Merry X'mas!

Merry Christmas from snowy Manchester!

SNOW

It's snow in Manchester.

Something to Complain

I can easily find something to complain in UK. The other day, I bought a package of crumpet. It should be packed 12 pieces in one package however look at the following photo and if you would count it, there were only 11!

Do you think I’m angry? I don’t know why but I rather think “why didn’t I check this before buying?” than claiming to somebody.

Christmas Holiday

Finally I finished my work due on Wednesday and I’m in Christmas holiday! To tell you the truth, I was struggling to cope with my work. I’ve been working as a marketing researcher since August. As a good point, I can work at home and use my extra time efficiently. On the other hand it’s very difficult to fix my working schedule by myself because I should let me work during my free time. The fee is paid depends on my reports so it doesn’t matter how many hours I took for it. If I can work efficiently I would make certain amount of money however I’m not used to this kind of work so I need more time than my boss estimated. I need to make time for it and even though I can work on my own schedule, I’m expected to reply email immediately if my boss has any question about my data. Sometimes I need to work till late at night for meeting up the due date. Even I work hard and catching up the due date, I should keep working otherwise I’ll be behind the schedule quite soon. My working style is always “working very hard”, “taking a break”, “working very hard again...” I should think about self discipline. Well I’ll think about it after Christmas holiday.

X factor

Every year I watch only the final of the X factor, TV program. It's a kind of singing competition for 10weeks. Every week the least favorite competitor leaves the show. They measure their popularity by votes with telephone call. I haven't been interested in voting for reality show however I just vote for Joe tonight. His voice is amazing and I really want him to be a winner!

Annual Concert

Last Saturday and Sunday were concerts of my chorus. This is the second year for me and I thought about last year one. At that time I didn't have any friend in the chorus members although everybody was kind in general. In audience, I saw no familiar face there, however this year, I saw my friend's face on Saturday and another friend found me on stage by chance on Sunday.
After the concert my friend from chorus gave me a pretty present. I was impressed by her kindness and this wrapping. She is a piano teacher and this present remind me of her very much.

Paris 2

I was traveling Paris last weekend. I saw beautiful Christmas lighting up.



Inside the department store, there is a huge Christmas tree and fancy presents are hang down from the dome shaped ceiling.



Outside the department store, there are many fancy window displays. The theme of this year is "ginger bread". All displays have ginger breads.




BTW, did you know there is a "Statue of Liberty" in Paris?

WHY?

I keep working as a marketing researcher on phone. Last Thursday I ringed a world famous company; at first my phone connected to “customer service” and she put me through “human resource” and she told me she put me through “communication service”. I didn’t get why “communication service” so I asked “I’m doing marketing research and do I have to speak with communication service?” then she said “I’m afraid so” and she put me through there. “Communication service” told me that I should contact "fleet service" and hung it up. Oh dear, I didn't know the phone or extension number of "fleet service" so I ringed “customer service” once again and asked to put me through "fleet service" then she said she could put me through "switch board" and I could ask him/her to put me through "fleet service" so I did it eventually my phone connected to a fleet manager however it was a voice message service. It was wasting time.

Halloween the third year

It’s been the third time for me to spend Halloween in Manchester. I’m gradually getting used to this custom and finally I was invited Halloween party this year.
Unfortunately I didn’t bring my favourite Ninja costume which I put on at Halloween party in Japan and in America. I needed to find something and went to “One pound shop”. I bought a “Glitter Fashion Poncho” which wasn’t scary but it was matching with my funny sun glasses very well.
One of participants put some boxes in the following photo on his shirt. At first sight I didn’t get the meaning. Do you have any clue?

It’s a serial killer (cereal killer). I like it!

