Sunday, December 31, 2006

Omisoka, New Year's Eve


Cream with Caramel is on coffee

So you know what I am going to talk about here. It is Omisoka, New Year's Eve. I did some work, cleaned my family's car and took my mom and her sister Akiko to shopping. For shopping, we went to LaLaport Koshien. As we had guessed, there were many people and cars. But they have a huge parking space, we found an empty one easily.

While we were looking for our space in the parking area, Akiko said "oh there is a foreigner". Yes it is very unusual to find foreign people here. They are a family, husband is Japanese, wife is that lady (looked like Russian or East-European) and their two kids. Suddenly my brain automatically imagined the future. If Louana and I live here for about 10 years, we will be like that.

My family's car, Estima is very high-tech. I like it very much. For example, at the parking of LaLaport, we found a small space to park. I set the car at the right place and went backward ( this is how Japanese people often park ). When you go backward in Estima, it shows you a video so that you can know how close you are to the wall or a car next to you. I perfectly parked in a crowded parking space. I was proud of that.

We first went to a bookstore because Akiko was looking for a book about Buddhism, and me NLP books. I found one of the books I wanted and bought it. Otehrs I looked for and one Akiko did were not in their stock, so I'll amazon them later.

My mother and Akiko went to grocery shopping, so I went to a cafe to work on translation. I found a cafe near where I was. I went in. I could have gone to Starbucks but it s located at the center of the whole building. I was certain there would be many people which makes it very tough for me to concentrate on my traslation work. They have a good coffee with caramelled-cream, so I took one. What I need to do in this work is make sure the first part and the second part are consistent with each other since they are translated by two different people. One of them is Mr. Yamasaki. Yeah he is not an expert of English so that is understandable there are errors in his translation. Another part is translated by Japanese lady who teachs English in Japan. She scored 990/990 in TOEIC. What surprised me is there are several errors in her translation too. She might be busy or tired when she was working on it but the quality was not really high. First of all, Japanese sentences she wrote are hard enough to understand for Japanese readers, I felt. It looks like I will have to corect it a lot although I am not getting anything from this but trust from Mr. Yamasaki , that lady and Prof. Uechi. Well, that should be worth it.

Speaking of TOEIC, I have not found its advantage so far. Sure, it is a very well-known English test in Japan. But only that. Well, whom are you talking English to? Their website says it is taken in about 60 countries, but I have not found any foreigners who have taken that yet. There are some who have taken TOEFL, but not TOEIC. How mysterious.

Ok, I am going to enjoy the last hours of 2006.

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Homepge making 2


Drivers' range at night

Lastnight, because of the huge amount of to-dos from homepage making, I was working until 1 with my dad. After that, I had another thing need to be done, so I was doing that. I realized the time was almost 3am. My brain had two things; "oh this is too late, go to bed soon!" and "Louana will be home soon". At that moment, my skype made a sound. She was there. She was alone home, so we had a really fun talk together. She was talking to me , eating sushi. I guessed right where she bought it. That is a store we together went three times in Eindhoven.

I went to bed around 4am, yeah very undaily life-cycle. I just say "because it is around New Year's Day".

My mother yelled and I woke up at 10 this morning. She wanted to ask me if I can give my grandma a ride to somewhere. But she could ask me later too. Yeah, sometimes my mom does a weird thing, but that is forgivable.

With sleepy eyes, I got a cup of coffee and ready to work on homepaging. It went really well. We have come halfway.

Then my dad wants to buy a new laptop. He wants a lighter and smaller one with the same quality as the one he has, Let's Note W5. There is Let's Note R5 which will be the most appropriate for his request. I checked and compared the specks and prices. R5 doesn't have a CD/DWD player inside so you have to attach it. There is a good online store who sells R5 at the cheapest price according to kakaku.com ( website you can compare prices) . That online store are off till 4th January, so we decided to wait and see New Year Sales if they sell cheaper than that. And also I can ask about R5 there. So I am going to have a new PC soon!!

What I am happy about this the most is it will allow me to work on translation outside home. Let's Note has a very powerful battery and is very light. I have worked on translation with my dad's Let's Note at Starbucks, I enjoyed it a lot.

