Whether you like it or not, this year is coming to an end. If I were to think of a word that describes the year in general, it would be "stagnation" in many senses - for myself, for Japan, and for the world, not specifically though. Hopefully, things will go for the better next year.

And speaking of my blogging, it didn't necessarily go smoothly this year as compared with last year - a kind of self-made crisis in May and rather sporadic updates. But the great thing is, I was fortunate to have new blogging friends this year, too. And of course, I'm thankful to my long-time fellow bloggers as well.

This will probably be the last entry of the year. So, as always,

Thank you for visiting my site. It's really fun blogging with you.

Have a great New Year's Day, folks. And yoroshiku for the year 2004, too!

Posted by Kiyo at 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

So you don't have a hangover today? Hope you all had a great Christmas.

Most of the Japanese are, including me, supposed-to-be Buddhists and Shintoists, but actually not that religious. Christmas Day is not even a holiday here. Nevertheless, we enjoy Christmas. We look forward to Christmas. I dream of a white Christmas, and wish the snow would vanish away right after that. Christmas is the day of cake, gifts, and parties. And I like it. It's not bad to have something to celebrate. No wonder Santa Claus even comes to Buddhist preschools.

Oh, and the image on my last entry was the one I borrowed from Tyon. I wish I had a talent for painting.

Today is my "仕事納め," shigoto osame, or the last work day of the year. Just one last push. Phew.

Update: Seems like celebrating Chiristmas with KFC, well, not KEC, has become popular here. (thanks to den4)

Posted by Kiyo at 10:38 AM | Permalink

So you don't have a hangover today? Hope you all had a great Christmas.

Most of the Japanese are, including me, supposed-to-be Buddhists and Shintoists, but actually not that religious. Christmas Day is not even a holiday here. Nevertheless, we enjoy Christmas. We look forward to Christmas. I dream of a white Christmas, and wish the snow would vanish away right after that. Christmas is the day of cake, gifts, and parties. And I like it. It's not bad to have something to celebrate. No wonder Santa Claus even comes to Buddhist preschools.

Oh, and the image on my last entry was the one I borrowed from Tyon. I wish I had a talent for painting.

Today is my "仕事納め," shigoto osame, or the last work day of the year. Just one last push. Phew.

Update: Seems like celebrating Chiristmas with KFC, well, not KEC, has become popular here. (thanks to den4)

Posted by Kiyo at 10:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (1)

When I was a little kid, I loved to see dump trucks. I don't remember exactly how old I was then, but probably in the first grade or a little younger. I would often stand alone by the side of the road near my house and watch them passing for a while. My favorites were the ones with a big cool emblem on both doors. They came from, I guess, a trucking company in a neighboring town.

One day, when I was standing there as usual, a big truck with the very emblems pulled over in front of me. Surprisingly enough, the driver opened the passenger-side door, and offered to let me in. I jumped for joy. He drove me around the neighborhood, stopped by a small store, and bought me an an-pan (a Japanese bean-jam bun). Then, he brought me back to where I was. As a kid, I felt it was like - a dream of mine came true.

I don't remember if I told my parents about that. And sadly, I can't remember the face of the kind truck driver, either. If that happened now, he could be suspected of a possible kidnapping attempt or something. But, oh, those were the days. And now I honestly thank him for giving me a wonderful memory of my childhood.

Merry Christmas! (from a Christmas-Day-only Christian)

Posted by Kiyo at 8:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)

About 10 minutes after the class began, a fifth grade boy dashed into the classroom late, paused a moment trying to remember something, and said in English,

"Sorry I'm great!"

I, holding back the laughter, said to him, "Yeah, you may be great, then why do you have to be sorry about that?"

You know what the kid meant to say? It's "Sorry I'm late." And I am to blame for not teaching him proper pronunciation. I have to be sorry about that. No, I didn't teach him to say so for fun even though I find it so much fun to ... um, believe me. Sorry I'm not great.

Posted by Kiyo at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

I've been playing with Outlook 2003, which came with Microsoft Office 2003 Standard, for the past couple of days. Of all the applications in MS Office, what I use on a routine basis is Word only. It sounds stupid to buy a whole system when I use only one application in it. I know, man. But every time there comes a new version of Office, I can't help upgrading to it, in spite of the fact that I usually hate MS software, and I caN't gEt nO saTisfActIon from it. Sounds like a conditioned reflex? Could be. Call me whatever.

I'd never wanted to use Outlook simply because it's heavy and slow, vulnerable to Internet virus stuff, and there were a bunch of much better mailers and PIMs available out there. Besides, it always looked uncool.

Then why the interest in the 2003 version? Because there it is. Ha ha, sure, it's always been there, and I've always ignored it. Seriously, it looked different this time. Above all, it came with an antispam feature. Spam filtering is a must for me, like most of you. Enlarging my you-know-what is none of their business, nor do I have interest in receiving the big fortunes some generous guys are eager to share with me. Although there are a lot of antispam programs, if mail software does the job by itself, that will be better. Outlook 2003 seems to filter out the junk pretty effectively. Also its new three-pane layout looks good and the feature of sorting emails in various ways rocks. And many more.

