2010年12月30日
Review of 2010
Hi everyone,
I hope you are all enjoying the festive season. I have just been working and playing in the mountains this week. (I'm going for another walk after I finish writing this.) I really enjoy this time of year because everything is so quiet and it is easy to get things done.
Do any of you keep a diary? I don't, but I realized the other day that this blog is like a kind of diary for me. If you asked me what I was doing in March 2008, I wouldn't be able to tell you, but I can easily find out by checking the old entries. (Would you believe that this is the 398th entry on this blog?!) Anyway, with a bit of help from my old entries, here is my review of what I did in 2010.
In January, I was still working at Nanzan and getting ready for the end-of-year tests. There have been a lot of stories in the news recently about the problems that Japan faces, and about how Japanese companies are starting to recruit from overseas because Japanese graduates do not have the skills they need. Unfortunately, I think the whole system is still stuck in the "bubble" era when university was just four years of playtime before young people had to settle down to the world of work. Unless something is done about this soon, I'm afraid that many young Japanese people are simply going to find themselves unemployable.
At the end of January, I got the news that my PhD thesis had been accepted and that I could now call myself "Dr Barker." I had been working on it for more than four years, and it was an enormous relief to have it out of my life. I have never actually used the title "Dr," but it's nice to know that I can if I want to.
Sometime in January or February (I can't remember which), I went to Kyushu to meet Cameron from englishbooks.jp. I took my bike on a ferry from Osaka to Miyazaki thinking that Kyushu would be warmer than Aichi in the winter. It wasn't! Anyway, I met up with Cameron and signed a contract with his company that made a big change to my own publishing business. Actually, I am going down there again to take a load of books in a couple of weeks, but I'm going by car this time, and I'll be taking a very warm jacket!
I also went to Vietnam with students from Nanzan in February. Perhaps it was because we went at a bad time (Vietnamese New Year), but I didn't like Vietnam as much as other SE Asian countries I have been to. I don't have any particular desire to go there again.
Looking back at my blog, I realized that I actually went to Hokkaido three times in 2010 - once in April, once in July, and once in September. For some of the trips, I took the ferry from Fukui, but I also drove from Seto to Hokkaido and back again at least twice. I must have driven more than 25,000 km this year, and if you include the driving I did in the UK in the summer, it is probably more like 35,000. Whenever I go back to Hokkaido, it always feels as though I am going home. I'm not sure what is going to happen in 2011, but I think there is a strong possibility that I might move back to Hokkaido at some point in the next few years.
After I got back from Hokkaido in April, I spent a fairly hectic two months finishing the English edition of my "A-Z of Common English Errors." Even though I had quit my university job, I ended up being busier than ever for those two months. I took another holiday in Hokkaido when I had finished, though, and then I went back to the UK for the summer. Going back to Wales was great, but we had a terrible summer with rain or grey skies almost every day.
In September, Shoya Tomizawa was tragically killed in a bike accident. I'm not sure why, but that had a really big effect on me. I remember crying as I saw the news coming up on the screen that he had passed away. Anyway, he was a huge talent, and I'm sure that he will live on in the memories of bike fans for many years to come. I did not ride at Suzuka at all in 2010, and I have decided not to renew my license for next year. This is partly because racing is too expensive, but also because of the dangers. I don't want to spend any more time in hospital!
I did a presentation in Gifu in the middle of September, and then I headed off to Hokkaido again. Atually, looking back on how this year turned out, it might have been cheaper for me to just move to Hokkaido and rent a place there!
Towards the end of the year, there were three big events for me. The first was the operation that I had done on my nose. I was quite nervous about that, but it turned out not to be anywhere near as bad as I had feared. While I was in hospital, I worked out that I have had six operations under general anaesthetic in my life, which I think is more than enough for anyone!
About three weeks after I got out of hospital, I was a featured speaker at the JALT National Conference. That gave me a great chance to introduce other teachers to my books, and I'm hoping that I was able to persuade at least some people to use them next year. I won't know about that until April, though.
The final big event was my 10-day meditation course in Kyoto. I hated every minute of it at the time, but I think it was a very useful experience for me. Actually, I am still meditating for 30 minutes every morning and evening. Keeping that up will be one of my resolutions for 2011.