Before and After

Before I went back to Japan, I got temporary work which was marketing research in UK. My work was making a phone call to UK companies and filling out the survey in Japanese. It wasn’t easy for me to talk with native English speakers on phone in addition no one wants to cooperate with the survey which isn’t profitable for them. So it was very difficult to avoid hearing “I don’t have time.” or “As the company’s policy, I can’t answer your questions.” After being rejected by 20 companies, I was almost giving up my work but my boss trusted me to do it and somehow I could manage this work and got enough money for my travel expense to Japan.
I like work not just because of income but because I can have a link to real world. Through any kinds of job I can learn how the society works and get new knowledge. After coming back from Japan, I got new kind of temporally work from the same boss. It was a translation work from Japanese to English. I enjoyed it very much. I didn’t need to make a phone call so I can work till late at night if I want to. I could do it with my own pace and to the level which I feel comfortable. If I would get this kind of job, I can do it anytime however the work finished in one week. It’s irony but when I work, I wish I would finish it as soon as possible on the other hand once I finished it I feel I would like to get a new work to do. I had been waiting a new job and got email from my boss last week. My new job is again marketing research on phone! Although I waited translation work I have no choice. My challenge will start and will be continued.

OKONOMIYAKI

During my stay in Japan, I didn't have a chance to eat Okonomiyaki. Instead I bought some ingredients for it and cooked it in Manchester. I haven't had a proper Okonomiyaki more than two years so I couldn't evaluate it well but I thought this was OK.
Since I came back from Japan, I keep writing just about foods. I'll write something else in my next post I promise.

Apple Crumble

My English teacher gave me cooking apples from his garden. They were fresh and looked very tasty however I didn't know how to cook cooking apples.
My friend brought caster sugar, a scales in ounce and a pyrex dish for baking and helped me to make typical English sweets "Apple Crumble" in my place. It was very tasty! My friend told me it's easy to make but I didn't think so. Hum... I'm not sure whether I can taste this once again or not.

Japanese Foods

Before I came to UK, I wasn't a big fan for Sushi or Sashimi. Now I can't eat fresh and tasty ones here so I enjoyed them in Japan very much.


I had "Maccha Latte", green tea latte, at Starbucks in Japan. Although I find many Starbucks coffee shops in Manchester I can't find Maccha Latte in their menu. So I call this as Japanese food.


I love Japanese food which is served with small dishes and tastes nice.

Italy

I traveled Venice and Trent from 5th September to 14th September. And I also traveled Japan from 17th September to 28th September. Now I'm totally refreshed!

Etsu

I went to an authentic Japanese restaurant "Etsu" in Liverpool.



I had sea bass which was very tasty.



Katsu curry is popular in UK although I'm not sure it's authentic Japanese food or not.

A Building

Can you imagine what this building for from the outside?


This is a Catholic church in Liverpool. If you’re interested in the inside, you can have a look from the following web link:
http://www.liverpoolmetrocathedral.org.uk/tour/panoramas.html

The 45th House of Representatives Election

I tried to use the system which started from May 2000 and vote for the 45th House of Representatives Election. Each one of procedures isn’t difficult but there is many procedures and took time. At first I need to go to the Embassy of Japan and register for my right of voting from UK which takes two to three months. After this register, I get a card and if I go to the Embassy of Japan in London or go back to Japan with this card, I can vote there immediately however I wished to vote in Manchester so I had to require ballots from Seika town where I’d registered before coming here.



For getting ballots from Seika town, I had to send snail mail with application form and the card. Unfortunately I made a mistake here. Do you notice it on my envelope? Yes, I forgot to write “JAPAN” on the envelope so this one returned to me. I needed to use another envelope with a new stamp. It’s all my fault but waste of time and money:’(



After several days of my second snail mail, I received registered mail and it was ballots. In UK even my driver’s license was delivered by normal mail. I’m surprised that Seika town officers spent 1,500yen to deliver ballots by EMS. They put a big envelope for return and said, “we recommend you using EMS because it’s safe, fast and you can also track your delivery although you need to pay the fee by yourself.” What a kind and useful information. Why do I have to send it back to Japan not London? Because we can vote in London so they’ll report or send those ballots to Japan. Why I can’t get ballots from London or website? I don’t know how many Japanese people vote from foreign countries however I’m sure there are many ways to simplify and saving money and time.  
This time I use normal delivery and cross my fingers to arrive my ballots by weekend.

