Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Landmark

Today's Route

     I expected to see many landmarks between Japan and Germany though I didn't know the exact flight route. I had a rough idea about the route like the Korean Peninsula, Eastern Siberia, Mongolia, the Urals and Eastern Europe. I picked up some places that were thought to be seen from the plane. I memorized the shape of the land and their terrain, but in vain. I couldn't see the Great wall of China and Lake Baikal. When the plane reached the north of Lake Baikal, I looked for something recognisable below, but clouds were hanging low. I could only see the mountainous area in the north of Lake Baikal. I tried to find something for about ten minutes. I was not sure, but the area that was seen to be like a white plain might be Lake Baikal. Judging from the flight information that was shown on the screen, I believed it. However, I could see the cold desert of western Siberia breaking through the clouds. The flight was very smooth and comfortable.
     I had something to worry about. It was the setting of my data logger and its software. This device had to record two types of movement in one day. One was the moving that moves smoothly at a speed of up to 1000 km/h and never stops and turns at a right angle. The other was a man's walking that sometimes stops and turns in every direction and its speed was only up to 6 km/h. This data logger was set to record the position every second and the software displays the route on the screen after thinning out the data. This procedure of thinning out is necessary for ordinary personal computers. It takes a huge time to plot all the data on the screen. I haven't achieved mastery of this software and can just use it automatically. I'll post the route of this day here: http://kumo.typepad.jp/Euro09/Osaka_Frankfurt.html
     As I expected, the radiowave from the GPS satellites was unstable in the midst of high buildings, trees and underground. I think the data might be modified to some extent, but it's beyond me now. I'm showing our trace from now on and understand it sweepingly.

(Vocabulary)
terrain  (ある特色を持った) 地形, 土地
difficult/rough/mountainous/rocky terrain
困難な地形［起伏の多い土地，山地，岩地］
recognisable すぐにそれとわかる, 見覚えがある
hang low 雲が低く垂れ込めている
plain  平原
cold desert / tundra 〔通例the ～〕  ツンドラ
breaking through the clouds 雲の合間から
at a right angle  直角に
thin out  （苗木などを）間引く
achieve [acquire, gain] a mastery of  ～に精通する
to some extent/to an extent   ある程度
sweepingly  おおざっぱに

Flight Information

Today's Route

     I sometimes took pictures of the screen of the flight information. I only knew many names of places, but I felt happy to think that I was just near those places. When the places I knew were coming near, I looked down from the window, but I didn't find anything that would be some landmark like Lake Baikal or the Great Wall of China.

(Vocabulary)
Lake Baikal  バイカル湖
Chinese Wall / the Great Wall of China 万里の長城

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

Toilet

Today's Route

     The pictures show the toilet in the center of the fuselage. Do you know where it was? It lay under the cabin. It was interesting to me and I took pictures. Some attendants looked at me and were smiling. "OK, All right, I'm a country boy," I mumbled with a smile.

(Vocabulary)
fuselage  (飛行機の) 胴体, 機体
country boy 田舎者
mumble [他] …を［と］もぐもぐ言う, つぶやく

 

A340-600

Today's Route

     The title is the type of the plane that we boarded. "A" might stands for Airbus, the European aircraft maker. I didn't have any experience to use this type, and so it was also my pleasure to get on this plane.
     When I saw the inside, my first impression was neat and tidy. This plane had just arrived from Frankfurt, but it was kept clean. I'd used Air Canada and the former Canadian Airlines four or five times totally but I didn't feel like this. Something trivial like this made us happy.
     The thing that I was astonished at next was its audio system. I could pick my favorite movie out of like twenty movies also on Air Canada, but they seemed to be running all the time. That was to say, I couldn't start watching them whenever I liked. Naturally I couldn't pause them. However, Lufthansa's was different. It looked like every seat had their own DVDs and a DVD player. I could start watching movies anytime, and could pause it anytime. When something was served or I was spoken to, this function was gratifying.

