Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Reception Party for German Guests

     I was invited to the welcome party for the guests from the small German city of Freiburg. This city is a sister city of Matsuyama City, in which I live now. The leader of visitors will be the mayor of Freiburg City. I made haste to the nearest bookstore to get a textbook of German conversation. It is just thin veneer. (grin)
     I'm planning to visit Germany this summer with my second daughter, who can speak a little German. I'm wondering if there are some travel agents or someone in the travel industry in the group. If I knew those people, it would be helpful for our trip. I'd rather stay at a B&B, a kind of dormitory, youth hostel, or something like these than a luxurious hotel. I heard that the system of youth hostel originated from Germany in the early 20th century. What would the original youth hostel be like? I'm very interested.

(Vocabulary)
make haste to // rush at // scramble to   慌てて～する
thin veneer   付け焼き刃

 

Last Note of this Trip

     We enjoyed this trip to our hearts' content. I was glad to spend a few days with my daughter. The plane for Matsuyama was being prepared for take-off in the first picture. The second picture was of the meal in the plane. It was not good, but it's ok because I had many good memories of this trip. Through this trip, I began to feel friendly for South Korea. I will visit the country again and again. Next time,,,, I would maybe choose Jeju Island.
     By the way, look at the third picture. It was of the display in the cabin. Dokdo was displayed on it. I couldn't help laughing at it. As I wrote about this small island or rocks several times before, I won't repeat it here. However, it will take more and more time for Korean to grow up. If you want to read it, click the archives for "Korea" and search "takeshima". You'll find nine entries about that.
     When I switched on my cellular phone in Matsuyama Airport, I received an e-mail from my daughter with the last picture attached. I bought her an iPOD in a duty free shop in Incheon Airport. She told me that the manual for it was written in Korean. It was a nice punch line at the end of the trip.

Wondering Where to Eat

     We felt various things were inexpensive. Things weren't cheap, but inexpensive. Eri bought a baggage first to bring things back to Japan in it.

This picture was taken just after getting her new shoes at ABC MART, which is a well known shoes chain shop in Japan, too.

The next two pictures were of Myeongdong Seongdang(明洞聖堂 명동성당), the most famous Catholic Church in South Korea. I was a man of curiosity and entered it. After listening to a few carols, we went out. We were busy seeing around the street.

I stopped at a stall. Stuff on the table looked nice. I thought I stayed there for about ten minutes, but finally I gave up those, following the advice of the travel agent. I thought that heated stuff was secure, but Seoul heavily had yellow sand a week before. Yellow sand might pollute the stuff on the stalls. It was the advice of the agent. I remember, "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."

Eri was checking clothes here for about 20 minutes, saying "good, low-cost, nice, , ," in Korean, but didn't buy anything. Coming to me, she simply said, "It was a good lesson, I could listen to prices!" I know, Listening to numbers in Korean is difficult for beginners due to its liaison, but,,, I felt bad for a shop man.

I came across a sauna bath. If I'd had enough time, I could have tried it!

I found a warning plate of SECOM, which my house is signing on with.

They spoke to me in Korean first. When I was thinking about how to reply, they changed it to Japanese, but it was not enough to communicate. Lastly we could chat in English. They were from Turkey. I feel affinity about Turkey and had a bite. It was delicious, but I don't remember the name of it. I'd like to write about Turkey later.

(Vocbulary)
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
ばかは天使が歩くのを恐れる所へも突進する。／君子危うきに近寄らず。
sign on with  ～と契約する

Korean Scooter

     I unexpectedly found a nice scooter near the restaurant. The place was at 37°50'10.70"N and 126°47'41.37"E. I'd been aware that there were few motorcycles in Seoul and was thinking that the culture of enjoying motorcycles was still underdeveloped in South Korea. That's why I used "unexpectedly". I hope that the user of this scooter sent me an e-mail after seeing my blog.
     One more thing. I found four aged people having a party in the daytime near the scooter. Two were male and two were female. I'd like to have talked about this scooter, but I hesitated because of my lack of skill in Korean. They looked to be nice and friendly. I was so sorry not to have enough ability to use Korean. I really wanted to chat with them. The place where they were is pinpointed now. If someone who knows these people reads this entry, please remember us to them. They will remember us, a middle aged man and a young girl from Japan. It was at 37°50'10.56"N and 126°47'41.23"E where they were sitting. My daughter couldn't listen to their words, either. This encounter will be a good motive for brushing up our Korean skills.

