Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Unfavorable Breakfast

　　I awoke at 4:00 in the morning due to jet lag. However, Yuri was in a deep sleep. It's always like this to my surprise, but Yuri can sleep well anytime and anywhere. This might be her special ability. Anyway, I spent the time writing e-mails and making preparations for today. The main job for today was to check into her dormitory where she'd live for one year, and buy her daily necessities. We had time until the appointment time, so we went out for a walk after breakfast, which wasn't good. The breakfast only consisted of animal protein and no vegetables. I was lost for words. It can't be good for the health. We stayed at this hotel last autumn and I remember that we got tired of eating the same breakfast every morning.

(Vocabulary)

make preparations  準備をする［整える］

Preparations are being made for the president's visit.  大統領の訪問に向けて準備が整えられている．

be lost for words  言葉に窮する［詰まる］

tired of (doing) sth  ＜…＞（すること）に飽きて, うんざりして

Döner Kebab

　　I had a regret that I had had during my last trip in Germany. It's the Döner Kebab which originates from Turkey. It looked nice to me, but I couldn't try to eat it. I hesitated to drop in at the stall, because I didn't know how to order it. It had lots of fillings and I didn't know the name of each one. Actually, I didn't need to be so tensed up, Yuri simply ordered by saying "Zwei(Two) Kebab". When I heard her saying so, I couldn't help laughing. It was very simple, but enough. Too much consideration is sometimes bad for me, and I think this hesitation might stonewall me from speaking foreign languages.

 

The Lunch

Hors d'oeuvre

German Potato Salad with smoked Salmon

ドイツ風ポテトサラダ　スモークサーモン添え

Green Tea Soba with Wasabi and Soba Sauce

茶蕎麦　山椒付き

Entree

Sliced Beef with green Pepper Sauce,

fried potato and Broccoli

牛肉薄切り　グリーンペッパーソース

ジャーマンポテトとブロッコリー添え

Dessert

Fresh Fruit

(Vocabulary)

Hors d'oeuvre   オードブル, 前菜

Entree  [C] アントレ (レストランの食事や正餐(せいさん)における主菜料理)

 

Eye Contact With The Pilot

　　I set off for Osaka at noon on ANA1636 from Matsuyama airport. The airplane was a DHC-8-Q400 made by Bombardier Aerospace. I had flown on this plane several times and I think it's suitable for short-range flights in a small country such as Japan. The place where it stopped in Osaka was a little away from the airport building and I got on the bus which was waiting for us just in front of the exit ladder. While the bus was waiting for the last passenger, I unintentionally saw the cockpit. At that time, I was eye to eye with the captain. His name was "Jason" or "Jake", though I didn't remember exactly, according to the chief purser's announcement before the flight. He greeted me politely in the Japanese way and gave me a good impression. Such a small incident makes my travel happier. I thought that I would use ANA again.

　　I am staying in a hotel near Kansai International Airport now. Tonight's dinner was sushi. Yuri will live in Germany for one year and I was afraid that she would miss Japanese food. Particularly, Freiburg, where she is going to stay, is located in the south of Germany, I mean, it's in the midst of mountains. I imagined that sushi wouldn't be good in Freiburg. When I visited Freiburg last time, I had my hands full with just staying, moving and coming back to Japan. So, this time, I'm going to try as many things as possible.

(Vocabulary)

set off 　出発する

exit ladder　〔船や飛行機の乗り降りに使うはしご〕

boarding ramp　（飛行機などの）

unintentionally  何気なく

be eye to eye  目と目が合う 

purser  船の事務長; 旅客機で客室乗務員のうち上級の者。

have one's hands full with ～のことで精いっぱいである 

 

Tonight's Meal

     The picture shows my midnight meal for tonight. I'm ready for medical emergencies now. To my surprise, this bread cost 120 yen, coming to 1.40 US$ converted at today's rate. Furthermore, my toaster cost only 20 US$. I'm worrying about having too inexpensive prices for goods. See also http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2008/01/toaster-oven.html

(Vocabulary)

come to __$ converted at today's rate  今日のレートで換算して＿ドルになる

 

Roast Beef and vegetables

     In this blog, I haven't taken the topic of food so often. When I saw a TV cooking program, I became aware of not knowing fundamental words for cooking. I decided to write something about food dishes this time.

