Packing

Today I’ll start off on a business trip for 1 week.

To be honest, I’m poor at packing.
As I usually try to make my baggage compact to the utmost, I need lots of time to consider narrowing the contents.
I could actually pack for 12 weeks trip last summer, so I think, I can’t fail in packing for only 1 week trip.
I’ll start considering right now.

...Maybe I should take a large suitcase which has an enough capacity.

A Cold Remedy

Today I’ve been confined to bed with a bad cold.
I recalled the day I’d caught a cold in Orchard Downs.
Then my friends visited me one after another.

Marta touched my cheek and neck, and said “Don’t go out today. OK?”
Mario said, “I’m not happy if you are not fine.”
Daniel gave me a red apple without saying anything.
Bambo gave me his ointment for a sore throat, and said, “Drink something hot. Don’t eat ice cream!”
Seeing the situation, Sho laughed and said, “As everyone visits you, you can’t be in bed at all, can you?? Everyone loves you.”

Being lapped in much love and care, I felt happy to have a cold.

Listening Test

Yesterday I asked a native teacher some questions concerning the English test.
As I showed my textbook of the English test to her, to my surprise, she said, “Most Americans don’t know such difficult words! They use easier words.”
Actually there're some difficult words which I can’t understand even in Japanese. Especially the financial terms are double Dutch to me.

Today was the day of the English test.
Before the test started, I was under extreme tension, as I didn’t have confidence in my listening comprehension.
To take the strain, I considered a strategy for the listening test.
The strategy is to imagine that I’m listening to Sho and Bambo talking! (They used to discuss on various matters with difficult words.)
But I reconsidered, “If Sho and Bambo start to talk about financial matter in front of me…, I will…, I will interrupt them!”
Of course, I can’t interrupt the listening test.
I dismissed the special strategy.

As a result, I didn’t have trouble in listening to the financial terms in today’s test.
Did someone interrupt the financial speech?

Studying English

I’m studying for TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication).
To be honest, I don’t seem to have made great progress in my English….
Haven’t I been given training in English for 3 months??
What have I learned in America???
At least I‘ve learned “how to take pleasure in everything” from many librarians and my friends.
To reach that end, the difficult words and the winding phrases are not necessary, I think….
But! I will strive to study!
Because now I have the ability to take pleasure in studying English!

My Memory Bank

As has been mentioned, I've forgotten many things during the stay in America.
I felt like a sufferer of loss of memory.
(Since my brain operated at full blast for the English conversation and the new information in America, there was no room for keeping all memories concerning my country, I guess….)

Especially I was embarrassed about having forgotten a part of the relationships with my friends and colleagues.
I surely remembered their faces, personalities, and how much I’d liked them.
But I’ve forgotten the happenings such as what I'd done with them, what I’d said to them, what I’d been said by them, what I’d felt then and so on.

Little by little, I recalled them.
Strange to say, first I recalled only pleasant memories of my own accord.
I couldn’t recall unpleasant memories without external prompts.
So, my friends laughed and said, “You are super positive!!”

Now I have another problem.
Recalling the memories concerning my country, I seem to forget what I’ve cultivated in America….
Perhaps my brain is too small to stow so many matters.
About 1MB?

Prayer 2

Yesterday I went to a shrine with my friends.
There we knew that a God of “Beauty” is deified in the shrine.
We prayed for our beauty, so we will be so beautiful this year!

Today it was snowy and cold, but I went to another shrine.
And I wrote another prayer on the votive picture tablet.

On 7th January, in Japan we eat rice porridge with 7 herbs wishing health.
I cooked and ate it today by convention.

I have a lot of wishes, you know.
I am so acquisitive!!

Prayer

On New Year’s Day, I had a pleasant time with my family.

First, we ate Japanese traditional cuisine together.
As every food has particular significance for our health, we should eat all kinds of foods in the cuisine. (I ate all, of course.)

After the meal, we went to a shrine to pray for this year’s happiness.
I prayed for a very concrete prayer for the first time.
I drew a fortune slip with my wish under extreme tension.
I timidly opened the slip,
and…,
it said “Very Good Luck”!!
I went wild with joy!
It also said “Your wish will come true soon beyond your expectation.”
My wish must realize this year!!!