Wednesday, March 31, 2004 Fair
After the overnight rain, the weather cleared
up this morning, I love this crisp and fresh
morning air, which the early bird deserves.
March 31, the last day of the school year,
ushers in a new school year. It is about
time to 'rev up the engine', my dilapidated
engine. But I do not feel like doing anything
now. Computers are going to check our attendance
from tomorrow on. I wish it would be a joke
on April Fools' Day.
Tuesday, March 30, 2004 Rainy
Went to the sign language circle and had
lunch together, enjoying chatting in sign
language. Cherry blossoms are out, but not
at their best yet. They are said to be beautiful
when they fall, and compared to the way people
die nobly. The death rate of humans is 100
percent. Sooner or later, we all die, but
ancient Greeks, I hear, never used the word
"die" when somebody died. They
said ,"He has lived."
Monday, March 29, 2004 Fair
Cherry blossoms are out here and there
now. Went to the hospital for neck traction.
From April on, I cannot afford to go to the
hospital in the morning the way I used to.
Things are getting tough where I work. During
World War Ⅱ, the Nazis used computers to
manage Jews in the concentration camps. The
way things are now, we no longer live in
a postwar period. The atmosphere is that
of a prewar period, I am afraid.
Sunday, March 28, 2004 Fair
Drove my wife to a JR station. She was
going to a municipal art gallery with her
sister. She loves paintings. So do I.. The
second son took today for Monday. He woke
up early and took a shower, finding later
that he did not have to go to school today.
He got dressed and almost left home. Made
the kids coffee for breakfast. Calling from
a train station, my wife suggested that we
eat out this evening, with the kids not at
home. Viewed the final episode of "Vessel
of Sand"(Suna no Utsuwa) on TV and was
in tears at the last scene.
Saturday, March 27, 2004 Fair
Today being Saturday, my wife went to work.
The older son went to his university campus
to help with the Student Coop. He gets paid.
The young one, who was at home all day today,
will have to go to the other university campus
after two years at the present one. It will
take him longer to commute there than before.
Spring has come. School is starting again.
Magnolias are blooming in the neighborhood.
Purple flowers are simply beautiful.
Friday, March 26, 2004 Fair
Saw a digested version of The Great White Tower( Shiroi Kyoto) on TV last night. The story
is set in a certain hospital. And that is
where my wife used to work when young. Ambition
can be ammunition, but it can also be a two-edged
sword. I liked the song "Amazing Grace"
sung in the drama. On the train, a young
lady stepped on my toe and ignored me, so
I said to her to apologize. She said, "I'm
sorry." But later I thought it silly
to ask such a girl for an "I'm sorry."
Thursday, March 25, 2004 Cloudy and then
rainy.
I was on the entrance exam committee this
school year and it disbanded today. Tomorrow
there is going to be an announcement of the
second entrance exam results at 10:00 a.m.
at school, so I will have to be there and
prepare for it. As my wife had a headache,
the kids ate their supper on their own. So
did I.
Wednesday, March 24, 2004 Rainy
The rain stopped toward the evening. The
Middle East is now in a crisis. Is Armageddon
at hand? Mutual annihilation. Fifty million
people were killed in Europe between 1939
and 1945. People sometimes get hysterical
in history. I hope the Biblical prophecy
will not come true. There is deep-seated
animosity between Jews and Palestinians.
And Jews have control of America.
Tuesday, March 23, 2004 Fair
Decided to take a paid holiday because
the greater part of the work was done. Come
to think of it, I have not taken a paid holiday
for a long time. I can relax for the first
time in many days legally and legitimately.
And I think I am eligible for that. From
April on, I cannot go to the sign language
circle every Tuesday. I must be at work before
12:30 p.m. Japan is getting a highly controlled
society, and the educational world is no
exception now. This trend will only bring
about poor culture.
Monday, March 22, 2004 Rainy
It rained all day. With the help of Mr.
Y, I prepared a spreadsheet for calculating
each English teacher's workload. I hope it
will come in handy. All this requires complicated
calculation. I do not know exactly how that
is done, but I will give it a try anyway.
I wish there were somebody who is good enough
to give me enough information about everything.
Mr. Y is a temp who is nice and smart.
