Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Wandering in Charlottetown 2

　　I wrote about a folk house in the previous entry. When it comes to Canadian houses, I have some pictures I'd like you to see. The first picture reminded me of a phrase in the Japanese translation from Anne of Green Gables. When Anne got a job teaching high school, she rented a room, a part of which jutted out. I couldn't imagine what it was like, but I believed that what was written in the novel must have been this roundly projected structure the moment I saw this house.
　　I'll show you additional beautiful houses. Judging from the sign saying "Museum and Heritage BEACONSFIELD HISTORIC HOUSE 1877" in the second picture, the houses around here might be for display only and no one actually lived in the houses. However, I really wanted to see inside ordinary people's houses. I wonder if I'll stay in a B & B the next overseas trip.
　　By the way, do you know "Tim Hortons"? I didn't know its name until visiting Prince Edward Island. It is apparently  a chain of coffee shops just like Starbucks and it looked like there was a majority on the island. I tried dropping in. I couldn't exactly tell the difference from Starbucks', but I felt it was a little stronger. I heard several people say "Double, double!" in a shop. What's that? It seemed to mean two milks and two sugars. Later I repeated the same order in Toronto, but they didn't understand me.

(Vocabulary)
teach school/college  (米) 学校［大学］で教える
My dad taught school in New York.  父はニューヨークの学校で教えていた．
jut (jut out とも)突き出る, 張り出す
jut out/into/from   外へ［…の中へ，…から］突き出る
jut sth out ＜唇・あごなど＞を突き出す
project from/over/through sth ＜…＞から［の上に，を通って］突き出る [同意] protrude
try doing sth 試しに＜…＞してみる
Try walking to work instead of driving.  車で行かないで会社まで歩いてみたら．
chain [C] チェーン（店）, 系列網
a chain of sth  ＜…＞のチェーン
a hotel/restaurant/retail chain  ホテル［レストラン，小売］チェーン

Wandering in Charlottetown 1

　　During trips, in particular overseas, usual things for local people often attract the tourist's attention. I took pictures of unusual things to me as I walked along the streets in Charlottetown, the capital city of Prince Edward Island.
　　Look at the first picture. Do you know what in the picture drew my attention? It was the two national flags of Canada and the UK. I believed that one member of the married couple came from the UK at first glance. A couple of hours later, when I found the official house of the Lieutenant Governor on the map, I understood why two flags had been raised. Canada is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations! I'm not familiar with modern Canadian politics, but when I noticed the reason why a national flag of the UK was raised in front of an ordinary folk house, the vivid remembrance of my high school days came up with the face of my history teacher. I used to wish I could visit foreign countries in those days. Now, it actually came true.
　　I'd like to add one more thing about the national flag. You might doubt it, but some Japanese people tend to hate their own national flag as the result of the biased education by people influenced by communism. Of course, I'm not one of these silly people, but I'm envious of Canadian people's pride in their national flag.

(Vocabulary)
Governor General of Canada  カナダの総督
Lieutenant Governor  副総督

Guided Tour 9 (Kensington)

　　The last tourist attraction of the tour was Kensington station which was built in 1905 and was put an end to in 1948. The only public transport service on the island started with the completion of this station. It seems that Montgomery used this station. At present, this station was converted into a cozy restaurant. About a hundred meters of train tracks were also preserved as they used to be. As I walked on the track, I thought I heard the hustle and bustle of those days.
　　I've never been to the UK, but I recalled London hearing the word, "Kensington". There were so many English names of places on the island. A few words such as "Toronto" and "Niagara" would probably come from native Canadian words judging from their spelling. I wondered why Anglo-Saxons didn't want to keep the original names of places. Prince Edward Island has three districts, whose names are Kings, Queens and Price. I simply thought they should have kept the original names out of respect for the indigenous population.
　　After looking around this historic site, the driver took us to our hotel. We really enjoyed all the tourist attractions and the scenery from the windows of the minivan. We went out for a walk at once to make every minute count. The next entry will be the last with respect to Charlottetown.

