Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

To Korean Readers

한글  문자를  표시하기  위해서,  무엇인가  특별한  소프트가  필요하다고  생각했지만,   윈도우즈에  표준으로  부속되어  있었어요.
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자기소개를  써봐요.
저는  KUMO(닉네임) 라고  합니다.  일본  사람  입니다.
에히메현  마쓰야마시에  살고  있습니다.  직업은  외과의  입니다.  위나 대장 간장 등을 수술 합니다.  가족이  다섯명  입니다.  딸이  세명  있습니다.  각각  대학생  고교생  중학생  입니다.  장녀는  동경의  대학에  다니고  있어서,  지금은  네명이  살고  있습니다.

저의  취미는  많이  있습니다.  먼저  등산  입니다.  삼십년전  부터  산에  오르고  있습니다.  최고도달고도 는 3954 미터 입니다.  산에서  먹는  식사  와  마시는  술은  맛있습니다.  산의  친구둘은  최고  입니다.  언젠가  히말라야에  오르는  것이  저의  꿈  입니다.  꿈은  클수록  좋거든요.

다음은  바이크  입니다.  대학생  시절에  운전면허를  따서,  계속  타고  있습니다.  결혼  하고나서  부터는  삼년에  한번정도  바이크로  여행하고  있습니다.

금년  여름은  아오모리현,  이년후에는  한국를  오토바이로　달립닐게요.

그리고  스키도  합니다.  삼월에는  카나다로  스키를  갔어요.  스키도  학생시절에  시작했어요.   그러니까  이제　20년  이상에  됩니다.

잘  부탁  합니다.

Mercedes-Benz

     I have a 15 year old Mercedes-Benz 420SEL. As you know, this car is made in Germany, and it's the first time I have owned such an imported car. I thought every imported car didn't have enough of a support system in case of a breakdown and cost a lot. It's the reason why I didn't own a foreign automobile. However, lately I often see foreign cars running in the streets of this local city.
     To tell the truth, the former owner of this car is my English teacher who taught me how to pronounce English. He is over 70 and the best English teacher I've ever met. Besides, he is a good skier and showed me how to ski long ago. I went skiing in Canada with him last March.
     In Canada, sad to say, he was not good at skiing, because he had an eye problem. I heard he wanted to give up driving cars because of his eye problem.
     He has been giving good maintenance to this car and this car is well conditioned. I decided to buy this car.
     I am struggling to do the official procedure to change the ownership of the car now. Everytime I bought a car, I always asked someone else to do this procedure. Because I wanted to save money, I'm going to do it this time myself.

Cold

     I make it a rule to speak in English a couple of times a month. I joined the English speaking meeting last night. It was relatively cold. It must be getting warmer this time of the year.
     I go to work by car with my wife every morning. My wife usually goes back home by commuter train because our finish time is uncertain every day. However, because she had to get some necesities and food yesterday, she went back by car to drop in the shopping center on the way home. Consequently I had to use a commuter train. It takes 20 minutes' walk to the station. While I was walking, I felt like drinking some alcohol to warm myself. I have some regular drinking spots near the meeting place. I dropped in at the bar on exposure to the unseasonal cold.
     I got back at midnight, terribly cold with only a thin shirt. It follows that I caught a bad cold.

Funeral Service

     Though the funeral service is usually performed by one or two priests, her burial rite was quite different from others. Because she was 95 and a wife of a Buddhist monk who went to heaven 10 years ago, the funeral service was gorgeous. More than 20 priests attended and intoned a sutra. They didn't need any microphones. Their voices were strong and loud. The sutra was echoing throughout the temple yard.

