More on the Piano

I was talking to Michiko Sensei about playing the piano (because we are both musicians) and it made me reminisce about the times that I use to take lessons. Like I said in the last blog, I took lessons from this guy from  Czechloslovachia (I hope I spelled that right) named Roman Serla. We heard of Roman through my mom’s co-worker, whose daughter was taking lessons from him. They had a lot of great things to say about him and suggested that we come to one of the recitals to meet him. So we went to one of the recitals and it was a really interesting experience. It was my first recital and everyone was pretty good. The thing I remember most was the age differences between some of the students. There were kids that were 5 years to adults that were 30 years old. After the recital, my family got to meet Roman and we liked him right away. He was really funny and a very lovable guy. The only thing I thought was weird about him was his strong body odor. Anyways, after that,  we got started right away and soon my brother and I were taking lessons from him once a week. He really emphasized learning the fundamentals of piano before learning anything else so for the longest time, we were just playing scales during our lesson and then maybe learning a song. I thought it was super boring at first but I learned later that it was necessary to be a good pianist. But then my first recital was coming up and he gave me this one song called “The Swan” to play. I really liked the song but I was really nervous about the recital. So I practiced and practiced during the weeks before and finally the day came for me to play. At the recital, Roman makes all of his students sit in the front row of the venue and  go one by onto the stage to play. So the girl that went before me was this 8 year old girl and she did really good. I got more nervous because I didn’t want to sound bad after she did so good. But after she was done, I went on the stage and began to play. The spotlight was on me and I could begin to feel myself shaking. I kind of blanked out before I started playing but the funny thing is my body kind took over and played the song for me. By the time I knew it, I was done with the song and everybody was clapping. Wheww I thought… I did okay. It was probably one of the more nervous times in my life but I’m glad I went through it. I’ll never forget it.

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ファミレスモーニングまで


準夜勤。仕事終わっても…帰れませんっ(T_T) 仕事のあれこれがいっぱい山積み。とりあえず、何がある? 一覧で書き出し…。なるほど…。やるっきゃないよね(泣) なぜか先輩も「なら私もやって帰るかな。」と付き合ってくれて、2人でパソコンパチパチ、カルテチェックφ(.. ) まずは二つのこと終わらしてきました。

やったぞ、偉いぞとろみどり。やっと帰れる(/_;)/~~深夜勤さんが「帰る前に配膳手伝っていきませんか?」とイヤミを言うので時計を見れば、あと1時間もしない内に配膳の時間になるではないか。空も青くなってきてるし(汗)「何時間ここに…なんでこんなに病院好きなんやろ(-.-;)。」とぼやく。

眠い。なのに、ファミレスのモーニングを楽しみに行く2人でした。先輩もいろいろありますが、気にしなくていいところまで気にしてちゃ…深みにハマりますよ。レポート作成のいい案をもらえたのでかなり助かりました。先は長いがガンバりましょう。

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A Night Out in Town

Last night my husband and I went out with a group of friends.  We had a blast. First we saw a movie.  We watch the third installment of Underworld. It’s a prequel to the other two and explains the origins of the battle between the werewolves and the vampires. Apparently the vampires wanted to use the werewolves as salves and bodyguards but they revolted. The main actress from the first two movies wasn’t in it, but it was still good. Next we all went to eat at a place called the Brewer Moon. I kept calling it the Blue Moon. The food was delicious but very expensive. I had a dish called Payeya which consists of a mixture of seafood, chicken, and sausage in saffron rice. It was good though not as much as I had expected. I did enjoy the scallops and mussels in it. If I ever go again I will try something else, maybe the Ahi with stuffed crabbed.  Someone else ordered that and it looked really delicious. Finally, we headed to David & Busters. D&B for short. It’s a fun place to spend your evening and your money. They have videos games, pool tables, a restaurant, and a dance area. We went for the games. For every game you play you get tickets that can be traded in for merchandise in the D&B story.  You have to collect a lot of tickets through a lot of game playing. My husband and I played basketball. I beat him once; he beat me once, and we tied once. My most favorite game is the Super Trivia where you are given a question then must answer from four choices provided. The questions range from sports to history to film. You compete against other people. Tickets are given out depending on the one who gets the most answers correct in the fastest time. It was a blast. Now it’s back to the reality.

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Rockband 2

My new favorite videogame is Rockband 2. There are songs loaded onto the disc, and the point of the game is to play hese fake instruments to match whats going on on screen. It may not sound so exciting in the way I explain it, but trust me, its one of the best gamesin the world. The most fun part is having all your friends over and forming a band to rock out!