(Vocabulary)
pause  [他] 〈CD・ビデオなど〉 を一時停止にする

Lufthansa

Today's Route

     We got to the airport. As usual, I took the FOMA card out of my usual cell phone and inserted it into another cell phone, M1000. The FOMA card was a kind of IC card in which my ID was imprinted. My usual phone can't be used overseas and I had to change the phone. After that, we changed our money into Euros. I saw Euro bills for the first time. The thing that we did next was to get an outlet adaptor. The shape of the Japanese outlet is different from that of Germany. But for this, I can't plug in any electrical devices. Additionally, the German voltage is 230V to the Japanese 100V. Most of my rechargers of my mobile PC, electric shaver, cell phone and digital cameras were made for use between 100V to 240V. I knew the reason at that time. It means that it was produced for world common usage.
     In the following several entries, I'm going to write about my impression of Lufthansa, the plane itself, meals and the route of the flight.

(Vocabulary)
outlet (米) (電気の) コンセント, 差し込み口
plug in  コンセントにつなぐ
recharger 充電器

GPS Receiver

     We were showed into a first class cabin. This trip was a precious opportunity and I didn't want to lose it. I mean, I was afraid of the theft of our luggage. It was the main reason that I picked this room. This room was designed for two people equipped with bunk beds and wasn't bad, but I'm sorry, I forgot to take a picture of this room.
     I set the GPS Data Logger on at first. Next, I changed my clothes into yukata (simple kimono) and had a light meal and a beer in the restaurant. The Data Logger is a device for recording your position. The data that was recorded by it will be shown below. This is from when I switched on off the coast of Matsuyama to when I exchanged batteries into long-life ones at the Kansai International Airport. The discontinuity is due to battery exhaustion. When I happened to wake up, I found it and exchanged them. After getting off the ship, I took a tram at the port and next got in a taxi to the nearest station of Nankai Railroad. The driver made a mistake and this device recorded it. I think you can find where he made a mistake. The picture shows our ship. Our route from Matsuyama city to Kansai International Airport was like this: http://kumo.typepad.jp/Euro09/Home_Osaka.html

(Vocabulary)
bunk beds / double-deck bed  二段ベッド
bunk
[C] (列車・船などの) 寝台, 寝棚
[C] 二段ベッドの一方 = bunk bed

Digital Camera

Today's Route

     Our plane will take off at 10:20 on Sep. 26th from Kansai International Airport(KIX). There's a flight from Matsuyama that arrives at KIX at about 9:00, but if something happens and the domestic flight was delayed, we can't get on the plane. Thinking about this, we chose the ferry as a sure transportation between Matsuyama and Osaka.
     I usually do the overseas trip preparations to divide our possessions into three parts. The first is the suitcase. It's for the stuff that I don't need in the plane and can live without for a few days. The second is the daypack for carry-on. As I wrote before, I got a new one the other day. This is always with me and essential stuff are put in. Lastly, I carried some necessities; a wallet, credit cards, a watch, a pair of glasses, a cell phone and so on into my pockets. Just when I was doing this, my parents visited my house to give their granddaughter, Yuri, 500 Euros. While we were chatting with them, I failed to put my digital camera in my pocket.
     My wife sent us to the port and when we were about to get on the ferry, I found I didn't have my digital camera. I was so surprised and asked my wife to fetch it. It's about fifteen minutes' drive between my house and the port. The depature time was 21:10 and it was 20:30. She went back in haste and came back at 21:05. I received it on the street and ran and ran and ran to the ferry. It was a breath-stopping run.

I'm Home!

     I'm writing this article on Oct. 4th in my office. I came back to Japan yesterday and started working today, but I'm suffering from serious jet lag now. Fortunately, it is Sunday and the ward is stationary. I can take a nap. When I visited Canada before, I was always like this for two days. The flight toward the east seems to be worse for me than toward the west. When I was going to Canada, I usually tried to sleep enough during the flight so as to enjoy skiing from the first day, but this time I took it lightly and didn't sleep well to see the scenery from the window of the plane. Under the light of the moon, from the jet plane moving at the speed of 900 km/h, I took pictures. What are they like? I'm going to post them after specifing their locations from the data of the GPS.
     I took rough notes during the trip and I'm going to write up articles from them and post them at the time and the date when I recorded those notes. Now, shall I start to write about the incident that happened when we were just about to leave Matsuyama city.