Now I find it funny myself but am beginning to wonder whether to replace my present mail client with the new Outlook. If you have anything to say about the application, drop me a line.

Posted by Kiyo at 3:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Well, well, another one. A third grade girl asked me while another student was writing some English words on the blackboard during class yesterday, "Do you have a girlfriend?" This time, I said, "Yeah, I do. Why not?" Did I tell the truth? Kind of. You know, my wife could be, in a sense, my ultimate girlfriend. Then she continued, "Is your girlfriend pretty?" I replied with a smile, "Sure, she is."

Does this mean I'm popular with schoolgirls in the lower grades? Seems like I have to be 35 years younger.

Posted by Kiyo at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

It's a great thing in life to get to know someone with whom you feel you are on the same wavelength. I like this phrase, "being on the same wavelength." The Japanese language has exactly the same expression as well:

波長が合う (hacho ga au)

Also, its similar ones are:

気が合う (ki ga au)
ウマが合う (uma ga au)

Wait. What the heck does this "uma" mean? I dunno. The first thing that pops into my mind is "horse." Horse? So, I searched and found out it did come from the word "horse." In the old days, horses were a precious source of work and transportation. That's why it's crucial for the folks those days to find such horses that could get on well with them. Aha. I've learned a thing.

Posted by Kiyo at 3:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

They got him. Good news. Hopefully.

Well, even though I'm a strong hater of winter (in Hokkaido) now, my childhood was another story. Like many other kids, playing on the snow was a real kick for me. Yeah, I liked winter and snow. Even seeing a heavy snowstorm made me excited, because it's a sign of no school the next day!

Have you ever played snowball fights? This is fun. (via 100 SHIKI)

Posted by Kiyo at 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

I'm still pondering what Mr. Rumsfeld tried to teach us in the speech. Here's another funny piece inspired by it.

English is deep. I'd rather go to the bathroom to take a bath. I want you to make clear how many zeros it takes to mean by "trillion." Is a dustman called so because he collects garbage with a cloud of dust behind him? Can the gum be chewable or lickable or glueable or whateverable? How can a bug be a bird along with a lady? Is your lounge large enough to be used as a public waiting room? Do you wear pants over pants? How much could I expect to win by parking my car in a parking lot? How can you put your trainers on your feet? Is zzz zee zee zee or zed zed zed?

I love English. :)

Posted by Kiyo at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

When do you bloghop? I usually browse my fellow bloggers' sites in the morning, and often at night, at around 10, after work when I feel like doing so. I write my blog entries in the morning, never at night. I'm more of a morning person unlike some 20 years ago.

One thing I find interesting is time differences. I may be blogging while you are enjoying dinner. My good morning may be good night for you. That's amusing.

I usually blog at around 11 in the morning. On a whim, I tried calculating what time it is in your area when I'm thinking about what to blog on.

• Los Angeles 06:00 PM
• Austin 08:00 PM
• New York 09:00 PM
• Vancouver 06:00 PM
• Toronto 09:00 PM

• London 02:00 AM
  
• Barcelona 03:00 AM
  
• Moscow 05:00 AM
  
• Jakarta 09:00 AM
  
• Beijing 10:00 AM
  
• Kuala Lumpur 10:00 AM
  
• Sydney 01:00 PM
  

I hope you won't suffer from jet lag.

Posted by Kiyo at 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

I've got a charley horse as a result of the snow shoveling I did yesterday. Does this mean I'm still young? Yeah, I know "lack of exercise" explains it all. But, in any case, the winter here gives me a lot of exercise to do whether I like it or not. So why don't you come and stay in Hokkaido in winter? I bet it will give you a lot of exercise that keeps you in good shape and, even more delightfully, stresses and strains. Ha! It's the beginning of my (annual) winter whining. Who cares? ;)

Oh, I just hit upon a haiku poem. You know, it's the very first haiku that I've made in my life. Don't miss it, because perhaps you are now witnessing a historical event that you'll find great later when I become a world famous haiku poet!

雪掻きの (yuki kaki no)
筋肉痛に (kinniku tsu ni)
年を知り (toshi o shiri)

I notice my age
With the muscle pain
From snow shoveling

I can never be a haiku poet.

Posted by Kiyo at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Team KEC has made a good start so far this month, over .500. Who's the manager? - Me. Who are the players? - Me. Cheering squad? - Uh, Kiyo and company, maybe. Heh, you know what I mean?

I woke up this morning with the noise of a snowplow moving near my house. I looked out the window with a bad feeling, and sure enough, the entire area was beautifully covered with the incredible amount of snow for one night! Hey, Winter, it's not fair to snow that much while I was asleep, is it? I didn't expect it to happen at all when I went to bed last night. The weather report didn't say so. Well....