(Vocabulary)
hustle and bustle  [U] 喧騒, にぎわい
out of respect (for sb/sth)  （＜…＞に）敬意を表して, （＜…＞を）尊重して
the natives 《複数扱い》 土着民 (差別的な表現)「先住民」の意味ではthe indigenous populationやthe indigenous peopleを用いる．
indigenous /ɪnddʒənəs/〈人・慣習・文化などが〉（土地）固有の, 土着の;〈動植物などが〉自生の
population (特定地域の)（全）住民
The majority of the population lived in poverty.  住民の大半が貧しい生活をしていた．
count [自] 重要である, 価値がある
First impressions count.  第一印象は重要だ．
count for sth/nothing  価値がある［ない］, 重要である［ない］
His promises don't count for much.  彼の約束は大して当てにならない．
make sth count  ＜…＞を有意義なものとする

Guided Tour 8 (Museum)

　　You frequently see the phrase "shining lake" in Anne of Green Gables. I wanted to see how the lake shines on the island. The sky was blue and it was a little hot, but the heat of the afternoon was tempered by a light breeze. When I found this gentle breeze making the surface of the lake ruffle, I understood this was the shining lake. The shining lake is shown in the first picture. It was shot near the Anne of Green Gables Museum, which is shown in the second picture. This museum was run by a relative of Montgomery, the author of Anne of Green Gables. In the museum lots of items associated with her were displayed. The organ in the next picture was actually used in her wedding ceremony. The museum was full of a mixture of the real Canadian life of those days and the fantasy world of Anne of Green Gables. It was lots of fun. My daughter leaves her signature in the guest book in the last picture.
　　I thought of her real life in the museum's yard for some time. She was born in 1874 and passed away in 1942. She must have known about the World Wars, while her time saw the remarkable progress of a variety of technology. Did she expect that her work would attract lots of tourists from all over the world to this tiny remote island in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence?

(Vocabulary)
shining lake　輝く湖水
temper  (フォーマル) …（の激しさ）を和らげる, をかげん［抑制］する
temper sth with sth   ＜…＞（の激しさ）を＜…＞で和らげる
ruffle [他]〈風が〉〈水面〉にさざ波を立てる,〈木の葉など〉を（さらさらと）揺らす
A light wind ruffled the water.  そよ風で水面にさざ波が立った．

Guided Tour 6 (Garbage Bin)

　　I often saw some dark brown bins placed along the roadside from where you couldn't see any folk houses. I knew that those were garbage bins from the guide's explanation. I thought it would be hard work to bring the bins to the roadside from far away places. They might use pick-up trucks.
　　Later we came across a huge high-sided garbage truck, which was about to collect the garbage. A mechanical arm which projected from the side of the truck grasped the bins, raised them and then threw the contents over the back of the truck one after another. There was a single operator. A single person drove the truck and operated the arm. According to the guide, to my further surprise, the truck had two steering wheels on both sides to make it easy for the collector to get on and off the truck. Though the bins were aligned the same side as far as I saw, it would be helpful that he could drive the truck on both sides.
　　I happened to see a lady dragging a garbage bin in front of the parking lot and took a snapshot. Those bins had two small wheels to make it easy to be moved. These small rotating bodies just like tires are called "Koro" in Japanese and are distinguished from tires. What do they call this small tire in English? Tire is ok?

(Vocabulary)
back of the truck/ truck bed  トラックの荷台

(Vocabulary from comments)
bin (貯蔵用の) 大きな容器
The fruit was kept in large wooden bins. 果物は大きな木製の容器に保存されていた．
(waste bin, rubbish bin とも)(英) ごみ箱［入れ］
The bin needs emptying. そのごみ箱を空にする必要がある．
throw/put sth in the bin   ＜…＞をごみ箱に捨てる［入れる］
[同意] trash can(米), wastepaper basket