Volunteer Work

In return for teaching a Japanese class at the International Society, I can attend the other language classes for free and can also get a free lunch per week at the cafe. In addition they have a party for all language teachers. I took Spanish class, Arabic class and English class for free and became friends with French and Chinese teachers at the party. I also enjoyed having lunch at cafe without doubt. These were what I expected from my volunteer work as a Japanese teacher and I thought it was satisfactory. Fortunately, I got something much more from it.
During two years in Manchester, I took English classes in all terms and noticed 10 lessons doesn’t help to improve my English, however, after taking Spanish class I admit 10 lessons give me some particular idea towards the language. I recognized that studying language from a native speaker affect my understanding a lot. My Spanish teacher tried to speak as much Spanish as possible during the class, so I gradually understand which words sound natural. In the 10th lesson she prepared an exam and I got better mark than I thought and it was amazing experience.
After starting volunteer work, I got some paid work offers. Some of them were Japanese teacher as paid work. My Japanese class is held on daytime so people who work regularly can’t attend it and asked special arrangement in private. Their spouses are Japanese but they usually communicate in English so they didn’t have an opportunity to study Japanese.
I also got a job offer of marketing research work which I’ve never done it before. Although I gave up attending Arabic class, I started marketing research work. Many interesting things started from one volunteer work.

Japanese Archery

When I arrived in Manchester two years ago, I tried to find a place for practicing 弓道, Japanese Archery. I searched web site with key words “Manchester, Japanese Archery” however I couldn’t find any place where I could join.
Recently one of my friends told me that he practices Japanese Archery in Manchester and the organization shows their information on web site. I wondered whether the facility was built in two years however he told me it’s not a new one and it’s been there at least more than five years. Why didn’t I find them on web site two years ago? He told me if I would use key words “Manchester, Kyudo” I would find it. Oh dear, I didn’t have to translate “Kyudo” to “Japanese Archery”. I found it without problem and I saw some photos; only one difference from Japan I noticed is there are no girls. My friend told me only two girls join Kyudo practice in Manchester at moment. My problem is that their practice starts from 8:30am on Saturdays. It would take one hour to go there so I just hesitate to join them. I know it would be worth to get up early in the morning and practice Kyudo in Manchester but I’m a lazy.

A Japanese language teacher

I’ve been thinking about becoming a Japanese language teacher since I came to Manchester two years ago. There is an international organization and they always welcome volunteer language teachers. Each one term has 10 lessons and one lesson is 90 minutes. In every term, I felt that I wasn’t ready for teaching Japanese. Finally I notice I would never be ready for teaching Japanese in future so I decide to start this term.
I thought it would be the most difficult to teach beginners class because Japanese is different from any other languages in characters and grammars. I had no idea which I should start to teach so I asked possibility to teach intermediate class. However the Society told me there were no intermediate Japanese speakers in Manchester. I had no choice but to teach beginners class.
In my first lesson, I was planning to teach Japanese pronunciation with Hiragana letters, how to introduce ourselves, some standard greetings and counting numbers. I thought it would take 90minutes.
My students are from China, Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Germany. They evaluated their Japanese levels were almost zero however all of them pronounce Japanese without problem. I noticed Japanese pronunciation is quite easy for them. In addition their quick answeres and understanding amazed me. If I teach them how to count numbers in Japanese, they immediately understand the rules and remember them and use them without problem. So I finished everything within 90minutes so I prepared more curriculums from the second lesson. I’ve already finished seven lessons.
The other day, my Japanese friend bumped into my Korean student. He spoke to my Japanese friend in Japanese and she thought he was Japanese! This is a big progress and it made me happy. Just three more lessons are remaining and I’d like to form some particular vocabularies and useful phrases in their mind.