All in all, 2010 was a strange year for me. The pattern of my daily life changed completely because I became self-employed, and I spent almost a third of the year travelling. I genuinely have no idea how the next few years of my life will turn out, but that is a good thing because it keeps life interesting. I don't think I am cut out for a stable life and a stable job!
I know that most of you are really busy at this time of the year, but if you have time, please share some of your recollections of 2010. I will be back in January to talk about my resolutions for 2011.
Thanks for keeping the blog interesting this year, and happy new year to all of you.
Bye for now,
David
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Comments
Hi David and everyone,
Thank God I can see this blog again! Yesterday and this morning we couldn't connect to internet. I am so relieved now because I really wanted to write a thank you greeting until the year 2010 end.
I joined this blog in the middle of this year. So I miss former part of this year's blog. Wow, it's 398th entry already! Dr.Barker, I didn't know your Ph D thesis had been accepted. You spent almost a third of the year travelling. I envy your lifestyle, you live your life fully!
Here is my recollection of 2010. The biggest thing is I published my first novel in September. The next biggest thing is I joined this blog. I did several challenges; took some English tests. Former part of this year I had been worried so much about my children. But later part of this year most of their problems were solved so now my stresses are mostly reliefed. I'm glad I can start a new year with relief!
I take this opportunity and say thank you so much for your help and kindness! As I mentioned above, I joined this blog in the middle of this year and then I became kind of hooked in it! Now this blog is part of my life. What I do first thing in every morning is turn on a PC and check this site and write a comment from time to time. I'm an early bird. I try to wake up early because nobody in my family doesn't wake up yet and I can concentrate. For me writing comments in English is not easy. I love this blog very much because David gives us various interesting topics and it is very useful to learn proper English. Plus there are kind and friendly members of all walks of life. It's the best thing that learning something while enjoying it! That's why I like this blog.
I'm happy enough; having an understanding husband and wonderful children. Still since my husband is workaholic and my children aren't independent yet, my life is rather confined; I mean if possible I want to go to some foreign countries and experience other cultures and widen my horizon! If I could go back to my youth, I want to go to many foreign countries.
David, I admire your courage and activeness because you made most of your dreams come true.
You travel in and out of Japan a lot. Through this blog I can see what those places like. And thanks to you I can have the opportunity to communicate with people who spend the different life of me; that is so exciting.This blog is a window to the broader world for me! Again thank you so much for letting me join this wonderful site! I'm sorry about some of my previous inconsiderate comments. Even so you never get angry about them because you are such a generous person! Getting to know this blog was one of the best thing that happened this year!
I hope you all have a happy, wonderful year!!
See you next year.
Fumie
- Fumie
- 2010年12月30日 21:33
Hi everyone,
I've finished my role in ohsoji. I wiped up some high-positioned goods, for example roofs of furniture, light shades. I put off all window-nets from windows and cleaned. And then, I put them again.
Let's see..., I'm going to look back on this year 2010. Unfortunately I didn't get better score in TOEIC test this year. That was lower than the one on the last year. I was much disappointed by the fact. However, I had a good thing about learning English this year. I don't use English at work usually, but in some special occasions, I use English. I had two chances to go abroad on business trips. One was in Hong Kong, and the other was in Melbourne Australia. In both occasions, I was the only Japanese. I had to manage everything in English. I felt a lot of pressure. After retuning to Japan, I wrote thick reports about my business trips.
My boss confirmed my reports and said, "Those are well done."
The twice business trips gave me some confidence to some extent. That was a good thing this year.
I know, I have to improve my English skill more. I have a few more holidays from January 1st.
During winter holidays, there are few interesting TV programs except Hakone Ekiden. So, I'll study English hard.
I wish all you have Happy New Years.
See you.
- Gussan
- 2010年12月31日 15:53
Hi David
You spent a exciting year! I enjoyed your travel report every time. I hope you will travel various place and tell us its stories :-). I gain many thing from you this year. (Is it correct usage of "gain"?) Thank you very much!
Hi Tomo
Congratulations on that you have done the new PC settings. I used confusing words "home network" in previous comment to you, so I wondered I made you confused. I'm glad and relieved when I see your comment :-)
Hi everyone
2010 is nearing an end. Here is my short review of 2010.
Speaking my work. I joined new project that development of new product. That made me very busy. It was a busiest year since I was employed. But the it was exciting. I have to keep working hard next year.