(Vocabulary)
take it lightly  軽く考える
specify the location of ～の場所を特定する
write up the report レポートを清書する

Leave

     I'm taking a leave for about a week and will re-start writing around Oct. 5th. I'm going to report lots of things about my trip. I'll write at least ten articles with pictures per day after coming back to Japan.
     I'm not sure, but I can't read e-mails in Germany. I don't know whether I can connect to the internet during my trip and moreover, numerous kinds of beer are waiting for me in the midst of Octoberfest.

My rough schedule:
Sep. 25th    Leave for Osaka
26th  Leave for Frankfurt and stay in Frankfurt
27th~30th  Stay in Freiburg
Oct. 1st Move to Frankfurt
2nd  Leave for Japan

German Keyboard

     My computer is set for the Japanese and Korean languages. Beside them, I added German as you might imagine. You might think that the letters in German are the same as English, but some of the German alphabet has a specific code, an umlaut. I had to modify the language system of my PC. After the modification, I typed every key and found where the keys of umlaut and another special letter are. At this time, I found the exchange of Z and Y. I was surprised to know that. At first I suspected that my PC didn't work well.
     To think calmly, it is natural. The frequency of the usage of Z and Y in German is far different. The appearance of Z is a whole lot more than that of Y.
     A few decades ago, the same number of keyboards as the languages must have been required though I write something in Japanese, Korean and German with one single keyboard now. The effect of software is really wonderful, I believe.

Bus Tour

     As I wrote several times before, I'm planning to visit Germany for the first time. My destination is Freiburg City. It is a small city which is located near the Black Forest in the southwest of Germany. I picked the city from among many places because the city is the sister city of my hometown. If the city is big or famous for sightseeing, there would be ready-made tour programs from lots of tour companies. However, to our regret, the city is not so big as Frankfurt and not so famous as Schloß Neuschwanstein. It means that we had to set it up all by ourselves.
     Germany has been the country of dreams for me since I started to learn German about 30 years ago, but I didn't have an opportunity to visit. My second daughter, Yuri, is majoring in German culture and told me this Spring that she wanted to visit the country. Consequently, I attended the reception for the friendship mission from Freiburg this April and figured out the outline of the city.
     Yuri is a beginner learner of German and I plotted to get her to make the plan during our five day stay in Freiburg. She tried to communicate with a tour company in German and it was maybe successful, I think though I made sure by an e-mail written in English. (grin)
     The essential reservations, like air tickets, hotels and trains were already done, but we have something to worry about. The number of passengers of the bus tour isn't enough for the company at present. If the number doesn't reach a certain amount, the tour will be cancelled. We had to think about a replacement.

(Vocabulary)
essential  不可欠な, 必須の

Wonderful Shoes

     I knew that my shoes haven't worn down flat since long ago. They always started to wear down from the outside. Everyone has their own way of walking and I didn't worry about it at all, but I realized that I easily got blisters. I wrote about my blister here. (link)
     Last year, I knew a German Meister about making shoes. He appeared in the German educational program which I was watching to learn German. He accommodates individualized orders from their way of walking. He says, "It's not uncommon that the size of both feet differs." While watching the program, I got to want to undergo his consultation, but he lives in Tokyo. It was not easy to commute to his office.
     The other day, I found the Meister's associated shop here in Matsuyama by chance. I dropped in at the shop and had a total check of my feet. As I expected, my way of walking is not good. No one had pointed it out, and I didn't feel any pain in my ankles, knees and hip joints. However, the sizes of both feet are different. The length of my feet are the same, but there's a difference in diameter at the Lisfranc and Metatarsophalangeal joints. I was surprised and decided to have some shoes made.
     The picture shows my new shoes. I tried to walk for about 40 minutes with them on. I don't know how to explain the feeling of the shoes, but it's like wearing the best ski boots. They fit my feet up to the plantar arch. On the other hand, how about their design? They are very good functionally, but do they look nice? Why can't craftsmen make them fashionable? Is it the German way?
     At any rate, I can't wait to take a walk on the stone-paved streets in Germany with them on.