Guided Tour 5

　　The public transportation service wasn't well provided on Prince Edward Island. I thought it would be due to the sparse population apart from the capital city of Charlottetown. We could have chosen a rental car for sightseeing, but we joined in a tour planned by PEI Select Tours, which was conducted by both Canadian and Japanese persons. Our guide was a Japanese lady and the driver was Canadian. My daughter wanted to chat with Canadian people in English, and I had been looking for a Canadian guide, but my travel agent in Japan didn't tie up any other tour company on the island. That was how we had chosen this tour.
　　My daughter was keen to brush up her English skills and frequently spoke to the driver in a positive manner. There stood a neat, clean and well-decorated house in front of the parking lot of the birthplace, which I wrote about in the previous entry. While I was looking around in the gift shop, she, the driver and a tour member disappeared. I found that they were wandering around the house in the picture. Were they evaluating the property?
　　The guide had long been living on the island and noticed a variety of differences between the lifestyle of Japan and that of the island. In other words, she knew what would be interesting to us. Her guidance was good fun. I'll write about a waste box in the next entry.

(Vocabulary)
sparse まばらな, 少ない,〈髪が〉薄い
a sparsely populated area  人口のまばらな地域

Guided Tour 4 (Birthplace)

　　A sea breeze from the Atlantic Ocean stirred my emotion as to how far away from home we were. After a seaside walk, we got back to our car and were taken to the birthplace of Lucy Maud Montgomery. I'll show you pictures of a signboard at the parking lot and the mural tablet attached to her original house. Part of her house was remodeled into a gift shop, but most of it retained its original features.
　　The next picture is the room where Lucy was born. I found a porcelain pot - I don't know its name - under the bed in this room too. It must have been essential in houses on the island. I recalled the fierce coldness around there. Looking up to the crossbar of the doorway, there was a small indication card telling that Lucy was born in this room, surprisingly in two languages; English and Japanese, not French. I didn't see any indication or signboard written in both English and Japanese anywhere else during the trip. Lots of Japanese must have visited and stood in front of this room.
　　There was also Lucy's handwritten long letter, which was from her honeymoon. I was astonished by its length. Lucy wouldn't have minded writing long stories by hand. The last picture is my daughter writing her impression in the guestbook.

(Vocabulary)
tablet  (墓などの) 銘板, 碑板
written/carved on tablets of stone(英) 〈規則などが〉 変更不可能で
remodel (remodeled, remodeling(米)) (remodelled, remodelling(英))〈建物・部屋など〉を改造［改築］する;〈社会・制度など〉を改変する, 作り変える
retain〈性質・権利など〉 を保つ, 維持する
The town has retained much of its old-fashioned charm. その町には昔ながらの魅力がたっぷり残っている．
long〈本が〉ページ数の多い,〈手紙・書類などが〉枚数の多い, 長い,〈リストが〉項目数の多い

Guided Tour 3 (North Rustico)

　　Lunch was one of the regional specialties, "lobster," at a small fishery village of North Rustico. The restaurant was friendly and seemed to be run by local fishermen's housewives. The fishing season of North Rustico's offshore area was only May and June, and would start in August on the opposite side of the island. It meant we visited there between both fishing seasons, but our lobsters were kept alive in a tank until our arrival. It was delicious. I doubted if that happens anywhere in Japan.
　　After lunch, we took a walk around the restaurant, just behind which was the seashore. I found a hut there with a signboard saying "Deep Sea Fishing". "Deep Sea" reminded me of the sea layer where weird creatures live. I wondered what would be their target? I walked toward a cluster of people, who at least didn't look fishermen. Several leisure fishing boats were moored there. The fishing rods were common and their target would be common fish living 50 meters under the sea at the very most.
　　By the way, what do you think they are in the last picture, which was shot at the same place. They were the traps for catching lobsters. Fishermen place them on the sea bottom where lobsters live and wait for lobsters coming in. I examined one and understand how it works. It was wonderful and was elaborately made.

