneath the bay - the fourth-longest underwater tunnel in the world.
　　Around the City of Kisaradu including the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line, the 2014 Chiba Aqua-Line Marathon was held and I took part in it. The bridge section of the Aqua-Line was used as a part of the marathon route. Needless to say, the bridge was built for passenger and cargo traffic, and people are not allowed to walk on it. Only on the marathon day, the bridge is open to runners. That is, it's the single chance to take such a picture that I'll show you below. For your information, the guy who took this picture was a strange runner. When I saw him ask one of the organizing staff members to shoot his picture and be rejected, I suggested to him that we take pictures in rotation. The point of the picture was about 10km, and I ran with two friends to this point to take pictures of each other, but thanks to him, all three were able to enter in one picture. As for the result, don't ask me!

An Acquaintance From Germany

　　When I traveled to Freiburg in Germany and Italy with my second daughter last year as one of the members of the friendship tour organized by Matsuyama City, I met a young guy who worked in the DB, the German railway company, at the reception party held by the Freiburg-Matsuyama Association. He was going to visit Matsuyama in a year at that time and actually came to my hometown on 0ctober 2nd. It appeared that he had begun learning Japanese with a Japanese just after the party.
　　His travel plan was to stay in Matsuyama City all the time for two weeks and make day trips around there. I offered some sightseeing plans to him, like a karst landscape, Spa resorts, a huge active volcano and small islands in the Seto Inland Sea. He chose the islands without a second thought so I took him on a day trip to go around the inland sea utilizing a ferry service and more than ten bridges. On the last night of his stay in Matsuyama I took him to a small restaurant which serves traditional cuisine of Japan, specifically in Kyoto, but it might have been a wrong choice. He was twenty some years old and must prefer meat to vegetables. Kyoto-style traditional cuisine hardly uses meat except fish. Anyway, he looked to have enjoyed his stay. Nothing beat it.

An Incredibly Big Honor

　　I haven't written about my family here in my blog so often, but I have something to be eager to write now. To tell the truth, I can't help but inform you of one of my daughters, who is now in the fifth year of a national medical school.
　　Some unbelievable news came to me. She was chosen as one of the 16 representatives of Japanese medical students out of all of 9,100 fifth year Japanese medical students by the Japan Medical Education Foundation, the external body of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. After the graduation of the final year student, She will be dispatched to Oxford University Medical School on behalf of Japanese medical students and attend the lectures and practical exercises in Oxford with another student from March 2nd to 27th in 2015. Other chosen students will learn in the Medical Schools of Newcastle University (4 members), St George's University of London (4 members) and Peninsula Medical School, Peninsula College of Medicine & Dentistry (6 members). They will live in dormitories with British students. What a wonderful experience!
　　I wonder if I could visit the U.K. and have a trip to Scotland with her for some days after she finishes her curriculum in Oxford. The popularity of a drama dealing with Scotch whisky is soaring in Japan now. I thought Scotland was really beautiful seeing the drama. It appears that it's considerably cold in March in Scotland, but ,,,.

Stolz, Meine jüngste Tochter

　　Meine jüngste Tochter ist eine Medizinstudentin jetzt im fünften Schuljahr an der regionalen Universität. Es ist vor einigen Tagen entschieden worden, daß im nächsten Frühling von nächst Jahr, wenn sie ins letzte Schuljahr kommt, wird sie als die Repräsentantin der japanischen Medizinstudentinnen an die Oxford Universität geschickt.
　　Die sechzehn Studenten der Medizin, wen meine Tochter eingeschlossen, werden durch ein Förderprogramm der japanischen Regierung nach vier Universitäten Englands für einen Monat geschickt.
　　Die japanische Regierung hat diese Absendung von Medizinstudenten nach England seit 30 Jahren fortgesetzt. Es ist eine großartige Ehre, als Repräsentantin gewählt zu werden. Ich wünsche ihr viele gute Erfahrungen.

　医学部生の娘が最終学年になる来年の春、日本の医学生の代表として１ヶ月、オックスフォード大学医学部に派遣されることが決まった。代表は１６名で４つの大学で現地の学生とともに臨床実習をする。日本政府はこの３０年、このような留学生の派遣を続けている。選ばれたのは大変な栄誉である。良い経験ができることを祈る。

Imabari City Marathon

　　I took part in the Imabari City 10km Run again. I wanted to run faster than last year when I recorded 67 minutes. I was able to finish in 65 minutes this time, but to tell the truth, I was going to finish within 60 minutes. I'm sorry not to have been able to fulfill myself. I'll try again.

(Vocabulary)
fulfill yourself (仕事などで) 持てる力を出し切る

Ojouka Relay Marathon

　　An enjoyable event started this year in my hometown, which relays the distance of a full marathon with multiple runners. There's a park in the heart of the city and the 1.5 km of circle was made in the park and the race was to go round 28 times, with only the starter having to run an extra 195 meters. I attended the race as one of the members of the Matsuyama Chuo Lions Club Team. The race wasn't competitive, but one of the events held as a part of the local festival. We joined the race with 10 members and I ran 3 circuits.
　　Going around and around the same circle didn't look nice at first for me, but it meant running in front of the cheering group about every 10 minutes. It was very nice to see runners or to see supporters from the runner in spite of my advanced idea to the contrary.