maiko-san

Last Saturday I visited Japan-German -Society in Sannomiya for a debate in German. Mrs. Dorothea Goda sat next to me. I said, "Guten Tag!" She answered me, "Konnichiwa!" Immediately I noticed a rash all over her hands. I thought it was caused by allergy. But she denied it. It was caused by the strong water in Japan instead. She had taken a blood test and gotten a clean bill of health. I asked her, "Don't you use rubber gloves when you do the dishes?" She said, "No, I have never done that. After all it's not my job." and turned to his Japanese husband. The poor Mr. Goda, he's been washing the dished for about forty years." This incident reminded me of stinging red spots all over my body I had back in May, 2008. I checked out on a couple of clinics near Minoo Station. But their  medical fee seemed to be expensive. I gave up on searching clinics. I said to myself, "Oh my god, I have forgotten an important thing. The key must ...

Good morning, everyone. Today I'd like to talk to you about what happend to me last week. First, bitter incident. Last Monday my wife asked me to buy red rubber gloves for washing the dishes in the kitchensink. It was a raniy day and somehow my left knee ached becasue of the wet weather. I walked slowly to Sugi Drugstore, located Minami Morimachi. It's strange I found white golves on the pavement. I didn't give much thought about it and crossed the street. All of a sudden an elderly woman spoke to me and asked, " Grandpa ! Aren't those white gloves yours?" I shooked my head on the double, but I wondered why on the earth she knew the gloves on the other side of the street. I was depressed all the more that she called me " Grandpa". It's too bad that she let me down. I said to myself, "I am not that old chap and could still hang around with young girls." Looking back on the incident, I must  have probably been  bending over forward be...

On the 1st of March my friend Hidechen and I got together in a seminer room to read "A Diary of a Young Girl" in German. It lasted only one hour because the seminar room fee is expensive. Hidechen, a graduate of Osaka University, now works for Osaka Metropolitan Office is my former classmate at Goethe-Insitute. First of all we read the book aloud in German and translate into Japanese. Then we correct mistakes each other. That's quite a good excercise for me to brush up on German. Wow, one hour passed so fast! We were able to read and translate only 3 pages. After the meeting we had lunch at a coffee shop near Umeda Station. I bought him lunch because he had given me mandarine oranges the last time I saw him. I just wanted to show him my gratitude. Next meeting is undecided. Because Hidechen hinted that there's a possibility of personnel transfer at the end of March. After all I am a pensioner and he is a salaried man. I can not force him to hold the meeting. B...

What's the advantage of living in a big city like Osaka? Well, a couple of things occurr to my mind. You can lead a cultural and pleasant life, for instance, you can go to museums, kabuki theathers and USJ Universal Studios. Besides there are nice and genteel coffee shops, discos and karaoke bars where you can enjoy chatting, singing  with your friends. I'm of the opinion that this entertaining atomophere in Osaka attracts many people from small towns. On the contrary there are of course disadvantages living in a big city. We're vulnerable to sresses in workplace and obnoxious noises caused by the congested traffic. Imagine during the rush-hour at Osaka station. People are packed into the train like sardines. That's inhuman. I'm afraid that would bring about damaged health, such as hypertention, tinnitus and  heart attack. I prefer to live in the village Minoo, because Minoo offfers not only the funny-looking character, Yuzuru-kun, but also awesome waterfalls, ...

Good morning, everyone. Today I'd like to talk about my memory about my father. When I was a pupil at Seikei Elementary School, I used to see lots of foreign thick books on my father's bookshelf in his study. I was wondering why he took interestes in those books. Over the years I went up to Seikei High School. My father retired from Tokyo University and was in charge of the Literature Faculty of Seikei University. I could have gone up to the Economic Faculty of Seikei University with only a school report. But I overheard my father's subject i.e., "Philosphy and Ethics" was a must for every student. My mother threatened me that my father was supposed to be hard especially on his son. So I decided to prepare for the entrance examination of other universities. I studied hard and stayed up late at night. I usually took some rest at 11:00 o'clock. I turned on the radio for a change. Then I heard a German lesson on NHK radio station. Eventually I listened to th...

Good morning, everyone. Today I'd like to talk about a seminar on a volunteer at the City Hall. It was held at the end of Janauary on the fourth floor of a volunteerig department of the building. It began at 10:00 in the morning and ended at 3:00 in the afternoon. They want  to recruit caregivers who are willing to help disabled, or rather handy-capped elderly people. The volunteering service includes household help, for instance, cooking, washing and cleaning up the room and so on. Caregivers also watch people who suffer from demnetia by talking with them. I applied to the caregiver's job, because I have nothing to do on the second week and the fourth week of every month. I want to contribute something to the society. In the seminar the lecturers gave pointers how we deal with the diseased elderly people at home. The most mind-boggling experience was that I simulated a ninety-year-old man. I wore goggles. I had a bad eyesight. I carried sandbags around my arms a...

Good morning, everyone. Today I'd like to talk about my best friend, Nobuo. He's from Marugame-shi, Shikoku. I got to know him when I was a freshman at a university. We joined the same book club and read a book entitled, "Japanese Octopus Culture" written by Masao Maruyama. I thought it was a non-political group, because we used to play Mahjong after the meeting. It was a lot of fun. But my father was against the idea of reading the book. He feared that I would get involved with the political student movement eventually. However it was nice of Nobuo to invite me to his house on summer vacation. I visited his house. His father, a high schoold director, was unfortunately not home. But his mother greeted me graciously. It was a typical large Japanese wooden house with a bamboo mat and believe it or not with a "Goemon Bath". I was scary to take the bath, because I had to lower down a floating round wooden lid to the bottom and sit on it quietly without touchin...