Sunday, March 21, 2004 Fair
Ikariya Chosuke, the leader of the Drifters,
died of cancer yesterday. I feel as if one
era were over. I miss him and long for the
good old days when we lived together. Life
was slow then and people had more power to
believe. Today was a long day at work. I
stapled 400 copies of the three-sheet Oral
Communication Ⅰ 'report' for the 1st term.
I did all the printing, too. It took me a
couple of hours. Went shopping at Daiei for
the usual cat food on the way home. I am
supposed to go to work at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow.
Another long day.
Saturday, March 20, 2004 Rainy, cloudy, and
then clear.
A cold spring rain was falling in the morning,
but the rain stopped before dark. I had work
to do at home today, so I spent most of the
day working. But the work is still unfinished.
And I will have to report to work tomorrow.
Took a shower and also a walk for a change.
Little time to read the English novel.
Friday, March 19, 2004 Fair
The backlog is overwhelming me. The one
that I could turn to for help has quit his
job. I am not well-informed about the work
here, The deadline is approaching now. What
is worse, I have some other things to attend
to at the same time. My correspondence high
school's entrance exam is over now. It is
a pretty intricate process because applicants
are interviewed. There is no written test.
Very unique, uniquely unique, isn't it? Now
there still is some remaining work for us
teachers.
Thursday, March 18, 2004 Rainy and then cloudy.
Yeah, it was rather cold this morning and
was raining. Although I had work to do at
home last night, I fell asleep while reading
in bed. I must have been tired. I must have
needed the sleep. I forgot the book to read
on the trains, but it was all the better
because I strained my eyes today, checking
so many papers for the second application
period. Today and tomorrow applications are
received and applicants are interviewed on
the same day. A full day!
Wednesday, March 17, 2004 Cloudy and warm.
The thermometer stood at 19 degrees Celsius
this morning. So warm! But there will be
a sudden drop in temperature tomorrow. We
need to adjust our clothing. One of my colleagues
my age is going to retire before the next
academic year begins. He has been helpful.
Too bad. I have a lot of work to do at home.
I have brought it back home. It cannot be
helped. Very windy late at night.
Tuesday, March 16, 2004 Fair
Got up early enough and showered. One of
the cats is still coming after me, meowing.
My wife needs a ride to work every morning,
so I gave her one this morning, too. She
says a rash has appeared on her skin. She
cannot afford to take a day off. She must
be under so much stress at work. Her resistance
must be decreasing. And maybe that causes
some allergic reaction. I advised her to
go see a doctor. I am very concerned.
Monday, March 15, 2004 Fair
Both of our cats are in heat now. One of
them keeps meowing noisily, following me
about. I feel like running away. Takahashi
Naoko, the Sydney Olympic marathon gold medalist,
has not been chosen as a representative for
the next Olympics. I think it was a fair
selection. Her recent records, I hear, were
not much. Got to wake up early tomorrow to
report to work.
Sunday, March 14, 2004 Fair
Just let the day drag by the way the well-known
old Chinese poem "Spring Dawn"
goes.( Spring sleep, missing the dawn...)
Watched TV a little. First I planned to visit
my sister today, but I changed the plan and
did it yesterday. To me, today was a day
off, but to most of the other colleagues
a workday. We take turns because of the heavy
workload around this time of the year. Did
only a little reading.
Saturday, March 13, 2004 Fair and vernally
warm.
Picked up my wife a little before 1:00
p.m. and ate out together at the usual Japanese
restaurant. Then went to see my sister, who
had been in the hospital after having surgery.
She was doing O.K. Ogura Kei's concert, which
my wife and I went to the other day, is going
to be televised via BS 11 at midnight. We
would like to see it. Ex-professional boxing
world champion Mr. Ioka, whom I taught Oral
Communication last year, has been successful
in entering college. Good luck to him!
Friday, March 12, 2004 Cloudy
Yesterday there was a terrible terrorist
attack in Spain, blasting commuter trains,
killing nearly 200 people, and wounding many
others. Japanese cannot be indifferent to
this attack. It can happen in Japan, too.
Why on the 11th? Is it a coincidence? 911
and 311. Conflicting interests? A religious
war? Denial of each other's existence comes
from resentment or a grudge. Experienced
the interview entrance exam of the correspondence
high school for the first time today.