     Look at the picture. It's a plate of roast meat and vegetables. It is not roasted yet. Just raw ones. As you see in the second picture,  solid fuel is put under the plate and it is ignited just after the opening of the party. Needless to say, it's a very simple dish and it would be easy for the kitchen staff. The solid fuel is small and looks not so strong, but it was enough for roasting something on the plate. If you don't take care, you'll over-roast them.

     It is a device for eating something hot and keeping it hot. If you eat the traditional Kaiseki, all the dishes are served from the kitchen keeping a suitable temperature, or the chef prepares some dishes just in front of you. However, we skimped on the money at this party, so the dishes became time- and labor-saving ones.

     This plate is made from stone. I've seen people in the developing world use extremely hot stones for their cooking, boiling, roasting, steaming and so on. I thought stones might retain the heat efficiently.

(Vocabulary)

briquette fuel  (バーベキューなどに使う) 豆炭, 練炭

skimp on  (金・時間・物などを) けちる

cooking[cookery] program/show  料理番組

steam  蒸す

retain heat  保温性が高い

retain  〈性質・権利など〉 を保つ, 維持する, 〈熱･水分など〉 を保つ, 逃さない

The building is designed to retain heat. その建物は熱を逃さないように設計されている．

(Jan. 12th 2010)

  

Sea Bream

     The Japanese word for sea bream, tai, sounds similar to the Japanese adjective "mede-tai", which means "felicity", and what is more it is auspiciously red in color. This fish is often used in celebrations. This dish is slowly-boild sea bream with Japanese sake and soy sauce. This was very good, but I thought, while writing this entry, that people who can't use chopsticks would hardly taste it. It must be very difficult to eat with knives and forks. Anyway, it was nice to eat it slowly over Japanese sake, while picking through it.

(Vocabulary)

sea bream 鯛

felicity  = happiness

auspicious   幸先(さいさき)のよい, 吉兆の

(Jan. 10th 2010)

 

A Portion

     Do you see the three small bowls just in front of you? The left one was made from seaweed and the right one was made from boiled sweet vegetables. The center was a cooked rice cake, which is the symbol of happiness in Japan. In other words, these dishes meant a gift from sea and land.

     The symbolic Japanese cuisine is called "Kaiseki", which is artistic because each dish is served individually with a small amout of carefully prepared and beautifully arranged food. Kaiseki requires many attendants. As soon as each dish is prepared, it must be served to everyone, keeping hot dishes hot, cold ones cold. So that the attendants always have to observe the guests and inform the kitchen staff when every guest finishes the dish. The dishes are served at everyone's pace.

     By the way, our party was planned with low cost and lots of dishes were put on the individual table at once. You'll see the thin transparent sheet on the raw food dish for protection from the dust and keeping it cool with refrigerant.

     If served traditionally, the three dishes that I mentioned in the opening paragraph would be served individually at first with a small glass of plum wine as the appetizer.

(Vocabulary)

bowl   深鉢, わん, どんぶり, (料理用の) ボウル

plum wine  梅酒

refrigerant  保冷剤

(Jan. 10th 2010)

 

Joint Party of Motor Sports-related Groups

     As I wrote several times before, I belong to an auto racing team. I'll report on the year-end party of my team this time because it was unusual.

     After the relatively big motor sports event was held in autumn by the concerted effort of several teams, these teams got together and had a year-end party. The picture was shot just before the party. Some attendants are preparing and checking all the dishes. They would serve some more dishes later. My hometown is noted for the oldest hot spring, Dogo Onsen. Most guests were in the hot spring at that time, and I got out of it a little earlier to take this picture.

     While I took pictures, I hit on a nice and informative idea that I would take every dish and add an explanation to it. It would be interesting to foreigners.

(Vocabulary)

concerted／combined effort  協力

informative  役立つ情報［知識］を与える, 有益な

(Jan. 9th 2010)

 

 

"I Don't Like Whale Meat"

     Japan has a big problem now. The present ruling party adopts the lefty policies. People who were angry with the economic policies of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP, the former dominant party) had voted for the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) with intense disciplinary feeling in August. Consequently, the DPJ got the power. Moreover, the DPJ had taken other lefty parties into its regime. Now, the Prime Minister, Hatoyama, is repeating nonsense and anti-Japanese comments one after another.