(Vocabulary)
accommodate
1 [他] 〈建物・乗り物などが〉 …を収容する, 〈ホテルなどが〉 …を宿泊させる
The hotel can accommodate 200 people.
そのホテルは200人宿泊できる．
2 [他] 〈意見・要求など〉 を受け入れる
3 [他] 〈人〉 に便宜を図る
accommodate individualized needs  一人一人のニーズに合わせる
in diameter  太さが違う
Metatarsophalangeal joints  中足趾節関節
Lisfranc joint
Tarsometatarsal joints 足根中足関節
arch of a foot（足の）/ plantar arch  土踏まず

New Daypack

     As I wrote before, my favorite daypack was broken at its fastener. It was impossible to be mended and I decided to throw it away and get a new one. I'd used it for about fifteen years, and it must be its life span.
     I'll leave for Germany soon, and I bought the one in the picture. I bought it at an outdoor gear shop. I thought that all the daypacks were made for outdoor activities like hiking or climbing. It's not the case about this one. This daypack has a special space made for mobile PCs inside. It's suitable for me. I'll take my mobile PC to stock pictures, GPS data and trip notes so as to guard against the danger of memory overflow. I'll transfer their data into my PC and send them to the storage space on the internet every day in case of the loss of the PC, digital cameras and luggage. Even if I lose my possessions somewhere, I'd like to secure our memory.
     At any rate, this daypack seems to be made for city tourists rather than wilderness trekkers.

Imprinted?

     I've been devoting more time to learning colloquial German for the last couple of weeks. Naturally, it's because I'd like to enjoy the trip in Germany and I feel absolutely delighted to learn German though I'd got through a tough time in learning German in my student days. The German was nothing but a pain those days. I wonder what's the difference. It must be due to being with or without a motive. There's one more thing that surprised me. I didn't know, but I remember many German words and grammar deep in my mind. Is this my subconscious awareness? The word "imprinted" might be used on such an occasion. If I didn't dig these words out from the depths, the hard work I'd done in medical school would be useless. Also in this sense, this trip will be fruitful.
     I've already got my round ticket to Frankfurt and reserved the Savoy hotel in Frankfurt, and now I'm looking for a hotel in Freiburg. The main destination is Freiburg and places around the city like Basel, Strasbourg and Lake Constance (Bodensee). I'll stay in Frankfurt just a night when I get to Germany, so I will have only three to four hours for sightseeing in Frankfurt. I'm wondering where to go and have dinner now. I prefer the local cuisine.

(Vocabulary)
devote sth to sth (時間・努力など)を(…)に傾ける, 注ぐ
devote your time/energy/effort to sth
自分の時間［エネルギー，努力］を＜…＞に注ぐ
devote yourself to something  ＜…＞に専念する
devote something to something ＜…＞を＜…＞に充てる, 割く
The author devotes a whole chapter to the subject.
existence or nonexistence / with or without  有無
subconscious / subconscious awareness  潜在意識
fruitful 実り多い, 有益な, 効果的な
a fruitful discussion  実り多い議論

Prep for Trip

     My second daughter, Yuri, came back home and started preparing for our trip to Germany.
     Her passport ran out in February this year and at first she applied for a new one. When she got it ten years ago, I did all the procedures for her, but this time I made her do it. She went to the city hall and got a copy from the family register. She had her portrait taken at a photo shop. She successfully applied for it and got it a week later. I'd just told her to get it without any detailed instructions. It might be due to blind parental love, but I felt her growing up.
     Next, I gave her all the pamphlets and guidebooks that I'd collected up until now. Some of them were sent from the tourist information center of the German city of Freiburg. It is written in German, but she can understand German. I'm expecting her to set all the schedules.
     The development of internet technology brought us an umbelievable convenience for the trip. The reservation of hotels and transportation can easily be done on the internet. You can even know the time schedule of the train between Frankfurt and Freiburg from Japan. However, I'm afraid that she would make a mistake in making the hotel reservations and decided to ask the travel agent to do it. We are going to stay the night of 26th in Frankfurt and leave for Freiburg the next morning.

