Happy New Year! 明けましておめでとう！

Hello everyone, just wanted to write a short note to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone and let you know what we've been up to lately.
I've been in Osaka living in the company dormitory for the training period at work, which lasts three months. The first month was studying about the company's history, policies, various laws etc, the second month was working in the factory which makes the products which I will be selling, and the third month was working in a small Panasonic shop, basically a local electrician. I've come back to Nagano for the New Year holidays, which last from Dec. 27-Jan.4, and then Yuki and Yul will be moving to Osaka the weekend of January 10th. My department and location has been finalized, and I know I will be working in Osaka at least for now. The company has some very nice apartments in a quiet, suburban area, but the type of room we like is all full right now, so we've rented an apartment near the office to live in until a room opens up.
I was only able to see Yuki and Yul about once a month, and was surprised every time at how much Yul had changed, especially this time. When I last saw him in November, he didn't do anything by himself: he would laugh or reach for something if you put it in front of his face, but he wouldn't look for toys on his own. Now he looks around to see what toys (or remote controls, or cellphones) are nearby, and then pulls himself towards them. He hasn't quite figured out crawling yet though; he can lift himself up on his hands and knees, but always ends up just sliding backwards. I'm sure he'll have it all figured out soon.
We'll be having a nice, quiet New Years here in Nagano with Yuki's family, we wish everyone a safe and happy New Year's Eve and a great 2009!

Paul

We'll finally be moving to Osaka after the new year; I'm really excited and worried at the same time. I went to Osaka in November to look at apartments, the only time I've been in my life. It's a five-hour drive from my hometown in Nagano- so far...Although I have a few acquaintances who live there, I don't have any relatives or anyone in Osaka, so sometimes I worry about what we will do if we need help sometime.
But I'm looking forward to it, and know we're all going to do our best for Yul!

Yuki

久しぶりデス！みなさんメリークリスマスそして明けましておめでとう☆
１０月からパナソニックに入社したので、ポールは一足先に大阪に行って会社の寮に住んでいました。最初の一ヶ月は本社で会社の歴史と理念や法律などについて勉強しました。２ヶ月目は自分の扱う商品の工場へ行き、最後の一ヶ月は小さい町の電気屋さんで研修しました。今は年末年始に長野に戻ってきています。１月９日から由紀も悠流も大阪に引っ越してきます。社宅のの一番希望のタイプの部屋は今いっぱいなのでそのタイプの部屋が空くまで会社の近くのマンションに住むことにしました。
この３ヶ月間、由紀と悠流に月一回ぐらいしか会えなくて、毎回悠流の進化にびっくりしました。１１月に最後に会ったときは自発的には何もしなかったけど今は自分の周りのおもちゃをチェックして取りにいきます。まだハイハイはできないけれど、後ろには何故か進みます。今一番のお気に入りはテレビのリモコンです。

ポール

年明けからとうとう大阪に引っ越すことが決まって、楽しみだけど同時に不安でもあります。この前住む所を探しに生まれて始めて大阪に行きました。実家の長野からは車で５時間！！遠い、、、。大阪には親戚も誰もいなのいので何かあったときにはどうしたらいいんだろう、とか考えちゃいます。知り合いは少しいるけど、、、。
これから大変だろうけど悠流のためにも頑張らねば！！と思っています。

ゆき

Goodbye Granny

My grandmother died yesterday peacefully at home. She had been having heart trouble for about ten years, but I didn't expect that she would go so soon. Yuki and I both feel very bad that we never got a chance to introduce her to her great-grandson.
It felt strange at the time, but now I'm glad that I took this video at Easter this year, my last with her.

