ChanomiTalk

From 1999 until 2000, about 1 year, I worked for a local tugboat company as a deckhand. One of my responsibilities was to make dinner but I also made breakfast and lunch as I found this made my life on the tugboat much easier. The other staff consisted of the Captain, Engineer and First Mate. All 3 of them loved sweets so I always made lots of hand made pies, cakes and cookies during my shift. One day, I announced to everybody that I would make banana bread as we had a lot of extra bananas that were starting to go brown. That night when I made the banana bread I forgot to either put one of the ingredients in or I put too much of something in by mistake. Instead of the bread coming out big and fluffy, it was very long, not very tall and very chewy. I kind of panicked because I promised everybody the banana bread. What I ended up doing was cutting the banana bread, which actually looked like a log roll, and drilled a hole in the middle. Next, there was a big can of chocolate frosting that I wanted to get rid of so I filled the hole with the frosting and then covered the rest of the bread with the frosting. After I did that I made some heavy whip cream and made a big mound on the top and finally put lots of chocolate chips and cherries on top! I put it in the refrigerator and went to bed thinking that everybody would be mad! The next morning when I woke up I checked the refrigerator and the banana bread was gone! I checked the garbage can because I thought it got thrown away! The Captain came down into the galley and told me that everybody loved it and not only that but they wanted me to make it again! The problem was, I didn’t know the mistake that I made to get the same result. After that I made banana bread many times and the other staff always liked it but they also said that it didn’t compare to the first time I made it!

Hi Yukiyo,

It is true that you can’t switch your feelings on and off when it comes to caring for someone. But, it’s okay because what you feel for a patient is real and expressive. Feeling sad shows that you care. Caring for people is a great attribute to have.

I’ve often felt sad when patients of mine were sick or couldn’t seem to cope through the day. At those times I changed my sadness to joy by praying or telling a joke or just listening to my patient with an empathetic heart.

So, Yukiyo, it’s cool to know you care.

Cedric

先日、地元の方に、お食事に連れて行っていただきました。
ランチタイムに向かったのは、回転寿司レストラン’元気寿司’、そして、デザートは、’dave’s’というアイスクリーム屋さんでいただきした。:)

お寿司は、ハワイ、アメリカならではのメニューがたくさんありました。その中でも、私は、’Volcano Roll’という、アヒポキとアボカドが両方楽しめるお寿司が気に入りました。:)

アイスクリーム屋さんでは、ハワイのコナコーヒーを楽しむため、’KONA MOCHA’をオーダーしました。:)
ちなみに、ここのアイスは、全てmade in Hawaiiだとのことでした。
機会があれば、またぜひ行きたいと思います。

After months of winter in Chicago, my friend and I decided that it was time to see some sun so we made a trip to South Beach in Miami. Besides looking forward to 80 degree weather, I was also looking forward to my first visit to Florida. When we arrived, it was just like I imagined. Perfect weather, nice beaches and beautiful people. This was the vacation that I desperately needed after a long winter. Most of our days were spent the same way; beach, eat, drink, sleep. The highlight of the trip for me though was going to the Miami Heat basketball game. Lebron James was awesome and it was definitely an experience seeing him play live in person. I can’t wait for my next trip back. More to come…

Today marked my 13th lesson. Michiko shared that my intonation is sounding more natural and smooth. I studied Mandarin in college and am accustomed to varying intonations. Japanese tends to be more monotone in nature. I know that the television programs I’ve watched showcase much expression through their language, but maybe that will come later as I learn where to pause and where to connect phrases together.
We enjoyed a short quiz utilizing the question phrases we’ve learned. It was funny to see that many of the words we chose were spoken in Katakana, sounding very similar to the English version. I realized that culture really dictates our world view.

Another day off! The waves were not as big as Saturday and Sunday but are just big enough to get the high surf advisory and the visibility is still very bad. The rest of the week calls for high surf but the usual tour boats should have no problem getting out. The submarines should hopefully be able to get out tomorrow and the dive boats shouldn’t have a problem getting out but the diving conditions will probably not be that good. Anytime there is a period of big waves it takes a day or two for the visibility to get back to normal. There will probably be surge and current that will make the dive conditions, although not dangerous, not very good. According to the surf report the South side of Oahu will have fairly big waves throughout the week so all the surfers will be very happy!

On Sunday the waves were still very big and my job was again canceled because of both the swell and the bad visibility. I went out to Hawaii Kai and went up to the top of one of the streets in the mountain area where I could overlook and see all of the coast from Koko Crater to Diamond Head. The waves were very big but there was also what looked to be a large green curtain that covered the whole area. From Diamond Head to Waikiki it was even worse. I saw no boats out but I am sure that the Para Sailing boats went out as bad visibility would have nothing to do with their tour. The waves did not affect the Honolulu Triathlon which was very good news. What I think is interesting is how the weather had no relationship with the waves which is not often the case. The last few days the winds have been fairly mild trade winds which usually means flat conditions. On Sunday evening I noticed that the winds were turning south which means that the wave could actually continue but we won’t know until Monday!