Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

At The Peak Of 7th Heaven

     A (my daughter) and I, climbed up to the peak of Blackcomb mountain as we had planned yesterday, though the weather was heavily snowy. I knew how beautiful the view from there was and it was regrettable that I couldn't shoot a movie of her skiing with the fascinating background. Today was the last day in Whistler and finally the weather didn't get any better during our stay. We took it as God's words, "Come over again in the not so distant future."
     The picture was shot at the peak of Blackcomb mountain. You can see the temperature. It says -14 degrees centigrade. It would have been impossible in our hometown. Some people had frozen nasal discharge and ice on their eyebrows.

Japanese Snowboarder Missing

     I heard that a Japanese woman who was staying in Whistler to learn English had been missing for a few days this morning. She seemed to have climbed up the mountain alone for snowboarding. Many people, including me, looked around to find her when they got in the gondola and lifts, but she remained missing.
     I found a free guide featuring her news story in front of a convenience store two days later.

Kids Area

     The picture shows the playing area for kids. They learn how to ski, snowboard and behave in an alpine area here. I didn't have a chance to see how they were in the school, but my friend's two kids looked like they enjoyed the class to their heart's content. They got to be better snowboarders and seemed to enjoy the excursion in the forest with their snowboards.

Brilliant Blackcomb

     When I skied down along the Emerald Express (one of the lifts), the view of Blackcomb mountain that shone in the sunlight came into my sight. I took a short break and took pictures. I'll show you one of them. My daughter and I decided to climb up Blackcomb mountain tomorrow, the last ski day.

Chair Skiing

     I saw a physically challenged person enjoying chair skiing with her family members. I've never seen such people in Japan. It might be because winter sports are not so popular as in Canada. At any rate I was happy to see such a warm-hearted family here.

Like Ants Around Sweets

     When I was relieved to get a neck tube, a cluster of children came into the restaurant. They were a class from the ski school not snowboarders, judging from their boots. They seemed to be five or six years old, under school age.
     They would go straight to the food counter, I thought, but I was wrong. They rushed at the spot that I am showing you below. Not only they, but also their instructor, got together around the post that the Japanese game machine, NINTENDO DS, was set up on. I heard that this machine was very popular in the world, and it was true.

(Vocabulary)
cluster (人の) 群れ, 集団
[＋cluster of] clusters of children 子供の群れ

Masked Man

     Mar. 26th was very cold and it was snowing. I wondered if spring was coming to Whistler village. My daughter had been in the ski school for the last two days and today was the first day that I skied with my daughter. I got on the gondola that took us to the peak with expectations of seeing my daughter's skiing.
     I expected a sunny day but couldn't see the sun all day. Additionally, the coldness was getting harsh. I felt the bitter cold in my face.
     I dropped in at a ski shop in the restaurant on the mountain. I asked, "Where can I find a mask?" The saleslady answered, "You mean, neck tube?". I learned a new word here. The shape of the neck tube was indeed the tube around the neck.
     The picture shows me with my ski cap and neck tube. I look like a burglar.

Ski Helmet

     In making a comparison between Canadian and Japanese ski resorts, there are a lot of differences. The usage rate of ski helmets is one of them. Ordinary skiers and snowboarders who don't take part in competitions rarely wear helmets in Japan, but you'd better put one on in Canada judging from the security.
     I took time to shop around for it, but I couldn't find the best one for me. All the shops were poorly-stocked. It was understandable, thinking about the small demand in Japan. Finally I decided to get one in Whistler and left Japan without a ski helmet and a ski cap. I wanted to shop around in Whistler, but I didn't have enough time to do so and I got a ski cap with the logo of Whistler & Blackcomb yesterday. It was terribly cold in Whistler this spring.
     A red gondola behind me will be used on the new lift connecting the peaks of Whistler mountain and Blackcomb mountain. They said this lift would open in December this year. It will be very convenient, but I'm afraid of the escalating price of lift tickets. I had wished that I could move between the two mountains quickly. It must be the effect of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Beautiful Canada

