ChanomiTalk

I hope everyone is having a happy and safe Halloween. I’m currently living in Key West, FL and just spoke to my family in New York. Because of Hurricane Sandy, the kids will not be trick or treating tonight. They are still without power and many trees still litter the roads. The neighborhood parents decided that next weekend they will have a Halloween party for the kids, even a custom contest. The kids are very excited and neighborhood parents are all chipping in to make sure it will be fun for both kids and adults. Sometimes it takes storm to bring people together.

Three months ago, I moved to Chicago for work.  This was my first big move on my own and it was a great learning experience for me.  Throughout this move, I’ve learned to be independent, proactive, and stronger in making my own decisions. Although it’s already been three months, it feels like time flew right by.  Only now do I feel like I’ve finally settled down and feel comfortable at home.

Besides getting adjusted, I try to spend most my free time exploring the city.  Chicago is a great city for young folks because it always feels like there’s something to do.  So far, I’ve seen most of the tourist attractions like the Sears Tower, Navy Pier, John Hancock Building, and Millennium Park.  The pictures below are of me at Wrigley Field and “The Bean”.  I guess so far, it’s going pretty good and suffice to say that I am enjoying Chicago. Hopefully I’ll get to experience everything that this city has to offer.

今日は晴れでした。　夜は寒いです。　仕事はいつものように忙しかったけど、残業しなかった。　来月、妻ともに旅行に行くつもりです。　でも、まだ考えています。　どこへ行く、何で行く、何を見に行くのは何も決めてないんです。

Yesterday I went to the store and bought Halloween candy hoping this will be the year I will finally get to give out candy.  It made me remember some of my past Halloween experiences, and I have to say that while I enjoyed trick-or-treating when I was a kid, I really remember one Halloween in particular.  It was a year when I was stationed at an Air Force base in Japan.  I was one of many volunteers helping out with an event to bring Japanese children on base to trick-or-treat.  There must have been a at least a hundred Japanese kids bused on to base from the surrounding community. I was assigned with a group of about six to eight children and three or four adults.  I think the Japanese adults coached the kids on how to say trick-or-treat because many already knew what to do and say as we knocked on the first door of an American family. It was so much fun watching the faces of the little kids as they went door to door asking for candy.  Slowly but surely those candy bags filled up much to the delight of the children.  Many may not have spoken a lot of English but “trick-or-treat” was surely one phrase they knew very well by the end of the night.

あれから一年半、、、

震災直後はどうなる事やら～と心配しましたが、今は、日常生活が戻り、大分落ち着いてきてます。

実家の瓦屋根は梅雨前に完全に入れて頂き、門扉も直りました。

こちらは原発事故の放射能の影響で他の被災県より処置が遅れてるのも現状ではあります。

いろんな企業から復興の為に働く人材が足りない、、、との声も聞こえてます。

リーマンショック後は、雇用も不安定でしたが、皮肉にも災害復興による雇用が生まれてる事は複雑ながら、有り難い事でもあります。

夏に主人の実家・金沢に帰省した際、いつも寄る懐石料理店でのランチの一品です！
私にとっての日常は、美味しいものを食べる事なので…(笑)

もうすぐ退院する患者さんに、歌が大好きな方がいます。
特に童謡がお好きで、いつもリハビリの最後に一緒に歌いました。
私が踊りだすといつもものすごく笑ってくださいます。
（患者さんの笑顔のために、体を張るのです！）
退院したら会えなくなってしまうので、笑顔が耐えないように、
思い出帳を作っています。
パソコンで童謡の歌詞をうったので、それもはさみます。
明日、たくさん写真を撮って、それも貼ろうと思っています。
寂しいけど、お元気に過ごしてほしいです。

Well, now that I’ve run a short series on my grandparents, thank you for reading, I will no run a short series on baseball. It is fitting for me because my favorite team, The San Francisco Giants are in the World Series. 🙂 so now I present a fond memory.

This is a story I love to tell. The day Will Clark hit a Grandslam. 1989, I was 12 years old, and it was the Giants vs. the Cubs in the NLCS. The Giants got to an early lead and then had loaded the bases right as Will was coming to bat. That’s when my father told me it was my bed time. I begged him to let me stay up a few more minutes, but he stood firm and I still had to go to bed.
Little did he know, or so I thought, I was secretly watching the game in my room with the volume turned down. Sure enough, Will smashed the next pitch and just as he was rounding the bases I heard my father yell from downstairs. “RODNEY!!!” He sounded angry, “Did you see that!?!?!?” He asked, “Yeah!” I yelled back. “Good! Now go to bed!” He yelled in return.
I went to bed happy that I wasn’t in trouble and I got to see Will hit that Grandslam. 🙂

８月から再びピアノを習っています。

来月、同僚の結婚式の二次会で演奏します。

今日は仕事が休みだったので、練習室を借りて２時間たてこもりました。

たくさん弾きすぎて、腕の筋肉が痛くなりました。

隣の部屋の人が、昔私も習った曲を弾いていて、懐かしく感じました。

また昔みたいに気持ちよく弾けるようになりたいなあ。