Elegance

Newly bought short boots! Kind of high heels but easy to walk.

General Cleaning

Today we had general cleaning and spent whole day.

The laboratory has a big refrigerator, and it's quite old and dirty. There were some dead bodies of centipede and spider that I had to clean!! I hate even seeing them.. small insects with too many legs! It's gross and causes me goose bumps.

Another thing, I threw away a bag of barley that was already analyzed. It is supposed to go to the feed production company and to become food for cattle. But still, it is grain, clean and edible, one of the staple food in the world. There are millions people who don't have much to eat, on the other hand, I'm throwing away this amount of barley because it was just for analysis. It made me feel guilty and sad. At least I'm one of them to be blamed.

Dreaming of Traveling

Just counted and found that I have 29 Singaporean friends!

I must go to Singapore to see all of them...

Present from my mom

Christmas gift! Next year's animal!

New family

セキセイインコが新しく仲間入りしました。オスメスは分からないけど、名前はもち吉(笑)。もっちーはようやく新しい家に慣れてきたらしい。
夜になると、目を閉じてうとうとしているのがカワイイ(*^_^*)

Christmas dish!!

My mother and I had a special dinner tonight!
Happy Holidays everybody〜

Very good weekend

My friend from California and I met up again in Fukuoka! We went to disaster prevention center and Fukuoka tower.

In that center we were able to experience earthquake magnitude 7. The table was literally shaking and moving vigorously and we almost lost balance. It was really scary and I couldn't imagine what if it's real... One of the staff was noticed us speaking English and gave us detailed lecture on fire extinguishers. He studies English and Korean to guide foreigners and was good in both languages. He is really enjoying his second job there after retiring as a firefighter.

We went to Fukuoka tower but just looked around the souvenir shops. I thought we don't have to go up to the top since he said that he'd been there. But it turned out that he has been there but never on the top. We didn't have enough time so we agreed to come back to the tower next year. ah..I feel sorry for not asking him.

And we went to a Japanese restaurant where they serve sashimi fresh from the aquarium. Squid sashimi was very fresh! Its legs were still moving... But it was really delicious, soft and fresh. I hope he was able to experience something that looks Japanese.

One day was quite short for us but it was so nice to hang around with him! Sadly he's leaving tomorrow, but I hope we can meet again. Wonderful holiday! There's something that you cannot buy with money. That's what really fulfils our heart and makes you happy.

SNOW

It snowed today!!!

It was freezing outside. The wind was also cold.

I strongly hope that it won't get colder coz it's dangerous to drive on icy roads.

A lot of people are coughing and I'm losing my voice. ahh...

thoughts at cold night

Each day passes so quickly, therefore, each week passes so quickly. At the moment when I realize that a day has just started, it's actually about to end. It feels like I am getting older so rapidly.

Difficult things and unexpected tasks constantly come over to me, but those are not just enough to make the days feel longer. Everything seems to be rushing.

Employees received bonus yesterday and my wallet is getting bigger now. It's an irony, though, that opportunities are not around when I have the money and temptations were everywhere when I did not. I want to join a choir, want to participate English lessons and want to travel to foreign countries, but my location, or time do not allow me to do them. Maybe, we cannot get everything you want. It's time to save...

My batch-mates were surprised when I told them I don't spend much, and said "You are not playing around!" or "It's like waste." It puzzled me and made me wonder "What can I do in this mountainous town???" It's funny that they consider having money in a bank account is a total "waste".

Christmas is approaching!

Beautiful illuminations in Fukuoka.

Meeting new friends

I met my friend from LA for the first time last Sunday~

Four of us hanging around in Fukuoka city.. it was really fun! We met them at night and I had to go back to Oita at that night so it was just about 4 hours and not enough. We are planning to meet up again before he leaves Japan.

What is good is that his friend, who is Japanese, is also very good in English and we all talked in English! Her English is really amazing and impressive. She was staying in the US for 9 months when in high school, which is not recent event, and still maintains her fluency!

Preparing to hibernate

It's very very very cold in the morning and in the evening. It really tells you that winter has come. My feet are chill-brained and I always have running nose. And in winter, I get hungry very easily. Even after eating deep-fried chicken for lunch, I want to eat something for a snack at around 3.

