The song of the birds and the trees

Listen to the rain.  Listen to the bird song.
Listen to the stream.  Listen to the frogs at night.
Listen to the cicada trumpeting summer's arrival.
Can you hear the sound of the wind in the trees?
Relax, smile, and take a walk for your ears.

雨の音を聴く。鳥の歌を聴く。
沢の音を聴く。夜の蛙の声を聴く。
「夏が来た」と叫んでる蝉も聴く。
風が吹く時の木の音、聞こえる？
リラックス、スマイル、耳の為の散歩。

Lately I've been spending time remembering the simple things in life.  Simple, but important.

最近こんな簡単けど大事なことを意識して、穏やかな時間を過ごしている。

We all look up together

We all look up together when the sky puts on a show for us.  Maybe I've only noticed more since coming to Japan, but when we watch a solar or lunar eclipse, or the transit of Venus across the sun, or a meteor shower, or just stare into the sky and admire the beauty out there, we do it as humans.  As the astronauts from the International Space station have said, you can't see Earth's conflicts or peace from space, only a beautiful and fragile oasis.

我々一緒に上をみる。もしかしたら日本に来てから気づいたかもしれないが、月食や日食・金星の日面通過・流星群とか、空と星を眺めて、「わあ、きれいだな」と思う時、それは人間として、皆が同じ。国際宇宙ステーションの宇宙飛行士が言った通り、宇宙から見ると地球の争いなどが見えない、ただ地球が美しい、脆弱なオアシスにしか見えない。

Irazu-yama

Over Golden Week I went to Irazu-yama.  Irazu-yama is the where the Shimanto river starts.  I was wondering exactly what the "source" of a river looked like.  As it turns out, the sign post is at the convergence of three small streams.  I get the feeling that doesn't work for all rivers, but it was cool to see the "source" anyway.  I was planning to go to Ioki cave in Aki-shi as well, but I caught a cold and decided to stay in instead.

ゴールデンウイークの間に不入山に行った。そこで四万十川が始まると言われる。源流というのはどんな感じだろうなと思っていた。着くと三つの小さい小川が集まる所だった。すべての川は同じような源流があるような気がしないけど、結局おもしろかった。安芸市のいおき洞へも行きたかったが、かぜを引いちゃったからやめた。

Virginia Spring

I went home to Virginia for vacation over the school's spring break.  My entire family got together for the first time in 13 years.  Even if only for a day it was nice to see everyone together.  We all live in different places, very far away from each other, but we share one thing in common.  We all really love Virginia.  While I was home the weather was idyllic, like paradise.  The flowers were blooming and the mountains were blue and green.  I relaxed like I never have before.  Springtime is good in Virginia.

学校の春休みの間にバージニア州に帰った。十三年ぶりに家族全員が集まった。一日間だけでも、皆集まるのがよかった。皆がとても離れている所に住んでいるし皆の趣味と興味が違うが、一つは一緒。皆はバージニア州が大好き。家にいた間天気が最高よかったし、花が咲いてたし、山の色が綺麗な青緑だったし、天国みたいだと思った。こじゃんとのんびりできた。バージニアの春がよかった。

Communicating Effectively

Communication and learning are what my job is all about.  I realized a hidden difficulty with interlingual communication recently.  Even though people are talking in the same language, that doesn't necessarily mean they're communicating effectively.  I don't mean they're making mistakes with the language.  What I mean is that they aren't taking the listener's knowledge into consideration and including important context when they're speaking.  Sometimes I think I don't understand because of my limited Japanese ability, but I have been reassured that that is not the case when I see other Japanese folks similarly not understanding the speaker.  These experiences have reminded me that using the right language might not be enough, sometimes you need to think carefully and eloquently word your message for it to come across the way you want.

ALTと言えば、コミュニケーションと学習することですよね？最近コミュニケーションの隠れている問題を知った。同じ言語で話してもコミュニケーションは必ず成功になる訳じゃないということ。これは言語の文法や単語の間違えのせいじゃなくて、また別な問題だ。問題は喋る人が聞く人の知識とその文脈を考えて話さなければ通じない。時々私は日本語の能力が不十分だからある話が分からないと思うけど、他の日本人も同じ話が分からなかったことがある。こんな経験の影響で日本語で話すことや英語で話すことは時々足りないので、聞く人が分からなさそうだったらじっくり考えて気を入れて話すことが必要。

The sky over Hidaka Village

この前の月食を仁淀川に見に行った時から、前より天文に興味を持った。大学で選択科目では天文学の授業を受けたが、実は今の方がよく星を見ている。大体晴れていたら夜に散歩する時上を向いて歩く。涙は零れるかもしれないけど、理由は空気がひやいし日高村の上の空が本間にきれいに見えるからだ。これは絶対に大きな町に住みたくない理由の一つ。町の明かりのせいで星が見えなくなる。日高村ではその問題があまりないので、月食も流星群を二つも見たし、星座を天文学のラボの時からまた思い出してできるだけ多く見つける目標にして、練習している。

Since the time I went to see the lunar eclipse at the Niyodo river a few months ago I've really become more interested in astronomy.  In college I took an elective course in astronomy, but I'm actually looking at the stars more now than I was then.  If the skies are clear when I go for walks at night I pretty much always walk looking up, and if I spill any tears they're for nothing but the cold and the beauty that I see.  This is one of the reasons I definitely don't want to live in a big city where the city lights prevent you from seeing the stars.  In Hidaka that isn't a problem, as I've seen the eclipse, two meteor showers, and I've been recalling the constellations I learned in Astronomy Lab and practicing spotting those in the sky.

Matsuyama Bound!

お正月の大勢の人がもう帰った後で2日間に松山へ行った。そのタイミングはぼっちりでちょうど安い旅館も道後温泉も空いてきた。行くのは長くないけど、山を越えるとすぐ冷やくなったような気がした。日本では道後温泉が夏目漱石の坊ちゃんという小説で有名と聞いたが、私はジブリの千と千尋の神隠しというアニメをみて、そのなかに出る温泉は道後をもとにして描かれたと聞いて興味を持った。本物の道後温泉を見ると宮崎駿の作った温泉のインスピレーションをはっきり分かった。短い旅行でとてもよかった！

I went to Matsuyama for two days after the big New Years crowds had already left.  This turned out to be great timing, as both Dogo onsen and a nearby cheap Japanese inn weren't crowded at all.  It didn't take long to get to Ehime, but it felt as though the temperature dropped significantly as soon as we passed over the mountains.  In Japan Dogo onsen is mostly famous from Natsume Souseki's famous novel, Botchan, but as for me I found out about it upon hearing that the onsen that appears in Miyazaki Hayao's famous anime Spirited Away was based on Dogo.  Upon seeing the onsen for myself, Miyazaki's inspiration was pretty obvious.  Overall it was a really great, short trip.

添付のビデオは道後温泉の前に雪が降っている。