満開

道を歩くのが何倍も楽しくなる。
^_^

What makes a good leader ／良いリーダーとは

リーダーであることのむずかしさを目の当たりにした…。
できる人であることは必要条件だが、十分条件ではない。良いリーダーというのは、どういう人か…。いかに人をやる気にさせ、１＋１を２以上にできるかに尽きると思う。実際、人数が集まって良いチームワークが発揮できれば、一人ひとり独立に動いた場合よりも多くの仕事をすることができる。

１．指示する声が明瞭で、適切な速度であること。（そんな早口モゴモゴじゃわかりません！）

２．自信があるように見えること。（合ってるかどうか分かんないんだけど…は、皆を道に迷わせる）

３．一緒にいいものを作り上げよう！という、協調姿勢があること。（私はあなたたちより上よ、というのは、言わなくても、そう思っていれば感じ取られてしまう）

４．皆に話しかけ、積極的に皆を知ろうとし、自分を知ってもらうようにすること。（リーダーが自分の殻に閉じこもってしまっては、全員の一体感が生まれるはずがない！）

一人ができる仕事なんてたかが知れている。
人を動かし、人をやる気にさせ、皆で作り上げた仕事に感動できるような、そんなリーダーに、なりたい。機会があれば。

I observed someone trying to be handle a team.. poorly, sad to say.
Being capable of what is required as a worker is not a sufficient quality to be a good leader. A good leader unite and motivate other people, making them do more than the work combined that they would make if they worked individually. This is the whole point of team work.

Firstly, the direction of a good leader must be clear and concise delivered at the right speed. (Are you talking to us or just to yourself by murmuring fast like that?)

Next, a good leader must be confident about his/herself leading the way. (The humble "I'm not sure if it's correct, but..." will get everyone lost and disoriented.)

Thirdly, a good leader must be cooperative, wanting to do an excellent job with everyone. ("I am superior to you all, so I can do a good work by myself" kind of attitude will disappoint his/her team mates and make them reluctant to work in the team.

Lastly, a good leader must try to get to know all the team mates and let them know him/herself well. Warm and cheerful characters of a leader will encourage interactions among the team mates. If the leader stay quiet and withdrawn, there is no way that the team can be united as one.

If given a chance, I would like to inspire and motivate my people by being a friendly, determined leader and do a brilliant job that will be a valuable achievement to everyone. The whole experience will be a great source of lessons on working together, creating more than two from two ones.




    

Birthday gifts!!

So many thanks to all the lovely gifts!!

今年もいろいろな人に祝ってもらえて幸せーー☆☆

Feel like a glass of white...

Helping out the translation of product description of our winery. Floral bouquet, luscious fruitiness, crisp finish.. It makes me feel like a glass of white wine even though I am not a drinker.

ワインの商品説明の翻訳をしている。
美しく詩的な、食欲をそそられる説明文ばかりを読んでいると（書くためには多量に読む必要がある）、 ワイン愛好家でなくとも飲みたくなってしまう。

Sunset walk

A walk to the burgh, on the grass, watching baby geese and their parents teaching them how to swim, all was very soothing and relaxing. It was an easy day. Love the long day.

Two favorites: Thai & flowering trees

Whenever I have a chance, it's time to have good Thai food. Though the first one (Thai shrimp salad) was heavily influenced by Mexican, the other two were really authentic and good. It's hard to choose what to have without pictures, so it's a random try. Curry seems to be a good choice!

The trees were in full bloom everywhere. Many trees have small flowers just like cherry blossom. Interestingly, people don't care about them much! In contrast, Japanese wait for cherry blossom every year, talk about the weather conditions that decide how long the flowers will last, and enjoy viewing them under the trees both day and night. Maybe those who have moved to other places where there's no trees of this kind, will realise how lucky they are to have them.

A day trip to Holland

Holland is a city in Michigan, where a Dutch windmill is still working to mill wheat grains. Where there is a windmill, there are tulips just like in Netherlands or House Ten Bosch. As the sky was clearing up, the tulips were glowing, too. There are so many varieties with different colours and shapes of petals.
There was a cellar door of a winery called Warner's. Grapes of Love is my favourite!

An art day

Detroit Institute of Arts was very interesting.
The lady at the reception said "You're above 17 or below..?" She wasn't sure if I was a teen or not! She was in her 50s, so it may have been hard for her to tell people's age, to be fair, but it made me smile and flattered.
The art museum had a cafe inside, where sunlight comes in and people can enjoy live music on Friday nights. Beautiful! It was a nice place to spend hours studying or just chilling out. And for citizens, the admission is free!

One of the landmarks is the painting on the wall. On the median wall, some artists drew the history of industrial activities in Detroit, from car industries to military supply production. It was interesting, and inspired me to draw!

Despite the rain..

I was able to witness how voting works in, at least, some parts of the U.S.! The new word: precinct.
The poll was at the Christian community centre. "The separation of religion and politics"? It's just a community center that is based on the value of Christianity. That's all, I guess.

"The Grille" was nice! It's got a friendly, casual atmosphere and of course great meals. It's hard to have the right amount of food in the U.S. because most of the time it's way too big. The animal instinct that is inherited from our old old ancestors, tempts us to eat more than we need if supply is abundant to be prepared for possible famine. Then we will end up taking too much calories that will make us big. Yes, surprisingly big. So, I think the important thing is to not have too much on your plate to begin with, because it's hard to resist the temptation of the mountains of food. If you see the right amount of food on your plate, not overwhelmingly big portion of it, you'll enjoy the food more and will not feel guilty after eating too much. I always feel this when I visit the states, where the Erving portion is really, unbelievably big. People are supposed to take home their leftovers, but it doesn't seem like helping them be in shape for the reason relating to survival.

Anyways, walking around downtown and seeing the "snow trees" full in bloom were wonderful.

Layover in Seattle

It's traveling time after a long period of intensive workloads.
Haneda international terminal, which is very new, was interesting to visit. The upper floor consisted many high-end Japanese restaurants and shops. They seemed too expensive to me, but the quality must be so good and it may be nice for people who travel frequently and are tired of low-quality airport meals.

Pic 1. An artistic light poll. I don't mind one with this kind of design in my room.
2. I was able to hop on a train and go to downtown Seattle! It was my first time to visit the city of coffee after my English course at UW. It reminded me of many good memories and made me think a lot.

3. At the Bay Area where the very first Starbucks coffee store is, you can see Mt Rainier on far left.

4. I took exactly the same picture of the park and the hilly street six years ago with my DSL camera. It was an interesting experience. Things seemed not changed much after many years.