My mom was cleaning house all day, so I helped her. I put my iPod on my ear listening to Dutch for Dummies and cleaning washstand. I almost didn't understand what they said completely but felt a slight improvement in my Dutch language ability. In cleaning, what I enjoy is discover things. I found 2 two tubes of facewash and one block of mirrorwiper, several tubes that are halfused.

The washstand became to look clean, my dad and I went to a drivers' range because he is going to golf tomorrow with Mayumi, Minoru and Akihiro. Thanks to my golf-lessons, I hit really well today. When I walked to my hitting space, I remembered the lesson from baseball. "Do it with 80% of your power. If you do it with 100%, you will lose your stability." that was an interesting experience. When I was a little league kid, I was a pitcher. I found out that 80%-throw was faster than 100%-throw. I don't know why this words came to my mind tonight, but I just followed. Yeah this will be something I should tell myself next time I golf too.

I'm finished with "Words that Change Minds" tonight, it was a quick-read. Thanks to Prof. Pellom McDaniels in Emory University, my reading speed became faster. But I think there are a lot to be improved in my reading. For example, Prof. McDaniels reads a lot and writes a lot, then utilizes a lot in his life. He has what he calls "burning question" , that I say "very compelling outcome" which makes him go ( read, write, speak or all things he does ) . I think that is why he remembers and uses a lot from his readings.
For this reading "Words that Change Minds" it was ok with a general understanding because it was for translation. But when it comes to a reading for myself, things are different. If I want to find a clear answer, I need to have a clear question before I read.

Tomorrow, it will be the last day of 2006. Time flies.

Friday, December 29, 2006

Homepage making


POLO sox from Akiko, my aunt

It has been really cold here. I have checked the temperture in Osaka, the highest 6 and the lowest 1. Yeah, understandable. Basically through New Year's Days, I have several things need to be done. But what needs to be done quickly is the publishing. Yesterday Mr. Yamasaki called me and told me he wanted to change some of pictures I put in there. The pictures and charts I made in there are picture-centered and casual. He and a bookeditor want the book to be more business-use, so those pictureish pages need to be more character-centered and formal. I already found 10 pages that I think too pictureish from the whole book. I'll need to change them to meet their target.

While working, the housebell rang. Hiromasa went to see the door, there was Akiko, my aunt. She bought us a pair of sox. This is today's picture. The one I got was POLO, should be a nice and warm feeling when I wear them. It is nice to give and receive presents.

In the afternoon, my parents came home from Rurikei. They told me there were plenty of snow. So they were very scared because at the first moment my dad drove a car, it slid. I can easily imagine that since in front of our cottage is a steep and big slope. But anyway they are safe home that is good.

After that my dad and I were working mostly on our homepage making. It is a fun work, but takes long. Well, just go slowly, I tell myself so.

Louana is busy with her work recently. So I can't see her face. But it is always good to see her face and have a talk with her even just for a minute. When my dinner was done, she came online. That was before she went to work. I like her long hair, I asked her to keep them long. So how she looked on TV is different from how she looks for the real. She told me that even that there has been many people who talked to her about "All You Need Is Love". If she didn't wear a hat, surely more people would be talking to her. Yeah let's say it was good that she wore a hat.

While homepage making, my dad got caught up with a long conversation on the phone. So I went to the living room, my mom was watching a TV about Shinjo who was one of the most popular baseball players. He has just retired this year. He was a very funny and crazy player, coming to the field with Spiderman or Star Wars outfit. Fighters where he used to belong to had a very small number of fans before Shinjo came there but last year, most of the times their stadium was full because of him. What I felt the greatest about him is he never surrendered to criticism such as " a professional baseball player has to be gentle and formal" or "a baseball player is not a comedian" etc. He just likes fun and crazy things , and loves the fans. He took actions according to what he believed and made it: made the studim full and made Fighters the champion. Fighters have not won the championship for 25 years. You see how miracle it was. It is still unknown what he will do the next.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Metaprogram Videotaping

It was a memorial day today,,, why? Because today was the day the Japanese version of Metaprogram video was filmed for the first time! ... Yeah it is not such a big event since there are not many people who are studying it. But anyway, I am happy to help that and be there. Basically what we did is 1. Compose the script which has to include all the metaprograms we have learned at the seminar last week. 2. Show that to Prof. Uechi, and he corrects some parts. 3. Make a conversation according to the script in front of a video-camera.