My eating habits are very different from that in summer. I strongly hope that all the calorie I take is burned right away in order to keep body temperature, rather than being stored as fat...

受かったぁ～～（泣）

英検1級二次も通りました！！　やったぁ～～　

三度目にしてやっと…！　嬉しい！

オーストラリアから帰ってきたその日が二次試験だったというのがラッキーだった…。

応援してくれた人、英語を教えてくれた人に感謝です！！

Rudeness or not

When I was shopping around in the Hong Kong airport I noticed something; shop staff don't say "Thank you". When they receive the money and give the costomer the change, they simply say "Bye bye" even without smiling and move to the next costomer. It may be too much to say that this type of attitude is rude, but it seemed to me that "Bye bye" means "We've already received the money, so go away", or something. I know they didn't mean that, but it SOUNDS like that.

This will surprise people who have sales experience in Japan, where they are taught that "You can never be polite enough to treat costomers". If you behave like shopstaff in Hong Kong, your boss will sure be angry in Japan.

There are some differences in culture. Efficiency is much more appreciated, and both customers and sales staff do not pay much attention to politeness as long as they could exchange the money and the product. It made me feel that service is so overly considered in some stores in Japan. The idea that "The costomer is the God" can lead unnecessarily bossy costomers and sometimes frustrate shop staff.

There are some pros and cons to everything, but overall, I prefer polite attitude of both customers and clerks to efficiency-oriented treatment..

Close look at Aussie

One of the workers in grain company keeps a kangaroo as a pet. She was so cute. I was able to feed her with nuts! He also has parrots, cockatoos and dogs. His house was like a small zoo. Birds were also pretty and beautiful, some of which can say "hello". I wanted them to step on my shoulder but they didn't, unfortunately... They liked only guys.

I didn't expect that barley farms in Australia were so vast... You can see barley, horizon and the sky, nothing else. The large scale production was astonishing for me and it was very different from Japanese one, which are usually based on small pieces of land. They said that farms were small and divided in the past, but the economic pressure made farmers either sell their land or buy others' and expand their property in order to gain competitive productivity. Ex-farmers left the countryside and moved to the city to find a job. That is why city is crowded and Australian farmers can make profit. Time may come when Japanese farmers will be forced to do the same thing as globalization is affecting the food production more and more. So problematic.

Beaches were also nice. It was rather cold and not good weather to swim but some people were already enjoying swimming and surfing. The summer has just begun here.

Summery of the trip

We visited four grain companies in NSW, South Australia and Western Australia and discussed crop information of this year. The southern and eastern part of the continent had abundant rain and barley grew well in the production area. On the other hand, western part had little rain, less than half of average rainfall throughout the year. Barley was short in length and grain was also small because of the drought. What makes it worse is that it rains often now, when they are about to harvest. Rain at this time will damage the grain because it makes karnels softer. All in all, total production is estimated to be normal due to good yield in Southern and Eastern part offsetting the poor condition in the West.

The trip was basically all about business, but we sometimes had a bit of sightseeing. I woke up early in the morning and walked around the hotel, taking photos of Opera house in Sidney and beautiful European buildings in Adelaide. We also went to a park and a beach where the view was excellent.

It was more than good that I met a lot of people involved in this industry and made friends with them. They are very friendly, kind and smart. I had a great time both in meetings and at dinner especially with my friends in Adelaide. So I have the best memory of Adelaide of all cities we visited.

I found myself speaking English more naturally and easily. It felt so nice when my colleagues asked me to interpret their presentation and to translate questions in English. Employees from trading company, who spoke both English and Japanese very very fluently motivated me a lot.

Suitcase

Edamane-colored. The shopstuff knew my mother and gave me 10％ discount:)

Substitute car

My car had a miner problem in the engine and I had it fixed. The substitute car was move custom! I liked the black interior.

