2009
Archive for September, 2009
2009
On Wednesday afternoon, our kids’ daycare called me, informing that our younger son had a slight fever. I picked him up and took him home. On Thursday, we arranged a babysitter for him as he couldn’t go to the daycare. He’d also had a bump on his butt since 2 days which my husband thought was either a diaper rush
or a small pimple. On Thursday evening, he was bleeding from that bump and was in pain – he cried in discomfort while in a sitting position. We called the nurse hotline and then the pediatrician’s office. (more…)
2009
Be The Solution
Last Sunday, I attended my very first alumni event of the graduate school I had attended between 1996-1998. The school is called Monterey Institute of International Studies(MIIS) which is a very
small, private graduate school located in Monterey, CA. It was there that I had learned to speak and write English, met my lifetime friend Mari (whose twin girls’ picture is in this post), and earned a Master’s degree in International Public Administration which qualified me to apply for a Junior Professional Officer position at the United Nations. (more…)
2009
Above The Line, Below The Line
(For those who have read my previous English post – I found my car keys!)
I was introduced to a concept “above the line, below the line” during one of the classes I attended for my coaching certification program. “The line” is a demarcation separating two types of attitudes; when you are below the line, you act, think and say things from a victim-like mentality or state of mind, and when you are above the line, you have ownership of whatever the circumstances you are in. (more…)
2009
サンノゼでの講演
先月、サンノゼのGemini Crickets of Multiples Club of Silicon Valleyという、双子かそれ以上のお子さんを持つ親が参加している会で、メンバーを対象にRedirecting Children’s Behaviorについて講演をしました。当日は70人
以上もの人が集まり、会場は大変な熱気でした。1年ほど前からToastmastersというスピーチクラブに入り、月1度ほどの割合で英語でのスピーチの練習をしてきましたが、それほど多くの聴衆の前で英語で話すのはほとんど初めての経験でかなり緊張しました。最初のうちは手元のインデックスカードを読んでいたのですが、すぐにこれではまずいと気がついたので、少し緊張を解くために歩き回ったり聴衆に質問をしたりしたところ、かなり反応がよく、冗談を言う人もいたりして場が和んできました。2時間半はあっという間にすぎ、多くの方から「とてもためになった」というフィードバックをいただくことができました。これからまた英語でも話す機会が増えると思いますが、さらに改良を重ねていきたいと思います。
2009
It Takes A Village
この言葉はもともとアフリカの格言で、It takes a village to raise a child(子育ては村中でする
もの)という意味です。ヒラリー・クリントンが同名の本を書いていますが、この名前のついた、子育てについての会議がサンディエゴで行われます。去年が第一回で、9月に行われた会議に一般参加者として出席した私は、閉会式で私が師と仰ぐSusie Waltonが締めの挨拶をしているのを聞きながら、来年は私がプレゼンターとして参加すると意を決しました。今から思うと、そこからRCB日本語コースを教えるための活動が出発したように思います。(写真は去年の基調講演をしたMax Simon)

を訪ねた際には試合を見に行ったり、ここサンディエゴのペトコ球場で生のイチローを見るのを楽しみにしていました。ここ2年ほどは球場からも足が遠ざかっていますが、遅ればせながら昨夜、今回の大記録を達成した後のイチローのインタビューを母から教えてもらった
over it relatively quickly. Of course, it depends on what it is that I’ve lost, but if they are just “things”, I can let it go. But this time, since they were the keys for both our cars (one with the remote control), I was finding it a little challenging to let go. I kept thinking back to where I could have lost them. It must have happened last Saturday evening. I returned home from work, and my husband and I went out for a movie. We first stopped by at a sushi restaurant around the corner, and then went to a movie theater located on the U.S. Naval base. My husband drove so I didn’t use my car keys except when I opened the door after the movie. 