 

Paju City

     The letters on the bridge girder is "대한민국　대표도시 변화와 경쟁의 파주". It means "大韓民国代表都市  変化と競争の坡州" in Japanese. You know, we entered Paju City. I could confirm the exact shooting point on Google Earth. You can also see an observation post and wire fence in this picture. This post can be seen on Google Earth. Try it. It's fun.
     Our seat was diagonally behind the driver to the right so we could enjoy wider view than other tourists through the windshield. We were really lucky. Besides, our guide was just on the left of us and the person in front of us, sitting on the auxiliary seat was a professional photographer. He couldn't speak Japanese well, but could communicate with us mainly in English and a little Korean. He could barely speak Japanese, at least, not enough for guidance. No-one could use English but us. Finally, we ended up hogging the conversation with him. My daughter is also a good English speaker. We enjoyed chatting all the way to the destination. He was just like an exclusive guide for us. We were really lucky again and it made this bus trip gorgeous. One thing, I'm sorry that I forgot to write his name and POC down. I wish I could ask him to show us Korean stuff on our next visit.

(37°43'27.97"N　126°41'19.49"E)

(Vocabulary)
shooting location   撮影場所
bridge girder  橋桁
observation post   監視所（敵を監視できる位置にある）
diagonally backward right  右斜め後ろに
auxiliary  [名]の前でのみ  (仕事の従事者が) 補助の
hog the conversation   会話を独占する
POC  point of contact  連絡先

Jayuro Resting Place

     We dropped in at the Jayuro Resting Place and were told to go to the toilet. I didn't need to urinate, but I was interested in the Korean public toilet so I used it. I didn't have enough time to  stop by any stall here, but I felt the resting place was just like in Japan. I took the first picture to save the name of the place for future reference.
     I searched for the place on Google Earth after coming back to Japan. I couldn't get the positioning data on site, but judging from the view from the sky, it would be here, 37°41'57.90"N  126°41'2.03"E. I chased our course on Google Earth which was fun. I'll add the positioning data I could confirm in the later entries. If you use Google Earth, referencing the position of places, it would make you happy.
     As you can see in the second picture, our tour group consisted of two buses. The No.1 bus was for Japanese people only and the guide was bilingual in Korean and Japanese. The No.2 bus was for English and maybe Chinese-speaking people. The guide looked Chinese and was bilingual in Chinese and English.
     I found I could read most phrases on the public signs. It was very helpful, and made me confident and motivated me to learn more Korean.

(Vocabulary)
on site   現地で
for future reference  後で参考にするために
motivate sb to sth  人をやる気にさせる

　途中でJayuro休憩所、いわゆるサービスエリアに寄った。トイレ休憩だ。バスを降りて５分ほどうろうろしてみた。日本とよく似ている。

　帰国してからグーグルアースでこの場所を探して緯度と経度のデータを得た。是非これを参考に空からこの場所を見て欲しい。

　我々のグループは２台のバスに別れていて、１台は日本語、もう１台は英語と中国語（？）のグループだった。

　看板に書いてあるハングルはほとんど読めるので自信が付いたし今後の励みにもなる。

Euljiro(1)il-ga 을지로입구 乙支路入口

     The title is the name of a subway station in the heart of Seoul. It was located just in front of the Lotte Hotel, which was, I thought, the most well-known hotel in South Korea. Free papers were set up the stairs from the station, and I took some of them, but they were beyond me. I couldn't understand even 10% of the content. I thought, I've got a new goal in the study of Korean. I'd like to be able to roughly read Korean papers by my next visit. The grammar of Korean resembles that of Japanese, so if I have five minutes, I can learn a few words. Such a piece of time is enough for learning Korean. The sign in the third picture says "Lotte Hotel".

