Review 8

Even more work came in. What a month this has been! Now very much confused as to which clients I still have to send invoices for what work.

*

聞き役に徹した。同じ話題と質問が数分ごとに出てくるので、同じ答えを繰り返さないといけなかったけど、ま、よかった。ほんの２時間ほどだったが、会うまで心配していたことが大部分解消された。

書き忘れたが、23日の土曜日に何気なく左のポケットに手を入れると、そこにあるはずのアパートのキーがない。血の気が引いた。前日宿泊したホテルの部屋で硬貨を床にばらまいてしまった。その時にキーもいっしょに落ちたのかもしれない。半信半疑で電話してみると、「かぎのお届け物があります」。京都から戻って、慌てて取りに行った。

*

Big nightmare again this morning. Unable to get out of bed until afternoon.

My Chinese (Non-) Proficiency and Review 7

「東北菜館」では、日本語はもちろん英語も役に立たない。何とも危なっかしい中国語で注文するしかない。しかし、そのおかげで店の人たちには覚えてもらえたらしい。数日前は「回鍋肉」をまた頼んだ。いつもあんまり辛いので「唐辛子抜き」にしてもらった。ただ、今日の夕食は失敗。「有没有麺？……這個一個」。「牛肉？」「Yes, but 我不要黄瓜」と言って写真付きメニューで見つけた麺には「冷麺」と書かれていた。実は「東北菜館」は隣の韓国レストランとひとつ屋根の下で、調理場は共有していると思われる。持って帰って食べてみた「冷麺」は朝鮮半島の「ネンミョン」だった。かなり期待したけど、キムチが発酵しすぎているのか、酸味がきつすぎて途中であきらめた。丸９年近く経ってから、ようやく中国語で会話しようとする余裕がでてきたのだろうか？

*

窓が開いて顔の覗かせたのは、洗濯物を取り込もうとしていた母親だった。かぶっていたベトナム兵帽子を振って合図すると、目が合って気が付いたようだった。入口へ回って、ピンポンするとドアは開かず、そのすぐ横の台所の窓が開いた。てっきりわかっているものと思っていたが、誰が来たのかわかっていない様子。名を名乗ってようやくわかってもらえた。１週間ヒゲを剃ってなかったので、そのせいもあるだろうが、６年と８カ月も会わないと、こういうことが発生してしまう。

「あんた、ちょっと肥えたか？」「背ぇも伸びたか？」

"Tachigire Senko"

枝雀さんが泣きながら聞いていたという師匠米朝の「たちぎれ線香」。これは聞いてみなあかん。

"White House Years"

I went over 200 pages of Henry Kissinger’s “White House Years,” which has more than 1400 pages. More than anything else, I’m interested to learn the Geneva Accord process that led to the withdrawal of US forces from Vietnam but failed to conclude the war.

So, What Shall I Do to Have Big Sound Sleep? & Review 6

I worked a lot today. But… Air conditioning doesn’t work. Beer doesn’t work. Book reading doesn’t work. Map reading doesn’t work. Earplugs don’t work. Saying good night in four languages doesn’t work. Epilim lost its credibility long ago. What else should I try to put myself to sleep?

Yet again, here I am, unable to sleep. No, I did sleep. Yesterday, I was in “mid level” sleep probably from 8 am to 1 pm, dreaming and talking aloud. Hoping to have better sleep and feeling quite tired from work, I went to bed before 10 pm. It seemed I had nice sleep until 11:30 pm.

*

東梅田のホテルから京都に電話してみた。「今から行きます」と伝えるために。No answer. 阪急梅田駅から、もう一度電話してみた。やっぱり、応答なし。日曜日にどこへ行ってるんやろと思いながら、そのまま京都へ向うことにした。阪急梅田駅で発車時にかかる音楽はそのままだった。阪急四条河原町から京阪四条へと歩いて墨染まで行って、そこからまた歩くといく道順もあったけど、大きな理由なく阪急烏丸で下車した。そこから地下鉄四条へと乗り換えて、竹田まで行った。

しかし、竹田駅から国道24号線への道をすっかり忘れている。駅前にいた若いカップルに聞いても知らないと言う。また駅に戻って駅員にたずねた。

アパートまでかなりの距離を歩いた。ピンポンしても、ドアをノックしてもやはり応答なし。体調が悪くて補聴器を外して眠っていたら方法があらへんなぁ。仕方なく近所を20分ほど歩いた。アパートの玄関とは反対側にある駐車場側へ行くと、窓が開いた。

Nothing Works after a Lot of Work

I worked a lot today. But… Air conditioning doesn’t work. Beer doesn’t work. Book reading doesn’t work. Map reading doesn’t work. Earplugs don’t work. Saying good night in four languages doesn’t work. Epilim lost its credibility long ago. What else should I try to put myself to sleep?

*

Those Filipino guys I worked with many years ago in Taiwan and people in Saigon, or in Vietnam generally, would say “same same” when they needed to say the word once. Do they belong to the same “same same” cultural/linguistic sphere? If so, where is the boundary of this sphere?