New Job 新しい仕事

I left Nagano last week to start work at Panasonic in Osaka. It was tough to leave, as I'll be living in a dormitory away from Yuki and Yul for probably about three months, only being able to go back maybe one weekend in a month.
My first day was on Wednesday, the same day that Panasonic changed its company and brand name in Japan. While it has always been known as Panasonic around the world, the company's name since it was founded 90 years was actually Matsushita Electric Industrial Company, and most of its products were sold under the brand name National. The President of the company gave an address that was broadcast live at all Panasonic offices in Japan and recorded and broadcast with subtitles in all the international offices. It is a very emotional time for all of the employees, because the Matsushita and National names were so well respected and have been around for so long, but they are also excited about being united with their international partners under a single name.
On Wednesday afternoon, the new employees' welcoming ceremony was held. Japanese companies generally hire mostly new graduates, and they all start April 1st. Panasonic usually has about 2000 new employees start April 1st, but on October 1st there were only thirteen. The October cohort is made up mostly of people who went to foreign universities that end at times that make it inconvenient to start in April. The ceremony was made up of the thirteen new employees, as well as about two hundred others who had started between April and September, mostly mid-career entrants. I was chosen to make a short speech on behalf of all the new employees, and was therefore assigned to sit in the front row, directly beside the president. I wasn't nervous about the speech, but sitting beside the boss of 300,000 people on my first day of work made me feel a bit nervous, but everything went well.
For the first two weeks, all of the new employees are together at the head office for a general training period, where we have been learning about the company's history, way of doing business, employee programs, etc. After October 16th, we will separate and go to visit and work at various factories and shops as well as taking more training within our specific companies and departments. Finally, at the end of December, I will start my actual job. I don't really have much idea what I will be doing at this point. All I know is that I will be working in Sales and Marketing at the largest of the Panasonic companies, Panasonic AVC Networks, which makes mostly audio-visual equipment and cameras.
So far we have learned a lot about where the company has been and where it's going, and a lot about the way each employee is expected to behave and produce, and it's all very exciting. I'm eager to start actual work and help produce results.
Paul

10月1日にパナソニックで勤める初日でした。長野を出て、3ヶ月ごろは大阪の寮に住むことになってる。由紀と悠流から離れて、本当に悲しいけど一生懸命頑張りたいと思う。10月1日は会社にとっても大きいな日でした。長い歴史を持つ松下電器の社名とナショナルのブランドをやめて、全てがパナソニックになりました。そんな大きいな日ですので、社長が社員の前で話してくれた。生放送で全国のパナソニック社員が観てて、字幕付き録画で全世界の社員も観ました。ですが、僕はその話の時に社長から10メーターぐらい離れた所で見ました。
その午後、入社式がありました。僕は新入社員の代表としてスピーチすることになったので、一番前の席に座っていた。そのすぐ隣に社長が座っていたので少し緊張したうまくいきましたし少しだけ社長と直接話すことが出来ました。何十年働いてもそんなことは二度とないかも知れないことに感動しました。
年末までは本社で教育を受けてるから実際の仕事の内容はまだわからないですが一応、パナソニックグループの一番大きい会社、パナソニックAVCネットワークス社で営業・マーケティングをすることになります。場所は大阪だと思うけど変わる可能性はあります。今は会社の歴史や考え方について勉強していて、非常に面白いです。松下幸之助の名前はカナダなどで全く知られてないけど日本では松下電器と別に関係ない人でもよく知ってて尊敬するのであんな人が作った会社で働けることはすごく嬉しいです。「会社が公器」という考え方で働くとお金ばかり考えないで本当に社会をよくする商品を作るように頑張って、仕事は楽しく出来ると思います。
本当の仕事が始まる頃にすごく楽しみにしています。
ポール

Yul Update ユウルあっぷでーと

A month has passed already since Yul's Omiyamairi and our last post, and so much has changed. His neck has been getting continuously stronger, and he's now able to hold his head up by himself for a long period of time. While last month he always wanted to be held sideways, he now only wants to do that when it's time to sleep. Other times he likes to sit upright on someone's lap or leaning against something. He's also just started to use his hands for something other than waving aimlessly around, trying to grab his toys or our hands and faces. The other big change has been his voice. He now laughs a lot and lets out very strange, high-pitched screeches that sound like a strange bird. A short video is attached at the top, although being two weeks old already, it doesn't show a lot of these new actions. You can see the translation of the lyrics to the song by going to the video's page on youtube and clicking more info.
お宮参りに行った日記からあっという間に一ヶ月経ちました。悠流は毎日すくすく育っています。最近は首の力がついてきて、首が据わるのもあとちょっと　という感じ。前はずーっと寝転がっていたけど、首が強くなってきたおかげで、ソファーや誰かの膝の上になら、支えがあれば座れるようになりました。まだ首はグラグラして安定はしてないけど、、、。寝てるより、座っているほうが好きみたいです。目もよく見えるようになってきたみたいで、人の顔を見ると、ニコニコします。テンションの高いときには、誰かが話しかけたりすると、ものすごい高い声で叫ぶようになりました。なんかの動物の鳴き声みたい。表情が出てきたので、ますます可愛くなってきました。。。

