Our winter vacation has started

It is Saturday today, so for us it is a usual weekend. However unfortunately Yuki's tennis school is off because of New Year Vacation in Japan.
After we had usual breakfast, and vacuumed the rooms which we do once a week, and prepared for a new year's day, and visiting Tokyo. We are going to TOKYO on January 2.

 

 

This afternoon, we are going to a butcher to get a special meat. We have a familiar butcher whose owner is in his 70's. They also take their winter vacation, though most of supermarkets and convenience stores are oven during New Year's vacation,  so we buy some special meat for our winter vacation there.

 

Then  we have no plans. We will spend at home lazily. --- it might be a usual style for our retirement life. --- It is a problem, isn't it?



It is the seocnd day of Yuki's winter vacation.

Yesterday when we came back home in the evening, this big bag was in the entrance.
The gardener we have him trimmed the garden every year, came and put it.
We really thank to him, anyway struggling with it is Yuki's job.

 

In the morning, he went getting his hair cut, and went buying some gadget to a home center.

He started to organize the garden, (Of course I also helped him taking off withered grass and leaves.)

He paved the back yard with the wooden chips, and fixed next boxes in the garden.

 

 

 

Today's his job is finished.

He will indulge on watching DVD?

In 2 hour my last class of this year will start.

 

Starting tomorrow our winter vacation will start.

 



 

Winter vacation has started

Since today Yuki's winter vacation has started.
He has 11-day holidays.
It is a kind of practice for our coming retirement life.
This vacation, our younger daughter's family doesn't come back to Japan.
Probably our elder daughter (she came back from America after 8-month staying there) comes to stay with us for a few days. So most of the days two of us spend together all the day.

Today it was the first day.
After our breakfast and morning chores, we went out to do some errands, including shopping.
Then we saw this movie.
Did you see it?

This movie has been a big topic around us. He is a big fan of  The Beatles, not familiar Queen.
I'm not either, but one of my friends was a big fan of Queen, so I didn't know why the reason but I knew their songs .
When Queen came to Japan, I was a junior high school student.
I don't remember how I listen to their music. Probably the friend bought some their records, and I might borrow them. But as long as I can remember, my father didn't let me use his recorder to listen to such a "Rock" record. He used to say "this recorder and speakers are for classic music.".
Additionally, later he became a big fan of Simon& Garfunkel. His audio seemed to be for folk music.

The movie was good for me, and for Yuki it was not so bad.
It means, we were not so impressed like other people around us.
However it was a good day for us to see the same movie together.

Do you have a dream?

I know it sounds good to hear someone say "I have a dream".
However nowadays for the young (only in Japan) having a dream seems to be difficult.
Because (according to an article), the gap between the rich and the poor is widening. And it is difficult to conquer the gap with their personal efforts. So they want their conservative lifestyle, though I think it is one of dreams.

On the other hand some people are getting tired from seeking their dreams.
It means we tend to be fixed on the idea (we have to have a dream).
The other day I read a book, the author says "I've got finally free from the idea of having a dream", and finally I live freely without seeking what my dream is when I'm in my 60's".

Keeping a dream (for example, Yuki wants to take part in a senior golf tournaments) make the elderly young, or worn away
Or being free from pursuing something seriously make the elderly spontaneous or lazy.

What do you think of it?

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!
For us, it is a usual day. Yuki went to Tokyo on business, and after work he is going to visit her mother. It is a nice Christmas day for her.

In the morning two ladies came and hold a laughter yoga party.
We didn't have lunch together, because their husbands were waiting for them.
However we chatted, laughed, a little bit danced, and share presents.
A lady went to COSTO and lots of "buns". So we shared. I got lots of vegetables, so we shared. The other lady gave us a nice sweet.

Since I started this laughter yoga meeting at home, two years have passed.
This time a regular lady couldn't not come. Now she is struggling with arrhythmia.
Anyway I hold the last laughter yoga meeting of this year.
It was nice , it was fun.

And my Christmas has finished.
So from now, I will change the decoration into New Year.
I know I'm hasty.

This is a suitable issue.

I sometimes see articles about  this issue, but didn't show much interest. Now it is a suitable issue for us.
"Should elderly people continue working after they reach retirement age?"

As of now Yuki decides to retire when his 60th birthday comes. And probably he won't work.
To be specific, he won't work at the same company.
Currently, the elderly work  around until around  early 60's
And our government recommends them to work longer, because of the scarcity of labor in the face of statistics.

However how long the elderly work, and where they work is a different matter.
Working  longer may be good for the elderly, they can keep their motivation to live, they can spend retirement lives as adequately as they think they can.

And our government has organized to extend the retirement age.
However workplaces don't seem to adapt to the change, especially those with white-collars workers.

The number of management positions is limited. And most companies  want to have younger managers to keep positive motivation. It means senior managers must retire, or be demoted.
I think after being demoted it might be difficult to keep motivation to work there for some seniors.
Or sometimes they are considered burden for the company.


So whether elderly people continue working depends on the situation.
Or they have to find a suitable place where they are needed.
However, it is really difficult to find a new workplace with their backgrounds especially white-collar workers.