Review 5, Nightmare Series & Contemporary Vietnam

On Friday (23th), from Higashi-Umeda, I walked to Umeda subway station, a short and familiar distance, and went on to Namba. The view of Namba was pretty much changed with a large commercial complex up at the former site of Osaka Stadium. On an upper floor, there was a “gallery” for the memories of the Nankai Hawks. The display was new, different from what I saw in a few online photos. Cheap gallery. Not much to talk about it. A big disappointment. Eventually, the place will be gone.

Back from Umeda in the late afternoon, I met a friend from my client company who was transferred from Tokyo and whom I had met in Singapore twice. We had a nice time together walking around the area.

*

The way I sleep, or don’t sleep, is terrible again for the past few days. Series of vivid nightmares. Old jobs and old bosses. All from images from the past. Exhausted when I get out of bed. What is this? Awake or asleep, never feel relaxed.

*

I finished “Shadows and Wind” by Robert Templer. As the author writes, the majority of books about Vietnam have talked about the war and very little about the contemporary aspects of the country. I say this book is the best among those I have read, English or Japanese. Regrettably, it has been ten years since “Shadows and Wind” was published. Although I only spend about a month in Sai Gon, from what I witnessed there, things have further changed and the society seemed to me much more open.

Kofuku-jitsugen To

次回総選挙で注目なのは、「幸福実現党」だな。公明党との比較や政教分離論争の活発化を望む。

"Chin-chin" or "Kin-kin"?

「天才伝説　横山やすし」（小林信彦）で、ビールがよく冷えた様を「ちんちん」と言っているが、それは誤り。凍るほど冷えているのは「きんきん」で、「ちんちん」は手に持てないほど熱い様子をいう。ま、そんなことを抜きにすると、この本は背筋を寒くさせるような緊張を覚えさせた。

*

けさの夢。また会社を復活させようとする人たちといっしょにいて、自分はそれに流されるか、他の流れに任すか、それとも自立するかを迫られていた。夢には営業のハギノ部長が登場した。もう「英会話学校」時代のことはカンベンしてほしい。ハギノ部長にヨシザワ常務にナカガワ副社長。コヤマ社長。教育をネタにただただカネを儲けようとした人たち。そして破綻した会社。利潤追求が倫理を滅ぼす。

Funny Japanese Abbraviations

数日前に、「空からオタマと小魚……」という新聞見出しがあった。小魚との組み合わせから、調理道具の「オタマ」だと思った。「おたまじゃくし」を「オタマ」と略し、インフルエンザを「インフル」と略す。腑に落ちん。

*

最近、寝言が多いと思う。エアコンをかけないと暑くて眠れず、タイマーをオンにすると切れた時に眼が覚め、起きるまでオンのままにすると体がだるい。寝言は寝苦しさが原因で出現する悪夢の結果だと思っている。気にいらん。

*

ベトナム全土とホーチミン市の地図を買ってきた。

Review 4

At the small front desk of the hotel, I tried my credit card only to find it rejected. The chip part of my old card, near its expiry date, was obviously damaged perhaps because of tropical humidity. I told the man at the desk that I had tried two ATMs and failed to withdraw cash. He instructed me to try a credit card ATM located at “Loft” to do “cashing.” I walked to the machine to get some cash.

The hotel was small but looked decent enough. I found a couple going up in the elevator when I entered. After I checked out, I realized that people must be using the hotel as a “love hotel” as there was a free flow of pornography on TV in the room. How innocent I am. It was quite ok with me as I didn’t expect any fancy service. I only needed a roof above me.

The next morning, I moved to another hotel by taxi. The hotel was in Higashi-Umeda area, somewhere that I am familiar with. And this particular hotel was where I was when the Big One hit Kobe in 1995.

One thing that I think changed from the time I was there was that an upfront payment was required at those hotels. I had never been asked to pay first before then. Payment was always at check out.

Because, at the hotel in Higashi-Umeda, it was still too early for checking in, I left my luggage there and went out.

*

三沢光晴が死んでしまった……。

Review 3

On May 22 (Fri.), they concluded their training. During this training, I refreshed my knowledge and learned a lot more. Best of all, everyday’s lunch and dinner were superb. Moreover, totally unexpectedly I got another chance to visit my own country.

*

Upon the end of the training, saying good bye and thanks to everybody, I took a taxi to Tokyo Station to move on to Osaka by Shinkansen. A can of beer and an “eki-ben” en route, the train arrived at Shin-Osaka after 9:00 pm. The public toilet at the station smelt well… like a public toilet! So pissy! From Shin-Osaka to Osaka. I walked a bit around the station and tried to withdraw cash from two ATMs, each of a different bank and failed to do so. I didn’t know why but anyway with the little cash I had in my wallet, I took another taxi to the hotel near “Loft” where I had reserved a room.

Review Suspended

I have been unable to continue, let alone elaborate, a review of my work in Japan. This afternoon, I did interpretation-on-the-phone with Tokyo, and I have three translation works going almost in parallel. It seems I have finished/secured an enough amount of work so that I can survive the next few months.

*

The Vietnamese movie, “The Scent of Green Papaya” was filmed entirely in France, Robert Templer’s “Shadows and Wind: a View of Modern Vietnam” tells me.