Japan’s Princess Kiko welcomed the first boy in the Imperial family for 40 years. In related to this, I’ve been reading articles about the debate over the change of the imperial succession law ( today’s law tells only men are allowed to become monarchs. But Crown Prince and Crown Princess have only a daughter). Living in a country where the importance of gender equality lies in the society, I am a bit curious to see where this Japanese debate is going. To make the imperial throne “gender-neutral (means that Y chromosome to be equipped is not a decisive thing)” would be a symbolic step-forward for Japan.
A bit about my life. I no longer exercise dance a lot, but today I felt like dancing and I visited a milonga (tango dance) in Copenhagen with some friends. There were a lot of good dancers and I had a lot of fun. We arrived there at 10pm and danced non-stop until 2am! It was quite a work-out! My dress got drenched and my feet full of bloody blisters… ay ay ay…
By the way, I think I can say I conquered 0630 wake-up, but being honest, still struggling when my arm reaches the alarm and keep it snooze a couple of times. Obviously I am not ready to move on to 0600 wake-up. Why is it so hard?
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Sunday, August 27, 2006
update on my morning snooze
I took a note of my wake-up time;
Mon 21 Aug - 07.20 (totally failed)
Tue 22 Aug - 06.30 (good!)
Wed 23 Aug - 06.50 (hmmmm, not accepted)
Thu 24 Aug - 05.30 (lodged at a hotel,couldn't sleep well at all)
Fri 25 Aug - 06.00 (again, not good sleep - woke up before alarm went off)
Sat 26 Aug - 06.00 (due to work)
Sun 27 Aug - 08.00 (I needed sleep longer)
the photo above is an evidence that I was up early. This shows the morning sky of Denmark where I stayed. I wouldn't say I conquered 06.30am wake-up. This week I'll be out of town, being in a different time zone but I'll stick to 0630 wake-up!!
Sunday, August 20, 2006
to wake up without the snooze
Every morning my alarm goes off at 6.00am, I hit the snooze button and sleep for another 9 minutes. After 9 minutes, my alarm comes back, I hit the snooze button again and sleep for another 9 minutes again. After 9 minutes, my alarm comes back..... then I finally wake up at 7am or 7.30am. Can you count how many times I hit the snooze button before I get out of the bed? It is 7 to 10 times! How can it be so hard to wake up at 6.00am?
I want to be a morning person. That’s why I keep my alarm setting at 6 even though I cannot wake up. My goal time for waking up is ideally 5.30, in this way I gain 2 hours of available time in the morning. I could do a lot of things already in the morning! That's the point. Now to wake up at 5.30 tomorrow morning would be a bit too optimistic, so I should probably take it by lessening the time by half an hour. I have 6.30 to conquer this week and 6.00 next week and then 5.30.
Let me see if I can really stick to my plan.
Tomorrow morning, I can hit the snooze button only 4 times.
I want to be a morning person. That’s why I keep my alarm setting at 6 even though I cannot wake up. My goal time for waking up is ideally 5.30, in this way I gain 2 hours of available time in the morning. I could do a lot of things already in the morning! That's the point. Now to wake up at 5.30 tomorrow morning would be a bit too optimistic, so I should probably take it by lessening the time by half an hour. I have 6.30 to conquer this week and 6.00 next week and then 5.30.
Let me see if I can really stick to my plan.
Tomorrow morning, I can hit the snooze button only 4 times.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
vacation
Long time no blog. Some friends of mine have started to ask me if anything is wrong with me. The answer is no but I was simply lazy.. Thank you guys who have been viewing my pages from time to time. The lesson to be learned is to blog little but often. One thing I should mention to you now is that I finally adopted one of the important Swedish customs, which I could not practice last 5 years --- it’s Looong summer vacation. To take a 4 week vacation in summer is sort of standard in Sweden and I took all July off this summer. In my position at work, it is a bit difficult to completely switch myself off from work for a month so I occasionally checked my emails and had my mobile phone on but things worked well and I had a very relaxing break.
Malaysia – Truly Asia Anyone who have watched BBC World last few months may recognise this phrase and song in an advert of Malaysia tourism. It’s a beautiful TV advert. I travelled to Malaysia and Brunei for 2 weeks on my vacation and spent some time in Japan. Malaysia racially embraces Malay, Chinese, Indian and many ethnic groups of Borneo. It’s interesting to see how all the races live in harmony. And historically the footprints of Portuguese , Dutch and British can be found on colonial architectures. Borneo’s rainforest offers us to see abundant wildlife, interesting plant life, jungle trekking trails and more. Secluded quiet beaches in Langkawi was nice, too. Brunei has very few things to see but interesting to visit there anyway to see that the Sultan has absolute power and his government accrues mountains of money from Brunei’s oil fields. The people are well looked after (provided with subsidised cars and free healthcare to all). The sultan seems to be so popular and supported by the people. I uploaded some photos from my trip. Please visit “Ryoko’s photos”
Malaysia ～♪ Truly Asia～♪♪
Sunday, April 23, 2006
spring has come to lund
A gorgeous day - sunny and warm in Lund. Although trees are still naked and the wind is still chilly, I feel spring is finally on its way to Lund. People come out and sit in the sun. How nice to feel the heat of the sun after such a long harsh winter!