The first part took longest of the three because what we say had to be clear to be categorized into each metaprogram. It is an elementary test, so that is why. You have to decide the Context which is the topic of conversation. Your Context can be "when you coach somebody" "when you choose a car" "when you teach English to kids" or etc. But if your Context is "about my work" or "about my school", that is too general. It has to be contextualized, need your motivation and need people around to some degree.

What could this be? I was thinking. I wanted pick one from a daily life so that anybody can imagine it easily. Let's take one from family. The first thing came to my mind is something with Louana. But hey, how could it be "daily" to talk to a girlfriend who lives in the Netherlands to Japanese people? Then I eneded up with the Context "when I wash dishes".

I showed the script to Prof. Uechi, then got ready. While filming my focus was on my pronounciation of words to sound clearly and making sure to say key words which people know my metaprograms from ( this is called "Influencing Language"). After that, we watched my talk. It was so funny, I was talking about "dish-wash" with really serious face. Never mind, I always like something funny.

The filming was successfully done. What I learned was reading/knowing is really not enough. I have to use what I know like I did today.

Cool guy from Endemol TV station, Paul. "Yeah, once in a while we should do this pose"

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Golf Lesson

Golf Lesson

Last night, I couldn't sleep well. So I was recalling what I did after taking a bath till getting in bed. I found out there was not much time between them. I heard before that while you are sleeping, your body temperture is getting higher. But my temperture was too high to be even higher. So I thought maybe I should get cooler. So I went out from futon and read. After about a half hour later, I found my body feeling cooler, I went to bed. I fell asleep relatively soon. It was a good discovery.

Today I went to a golf lesson. Every Wednesday I go to Techno-Land Amagasaki to take a lesson. Because the instructor took off and I was in the Netherlands, I have skipped two lessons in a row. I have not met my instructor for 3 weeks. Today I learned how to hit from bunker. I watched a video, then practiced. Though bunker shot looks different than normal shot, the theory is the same. Hit the ball with the center of the head of your golf-club. It was not so difficult.

After that, I went back to normal shot. I tend to like changes in most of the things. But in golf as a beginner, I shouldn't do that. I am still building my fundation, so I need to repeat the same thing over and over again. I keep telling that to myself while playing. My shots have been getting more consistent recently.

This is kind of an interesting behavior of mine, if I like something too much, I do it too much.
That is why I am calming myself down here.

Since my parents were out, I had to bike to Techno-Land Amagasaki. I would never do that again. There are many many plants around, puffing white and gray smokes!! I tried to keep my breath and bike fast. What made it more challenging is my bike. I lent it to my sister for a month. She used it everyday so its tires are a little down. She left them as they were. It was my first bike after long time use of her, I noticed the down tires soon. I biked hard, but it didn't go fast. When I finally escaped from smokes and got to Techno-Land Amagasaki, I was so happy.

Coffee at Veloce

After the golfing, I went to Veloce to read the Metaprogram book. I was tired from hard-biking, I couldn't concentrate on that well. Because of my hard schedule, I have not worked out recently. But health is the most important thing, I should start it from tomorrow. As Louana's boyfriend, I should have a balanced body. Yeah, I should do some exercise tomorrow.

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Mister Donut


Misdo in Tachibana

My mother is in winter vacation from today. What does this mean? I have to help her cleaning house! We did small cleaning in our house together and she was so happy that she wanted to go to a beautician. It was rainy heavily outside, so I drove her there. The beautician takes about an hour so I didn't go home, read a book "Words that Change Minds" at Mister Donut near Tachibana station. I normally don't go there because Misdo ( this is how people call Mister Donut ) allows smoking inside. I hate smoke. But today I found non-smoking seats that is a good news. I saw a sign saying if you have a cup of hot cafe au lait, you will get free-refill so I got one plus some twisted donut. Non-smoking seats are located at the corner of the store so I sat there and begun reading. Sometime you think about what you have just read, when I did it today, I found a black guy. You never know how miraclous to see black people in Tachibana. If he were near my seat, I would talk to him, though I was not sure if he spoke English.

