Tuesday, July 24, 2007 Fair

　Getting up around 5:00 a.m. went to Tenri Universty and had five 90 minutes' classes. Tired out but had to drop by the school to mark the exam paper of the student who took it yesterday. However, when I got there, I found out this student did not come yesterday. Well, that is often the case here. Also one of the texts on the desk disappeared in the classrom during lunch break. Very strange.

Monday, July 23, 2007 Cloudy and then fair.

　Day one of the Tenri Korean language course. Got up before five this morning, took a shower, had a quick breakfast, and left for Tenri at 6:00 a.m. On the way I felt like relieving myself. Too bad. because I might miss the train. Anyhow I got to Tenri Station all right, and paid for my rental bike. It was so cheat-3,200 yen for 21 days.

Sunday, July 22, 2007 Cloudy

　Had to go to work to give makeups. Only a few came, though. Our two sons came back home. The second son's glasses were broken by his big brother when he happened to sit on them by accident, so the little brother had to run around to get a new frame, for the lenses were intact. My PC is almost totally broken. I may have to stop keeping a diary online for a while, or I may write in the BBS.

Saturday, July 21, 2007 Cloudy

　Just went to the English conversation school in the neighborhood and talked in English for some time. Today I explained a lillte about Korean and its culture. Drove to Konan with my wife to buy some cat goods. The IE of my computer hardly starts now. It is almost dead.

Friday, July 20, 2007 Cloudy and the rainy.

　My computer is dying. I may not be able to upload this online diary of mine soon. Yesterday Mr. Kawai Hayao died of cerebral infraction. He collapsed around this time last year and was operated on. He was a great man from whose books and lectures I learned a lot. He was 79, a good age to die. The way he died was not bad, either.

Thursday, July 19, 2007 Fair

　Took a summer special half day off and came home after handing in my summer-study-at- home form and doing the procedure online, too. No 'reorts' were sent in, to my regret. I found out that a handy Korean-Japanese dictionary is more helpful in learning Korean than an electronic one. I have not used it for long and have wasted much time.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007 Cloudy and then fair.

　The assignments to mail to Tenri are almost ready. I will be sending them tomorrow. Now I have run out of energy, and my mind is blank. I hate to be forced to study this way. I want to study of my own free will, not against my will. Otherwise it is nothing but viloence.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007 Fair

　The earthquake-devastated area in Niigata is still in big trouble-no water, etectricity, or gas supplies. Stress must be mounting among evacuees. However, it will take time to get the infrastructure back to normal. In Japan volcanic activities are now in full swing. There is an earthquake somewhere every five minutes. The earth is alive. Translated a couple of Korean stories into Japanese after coming back from the Korean class.

Monday, July 16, 2007 Rainy-downpour with thunder and lightning.

　In no mood to do the Korean assgnments. After the typhoon came a big calamity over in Niigato today-a strong earthquake which killed nine people and injured hundreds. Also Nara and Kyoto were hit by medium-size quakes. Late at midnight there was a thundershower. A thunderbolt hit somewhere near here, according to my wife. I was fast asleep.

Sunday, July 15, 2007 Cloudy -Typhoon No.4 swerved.

　Luckily the typhoon did not hit my area, and the exams were given according to schedule. With the Korean language course starting next week, if it had come this way, those exams would had been postponed for a week, which would have posed a problem to me. Invigilated two exams, the examinees of both of which were O.K. enough compared with the ones the other day.

Saturday, July 14, 2007 Rainy

　Typhoon No.4, the biggest one that has ever come in July, is coming in the direction of our pprefecture. Tomorrow our school is having final exams. They are likely to be put off until next Sunday. Today my wife went out to a seminar for nurses. She lost her umbrella on the way there. She has not gone out for over a year. She must have been nervous.

Friday, July 13, 2007 Cloudy, raining on and off.

　Really Friday the 13th, the file I had in the workplace's computer was said to be contaminated with some virus. It cannot be. I made it at work. Somebody else must have done it. A totally false accusation. Had the whole folder for the latter half of the Korean assignment sent. Grateful. If I go on like this, I would lose my health.

Thursday, July 12, 2007 Cloudy, occasionally rainy.

　Marked the English �Texam papers for the nighttime section. Took around two hours. Studied Korean a bit. There was an Entrance Exam Committee meeting, which did not last too long. Who does what has been decided. On the Tenri Korean BBC there was a proposal that we do a joint translation again. I agreed.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007 Cloudy

　Last night I fell asleep at home without doing any work. I slept well. I needed enough sleep. For today's English �T exam only about 60 students came out of 142. I wonder what the rest will do. I was on gate duty. Dealing with some students is really difficult, especially when they belong to the night school on the same premises.
　

Tuesday, July 10, 2007 Cloudy

　Marked the English �Texam papers for the daytime section. Took some time. The progress of the Korean assignments is no good because I have so much other work to do. When I get back home at the end of the day, I am usually so tired as not to be able to do anything at home.

Monday, July 9, 2007 Cloudy, occasionally rainy.

　Invigilated one exam. There was a suspicious group. Watched over 50 students carefully all through this exam, so got really tired. One boy peeping into the exam of the one next to him. I warned. Just as I expected. The quality of students has changed. Too bad. No time to mark the exam sheets. Quite a few 'reports' left unchecked, too.

Sunday, July 8, 2007 Cloudy

　I interviewed 50 STEP examinees all day today. Tired out. Got my wife some cakes and also sushi for supper. Have to continued with the Korean assignments. The first-term finals will start tomorrow. There will be lots of 'reports' to correct. Yesterday I encountered the first centipede this year. It came in with my shirt from the balcony and I wore it. It crept along my left arm. Yuck!

Saturday, July 7, 2007 Cloudy

　I did my share of the joint translation tonight. With the STEP interview test tomorrow, I am supposed to rest well, but It is impossible. I am afraid I may collapse during the test because of fatigue. Also I will have to make a plan again for the rest of the Korean assignments.

Friday, July 6, 2007 Cloudy

　My computer is now in the process of slow disintegration,. There are at least three symptoms. First, the keyboard is strange. When I hit a certain key, the sign or letter it control does not show up. Second, the computer freezes too often. Third, it cannot do multi-tasking. I want this computer to last until mid-August, when there will be more time available for me.

Thursday, July 5, 2007 Fair

　There were two staff meetings. One was just a conventional one, and the other was a joint meeting in the AV room on the 8th floor, where it was stuffy today with around 150 people in it.
Continued with the rest of the Korean assignments, but the progress was tardy.

Wednesday, July 4, 2007 Cloudy

　The progress of the next phase of the Korean assignments is slow. It will be impossible to do all the assignments by the deadline if alone, so I think I will do it with some other friends. This time I want to take my time and do them. I will also have to read some books and write my impressions.

Tuesday, July 3, 2007 Fair

　Today's Korean class was not as lively as usual. For one thing I was tired, and also there were fewer students than usual. Burned the midnight oil finishing up the Korean assignments and sent them to the professor via email. No time to take a double-check on them. Just tired.

Monday, July 2, 2007 Cloudy

　Our last Korean study meeting for the 1st term. Dozens of 'reports' to correct. No time to breathe while at work. There are some reports which do not make sense to me. This is another thing I have never experienced here. There seems to be some qualitative change going on here.

Sunday, July 1, 2007 Fair

　Today was the 1st term's last class for English �T, but only a few students came. I have never experienced this kind of thing so far here. There are some who will not listen to me this year. Some even answer back even when I talk to them gently. Very unusual. I really had a full day and came back home exhausted.. Quite a few 'reports' to check and some students asking me questions on an individual basis.