The May seminar was a one of the memorable thing of the year. I had a great time at there. The members were very kind and welcoming. I learned important things to improve English skill. That was very fun.
An about year has passed since I joined here. I have enjoyed to read and write comments here everyday, thank you all!
Here is the biggest thing for me this year.
I decided to get married.
I hope you will have a Happy New Year!
良いお年を！
来年もよろしくお願いします。
trmr
- trmr
- 2010年12月31日 22:00
Hi Fumie,
Congratulations on getting your first novel published. Thanks for all your comments in 2010, and I look forward to reading lots more from you in 2011.
Hi trmr,
Congratulations! Is your fiancee the lovely lady that came to Tokyo with you? When is the wedding? Look forward to hearing more details in 2011.
- David
- 2010年12月31日 22:12
Hi David and everyone,
Looking back of 2010, the first half of the year was a bad time for me. I had a tough situation at work, and some of you remember that my saying “I am tired.” “I had a busy day.” or something like that. I used to work without protest that might make the things worse, because my company decided to do personnel reduction, and two of my staff had to leave the office. That gave me a tough time, and gradually, I started thinking of quitting my job because I didn’t think I could take it any more. As you know, it’s difficult to find a new job, and if I had got one, I wouldn’t think that I could get better pay as much as I get now. So I decided to change my way and speak out. At first, I reported about my situation to my boss and it worked and brought one of them back to my section. Secondly, I decided to take vacations, at least once a year. Also, I stopped working late every day. I followed this idea last six months. First, I took a vacation in July and went back to Okinawa, and luckily I had another one in October and visited my sister in US. I was supposed to go to Seoul in December as a company trip, but you know the situation between South Korea and North Korea. In a nutshell, we went to Kansai area, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe. It turned out to be fun, so I won’t blame!! So I would say, I had a lot of fun the last six months;-)
I don’t know what will happen to me next year, but hope I will be having a lot of fun!!
This year is drawing to a close. I hope you all laughed lots this year. My wish for you is that 2011 will be an even better year! Enjoy the holiday season.
Hi trmr,
Are you going to get married? Wow! That’s big news. Congratulations.
See you soon;-)
amo
- amo
- 2010年12月31日 22:47
Hi everyone,
The weather is moderate here in DC.
I think the new year is about to come in Japan but we have hours before the count down ceremony begins.
I took tens of millions of pictures this year. I look forward to talking with my family over the photos in 2011.
Happy new year and God bless you all.
- appoh
- 2010年12月31日 23:16
☆Happy New Year, everyone!!☆
I hope this year brings you lots and lots of happiness! :)
Hi trmr,
Happy to hear you are getting married. Congratulations and best wishes to both of you!!
Don't worry, you didn't confused me at all. The setting for the Internet was not that difficult. I was able to move my mail, my bookmarks folder, and most of the files using a transfer tool. I think I can say I'm becoming a technical genius!(lol) My new printer is still in the box, though...
My sisters and my family are getting together at my parents' place tomorrow. We are going to eat, drink, and have a lot of fun♪
Enjoy your New Year's holiday!
今年もよろしくお願いします＾＾
Tomo
- Tomo
- 2011年1月 1日 01:36
A happy new year to all:-D
The last year,I could open my "One day Cafe" two times!?
And many customers from my work had come to my cafe!
That's so excited experience for me and got a power to open my own real cafe.
＊「一日喫茶室」と言いたいのですが、my one day cafeですが良いのか、あと、 「自分の実際のカフェ」と言う、この並び順が良く解りません。。間違ってたらすみません。
Hope you all have an awesome year!
And Congratulation to you Trmr★
Good to know about the news on a new year's day!!
- Chiyo
- 2011年1月 1日 04:40
Hi everyone,
★Happy New Year!★ Best wishes for all of you!
My family and my brother's family visited my mom's house which is very near from my house and ate a lot and spent the time together, that's what we do during New Year days every year. I am afraid of getting on the scale!
Hi trmr,
You are getting married. Congratulations! I am crossing my fingers for you and your fiancee's happiness! I didn't know you are a man. I can't figure out your gender from your name, trmr, what's that stand for?