I felt I am not a proffesional of reading. I was kind of struggling with loud chatting made by old ladies around. Professionals don't choose their environment. I felt I could do better at Starbucks. I am not saying Starbucks is better than Misdo if you want to study there. It might be because it was rainy outside so many people want to come inside, or because Tachibana has more people than where Starbucks in Carrefour has.

About an hour passed, my mother came then suddenly she went for grocery shopping at a supermarket next to. She bought a lot since she is not going to be home for 2 days from tomorrow. That made one-hour of our parking fee free. Yet we still had to pay some, then we found a pharmacy. According to a worker there, we need to buy more than 3000 yen in order to get next parking-free. Luckily we had several things to buy there since before New Year's Day we clean our house thoroughly. The purchase reached 3000 , then he handed us a parking-free. Yes, we made it! But it said "20-minute". "Why didn't he tell me that!" my mother said. Well, but that was ok, we just walked to the parking lot. In order to make the parking fee free, we looked for goods to buy for about 15 minutes. Then we received 20-minute off... What a great deal! Never mind.

I forgot to mention, today I studied Dutch as usual. I learned "Street Language" that is kind of slang. They are easy to pronounce. Tonight I said those words to Dutch girl who I talk to the most. But she didn't understand,,, So du je! After spelling those words out, she somehow understood what they meant, but she and people in her area don't use those words , she said. So I'll skip those words. I'll just focus on lessons that are also in CD. I think I'll be forth-lingual soon, like 5 years later or something. Jp, Eng, Chn and NL. What would be the next?

Monday, December 25, 2006

Getting up early to celebrate Christmas???

I had to get up early today because it is Christmas Eve.
Sounds weird huh? I had to, because of the time difference between the Netherlands and Japan. There is 8-hour of difference and Louana wanted to see me at 11pm there, meaning I had to be online at 7 am here. It is Christmas here and Eve there so I wanted to look appropriate for it, I got up a little bit earlier than that and wore a nice clothes and got my hair gelled. Because of the tight schedule after I came home, I was so sleepy and tired but it is always nice to hear her cute voice. I guess because of the internet-connection, I could see her face only for a couple of minutes through a webcam I gave her. Hope soon I can see her longer and more clearly. And hope more that I can see real her which is the best. We talked for 4 hours. Louana showed me a part of us being on TV from "All You Need Is Love". That was very fun to see her and myself on TV. Can't stop laughing. At the end of the conversation, Louana sound very sleepy because it was almost 4 am there, that was obvious. I also wanted to take a nap so we went to bed at the same time. Nice Christmas.

I woke up a half hour later and started my day. What I liked the most today was Starbucks. I went there to read a book which I am going to check the translation into Japanese. They told me the translation would be finished by the mid January, after that I would have to check if that is consistent language-wise. I got to Starbucks in Carrefour Amagasaki, and found a red ad. They had special coffees for Christmas, I got one of them, Toffee Nut Latte. I liked it a lot. At Starbucks, I was just reading and summarizing. Next I looked at my cellphone, I found the time was already 7 pm. I started to feel a bit tired so I changed the subject. From my bag, I took a book that Louana and her family gave me at surprizing my birthday party, "Dutch for Dummies". Let me see, what I remember,,, "spannnende" means "exciting". Well, I'll remember more when I see my notes. And I have to learn this weird way of pronounciation, haha


Toffee Nut Latte

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Metaprogram Seminar in Osaka by Prof Uechi The 2nd Day

The second day of Metamodel seminar in Osaka by Professor Uechi. But last night, I couldn't sleep well so I was tired a little. Before the seminar got started, I talked to several people in the room. The first person I met was a dentist from Nagoya. Yes, Nagoya! That is where Louana will work in May. After it became sure that she will work there, whenever I hear "Nagoya" my brain tells me that "That's where Louana will work".

