I am a native Japanese speaker who used to teach Japanese in a university somewhere on this planet. Currently I don't work but stayed in my house in Northern part of JAPAN. I hope that you could enjoy reading my posts and know what life in Japan is like.
I came back in Japan in July. Since then, I have been pulling the weeds, getting rid of roots of the weeds, cultivating soil, and planting seeds of vegetables in my garden. This work still continues. Though my garden is small tiny one, but there are a lot of things to do. Now in September, it’s the time to thin radish and green leaves. This is to give them a space for growing more by reducing the numbers. In this process, If it’s a small sprout, I just throw it. But now they have grown, I don’t waste them, but eat. Today I picked some red radish and carrots. Since the radish and carrots are still small, I use their leaves. In the supper tonight, radish’s leaves were used in Miso soup, and carrots’ leaves were cut in small and stir-fried with sausage.
I have told my mother the same thing again and again. But the failure repeated.
When she wants to drink coffee or tea, she puts a fire on the gas stove in the kitchen. Usually, it takes several minutes until water gets boiled in the kettle. She can’t wait for it, and then goes to her room to watch TV.
In the case of boiling water, sometimes it ends up drying up in the kettle. Worse is the case of cooking, food inside becomes charcoal, and the pan no longer to be used. Thanks to the modern technology, the gas stove in my kitchen is set to stop in thirty minutes. But quite often these vapor and charcoal happens within thirty minutes.
It is sad to say, but because of her age, my mother can neither learn from the failure, nor to use the knowledge of new experiences in order to avoid repeating the same thing to happen.
Given that situation, I thought I need to do something for the matter. Not allowing her to use the gas stove is one thing. But at the same time, I have to give her a way to drink hot coffee herself so that she can activate her remaining ability.
I know that if a Gas company employee look at this, the person would give me a strong warning. But this is my solution for the time being. I put an Induction Cooking Heater on top of the gas stove in day time between the time I finish cooking breakfast and the time I start cooking supper. Of course, I close the gas valve when putting the “IH cooker”. Actually, the switches of gas valve are right under the switches for burning. But once I close the valve, my mother cannot open it herself.
I made this stuff by myself. By the way, three burners are good for busy cooking.
Tonight, I don’t think of what to write. Instead of writing my bad English, let me upload the pictures which I took in September, 2019. I just want to keep the name of the university secret.
I had spent four years to be a Japanese teacher. When I took these photos in 2019, I thought my dream had come true. But at that time, I didn’t know what was coming after the first semester.
I went to Niigata today. I needed to use an Automated Teller Machine in the city. When I walked a pedestrian road along the wide street in front of the JR Niigata Station, I felt the smell of Ginkgo. It’s not a good flagrance, if not odor. But it is sure that smell makes me realize that the autumn has come.
Just under the JR Niigata station is the Bus TerminalToyoko Inn and Bus TerminalJR Niigata StationMany Ginkco Fruits were on the Ground, smelled.After using ATM, I quickly returned home by getting on a Local train.
In the afternoon, I tried watching DVD in my house. The DVD was about teaching Japanese as foreign language. But I slept while playing it. Nothing was left in my memory.
The Left Peak is 1012 meter and the Right Peak is 1293 meter in AltitudeA Path on the River BankThe Machine was left on the Ground, Probably because of WeekendGun-Hunting is Prohibited in this Area by Niigata PrefectureMuddy Water in the River. Rainy days has continued Recently.Rice Fields and Gozu MountainsA Rice Field whose Rice has already been Harvested. A view from the Bridge.
Though it was a thing one month ago, my mother and I went to a Buddhism Temple. There is a cemetery behind the temple, and my father’s grave is there. August 18 was a little late for “Visiting a Grave in Obon”, but I chose the date. I thought it was difficult for me to call a taxi because there are so many people coming back from Tokyo area to Niigata during Obon season. But August 18 was still a busy day for the taxi company. When I made a phone call in morning hours, the person of the company told me to call again in the afternoon.
The temple is located in the middle of vast area of Niigata Plain. It is surrounded by Rice fields, and I could see some orchards of grapes and peers through the taxi window. We didn’t get in the main hall this time, but I have got in the hall many times for memorial services for my deceased father. There are thick wooden columns in the hall. And the columns have color changes at lower position. The chief priest had once told me that those color changes are traces of flood in the old times. The temple is near to the Shinano River which is the longest river in Japan. Since the main hall was built 250 years ago, it must have been some occasions of flood.
