Lesson

Be careful of your thoughts, for your thoughts become your words;
Be careful of your words, for your words become your deeds;
Be careful of your deeds, for your deeds become your habits;
Be careful of your habits; for your habits become your character;
Be careful of your character, for your character becomes your destiny.

An Contradicrtion

Even though religions originated to spread good lesson,
people have been hurt and killed in the name of religious since olden days.
It seems so far from their true intention.
I wonder what their God must feel about this situation?

I want to become a mafioso in the future

"I want to become a mafiosa in the future!!!"


This is exactly what my nephew said after watching a mafia movie. 

I hope he doesn't know what real mafiosas do and his dream doesn't come true.


When I took him to an amusement park where kids can experience various kinds of jobs 

a few years ago, he chose a pilot and said 

"I'm not interested in being a pilot, but I'm interested in flying by myself without wings." 

I wonder where the little boy who was saying such cute things has gone . :)

露はらふ

紅の

はつ花ぞめの

色深く

思ひし心

われ忘れめや

紅の初花染めの深い色のように深くあなたを思った心

忘れることがあるだろうか

The Color of Lies

In America, people call unnecessary lies "white lies".
In Japan, we call complete lies "bright red lies".


Do you have a colour for lies in your country?

Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.



Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)





I'm an atheist, but I like this. :)

Being Honest

This is exactly what a kindergarten teacher heard from some children.

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1: When a few children found out that a boy likes a certain girl and
made him the object of their their teasing.

The five year old boy said,

"How can you not love a pretty girl like that?"

Nowadays, it seems I have forgotten how to be so forthright.
I envy the way children have no such misgivings.
In a negative context though, such candour can be considered rude.


-----------------------------------------------------


2: A five year old girl asked a boy, "How much do you like me?"
(This must be an annoying question for men.)

Then, the boy said,
"If I don't say I like you, I'll be buried in that feeling,
and it will be overflowing from my mouth."

What on earth makes children say such romantic things?
Or when did I lose a lovely mind like that? Sooo cute!! XD


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3: A five year old girl asked the teacher, "How can I become an adult?"
Hmm... maybe when you are 20 years old. "
(When a person reaches 20 years of age, they are considered to be an adult in Japan.)

A boy hearing to them said,
"Maybe then you'll feel you want to be a child."

Children can be philosophical.



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4: A four year old girl once ordered her teacher "Tell me that you like me ten times!"

The teacher hesitated for a moment thinking that it might be a trick question, 

but in the end he did as she asked. 

"I like you. I like you. I like you......" 

(We have a trick question that makes someone says something ten times in Japan.)

Then, the girl said only 

"thank you ヾ(*´∀`)ﾉ☆" 

with a big smile and walked away. 

There was no tick.

I'm not saying I want to do the same thing as she did, 

but I wish I could act in an honest way like children do. 

To Work in Japan

I sometimes see that non-Japanese people look at
only the upside of living in Japan before they come.
After living for a while, some people say that they have a really tough time here.
Some of them can't get a good job because
their Japanese language skills are not enough to work.

Because of that, English speakers tend to start teaching English to make money easily.
If you are young, and it's temporary, or you are interested in teaching seriously,
it would be a good experience.
However, if not and you are over 25 years old,
I think you should take on another more beneficial job for your future.
Two of my friends got tired of teaching English after several years of service and
returned to their homeland, but since the two guys had been working
as English teachers for a long time, it's difficult to get a new kind job.

I know some people are suffering from the gap between reality and ideal,
so I hope you know the downsides too.
Even Japanese people who can speak Japanese and
have some skills have to work in bad conditions or can't get a job.
Furthermore, it's notoriously known that we work overtime too much and
the rate of Japanese using up paid holidays is really low.

I think if it's possible, the best way of working in Japan is
to be hired in a company, which has a Japanese subsidiary in your country,
and to be transferred.

Good luck!!

Rush Hours in Tokyo, Japan

As you may know, frantic rush hour on trains has become synonymous
with Japan in general and Tokyo in particular.

