Saturday, July 31, 2004 Cloudy and windy
under the influence of the typhoon.
Watched up to the 34th episode of "Hojun"
last night with my wife. There are 30 episodes
left. I want to watch them all before I go
up to Tokyo. So, I read little in English
these days. My wife, our second son, and
I had dinner out at the usual Japanese restaurant.
As I was the driver, I refrained from drinking
beer, but my wife and our son drank some
draft beer.
Friday, July 30, 2004 Windy. Cloudy, clearing
and raining sometimes.
Typhoon No.10 is a weird one. First, it
was going away from the Kinki area, and now
it is coming this way and going to land somewhere
in this part of the archipelago My wife and
I are really into Korean dramas. My wife
is fond of Korean. I am interested in Korean,
too, now. Saw "Rainmaker" on video.
Thursday, July 29, 2004 Cloudy
Bickered with my wife over a trifle. I
was watching "Hojun" at midnight,
but she fell asleep and missed it. She later
said,"It's not fair for you to watch
it alone this late. I will have to get up
early tomorrow and go to work." But
I have little time, too, before I have an
operation next month. And there are 64 episodes
in all, each of which takes around one hour.
Wednesday, July 8, 2004 Fair but with a passing
rain and a little thunder at the same time.
Last night failed to watch a little more
of the Korean drama "Hojun." I
fell asleep while the night was still young
and overslept. Today has been a long day.
Went to Osaka City's sign language class.
The instructor was late, so we had less time
to study than usual. There were a couple
of makeups and one retest.
Tuesday, July 7, 2004 Fair
Went to the sign language circle and ate
out at a restaurant together. There were
eleven of us chatting in sign language. Hardly
read the novel in English. Drove to my wife's
place of work and picked her up. On the way
back, went shopping for supper. Watched the
Korean drama again. It is addicting.
Monday, July 26, 2004 Cloudy and a shower
at night.
Suicides hit a record high of over 3.4000
last year in Japan. This morning I heard
a critic comment on that on the radio. He
said that Japan has changed drastically for
the last decade. The traditional corporate
culture and local communities are gone and
individuals are laid bare in society, where
the question "Where does the accountability
lie?" is asked. While taking a walk
tonight, I was caught in a shower. Lightning
flashed and then it thundered. So scary.
Sunday, July 25, 2004 Cloudy with occasional
rain.
I heard it thunder in the afternoon and
I had to go to the dentist. So, I decided
to drive there. I had the filling back in
place. Watched the first 12 episodes of "Hound",
another Korean drama, but a historical one.
Read little in English and got on the Interned
only a little, too.
Saturday, July 24, 2004 Fair
Last night reading the records of some
people who had their neck operated on via
the Internet, I felt a little scared. The
pain right after the operation seems to be
intense. The clinic is so far away it is
hard to receive periodical checkups, too.
One of my dental fillings came off. Got to
see the dentist. Went to Kobe with my wife
to see our older son. Brought some takoyaki,
his favorite. Watched Episodes 10 to 20 all
the way with my wife until the wee hours
of morning.
Friday, July 23, 2004 Fair
School is already out for summer, and the
number of accesses to this webpage of mine
has decreased. Maybe it is time for this
site to get into aestivation ( the opposite
of hibernation ), but anyway I will carry
on during the summer holidays except when
I am in the hospital for my surgery. At work,
I was like a person on telephone duty today.
The telephones kept ringing from students.
Thursday, July 22, 2004 Fair
Again I have got an ingrown toenail. I
clipped the part of the nail which got into
the skin and also applied some ointment to
the affected part, but it still hurts. Watched
Episodes 5 to 7 of "Hotelier" with
my wife. She says she likes the Korean language
and that she would rather see Korean dramas
with subtitles than the ones dubbed in Japanese.
Wednesday, July 21, 2004 Fair
After eating a delivery box lunch and marking
the rest of the exam papers at work, I hurried
to Osaka City's sign language class. All
the marking was done and I punched in the
results. Took care of one makeup. Had an
interview with the principal. This was done
based on the "assess- and-nurture"
system. Took 20 minutes or so.
Tuesday, July 20, 2004 Fair
Substitute holiday. Cicadas in chorus in
the morning. Another hot day. Drove my wife
to work as usual. Then the usual 'cornet'
bread and coffee breakfast with the younger
son. And to the sign language circle. I was
absent from the last two meetings. Ate lunch
together and chatted in sign language. Around
five drove to my wife's hospital, picked
her up, ate out, and went to the usual pet
food shop. Over in Tokyo the temperature
was a record high, over 39.5 degrees Celsius.
Monday, July 19, 2004 Fair
Until around 5:00 a.m., my wife and I watched
all the way to the end of the Korean drama
"Autumn Fairy Tale"-from episodes
9 to 16. Toward the end of the story, we
were all in tears. Woke up a little after
11:00 a.m. It was a Korean drama 'hangover."
Anyway "kenchanayao"(Never mind.)
. I have already begun watching a new one.
This next one's title is "hotelier (hotel)."
Sunday, July 18, 2004 Cloudy
Watched up to episode 8 of the Korean drama
"Autumn Fairy Tale" until dawn.
Went to work, although today was Sunday.
Worked for about a little over eight hours
until around nine o'clock, chiefly marking
exam papers. There were about 80 of them,
but it took longer than I had thought. I
still have some left. Came back home exhausted.
Saturday, July 17, 2004 Fair
In the morning went to the usual English
conversation school and spent two hours there
talking in English. Then lunch and to the
hospital for my neck traction. A colleague
of mine loaned me another Korean drama. I
have been in deep with Korean dramas. This
next one is entitled "Autumn Fairy Tale."
I have already seen up to episode 4 out of
16.