My mother and I went to the cemetery behind, and I prepared for pray. I placed two chrysanthemum bouquets right and left on my father’s grave. And then I put a fire on a bundle of Incense sticks. But I could not put a fire on three candles because of winds. Since we were making the taxi wait for us, I gave up the candles. We prayed shortly and got back to the parking lot in front of the main hall. If we had left chrysanthemum bouquets on my father’s grave, we would have made the chief priest removed them afterwards. So, I took the bouquets, brought them in front of the main hall, and offered them to the big Kan’non Statue.
About a half an hour taxi ride took us home. That’s it for the grave visiting in Obon of this summer. By the way, I have a suggestion. It is to move the time of Obon season from August to September. It is too hot to go to a temple in the current Obon season. Thanks to the global warming, now the summer heat is more and more becoming dangerous to the old people like my mother. Japan’s Obon is held in accordance with the solar calendar. If we have Obon in the lunar calendar, we will be able to go to a temple when the temperature is more comfortable in September like Chuseok in Korea.
For the new second-year students, it is the time to change their major. Some of students leaves Japanese course for other majors at the beginning of new school year. Since most of them are usually good students, knowing a particular student is leaving Japanese major makes me disappointed in some extent.
But I think I should not complain or criticize those students who changed their major. Because, in most of the cases, their experience of learning Japanese for one year will no longer be useful into the future. And they have to study hard in order catch up other classmates in the new major they have moved to. it must be a tough decision to make, I guess.
I wish them a fruitful learning in the new major and a bright future to come with new knowledge. And if they will, it is possible to learn Japanese by themselves.
An apple “Kougyoku” is a little sour. The apples are suitable to be processed with heat, rather than eating fresh. Since I had put three of them in refrigerator, I made jam in the early evening today.
There are many ways to make apple jam. Today I made it by grating the apples. Apple peels are rich in pectin, so, I wanted to use those peels in the jam.
Many cooking recipes on the web say that sugar must be 50 percent of weight. But I am not sure about this 50%; Is it 50% of weight of fruits, or 50% of the entire weight of jam? Anyway, I don’t have a cooking scale, so, I just put a lot of sugar in the pan by intuition. I think the sugar must be 50% of the weight of the jam in order to keep the jam longer.
Though I forgot to take a picture, I did “boiling disinfection”. I closed the lids of bottle loosely, put the bottles in a big pan, boiled water in the pan with gas fire, and then closed the lids tightly by my hands with gloves.
I got three bottles. I will use them for toast of my breakfast from tomorrow morning. It will save some cost of living.
Though I showed you the same kind of photo recently,Rice was already harvested in some rice fieldsBeyond the Railway is a Residential Area. I think they are a rare kind of sunflowersHead-down; It seems Rice Grains are heavy for the Stem
Today’s highest temperature was 31 Celsius degrees. It was still hot. But since tomorrow, the highest temperature will be below 30 Celsius, according to the weather forecast. Will it be the end of summer? I hope so. This summer was an extraordinary hot one. I have been feeling very bad through this summer because of the heat. I hope I will be able to be more active in this fall.
桃李の月餅、五個入りです。
Nothing has to do with rice fields in Niigata, but I found a photo that I took just one year ago, on September 17, 2024. It’s “MOONCAKE”. I bought it in the supermarket in the campus.
Today, in the morning, I worked in my field. When it comes to growing vegetables in this autumn season, there is not much thing remaining. But I still have one thing to do. That is to plant onion’s seedlings and garlic’s bulbs. In order to plant them, I need to make one more ridge in the field. It will be five meter long; three meters for onions and two meters for garlic. What is tough is to get rid of roots of weeds from the place for the ridge and furrow. Since the place had been untouched for two years, now weeds’ roots in the ground are like spaghetti.
I worked in the field from 8 to 9:30 am. and then I got shower. From 10, I was watching a DVD that is about teaching Japanese as a second language. Actually, I had brought those DVD with me to the campus during the years I was teaching in a university. Watching the DVD today, I regret that I should have watched while I was teaching in the university. There are a lot of tips for teachers to teach a foreign language. For example, there is a concept of MMC for beginner’s level; the first M is mechanical training, the second M stands for meaningful training, and C for communicative activities. Did I do that? Usually, I didn’t extend my teaching to communicative activities. And there was no clear distinction between mechanical and meaningful trainings in my teaching. I would like to improve my teaching skill, but I don’t see any chance to apply improvements to my teaching in the future. I have already retired from the job as a Japanese teacher.
I had planned to go shopping in the afternoon. But it was hot like 34 Celsius degrees. So, I didn’t go to a supermarket, but continued to watch the DVD about teaching Japanese in the afternoon. I practiced my piano from 4 to 5 pm, cooked a supper from 5, had the supper at 6:30, and then I went shopping. I got back home at 8 pm, and started writing this.
Agony or Fun?! Second Language Learning 