I can enlighten you as to how crowded it gets.
In a nutshell, you risk jostled willy-nilly by fellow commuters if you are skinny.

The other day, I ran into this situation in Shibuya station.
(Shibuya is famous for its crowded pedestrian crossing where
up to 3,000 fellow people can be crossing simultaneously)
Before being jostled, it becomes hard to breathe
due to my lungs feeling contorted in the melee.


I imagine it's akin to being confined in a straight jacket
- the upside being, even train gropers have little room to manoeuvre in these situations
- they prefer other, slightly less crowded times.

The worst situation is when trains resume after stopping because of an accident.
Many accidents occur due to some one leaping in front of a speeding train.
As this happens every day on a national scale, we become regrettably blasé
- thinking "don't do this during rush hours".
Pity is in short supply until we see an actual accident scene.

The Most Excruciating Experience Imaginable

I'm sure many people may feel depressed upon reading this entry,
but nevertheless, I think it warrants a posting.

When the song, Be the Light (composed for Great East Japan earthquake) 

was played automatically on Youtube tonight, 

it reminded me of a 15 year old girl's speech at a memorial ceremony last March. 

To cut a long story short, as the girl returned home from school, 

she and four family members were swept away by the tsunami in seconds. 

The next moment, she found herself being on a roof with her mother visible below.

Large splinters of timber had pierced her mother's body.
She tried in vain to help her mother before realising that to stay any longer in both dying.
She made the heart-rending decision to swim away before the next wave came.
She said "thank you. I love you" and left behind her stricken mother
who was pleading "don't go". 

She swam across to a nearby school and stayed the night there. 

She ended her speech with a thank you for all the help from around the world.

Unbelievably, some people gave negative comments on what she did to her mother.
I can't even begin to imagine how heavy her actions must weigh upon her conscience.
She can only try to live positively - what is the alternative??

Thank you for reading.

I Got Stuck!

Since last summer, I've been writing a monthly column about my job for a magazine
section titled "The Unknown Parts of Jobs".
Four people with varying types of jobs compose the column in rotation.
After I wrote some columns, it occurred to me that what's common knowledge in my job
may be mystifying to people in other fields.
Assuming  they might or might not already know is guesswork for me.
It's not easy to keep finding suitable topics, but writing such a column is rewarding.
I'm imparting my knowledge.

In any case, I love this job. :)

Olfactory Memory is Poignant

Yesterday, as I opened a window, the scent of incense wafted from the next room.

It reminded me of the most painful time and 

made me feel quite nauseous. 

As we traditionally burn incense at a Japanese funeral service, 

the scent usually reminds me only of death. 

For me, it was almost like experiencing that painful time again.


I still believe in what I wrote about olfactory memory in an older entry. 

Of the five senses,  smell is the strongest for evoking memories. 

Lack of Affection

Last summer, I took care of my friend's five year old daughter for a half day.
It was extremely taxing due to her relentless attempts to capture my attention.
The most unacceptable behavior observed was
when she grabbed and squashed my Panama hat.
Since we were outside and there was no place to hide it,
my attempts to stop her behavior were futile.
Then, her behavior escalated which resulted in
my hat being tossed into the garbage can.
Even though her behavior was bad,
I feel she was challenging me to see my reaction.

Once my friend returned, I explained the conduct of her daughter
while attempting to avoid a confrontation.
I tried not to remind her when a kinder garden teacher commented on similar misbehavior.

When I interact their daughter, I often feel that
she doesn't receive enough of her parents' affection and discipline.
I feel that parent's could easily dismiss a teacher's comments rather easily
while believing that most children commonly display this type of behavior.

Although I felt that something was apparently wrong.

I met with my friend and her daughter the other day.
The girl continues to behave like she did before.


As this kind of topic is inherently sensitive to talk about,
I find it very difficult to express my concerns to my friend.

No Time

I have a pile of books that I want to read, but I have no time to read them

sigh    .................... 

