Feel fresh again on an orientation day - 文化論 - ピコデガロ

Monday was an orientation day for the new incoming students. There were many of them - 15? They are young, energetic, with hope and aspiration. It reminded me of myself two years ago. I was excited about not having to attend a morning assembly every single workday, to just listen to chit and chat. I was astonished that I can access all journal articles for free at anytime. I was thrilled to be connected to the university WiFi all over the campus. I was amazed and felt comfortable in this more gender-equal, diversity-oriented community. All of these things are now a norm to me. It's time to appreciate them again. It's time to appreciate the fact that I am where I longed to be.  I was feeling sluggish and not energetic about many things because of some urgent writing stuff that was unreasonably planned and assigned to me, but now I feel better now. I have a good environment. I am blessed to be here, and blessed to have countless opportunities and resources. It's totally unknown how I'm going to live after this. It sometimes feel like I do not want to work day and night and weekends, but sometimes feel that I would find it quite inconvenient if I don't have freedom to work at nights and on weekends. 

I first thought the university system was chaotic, people don't pay attention to what others do, so things are often messy and unorganised. But there is not cumbersome relationships either - people just care about their own work and do not personalise other people's business, and yet they stay friendly and nice to each other. This is pretty much the same in an corporate environment too, I would think. What is the difference? Why do they behave like this and why is it so different from my culture? Why do I feel very uncomfortable there? I think it is the notion that everyone's different? We are all unique - your classmate is from all over the world with different appearance, different academic background, work experience, family history, etc, etc. There is no pressure to behave in a certain way. I hope I will find a good answer to this someday  - what makes the diverse community more breatheable than monocultural society? I should probably start reading some cross-cultural books. Or am I still seeing the very superficial part of the culture here - and I am not seeing hidden problems just yet? There are problems, of course, but people are more logical and practical in tackling them. At the end of the day, you just need to focus on your own stuff because what other's do does not really affect your life most of the time. If that happens, it's time to leave. Changing plans happen all the time with much more flexibility and acceptance from the society, although acceptance or approval isn't really needed in this culture. 

It may be that in Japan people rely too much on others in approving (appreciating?) themselves. You would realize it's not a good idea here because there is no single standard that is right to everyone. If you are in the US and let others decide what you do, how good you are, how good your decision is, how to do anything, you will be lost because everyone has a different opinion, way of thinking, and different standards towards many things. And you may be taken advantage of by some rare abusive people. There is no absolutely right thing; and therefore you need to think on your own. There is no solid authority that you can blindly trust. What was impressive and I remember for a long time is that my American friend's mum said that she was a Christian, but did not believe everything the priest said. She said the teachings of the bible are old, and she needs to make her own judgement. This is the way individuals think, instead of following authority without giving it a thought. It's easy, it gives you peace of mind if you let someone else dictate everything you do; however, it comes with great cost. How can we change that? It makes me feel choked when I think about this. There is so much invisible pressure to be someone you are not quite and yet you think the society demands you to be. Is that really true? Who is ''the society'' exactly?        

Pico de Gallo クミンを入れたら何でもメキシカーン

 この夏最大級の蒸し暑さ。。

This American Life again

630. Things I mean to know:  yam, sun, innuit, mirage of the sun raising in the opposite direction. Do we really know the Earth goes around the Sun, and not vice versa? Do we know what the evidence is? How do we know the Earth is tilted? What's the difference between yam and sweet potato (personally, I think they are totally different and they cannot be confused)? There are many things that we think we know without the reason why they are so. Interesting! 
513. Cars: car dealer that needs to sell 169 cars per month. The manager does every small things to reach that goal. A man who excels in sales, has a character that makes you think that he NEEDS to sell cars.
614. The other Mr. president: Russian president, the relationship between his inauguration and a serial explosions that killed 300 people sleeping in bed. Terror and control, and yet the popularity of the current president because of the corruption, poor economic situation in the Soviet Union that preceded his era.
xxx: The lawyer that was given a criminal trial. The case was weak and withdrawn. 100 days in prison despite being innocent!
647: LaDonna. A woman who entered men-dominated workforce. Her fight against authority, sexism, and racism.

