We set out on foot for the first temple we wanted to go to, Wat Chiang Man. Since all three of us were thirsty, especially me, we… Read more “Studying in Thailand — Episode 5”
Category: Inside Out
The category of “Inside Out” could be replaced by “Miscellaneous.” These posts are about anything that I have encountered in my daily life, be it a thought, memory or emotion that comes to me, an experience that has given me pause for reflection or simply made me feel good. In other words, they are a random set of notes about my inner and outer life and the interactions between the two. Putting them out there for the world to see is part of a personally enjoyable and satisfying process of teasing, out of my own randomness, patterns that I can make good use of.
Studying in Thailand — Episode 4
Since I had a plan to go sightseeing with my friends, I got up early this morning. I’ve been having cereal for breakfast as much as possible,… Read more “Studying in Thailand — Episode 4”
Studying in Thailand — Episode 3
Since I woke up early again this morning I thought it would be a good idea to do a little shopping, including buying something that will help… Read more “Studying in Thailand — Episode 3”
Studying in Thailand — Episode 2
The mattress on my dormitory bed is so hard that I’m finding it difficult to sleep. I woke up at 5:00 this morning. Feeling a little hungry,… Read more “Studying in Thailand — Episode 2”
Studying in Thailand — Episode 1
Hirotaka Ushiba’s first diary entry, writing about his five months in Thailand.
“Game Over” for Katakana Pronunciation
Sitting in a Tokyo coffee shop, I heard a boy of six or so look up from the phone he was using and tell his parents “Game… Read more ““Game Over” for Katakana Pronunciation”
Feeling good about immaturity
It feels good to be generous of my time with students, trying to help them academically, to nurture their self-confidence and to know them as people, a… Read more “Feeling good about immaturity”
Thank you Naho!
A beautiful card from Rika’s niece, Naho, who is studying art at Musashino Art University…
May 26th 2017 66th Birthday!
Friday. Very tired after the previous wekend at the ICLEI conference in Viet Nam. Rika, with two classes in Tokyo today, made an appointment for me to have a foot massage in Kamakura. No other plan. We met up after the massage and decided to have a celebratory something or other in a well-known cake shop near Kamakura Station.
It felt nice to be told that John Lennon and Yoko Ono had once sat in the same seats. (Or at least the same corner — maybe the seats have been changed)
And you will have to imagine the mango parfait and cheese cake we had with our coffees, because we didn’t think to take photos of them.
Later, on the spur of the moment we decided to go for an early French dinner at a little place called Chez Aki.
Thank you Rika and thank you dear friends and relatives for your warm birthday wishes!
Deluded: the New Field of Future Etymology
The other day I was talking to an old friend who shares my interest in word roots. I wondered aloud if we could think of the word “deluded”, which has its origins in the Latin verb ludere meaning “to play,” as meaning “having the playfulness taken out of us.” In other words, is the core meaning of “deluded” that we are in a confused and self-deceptive state when we have lost our sense of playfulness — we are taking ourselves (or “things”) too seriously.