Friday, July 16, 2004 Fair
Our second son drove over to Wakayama this
morning. As the car was almost out of gas,
I bought 3000 yen's worth of gas at the usual
self-service service station for him. On
my way back home, finding that I had left
some students' assignments on somebody else's
desk, I went back to school and put those
assignments away.
Thursday, July 15, 2004 Fair
Made plans for the summer vacation and
handed them in today. This year this new
online system has kicked in, but things are
kind of rigid, it seems. We must submit the
papers ( In my case 9 pages. ) and also go
through the necessary procedure online, so
it is such a hassle, double the paperwork.
All this bureaucracy seems to be waste the
way it is now.
Wednesday, July 14, 2004 Fair
On behalf of the English section, I placed
orders with the library for books today.
Invigilating in the school nurses' room was
cancelled, though I was in charge. Lucky
me. Attended Osaka City's sign language class.
My signing was terrible today. I am supposed
to hand in my summer plans, but I am not
fully ready yet. The procedure is far more
complicated than before.
Tuesday, July 13, 2004 Fair
Today is our 24th wedding anniversary.
We went to a movie−Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and ate out at Namba. First, we went to
a Tennoji movie theater, but it was fully
booked. My wife took an afternoon off. This
is my substitute holiday. Finished watching
all the 20 episodes of Winter Love Song ( Fuyu no sonata ).
Monday, July 12, 2004 Cloudy
Watched Episode 14 of "Winter Love
Song" in the morning and then hurried
to work. Ate a delivery box lunch at work
for 380 yen as usual. Ate out this evening
at an eatery near the school. Ordered a pork
cutlet table d'hote. That was expensive,
not palatable enough, and scanty.
Sunday, July 11, 2004 Fair
Went to work in the morning, feeling sleepy
because I was watching the Korean drama "Winter
Love Song", which my younger son recommended.
Wow, I just could not stop watching it. I
knew this would happen to me. If a person
does not know what it is like to be in love
while alive, life is not worth living. But
this story is so heartbreaking, though I
have seen up to episode 8 as yet.
Saturday, July 10, 2004 Cloudy and a thunderstorm
at night.
I will have to hand in my summer plans
to my bosses. I must get permission online,
too, via the SSC Net (the teachers' Net).
The deadline is by the 20th. During the summer
vacation I will attend Osaka City's sign
language communication class four times on
Wednesdays. I will have my neck operated
on, too. I hope I will feel up to doing what
I plan.
Friday, July 9, 2004 Fair with scattered
showers.
Had a chance to hear an American talk about
the American national holidays. Because he
was a Jewish American, I asked him to explain
Hanukkah. His alma mater is one of those
Universities of California. Today is day
one of the 1st-term exams. I did all the
dubbing necessary for this school year for
the part-time teachers. I was busy with this
and that today at work.
Thursday, July 8, 2004 Fair
Finished the dubbing for the part-time
teachers only. Also made two "who does
what" lists and put them in the pigeonholes
of the English teachers. The old-timer pointed
out a mistake and I realized for the first
time the way the English section is carried
on. Won two movie tickets for "Harry
Potter" in a nearby bookstore's Star
Festival lottery.
Wednesday, July 7, 2004 Fair
It was scorching hot today, too. I was
baking under the sun, going to Osaka City's
sign language communication class. Japanese
sign language is very hard to interpret.
I still have a long way to go. Began to do
the dubbing for the second-term English classes,
which is pretty time- consuming. Nobody did
this for me last year, but I am doing it
for everybody this year.
Tuesday, July 6, 2004 Overcast
Hung out the washing to dry on the balcony
this morning, listening to NPR as usual.
Got to take a quick shower and leave for
work. Must do the printing for the exams
and put those exam sheets away. It takes
time. And it really did, all the more because
of an irresponsible man at work. This man
lacks common sense. His deed could be a kind
of harassment. Anyway worked until 9:00 p.m.
nonstop.
Monday, July 5, 2004 Cloudy
Went to see my doctor to have the results
of my blood test explained. My cholesterol
level was a little high but lower than last
year. Probably thanks to walking regularly
this year. Then I went to the hospital for
my neck traction as usual. It was sweltering
hot today. On the way back, I got a bottle
of soft drink and drank it all while walking
to the station, quenching my thirst.
Sunday, July 4, 2004 Fair
My wife has been busy working on next month's
job schedules for those who work under her.
They are new to her because she has been
assigned to a different section. She has
been struggling for the past few days but
now she looks relieved. Maybe almost done.
Drove back and forth twice in a day today
to Kobe to transport our older son's stuff
like the desk, the stereo, and so on.
Saturday, July 3, 2004 Fair
After driving my wife to work, took a quick
shower and went to the English conversation
school, where I talked in English for two
hours or so. Then picked my wife, who had
the afternoon off, ate out, and went to Joshin
for the Homepage Builder 8. Spent some time
reading. Just a laid-back holiday. My car
had a checkup yesterday. There was a problem
around the fuel tank.
Friday, July 2, 2004 Fair
I sometimes wonder what life is all about.
I sort of philosophize. The Middle East is
in chaos. So many suicides in Japan. Little
hope for children, too. Conflicting interests.
Human relations sour everywhere. The struggle
for existence, the survival of the fittest.
In a way, we all simply continue the process
of dying a little each day. Quite pessimistic,
huh? Sadness sets the tone of my life. I
have had a long day today. Perspired and
dehydrated on the way back. So many last-minute
assignments handed in.
Thursday, July 1, 2004 Fair
There were two conferences, which lasted
for more than four hours in all. Then all
the staff got together again in the conference
room and stuffed the envelopes addressed
to the respective students with the 2nd-term
schedule, leaflets, etc. This took around
one hour. Got so thirsty on the way home
I dropped by a convenience store to buy a
Pocari or something.