Sunday, March 26, 2006
accent in language
Does time have a roll when it comes to learning a foreign language? Yes, it does. It takes time to obtain its large vocabulary, rich expressions, listening and understanding skill etc. But what about "accent"? If we speak a foreign language for long enough, then do we come to speak it native-like in its sound? Hmmm, I am not sure about it. Of course we should be able to improve it to much extent, but it does not seem to me there is a mutual connection between the length of learning and the improvement of accent.
And next question is that "Is that a problem to have a foreign accent in a language? "
I am sometimes told that the way I speak English does not really suggest that I am from Japan( I don't seem to have a strong Japanese accentin my English), but it does not necessarily mean I have a good communication skill in English. As a matter of fact, I meet people who have much stronger accents than I, but they could have much better overall communication skills. I don't believe there is an interrelation between accent and communication skill, either. So it is no problem to have an accent inlanguage communication. This is what I think.
Nowadays I've come to think that the accent in languages should be recognised as one's identity or one of physical features such as tall, fat, blond, tanned.
I personally feel friendly to English with Spanish and Indian accent. They sound so lovely.
A friend of mine gave me a song called "London is the place for me " by Lord Kitchener(www.calypsoworld.org/uk/london.htm). This song makes me purely happy and puts a big smile on my face. You understand why if you listen to this. I thought about the accent topic above while listening to this song actually....
And next question is that "Is that a problem to have a foreign accent in a language? "
I am sometimes told that the way I speak English does not really suggest that I am from Japan( I don't seem to have a strong Japanese accentin my English), but it does not necessarily mean I have a good communication skill in English. As a matter of fact, I meet people who have much stronger accents than I, but they could have much better overall communication skills. I don't believe there is an interrelation between accent and communication skill, either. So it is no problem to have an accent inlanguage communication. This is what I think.
Nowadays I've come to think that the accent in languages should be recognised as one's identity or one of physical features such as tall, fat, blond, tanned.
I personally feel friendly to English with Spanish and Indian accent. They sound so lovely.
A friend of mine gave me a song called "London is the place for me " by Lord Kitchener(www.calypsoworld.org/uk/london.htm). This song makes me purely happy and puts a big smile on my face. You understand why if you listen to this. I thought about the accent topic above while listening to this song actually....
Monday, March 13, 2006
what i want to write
It's been quite a while since I wrote here last time. Time simply flies so fast.
I want to write about the harsh winter weather in Lund, about my tough relationship with -10 degrees' world, about problems with my dry nose (pain in the nose) and dry legs in the dry cold air.
I want to write about some trips I made, about my 1st experience of splendid tango-dancing in Tokyo, about Barcelona's palm trees under the big sun and my old friends, about unexpected great meetings with some people and unexpected troubles with flights and loss of my valuables and belongings during the trips.
I want to write about having been ill in bed straight after the new year's day, about benefits of sleep for health and beauty, about interesting medical check-ups I went through.
I want to write about pleasures of good food and drink, about my recent learning of red wine.
I want to write about Skype as my life companion and about installation of cool 100Mbit/s speed broadband.
I want to write about what happens to my mind when I think about spring and summer to come hopefully soon! I will have a lot of terrific plans towards summer.
I have a lot more to write, but I'd better stop here. It's Monday tomorrow, not my favourite day.... I need to go to bed now.
I want to write about the harsh winter weather in Lund, about my tough relationship with -10 degrees' world, about problems with my dry nose (pain in the nose) and dry legs in the dry cold air.
I want to write about some trips I made, about my 1st experience of splendid tango-dancing in Tokyo, about Barcelona's palm trees under the big sun and my old friends, about unexpected great meetings with some people and unexpected troubles with flights and loss of my valuables and belongings during the trips.
I want to write about having been ill in bed straight after the new year's day, about benefits of sleep for health and beauty, about interesting medical check-ups I went through.
I want to write about pleasures of good food and drink, about my recent learning of red wine.
I want to write about Skype as my life companion and about installation of cool 100Mbit/s speed broadband.