     By the way, both Koreas and China has the tradition of eating dogs. They say that dogs are nutritious and nice to keep fit on a sweltering hot day. I imagine that dogs for them are just like eels for Japanese. I have a dog and I'm sorry to hear that, but it is their tradition. I have nothing to tell them.

     The title of this entry is Mr. Hatoyama's official words to foreign countries which accuse Japan of whale hunting. Japan has had the culture of utilizing whales not only as food but also daily necessities. Japanese people have never wasted them. The price of the meat had been lower than cows and pigs, and whale meat had been the food of ordinary people. Mr. Hatoyama was born into a very rich family that has produced famous politicians. I think he might not need to eat the whale meat. However, he is now the Prime Minister of Japan. He should not say so. I'm suspicious of his qualifications as The Prime Minister.

(Vocabulary)

disciplinary  懲罰の

qualification  資質

on a sweltering hot day  うだるような暑い日

Airplane and Flight Meal

Today's Route

     As I wrote in the previous entry, I had to kill time at the boarding gate. I was taking pictures of our airplane. After the loading of meals and drinks, the stowage of the baggage began just  in front of me. At that time, a staff member of the airport stopped his towing carts and opened the door of a cart. He started taking the baggage out of the cart. What? When I was gazing at him, several people noticed him and got together around me. What's happening?  Someone told us that the authorities must have received a bomb warning or something like that. He was apparently joking, but a lady was really angry at him. I got a scare, not from the bomb story, but from her acid words. At the same time, I thought that the words that came out of the mouth with strong breath were just like what the pronunciation should be. The pronunciation of Japanese people is completely the contrary. What I mean is, as Japanese  people talk they don't exhale strongly. I think this is one of the reasons why most Japanese aren't good at speaking English. Anyway, the airport's official took two bags out of his cart and put  the other baggage back. Flight meals of the return flight were also as good as outward. I'm not sure now, but I would probably choose Lufthansa if they have a flight to the place I want to go.

(Vocabulary)

stowage  (船などの) 収納［積み荷］スペース; 収納, 積み込み

bomb warning  爆破予告

get a scare   ぎょっとする

outward flight  行きのフライト

Dinner

Today's Route

     We just wandered around the Old City, looking for a nice place for dinner. The first picture is of the opera house that we found by chance. It looked like it had a long history and I hoped that I would enjoy an opera there someday. The next two pictures  are of the shops that engaged Yuri's interest. She is 21 years old, but looked like a low teen. She was looking for candies for her sisters in the pictures. While I laughed  at her saying "You look like an ant that gathers around sweets", I was told that the things in the pictures were like a magnet for me. Actually I was interested in how to adjust the power of charcoal fires on the barbecue in the next two pictures and I was gazing at it for more  than ten minutes. Someone might be wondering if I was a beggar or someone who was hungry at that time.  Anyway, the barbecue man was moving the grill up and down, and sometimes rotating it. It was a nice idea. We had various kinds of food from street stalls tonight. I looked for the domestic dish, 'wiener schnitzel', but couldn't find it. I'll try next time. The  man in the last picture also attracted me. It was really the country of sausages as might be expected.

(Vocabulary)

engage  [他](フォーマル) 〈人〉 を魅了する

engage sb's interest/attention   ＜人＞の興味［注意］をひく

grill  (肉などを焼く) グリル, 焼き網

as might be expected  さすがに

Dinner

Today's Route

     We got back to Freiburg by ICE (InterCity Express, the German superexpress train) that we had transferred to from an ordinary train at Offenburg. We didn't need to make haste, but the French Rail person decided so without asking us. Anyway, it was all right because we reached our hotel.

     When I entered our room, I found 41 Euro in the envelope on the bed on which only my name was written. As soon as I saw it, I understood it  was from Steiert, but there was no apology. I didn't miss the 41 Euro. Would one who misses 41 Euro come to Germany from Japan? I really wanted to be apologized to for the sudden cancellation. I think that the firm that never apologizes for its own fault shouldn't be trusted. What would they do in a case of a more serious accident?