Fish meal

Tasted "Kinilaw" (marinated fish with vinegar) and "Tinola" (Fish soup) for the first time. It was delicious!! We used horse mackerel to prepare Kinilaw, and sea bream for Tinola. Kinilaw was sour because it is marinated with vinegar. The red pepper was so hot that my lips were burning. Tinola was like Japanese "suimono", a kind of soup which contains the head and bones of fish. It was slightly sour and so delicious. Fish meat is a bit difficult to eat because of the bones and scales but healthy and tasty. I want to be better at separating meat and bones. We also had paksiw, but forgot to take the photo!

Working environment

Several companies are introducing a new system where their female workers can get transferred to a branch office in a different place when their husbands’ workplace is changed.

They have established this new system so that more women do not have to quit when they get married or give birth to a child because it is now considered imperative for firms to hold their female workers as the birth rate and therefore the labor force decline.

Transferring married employees to different workplaces is impressive, and more employees would be allowed and encouraged to start a family more easily. However, it might cause another problem; when a worker gets married and therefore he/she gets transferred to a distant place where their spouse lives, a single worker may also get transferred as a replacement of the just-married. So single workers have greater possibility of having to change their workplace and it might hamper their development of skills and experience in a certain field. If the single worker has a lover, a long-distance relationship may start due to the exchange.

This type of personnel changes, however, can be employed only by big companies which have many branch offices all over the country. Workers in small firms with a few branches seem to have no choice.

At last!

I have finished the big "task" which required me to stay in the company until 9 pm every single day. Little feeling of achievement but it's OK... It's finally over. sigh. So stressful.

Lost my voice!

声がかれた！ハスキー（bawwaw）　
出せる音域が広くなる…はず！

The key to be friendly

The lab members had sports festival and a party today. They said that there was a alcohol-free time from 5 to 7 pm so that Muslim students can also join and enjoy. I found it a innovative and generous idea. Muslim people used to go straight home before the party begins because they do not attend parties or any gatherings if alcohol is served there. So non-Muslim students had little time to mingle with them in previous parties.

But this time, they served halal food (permissible food in Islamic law) during the alcohol-free time so that Muslim students can also eat and have fun talking with others at least from 5 to 7 pm. They seemed to have a good time. It was really touching. Finally all the lab members were able to sit at one table.

When I was in the lab, I kind of took it for granted that Muslim people cannot join parties because they do not drink and I did not try to think any ways to deal with that problem. I wonder why I didn't come up with the idea so that everybody will have a chance to participate even though I knew that they do not drink.

Fluency in English is important, but just to be kind so that everyone can be at the party is also very important. It's essential to consider other people's feelings, especially when they have different cultural backgrounds. Difference can be minimized and sometimes overcome with a small consideration and it makes a very big difference.

New bag

It was the most expensive thing that I have ever bought. But it's ok.. I should treat myself sometimes!

irate

and people say bluntly that there is nothing we can do about it, or, that's the hardship that everybody went through. But neither of them are helpful; giving up things or justifying it saying that "Because everybody did that" are not the solution.

"Everybody did that" means that the malicious customs are still there without being done away with. It means that nothing has been done to tackle with the problem.

Things are forced; there is no choice. And they ask "Do you have any problems?" as if they care about us and then they slash the issue we have as "Everybody-did" and "No-choice".

The circumstances are not the same as they were ten years ago and still they are going conservative and keeping everything they did before. And the conclusion is: "That's your fault."

You may not understand what I am talking about. But the day will come when you understand, I hope not, though.

Why is it not changing with many people wanting to change it? Don't want to see anyone suffering or stressed out because of the job that is not originally that individual's job.

sigh....

I sometimes wonder "Am I living to work or working to live?"

Tokyo swing

Tokyo sky tree is now growing. The construction will be done in 2012.

Kudanshita at sunset

Ginza dining and Mitsukoshi terrace

Pig soxes

Twin eggs

Detective Conan

My mother and I went to my grandmother's house and three of us visited my grandpa's grave. On the way back, we dropped in at a restaurant and ate grilled wild chicken. The restaurant was in the mountainous area and so out of coverage of cell phone service.

After we came back to my grandmother's house, I received the missed call notice from my father. He called me when we were outside the communication service. So I called him back and guess what he asked!

"How did the wild chicken taste like?"

How did you know that dad?! I was speechless!