Fumie
- Fumie
- 2011年1月 2日 06:20
Hi David and everyone,
Happy new year! I wish you all good health, happiness and success in 2011♪♪♪
Looking back on 2010, I couldn't find what I'd particularly done,I spent most of the time for living! I think this blog's seminar in May would be the highlight of 2010 for me. I met so many wonderful people there, of course including David. I was a newcomer at the time, but everyone was so nice and friendly, I totally forgot that's the first time seeing everyone.Thinking about it now still makes me feel happy and warm, so I'd like to thank you everyone here again, thank you for giving me such a great opportunity, thank you for your kindness and friendliness!
Because of the seminar ,I started joining this blog and writing comments once in a while, but I am not a person with a lot of guts,I need to fight with my laziness all the time, sometimes I win, most time I lose, so this probably should be my subject in 2011-getting rid of laziness.
I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season.
- Ling
- 2011年1月 2日 11:36
Hello David and everyone,
I 've been reading and enjoying this blog for couple of years, but have hesitated to post my coment because of my poor English skill.
ここから日本語ですみません。いつもコメントしようかどうかぐずぐず迷っていたのですが、何もしないより、下手でも続けていけば、少しづつでも上達するのではないかと信じて頑張ってみます。箱根駅伝を見ていたら急に勇気が出ました（笑）間違えを恐れず出来る限り参加していきたいと思いますので、よろしくお願い致します。
I hope you all have a happy holiday.
- Ｍimi
- 2011年1月 2日 17:18
Hi all,
How are you doing? I watched "Hakone Ekiden", too. After that, we went to a shrine to pray for happiness and a healthy year, and I bought a good-luck charm for my niece who is going to take an entrance exam in February. We are going to my husband's hometown to see his sisters and their family tomorrow.
Hi Mimi,
Nice to have you with us. こちらこそ、よろしくお願いします＾＾ Look forward to reading your comments!
Hope you are all enjoying your holiday.
Tomo
- Tomo
- 2011年1月 2日 20:26
Hi Mimi,
Great to have you with us! Please don't worry about making mistakes, and please feel free to write in Japanese if you do not know how to say something in English. I'm sure lots of people will be very happy to help you :-)
- David
- 2011年1月 2日 22:32
Hi Ling,
Hi! Long time no see you ( hear your comments).
I missed you. You are not a lazy person! I remember enjoyed talking with you, so please write a comments once in a while if you want to.
Hi Mimi,
Welcome to the blog. I'm also looking forward to read your comments both English and Japanese.
Hi everyone,
My family visited the local shrine and wished for happiness, health and success for this year. After we bought good-luck charms お守り, each ones drawed paper fortunes おみくじ. They are good luck (吉） except my sis in-law (hers is excellent luck 大吉）. 吉 is good.
Fumie
- Fumie
- 2011年1月 3日 06:36
Hi everyone,
Happy new year.
Do you all have a new years resolutions?
"Be a talkative."
This is my resolution of this year.
Actually I'm not so talkative and being talkative would be better to improve my English skill, so I decided being talkative in English.
I hope this year will be a great year for everyone.
See you.
- Kazu
- 2011年1月 3日 11:48
Hi David and everyone,
Today is the last day for New Years holiday. My work will start from tomorrow.
I don't go a shirine yet, because I twisted my left foot during 大掃除. I fell from a chair.マヌケな新年のスタート！私らしいかも＾＾颯爽と初ランニングをする計画はあっさり崩れました。When I walk, my left foot is a little sore.
Hi Tomo,
I'm looking forward to talking on the blog with great members like you all.
Hi Fumie
I also would like to go to a shirine and draw a おみくじ soon.
I'm very happy because I finally dicided and made a comment.
See you :D
Mimi
- Mimi
- 2011年1月 3日 19:09
Hi mates,
I joined 10km marathon race, which was held in our community town.
I had run the same course about a month ago and thought I would run easily.
However, the marathon was very tough for me. I was about to cramping on both calves, so I couldn't put out a last spurt at the end of the race.
I don't know the exact reason, but I suppose I ran too fast at start. Usually I run alone. But today there were many runners. Competing with other runners makes me run faster than my legs strength.
Anyway I finished running for the distance.
See ya.
- Gussan
- 2011年1月 3日 20:58
Hi David and everyone,
Happy new year!
I hope you and your family will be happy!