Today over all, I talked many people, and I found three or four people from Nagoya. The seminar was fun today too. This will surely help my translation work. After the seminar, I was helping organize desks and chairs. Then the smeinar host came to me and asked me to join the video-making and other two seminars in next year. I soon returned with "Yes of course". The video is going to be used for an exam for Metamodel certificate. This will be the first one in Japan. The filming is on 28th Dec, gonna be fun I hope.

On way home, I made more sure that I'm tired today because I took a wrong train. I have never done that ( might have done once or twice but don't remember for the moment) . I am supposed to change the train at Amagasaki station to Kobe line but I didn't and arrived at Itami. This reminds me of my university years. My school is located in Sanda is beyond Itami from my house.

Threr were several people in the train and they all looked so tired. Is it something related to Christmas or Eve?

Anyway, I had a cake with my family and Minoru & Mayumi. Lastnight, I printed out all the Nengajo for Akiko, so she gave the cake to us in return. It was good.

Well, I have to get up early to celebrate Christmas with Louana. She wants to meet me after "All You Need is Love" is broadcast. How will the show be? I'm so curious.

Robert ten Brink, Louana and Me

リンク

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Metaprogram Seminar in Osaka by Prof Uechi


It was a fulfilling day. One of the things I like about NLP is Metamodel because Metamodel help you understand more about Human. I went to a seminar of Metamodel today by Professor Uechi from kansai Gaidai University. He is very smart and friendly. And what I like about him is that he is not a professor-professor who studies to study. Instead he is very practical, knows how to use things in books in your daily life. In this seminar, I found several people who are already known for things like marketing or coaching etc. I walked to them and had a talk, which was also fun.
After the seminar, Mr. Yamasaki, a professional translator, Motoyama-sensei and me were talking about publishing a Japanese version of "Words that Change Minds". This book is about , yes, Metamodel and very sophisticated. I scanned it before. I have my role here, getting excited.

Today was not only about the seminar. During the meeting, my cellphone rang. It was a short vibes, means an email's coming. After the meeting I checked it, found out it was from Louana. It was a long email about her receiving a Christmas present from me. Unfortunately I couldn't ship it to her tomorrow 24th or 25th because the delivery doesn't work on 24th. I don't like to set the day on 25th then something goes wrong , she gets it on 26th. So I set the day 23rd. Well, they are nice, punctual. I tried to order it from Amazon.com, co.jp, uk but they wouldn't ship it where Louana is. Then I tried to go from Amazon France or German but I couldn't find their English page. So I talked to her mother, Lia and younger brother Gyano. Gyano often shops online, he helped me. He told me a Dutch online store, and told what the words meant when I asked him. Successfully I ordered what Louana wanted thanks to Gyano. "Thank you Gyano, have lots of Japanese snacks I left there" Louana lost her favorite webcam when she went to London to take her job interview for AEON. But now I can see her through it. Jippie!

Friday, December 22, 2006

Country Music in Kobe


Today I woke up with a phone from Louana. She came back from a studio filiming of "All You Need is Love". The studio filming itself was a fun experience but she really wasn't happy to be there. Because I was not there with her. I am really sorry,,,
We talked a lot on the phone, we shared our real feelings with each other. That was a great conversation. A sad event, but we, true-love-couple ( that's what people say about us) can turn it into a resouce that makes our love warmer. After the conversation, I became to love her more.

Well, as you see on the title, here I write about what I did tonight. I went to a country music bar in Kobe ( actually I should say it Okamoto ) . Because one of my English teachers from my university was playing there. I met one of my friends, also from my university, Mariko in front of Starbucks and walked into the bar. It was so crowded, almost all of them are middle-aged or higher. They were really having fun, listening to a LIVE country from USA. I took a look to the stage, there Brad was playing his bass. He looked so cool, and enjoying the rythm.

Soon we got there, the band took a break so we talked to Brad. His wife was also there, enjoying the husband's music with stroking her belly inside their baby girl. They will give her a birth in January.