     First of all, look at the pictures below. Whenever I see such a vast view of a snowfield, I wish I had a digital single-lens reflex camera. My digital camera doesn't have enough ability to describe this magnificent wilderness.
     Can you spot six people in about the center of the first picture? They had skied almost straight down from the top of the ridge. They are really crazy skiers. You might be able to see their ski tracks that they left on the steep slope if you magnify the picture. I guess you are wondering if they had really skied down such a rocky place. Yes! I was watching their performance. I spoke to one of them when they were passing us. Don't you feel scared to see rocks under your skis? They answered that the rocks were not seen from above. I didn't know that. If I found a sign saying "CLIFF", I would be sure to get back on the right track, but they were, if you ask me, cliff freaks.
     The second picture is of me with Blackcomb Mountain in the background.

(Vocabulary)
single-lens reflex camera 一眼レフカメラ
wilderness [C] 未開地, 手つかずの土地
spot 〈捜していた人・物など〉 を見つけ出す, に気づく
ridge  山の背, 尾根
leave ski tracks   シュプールを描く
if you ask me    私に言わせれば
take a photo with Mt. Everest in the background   エベレストをバックに写真を撮る
against the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower.   エッフェル塔をバックに

Blackcomb ! ! !

     The weather report said, "Cloudy, partially snowing" this morning, but when we climbed up on Blackcomb mountain, the sun came up. It just looked like it had been waiting for us for two years.
     The woman in the picture is also a ski freak. We headed for the 7th Heaven Express (the name of a lift) and just when I started gliding, I fell down heavily and got an abrasion on the face. The slope was not steep and I didn't know why I fell down at that time, but later I wondered if it might have been due to the influence of jet lag.

Whistler Kids

     Two kids of my friend who runs a psychiatric clinic are lining up to check in at the snowboard school. My friend, a psychiatrist, couldn't take any days-off and I brought them here. They are having name tags attached by an instructor. They'll spend all day with her and some foreign kids, where they can't use Japanese. What will they learn here? I hope they will learn something special other than the skill of snowbording.

The River Wild

     Whitewater rafting is one of my hobbies. I set up a few pictures in the left column of this blog. My colleagues and I enjoyed rafting on the Rogue river in Oregon more than ten years ago.
     By the way, the other day I found an interesting DVD movie titled "The River Wild" in the library of my English conversation school and it was associated with whitewater rafting. http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2008/02/this-years-big-.html  While watching it, a scene rang a bell. I checked the internet movie database (IMDb) and found Grants Pass, Oregon, USA in the list of locations. Grants Pass was a starting point of our rafting on the Rogue river. The memory of long ago had suddenly come up for me.

(Vocabulary)
be associated 関係している, つながっている
associated with sth ＜…＞と関係している
the problems associated with cancer treatment
がんの治療と関連した問題
ring a bell (with sb)(インフォーマル)
(名前などが)（＜人＞にとって）聞き覚えがあるように思える, 思い当たる節がある

(KW: オレゴン州 ログリバー ラフティング)

This Year's Big Events

1. Winter Vacation in Canada (English)
2. Welcoming Party for a Korean Postgraduate Student (Korean)
3. World Rally Championship in Sapporo (English, German)

     Many of my good friends from my high school and medical school sometimes tell me that I must have nothing to regret in my career and life even if I died right now. They pre-supposed that I've done everything I wanted to do, but it's not true. I have many things that I'd like to do.
     At first, I'm planning to go skiing at Whistler in Canada in March. I'm learning English harder these days. I think I'm good at reading English, but not so good at speaking. I'm a slow starter in English conversation. It takes about 30 minutes to be able to think in English. The picture shows the DVD library in an English conversation school which I belong to. I have often borrowed and watched these for training to hear.
     After returning to Japan from Canada, I have to switch my priority of learning a language from English to Korean. It's because a Korean rider will come to my house on the last Saturday of June. He is a postgraduate student and his major is Japanese culture! He's going to travel across Japan on his motorcycle. I hope he will see what Japan is like.
     In October, I'll join the WRC as one of the medical staff. If I had an opportunity to talk with German drivers, I'd like to try to use German. I'd like to know how much I can make myself understood in German. During 4 months from July to October, I'll be immersed in learning German.