     We went out for dinner and headed for the Old City in accordance with my rule that you should have domestic or local dishes when you are out for a trip. We took seats in a restaurant near the Cathedral and ordered two kinds of domestic dishes  like the pictures. They were so delicious and went with Badisch wines. I shared the dishes with my daughter. This was the last dinner in Freiburg.

     The last picture shows the sign saying the present condition of the air. It looked like we were in a clean environment.

(Vocabulary)

transfer  [自] (電車・バス・飛行機などを) 乗り換える

He had transferred from the Oslo plane.  彼はオスロから来た飛行機を乗り換えていた．

apologize for (doing) sth  ＜…＞（したこと）を謝罪する

apologize to sb (for sth)  （＜…＞について）＜人＞に謝罪する

I think you should apologize to your brother.  君はお兄さんに謝るべきだよ．

in accordance with sth  ＜規則・制度など＞に従って, のっとって

go with  ～と調和する、～と釣り合う、～によく合う

Spicy food goes with beer.  ビールによく合う

Dinner

Today's Route

     We had dinner at an Italian restaurant on Eisenbahn street. The pastas we ate here were really good and the waiter was also nice. It's rare in Japan to have dinner in the dark outside, but I felt that it was not so bad. The autumnal breeze was comfortable. After dinner we got back to the station and dropped in at a bakery. It was an ordinary bakery, I thought, but it was also fun for us to see a strange bakery.

Lunch

Today's Route

     We had lunch at the restaurant in the picture. Inside the restaurant was decorated with flowers. I thought it wasn't easy to prepare flowers on every table every day. The day on which I visited here was Monday and wasn't any special day. Flowers would be set like this every day regardless of whether it was a weekday or the weekend. The label of the wine I had at that time said "BODENSEE", "BADEN" and "Konstanz". It was a real local wine and tasted good. I ate Brezel for the first time. You can see it on the left of the wine. I keenly realized that you shoud try anything local if you went out for a trip.

(Vocabulary)
regardless of   …に関係なく, …にかかわらず, …にはおかまいなしに
keenly realize  つくづく思う

Dinner

Today's Route

     I asked a hotel person to launder my shirt because I had an appointment to see an acquaintance two days later, but she only told us the name of the laundry shop, which opened after we left the hotel and closed before coming back to the hotel. After all, I couldn't use the laundry shop. I thought that the hotel should do the laundry on commission. I gave up on the laundry and headed for the Altstadt to have dinner on a different street from the Eisenbahn Strasse. There was something that baffled me. I didn't see cars so often in the Altstadt. Not a few people lived in this area and there were many shops. How did they bring their merchandise to their shops? By a horse-powerd coach? I hardly saw parking lots around the Altstadt. When I saw the signboard in the first picture, I got it. There must have been parking lots underground and they were big enough. The second picture shows an applicant in the election. The phrase on the board looked like "Yes, we can" by Barack Fusein Obama, and it evoked our laughter. We had dinner at a traditional restaurant near the small corridor of water. Nice beer and nice dishes. Yuri doesn't drink alcohol beverages, but my eldest daughter, Eri, likes them. If I were with Eri, we might not be stopping drinking until late.

(Vocabulary)
launder  (formal)(衣類など)を洗濯する, 洗ってアイロンをかける
sale on commission 取次販売
give up on sb/sth ＜…＞に見切りをつける
baffle (人) を当惑させる, 戸惑わせる
merchandise [U](フォーマル)  (店頭で販売される) 商品
evoke 〈感情・記憶など〉 を呼び起こす, 喚起する
corridors of water 水路