At Subway Station (Samsung 삼성)

     Our hotel was gorgeous, and I'd never stayed in such a luxurious one before. The present strong yen and weak won were very helpful for us. This hotel was above our level of living. However, there was only one demerit. The location was terrible for us. It might be good for business people, but the hotel was far away from the Lotte Hotel, where most of the tour buses started from. We had to get there by 8:20am after finishing our breakfast. There is no time difference between Japan and this country which was also helpful for our trip. The last picture was taken from the window when the train was on the Han River. The left side was the south of Seoul and was called Gangnam-Gu (江南区). We were going to the center of the city in the north of the river.

(Vocabulary)
time difference  時差
Han River  漢江（韓国・ソウルを流れる川）

 

Drinks

     I arranged the stuff I bought at a convenience store on the desk. It was fun to read Korean letters on their labels. These drinks are also on shelves in Japanese convenience stores so I knew their names. I was interested in how they were expressed in Korean. "Pocari Sweat" is well known in Japan. Other drinks are also commonly seen in Japan. Other stuff on the shelves also attracted me. Some were copies of Japanese products. I tried some of them during my stay. Some were good and others were below an acceptable standard.

Arrival

     The flight was not bumpy and was comfortable. I got out of the security area first because I didn't check my baggage and need not drop in at the baggage claim. A travel agent who was supposed to take me to my hotel could easily find me. She was a good Japanese speaker and showed me some landmarks and told me fundamental information about South Korea such as how to use taxis, subways, or how to behave in the country, on the way to my hotel. We Japanese might be careful about raw food and tap water. She advised me not to drink tap water directly. I felt at home in the minivan she chartered.
     Additionally, however, I felt bad when I talked about Hangul letters. She was proud of her language; Hangul letters. She insisted that Hangul letters could express all kinds of pronunciation in the world. I didn't think so, but let it go. She didn't know that I could speak and read Hangul letters a little bit. Actually, Korean people can't tell the difference between r and l, k and g, p and f,,,,many letters. For example, Kimpo Airport is frequently described as Gimpo Airport on maps. Korean ears can't hear the difference between Kimpo and Gimpo. Consequently, the same Hangul letters stand for dull and resonant sounds at once.
     I wanted to ask her how to express the German pronunciation of R or CH in Hangul letters. It's very very hard, at least for me.

(Vocabulary)
check  [他](米) 〈手荷物など〉 を預ける
dull sound // voiced consonant   濁音
resonant sound   清音

Let's Go

     The day came on which I'll get my first step into South Korea. Korean letters have been commonly seen in our society. I don't remember when they showed Korean letters on public signs, but South and North Koreas are our neighbors.
     The picture shows a signboard in Matsuyama Airport. This is written in Japanese, English, Korean and Chinese. I'm going to use Korean sometimes in this trip. Let's go to South Korea.

 

Ainu Culture

     It seems that Ainu people are not well-known in the world, but they had lived in northern Japan and eastern Russia since recorded history and had been keeping their own rich culture. However, they are almost totally absorbed in Japan at present because of the forced assimilation of the then Japanese Government. I know it was for the defense against the Russian invasion, though. The policy of national defense in Meiji era is acceptable, but I wonder if there was any other choice?
     It was not until 1997 that I had interest in Ainu. For, I rode my motorcycle in Hokkaido, located in the north of Japan, for a week and I visited many Ainu related sites at that time. I heard that 99% of the names of places in Hokkaido originate from Ainu language. In fact, place names in Hokkaido have something different from that of other areas. I wrote about Ainu Museum and Ainu cuisine in this blog before. To my regret, the culture of them has already disappeared or come close to perishing.
     I knew an Ainu woman who ventured to record their culture about 100 years ago. Ainu people didn't have their own letters and so, her work to preserve their cultural heritage was very tough. She investigated many stories by word of mouth from the elderly and wrote a book. I read it through and I admired her work.

http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2007/08/porotokotan.html

http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2008/03/ainu-cuisine.html

(Vocabulary)
rich culture  豊かな文化
assimilationism / forced assimilation / integration policy
（異なる文化・人種に対する）同化政策
by word of mouth  口伝で

　アイヌ民族はおそらくあまり世界的には知られていないだろうが、日本の北部、ロシア太平洋岸で暮らしていた文化度の高い民族である。現在は日本に吸収されている。時の政府の過度な同化政策のためである。北方からの侵略に備えるためであった。