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高新柳壇2009年1月25日



辛抱が肥やしとなった万華鏡


しんぼうがこやしとなったまんげきょう


郁子

Ikuko

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消えたマジックテープ


病棟で患者さんのリスク管理を行う上でいろいろなセンサーが作られています。例えば、ベッドから起き上がったらナースコールが鳴なったり、そのマットを踏むとナースコールが鳴ったり、病棟から出るとベルが鳴ったり…と種類と用途は多種多様。それらは同意を得て必要時使用します。

昨日、ある業者さんが持ってこられたセンサーのデモ機を試してほしいと依頼があったため、先輩たちが試しに箱から出してました。今日、そのデモ機の部品が一つなくなっていることが発覚っ(`□´/)/ マジックテープがない?!

さ、探せーっ! 昨日、箱から出した先輩たちは顔真っ青。日直だった師長さんも「あんたたち!あれは業者に返さなきゃいけないのよ!絶対見つけなさいっ!」と。日勤で残ってたスタッフも一緒になって必死に探す。ゴミもあさり…。考えられる場所は全部探したけど、ない。

途方に暮れみんなぐったり。あぁ日曜なのにこんな時間…。マジックテープ…それっぽいのコソッと買ってきてはダメですか、とやけっぱち。明日改めて…ということになりました。

日中から「なんか今日しんどいね。もう疲れた。」なぁんてぼやきながらみんな仕事してた…。浮かない顔してると不運なことばかりあるような気がします。

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Baseball on the Horizon

Punahou baseball tryouts are coming up soon! I will have to show the coaches who I am now, because this is probably going to affect the rest of my baseball life. I’ve worked ahrd leading up to this point, and now all that is left is to show I can be a great part of this amazing team

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初心に戻って歌え


今日も仕事終わってからのサークル参加。
仕事終わりのボサボサ頭で向かいました。

バンド練習1時間参加。
あら、今日は妹(的存在)が来てない。
今日もやっぱりピリピリした雰囲気になりました。
気張りすぎ?

そういう時は初心に戻る。
歌は楽しまなきゃ歌う意味ないじゃんっ!
楽しまなきゃいい歌も歌えないじゃんっ!
そういうことですっ!

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Nacos has a new website, Nacos.org!

First off congratulations on the well put together website! Even though I am in Seattle right now, I felt a sense of home, which I always feel at Naco’s just by looking at the cool pictures of being there. The soft mellow colors were easy on the eyes. Obviously reflecting Nacos style, not bright and flashy, but rather gentle and subtle. I am glad that this website exists as I would always talk about Nacos, but could not directly show people so easily as to what Nacos was all about and their prices for lessons. Here we have a range of different prices for different needs, this is key and allows people to go with what they feel comfortable with. As well as being led into some of the other amenities Nacos offers like their growing blog community and pictures of visiting students. I liked the references to writing styles and the Chanomi talk as well, endless information being provided by Michiko and Shuzo. The website can never do justice however to the actual lessons, no picture or written description can quite capture the moment of the feelings one gets when they are actually able to communicate in Japanese for the first time. The only thing that I might suggest is that as they are taking advantage of the web as expressing their years of experience. What if there was a posting of before and after video, for example someone coming to NACOS’s for the first time and then video of them after a short time later as they began to understand and feel the words of their self-portrait. I know I have witnessed it first hand by being there, but it is just a thought, as people love video footage for results or some link to say Youtube capturing this sort of thing. I thought of it as I am in Seattle and could possibly be critiqued over the Internet by watching me over the web and then through some sort of phone conversation Michiko or Shuzo could point out where I am sounding off or having mispronunciation problems. Overall, great website, job well done! Yoku dekimashita!

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Mr. Yuyama

I recently met a very nice couple at the restaurant.  They were referred to me by my brother Jon at the Gateway.  He was a very easy going person, much like myself.  His English was very good.  He told me that this is his first visit to a Ruth Chris Steakhouse so if I could make any recommendations that he would order it.  My brother told him that the beef carpaccio was his favorite so he ordered that immediately.  I think I have a better understanding of Japanese taste in food then my brother.  Although he loved my brothers choice he really was taken aback by what I chose for him.  I explained to him that I feel that Japanese really like the subtle flavors in a dish and that is why I made this decision.  Later I chose his steak but this time I went with something that is more American than anything else. “The Cowboy Ribeye” the reason I say this is that most other countries overlook this cut because it’s to well marbled.  I find they prefer filet and sirloins better.  Not that one is better than the other it’s more of a preference and this something I explain to all my guests.  If you’re looking for a very tender cut go with the filet it’s the softest.  If you’re looking for a hearty steak flavor and don’t mind if it’s firm go with a sirloin.  But if you’re looking for a steak that’s juicy and almost as tender as a filet and almost as flavorful as a sirloin you want a Cowboy Ribeye. I can really explain the foods I really enjoy well because I love this cut so much.  All in all Mr Yuyama had a great time and said he would return.  My brother says he comes about 8 times a year.  He mentioned that he would bring me some great gifts when he comes back and that if I was going to Japan to let him know.  He wanted to show me some of the best places in Tokyo to eat.  Man what a great guy to meet.

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