He explained; when he called me, the message said "This person you are calling is now outside the coverage." and he thought maybe we went to the restaurant in the mountain and were having that delicious chicken for lunch. My dad was like Sherlock Holmes! Amazing~~

Autumn sky

Weekend

My Esyptian friend and his family are coming to Oita this weekend. Even after my graduation he remembers that it's my hometown. Very nice of him. I'm looking forward to showing them around.

Wedding invitation

My friend is going to get married in November and she invited me to her wedding! She asked me to give a speech as a representative of her friends. It's such a great honor but I'm nervous...><

suicide prevention day

Is the government trying to decrease the suicide rate because it causes huge economic loss to the country? With over 30000 people committing suicide it costs $32 billion to the economy? Does this figure really help to prevent suicide??

If you are so depressed and feel there is no point of living, you will not care about the economical influence. There should be another approach. This public announcement seems to be trying hard to save the country's financial crisis, not the people's healthy lives.

The problem lies in people's attitude toward depression, a lingering perception that persists; still many people tend to view depression as weakness and mental illnesses as a stigma. There is something to do with culture and competition. If somebody got mental illness and cannot work any more, he or she is no longer "useful" to the employer. and the culture, where it's difficult for colleagues to be friends, makes it difficult to get help. Our tendency to keep emotions inside, which is considered to be a dignity, sometimes hampers us to voice what we think weakness, as well.

I wonder which is true, the situation doesn't change because they think it's out of their control, or, because they found an advantage in that system that is good enough to keep it going? It's really strange for me that many things are not changing even though many many people complain it and want to change it. Do they hate or fear of being considered a freak?

Reference:

http://edition.cnn.com/video/Suicide hit hard on Japan's economy

Thanks to online-shopping

I recently ordered the best-seller book "My darling is a foreigner" at last! I have been wanted to read this series but I couldn't find a bookstore which sells it. The good thing is that every line has an English translation. It's easier to know the everyday conversational English.

As for the story, (I'm not sure if it's a story because it's non-fiction), it was so fun! I was amazed how Tony speaks such good Japanese and know so many things about Japanese culture. He is more knowledgeable than an ordinary Japanese like me. His questions are so interesting and hard to give a good answer. 「やれああしろこうしろ」の「やれ」って何？とか。

Of course they have some quarrels once in a while but it seems more of a personal dispute rather than cultural difference. What is important is that the two try to understand each other and tell how they feel honestly instead of hiding their true thought. It's only possible when both of them want to keep the relationship and try to find ways to do so. Very nice story.

"My darling is a foreigner" was originally a comic book but since it went best-seller, they made a film out of it. I'm going to borrow a DVD of it soon..

The chicken and the egg

Which came first: the chicken or the egg? It is one of the famous paradox that people have thought for hundreds of years.

Scientists in Sheffield and Warwick Universities found that chicken comes first by using a super computer to zoom in on shell-making process while a new shell is forming. They discovered a protein, OC17, plays critical role in shell-forming and is found only inside a chicken's ovaries. That means, therefore, the chicken comes first, they say.

But the chicken which has OC17 was once in an egg, so where did the egg come from? Is their discovery really an evidence that the chicken was the first? I think the egg came first, if I am to give an answer of this rather philosophic query. When the fowl evolved from reptiles, the gene was changed in a way that the offspring of "the last reptile" becomes "the first bird". In other words, at the very moment of evolution, the reptile laid an egg of a bird. So it is the egg that first carried the new genes of chicken. The beginning was the egg because it is the first form of new generation.

I'm very curious as to how other people think about this life's oldest question.

Reference:

http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1007/100716-chicken_or_the_egg_mystery.html

sunday

talked with my friend over the phone in the morning. He moved to Tokyo after graduation with MC and is going to live there for good. We have been friends for four years and still keep on a good friendship. We are in the similar condition now: both are in cities with no friends. He recently chose an apartment to start his new life and is getting ready to form new relationships from scratch. When I told him I cannot sleep well these days thinking too many things that stick to my mind, he said "Take it easy, don't think too much. It won't help". And we talked about our mutual friends coming to Tokyo next month and about what happening to him and other people... He said he is also very lonely in the biggest city in Japan. He always makes me laugh and opens up everything including both good and bad news so it's very nice to talk with him. It feels easier for me to be myself when somebody is frank without show-offs. Revealing their weak points, failures and fear is not something that everyone can do.

