Monday, Friday 28, 2005 Fair

　With my Korean language teacher, went to see a comic story teller perform in Korean at a Korean school. That was fun. The title of the comic story was " Zoo." At work, received two phone calls from students about their sign-up.. Called one student about her makeup.

Sunday, Friday 27, 2005 Cloudy

　Last night our first son came home, ate his mom's dinner, played with the cats, talked with us, and went home late at night, taking some stuff with him. Today a washer repairman came because the product was defective−a recall part being part of the dryer. In the evening, I drove around alone, shopping and putting some gas in my car because my wife was under the weather.

Saturday, February 26, 2005 Cloudy, snowy for a while.

　Woke up early enough to do the radio exercises and listened to the radio Korean program. Then drove my wife to work. Coming home, did the household chores as usual. Took an afternoon nap. A lazy and relaxing holiday. Our first-born son is coming home tonight.

Friday, February 25, 2005 Cloudy

　Last night stayed up very late, actually until the wee hours of morning, watching a Korean drama on video. I kept watching it for five hours straight. Again lack of sleep. I had a full day today. A couple of students came at the same time for their sign-up procedure. That was a hassle. Overworked.

Thursday, February 24, 2005 Cloudy, later rainy.

　I have some eye irritation these days. Am I beginning to be allergic to pollen? If so, too bad! I'll just wait and see. On the way home a heart-freezing cold rain was falling.. Did the interim input of the students' sign-up. Also inputted the results of some of the remaining students who got the passing grade.

Wednesday, February 23, 2005 Fair

　A student came to school before I did. The student handed in her last assignment. I got the impression that she was a good student. I was right. The one who pointed out that she came in the morning was not my kind of person. I did not think the way he said it was right. Too belligerent. I like the former kind of person. I saw through the nature of the latter at first sight.

Tuesday, February 22, 2005 Sunny., a nice day.

　With the cats on the sunny side of the living room as usual, the weather was nice today. Enjoyed the sign language circle meeting this morning. Prepared for today's Korean class for an hour or so.

Monday, February 21, 2005 Fair and so very cold.

　To err is human, and I AM human. I made some mistakes, and now I am trying to be honest and correct them. I hope the other party will be cooperative. Korean homework has piled up. I will have to hit the books. I was busy today, too, helping students with their sign-up for the next academic year.

Sunday, February 20, 2005 Cloudy

　This morning I had a sore throat, but I had to go to walk. Wondering if I could manage , I began today's work. I took care of ten of my homeroom students for their next subjects to take. I had one makeup to give, too. Two visitors. Calls to make. Telephone duty, which my partner kindly did for me. No time to take a break until I left for home. Exhausted.

Saturday, February 19, 2005 Cloudy, later rainy.

　At the English conversation school, we talked about the national anthem, schools, the Nanjing Massacre, credit card fraud, Japanese mentality, etc. At home I viewed the Korean drama "Cookie." Ate out with my wife as usual after picking her up. Our second son is now pretty busy visiting companies.

Friday, February 18, 2005 Cloudy, later rainy.

　The 17-year-old boy, who killed the elementary school teacher the other day, himself must have little idea why he did it. His family may be an ordinary family. Did a lot of cleaning at work. Threw away lots of unnecessary sheets. On the way home, it was rainy, windy, and cold. What a night after a hard day's work!

Thursday, February 17, 2005 Cloudy

　Today, too, my cell phone rang. It was one of my students calling to ask about his attendance. There was one email asking me to put off her exam day. Immediately responded to both of them. Some do things unfairly and succeed, and others do things fairly and fail. Some never hesitate to tell lies. Slyness often pays. This is what I felt dealing with the students.

Wednesday, February 16, 2005 Rainy and then cloudy.

　A Korean language study session in the morning.. In the afternoon students came one after another. I got phone calls on my cell phone from early in the morning until late at night. Prepared for the sign-up period starting this coming Sunday. I had a full day today.

Tuesday, February 15, 2005 Cloudy and rainy.

　Today was another bad day to drive. A big truck was on the narrow road, blocking the traffic. The tough-looking driver was irritated and defiant. Anyway he maneuvered the truck aside, and the other cars went by O.K. Yesterday at an Osaka elementary school three teachers were stabbed by a 17-year-old boy. One of the teachers died, the other two seriously injured. Too tragic to be true! The whole picture of this world, including the present-day Crusade in Iraq, seems to be unsound enough to eat at the heart of each one of us. Went to the sign language circle in the morning and to the Korean class in the afternoon. Picked up my wife, ate out for supper and did some shopping together. At night saw a Korean love story on video starring Son Yuna, who is so pretty ( 'aju yepoyo') to my eyes.