Hospital

I felt strong pain in my body. I waited to be cured naturally but the pain became stronger day by day. I finally decided to call GP which is like a home doctor. My doctor recomended me to go to hospital and wrote a letter for me. After I went to the hospital, my doctor explained about my treatment. She asked me, "Do you admit......?" I thought I had no choice to say "No" to a doctor so I kept saying "yes". Then a nurse asked me "Do you understand what's happening to you?" I said nothing then she said "you can't go home for two days." It was a big surprise to me. Anyway I stayed in the hospital:


This is my lunch. This looks like a meal in the airplane rather than at hospital.


I also got travel kit like this:


All doctors and nurses are very kind and my stay at hospital wasn't bad. Still staying at home is much better.

Lake District

I travelled Lake District one month ago. I've not updated my blog for a while. Since last month, I started to study Spanish and Arabic. Of course I keep studying English. In addition, I started to teach Japanese! It's very interesting so far. I'll write about it in my next posting.

Lyme Park

It was a lovely day to stay outside.

Shakespeare's Globe theatre

I went to London and watched "Romeo and Juliet" at Shakespeare's Globe theatre. It's an outside theatre and very good atmosphere. Finally I watched a Shakespeare's play in UK!

Where's Eriko?

I performed in this concert!
My friends came to listen to the performance and took this photo for me. Approximately 1,800 people visited there and it was a huge success. I was very lucky being on the stage as one of 280-member chorus.

TV program about Japan

Recently some documentary programs focusing on Japan have been broadcast on BBC4. One of them is named “Fish! A Japanese Obsession” in which Charles Rangeley-Wilson, a British author known for his books on travel and fishing, travelled in Japan and reported about the Japanese obsession for fish from his point of view. The TV program was 90 minutes-long and started with him finding his guide in Japan. He wanted to recruit a Japanese resident who would be able to introduce him to Japanese fishing. Some candidates gathered and he interviewed them; one of the candidates just wanted to be famous, his dream was becoming a rock star, another one spoke English very well but didn’t know about fishing at all. It seemed difficult to find a satisfactory guide for him and when I heard one of candidates say “I like eat fishing” in English with English subtitles on TV, I changed the channel and stopped watching it.

The next day, my English teacher told me, “I watched an interesting TV program about Japan.” and asked some questions about fish and birds, however, I couldn’t answer them because I didn’t watch it. The other day I joined choir practice and my friend also said, “I watched a TV program about Japan reported by Charles Rangeley Wilson.” I felt ashamed because they watched the program with interest because of me and they prepared topics to talk with me.

Thanks to the wonderful internet I can watch some TV programs on the BBC iPlayer up to one week after broadcasting. I watched the program from the beginning to the end and found it was interesting. Somehow, Charles Wilson chose a good guide from the candidates and they visited some interesting places. The first place they went was a restaurant which serves fresh fish; actually the fish is still alive. I could never imagine eating beef or chicken from an animal whose head was still alive and moving however in the case of fish, I say it’s definitely fresh and looks tasty. Charles asked, “Isn’t it cruel?”, but the Japanese guide, Aki said, “Just eat it. It’s tasty”, he didn’t hesitate to tell his honest opinion. Sometimes we Japanese try to hide our feelings from others, especially when a person has a strong opinion. When Charles pointed out about eating whale, Aki answered “We eat it because it tastes good” Charles said “Aki would never get my point” his purpose is to observe and learn not to change Aki’s opinions on whale protection, Japan's opinions on whale preservation may be changed by a documentary but not by one comment. The British and the Japanese probably have many areas where we don’t understand each other, that’s why it’s interesting to know both points of view through this TV program.

