The Great 2012 Reading Challenge

I have decided that 2012 will be the year that I read as much as I really ought to have been doing. My plan is to read an English novel, an English non-fiction book and a Japanese book each month. My January picks are: William Gibson - Neuromancer, Rachel Carson - Silent Spring, Natsume Soseki - Botchan. See you this time next month to tell you how little I've read. Tweet

The Quickest Way to Soil One's Underwear

I had the pleasure of doing English level checks at one of Japan's fastest growing companies yesterday. The people working there were very pleasant, interesting and engaging. One thing that was not all pleasant and lovely was the fact that I went up to the twenty-third floor in a glass elevator. Definitely not great. I had to close my eyes going up. However, coming down I mad the mistake of opening my eyes too early and saw what death must surely look like for those who plummet from buildings. I didn't, actually, drop one in my pants but I must have been close to evacuation.


Glass and Steel by filmvanalledag on Flickr

Seriously, has there ever been as tortuous a form of architectural ornamentation since spiral staircases in high buildings. If so, I can't think of one.
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Updated targets from a previous post. Japanese - JLPT Level N1 by 2012. Currently studying. - One new Keigo phrase per week, minimum. >More like once every two weeks, maybe. Will step it up. - Finish the Harry Potter books in Japanese by March. About 30% through. >Been sidetracked but got through a chapter of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. - Keep a diary in Japanese every day for 30 days. Will start today. >Most days. I missed about two. Diet - Less than five cups of coffee per day. Achieved. >Actually I've now drastically cut down on my coffee and some days I don't drink any at all. - Two regular-sized snacks maximum per day, preferably replace all with fruit. Trying it now. >Failed but I'm going to get back on this. Psychology - Refrain from anger regarding slow and/or erratic human traffic. >Slowly getting better. Perhaps linked to reduced coffee or just mindfulness. - See more good. Be less judgemental. >Again, slowly coming along. I just imagine, a la Gretchen Rubin in The Happiness Project about how it might feel to be in their shoes. Make excuses for other people and it feels a lot better. Instead of seeing a complete prick, like you may be tempted to, you see a human. Most of the time. Tweet

Out of the Hospital

My son is out of the hospital. He's been out since Tuesday and so far he seems to be out of his usual routine.

The net effect is that neither Princess Prettygood nor myself have slept the past two nights.

Still, he's well and everything. I just wish he'd realise the benefits of a good night's sleep.

First (and Hopefully Last) Hospital Stay

On Friday night, The Heir Apparent was a bit hot. He'd got a fever so Princess Prettygood rang a medical helpline. They said if it gets worse during the night take the baby to the emergency reception.

He didn't get worse or better in the night so we took him to a popular children's clinic near our home on Saturday morning. The doctor listened with his stethoscope and looked down his throat.

"Ah, it's difficult to say," he said. "You should wait two or three days and see if his temperature goes down. If it doesn't, go to an emergency section."

We took The Heir home, had lunch and I let Princess P sleep. For a bit. The Heir's temperature managed to race up to 39.4゜C.

We got a taxi to Central Hospital and had The Heir seen. The doctor was almost in a rage.

"This doctor isn't a paediatrician. What on Earth did he tell you to wait for? We need to act quickly and run tests."

Japan doesn't have General Practitioners; we went to an internal medicine specialist who also treats children. To me, if you put down that you practice children's medicine then I'll assume you're experienced enough. I'm so angry words cannot express it.

The poor bairn had a spinal tap to test for meningitis and has a drip in his hand. He's likely to be in for a week. Still, he's in good spirits. I can't visit him for a couple of days because I've caught a cold. Hopefully he'll be out in a couple of days.

Thanks to everyone who sent their regards via Twitter.

(Not much) Writing

I actually got around to writing this week. It was about two paragraphs in total of snatched time. By writing I mean non-diary stuff: the novel in (slow) progress and the e-boo/app/wiki idea I have going on. I may post one short section of the novel in progress in the downloads section very soon but this all depends on time to type. I've also been writing application emails for jobs a lot. Tweet

Targets - Hopes - Strivings

I'm on a self-improvement kick at the moment. I've set myself targets.

Japanese

- JLPT Level N1 by 2012. Currently studying.

- One new Keigo phrase per week, minimum.

- Finish the Harry Potter books in Japanese by March. About 30% through.

- Keep a diary in Japanese every day for 30 days. Will start today.

Diet

- Less than five cups of coffee per day. Achieved.

- Two regular-sized snacks maximum per day, preferably replace all with fruit. Trying it now.

Psychology

- Refrain from anger regarding slow and/or erratic human traffic.

- See more good. Be less judgemental.

Autumn

There is something about Autumn mornings that makes them feel special but what it is I don't know. It isn't the frost on the ground because we don't get that here in the Tokyo area. It's not the putrid smell of gingko nuts because that was never a part of English Autumn. The only thing I can think of is the quality of light at dawn; the awakening brilliance of Summer replaced by a yellow that appears warmer than the actual temperature.

That is not to say Iam a morning person. I am dependent upon coffee to get me through the door in order to even experience the season. However, once awake, the weather, light and slowly changing foliage have me looking up at the sky and the treetops.

Last week I taught a college girl who had four-leaved clovers and yellow gingko leaves in her diary. It is comforting to know that even amid Tokyo, dwelling in concrete, steel and glass, there are people who value the timeless and unrelenting changes imposed on the planet.

She gave me one of her clovers.

"Are you sure?" I asked, knowing that while they cost nothing they are not without value.

"Yes, because I can share good luck."

The clover is now in the back of my diary.

Captain Corelli's Mandolin

Currently, I'm taking a break in the study of Japanese to get through Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis De Bernieres(with a horrendous film tie-in cover), a book that has a large number of English words that I had forgotten the meaning of due to lack of use and precious few encounters. 'Venial' is one such example. There are some choice words in Italian and Greek I have learned too! So it's really taken me by surprise and I think I am going to have to ensure that I make more time in my life to read novels in English as well as plough through my self-impose quest to finish the Harry Potter series in Japanese by February. Captain Correlli's Mandolin is a joy to read and it reminds me rather a lot of Kundera but in a less rarefied way. It also makes me feel determined to finish my Tokyo thriller I have in progress. Sorry I don't blog so much these days; I'd love to but don't have tons of time. There are a million things I'd love to blog about too. Tweet

Crowded

It's the start of the Bank Holiday Weekend, or Silver Week, in Japan. This means a million extra users of Tokyo's transport system as the far suburbanites come to Shibuya, Ginza, Shinjuku and Ikebukuro. It irritates the hell out of me because of the vast number of people not used to the city and thus deciding to stand in exactly the most inconvenient place possible while catching their bearings. It's times like this when one wonders, "Why exactly would Governor Ishihara want to hold the Olympics in Tokyo when there's no way to build extra infrastructure to deal with all the extra visitors?" It's worse than London in the summer. Anyway, moan over, I'm glad of the rest tomorrow and this coming Friday. Enjoy yourselves. Here's some music me and the kid like:


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