David,
You had a lot of exiting experiences last year, hadn't you?
Please take care and tell us a lot of nice surprises this year, too!
今年も素敵なサプライズを、聴かせてください。
Everyone,
Long time no see.
How did you spend on new year holidays?
I started working today.
今年もどうぞ宜しくお願い致します。
trmr,
Congratulations on your marriage!
I hope you'll be very happy!
Green
- Green
- 2011年1月 4日 12:20
Happy New Year! I spent the holiday with my parents in Osaka and came back in Tokyo this morning. I hope you all had a nice holiday season.
Hi David,
I remember talking with you about a year ago. You had a lot of plans but didn’t really know how the coming year would actually turn out. I’m glad you had an interesting year :-) I wish you even better luck (if there is such a word) for this year.
Hi trmr,
Congratulations! I’m sure 2011 will be a wonderful year for both of you :-)
Hi Mimi,
I don’t know if you know me, but...welcome! It’s great to know someone has been reading this blog and finally jumped in and say hello.
Hi Gussan,
I see you are keeping on learning English. It’s difficult to measure improvements on tests. I think your efforts are starting to pay off.
Hi Fumie,
Congratulations on getting your novel published! Someone probably has asked long ago, but can I find information about your book somewhere?
Hi amo,
I admire you worked out the difficult problem at work and found some balance between work and life. I hope everything goes well for you this year.
Hi Ling,
It was great to meet you last year. Meeting new people isn't easy. I was glad YOU were so nice and friendly.
Hi Tomo,
You got a new PC! That’s great! When I was printing New Year’s cards, I found my printer was breaking down. I probably need to buy a new one this year :-#
It’s been years since I first met you here. Let’s keep in touch.
Bye for now.
- Lily
- 2011年1月 4日 19:23
\\//-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-\\//
（・・）Happy New Year everyone（・・）
-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:--:-:-:-:-
Hope you all had a wonderful New Year's holiday.
I visited my oldest sister's place the day before yesterday. She served us Osechi and Ozoni. I gave her children Otoshidama.
I started working again from today.
Hi Mimi,
Welcome to the blog.
I am looking forward to reading your comment from now on;-)
Hi Lily,
Happy to find your comment here:-) and thanks for your words. I want to keep a balance between work and relaxation.
I bet you had a nice and relaxing time with your family.
bye for now,
amo
- amo
- 2011年1月 4日 23:43
Hi Lily,
Thank you for your words and asked me about my novel. The title is "Pull-top Ring" プルトップリング, if you type it on amazon site you can see excerpt of it. It's a love story between American man and Japanese woman. I hope more and more success on your translation work. さらなるご活躍を祈っています。
Fumie
- Fumie
- 2011年1月 5日 05:57
Thanks Lily. Yes, let' keep in touch:)
Hi everyone,
Glad to hear you had a nice holiday. I seems like some of you are already back to work. I hope you all had a good start in 2011!
Tomo
- Tomo
- 2011年1月 5日 09:56
Hi mates,
I take a day off today, so I have a time to post my matter here.
Unfortunately I had a big mess yesterday. Our main frig broke suddenly yesterday. We hurried to an electric appliance sore and had to buy a new one. Once we wondered whether we would call a repair service, but we had used the former frig for twenty years, so we thought it came to the end of its life.
We didn’t want to compromise on choosing a model. So, we chose a favorite one. However, the store can deliver the new frig tomorrow. So, I had to make an emergency cold stock box. We have the other frig in our house. I use it for storing Japanese sakes. I made the other frig empty. And then, we moved some food to the other frig after we returned to our home.
We prepared some packs of refrigerant and put them in a cooler box with some food. It was a completely unexpected expenditure. It cost me a lot. Poor me.(;o;)
See ya,
- Gussan
- 2011年1月 5日 13:03
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- 2011年4月27日 19:30
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- Evita Smetana
- 2011年5月23日 22:00
Hi David and everyone,
Guess what I'm writing this comment on? Yes, my brand new laptop! I haven't finished everything yet, but I managed to set up for the Internet, and I realized how slow my computer was!
Anyway, I just wanted to say "Hi" to everyone from my new computer.
amo - My husband is working today, too. His holiday will start tomorrow and end on January 3rd. I guess it's the same as yours. Have a happy holiday!
See you soon,
Tomo