Omiyamairi/お宮参り

Yesterday we took Yul to Fukashi Shrine in Matsumoto (built 1339) for his Omiyamairi. Literally meaning "a visit to a shrine", Omiyamairi is a Shinto ritual similar to the Christian baptism ceremony. It occurs when the baby is about one month old. They wear a special white clothes for the ceremony, and have a special kimono draped over them. As Yul's grandmother held him, the priest presented the news of the birth to the guardian spirit of the shrine, and offered thanks. He then asked the spirit to protect Yul and keep him healthy. He blessed some sake for us, and at the end of the ceremony we put some on Yul's cheek and each took a sip.
On the same day, we went to a photo studio and took pictures with Yul in the special kimono. At various times it was difficult to get him to look towards the camera, stop crying, or wake up. We were at the studio for over three hours, and over an hour at the shrine, which made for a very long day of carrying Yul and sweating through the thirty plus degree weather when outside.
I hope you enjoy the video of the ceremony. Don't worry about understanding what he's saying. Even Japanese people don't understand everything that he says, and all I really caught was parts about asking spirits for protection, and when he called out Yuki and my names and our address.
１２日に松本市にある深志神社にお宮参りに行きました。すごく暑かったし、神社に行く前に３時間以上写真館で記念撮影をしていたとのでとても疲れました。悠流は頑張っていたけどなかなかカメラに向かないし、泣くことや寝ることも多かったです。日本に来てから神社に何回か観光として行ったことはあるけど、今度は初めて中に入って、式に参加しました。キリスト教の洗礼と結構似ていたけど、一番違ったのは神主が全てのことをするところです。洗礼だと、親や他に参加してる人も祈ったり、赤ちゃんを守るように神様の前で誓います。悠流の初めての長い外出ということもあって、とても楽しかったです。

One month old/１ヶ月になった

In some ways it's hard to believe that it's already been a month living with Yul. The time has flown by so fast, and we definitely have not had much time to ourselves in the last month. On the other hand, we're so used to having him around now, and it feels so natural to be a family of three rather than two, that it seems like he has been around for longer.
It's definitely been interesting, and we've been through so many phases already that I can't even imagine what is in store in the future. He was in the hospital for the first week. He stayed in the nursery for three days or so while Yuki recovered from the operation. After that, he stayed in the room with her. Although I've been told he wasn't always that way, he seemed very quiet when I was there visiting. He would be awake, but just look around quietly, and he slept well at night. He was mostly like that his first week at home as well, but the third week brought changes, as he seemed to learn how to cry for extended periods of time. There were some nights that he did not sleep at all, and for days at a time would only sleep while being held. And being held by a sitting person was often not sufficient, either. He would usually be quiet, or even sleep, while we carried him around the house, but would start crying as soon as we put him down, or sat down. He was like that on and off for a couple of weeks, and we we started to worry about various things, wondering if he was crying in pain or if any of the vatrious spots we noticed were something bad, but were completely reassured at his first doctor's check-up, when we were told that everything was fine. He had gained almost two pounds in three weeks and a bit since being born, which is above normal and perfectly healthy, and all the varous spots are normal baby things. The crying? Well, "crying is a baby's job".
We're back to a bit of a better routine now. Yul usually sleeps for about five hours in a row every night, which gives us a chance for some rest, and he's often content to lie in his chair-swing in the kitchen during the day. Sometimes he cries and wants to be picked up, but for the most part, we're able to eat, watch TV, and do other things in the two hours between ending one feeding and starting the next.
We took Yul to a local park today to celebrate his month birthday (one day late because yesterday was way too hot). It was only a short visit, but it was great to get out of the house and do something as a family.
P.S.-> I was writing this in the evening two days ago when Yul started to cry. He cried most of that night, and has been crying a lot the last two days. It seems like he might be back to only sleeping a couple hours at a time at night. During the day he only sleeps for thirty minutes at a time, which is tough on Yuki especially because I'm away at work and she has to do everything herself. I'm not going to go back and change the rest of the post, though, hopefully this is just a blip and he'll be back to being calm again soon.