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/

製餡試験のお供にはThis American Life のポッドキャスト。毎週配信され、各回ごとにまったく違うテーマでエピソードが集められる。テーマは宇宙から社会問題からコメディまで多岐に渡る。一時間の放送時間の中で、15－20分くらいの関連するエピソードがあり、様々な視点でそのテーマをとらえる事ができる、非常に知的好奇心の刺激される内容。

宇佐にいた時は、外国語と、世界と、繋がっている唯一の方法だった。
長距離運転をするときによく聞いていて、この内容のをあの道路のこの辺で聴いた、というのをいまだに覚えていたりする。あのエピソード、あの道路で聞いて涙が出てきて運転できなくなったからお店の駐車場に停めたなあとか、あのエピソードは田んぼがきらきら光る五月の田舎道で、人の人生の不公平さに唖然としながら聞いたなあとか。シリアスなものばかりでなくて、爆笑しながら運転したことも何度もある。

政治のことでも、独自に調査や取材をしていて、小さい公共放送枠だからできることなのではないか…。こういった質の高い番組がいつまでも提供されますように。

ツアコン記録3 Welcome to Michigan!

ミシガンツアーがもはや遠い過去に感じるーー。

女ばかり家族4人で向かったのは、ミシガン半島最北端のマキナーシティ。船が出ていて、そこからマキナー島に15分ほどで渡れます。マキナー島は車の乗りいれが禁止されている美しい島で、昨今は高級ホテルやら観光街が充実している。移動手段は馬車か自転車。何年か前に行ったとき以来で懐かしかった！　一人がチケットをなくしかけたり、見つかったと思ったら今度は私が乗船直前になってチケットを見つけられず…などハプニングもありながらなんとかわたることができました。結局ズボンのポケットに入っていたのに鞄ばかり見ていたというオチ。

湖は青く美しく綺麗で、天気にも恵まれ、日も長いので一日中観光できました。3時間運転した甲斐があった！　妹が助手席でしっかりナビをしてくれたり、ガソリンスタンドを検索してくれたりして、大変助かった。お店でメニューを私達が悩みながら見ていた時も、後から来てもう注文決まっていた人たちが私たちのことを辛抱強く待ってくれていたことに気づき、「先に行ってもらおうよ」と言ってくれたりとか。立派な大人になっていてほんと感慨深い！！

湖はきれいだなー大きいなー

ミシガンのアッパー半島とロウア―半島を結ぶマキナー橋。

湖畔に沈む夕日は格別！　ちなみに気温は15℃くらい…。

私はダウンジャケットを着ておりました。

ホテルの朝食会場でワッフルマシーンがあったので使ってみた。

海鳥の多いこと。打ち上げられた魚の内臓の部分だけを食べているという、

栄養学的に考えれば納得いくけどちょっとグロい図でした。

浜辺でまったり。このために生きているよね、みんな。

水は冬凍ってたのが溶けたばかりという感じで、すごく冷たかった。

これが全部凍るとは信じがたい…。

最終日の夕食はちょっとオシャレな感じの中華！　なかなか美味しかったです。

しかし、今回一度も焼いたステーキを食べてなかったね～と出発直前に振り返っておりました。ステーキとメニューに書いていても、右下のやつのように、他のものと煮られていることが多いのでザ・ステーキというものには巡り合わなかった。というかメキシカンとかタイとかに行ったからだと思うけど。まあいいか。ステーキはどこでも食べられるし！

お疲れ様でした会

植物関連の研究をしている日本人の集まりがありましたー☆　大人同士の素敵会。3名今夏帰国するため、お疲れ様会でした。3人もいなくなってしまうと寂しいけれど、また新たに2名もうすぐ来るらしい。

小さいハンバーガーを出すお店で、いろんな種類が食べれて面白いところです。しかもメニューが独特。もちろん普通のパテやフライドチキンが挟まったやつとか、キノコのとか美味しいのだけど、パテ、キムチ、ピーナッツバターの組み合わせのもの（意外にいけるのかと思いきややはりだめだったらしい）や、油揚げと野菜炒めが挟まったものとか。アジアンな感じになると仰天するものが出てくる。それはそれで面白かった。とにかく小さいので、不思議な味でも完食は可能。スープやフライドポテトは普通に美味しかった。

そのうち２名が誕生日が近かったので、お祝いも兼ねてケーキを買いました。そこでメッセージを書いてもらうはずが、ケーキ屋さんでは「できない」と言われてしまい、急遽DIYすることに。板チョコとデコペンを買い、紆余曲折の挙句我が食品ラボで作業。金曜夕方で誰もいなかったので良かった。ケーキも食品サンプル用冷蔵庫にしっかり保存できたし笑。ペン入れは、「美大も検討した」という現役修士学生が担当。上手いーー　帰国する３名は全員苗字が「〇〇もと」さんだったので、「★★本さん　ありがとうございました」って書こう！と私が案を出したものの、いざ書いてみると星と本の区別がつかないね・・？！　★を塗りつぶして●●本さんにしようかとも思ったが、本本本さんと読まれてもそれはそれで面白いか、とか、気持ちが大事！とかわいわい言いつつ作成。GO GREEN は、スクールカラーの緑色から来ている、大学の応援フレーズです。

