On the way...

On the way to Kitakyushu

It took an hour to reach Yukuhashi and then another 1.5 hours to Kurosaki! I drove for almost 6 hrs today, which means one forth of the day!!!
It was fun and refreshing over all^^

numbers

hmm so, let me make it clear...

Gildas wrote about the arrival of Anglo-Saxons in 540 (=Five hundred forty).

King of Norway invaded the England in 1066 (=one ou sixty-six).

Welsh forces defeated Norman lord in 1136 (=eleven thirty-six).

How to read the years... it's still confusing.

Keep holding on

A turning point is approaching many people.

One of them got a job, one got married, one graduated from school, one is moving out...

Changes are sometimes good, and sometimes sad.

That's how life goes on.

Like 10 years ago, our canvas was solid white, nothing drawn yet, and now many things have been painted in various colors. Bright colors, dark colors, patterns... our life is so different now.

Everyone is drawing their own picture on the canvas, gradually, but certainly. To pick up one color means that you throw away other colors, but that's the only way to clarify what you really want to draw and how you want your own picture of life to be. Every decision you make piles up and illustrates the masterpiece.

You may take the wrong colors, but you can paint it over again. One Inuit man once said, "life is like drawing a picture that never finishes". As long as you live, your drawing continues.

So there's no returning, but there's no completion either.

What is important is to keep thinking, never give up, and try your best to use the best color for your own picture.

My wallpaper picture

Traveling on railway

I'm posting many today because I have to kill time on the train. The train services are far from normal.

I had no choice but to take local train from Hakozaki to Kokura, which took more than an hour. Ithought if there's still no express trains, then I will have to take local train again and it'll take 1.5 hours.. Just a mere thought of it makes me tired. Luckily I caught express train right after arriving at Kokura.. Here goes again, there are some things that you can't do anything about. So this time I was blessed with good luck.

Friends

I really appreciate my friends who just keep listening to me without asking many questions because sometimes it's too painful to talk about but you want to open up and say all the things you have kept inside. Just nodding and sympathizing will be enough because it's a clear sign that you care about that person no matter what.
I think those who overcome very sad things are good at it. It's hard and it's something that you can't find a convincing reason, but it might help to understand somebody's feelings and support them.

Reunion

I met one of my friends who just achieved doctor's degree and is going back to his country soon. He seemed doing good. He published a paper and will attend the graduation ceremony. It's not really like a gown and a hat thing, but still it's a cerebration for his academic achievement. I'm really glad to witness his success.

In the future, he wants to help young students who are very talented but can't continue studying for financial reasons in his country. There are so many students who are smart and likely to contribute to the development of the country.

A lot of scientists are now gaining strengths and getting good results. I know it's highly competitive and stressful sometimes but it is the competition that leads technical innovation. And I want to be a part of it.

Anyways I wish him best of luck!! (And I personally like the expression "Good luck" because there are so many things that are out of your control. So it's a positive, optimistic way of encouraging people. Success doesn't depend solely on your work. It's important to know that many other facters do relate. So just keep it up and some day the fortune will come to you. That's what it means.)

Colors

Some people say English or any other languages are just tools. So they keep wondering why I'm so engaged in sharpening the knife that is already ok to cut things.

But for me, it's more than just a tool. I think it's similar to painting. If you speak only one language, it's like drawing with just one color. With more colors, the picture would be more vibrant and precise. So if you can speak more than one languages, they enables you to express you in different ways, and I like that. So having an ordinary knife is ok, but sharpening it more or even having another one is cool.

On the local train

Hmm it seems I'm stuck. The train is at this station for more than ten minutes now. The train service is delayed so badly like for almost an hour. Even some rapid trains have been cancelled, which have caused further confusion.
I know it's out of control and and so there's no point in worrying, but I can't help especially when someone is waiting for me.

Thanks to mobile phones, it became "easier" to be late, my friend once told me. "But I think it became more important to be on time since it clearly shows that you think the appointment is important." I completely agree with this. If you are always on time, people would trust you and understand when you are late for an unavoidable reason.

So, in summary, please turn the signal to green and let the train start!!!!

お中元☆☆

嬉しい(^.^)
ありがとうございます！！

Thinking things through

Every teardrop makes you generous.
Every pain makes you strong.
Every hardship makes you confident.

All the things you encounter can be a fruit-bearing tree. So there's nothing to be afraid of. Every cloud has its silver lining.

Studying, studying, studying...

Surprised to know that I still have considerable focus and passion for academic writing.

Mochi

We all thought that mochi was a boy, and called him mochi-kun. However, he was she! She laid an egg! So much a surprise...

Super hot day

Engineering

The very important machine broke down and I tried to fix it all day long.

Although I have been using this equipment for almost a year, it was my first time to tear it apart and see what was inside. It was very complicated and took so long to detect the problem. It was intriguing to know how the machine carry out analysis though...and it's important for the users to know the mechanism in order to analyze the data and to repair if necessary.

I'm now waiting for a new part to be delivered soon.