すでに悠流が１ヶ月になったことはかなり信じられないことだ。この１ヶ月は今までの人生で一番早い１ヶ月というのは間違いないし、自分たちの時間はほとんどなかった。でもそう言っても、３人家族になったことはすごく当然であって、もうなれてきたのでこの１ヶ月は長かった気もする。
この１ヶ月はかなり面白くて、すでに色んなことがあったのでこれから何が起こるか本当に想像も出来ない。生まれてから１週間は入院していて、最初の３日間は由紀と別室で過ごし、その後はママと同室だったけど、僕が一緒にいた時は殆ど静かで部屋の中を見てたか寝てた。帰ってきてからは、最初の一週間は静かで夜もよく眠れた。でも産後３週目にそれが変わった。ある夜は全く寝なかったりして、数日間も抱っこしていないと泣き止まなかった時もあったし、抱っこするだけじゃなく、抱っこしながら歩いて回らないと泣きやまない日も多かった。２、３週間はこんな感じで、泣き止まないことと、色んな所にできていたぶつぶつで少し心配になってたが１ヶ月検診に行った時は全く心配ないと言われた。体重は１ヶ月で１キロぐらい増えたし、全体的に順調で、ぶつぶつはよくあることだと言われた。なぜ泣くのかと聞くと？泣くことは赤ちゃんの仕事だという。
今はまたいいパターンになってきた。毎晩はだいたい５時間連続で寝てくれて、夜中に一回ミルクを飲ませたらまた朝まで寝るし、昼間にはみんなのいる部屋で抱っこされなくても平気でいられることは多くなった。たまには抱っこしてほしくて泣き出す時もあるけど授乳の間の２時間に少し休むことはできている。
今日は１ヶ月の誕生日の為に近所の公園にみんなで行った。病院に行くこと以外に初めて外に出たのでとても楽しかった。
Ｐ．Ｓ．これは一昨日に書き始めたが途中で悠流が泣き出して、それからの４８時間はかなり調子悪いよう。夜は連続で３時間ぐらい寝るけど昼間は寝ても３０分で起きるし、また前みたいに抱っこされないと泣き止まないことは多い。昼間は僕は仕事に行ってるから由紀が全部一人でやらなくてはいけなく、かなりつらい。でも明日からまたいい調子になっているようにすでに書いたことは変えないでおこうと思う。

親になりました！ We're Parents!

３１時間の苦しい陣痛の後、６月７日９時１９分に帝王切開で元気な男の子産まれました！２９０２グラムでポールそっくり。名前は悠流（ゆうる）です。由紀は大変お腹痛いけど毎日少しずつ元気が戻ってきています。由紀は１０日間ぐらい入院するだろうから自分のメールアドレスを見ることはしばらくできないかも知れないので連絡はpaulandyuki@gmail.comに送ってもらうと僕の携帯に届いて、由紀にも見せます。全ての写真はこのリンク先で観れます：http://picasaweb.google.com/paulandyuki/Yul

Yuki's labour pains started at 2 am on June 6. We had watched Hotel Rwanda that night, and although it was finished around 12, it's not a movie that's very conducive to a deep sleep immediately after. We went to the hospital, and Yuki suffered through the pain and lack of sleep all day on the 6th and throughout the morning of the 7th. The baby did not seem to be ready to come out even at that point, so we decided on a Caesarean section. Yul was born on June 7 at 9:19am, weighing 6lbs. 6oz. He's doing fine, and Yuki is slowly but steadily recovering from the operation. She will likely have to stay in the hospital for about ten days, and until then we might not be at a computer much, but if you email paulandyuki@gmail.com, it will be forwarded to my phone, and I will show Yuki as well. All of the pictures we have so far can be seen at the following link: http://picasaweb.google.com/paulandyuki/Yul