(Vocabulary)
pre-suppose …を前提とする
immerse …を熱中［没頭］させる
immerse sb in sth
＜人＞を＜…＞に熱中［没頭］させる
immerse yourself in sth
＜…＞に熱中［没頭］する

One of Preps for Canada

     A and I took our ski outfits out of the garden shed for the first time in two years. We cleaned them up two years ago and put them in the shed just after coming back to Japan from Canada.
     Two years have passed since then. A has got bigger, and she is fifteen years old now. (She'll turn sixteen in Whistler.) The skis that A used last time aren't suitable for her weight now. I decided to make her use her sister, Eri's skis.
     We went skiing today for A to try the new skis. Eri's skis were a better fit than A expected. We asked a repair shop to tune up them. Our skis will come back in the middle of March. We'll pack them as they are.
     The picture shows the nearest piste from my hometown. As you can see, this is a very small ski area. You'll easily understand why we are enchanted with Whistler & Blackcomb ski resort.

(Vocabulary)
outfit  装備［道具］一式
shed  物置, （物置）小屋
be sold as it is    そのままの状態で売られる
piste (スキーの) ゲレンデ
enchant (フォーマル) …を魅了する, うっとりさせる

Invitation from Europe

     At first look at the picture. These leaflets on ski resorts in Europe came to me a couple of days ago. These are from my friend in Switzerland.
     I become friends with a few people in Whistler every time I go there. I think it's because all the visitors are on vacation and also happy. It makes us talkative. Especially if they are from other countries, it means they are kind of sophisticated and nowhere near committing criminal offenses. This provides some sense of security. I'm going to visit Canada next March for the first time in two years and I feel my mind has already gone to Whistler.
     By the way, I cannot afford to go on a ski trip to Europe now, but my eldest daughter can communicate with people in French and my second daughter in German. That is to say, my family can move in Europe easier than usual. I'm sure to visit France, Switzerland and Austria in five years. My youngest daughter would be a student of veterinarian science and we would have enough time at that time. My wife has just started to learn French to enjoy French dishes.

(Vocabulary)
sophisticated 〈人・言動などが〉 洗練された, 教養のある
nowhere near
1 …からだいぶ離れて
The hotel was nowhere near the station.  ホテルは駅からだいぶ離れていた．
2 とうてい…ない
We have nowhere near enough time.  時間はとうてい十分とはいえない．
criminal offense 犯罪（行為）
provide some sense of security / provide the sense of security  安心感を与える

Ski Schedule

     Our next ski trip to Canada has been scheduled. All members but me will visit Whistler on Mar. 21st. I couldn't take enough days off and will leave here on Mar. 23rd alone. I'll enjoy skiing in Whistler and Blackcomb for four days and stay in Vancouver on 28th and go back to Japan on the next day. Our plan in Vancouver is up in the air yet, but I'd like to visit the statue of Mr. Inazo Nitobe which is near UBC.
http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2007/08/taking-a-walk-i.html
     These pictures were taken in Hokkaido University which has the oldest department of veterinary science in Japan. My youngest daughter is eager to become a veterinarian and wants to be a student of this university. She'd like to proceed to higher education like UBC Postgraduate School and become a researcher. I'm going to ask a taxi to drive slowly in the campus of UBC.
     She's also looking forward to joining the ski school in Whistler.
http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2006/04/the-last-ski-da.html
     This time her English is better than two years ago and she's going to try talking to lots of people on the slopes and in the village. It would be a great experience for her.

(Vocabulary)
proceed to something  (フォーマル) ＜…＞に進む
= move on to something

     My mother, Eri, Yuri and me in front of one of UBC's domitories in 1995.

