気がつくと４月も終わりだった

April is Almost Over

I suddenly realized that it was the last day of April and I hadn’t written any entry yet.

I flew back to Osaka yesterday. This time, it’s not exactly a holiday since I had brought work and my PC with me. I’m still going to get together with friends and go out with my mother, so it will be a very busy Golden Week.

By the way, I usually fly from Haneda to Kansai with Starflyer and find their safety video, which you have to watch every time, fantastic.

Enjoy your Golden Week!

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病院めぐり

Hospital Tour

I hadn't seen a doctor since I moved to Tokyo. Not even a dentist or an ENT. Never!

At this time, however, I came down with a cold and took a day off from work. It seemed I was recovering well for the first few days, but yesterday my cold came back with a vengeance and a bloodshot eye probably caused by the virus. I finally threw up my hands and went to a doctor first thing this morning.

Actually, many hospitals and clinics are located in my neighborhood. There is an emergency hospital and adjoining clinics about a 2-minute walk from my place. But the hosptal looked pretty old even from the outside and had a gloomy atmosphere unlike modern, shiny and friendly hospitals.

But today, I mustered up the courage to visit the primary care clinic. Even though it was the first visit, it didn't take much time to see a doctor. The doctor said after the consultation, "As for the eye, see an eye doctor. Would you like to go to the main hospital?" I didn't know any eye doctors, and it was a great opportunity to finally get inside that compound!

With my newly created medical file in my hands, I went on to the general hospital. Checked in at the reception, I was directed to the "department of ophthalmology,' which was really just a room. There was no window, so I looked inside the door and saw a desk with a packed filing cabinet. There was a curtained consultation room only a few steps behind it, and three or four patients standing shoulder to shoulder having vision tests a few steps aside. Outside in the corridor, benches on both sides were serving as the waiting lounge. It was quite...unique. But despite the crowd, everything was done quite swiftly.

I walked out of the hospital and on to a pharmacy, where I got six kinds of cold-related medicine and one kind of eye drops. I came home happy feeling like I just returned from a major expedition. I've got two patient's cards from the nearby medical facilities: the clinic and the hospital. Now that I'm familiar with them, I feel more prepared for times like this in the future. The old hospital turned out to be a convenient and friendly medical complex that protects local residents' health. Today, an ominous looking building was elevated to a reliable partner in my mind.

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自然史をひもといてはいけない

Natural History Isn't A History

When I was translating a TV program, I came across this sentence:

"This series will reveal the complete natural history of ..."

At first, I typed:

"...no shizenshi wo himotoki-masu."

But something told me it wasn't quite right. What does "himotoku" mean in the first place? I looked it up in a Japanese dictionary.

himotoku:
1. to open or read books
("Digital Daijisen" translated by me)

Things you "himotoku" should be books and documents. Wait a minute. Hasn't it been used more figuratively? So I googled it. It turned out I, as a translator, probably should avoid using it in this context.

So I crossed out "himotoku."

What about "shizenshi"? This episode didn't contain any historical stories, did it? I checked the word "natural history" in an English dictionary.

natural history:
1. the scientific study of animals or plants, especially as concerned with observation rather than experiment, and presented in popular form.
("Oxford Dictionary of English")

Wait a minute. It's not a history? Really? I guess I had a misconception of it. Okay, so I need to cross out "shizenshi" too.

Now, let's get back to that sentence. This is the teaser of a documentary series that features wildlife. What would you have the narrator say?

There are lots of landmines in the wilderness called translation.

今回は日本語をどうぞ

翻訳デビュー３周年

The Third Anniversary

Three years ago this month, I quit the fulltime job. That was when I wrote this entry “Turning Point.” Rereading it now, I feel like it was yesterday and a long time ago at the same time. My friends' comments bring back memories too. Now, “years later” as I wrote in this entry, I’d like to look back on these past years.

One thing I find surprising is the fact that my life hasn’t changed much since then. As for the temp work, I’m still working in the same company three days a week. My section, co-workers, and even the company name have changed. The contact of my temp agent changed a few times too. But my job in the company hasn’t changed much. As a part-time worker, I never expected I would be with them for such a long time. For which, I’m really grateful because my translation job hasn’t changed much either.

I wrote three years ago as a beginning translator that “The job doesn’t pay.“ Sadly, it’s still true after these years. Of course, the situation isn’t the same as the first few months of my career, but after that, the basic capacity and the number of jobs haven’t improved as much as I had hoped for. The workload might have increased a little, but it simply reduced my time and energy to use for other things. I think I need to change this situation, but how?

On the bright side, I can now call myself a visual media translator although I still have two jobs. Three years ago, I was just starting out as a translator, and now I have three years of experience. Three years ago, I commented that I hoped I would be able to do some jobs that turned into DVDs or with my name in the credit. That has somehow come true in some small way. And I have no regrets in particular in these three years. But right now, I can’t see what lies ahead, and the future doesn’t look so promising. What will I be saying a few years from now? When I imagine that, I feel a little more positive about the unseen future.

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今年もお世話になりました

Thank You Friends

I'm back in Osaka for the New Year's. I didn't have time to write an entry at home so I'm uploading this from iPhone.

Another year has flown by. I can barely remember what I’ve been doing all this year. My slogan this year was "Make it a memorable year." I won't forget the year 2011 for sure because some big incidents happened in Japan. There were some changes around me, and I had some memorable times like the trip in Hokkaido, but on my part, nothing really has changed this year. I should be grateful for that, I know, but still… So I decided, just to make it clear to all deities, the next year's slogan would be "Make it a wonderful year!"