マレットゴルフ Mallet Golf

天気のいい週末にマレットゴルフへ行きました。マレットゴルフと聞いて、「何それ？」と思う人も多いかと思いますが、長野県では極めてポピュラーなスポーツなのです。見た目ゲートボールのようですが決してゲートボールじゃありません。でも、ちょっとお年寄りのスポーツのイメージがありますけど…。元々、長野県が発生の地らしく、誰でも自然の中で楽しめるスポーツを作ろうということで行政が考え出したものらしいです。今回はポールがぜひチャレンジしたいということで家族で行ってみました。全員初心者です。なぜなら、マレットゴルフは老人の為のスポーツだと普通思ってるのでやる機会がありませんでした。まあ、これもいい機会だと思い皆でチャレンジしてみました。簡単そうに見えますが意外と難しいですよ。さて、一番上手かったは誰でしょう？ビデオ観て確認してください。マレットゴルフについてもっと詳しく知りたいかたはこちらから
ゆき

Since coming to Nagano, I have noticed an incredible number of mallet golf courses, and became interested, since I had never heard of mallet golf, or seen courses anywhere else in Japan. In Nagano, however, nearly every large public park has a course, and there are many stand-alone courses as well. Elderly Japanese love playing gateball, and mallet golf appears very similar at first glance, using equipment resembling that of croquet. Instead of being played on an empty field, however, mallet golf courses are much like golf courses, with hills, trees and hazards. They are often built to wind right through a wooded area, but have a limited amount of artificial barriers and obstacles built in, somewhat like miniature golf. After doing some further research, Yuki found out that it was actually invented recently in Nagano, by a government agency as a way to encourage exercise. Although I had only seen elderly people playing it, I thought it looked like fun, and wanted to give it a try. We heard about a course where it is only ￥100 ($1) to play, including mallet and ball rental, so off we went (Yuki, her mum, sister, nephew and me). It consisted of eighteen holes, and the total length was one kilometre, about 1/6 the length of a regular golf course. It is a lot more complicated than it looks; it is very hard to hit the ball straight when you put any power into it, and it is extremely difficult to give the ball the right speed on short shots. This course, seemed especially designed to frustrate, as the greens were nearly all built up high, so that unless you hit the ball perfectly, it would just roll down back towards you or down the other side. I have yet to play at any other course, though, so I do not know if that is normal, or how quickly one might be able to master the "short game". I do know that we all had a great time; it delivers more enjoyment per dollar than real golf, and I found it more enjoyable than miniature golf, since you can actually hit the ball hard.
Paul

スポーツ特集/Sports Special

日本来る前にカナダの好物ばかり食べすぎてきたので日本来てから少しいい物食べて、運動して、痩せようとしている。そんな楽しくないかも知れないけど最近やってるスポーツのビデオをアップしたのでここで紹介します。まずは甥っ子の新太君（７）と由紀の親と近くの公園で野球やった。
After gorging myself on my favourite Canadian foods before coming to Japan, I've had to start trying to lose some weight. I've been eating (a little bit) healthier and trying to get (a little) exercise. There's nothing too exciting to show, but I've uploaded some videos of me doing various healthy activities. First is playing baseball with my 7 year-old nephew Arata and Yuki's parents.

次、近所の人たちとテニスしている。由紀の家族は全員テニス得意だし、僕は参加者の中で完全に一番下手だったけど、ビデオを上手く編集したおかげで少し出来るように見える。
Next is me playing tennis with a group of local people that Yuki's parents often play with. Yuki's whole family plays tennis very well, and I was by far the worst player at the club. Thanks to video editing, however, I can appear to be somewhat competent.