North Wales

It only takes two hours from Manchester to North Wales by bus.
Llangollen

Plas Newydd

Powis Castle

My favorite magnolia

Mangas

Some people say mangas spoil children, however, my parents never believed this and let me read any books I like. I enjoyed reading a monthly girl’s comic book; it costs around two pounds and I could read about 10 different stories. Some of them were short stories, but many of them are continued in to the next month. So I bought it on the day it came on sale and wanted to read it earlier than my friends. There are several girl’s comic books and I enjoyed talking about some of the stories with friends who read the same one. This formed groups and we sometimes fought with other groups who read another comic book. Everybody believed “my comic book is the best one.”

After passing from childhood I stopped buying mangas, instead I enjoy reading them at a manga cafe. One manga costs around 2 pounds, staying at a manga cafe for an hour also costs around 2 pounds so if I can read more than two mangas an hour, it works out cheaper.

After coming to Manchester, I was surprised to find mangas at the Manchester public library. I borrowed “動物のお医者さん” which means “animal doctor” but the main story is about the life of students whose major is veterinary science. The author didn’t have any knowledge of animal doctors, but she researched it and interviewed some students so the story is interesting and at the same time has some reality to it. I also enjoyed reading “Death Note” which I bought second hand from a Japanese business man in Manchester.

Recently my friend told me there are translated Japanese mangas in the public library so I went to see. She told me there’s not any particular series or famous ones; she was right I found few familiar titles there. I picked up “RAVE MASTER” because there are volumes 1, 2 and 3 so I could start reading the story from the beginning. I was also into the characters they are beautifully drawing and the best thing is the English vocabulary used is just at my level; I understood the story without using a dictionary. I searched for the manga online and found the Japanese title is “RAVE”; it’s a popular series and finishes at volume 35! It’s a long adventure story but I could only find 7 or 8 books in the library. I can read the first 13 to 18 pages on a web site free of charge but every volume of the story stops at a dramatic scene and directs me to the shopping site. If I pay around 2 pounds, I can read a whole book, however, it’s 35 volumes in total and even though each one of them costs only 2 pounds, it would cost a lot in total. I hope extra “Rave Master” comics appear in the library soon!

The Japanese Garden

I went to the Japanese Garden in Manchester.


It looks nice.


Is this a British way to enjoy the Japanese Garden?

Sale

Sale Hotel in Sale for sale?

Spring has come!

Quiz Show

I don’t watch quiz shows on TV because they answer questions before I understand them. However I enjoyed watching the classic quiz show “University Challenge” last Monday; it was the final between Manchester University and Corpus Christi, Oxford. I’ve been living in Manchester more than one year, nowadays I support anything belong to Manchester automatically. I found articles about this show in the newspaper and one past Q&A was mentioned: “The question: How would a cheiromancer tell your fortune? The answer: by reading your palm.” This example gave me the impression that I could guess the answers, so I was sitting in front of the TV close enough to read the English subtitles and ready to answer the questions with the contestants on the show. Occasionally, a TV program starts approximately five minutes earlier or later than the scheduled time so when I have a high priority TV program to watch, I’m ready 10 minutes before. I watched the quiz show without blinking still I couldn’t answer any of the questions except about music. All the questions were really difficult and read at a high speed even after hearing the answers, I didn’t understand the questions. I just prayed for victory for Manchester University; they played very well and led 70points, however, their opponents were also very intelligent, answered more questions fast and correctly and won the trophy in the end. Manchester’s team work was very good and even though I wanted them to get the first prize, I enjoyed watching the show very much.

Unfortunately after the show the BBC found that one of the contestants from Oxford had graduated from the university. When the show started he was registered at the university however he unexpectedly got a job after two matches. He didn’t know that he should have reported his change of status, however, the BBC said “rules are rules!” Unexpectedly, the trophy was given to Manchester University, none of the contestants were happy about this happening, however, I believe Manchester University are the best team and worthy of getting the trophy.

