Present again!

Another cute rabbit came to my room. My animal in a glass case~

It snowed a lot!!!

I'm not sure if I'm really in Kyushu island...

operator

Today something exciting happened!

When I answered a phone call in the office, a guy asked "Can I talk to Mr. XX?" in Japanese with a slight accent. I answered that Mr. XX was at the meeting and then he asked "Is Mr. YY there?" again in Japanese. I said he was on a business trip in Japanese but he didn't seem to understand it so I asked him if he speaks English. Since he said yes, I said the two people he wanted to talk to were out, and that Mr. XX would be available in three hours in English. He praised my English and even asked my name. It turned out that he was one of the business partners of our company and was calling from Canada. My coworkers heard me speaking English for the first time, and they said they were impressed, too. I felt fluttered....

I felt comfortable when talking with a stranger on a phone in English, to my surprise. Two years ago when I picked up a call from an English-speaking guy, I was able to talk with him but I was nervous and intimidated, not normal. I saw some improvement in myself and was happy about that!

Cool Japan

A TV program "Cool Japan" is really cool! There are around 10 foreign people of different nationalities talking about a specific topic about Japan and giving their own ways of thinking.

Today's theme was "Household budgets". A research found that it is the wife who takes care of household budgets and she gives her husband monthly allowance in 60% of families interviewed. The non-Japanese people were surprised to know that the husbands give all of their income and have it under their wive's control. It was impressive that one Italian guy said "Receiving allowance is humiliating for Italian men" and a French lady "It's like you are treating your husband like a kid". That's understandable. On the other hand, there are approvals like "It's an effective way of saving money".

But when a husband wants to buy something expensive, how do they get that? Many answered that they would "ask their financial minister". It seems that Japanese men do not buy many things compared to those in other countries. Observing my colleagues, I also noticed that male workers are not particular about clothes, watches or shoes. They buy houses or big cars for his family but not so much for themselves. The only thing they spend a lot on is parties and drinks, though.

That is why it is said that ladies tend to be the target of marketing. They are the ones who control the money and purchase more things than men. Personally, I want to have the separate bank accounts as well as a joint account for daily expenses such as food and lifeline. With your own account you can save as much as you want and buy whatever you want. But we don't know what happens in the future so what we need is pliability.

And also, a housewife was featured in that program, who does manual hand-crafting work at home. She folds a paper and put it in a plastic envelop to seal, which will be distributed as a paper toy for kids. She earns 1.5 yen per each toy, and she completes 2000 per day while her son is in kindergarten. She has to do housework and take care of her children as well as that work. The reporter pointed that there is no facilities to nanny your kids when they are sick and so many women have to quit her job after giving birth. The support is not enough especially in big cities, where young couples live far away from their parents.

A Singaporean lady said that "There are many choices in Singapore. You can hire a made to help take care of your kids and you can also rely on the child care center". And American guy "If you attend a meeting when your kid is sick, your colleague will frown on you". He would be further surprised to know Japanese workers are very hesitant to take paid leave to take care of their sick children. They think that work is something public that must not be interrupted by your personal matters. So the women are feel pressured and think that they shouldn't cause their colleagues any trouble. That is what maintains the Japanese diligence and productivity, but there are sacrifices behind the success.

Very interesting to know different perspectives of foreign people with different cultural backgrounds. It tells me that the world is so huge and there are many many things out there that I have never seen or experienced firsthand.

Chilblain

It's terribly cold for the past few weeks! The windshield of my car is frozen every day; hot water is a must have when you go out in the morning. The forecast says we will have snowstorm tomorrow and day after tomorrow with the lowest temperature -3C. The road is going to be icy and highways are likely to be closed. hmm... I have nowhere to go...

I suffer from chilblain on my toes at this time of a year because of the poor blood circulation. It's painful when it's cold, and gets very itchy when I enter an air-conditioned room. Scratching is difficult because of socks... It doesn't allow me to concentrate on my work. (good alibi?) I use antipruritic cream but I know it will stay until the spring comes.

Humidifier

Newly bought. It's like an electric kettle with a jet, so is very easy to clean! I already broke two old humidifiers due to the accumulated scaly deposits, which need to be removed by adding some acid and scrubbing the tank. hope this one will last long..

Homemade apple pie

My mother is really a good cook!