最後に、由紀のお母さんをＷｉｉやってるビデオがあります。新太君がある日Ｗｉｉ持ってきて、皆楽しんでやったのでここに置いておいてくれた。本当のボウリングより楽しいので今でも皆で楽しんでＷｉｉボウリング大会やっている。
Finally, there's a short video of Yuki's mum playing bowling on Nintendo Wii. Arata brought his Wii over one day, and everyone loved it so much that he left it here for us to play with, since he only plays with his DS at home. Everyone agrees that it's much more fun than real bowling.
Paul

Foraging and Shrining 山菜と神社

Today I went with my parents-in-law and nephew, Arata, for a drive into the mountains to pick Taranome, the fruit from a plant with the English name of Aralia elata. The plant is a long, thin stalk covered in thorns, and the fruit is very popular amongst Japanese, so you have to have really good timing to get any, because they are all picked as soon as they are big enough to eat. We managed to find quite a few, though, as Yuki's parents come almost every year to pick them, and her dad is very eager to get them, and willing to climb through vines and pricklies that I'm sure many others would not be. You pull the top off, and it's very delicious as tempura, lightly breaded and fried then eaten with salt.
On the way home we stopped at a local Shinto shrine that has been designated as a national treasure, Nishinajinmeigu, that had some very large trees, some still standing, and others which had died but the trunks of which were still being preserved. I've put together some clips from the day, no editing this time, though, so bear with the shaky camera and heavy breathing into the mic!

Last Day at CTV

Friday was my last day working at CTV, after about three years.
It was a great place to work, and I'm sad to be leaving, although not enough to shed the tears that everyone was expecting me to during my speech.
Thanks to all my co-workers for the great times, let's keep in touch!
ＣＴＶという、カナダの最大私立テレビ局で金曜日まで３年ほど働いてました。ライブラリーでビデオテープ管理の仕事しながら、たくさんの友達できました。最後の日に皆でピザ食べて盛り上がりました。これからも皆仕事頑張ってください！

Curling カーリング

Last Saturday I played in the annual St. Pat's Bonspiel at Annandale in Ajax. For those of you who don't know, I love curling. I played from the age of six until 20ish, and was prety much obsessed with it during high school, practicing or playing almost every day. I haven't played very much the last few years, but I always thought that I would start playing seriously again as soon as I was finished university. With moving to Japan now, I probably won't be able to do that. There are a handful of curling clubs in Japan, but I probably won't be living close enough to any of them to play more than a couple of times a year. The St. Pat's is a really fun, not very serious bonspiel, but hopefully it gives people who do not know curling an idea of what it is. I would also like everyone to notice that the shots I throw in the video are really, really good!
６歳から２０歳ぐらいまではずっとカーリングやってて、高校時代はかなりマニアックでほとんど毎日練習か試合してた。最近はあまりしてないけど、大学終わればまた真剣にやろうとずっと思ってきたが日本に行ったら無理だと思う。たまに、軽井沢など行って出来るかも知れないけど、一年に１、２回のようだと思う。カーリングはカナダ人にも年寄りのスポーツとしてバカにされるけどすごく楽しいスポーツ。確かに、他のスポーツより力は大切じゃないけど掃くことは結構疲れます。氷上のチェスと呼ばれて、作戦がすごく大事で、すべての試合とショットが毎回ユニークなところが好き。この大会はあまり真面目な大会じゃないけど一応カーリングはどういうスポーツなのかみんな観て下さい。ちなみに、このビデオで僕のショットはチョウ強いしね！
Paul

Yuki's House

I recently visited Yuki's house in Japan for the first time. It is in the city of Azumino, in the prefecture of Nagano, which is about 300km northwest of Tokyo. Nagano is where the Winter Olympics were held in 1998, so it has quite a cool climate. I was there for 10 days, and it snowed on four or five days, although not quite at the volume that we've been getting in Toronto this year. Other parts of the prefecture located in the mountains get much more snow, and looking out from her house, there are snow-covered mountain ranges almost 360 degrees around her house. While Azumino has 100,000 people, and Matsumoto, the neighbouring city, has 200,000 people, Yuki's house is located away from the centre of either city, in a very peaceful location, with some farms and many houses in the area. Her house is very beautiful, I hope that you will be able to see that despite my shoddy camera work.
Paul