Walking in Freiburg 3

Today's Route

     We decided to have lunch at the restaurant that was located at Schlossberg Bahn station. The weather was fine and it was rather hot. I took my jacket off and put it into my daypack. My shirt got wet with perspiration and it was the only formal wear I had. As soon as I took a seat, I ordered a local beer. Next, I ordered Wuerst (German sausage), but I couldn't make myself understood. I was sorry, but it was natural because I didn't distinguish the pronunciation between W and B, with and without the umlaut. I knew that I had to learn diligently. These pronunciations are said to be the weak point of Japanese, but I'd like to manage to master them. Eventually, we asked a waitress for something domestic and local. Pictures show the dishes that were served. It was the end of September, but it was hot like in the midst of summer. The sunshade was unfolded. We enjoyed a nice lunch overlooking the beautiful scenery. After lunch, we went down to the city and wandered around there. The sixth picture was the simple sign of a multi-tenant building. There was almost no commercial sign boards in the city, and I thought it contributed to the relaxing scenery. The next picture was of the McDonalds'. We didn't try it, but is the taste the same as in Japan? I've had the McDonalds' hamburger in Squamish and Whistler in Canada and it was just the same taste as Japan's. Anyway, we were surprised that it existed everywhere. The next picture was the shop handling Japanese goods. The next two pictures show a care facility for aged people. The Altstadt created the atmosphere like a museum, but it was also the space for real life. The next two pictures show the house supporting Tibetans. I couldn't fully understand their activity, but it looked like an NGO or something. Most Japanese politicians are flattering the Chinese communists party, but on the other hand, the German Prime Minister Angela Merkel can stand up and boldly express her opinion against the tyrants of Chinese Communists. On this point, I envy the German people who have a great leader. The General Election of Germany seemed to be held on this day. I really hoped that her party, CDU, would win the victory. I'll show you some pictures in the Altstadt next and look at the vertically long picture which shows "H". Here was the tram stop where we tried to get on a tram. No one paid the fare. What's going on about the fare? We got off at the third or fourth station and got back to the Hbf. Our move was recored on the data logger and I'll show you on this blog. You can see it at "Today's Route" link above. We went back to the hotel by tram and checked in. The last picture is of our hotel (brown building) and the main station from the tram stop.

(Vocabulary)
overlook 〈部屋・窓などが〉 …を見下ろす, 見渡す
Our room overlooks the ocean.  私たちの部屋からは海が見下ろせる．
multi-tenant building  雑居ビル
relaxing scenery  落ち着いた景観
create かもしだす
real  実際の, 現実の; 実在の, (架空ではなく) 現実の, リアルな
vertically long  縦長の

Dinner

     We checked in at the Savoy Hotel near Frankfurt Hbf at first and went out for a walk. It was crowded just in front of the station, but the street from the station to the Altstadt (old city) wasn't. The street was not so clean and I felt that this street might not be good for security at night. Anyway, we wandered from our hotel to the Altstadt, the main sightseeing point. I took lots of pictures and I stuck some of them on the map. You can maginify the map. Try it. http://kumo.typepad.jp/Euro09/Osaka_Frankfurt.html
     The first picture is Frankfurt Hbf. I wondered when this station had been built. The wall clock showed 16:35. We arrived at Frankfurt airport at 15:30, so it meant it took only an hour from the airport to here. The airport was really convenient, I thought.
     While we took a walk in the Altstadt, we decided to have our first dinner in Germany in Roemer Platz. The second picture was the menu of the restaurant. The beer and dinner on this night, next. I don't remember the names of the dishes, but they were delicious. The vehicle in the following picture was driven by man-power. People in the vehicle were pedaling over a beer, though some were goofing off. I was afraid they really enjoyed beer. The moment I saw them, a tram was just coming and they were forced to pedal at maximum power. It was funny. We came across a motorcycle on the way. It was a BMW, which I wanted. It was natural. That was BMW country! The last picture was of a hotel that we just happened to see and it looked very gorgeous.

(Vocabulary)
goof off  （仕事などを）さぼる

Rice Balls

Today's Route

     The picture is the beer that I drank with a rice ball. Rice balls were served whenever I wanted them all the way. Rice balls are called "Onigiri" in Japanese, but is this word "Onigiri" well known in the world? The menu says so in the part of English and German. I heard of some apparently German ones called "onigiri". It might be possible because the German people in this plane must have stayed in Japan for a certain number of days or years.

Lunch

Today's Route

     The menu in the picture was delivered two hours after the boarding. What do you think of this menu? I didn't expect much because an in-flight meal was an in-flight meal. It had been cooked a few hours before and would be ready only by heating just before serving. I didn't think that it could be delicious, but I was wrong. The lunch was not bad. I had a small bottle of beer and two cups of red wine. I enjoyed them and thought of Germany that I'd never been to.

(Vocabulary)
in-flight meal 機内食