New Year Calendars

     I've been about to cry uncle with the overwhelming amount of work lately!
     Anyway, the new year is just around the corner. A lot of calendars of the next year started to be delivered to my hospital from various companies related to medical services. I put some of them on the wall of my study and my office. I usually choose the calendars which have pictures of scenery.
     Japan is a small country, but it has many chains of mountains. Climbing is one of my hobbies and I sometimes feel relaxed to see mountains. The picture shows two of those calendars. The right one is from Kissei Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd:
http://www.kissei.co.jp/e_contents/from_ceo.htm This company is located in Nagano prefecture, where the Nagano Winter Olympics were held in 1998. Nagano prefecture is also noted for having the Japanese Alps.
     This company makes calendars with pictures of the mountains and distributes the calendar to their customers as a New Year's gift. I'm looking forward to seeing them every year.
     The left one is from a bar where I sometimes drop in. The owner of this bar loves car rallies and named his bar "Bar WRC". The WRC (World Rally Championship) will be held in Hokkaido in Japan next October and I'm going to join it as an official. I decided to use both in my office this year.

(Vocabulary)
cry uncle  降参したと言う、参ったと言う、敗北を認める
about ready to cry uncle 《be ～》早くもお手上げ状態である
mountain chain  山脈

A Map

     My brother, a journalist, was travelling in France for his vacation. The picture shows the map and pamphlets that are written in Korean. I asked him to bring them back when he was just about to fly to Paris. I'd like to get anything official that is written in Korean. Anything was OK, for example maps, pamphlets, time schedule sheets for flights, trains or buses, information on hotels, theaters, museums, , , and so on. These are for free and my brother wouldn't feel any pain to collect them. If he couldn't find them, it was OK. Anyway, I sometimes look at this map of Paris over a glass of brandy. I've never been to France, but my imagination takes me to Paris. Besides it is good for learning Korean.
     Why Paris? It's because one of my daughters is learning French and I hope that my family can go skiing in Chamonix plus I'd like to get on the TGV and enjoy travelling under the Channel. Her French would help us enjoy travelling and skiing in Chamonix.
     I'm planning to visit Vancouver for skiing next March. I've been to Whistler 5 or 6 times, but I've never been to Europe. I'm really keen to visit some countries in Europe someday.   

A Happy Summer!

     I wish you a happy summer. The photo was taken more than 20 years ago and shows me on the ocean. I've had a vacation every summer since my childhood. It is a kind of family policy. My parents took me and my brothers to many places and I could see many people and many things. I really feel that those were great experiences and made us open-minded. After I got married and had daughters, I took them to many places in Japan and North America. (Another article  Canada)

     However, my daughters grew up and got to have their own schedules. It means that the whole family's long-time trip was getting impossible. Recently we can only stay at hot spas near here for one night.
     I have spent my summer vacation by myself, with my family or with our parents over alternate years.
     Last year, I took a long ride alone to Hokkaido by motorcycle. This summer I'd like to spend my vacation with my whole family, but it is regrettable that my daughters and my wife have their own schedules and my daughters don't want to visit anywhere with us.
     HOWEVER, the youngest daughter, who usually doesn't want to talk with me as I wrote here before, is eager to visit Hokkaido University. I'm going to show her the University. Aug. 5th and 6th are the open campus days of Hokkaido University.
     I'll leave for Hokkaido on Aug. 4th and be back on 8th. Needless to say, I'll post my trip memos with pictures here from my camera phone. The resolution of my camera phone is low and the picture may be unclear, so I'm going to flesh the memos out with high resolution pictures. (Another article)

     Lastly, the day that the photo was taken was the first day of my water skiing. My water skiing was not good in the photo. You can see the bending elbow and waist but now I have got better. I wanted you to see my happy face after I was able to stand on the ocean for the first time. A Happy Summer again!

(Vocabulary)
flesh out　～に肉づけする、～を具体化する

It's Hot!

     It's getting hot. What I used to do first in my office in the morning was to turn on the PC, but now it is turning on the air conditioner.
     When I get to work by motorcycle, I throw my helmet, gloves and clothes away on the bed. I have to cool my body down for a while. I don't like hot weather but when I survive this hot summer the winter comes. I feel that Whistler is waiting for me. To Canadian friends, I'm planning to visit your home piste next March. Why don't you have a party!