　９７年に北海道をバイクで走ってから興味を持つようになった。

　文字を持たなかった民族の記録を残そうと立ち上がった一人のアイヌの女性が残した本を読んだ。文字を持たなかったが故にその文化は消えかかっている。民族が存在した事実は記録として残していかねばならない。

 

Net Book (Mobile PC)

     Some types of portable PCs are becoming popular in Japan since last summer. A Taiwanese company seems to have sparked the boom. The characteristics are cheaper and limited functional. Roughly speaking, it costs a fourth of a regular notebook PC and has a fourth of the functions of regular one. When I heard about this kind of portable PC, I was skeptical about it. No matter how cheap it is, it seemed pointless not to have high performance. However, to the contrary of my opinion, the media has reported that the sales of this kind of portable PC are increasing. This news hasn't gotton out of my mind for a long time and I checked out several websites and could hear opinions directly from people who had already started using it. Finally, I ended up getting it and am showing you below.
     I've already used it for a month now. I really think it's nice and useful. It has enough power for netsurfing and exchanging e-mails. I installed a Japanese dictionary and Longman English-English and English-Japanese dictionary. The weight of the pc is only 1 kg. The size of the keys is just fit to my fingers. It connects to the internet via wireless network. It is also called the net book. It's a good naming , I suppose. It's small enough, light enough and has enough power for me. I am planning to visit South Korea in March. I'm sure I'll bring it and access to the internet.

（Vocabulary)
spark   火付け役となる
not get out of one's mind    気になって仕方がない

Germany

     It was in my university days when I felt close to Germany for the first time. Japanese medical science was installed from Germany in the Meiji era in an effort to catch up with powerful countries and there still remains an influence of Germany in Japanese medicine today. A lot of medical jargon originates from German. When I was a medical student, I was strictly required to learn German. I studied it very hard and was able to graduate from my medical school. After school, I didn't have any chance to use German in my daily life and my skill got rusty.
     One day I watched a movie, "Pianist". This is the extraordinary story of one man's survival in Warsaw, 1939-1945. Official website is http://www.szpilman.net/
     In one scene a warm-hearted German commander said to the protagonist, "Kommen Sie bitte." It means "Come over here, please." However, the Japanese translation was "来い！" which is "Come on!" in English. The conversation between the German commander and the poor pianist in this scene is a high point of the story. In this scene, the highly-educated German commander starts showing respect to the pianist who looks like a beggar or something. The translation was helplessly mistaken here. If I hadn't have learned German, I wouldn't have been able to catch the change in attitudes of both of the characters.
     That's why I restarted learning German. Besides, my second daughter is majoring in German now. It might not be in the so distant future that I'll enjoy skiing in German-speaking countries with my family.

（Vocabulary)
jargon   (けなして) 専門［業界］用語
high point of a play   劇の見せ場

My second daughter and my dog, "Mocha"

A Juicy Work

     The woman in the picture is my daughter, who lives in Tokyo. She sent me this picture the other day. She is on a rickshaw in Asakusa, a famous tourist attraction in Tokyo. Do you know the rickshaw? It's a human-powered vehicle with two wheels. It seems that rickshaws can be seen in various places in the world but the word "rickshaw" is supposed to originate from Japan. Most rickshaws in Japan are designed for one or two people. The rickshaw in the first picture seats one person.
     Formerly, the rickshaw was one of the forms of transport and rickshaw men had to be tough and powerful enough to pull their rickshaws. At present, however, they are required to show the tourists around. Asakusa has old town elegance and its own history. There are some famous tourist spots in the area. The present rickshaw men have to learn Japanese culture, traditional things and need to have a litle knowledge of foreign languages.
     Then, there becomes a problem of who judges the rickshaw men's knowledge and attitude to the customers. As the rickshaw man is often away from the rickshaw station, taking his customers to visit tourist spots and giving explanations about the sights, it is not possible for the supervisor to monitor the level of service being provided.
     My daughter's task, commissioned by the rickshaw company, is as a kind of tester of the rickshaw men. She gets on the rickshaw, as indicated by the company, and talks to the rickshaw man, who is usually newly hired. After that, she reports her remarks to the company. Needless to say, the rickshaw man doesn't know she is a tester. Japanese culture is her subject and she can talk in English, French and Korean. This task isn't hard for her, besides she looks like she is enjoying sightseeing.
     It's a real juicy job, I think. What do you say?