Composition

TOPIC: Agree or Disagree: Gambling should be banned

Gambling should be banned because it has undesirable effects on the society such as high crime rates, family disputes and it promotes vices such as smoking or drinking which are harmful to health.

If one rolls a dice and gets huge amount of money at one time, s/he cannot stop playing it. Gambling can be addictive because of the joy of winning even though losses are most of the case. Gamblers may be more likely to commit crimes in order to get money so that they can play some more. That is why such form of entertainment can lead to crime activities.

Gambling also has bad effects on family relations. If a father spends too much time and money on gambling, he would be always preoccupied on thinking ways to always win and spend little or no time for his family, which leads to divorce cases and "casino widows". Therefore, gambling should be prohibited to prevent such events.

It is very common for gamblers to smoke or to drink during the plays so casinos are often full of tabacco fumes and alcohol. Even if one does not smoke, the second-hand smoke will damage his/her health. For the three reasons mentioned above, prohibition of gambling can make society better.

Great dinner

Hearing loss

The other day I noticed that I played my iPod so loudly at the station. The volume was set so high so that I hear the music despite the roar of the train. When I got home and played it again it was so noisy. Loud music was featured in several news and books.

The quotation of one of the famous rock musicians' high school year book went: "If it ain't loud, it ain't rock". Now when his head is accidentally covered by his pillow, he hear the alarm clock faint thick, thick, thick, not the blaring BEEP, BEEP, BEEP. In noisy restaurants he observes the mouth of his friend so that he understands the conversation.

One in six boomers have hearing loss like his, a report says. They are the first generation of rock'n'roll music. Aging conspires with long-time exposure to loud music and causes deafness to them. A number find themselves jacking up the volume on their television, cringing at boisterous parties, and shouting "What!?" into their cell phones. Not only loud music but also factory noise, construction din and roar of subways can be to blame.

Since portable music devices have become so common, we should be careful not to abuse our ears; otherwise we might develop hearing loss when we get older and regret what we did. There are some helpful options: the noise-cancelling function provides clearer music and lets you lower the volume of your music devices. Also you can set a limit to the volume on the new generation of iPod so that you won't injure your ears even when the volume gets accidentally increased.

References:

The New York Times, June 12th 2007

Green Tea

A 29-year-old French man passed the certification exam of Japanese green tea instructor in 2009 and now he is serving tea for visitors in an underground supermarket in downtown Tokyo. He has a lot of knowledge on how to prepare tea, the variety of them.

He liked Japan since he was a kid and studied Japanese art history in college in France. He came to Japan in 2005 and got fascinated by Japanese green tea. He didn't have any Japanese friend well versed in tea, so he read tea guides, bought a variety of teas and resorted trial and error in learning how to prepare tea.

In the past tea ceremony was common all over Japan but we seldom hold one nowadays. It was always the international students that were interested in tea and wanted to learn about it more, like this French guy. He is more knowledgeable than ordinary Japanese. He wishes that more people appreciate the tea culture in Japan. It goes well with any meal and suit people's palates, he says. It sometimes happen that people from overseas finds something good in Japan and let us know its allure.

As an aside...

You can find a bottle of green tea with sugar in it in Singapore! Many of my Japanese friends and I couldn't finish it because it was too sweet. The taste bud is really different from county to country.

Reference:

http://www.japantoday.com/category/lifestyle/view/frenchman-promoting-japanese-green-tea

Luxury

I went out to a concert of a famous Japanese singers the other day, walking under a bright sunshine, perspiring a lot with my aunt. There were 50000 people waiting in line to buy some goods, to enter the stadium, and even to go to the washroom. I had to line up to do anything. Watching the very very long line of people waiting that almost goes round the stadium, it hit me that those people are really lucky. They don't have to go to a distant well to get water or share little food they can afford like many people do in some countries.

I must be thankful that my basic need is always fulfilled.