So, I spent the whole morning shoveling the snow around my house, swearing at the weather. I'm 疲れ果てた, tsukare hateta, or completely bushed now. Nice exercise, eh? Come on. If only I knew someone like Samantha of Bewitched. She would clear the snow away with a twitch of her nose. Sounds archaic? Then, what about someone like Copperfield? Not he himself but his staff would offer a labor and show me a nice illusion. Whatever.

Posted by Kiyo at 2:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Are you feeling lazy, folks? ;) Anyway, it's not bad to go to this site now, and experience an illusion!

Yikes! What's the trick behind it??!

--Thanks, den4. ;)

Posted by Kiyo at 1:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I visited pketh's blog this morning to find there had been a heated exchange of opinions and views in leylop's blog on possible misunderstanding of China and its people by foreigners.

I quite agree with pketh in saying that, for a country to grow stronger and better, "it's only fair to be able to criticize what's wrong and praise what's right." And it's also important for the citizens not to be easily influenced by one-sided views. As a matter of course, information provided by media, no matter where it comes from, is a jumble of wheat and chaff. In this respect, I can't help admiring leylop's philosophical attitude toward negative reports about China, while being positive about the future of her country.

I have to admit that, until quite recently, I had only a limited perception of China - that the country is ruled by a Communist regime, and that its people have little, if any, freedom of speech. And so it came as a kind of surprise that they can have their personal blogs in which they express their views and feelings vividly. In fact, they are extremely good at doing that, which is really impressive to me. Those blogs, though I've read only a few of them in English regularly, have changed my views about the nation, naturally, in a positive way. But still, I have a little concern if Chinese bloggers can keep their blogs going the way they are now, especially after reading this article. (Hm? Is the article itself credible? Haha! ;))

I think I should try to learn about, and from, other countries, more positively.

Posted by Kiyo at 1:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

** Hi, Kogo-sensei. I just sent a trackback ping to your entry as a test.**

Among the regular visitors to this website, there is this cool guy named den4 from "a backwater state on the west coast of the US." He is a great contributor of interesting, entertaining links for The Forum. Here, I'll show you some of the gems.

Artifacts mainly from Japan

Boy, I want this unchikun! According to the site, this character's name should be pronounced "ooncheekoon," and say it quickly. Can you?

Why do men die younger?

Uh-huh.

Genie

Hmm...for my wish, I would ask him to fix the window and the bottle in the first place.

Check the forum when you feel lazy, folks. ;)

Posted by Kiyo at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Well, let's see, I don't think, um, Mr. Rumsfeld is not a charming man, in a sense. And he's been given the 2003 "Foot in Mouth" award by Plain English Campaign. Ah, sorry, give me time to know if I really know what he meant, because there must be something profound in something like 禅問答 (zen mondo: Zen riddles).

Too bad Shuwa-chan was "narrowly defeated." But can anyone tell me what the heck he meant in saying, "I think that gay marriage is something that should be between a man and a woman."?

Speaking of "foot in mouth" remarks, nobody could beat Japanese politicians. The keyword is,

言語明瞭意味不明 - gengo meiryo imi fumei: Clear language, unclear meaning.

They can talk a lot without saying anything.

Posted by Kiyo at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

We went to my uncle's funeral yesterday. Though I hadn't spoken to him so often - you know, I'm always a shy nephew - , I liked his cheery and genial personality. He's gone at the age of 80. I miss him.

Ironically, such funerals, in recent years, have become one of the few opportunities where my relatives get together. We used to meet up during the New Year's or Obon holidays at my grandparents' homes when they were alive. Time flows. And now every time I see my uncles and aunts, I can't help feeling they've aged. My cousins looking older. No wonder I'm getting older. Wow.

But still, however old we get, it seems I'm always the same old "Kiyo-chan" to my uncles and aunts. Gently and lovingly, they talk to me the way they used to do when I was a kid. And I like it. Nowhere else do I feel that way.

Incidentally, this time the first words my relatives said to me like in chorus were - "You seem to have gained weight!" Aaaaah! Yeah, I'm no longer the same old skinny Kiyo-chan.

Posted by Kiyo at 11:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

So it is December. Even though I hate winter, I don't hate the entire atmosphere of the month. With the season of winter having set in, I changed the look of this page a bit. If you notice it's the same one as last winter, you are a long-time reader of my blog. My sincere thanks go to you.

And it's nice to introduce you another Japanese blogger here. Ladybird, aka Machilin, has just set up a new English blog site with the help of Ken Loo. I'd like you to read this entry for a starter. I was impressed with her views, and posted a comment. After that, I noticed the message sounded just like ones from comment spammers. Aargh! No, don't get me wrong, Machilin.

Posted by Kiyo at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)