Thursday, June 30, 2005 Cloudy

　The following is one of those scenes in a train on my way to work. A young girl sits next to me and begins to put on makeup as if nobody else were around her. The smell of the makeup wafts all around. As soon as her face is ready, she begins to play with her cellphone. I don't know why, but I feel very uncomfortable. I guess this kind of scene is seen all over Japan.

Wednesday, June 29, 2005 Cloudy, occasionally rainy.

　I work in an air-conditioned room, which is not good for the health, but it has been so muggy recently I need air conditioning.. However, the side effect is that my whole body feels somehow dull and heavy. I feel somewhat depressed, too. I made another exam today at last.

Tuesday, June 28, 2005 Fair

　Today is the anniversary of the founding of the school for students, but not for teachers. We went to work. I prepared the listening comprehension section of the exam in Oral Communication �T. This exam is almost ready, but I still have one more to make. My first-born son seems to be going somewhere abroad for a while.

Monday, June 27, 2005 Fair

　I like the following saying: "To speak another lanugage is to live another life." I put this proverb on my web page yesterday. As soon as I made up my mind to learn Korean, my lifestyle changed. If you learn something, the most important thing is your environment-the way you live. Also you must have the best teacher you can possibly have. I have discovered that Korean is a very beautiful language. This is the starting point. It is a pleasrue to speak it.

Sunday, June 26, 2005 Fair

　In Japanese we have the expression "ma ga sasu," one of whose English translations might be "to be possessed by some evil spirit and do wrong." Yesterday an inspector was caught in the act of shoplifting. He belongs to the police and is supposed to capture criminals. He was possessed by some evil spirit and committed a crime. To prevent such tragedies it seems necessary to admit that both good and evil inhere in human nature. Self-righteousness is hypocrisy.

Saturday, June 25, 2005 Fair

　My mind has been blank almost all day. The first son seems to be up to something drastic. I wonder what he really wants to do. At his age I went to the U.S.A., and spent nearly a year there. I wanted to learn to speak English then. And now I make a living by teaching English. Well, he may need something like an initiation to orient himself.

Friday, June 24, 2005 Fair

　Today I attended a lecture under the title of "Tips for Speaking English " by an English native speaker. The lecturer was the one I had recommended, and I provided the title. This American gentleman is an honest man, and today's talk was good, too. Foundational grammar is necessary, but after that, patterns and vocabulary should be built up by using familiar things, such as families and food, as topics. Use of dictionaries is also an important factor.

Thursday, June 23, 2005 Cloudy

　When sexual harassment takes place, behind the scenes are power and control. One is either stronger or weaker than the other in terms of power and/or control. It is really mean to take advantage of this kind of situation. However, married couples also go through similar things. There are things you should not do or say even to your spouse. Is power struggle inevitable?

Wednesday, June 22, 2005 Fair and hot.

　I went to the prefectural education center to attend a lecture and a workshop on human rights education. The lecture was not much, but the workshop was good. The process in which a trauma is formed goes like this: "I am to blame," "It may happen again," and "If it does, I can't do anything about it." (Self-reproach, fear, and incompetence.) The importance of stress management was also explained. Should anger accumulate, it will eventually explode. Verbalizing emotions leads to nonviolence. Having human rights means that you don't have to be a victim or a victimizer, and also that we need to keep the right distance from each other.

Tuesday, June 21, 2005 Fair

　I had today's lunch at a Korean restaurant with my Korean language school classmates and our teacher. We all had fun eating and talking. There were 17 of us. I prepared a little game and did it with the teacher's help. I was unable to attend the sign language circle's weekly meeting.

Monday, June 20, 2005 Overcast and muggy.

　Last night I had a hard time falling asleep. That is probably because I had a long nap during the day. While I was awake in bed, I thought about this and that. On my way back from work, I did a little shopping at the supermarket., in front of which I had left my bicycle.

Sunday, June 19, 2005 Overcast

　Baby boomers are reaching their retirement. Their careers ending, their wives will be in trouble with their husbands always being at home doing nothing. It is said that their divorces will be likely unless something is done about it. Today being Father's Day, I was given nothing by my kids for the first time in my life. Very monumental. I have become the average Japanese father.

Saturday, June 18, 2005 Overcast

　I went to the English conversation class by bicycle and talked in English for about two hours. Our first-born son was back home when I got back. Still having a hard time walking because of the aching knee. I need to finish the English novel I have long left unread.

Friday, June 17, 2005 Fair

　My left knee still hurting, I went to the hospital this morning. My doctor says fluid has accumulated there. I put a plaster on the knee and walk slowly and carefully. When this pain is over, I must resume the knee exercises. On my way to and back from work, I used elevators and handrails.

Thursday, June 16, 2005 Rainy and cloudy.

　I missed NHK's radio Korean program this morning. Drawing the curtains apart, I noticed raindrops dangling from the fence edge. It was raining. There was one Human Rights Committee conference, which lasted one and a half hours. Then a teachers' union get-together. The left knee still aches. Came back home around eleven thirty.