(Vocabulary)
burial rite  葬式
funeral service  葬儀、葬式
intone  ～に抑揚をつける、詠唱する、歌うような声で言う
intone a sutra  お経を読む

Wake

     I attended a wake for my Grandma who passed away yesterday. After I got off work, I threw on a dark suit really quickly and picked my wife up at her office. Her house is 1 hour and a half away from my office and it was about 8 o'clock in the evening by the time I got there.
     The Buddhist sutra had already finished. Many mourners were sitting around her body and chatting about her. In life, she was a great person. She married into the buddhist family when she was only 18. She had played an important background role at the buddhist temple for 70 years!
     I was happy to hear many stories when she was young from her neighbors. I heard about myself. The neighbors of the temple knew about my childhood. They know what I don't remember. I seemed to be a child full of mischief.

(Vocabulary)
wake  お通夜
Buddhist sutra  経典、お経

My Grandma

     She kicked the bucket suddenly this morning. I couldn't believe that news because I'd heard she was keeping fit lately. Three of six of her sons and daughters were away from home when she passed away. My parents are in Prague in the Czech Republic just now. I decided not to tell them about this after a great deal of thought. Even if I called them, they could never attend the funeral ceremony. There are no direct flights between Prague and Japan. If there were, it would take one day to get back to their home town. They are enjoying sightseeing and visiting some places related to Mozart. This is their long-expected tour. I asked the tour company that organized this tour to make them call me just after their arrival in Japan.
     I'm afraid they would be disappointed and get depressed to hear about her death.

I'm Home

     It's worthy of special mention that my dog expressed heavenly bliss at seeing us. It's reasonable because we suddenly disappeared from him and he never knew why we were out.
     Anyway, I'm so sleepy! Of course it must be due to jet lag. I picked up souvenirs for my co-workers out of my baggage and crashed out on my bed.

Daylight Saving Time

     We were going to get on the plane which left for Japan at 12:15. It takes about 2 hours from Whistler to Vancouver International Airport. We had a reservation from the transport service at 7:00. We asked the transport company to pick us up in front of our condo. A minivan arrived on time.
When the driver got out of the minivan, I asked him to show us around Squamish, which is located midway between Vancouver and Whistler, or drive around Stanley Park on the way to the airport, but he replied that we didn't have enough time to do so. I didn't know we were on Daylight Savings Time now.  Our plane wouldn't leave at 12:15 as now the departure time had changed to 11:15. Consequently the boarding time was 10:25. We arrived at the airport at about 9 o'clock. The procedures of departure and a strict security check were waiting for us. I felt pressured. Actually the security check was stricter than before. I was very sorry not to be able to have enough time to enjoy shopping at the airport.

The Last Ski Day

     Today was the last day in Whistler. Time flies when I am happy. I went up Blackcomb mountain until noon, and took a walk in the village and the forest in the afternoon. My youngest daughter, Annlie, wanted to join the ski school. I was so surprised to know that. She can't speak English very well. She certainly doesn't have a fearful bone in her body. She must have thought the way of teaching skiing at the Whistler ski school was completely different from that of Japan. We sometimes came across the ski school group when we were skiing or were on the ski lift. They sometimes showed up from the woods or somewhere we didn't think was a skiing place. They were really enjoying the snow. The instructors were showing not only how to ski but also how enjoyable the snow was. After getting back from school, Annlie said that she wanted to go back next year and get into the school, and she would learn English more and more to make friends with English speaking people. After a gorgeous dinner and a jacuzzi, I started packing the bags. I had to get back down to earth.

 

3rd Ski Day

     The weather was a blizzard on top of Blackcomb. I couldn't see the surface of the snow. I had to ski down looking at my feet. I felt a little scary. I went back sheepishly to my condo about noon. One of my buddies is a great breadmaker. My daughters are learning how to make bagels from him. I enjoyed taking a walk around the village or in the forest with snowshoes. At night I saw my daughters washing with an electric washing machine. I wondered why it was so noisy.

I'm so tired!

She is making bread.

Surprise Party

     The weather is cloudy and sometimes snowing. Though we went up to the top of Blackcomb Mountain, we couldn't enjoy a panoramic view of the mountains. However, the snow conditions were wonderful. It must have snowed last night and today is the birthday of my youngest daughter. I and my buddies had a surprise party for her.