Monday, February 14, 2005 Fair

　Yesterday my wife cleaned the living room. Now it looks quite O.K. This was a bad day to drive. This morning on the road were so many drivers without manners. Also something seemed to be wrong with my cell phone. It may have gotten out of order. Well, things break down, and people change.

Sunday, February 13, 2005 Cloudy

　I went to work today. The day went by smoothly almost until the end of the day, when something that spoiled the whole day happened. It was like a surprise attack and I felt as if some toxic substance poured over me. Mailed out "employment certificate" forms to my homeroom students. Some students came in the afternoon to take their makeup in English. I took care of them in the teachers' room. The last one asked me to give him a makeup, although I was not in charge of him. I thought I would help out, which later backfired. I bit my tongue anyhow.

Saturday, February 12, 2005 Cloudy

　I had three phone calls from homeroom students. I will have to call them as soon as I get to school tomorrow. They want to know whether or not they will have to take their retest in P.E. They have not gotten their P.E. exam back yet. My wife did some extra wiring around the TV sets.

Friday, February 11, 2005 Cloudy

　Although today is a holiday, I went to the Korean language school. I usually go there on Tuesdays, but I could not go this past Tuesday. Today was a substitute school day. Today while studying in the Korean language classroom, I found myself unable to spell a simple English word. Well, that can happen. I will just keep it up. I bought a couple of books on the way home.

Thursday, February 10, 2005 Cloudy

　Today's teachers' conference was not too long. I was the clerk. After this, I sent the results of the exams to the students. This took quite long. Now the Internet seems strange. Some viruses may be going rampant. The anti-virus software is behaving strangely. I contacted the company, but the answer was not to the point. Are they a bunch of dummies?

Wednesday, February 9, 2005 Cloudy( in Tokyo), and rainy ( in Osaka)

　Just back from Tokyo. Inside the MRI I was close to being panicky. In that cramped space, the noise was so loud and it lasted 20 minutes or so. To me, it was a hell of an experience as usual. Saw the doctor and was advised to do some weight training to relieve the neck-base pain. Thanks to my friend in Kanagawa, I could have a good time talking for the two days.

Tuesday, February 8, 2005 Rainy

　I am shortly leaving for Tokyo because I will have to have a six-month checkup on my neck, which was operated on last August. I am a bit claustrophobic, so I hate that MRI examination, which usually last at least for 30 minutes. Tonight I am staying with my friend in Kanagawa.

Monday, February 7, 2005 Cloudy and then rainy

　There was a Korean language study session this morning. Then there was a general affairs department meeting. It took some time to decide who would act as the emcee of the coming commencement. I was asked to do that, but there was somebody else better suited for that. To begin with, I hate to stand on ceremony.

Sunday, February 6, 2005 Fair

　Today was a workday to me. Getting off at the usual station this morning, I got a sandwich and some salad for lunch at the usual store by the station. It being the third day of the finals, I invilgilated three times today. There was an alumni association committee meeting, too. On the way home, I bought some fruit for my wife and me to eat, drinking green tea.

Saturday, February 5, 2005 Fair, occasionally cloudy.

　Today being the first Saturday of the month, I went to the English conversation school and talked in English for about two hours as usual. After eating a quick lunch, I viewed the videotaped TV Korean program, but while watching it, I fell asleep and slept for a long time.

Friday, February 4, 2005 Fair

　My American friend is now in Kuwait as an American soldier. I am concerned about his safety. I hope he will not be deployed to any dangerous area. Although I had not planned to, calling one of my bosses on the cell phone, I took one hour off today. Now my hobby is to read my Korean dictionary. It is fun!

Thursday, February 3, 2005 Cloudy

　Thank God the weatherman says this spell of cold weather will be over tomorrow. This morning ate bread for breakfast over a cup of coffee conversing about this and that with my second son. He has become a good listener. My first son found it dangerous to ride his motorcycle on freezing days-slippery roads. Today's teachers' education was a lecture by a junior high teacher, a Korean living in Japan.

Wednesday, February 2, 2005 Cloudy and freezing.

　Handed in the 'report' originals to be printed-300 copies for Oral �T and 500 for English �T. When I looked in my pigeonhole in the printing room. There was something that did not belong to me. I knew who put it in. I did not want to waste my breath on that person. Also prepared the sylllabi for Oral �T and English �T. I keep forgetting English spellings. Is it because I spend so much time studying Korean?

Tuesday, February 1, 2005 　　Snowed and then cleared up. Freezing all day.

　It must have snowed early this morning. Looking through the window, I saw snow-covered patches of ground here and there. The road was frozen and slippery, so I did not drive my wife to work. Right by the newly-build high-rise building near the station, the wind was blowing so strong.. It is dangerous around there on such a windy and cold day as today. Those tall buildings have changed the flow of the wind in a dangerous way. Too bad.