(´･ε･̥ˋ๑)

Spring hasn't arrived here yet

It snowed in Tokyo, Japan


so I had to wear a down coat yesterday. 

I thought Spring has come, but it seems not. 

Where is Spring going? 

Wonderful Time!!

So many hugs, giggles, and laughter. 

So many tears of joy and thanks. 

This trip was truly a gift. 

Thank you all for the beautiful memories!!

60

The world we live in is changing fast, and our language is changing along with it.
Every living language grows and changes.
It changes as the people who use it create new words and find new meaning for old ones.

Why Do Talented People Die Early?

Death is certain to come to all equally regardless of presence or absence of talent,

but I sometimes feel that truly talented people die at their early age. 

Does it just become a topic of conversation just because of their young age?

To Say Good-bye is To Die a Little

This is so true. 

I've been dead to everything for a long time. 

It's not a little though. :)

Weird Hotel

"Weird hotel" is the actual name of a futuristic hotel that is to be opened soon in Japan.
The hotel will be entirely staffed by humanesque robots.
A face authentication system will be used instead of a room key.
It's really weird, isn't it?
It's better to be served by a real person, but cost dictates many enterprises.
Maybe such a seemingly strange hotel will be common in the not too distant future.
Are human in danger of becoming obsolete?

Thus, human power is made less valuable by robots... 

I'm scared that such time will come, but 

unexpectedly I may get used to it easily and enjoy. :P

Last summer has been continuing even now.

I used to change my perfume every season, but I found an exquisite one last summer.
Since then, I've been engrossed in the perfume and haven't changed it yet.
The scent really goes with summer, but I don't mind!
It just makes me happy every day, even in winter.
It'll be my lifelong partner.

Speaking of which, it is said in psychology that
people who like perfume tend to be earnest about love.
I think that's true of me.

Something Wrong

One of my Facebook friends has been uploading many pictures
of her family member's funeral service since last week and
her friends are giving her "LIKE".
I know they are showing their sympathy to her by clicking LIKE,
but I feel that something is wrong because
"LIKE" is the literal meaning of the word.
Furthermore, I wonder why she can even take that many pictures during the funeral.
This may be just because of our cultural differences between her country and Japan.

In any case, is it just me who feels like that?
I may just be being stuck behind the times on what's appropriate for social networks.
I just hesitate to click the "LIKE",
which is different from my actual feelings, in those situations.

Discretion is the better part of valor

I'm getting off to a wonderful start this year so far.


Since I was so busy and had almost no free time last year,
I read books without sparing time for sleep, but I've stopped doing that.
What's more, I stopped caring for one of my friends.
I'm sick and tired of him. I learnt through this tiresome situation that
I sometimes have to harden my heart against people in order to protect myself.
I think I should have been wiser early on.

Quotes

Some lessons are best learned through pain.
Sometimes our visions become clear only after our eyes are washed with tears.
Sometimes we have to be broken so we can be whole again.


You will lose someone you can't live without, and your heart will be badly broken,
and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved.
But this is also the good news.
They live forever in your broken heart that doesn't seal back up.
And you come through.
It's like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly-that still hurts
when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp.


Sometimes you just have to die a little inside in order to be reborn and
rise again as a stronger and wiser version of you.

Do you have any New Year's resolutions?

2015 is already 22 days old!!

Since I worked too much last year, 

this year I'm planning to afford myself more free time, 

do what makes me happy, and be with those who make me smile. 

I've decided to live for the moment, 

but it doesn't mean I will do things in too much of a rush.

What I mean is that I'll cherish every single event that happens to enrich and fulfill my life. 

I'm the only one who can decide how to live my life. 

Happy New Year!

I'm ready to get out of Japan. 

*॰ْ✧ً⋆｡˚ᎶᎾᎾⅅ (ව̐ ˒̫̮ ව̐) ℕᏐᎶℍᎢ⋆｡˚*ْ✧ं॰*