 

First Ski Day

     It's fine weather. I'm lucky. I went up Whistler mountain with my buddies, my daughters, and a video camera. I could take beautiful movies and enjoy the comfortable atmosphere to my heart's content. However, my jet lag is serious. I fell down twice on an easy course. Something is wrong with me.

     The photo was taken at the top of Whistler Mountain.

Sushi Bar

     Just after getting on the bus, I fell deeply asleep like in a coma. I found myself at Creekside just before getting to Whistler. I'd like to have enjoyed seeing out of the window, but I couldn't. I knew that I was seriously suffering from jet lag. Anyway I could see my ski buddies and my daughters. Tonight's dinner was sushi. Sushi is very popular for Japanese but Canadian sushi is good too. Vancouver is famous for good sea food.  Can you imagine what's a caterpillar roll or spider roll? Of course both were so delicious. This time, I made a big mistake. I left my dictionary in Japan. I'm going to correct this blog after returning to Japan.

     The photo shows caterpillar rolls.

 

Back in Vancouver

     I'm back in Vancouver. I had jet lag trouble, but enjoyed the beautiful scenery of Vancouver Island and a ferry in Horseshoe Bay. My group, except me, are already in Whistler. They chartered a minivan this time, but I have got to go there alone due to my work. I'm waiting for the bus now.

Kansai International Airport(KIX)

     I'm in KIX for the first time in five years. I flew to Hokkaido last time with my motorcycle. There are several new things. Firstly, there are many Korean characters. I'm not sure, but that feeling of mine might be because I'm learning Korean. Japanese, Korean, English, and Chinese are on most information boards. I'm trying to add all of those Korean words into my vocabulary. It seems that Korea has become closer to Japan. The second is internet accessibility. I can access the internet freely. Incredible! I can access any information freely with my cellphone, M1000.

Prep Done

     I just finished all of the prep now at 1 o'clock after midnight.  I have to get on the plane at 8:15 in the morning and have to be in the Airport at least by 7:30.

Arrested?

     I got an e-mail from my youngest daughter in Canada. She writes that one of her group was kept under restraint by police at immigration. She was allegedly considered to be bringing drugs into Canada.  A drug detecting dog caught the smell of drugs from her backpack. She seemed to be questioned for about one hour. After one hour's investigation she was released. She had brought rice balls and soft-boiled eggs in her backpack. The drug detecting dog seemed to point out the smell of it.
     By the way, how did my youngest daughter feel about this incident? She loves dogs and wants to become a vet in the future. She wrote to me, "Dogs are great!" I shared laugh with my wife.

Depature

     Two of my daughters left for Canada this morning. The one has been in Vancouver once 10 years ago. The other left for Vancouver for the first time in two years. I and my wife saw them to the airport. They will get together with my friends at Kansai International Airport in Osaka and then fly to Vancouver. I felt a little anxiety about their trip without their parents. To tell the truth, I reluctantly agreed to their trip. The proverb says "If you love your child, send him out on a journey". I'll obey this proverb this time.

 

Rental Cell Phone

     I rented a cellphone for communicating with my daughters who are going to visit Canada this weekend. I don't know the details about the roaming service of cellphones abroad. Anyway, it is very convenient. I can talk to them anytime, besides sending and receiving e-mails. Moreover the phone number and mail address are the same as those of the phone which one of my daughter is using in Japan.

So Many Visitors

     I cleaned my house today because 14 friends of my eldest daughter will come to my house and stay the night. They are members of the karuta club, "Tohdai karuta kai". They will attend the annual competition held here in Matsuyama city the next day.
The basic idea of any karuta game is to be able to quickly determine which card, out of an array of cards, is required and then to grab the card before it is grabbed by an opponent.
Anyway, I have many things to do. I must rent futons. A futon is a type of mattress that makes up a Japanese bed. I must order sushi. I have to buy beer and some drinks.