Now I'd like to introduce you to my favorite stationery item. This is a Zebra red pen. When I polish my translation, I always print it out at least once and make changes with this red pen. I love it because it's a little bold and easy to write with. I've brought some work here, so my pen is working right now on the dining table. But it's running out of ink. It'll be the second time to replace the ink. This is the first pen I’ve used so much without losing it. I'm counting on you, red pen!

Thank you all for your friendship throughout the year. I hope the coming year will bring you a lot of happiness and you'll stay my friends for years to come. Happy holidays!

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図書館での出会い

Encounters at the Library

When I'm busy with work, I don't have time to read. Well, "don't feel like it" would be the right words. I haven't gotten around to reading the comics I borrowed from T-chiyo and the book K-san translated. But I go to the library a few times a month to do research for my work. I probably pick up a dozen books and check out several of them. I usually skip through pages to get necessary information, but some books do grab my attention. Here are some recent encounters.

The first one is "Monkey Kingdom - The Japanese Macaques of Jigokudani Monkey Park." If you don't know the place "Jigokudani," you might have heard of hot-tubbing monkeys. They became famous in the world after they were featured in an international magazine. This is a photo book full of lively shots captured throughout the four seasons by a park attendant. The photos are beautiful, but the best part is that it's written in both Japanese and English. This book is something you may want on your bookshelf; it's small -- the same height as a postcard -- and lovely.

Another one is "Space Weather  - Can Space Weather be predicted?" Do you know about space weather forecast? The Earth is always being affected by the Sun's activity. For example, an explosion on the Sun's surface will send a storm of electrons and protons towards Earth. This is called a geomagnetic storm. In old days, it would only surprise people by creating aurora around the equator. For us in the high-tech world, however, it's a natural disaster that can affect our daily lives. The author humorously explains all that in plain words. It was so interesting I found myself really reading.

Now, what is waiting for me next?

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秋の花火

Autumn Fireworks

The Adachi Fireworks Festival was held at the Arakawa River on Saturday, October 8. It was originally scheduled in July, but postponed to the long weekend in October because of the earthquake and resulting power shortage. I’ve been living in Adachi for four years now, but I hadn’t seen the fireworks. This year, I decided to go to see them. I was going to walk to the river from home by myself, but a friend from Kyoto happened to come to Tokyo on that day, so my friends and I went to see the fireworks together.

Although we arrived at the riverbank just before the show started, we were lucky to find a perfect spot to sit down and watch it. The weather was perfect too: clear sky and crisp fall breeze. The fireworks were fantastic. Thanks for the ever-advancing technologies, there were lots of colors and shapes I never saw in my childhood. I really loved it. And I had great company. We had so much fun that 50 minutes passed really fast.

Here are some pictures. I tried to take some good photos of the fireworks, but it was very difficult with my ordinary camera. Photos are so inadequate to show you how impressive they were, but I managed to get a few good shots. The top is my best shot, and the second one was taken by my friend, M-jyo. She says it’s copyright free, so I put it up here. Thanks!

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北海道に行ってきました

Hokkaido Trip (9/22-24)

On a muggy summer day, I was thinking about plans for September holidays – or lack there of – and decided it would be great if I could fly to Hokkaido, meet up with Maki, and go traveling around Lake Toya. She said okay. So there I was, on the very next day of the huge typhoon, arriving at Shin-chitose Airport on a morning flight. I stayed two nights in Toya, and Maki drove me around in Toya and Niseko. Despite the ominous start, I kind of dodged bad weather all along. It was chilly and did rain sometimes, but as you can see, I got to see beautiful sites and had a lot of fun!

Photos and comments after the cut. 日本語と写真はこちら

シュガー・ハイ

Sugar High

Do you know the word “sugar high”? When you watch American movies or TV shows, you may come across lines like “Don’t give the kids cookies after eight o’clock, or they won’t go to bed!” I don’t know if it’s true or not, but the idea is that sugar makes children hyperactive. In Japan, I’ve heard parents say, “Don’t eat cookies, or you’ll get bad teeth,” or “You’ll get fat,” but never that.

Things are different in different places, and common knowledge about food and health is certainly one of them. In North America, for example, people worry about mercury in fish. It’s common that pregnant women are advised to avoid certain kinds of fish. There is some level of mercury in the natural ocean environment, and some fish contain higher levels of mercury because of their diet. I was surprised when I first heard it. Not that I’m worried though.

I think I need a little bit of sugar high in this summer heat. I happened to have some cookies in the cabinet. Or is it just kids that sugar has the effect on?

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最新アップデート

Latest Update

I got an iPhone a few weeks ago. I wasn’t interested in iPhone itself, but I wanted to use the Internet, most of all, Eijiro on the cellphone. My iPhone is the white model, which is pretty new according to my peer iPhone users. I’m glad I got one at this time because I like it in white a lot better than black. I’m not using most of its intelligent functions, but I’m already starting to feel attached to my new phone.

Last month, I finally had my cable TV tuner replaced with one for the digital terrestrial broadcasting. The new tuner can record programs on both HD and DVD. Of course, it plays rental DVDs too. So it basically replaced both the old tuner and my 8-year-old DVD recorder. It’s reduced the number of remotes in my room, vacated an outlet, and made programming so much easier. I already have a lot of movies recorded on it. I just haven’t watched them yet…

My IT environment has been updated.

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