Thursday, March 11, 2004 Cloudy, with rain
later.
With the coming of spring, we have not
only pollen but also yellow sand flying over.
Our first-born son is having a hard time
with pollen allergy. He cannot go without
Kleenex. He is going to be under medication.
The downside of spring! At work, checked
lots of papers in several groups of two or
three persons. I read out so much I got a
sore throat.
Wednesday, March 10, 2004 Fair and warm.
Our older son has pollen allergy (hay fever).
The weatherman says today we are having the
most pollen flying this year. I am not too
allergic, but today from time to time I wiggle
my nose just like Samantha in 'Bewitched.'
The first application period ended today.
Tomorrow will be hectic－checking loads of
papers.
Tuesday, March 9, 2004 Fair and warm.
Did not go to the sign language circle
because I had to go to work a little earlier
than usual. I was supposed to start the computers
to be used for the day. At the end of the
day, saved the data and handed in the printouts
to one of the vice principals. Today was
a long day. Exhausted.
Monday, March 8, 2004 Fair and cold.
Thinking I would finish reading the book
I was reading, I looked for another book
written in English this morning. I found
one I had bought long, long ago, and decided
to read it. Did the usual routine－hanging
out the washing to dry, doing the dishes,
mopping the floor, feeding the kids breakfast
and lunch, neck traction at the hospital,
and so on. Toward the evening, picked up
my wife and went shopping together.
Sunday, March 7, 2004 Cloudy with occasional
snow flurries.
Our correspondence high school's first
application period for the academic year
of 2004 began today, ending on the 10th.
I used a computer and got a stiff neck. Things
went smoothly. A very efficient staff. It
was extremely cold on the way home. Tomorrow
is a day off. Thank heavens!
Saturday, March 6, 2004 Cloudy
Got up early and went to work for the graduation
ceremony. I played the music on the CD player
all right. The gym was cold, though. In the
evening, my wife and I went out to Ogura
Kei's concert. We enjoyed listening to him
sing for about three hours. We are both his
fans. He is now 60 years old. He got cancer
two years ago and was operated on. He sure
has a sweet voice.
Friday, March 5, 2004 Fair and then cloudy.
Another returned email I have never sent
in my Yahoo email box this morning. Strange.
Ran the security software just in case. No
contamination on my part. Drove out to the
usual pet food shop. On the way, dropped
by a self-service gas station. On the way
back, to the hospital for neck traction,
then did a little shopping. Ate lunch with
the firstborn. the second one still in bed
asleep.
At night, still another virus-infected email,
which I removed immediately. I will be in
charge of music for tomorrow's graduation
ceremony. It will be very cold in the gym.
Thursday, March 4, 2004 Cloudy
I opened my Yahoo emile box this morning
and found a returned email I had never sent.
Maybe somebody else used my Yahoo email address.
Do I have to get a new address? I will just
wait and see for the time being. Today's
conference at work lasted for over four hours.
Preparations for the commencement and the
entrance interview exam followed. I will
have to use computers.
Wednesday, March 3, 2004 Cloudy
Made both breakfast and lunch for the kids.
The older one is going to live in an apartment
near his university. It has been pretty cold
today. The rep of the English teachers told
me that the subject rep's term expired on
March 1, but the guy said it on short notice,
so I asked him to attend today's meeting
for subject reps. I brought home work to
do because I could not do the work by using
the computer at work.
Tuesday, March 2, 2004 Cloudy
I was a bit under the weather this morning,
but went to the sign language circle. Enjoyed
myself learning and chatting in sign language.
Ate lunch together as usual. The restaurant,
however, was rather smoky, so I have a sore
throat now. Received some virus-contaminated
emails. One virus -infected email was forwarded
from my Yahoo email account. I ran my anti-virus
software and detected three viruses, all
of which were isolated all right. Is all
this done from malice?
Monday, March 1, 2004 Cloudy
Prepared breakfast for the kids－hot coffee
and 'choco cornet', their favorite kind of
bread. Today being Monday, they also read
The Jump, the weekly comic book. My family, except
me, take turns reading it. They are great
manga fans, especially my wife. It runs in
their blood. At work, had a picture of the
staff taken for the yearbook. Then a conference
about who to graduate, which lasted around
two hours.