Pancake Day

It was Shrove Tuesday, also called Pancake Day in the UK. My British friend didn't tell me the meaning of the day, but taught me how to cook pancake. I followed it; sprinkling of granulated sugar and lemon juice on pancake. Just before Pancake Day, particular bottles of lemon juice were sold out at the supermarket. I was sure it must be popular recipe and actually a pancake with sugar and lemon juice tasted very nice:)

Coppelia

My friend has recommended that I watch ballet ever since I came to England and finally I found a show playing in the city centre. I found an advertisement in a newspaper and it said “introduction to ballet offer: bring a friend for free”. The word “free” caught my eye, but they also had some small text. I wasn’t sure whether I could get a free ticket or not, but it was worth asking at the ticket office. When I asked about the “introduction to ballet offer” the person told me “it’s buy one get one free”. Yes, that was what I expected to hear and this expression was much easier to recognize, sometimes discount information is described in a more complicated way on purpose. Anyway this time I got two tickets for one price without a problem. Coppelia is a French ballet but it was performed by Ellen Kent Russian Ballet in Manchester; what an international event!

I went to the Saturday matinee show where the majority of the audience was elderly people. The show had another promotion where children got free entry so there were lots of grand children. In general, grand parents spoil their grandchildren so some kids kept eating snacks with a crackling noise during the show but some kids seemed to be wishing to become a ballet dancer, they danced in the aisles during the break between acts: they were adorable!

The show was formed with three acts; the first two acts were performed by following the story: so their costume weren’t typical ballet costumes like when I watched “Swan Lake” on TV. They wore flexible but rather normal costumes and it helped me to understand that ballets were born from a part of Opera. The theatre I went to watch it at was also called “Opera house” so the stage looked a bit small for a ballet performance but it might be closer to the original idea. The story was performed using ballet dancing and orchestral music so it was simple and easy to follow, at least I didn’t feel any language barrier. The third act was exactly what I expected for a ballet performance: women wore tutus which I like and the cast were dancing in solos, pairs and groups. I’m new to watch ballet performances so I love this typical form of it.

This was a really good opportunity to watch something good at an affordable price. My friend told me if she bought the same ballet performance ticket in Japan it would cost approximately 50pounds per person; however I got my two tickets for 13pounds. I’ve already found the same promotion tickets for an Opera in March it costs a bit more than ballet but still it’s good value if I think about the price in Japan.

Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day was on Saturday and I spent the day as usual; I went to the supermarket to do some grocery shopping and watched a DVD at home. I saw some Asian people selling roses on the road and it was the only difference I noticed all day. I didn’t plan anything special on Valentine’s Day, I borrowed “Memento” which wasn’t a good choice for a special day, still I enjoyed watching it with my husband. If my friend who loves romantic events knew this is what I did, she would kill me. She told me she made a reservation at a fancy restaurant for Valentine’s Day, perhaps it’s the typical fancy way to spend Valentine’s Day in England. I remember many restaurants were fully booked last year.

On the other hand, I didn’t forget Japanese custom; I sent chocolate to my father. Thanks to a wonderful idea from a chocolate factory in Japan, on Valentine’s Day “women send a chocolate to men”. In England, many shops started to sell fancy gifts for Valentine’s Day at the beginning of February, not only women but men buy chocolates, wine, flowers and perfume. It surprised me when I bought chocolate for my father, two other gentlemen bought wrapped chocolates. According to NHK radio news, the custom is gradually changing and now some boys send chocolates to girls and it’s called “reversed chocolate” 逆チョコ in Japan. Perhaps Japanese custom used to be reversed and now it may be becoming more normal.
I’m not good at shopping, especially presents for people take me a long time to choose and even then I can never find satisfactory ones. However I like purchasing chocolate so I miss the Valentine’s Day chocolates phenomenon in Japan.

manga

I bought my favorite manga in Manchester!