(Vocabulary)
a local/regional specialty  地元[地方]の特産品
at (the) most  最大で(も), せいぜい
It'll take 20 minutes at the most. かかってもせいぜい20分だろう．
at the very most  どんなに多くても, せいぜい

Guided Tour 2 (Green Gables)

　　We were taken to Green Gables next, the principal tourist attraction on the island, which Montgomery made Anne call her house in "Anne of Green Gables" and was the house that Montgomery had actually lived in at the same time. The story is fiction, but there were lots of items related to the story so realistic that I almost got to be under the impression that Anne was a real girl. I had read about half of the total of 10 volumes in Japanese translation just before the trip, so visiting there was really enjoyable. There were several items in the books that I couldn't imagine what their real appearances was like, but about some of them, I resolved my questions.
　　Anne named everything which attracted her eyes; the woods, the lanes along the lakes, the ponds and through the woods, a tree seen from her room, and so on. To my surprise, those things existed in and around Green Gables.
　　The first picture shows Green Gables and the barn-like museum, and was shot from what you call "Lovers Lane". The second picture shows an old tree, which was said to be the model of Anne's "Ghost tree". Its trunk was twisted and might be seen as a ghost walking in the night. See the small pot under the bed in the last picture. In the freezing winter night, people apparently relieved nature in the room avoiding going out. There was no lavatory in the house.

(Vocabulary)
impression 《[U], a/the ~》 誤った印象, 思い込み, 誤解
be under the impression (that)  (誤って) …と思い込んでいる, 勘違いしている
I was under the impression that you were the manager. てっきりあなたが経営者だと思い込んでいました．
relieve nature〔urinate（排尿する）またはdefecate（排便する）の婉曲表現〕

Guided Tour 1

　　We asked a travel agency to guide us around the places associated with Anne of Green Gables. The guide was a Japanese lady who had lived on the island and she picked us up at our hotel. She and the driver were really kind and it was lucky to know them. The musical which we had watched on the previous night was enjoyable and we were supposed to visit several places regarding the author, Lucy Maud Montgomery. We visited Cavendish district at first. http://www.peiselecttours.ca/
　　Incidentally, do you know the name of the smallest national park in Canada? The smallest one is Prince Edward Island National Park and the most impressive scenery in the park can be seen in Cavendish. The first picture is the beach in Cavendish facing the Gulf of St. Lawrence. A short walk around here was very comfortable. The next picture is Montgomery's tomb which was beautifully cared for with lots of flowers. She and her works have been attracting many tourists here even today. She deserves this tomb, I think.
　　I knew naturally that Lucy Maud Montgomery was an actual person, whereas Anne was fiction. However, when in Cavendish, which is depicted as Avonlea village in Anne of Green Gables, I developed delusions that Anne had actually lived there. There were many items to place me under this illusion. The last picture is the post office where Lucy worked for some time and she sent the manuscript of Anne of Green Gables to the publisher from here.

Japanese Cuisine ?

　　We were going to watch a musical, Anne of Green Gables, in the evening and had dinner a little earlier at a Japanese restaurant. We wanted to eat rice though it was only 2 days after leaving Japan! The name of the restaurant was "TA-KE SUSHI", the window of which I'll show you later. "TA-KE" means bamboo in English. Sitting at a table, disposable chopsticks were set on it in advance. See the second picture showing them. A Japanese phrase meaning "welcome" was written on the paper bag of the chopsticks. If you were Japanese, you would feel something was strange. We felt the same way.
　　The next picture is the menu. I ordered a "French Kiss Roll" out of mere curiosity, though I couldn't imagine what it was like. A few minutes later, the dishes in the next picture were served, though we didn't order them and I knew that the restaurant was run by Korean people. It was the Korean way. The last picture was the dishes we ordered. Something on the near side was the "French Kiss Roll", which I had ordered. The far side one was my daughter's order. I don't remember its name. Their taste was terrible. Was that Japanese cuisine? Far from it! I feel so sorry for those who eat something here, believing that they are eating Japanese cuisine. We left most of them.
　　For some Canadian Sushi Bar's honor's sake, I will add some comments. I have three recommended sushi restaurants in and around Vancouver; Sachi Sushi in Whistler, Sushi Bar Musashi at the end of downtown Vancouver, near Stanley Park and Kamei royale near Fairmont Hotel Vancouver (http://www.kameiroyale.com/contact-kamei-royale.html). These restaurants serve genuine Japanese cuisine. Some kinds of dishes are better than the original Japanese ones. I think that Vancouver is rich in fresh seafood. So, I expected Canadian domestic sushi imbued with a Canadian chefs' innovation here, but I felt let down by the above dishes. Finally we ended up grabbing a light meal at a supermarket.