(Vocabulary)
jinrikisha / rickshaw / ricksha / rikisha / rikshaw  人力車
old town elegance  下町の粋

(KW: くるま屋　浅草　人力車　あさくさ　くるまや)

The Rock

     I watched a movie on DVD, "The Rock", starring Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris.

     The story is like this:
     A few dozens of angry marine soldiers who are led by a hero in The Vietnam War seize Alcatraz Island and 81 tourists. The soldiers are discontented with the U.S. top officials. The FBI dispatches a battery of SEAL and an inmate, Sean Connery, who used to be kept in the prison on the island, also an FBI agent, Nicolas Cage, who is just a chemist and works in the FBI laboratory. Sean was meant to be a mere guide of the underground secret tunnels and Nicolas was going to neutralize the enemy's chemical weapons. These two weren't supposed to use the weapons. However, all SEAL members are killed by an enemy trap which meant that Sean and Nicolas had to fight with the professional soldiers.

     As the story goes on, Nicolas gradually realizes that Sean is handy with every kind of weapon. At that time, I was thinking, "Oh, he used to be the British Agent 007". Needless to say, I'm joking. But, exactly at that point in the movie, Sean said, "I was trained by the best. British Intelligence." I couldn't help laughing. Is this movie a comedy or a serious one?
     Anyway, I like Sean's pronunciation. His tone of voice is clear and electrifying. I think it's a useful listening exercise for me. I enjoyed this movie to my heart's content.

(Vocabulary)
be discontent with sth  ～に不満を持つ
as we all know / needless to add / needless to say  言うまでもなく
electrifying  しびれるような

 (KW: ショーン･コネリー　ニコラス･ケイジ　ロック　アルカトラズ刑務所)

Iceland

     According to the yesterday's TV news, Iceland are about to go bankrupt now. If Iceland were a company or a household, I would understand or imagine how it could be. However, Iceland is a country that is a member of the UN. What will become of Iceland. I was thinking something like that during the last night's dinner. At that time, I came up with a great idea suddenly. "Go and see Iceland!" I felt someone shouted behind me. The strong yen would be favorable to me.
     My youngest daughter, A, was in front of me and I suggested her, "How about going Iceland with me?" She replied, "Yes" in a snap. I was surprised by her reply because she had never taken my advice or suggestions since this time last year. I think that she has been in the phase that many teenagers must pass through. Anyway, the last time that she had answered "Yes" clearly was when I told her about the ski in Whistler. (The pictures of 2008 Whistler are posted in the left column of this blog.)
     I looked for discount tickets on the internet and found that the price was not so high. Spring wouldn't be a high season in Iceland. The climate of the land of Ice would be so harsh, I guess. In the morning, when I asked A her schedule of next spring break, my wife screamed, "Wasn't last night's story kind of a joke?" "No, I'm serious," I answered. She continued, "A is preparing for university exams. Are you insane?" Finally, our half-made plan was stopped.
     Hang on! My wife just said, "It wasn't good for A, not me." I'm thinking that I would take my first or second daughter with me. My first daughter can speak French and my second daughter, German. At least both are better speakers than I am. I mean both are convenient in Europe. My wife doesn't know this idea is still smoldering in my mind.

(Vocabulary)
Hang on  待てよ
smolder  くすぶる

　昨日のテレビニュースによると、アイスランドは破産寸前だという。もし、アイスランドが会社か家庭であれば、なんとなく想像はできる。しかし、アイスランドは国連にも加盟しているれっきとした国家である。アイスランドはどうなってしまうのだろう。昨夜の夕食を食べながらそんなことを考えていた。そのとき、突然ある考えが浮かんだ。「行って見てくればいいじゃないか。」誰かが後ろでそう叫んだような気がした。円高が僕を後押ししてくれている。