Looking at a lot of food displayed in convenience stores makes me wonder where this food all goes after all. They are never going to sell all. The total amount of food produced in the world is more than enough to feed all the population on the planet, therefore, the problem is the distribution, not the food production itself. When thinking in that way, what are we doing, correcting much more food than we can eat from all over the world and just discarding them? I know it is how the capitalism is but...

Going green

New brides and grooms are turning their nuptials green. The minister of the environment and his wife held an environmentally friendly wedding parties and reception. They sent emails to invite guests instead of sending letters in order to cut use of papers, gave soap made from organic ingredients as a thank you-gift, planted a peach tree on the balcony of their new house. The bride wore a dress made of organic cotton that she can wear after the ceremony. They even donated 60000 yen to offset the carbon dioxide emissions estimated to be produced by their nuptials and honeymoon.

Lately more and more people are getting aware the influences their activities will have on the planet and want to do something to decrease or offset it. It signifies this tendency that the guests of the green weddings understood their intention to save the environment.

It is not only effective to reduce green house gas emissions, but also to save money; if the new couple ask their guests how much food they want to have and adjust the food servings at the party, it is likely to be less expensive. Many wedding parties tend to have too much dishes and too much leftovers so it's good that they are going to waste much less food.

Reference: http://www.japantoday.com/category/lifestyle/view/brides-grooms-turn-weddings-into-green-initiatives

After a year

It's been a year since I visited Seattle. All the memories come to my mind and it's hard not to think of it. I did have a great time there. Time flied sort of...the days were long and busy but they seem to have passed so quickly. I'm not going to waste my time wherever I am.

obon holiday

Newsreporters talk about the traffic jam on highways all day long in this summer holiday season. A lot of people travel about all over Japan so it's quite normal, nothing special to feature on, my uncle, working in SDF, says. Japan is such a peaceful country that traffic jam can even be a head news. Because he has been to many foreign countries where the situation is pretty bad, he knows and thinks more about peace and economical development. We also talked about religion, too. It's always interesting to talk with somebody who has travelled around the world and seen many things.

Sadly we were with him only for a day. He and my uncle left Oita early this morning and are going to work from tomorrow. Next time I will see them is probably the new year's holiday. I'm looking forward to it.

Homebuddy

I'm staying in my apartment whole day today. Just went out for shopping.

The walking distance: 500 m, exposure to sunshine: 5 min.

だって暑いんだもん！！

Sinigang and Shrimp ala pobre

Tasted typical Philippino food this weekend~

Sinigang is a sour, delicious soup. The flavor is different from Japanese cuisine, but I love it. Shrimp ala pobre has a thick souse, which is really good eaten with white rice. It's so delicious that you can eat rice three times as much as you usually do.

"Beverly Hills Chihuahua"

A celebrity dog living in Beverly Hills, Chloe, gets lost in Mexico and meets a lot of dogs. The place was totally new to her and she was first desperate to go home. Former police dog helps her and they became friends.

Disney always produces very nice movies with animals. The mouthes of the dogs are computer graphics and so the dogs speak!

I just want to mention some reviews on this movie. Some people say that it patronizes the racial stereotypes; dirty Mexican dogs are waiting to be rescued by an LA lady and given a good bath. This comment shocked me but it really makes sense. This kind of story might grate on Mexican people. The message that Walt Disney wanted to deliver is that they strongly hope that every domestic animal has a loving home. But even good messages can offend some people.

"Marley and Me"

It is a story of a young couple, John and Jane, and a Labrador retriever, Marley. Marley is too an energetic dog and he never listens to the owners. He eats anything, destroys furniture, and runs to everything that interests him. As Marley becomes bigger, it gets more difficult to control him. John and Jane, trying to hold Marley, are so funny.

What impressed me is that both Jane and John dealt with all the problems in a positive way. Even though Jane was stressed out with taking care of her children and Marlie, she still said that this is Marley's home and he's not going to go anywhere no matter how tiring it is to keep him. John also told his friend that he would never leave Jane even when they had arguments every day. Considering the divorce rate in the states, which is 50%, this couple are strongly bonded.

After their three kids became elementary school students, Marley got older. It is so sad to lose a pet because it is a member of their family. It almost made me cry.

Very nice movie, worth watching many times.