(Vocabulary)
let sb ↔ down 《通例受け身形で》＜人＞を失望させる, がっかりさせる, の期待を裏切る
feel let down (by sb/sth) （＜…＞に）失望する, がっかりさせられる

(Vocabulary from comments)
quite a few かなり多くの

Savage History

　　Province House, which appears in the first picture, was one of the places which I wanted to visit on Prince Edward Island. A tour pamphlet said that it was completed in 1847 and was well known as the place which held the first meeting consisting of the representatives from all the colonies. That is to say, this was the birth place of Canada. The next two pictures show the signboard and inside the meeting room, which is well preserved as an important cultural asset. I just stood at the very historical place.
　　The last two pictures were shot at Peake's Wharf, where the Canadian founding fathers landed in 1864. A comfortable boardwalk was constructed and there were several gift shops. It was actually one of the tourist attractions.
　　I abandoned myself to the imagination of the world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I don't mean to accuse anyone and any country, but I thought as follows;
　　Anglo-Saxons came to eastern north America, killed numerous native people and built their country. Additionally, they went west continuing the massacres, reached the Pacific Rim and went across the Ocean. However, their savage plan was foiled by Japan, which freed Asian nations which had long been governed by their savage colonial masters. If Japan had failed, this world would be governed by Anglo-Saxons and the colored people would have been slaves forever. When I stood at the starting point, such a mixed feeling came upon me.

(Vocabulary)
savage 〈人・攻撃などが〉 非道な, 非人道的な, 〈動物が〉 獰猛(どうもう)な
asset 《通例複数形で》 資産, 財産;《[C]通例単数形で》 役立つもの［人材］, 貴重なもの［人材］
founding father  建国の父
foil 《[他]通例受け身形で》〈相手・計略など〉をくじく, 未然に防ぐ
The escape attempt was foiled by police guards. 脱走の企ては警察の警備員によって未然に防がれた．

　最初の3枚の写真はプロビンス・ハウス（１８４７年建築）。ここで１８６４年カナダ連邦を結成するため、初めての各植民地代表者会議が行われた。２階には「連邦誕生の間」と呼ばれる歴史的会議室があり、当時のままに保存され公開されている。
　次の2枚はPeake's Wharfで、１８６４年にカナダ連邦成立の会議に出席した”建国の父たち"(この言葉自体いい気なものだなと言う気がする)が降り立った埠頭。海沿いには遊歩道がしかれ、美しく整備されている。ギフトショップが並び観光客の憩いの場である。
　この埠頭と会議室には来て見たかった。カナダ人を非難するつもりは全くないが、ヨーロッパからやってきて、現地人を虐殺して得た土地に自分たちの国を作った記念の場所と言われても、もともと住んでいた人々にとってはどうだろう？とても悔しい場所なのではないか。徐々に西へと彼らは進出し、次々と先住民を虐殺、太平洋に出て、日本に抵抗され野望は潰えた。日本がアジアを解放できていなければ、この世界は白人の世界、有色人種は永遠に奴隷だったはず。その野望の始まりの地点に立ち、複雑な気持ちになった。

Anne of Green Gables

　　Anne of Green Gables, which is a novel written by a Canadian author called Lucy Maud Montgomery, is well known in Japan. It seems that its Japanese translation had apparently created the Anne boom in Japan at first and then Canadian people came to read it. This novel is so popular, in paticular among young girls. Lots of school teachers recommend reading it to their pupils. My daughter is one of those young girls. As for me, I read the first 5 volumes of the total of 10 volumes just before this trip. It was the preparation i.e. we decided to attend the musical, Anne of Green Gables, performed in Charlottetown. The knowledge of the plot would be
helpful to understand the musical performed in English. We got the tickets from Japan via the internet in advance.
　　The first picture shows the poster on the wall of the Confederation Center in which the musical would be performed that night. The second one was shot inside. In downtown, we had to make sure where the Center was located so as not to be late for the musical. There were the theater, a library, gift shops, some museum and art galleries inside. This building was apparently built by the donation of all Canadian people at 15 cents each, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the confederation conference. I'll show you a picture also which I found on the way. This shop was a specialized shop offering lots of goods associated with Anne.