　三女の杏里が目の前に座っていた。「一緒にアイスランドへ行ってみるか?」と問うと、瞬時に答えが返ってきた。イエスと。この１年、ほとんど口をきかなかった杏里からの返事だったので驚いた。思うに、まだ思春期の難しい時期にあるのだろう。この前にこのような返事を聞いたのは去年、ウィスラーへ誘ったときだった。(左の欄にそのときの写真を載せている。)　ネットで格安チケットを探すとそう高くはない。春先はまだハイシーズンではなく、気候はまだ厳しいだろう。
　今朝、杏里に来春の予定を確認すると、カミさんが「昨晩の話は冗談ではなかったの?」と聞く。「いいや、本気」と答えると、「杏里は受験ですよ。」と一言。結局我々二人の半分できかかっていた計画はつぶれた。

　しかし、待てよ。カミさんが言ったのは、杏里には都合が悪い、であって自分ではない。長女か次女を連れて行くことにしたらいいではないか。長女はフランス語を使える、次女はドイツ語だ。少なくともこれら二言語は僕よりうまい。つまりこの二人を連れて行くと便利だと言うこと。
　カミさんはまだこの計画が僕の脳裏にくすぶっていることを知らない。

Noncombustible

     In such an international event or convention, I often learn new English words. At that time, I sometimes understand the real meaning and usage of the words or phrases that have been memorized in the wrong way.
     I didn't know the word "noncombustible" until I saw the signboard that is shown in the picture below. The separation of trash is obligated in Japan. We have to separate combustible from noncombustible trash.
     I don't know why, but as far as I know, the word "burnable/nonburnable" is more frequently used than "combustible/noncombustible" as the English translation in Japan. It seems that "combustible/noncombustible" is more popular in the U.S. according to my dictionary. Anyway, I shall use "combustible/noncombustible" opposed to "burnable/nonburnable".

(Vocabulary)
separate combustible from noncombustible trash
  燃えるごみと燃えないごみを分ける
  日本の自治体ではしばしばburnable/nonburnableという英訳を使うが、combustible/noncombustibleのほうが普通と英辞郎には書いてある。

Rally Japan 2008 Report

     I came back from Sapporo to Matsuyama City on Nov. 3rd, where Rally Japan 2008 had been held. As I wrote in the last entry, I worked as one of the volunteer staff members there. Now I'm writing this entry on Nov. 4th, but I'll arrange the entries that I'll post from now in chronological order. All the entries between Oct. 30th and Nov. 3rd are written after Nov. 4th.
     Anyway, let's start writing my diary.
     The picture shows the signboard on the gate. I flew to Tokyo on ANA 584, departure time 09:30 and changed planes at Tokyo International Airport for Sapporo. As you see in the picture, generally speaking, many signboards in the airport are described in not only Japanese but English, Mandarin Chinese and Korean.
     The second picture is an AED, an automated external defibrillator that is set on the wall of the airport. This is also in English, Chinese and Korean. AEDs became popular in many public spaces, like airports, stations, schools and so on. I'm interested in Korean and make it a rule to memorize these words and phrases on the signboard. It is a good lesson for me.
     Four people in the last picture are my friends, who belong to the same rally team as me and are waiting to board in Matsuyama Airport.

(Vocabulary)
in chronologic(al) order   時系列で
change planes   飛行機を乗り継ぐ

(KW: ラリージャパン２００８　自動体外除細動器　韓国語　朝鮮語)

Rally Japan (FIA World Rally Championship Round 14)

     Rally Japan is just around the corner. I'll fly to Sapporo on the 30th and join the meeting as one of the volunteer staff members. It has been my dream to do something for the international championship. If I had enough time, skills, and funds, I would have driven a car in the competition. I had attended the competitions when I was in my twenties. As for now, first of all, my physical strength is over the hill, I'm afraid. Anyway I can't wait to see the world's highest level of rally cars.

    By the way, I'm not sure how long I will be under constraint, but I won't have time for internet access. Therefore, I changed my e-mail system so that important e-mails can be automatically transferred from my PC to my cell phone, because I have a plan to see a few friends in Sapporo and e-mails are necessary to communicate with each other.

     And one more thing. I won't know what role will be given to me until I'm checking in to the headquarters of the Rally Japan. My friends and family members want to know when and what I will be doing. In order to inform them of this information easily and quickly, I decided to use my blog. I've written my blog mainly in English, but I'll keep it in Japanese only during the Rally Japan. I'll post pictures with short messages and after getting home I'll flesh them out with some more details in English.

(Vocabulary)
flesh ~ out with some more information
～にもう少し情報を付け加えて肉付けする