(Vocabulary)
apply for a passport  パスポートを申請する。
extract of family register  戸籍抄本
blind parental love  親ばか

German and English

     I'm learning German now. Honestly I'd learned it during my college days. It was just for graduation. German and English were essential subjects for the medical course. In other words, learning those languages was not from my desire but just obligation. However, the present condition isn't like that. I really want to acquire German skills for fun. I will be putting my stuff into a suitcase in the next month. I'll leave for Kansai International Airport by ferryboat on Sep. 25th. What is Germany like? I chose Lufthansa Airlines, so at the instant I get into the plane it will be in German.
     Today I found an interesting expression. "Ich bin hundemüde." "Hund" is "dog" in English and "müde" means "tired" in English. This short sentence says, "I'm dog tired." I was interested in the fact that "dog" is used as an emphasis of fatigue in both nations. Such an expression doesn't exist in Japanese.
     After starting writing this blog four years ago, I have often felt how hard it is to express the cultural aspect of Japan. Mutual comprehension is essential for peace, though. I think you know of the Japanese Emperor, but I don't believe this expression is suitable. "Emperor" implies "King" or "Czar" along with an autocracy. Japanese Emperor or "Ten-noh" is completely opposite from those. I'd like to compare the "Japanese Emperor" to a "Priest King."

(Vocabulary)
czar, tsar   (革命前の) ロシア皇帝, ツァーリ
autocracy  独裁［専制］政治  独裁［専制］主義国家
compare   …をなぞらえる, 例える
compare sth/sb to/with sth/sb　＜…＞を＜…＞になぞらえる［例える］
Priest King　祭祀王

Weltenburger

     I didn't have any urgent work and I accompanied my wife to the nearest supermarket. While she was looking for stuff for dinner and some necessities, I just walked around and found an unfamiliar beer. Its label showed that it had been produced in Germany. The next instant, I found myself slipping the bottle into my wife's cart. I added some roast beef and nibbles and rushed to my house. While the bottle got cool, I checked it on the internet and found the website of the company; http://www.weltenburger.de/content/view/9/8/
     As many people know, Germany is the beer country. I'm making my first visit to Germany with my second daughter next month. I can't wait. I'm learning German now and this beer became enough motive for learning German. I'm going to record my trip in this blog. Don't miss it!

(Vocabulary)
slip something under/into/through something
＜…＞を＜…＞の下に［の中に，を通して］そっと滑り込ませる
nibble 少しずつかじる, つつく
nibble at/on something  ＜食べ物など＞をちびちび食べる
nibbles 《複数扱い》(英)(インフォーマル) おつまみ, スナック
Don't miss it!  お見逃しなく！／お楽しみに！／乞うご期待！

(KW: ドイツビール)

Nobel award in Literature

     I read through the Japanese translation of "Die Blechtrommel" and "Beim Haeuten Der Zwiebel", which were authored by Günter Grass, who is a Nobel laureate in literature. I know that he has been under fire due to his career. He revealed recently that he used to be a member of Schutzstaffel (Nazi's SS) in his autobiography of "Beim Haeuten Der Zwiebel". I didn't enjoy either.
     I wonder how the Nobel laureate in literature is decided. It feels like the decision is lacking in objectivity. In the  case of the Peace Prize, people can judge the achievement of the laureate and express their opinions like it's ok or not. It's rare that somebody plots to put a con on people and win the Nobel Peace Prize, committing big money to something just like former South Korean president Kim Dae-jung (金大中).
     I think that people can't know the reason why he or she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Every language has its own beautiful expressions and verses. The referees would never be able to handle many languages at the same time. Consequently, the standard of judgement would be the story or the context of the work.
     I wondered why he received the Prize. The story of "Die Blechtrommel" was weird and unbelievable. According to his profession, some people accused him and insisted that he should pass up the Nobel Prize. I believe that the Nobel Prize in Literature makes no sense.

(Vocabulary)
Die Blechtrommel  ブリキの太鼓
Beim Haeuten Der Zwiebel  玉ねぎの皮をむきながら
receive/win the Nobel in Literature  ノーベル文学賞を受賞する
Nobel laureate in literature  ノーベル文学賞受賞者
Nobel Peace Prize / Nobel Prize for Peace　ノーベル平和賞
Nobel laureate for peace prize　ノーベル平和賞の受賞者
Schutzstaffel　ナチス親衛隊
autobiography  自叙伝
objectivity  客観性
put a con on （人を）欺く
commit [他] 〈資金・兵力など〉 を投入する
commit something to something
＜…＞を＜…＞に投入する
profession  (信念・意見などの) 表明, 告白
pass sth up  ＜昇進・招待など＞を断る, 辞退する
pass up a chance/an opportunity  チャンスを見送る
pass up an offer   申し出を断る

(KW: ギュンター・グラス)