Charlottetown

　　A travel agent, who was supposed to guide us on the island  the next day, had previously told me that the island was very peaceful and there were few crimes, and taxis had no odometers for measuring taxi fares, but not to worry as the fare was fixed beween he airport and downtown Charlottetwn. The rule about the taxi fares was posted on the wall of the airport, though I found it just before leaving the island. Anyway, there was no bus service and we took a taxi from the airport to our hotel, the Best Western Charlottetown. As the first picture shows, there was actually no fare meter.
　　My daughter took a front seat to chat with the driver. She had been hungry for opportunities to communicate in English, so she was asking about anything along the road which attracted her eyes one after another. The driver might be referred to as a temporary teacher. Thanks to my daughter, I could avoid being bored. The weather couldn't have been better.
　　As soon as I arrived at the hotel, we set out for wandering around downtown. The hotel was within easy walking distance of downtown. After about 5 minutes' walk I came across a monument which I am showing you in the third picture. The epigraph said that the monument honored the soldiers who had been dispatched and killed in the 1st, 2nd World War and Korean War. I stopped for a short time and prayed for them.

Charlottetown Airport

　　It was around two hours' flight from Toronto to Charlottetown, the biggest city and also the provincial capital of Prince Edward Island. The time difference was one hour between both cities. Viewing from the plane, there weren't high mountains on the island, and I was impressed with its patchwork-like terrain. The coast was edged with the color of red. I looked for a lighthouse, which I had been keen to visit, but in vain. The name of the lighthouse is "Cape Bear Lighthouse". Do you know it? The year 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster. The point of the disaster is about 600km south and offshore from the Port of St. Jones, Newfoundland. The radio distress beacon from the Titanic was firstly received at this lighthouse. I love traveling. In particular, I love to abandon myself in historic sites. However, this lighthouse is far from Charlottetown and I knew I wouldn't visit it. So, I just wanted to see it from the sky, but couldn't.
　　Before this trip, I read volume 1 to 5 of Anne of Green Gables from cover to cover. Volume 5 was published in 1917 i.e. 5 years after the disaster and was titled "Anne's House of Dreams", the stage of which was Prince Edward Island. In this volume, the story got started with a story of a woman. She was supposed to come to Prince Edward Island from England by ship, but the ship didn't come on time. Near people's wits end, the ship ultimately arrived at the island. This story reminded me of the Titanic, and I examined the disaster and knew the time and place of the disaster. The author must have gotten some inspiration from the disaster, I strongly felt.
　　While recalling those stories or something, my plane smoothly landed on the island. I stepped out on the soil of the island. The weather was brilliant. There was only one plane in the airport which I had been on board. There was almost nothing within my eyesight. Such a scene couldn't absolutely be seen in Japan. While I was moved to see around the airport, my daughter went on to the gate. The signboard said "Welcome . . . " in two languages, English and French. How do they feel in a multiracial, multi-language society? I'd like to know the Canadian way of life as much as I can and I decided to observe how people interact in Canada, especially in the eastern part of Canada.

(Vocabulary)
edge 《[他]通例受け身形で》〈服・布・場所など〉を縁取る
be edged with/by/in sth   ＜…＞で縁取られている
mark  [他] 〈…周年など〉 に当たる
2003 marked the 150th anniversary of his death.  2003年は彼の没後150周年であった．
radio distress signal/beacon from an unidentified boat 不審船からの無線救難信号
Near people's wits end  あきらめかけた頃
distress  苦悩, 心痛, 嘆き, 悲しみ
in distress  困窮して
in distress  〈船・航空機などが〉 遭難した
distress signal  遭難信号
abandon yourself to sth(文)  ＜感情・快楽など＞に身を任せる, ふける
abandon yourself to sth literary  to feel an emotion so strongly that you let it control you completely:
She abandoned herself to grief.