The break was over, he was on the stage again , with Dram and Guitar-vocal. Sometimes Brad also sings, Mariko and I liked to see his singing.

At our table, I showed her pictures from my trip to Russia and the Netherlands. It was her first time to see Louana's face, she said Louana was cute and called her "Louana-chan". Mariko thought Louana was younger, surprised to hear Louana was 26. There were too many things to tell from the trip so we enjoyed the conversation. What she liked the most should be "Sashimi" story???

If Louana wants, I can take her there and enjoy the live country music, I thought.
Well, now I got home and am getting ready for tomorrow's seminar.

Thursday, December 21, 2006

How "All You Need is Love" got started


15 Nov 06, I was at Starbucks in Carrefour Amagasaki, working on the publishing thing. Since I didn't have lunch that day, I got a cup of coffee and some bread. I sat on a chair and started reading a book and organizing ideas in my notebook. In order to make it easy to answer the phone, I put it on the table I was at. Thanks to the caffein, I was so focused on my work. It went really smooth. About an hour and half later ( that was when I started to slow down a little) my phone rang. Oops,,, I saw the number which said "unable to display". Firstly I thought it was from my home because it is always happened when I received the call from home. Secondly I thought it was from Louana from the Netherlands. I got my phone in my hand but it hung up. Soon after that, the same call rang, I made it this time.

"Moshi moshi" The person on the phone talked to me in a foreign language that I don't speak. But it sound familiar. Suddenly she asked me if I spoke English, then our conversation was on. She told me she was calling from the Netherlands. First question, my name. Second one, my girlfriend's name is Louana. Thanks to my genius brain, I answered them perfectly correctly!! Then I noticed this is about Dutch TV show "All You Need is Love". "Wait, are you working on a TV program called 'All You Need is Love'?" She, Heleen said "Yes" gladly.

I was sooooo happy, well no I would say I was so high!!!! My voice became loud that echoed in empty cafe, I didn't even notice. Heleen told me she would send me an email about the details and made me promise I would never tell this to anybody in the Netherlands. I swore that of course.

After the phone, I couldn't contain myself. I really wanted to share that feelings with somebody. Since I was talking long on the phone in English my brain was in English so I called an American professor from my university, Paul. He was so happy and excited about it, my voice became even louder, that I didn't even notice. Next, I called home, my mom picked it up. I was so happy and explaining things in Japanese with loud voice, finally I noticed 3 people were looking at me whose posture was like a soccer player after his goal. I turned my volume down and told her I would be home in 40 minutes. I needed to get a half chapter done, that is why 40 minutes. I got back to work but couldn't concentrate on that. I tried but my subconscious mind was occupied with that. Well then, I have to go home. I came home about 20 minutes after the home.

I was dancing and saying "Yossha-! ( Jippie!! or Yes! ) " many many times. I recently watched a movie called "American Dreamz" inwhere a girl expresses her feelings when she knows she is invited to the contest. She screams ,runs, jumps,,, anyway expresses her ultra happy feelings. When I saw it, I felt "Yeah I know how you feel". It was really like that.

After this, Heleen, Gyano, Louana's ex-boss and I were going to arrenge Louana's big surprise.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Sashimi


18 Dec 2006 was a tough day for me. I had to leave my girlfriend, Louana's place in the Netherlands to come home , Japan. Before the Netherlands, I went to St. Petersburg to film "All You Need Is Love" which is one of the most popular Christmas shows in the Netherlands. That was a dream trip (I'll write about it later). Then we got reunited and flew to the Netherlands. I spent about a week there and 18 Dec was the day to start our long distance relationship again. At Schiphol Airport, we were so sad. We hugged each other tightly and cried a lot. At the gate which is the last moment we had, Louana was so great. She tried to say " I'll miss you" in Japanese which is my first language and her 5th or 6th or 7th language. Instead of her try, a word came out from her mouth was "Sashimi". Our crying stopped then. We laughed a bit. That helped me :) Dank u wel!!
Correctly "I'll miss you" in Japanese is "Samishii". I told this to my mom, she really liked it. I like it too. It is getting late, I'll call it a day.