かくして３人にはバレずにお店まで運び、サプライズで出すことができました！　店員さんは、なんかしれっとケーキの箱ごと持ってきて、何も言わずとんと箱をテーブルに置いてその場を後にしたので　おおっとお・・・？！となりましたが。やっぱりこういうサービスはあまりやり慣れていないのでしょう。求めすぎたかーー。とにかくもお話も弾み楽しい時間でした。

　

チーズの量がいかにもアメリカン。

コーンビーフとキャットフィッシュ（手前）。キャットフィッシュはすごく泥臭い魚なのだけど、揚げると美味しいのね。。

マンゴームースケーキ。これもあれこれそうとう迷った挙句決定。みんなが食べられるケーキ選びは難しい。わりとさっぱりなのかと期待したけど、中はヘビーなクリームが何層かありまして……むむむ。

手書きはやはり嬉しいよね。

スイカとクッキングペーパーとインフレ

It's the season of watermelon! A local supermarket is offering free sample of watermelon juice for customers to taste. A mid sized watermelon is $4-10, not too bad.  BUT... that juice is just like cucumber to me... slightly sweetened cucumber perhaps, but I don't think I'll enjoy eating it because I'm used to very sweet watermelons available in Japan. Probably it's because the watermelons here are seedless, not pollinated, and so not fully developed as a fruit (flavour compounds are developed throughout the course of fruit maturation after pollination at least in the case of tomatoes). But is it the only reason? Maybe watermelon breeders did not breed for excessive sweetness? Kind of bland, weaker flavour may be preferred like many other commodities. Its interesting to see the tendency of Americans preferring weaker flavours of anything. Hmm, not buying the watermelons here but it's ok. I don't miss it so much probably because it's not as hot here as in Kyushu. The steamy hot and humid weather is what calls for juicy, sweet watermelons.
Parchment paper vs wax paper. From time to time you will find a fake or a lower-grade version of something here.  I've got another example: parchment paper vs wax paper. Both are used for baking, looking very similar to each other, but parchment paper is the one that you should use in the oven, not wax paper because the wax coating will melt under high heat while the silicon coating of parchment paper withstand heat. I mistakenly baked pastry under wax paper because I thought they were the same!! The wax melted and apparently my pastry absorbed some of the liquid wax while baking. It was sad to throw the bake away. The wax paper is for lining the kitchen board and handling cold dough. It's a cheap alternative of parchment paper you can use while preparing your dough. It's my fault I didn't read the description of wax paper, but it's certainly confusing. I never imagined there would be paper very similar to parchment paper that yet can't be used in the oven. It's even dangerous as wax paper can catch fire under high temperature. I'm really glad it did t in my oven. If you're used to using both wax paper and parchment paper appropriately there should be no problems, but for me, it was another surprising lesson to learn here.

Inflation seems taking place because the student fee and parking permit price  went up ~4%. The economy is pretty good here. New cars are selling, and the stock market is erratic but active. I'm glad the apartment rent didn't go up, but it seems prices have increased in general. I wonder if salary increased too. It'll be hard if not. Which happens first, pay increase or price increase?

西瓜の季節。スイカは割とお手頃価格で売っているのだが、種無しスイカのせいかあまり甘くない…きゅうり以上スイカ未満な感じ？

ワックスペーパーとパーチモントペーパーを間違えて餡子パイ第一作目が失敗に終わる。ワックスペーパーは、蝋が塗ってあり、常温以下のもののみに使える。その上で生地を練ったりするのが主な用途だと思われるが、これがパーチモントペーパー（耐熱のクッキングシート）によく似ている。ワックスペーパーって、高温になると溶けて食べ物に移るだけでなく、発火する可能性もあるんだとか！そんな危ないものを、間違うような環境で売っていいのかしら？？