Wednesday, June 15, 2005 Fair

　I stopped by a shoe store at the shopping street near the railway station where I get off to get to work. I got a new pair of shoes, which cost me half the money I paid for the old one. I must break in the new shoes. I was the only one present at today's Korean class. The other two were absent. One was out on business, and the other caught cold.

Tuesday, June 14, 2005 Cloudy

　There is something you should not say which makes somebody angry. Oftentimes it comes home to the quick to that somebody. Faultfinding is a mean thing to do, and nobody is free from faults. Such faux pas happen when people get drunk.

Monday, June 13, 2005 Fair

　Next term all the teachers are supposed to give a lecture for "Inclusive Leaning Hour"(Sogoteki Gakushu no Jikan)-under whatever title they like. I wonder what I will talk about. I am going to share with students something that is meaningful both to students and myself. Today I went to Korea Town to buy some Shin ramen. Eventually I bought 30 of them-a boxful, and my left knee still hurts. Too bad. I asked my wife for help, calling her from my train.

Sunday, June 12, 2005 Fair

　Today we had a volleyball tournament at school. My homeroom class lost in the first round, though. Anyway it was good that they were having fun. Tonight's NHK Special was about AIDS patients in China. The situation there was very serious. Peasants selling blood because of their poverty got AIDS. The management was to blame. The TV program was too sad a reality to see.

Saturday, June 11, 2005 Rainy and then cloudy.

　After picking up my wife and driving her home, we went to the usual Chinese restaurant and ate out. We ordered some take-out dishes for our son, too. My left knee hurting still, I was at home almost all day, relaxing. Tomorrow is a workday. Today the beginning of the rainy season has been declared-anyway better than war declared.

Friday, June 10, 2005 Fair

　Taking two hours off, I went to see the doctor to have my knee examined. My left knee joint is swollen, which means it is bleeding inside. But anyway he did not say that he would take out the blood with a syringe. What a relief! But on my way to and back from work, I used elevators as much as possible. My age is showing, and aging is inevitable.

Thursday, June 9, 2005 Fair

　Somebody's remark stings you to the quick. I wonder why this happens. Is it conscious or unconscious? I see this happening here and there at work. It is like a religious war." Fools rush in where angels fear to tread." I am also sometimes relaxed enough to be such a fool and get stung, feeling the sting of rejection, which originally comes from the stinger. We sure need to let off steam from time to time. Yesterday I had fun drinking and eating with some friends at a Korean restaurant. I have a bad knee now. I may have twisted it while running to a starting train yesterday.

Wednesday, June 8, 2005 Cloudy

　Summer is almost here. Our second son has begun to air-condition his room. He needs to keep his room air-conditioned all the time. I wonder if college kids today do not need to go to school as often as when I was in college. It looks like he seldom goes to school. Right now he has his night and day reversed especially because his friend is back from the States now.

Tuesday, June 7, 2005 Fair and then cloudy.

　This morning I went to the sign language circle's weekly meeting, which took place at the newly built high-rise building in front of the station. I paid the annual fee. Today it has been decided that our Korean class will eat out together for lunch on the 21st of this month.

Monday, June 6, 2005 Fair

　Power, money, status, gambling, etc. all come from Eros. Jealousy and envy, too. On the other hand, repaying somebody's kindness or feeling gratitude puts your heart in the right place. A dialog with the Great One does it. Listening deeply to yourself and others is the beginning of all things. Make time and do it daily. This concludes my summary of the series of lectures on counseling over the weekend.

Sunday, June 5, 2005 Overcast

　Life, death, and the future belong to the realm of God and Buddha. Life is represented by Eros, death by Thanatos. Any excess of either causes some problem. None of us were born according to our will. The absurdity of life begins at birth.

Saturday, June 4, 2005 Overcast and later a little rainy.

　Is friendship between a man and a woman possible? Yes, it is, but there is one thing we have to keep in mind. When a man and a woman meet and their hearts become one, they often want their bodies to become one, too. This is likely to result in their ruin. There have been innumerable such cases. Here lies the difficulty of a man and a woman forming a friendship.
　

Friday, June 3, 2005 Fair

　I had a full day. I left home early in the morning to attend the three lectures on counseling., two of which were good. Then straight from there I went to work. I handed in the report on today's lectures and taught English in the third period. There are another three lectures tomorrow.

Thursday, June 2, 2005 Rainy and then cloudy.

　It rained after some interval. Nature may need it, but I do not enjoy the weather. The bad weather makes me gloomy. While listening to today's lecturer, I had a slight stomachache. That was when one of us asked her a rather harsh question.

Wednesday, June 1, 2005

　Another month has begun. Summer is almost here. Day in and day out I am busy doing what is right in front of my eyes. Tomorrow there will be a human rights education session for teachers, and the day after tomorrow I will be attending a series of lectures on counseling. Besides I have a lot to do at work, too.