"17 again"

I saw three movies last weekend and all of them were so nice! I saw 17 again, where a middle-aged man becomes 17 years old again. He and his wife were going to divorce because he was always complaining about his life and he thought it was his mistake that he got married instead of entering college.

After coming back to 17, though, he went to the same high school as his son and daughter, and realized how precious what he has is. He talked to his wife pretending to be a friend of his son and he got very close to her. Gradually he starts to feel sorry for being irresponsible and wants to start a new life again with his family...

Anybody can say or feel like "How I wish I could go back to teens. I would change my life totally." but if you could, maybe you would notice that what you have now is not that bad.

"Good" day for doing laundry

I washed my sheet today and hung it out as it became sunny after the loooong rainy season. And I went out... see what happened! While I was immersed in reading at the bookstore, it seemed to have rained. It was windy. When I came back, the sheet was on the ground!!! The strong wind blew the laundry poll and the sheet altogether. I ended up washing it again and hanging it in my room.. strange weather.

3-day holiday

I met my friend today, who was in our laboratory and now working as an assistant professor in another university. On his way to his parents' house, he dropped by in Usa city. It has been a while... but he didn't seem to have changed much. We talked a lot, about our new environment, his new research project, the company I'm working for....

We went out for lunch with my car and went to Usa jingu shrine by his car. His car was a normal one, not k-car... with powerful engine, spacious interior, and excellent car navigation! wow.. It's always nice to see good old friends.

And, to my surprise, I got transferred to the R&D division. I was in the quality control division for only four months and out of the blue my boss told me that I will be sent to the different place. I will be working in the laboratory (in the same building, though) from August 1st. It just surprised me but since I want to do some research, it's OK... I wonder what kind of research theme I will have.

球磨川下り

Turtle

It was very hot yesterday... and I saw a turtle crawling on a road!! It was about 30 cm long, quite big. When I caught it to help it go back to the rice paddy, it struggled to escape! It scratched me with the claws on its legs. I'll be hot today too and the turtle will stay underwater.

Take me home, country roads

Tokyo

飯田橋から見えたHosei tower！

Kitakyushu airport

Flew to Tokyo from Kitakyushu airport for the first time. The government has dispensed with the fee of many toll roads across Japan so it was rather crowded than usual on the way to the airport.

7 am Monday morning

It's hot in summer, but things are beautiful.

Bag

Secondhand bag from my mother:)

90210

These days I watch an American TV drama, 90210. It is about a family who moved in Beverly Hills from Kansas and started a new life there. Harry, the father, became president in Beverly Hills high school and his children, Anny and Dickson entered that high school. Many of the students are celebrity and they have such complicated relationships.

The story line is nice and I can related to the feelings of each charactor. I sometimes replay it again and again until I catch the phrases that I don't understand and it makes me learn when I finally get what they mean.

Tokyo

On this coming Wednesday I'm going to Tokyo to attend the lecture for microbial detection in food. One of my friends is now living there to do her research so we are planning to meet up with her husband, and our mutual friend, now working in Tokyo also. She was one of the delegates of summer programme in my university in 2008. She helped me a lot to find accomodation when I was going to Seattle last summer. I'm so excited to see her for the first time in two years.

Our mutual friend was also a tutor of one of the interenational students at that time. He and I have been friends for more than four years and we still contact each other. It is so nice to have such friendship that lasts long even after we left Fukuoka.

I'm also desperate to going to a big city. The lively atomosphere, convenient transportation attract me much. The best thing is; I'm not paying anything because it is a business trip!!

On Thursday night I'm going to meet my friend I met in Seattle. She is a senior student in Tokyo and we are in good terms for almost a year. I'm glad that she was happy to hear that I'm visiting Tokyo. I cannot wait seeing my friends.

busy days

many things come up in my mind but I have no time to jot it down every time. Good thing that I always carry a note so that I can record my thought. how can I cope with shortage of time? I have only 4 hours to get everything done after coming home until I go to bed. I think I sleep for too long. maybe.

It's my source of energy

many people asked me why I study English but I have not found a good answer. I just love it!

Soup

Cooked chicken corn cream soup and Chinese radish. I cooked so much that I will be able to survive this week...