Hungry

　　I woke up around 2 o'clock after midnight. I had kept motionless with my eyes closed for some time, but I couldn't sleep. I resigned myself to the influence of jet lag and got out of bed. I wondered what I should do. Besides, I felt awfully hungry, but there was nothing to eat apart from the leftover cookies from our in-flight meals. Reading a travel guide book, watching TV using my headphones, packing my suitcase,,,; when I was doing these to kill the time, my daughter woke up and got angry at me saying "be quiet!" Actually, she was right. The hands on the face of the clock on the wall seemed to be at a standstill.
　　Finally, it got past 6 o'clock. I went out to foray, and got something like a sandwich, the name of which I didn't remember. I just chose it in the showcase. Its taste was terrible, though they say, "Hunger finds no fault with the cookery." The picture is it!
　　One more thing, it was my first visit to Toronto and I found that almost all the signboards were written in two languages, English and French. Fliers found in the airport were also written in both languages. In Vancouver, I didn't notice this. The number of people who use French in everyday life would be larger than that in Vancouver.
　　Anyway, it would be troublesome to prepare two versions of everything.

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

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

Toronto

　　I'm always proud of my daughters, but the virtue of Japanese people hasn't allowed me to write about my daughters. Silence is most valued in Japan. Naturally, my daughters are alike. However, I'd like to write about my youngest daughter in this piece.

　　Each daughter has language skills respectively. The youngest one is really good at English and far above the average level of Japanese students, though she has not experienced learning abroad. The other day, she asked me to allow her to stay overseas for a month to learn English and told me that she had earned and saved enough money during two years after entering medical school. I was surprised at her resolution, but I said, "Yes, O.K. You can try anything you like." She seems to want to become able to do tough negotiations or discussions about serious issues in her field, medical science, in English. She chose Toronto in Canada as her study destination. That's because there are fewer Japanese in Toronto rather than other cities which noted language schools are located at.

　　However, her grandparents didn't want that. They are concerned about the security of foreign countries. Consequently, I ended up taking her to her homestay accommodation. Because the time difference is 11 hours between Japan and Toronto, we decided to visit Toronto several days earlier than the start day of her language school and enjoy sightseeing around Toronto; Prince Edward Island and Niagara Falls, while recovering from jet lag. When looking for something trendy in eastern Canada, I found a website of a Lions Club (link). Did they give me any recommendation?

(Vocabulary)
homestay accommodation  ホームステイ先

Guided Tour by Bicycle

　　Something has been booming in the past several years in my prefecture; The number of cyclists is increasing remarkably. My prefecture, Ehime, and Hiroshima prefecture are connected by a series of eleven bridges. I'll show you the website and I hope you'll see it. These bridges compose a part of the highway called "Shimanami Kaido", and they are getting popular across the country because these bridges are equipped with bicycle paths. You can cross the bridge as fast or slow as you want on foot or by bicycle. One of the giant companies manufacturing bicycles, GIANT from Taiwan, is going to set up its flagship store in Imabari City, which is the Ehime-side terminal point of Shimanami Kaido. I hope that lots of people from overseas visit here and enjoy the scenery of Seto Inland Sea.

　　I joined a guided tour today. With several guides, I'm free from feelings of anxiety such as injury, flat tires, unexpected physical problem and so on. Additionally they weave some amusement into the tour. I enjoyed cooking pizza myself on the way this time. There is an old shrine on the way, and I bought three charms called "helmet charms", which are getting popular.

　　I almost forgot, I met the mayor of Imabari City on the way. I'm happy to know that he is also a cyclist.

P.S. The CEO of GIANT visited Ehime to see Shimanami Kaido and announced that Shimanami would be a paradise for cyclists. I agree.

Shimanami Kaido:
http://www.go-shimanami.jp/global/english/index.html

The today's route:
http://kumo.typepad.jp/wadachi/Shimanami2012_05_06.html

(Vocabulary)
boom   《[自]通例進行形で》〈関心・人気が〉急に高まる
weave sth into sth  ＜計画など＞を＜…＞に織り込む
Weave some time alone into your routine.  一人になる時間を日常に織り込んでおきなさい．