I want to write about what happens to my mind when I think about spring and summer to come hopefully soon! I will have a lot of terrific plans towards summer.
I have a lot more to write, but I'd better stop here. It's Monday tomorrow, not my favourite day.... I need to go to bed now.
Friday, January 13, 2006
こんにちは ２００６年
（Ｊａｐａｎｅｓｅ ｏｎｌｙ）
今日は日本語です。いつも英語で書いてしまうと、同じ内容を日本語に訳すという作業が怠け者の私にはとても面倒 で、英語ばかりの記述になってしまっている 私のＢｌｏｇですが、年始の挨拶くらいは日本語できちんと！と思い立ちました。と、年始と言っても、もう１月も中旬。本当はもっと早くにご挨拶 を・・と思ってりましたが、風邪で年明け早々から寝込んでました（言い訳）。。今年の風邪はしつこく、まだ抜けません。空咳と熱です。日本は今年は寒いと 聞いてお りますので、皆さんもお気をつけて・・・。
２００５年は皆さんにとってどの様な年でしたか？嬉しい事、怒った事、悲しい事、楽 しい事、様 々な出来事があったのではないでしょうか？私にとっても色ん な感情を経験した１年でした。中でも気持ちが沈んでしまう事が少し多い年だったかな、と感じます。人との別れや日本の家族の事で気を揉んだり、仕事で落ち 込んだり・・・。しかし、何か１つ失うと、何か１つ得、そしてまた何か１つ失う、という何かプラス／マイナスの”流れ”のようなものがあるのかな？と思わ されたような１年だった気がします。
２００６年、風邪を引きながらの散々な年明けでしたが、それでも早速いくつか快いニュースに恵まれ、まずまずのスタートを切ったかな、と思ってます。２００６年はいい年になりそうな予感。
怠 け者の私でも、一応、今年の誓いを立てました。健康的で（特に風邪引きの身には）、自発的で、そし て創造的な２００６年にすると・・・。自分が関わる社会、会社、知人 ／友人は何を必要としているのかという点と、自分は何をしたいのか、何ができるのかという点をはっきり意識しながら、その点をつないで行く努力をして行き たいと思います。
日本にいらっしゃる皆さんとはなかなかゆっくり顔と顔を合わせてお話する機会がありませんが、何かの折にお便り頂ければ幸いです。あっ、そういえば、今週末から東京入りでした。何人かの皆さんとお会いしますねぇ。楽しみです。
では、皆さん、素晴らしい２００６年を創造して下さい！
亮子
今日は日本語です。いつも英語で書いてしまうと、同じ内容を日本語に訳すという作業が怠け者の私にはとても面倒 で、英語ばかりの記述になってしまっている 私のＢｌｏｇですが、年始の挨拶くらいは日本語できちんと！と思い立ちました。と、年始と言っても、もう１月も中旬。本当はもっと早くにご挨拶 を・・と思ってりましたが、風邪で年明け早々から寝込んでました（言い訳）。。今年の風邪はしつこく、まだ抜けません。空咳と熱です。日本は今年は寒いと 聞いてお りますので、皆さんもお気をつけて・・・。
２００５年は皆さんにとってどの様な年でしたか？嬉しい事、怒った事、悲しい事、楽 しい事、様 々な出来事があったのではないでしょうか？私にとっても色ん な感情を経験した１年でした。中でも気持ちが沈んでしまう事が少し多い年だったかな、と感じます。人との別れや日本の家族の事で気を揉んだり、仕事で落ち 込んだり・・・。しかし、何か１つ失うと、何か１つ得、そしてまた何か１つ失う、という何かプラス／マイナスの”流れ”のようなものがあるのかな？と思わ されたような１年だった気がします。
２００６年、風邪を引きながらの散々な年明けでしたが、それでも早速いくつか快いニュースに恵まれ、まずまずのスタートを切ったかな、と思ってます。２００６年はいい年になりそうな予感。
怠 け者の私でも、一応、今年の誓いを立てました。健康的で（特に風邪引きの身には）、自発的で、そし て創造的な２００６年にすると・・・。自分が関わる社会、会社、知人 ／友人は何を必要としているのかという点と、自分は何をしたいのか、何ができるのかという点をはっきり意識しながら、その点をつないで行く努力をして行き たいと思います。
日本にいらっしゃる皆さんとはなかなかゆっくり顔と顔を合わせてお話する機会がありませんが、何かの折にお便り頂ければ幸いです。あっ、そういえば、今週末から東京入りでした。何人かの皆さんとお会いしますねぇ。楽しみです。
では、皆さん、素晴らしい２００６年を創造して下さい！
亮子
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