この国ではインフレが起こっているらしく、大学に納める諸経費、駐車許可証の値段が4%くらい上がっていた。家賃は据え置きのようで本当に助かったが…、給料が上がらないと物価だけ上がっても困るよね。景気は良いようだ。物質社会だし。スーパーなどに行っても、「このグッズ、必要？」と思うようなものがシーズン、イベントごとに並んでいて、大量消費社会だなあと思う。そして、家に物がたくさんになれば、ガレージセールで家の庭にあふれんばかりに並べ叩き売る。お金とものの回転が非常に激しいようだ。


https://pixabay.com/en/melon-fresh-juice-watermelon-juice-2438503/

4-hour stay in Canada

Took a quick business trip to Hensall, Ontario, Canada. It was supposed to be a business meeting to discuss the opportunity to visit Japanese customers that import Otebo beans for paste in autumn. That would be fantastic! But it was a civic holiday in that country (the first Monday of August is reserved for going to the beach!), and the main consultant who has contacts with the customers was absent! We though had a nice overview of the exporter (it is truly a big business), and had a meaningful discussion on the ongoing variety trials and also on my bean paste research. Their concern was that the bean paste market is very small, and the return may not be as much. It is totally understandable. The paste market of dry beans is only 5,000 t, which is a fraction of a percent of the total a few million tons the company handles. Considering that the Shochu company I worked for imported 200,000 tons of barley annually, the market is indeed very small. Nonetheless, they seemed interested in my reseaerch and improving the North American Otebo beans for paste quality, which are currently just selected based on the agronomic yield. We will see where this project brings us.

Crossing a border is always makes me nervous especially after the current president was elected. The government implement strict and sometimes unclear immigration policies, and that has made many families separated near the US-Mexico border areas. Even though I have necessary documents to cross the border and come back, it is nerve-wracking to have a conversation with an immigration officer. On the way there, the officer asked us a bunch of questions regarding who we are, what we do and where we went in Ontario. Our technician explained that we had a meeting there, visited a few research plots and we work on beans. His explanation was very clear and in detail, but when he said "We are agronomists.", the officer said "What is an agronomist?"! We were baffled. He just said that! We visited the plots and saw how plants were growing! After we re-entered the US, we were saying that "Border control is one of the few jobs where you wake up every morning thinking how you could harass people, thinking about what kind of puzzling questions to ask". It was kind of humorous because we were all admitted.. They told me it had been worse and that it was relatively smooth. Oh dear.

It was very hot and humid there despite being Canada! After visiting 4 experimental fields and checking each plot one by one, I was so ready to go home!

カナダ一日出張に行ってきました。車で4時間の旅でした。国境を超えるのはいつもどきどき…。豆をあんこ用に輸出している会社に行って来て会議して、私の研究のお話も少しして、蒸し暑い中圃場を4つも回って、長い一日だった。

米加の国境で、カナダで何をしていたのか、誰と会ったのかとかを入国審査官から聞かれ、技官の方が、圃場に行って植物の様子を見たりとか輸出業者と会議をした、アグロノミスト（農業経営学者）なので、と丁寧に答えた。その挙句に審査官、「でアグロノミストって何？」　今説明したやん…。えーと、植物を扱ってます…。米国に入国できてからの帰路、「僕らはアグロノミストじゃないんだ…」「入国審査官ってのは、毎朝、今日は国境を超える人たちにどんなこと聞いてやろうか、って考える職業だね」　もっと意地悪な質問をされたこともあるらしい。大変だ…。

北米産や外国産の豆は、とにかく価格で非常に有利。国産は価格で勝負することは現状ほぼ不可能。でも品質が良いから選ばれる。白あん特性の研究をするのはいいけれど、北米産の豆が製餡特性まで良くなったら、日本の豆はますます太刀打ちできなくなるのではという危惧もある…。日本のような狭い農地で、北米のような超大規模経営の農業体系と競争するのは無理がある気もする。かといって、効率を上げることを諦めない方が良いと思う。まあ、国産は高級品、輸入物は一般品、と、商品用途によって住み分けができている気もするけれど。難しい問題だ…。

すくすく。

一面の豆畑。

  

製餡試験追い込み中

金曜日に実験装置を借りに行く街は、湖の近くのリゾート地にほど近い。

ミシガン州の形をしたイスが二つ並んだロッジが気持ちよさそうだった。

測定もあと1回！　5回もお邪魔して使わせてもらって、廃液処理とか任せて

しまって（月曜にしてくれる）、本当に助かる…ありがたい……

最近は豆の写真しかない。

45分煮ただけではまったく歯が立たない、生煮えの豆。

餡にはできません！！　豆ってどうしてこんなに時間が経つだけで

煮えにくくなるのだろうか…　ペクチンが不溶化するからとか化学的な説明はあるのだけど、なぜ豆だけ？　米とか速攻で火が通るのになー。