So if they are not well-banded with their family life, they should start their new life not pursuing their established career.
And at new place , it depends on themselves whether they work, play, do volunteer, or do nothing.

The more difficult they let go their career,  the older they become.
Additionally this phrase is applicable to men.
Considering women, "we" (including me" seem to be good at adapting to new situations disregarding age

Though today it is Christmas Eve --

Though today it is Christmas Eve, for us it is a usual day. Additionally the gym is closed, so I couldn't go to the gym. However instead of going there I did "walking" about 6000 steps in the morning.

Our Christmas cerebration was yesterday.
As I wrote about the morning on my blog yesterday, we did usual Sunday chores and went out with these rice balls.

 

At first we went to a big electric shop and next went to a sports wear shop.

Of course they were having a sale, he bought three new sports pants. One is for golf, one is for tennis, and the other is for relaxing at home instead of pajamas.

These days he is looking for neat home cloths which make me satisfied.

 

Then we went to a art museum.

An acquaintance who I sometimes see at Karaku, hold her small exhibition at a small meeting room at the art museum.

 

 

We walked in the small forest in the art museum, and had rice balls.

Then we dropped by Karaku cafe and had a nice coffee.

 

 

We came back around four.

Then I started to cook chicken, it was not a whole chicken, but for me it was very big to cook.

 

In one and half hour later, the chicken was done!
We had a good Christmas dinner.

How are you celebrating your Christmas?

Sorry for my late reply

Let me say some excuses.
Just now I noticed I got some comments.
The other day, I said the same thing. I'm sorry for my reply to your comments.
And I thought I had fixed the setting of comments on this blog.
However, it didn't seem to work.
And now I fixed the setting again.
I hope I can get any comments except spams from this blog.

Today, it is Sunday. We are going out to buy Yuki's daily and sports outfits.
Today's breakfast was "sweet".

The last holiday of Emperor's birthday in December

 

This weekend, on our calendar, we have a three-day weekend. Because on Sunday it is a holiday of Emperor's birthday. Christmas day is not a holiday in Japan, but thanks to Emperor's birthday holiday many people enjoy Christmas or pre-Christmas well.

 

Next spring the current Emperor is going to step down. We have 10-day holiday in spring. However we have no holiday in December. The year after next year Emperor's birthday falls on February 23th .

 

hospital cost in this month

Probably this month our hospital cost will be about 12000 yen.
Why? you might ask. If you are Japanese and in our generation, I'm very surprised how you are healthy.
And if you are not Japanese, you wonder why you pay so much money to hospital including clinics.
It depends on your health insurance and hospital situation.
It means we don't buy over-the-counter drug, and as of now we don't take any supplements.

I go to see a doctor and get some Japanese Kampo to keep my condition. I usually take two kinds of Kampo and anti-allergic drug.
They cost 6000 yean a month including consultations fee.
The conversation the doctor and I made us laugh.
He said to me not "what's wrong?", "What's up?" (are you fine?).
I went to see a doctor not to cure something wrong.

Yuki and I also go to see a dentist once or twice a month  to cure (Yuki's case) a gum disease, and (my case) prevent it from occurring. They cost over 2000 yen.

Yuki goes to skin clinic to prevent his skin problem from his age and allergy from being progressed, though he doesn't take steroid drug.
It costs about 2000 yen.

And I take manipulative treatment covered with my health insurance once a week. The monthly cost is about 2000 yen.

Is our hospital cost too high?
Or do you think it can't be helped to keep our condition in good?

I've prepared!

The other day I noticed, this month the day of my volunteer reading at the library is the day when the library is closed.
And the good news is that some people want to show my Christmas collection.
So suddenly I decided to hold an open-home day. It is tomorrow.
I've just prepared!

 

It is a good opportunity, to make my house open.

It is one of my aim in our retirement life. I want this home to be easy place where people drop by and have a tea break with chatting.

 

 



coin saving

Last Sunday morning, I read this article, of course it is in Japanese.



The woman in this article is a popular writer who is her 70's.
I knew she published a new book and I wanted to read it immediately.
I almost pushed the Amazon button..
However , I said to myself  "wait, wait, wait".
"We" (Yuki and I)  have decided  not to buy books more as much as we can.
And we also learnt we can check whether the book we want to read is in the library or not on the net.
I thought that it is the latest book, so it wouldn't be in the library, yet  and additionally if it would be in the library, I would have to book it because many people are interested in it.

Anyway I checked the Internet.
As you guess, "lucky me!".
There are three public libraries in my city.(The other two libraries have a copy of the book, but both of them were taken out.)

I haven't done  any Sunday chores yet  but in 15 minutes I left home for  the library.






I came back home before 10, and did usual Sunday chores. At night I read it.
I also checked the price of the book at Amazon. A used book was on the net at 900 yen.
So I was able to save 900 yen. Then I put 900 yen into my coin saving box.

Recently Yuki and I started to save coins little by little, or conservatively.
Considering our retirement life, we need to reduce our living cost. So we started to save such coins making believe..
Regarding the book, it is about communication between a 91 year-old mother and her 71 year-old single daughter who abruptly  started to live together.
The reason to start together is not nursing care. It was a simple problem of their housing situation. Though Yuki didn't read it, he shows  interest  because the behavior of the 91 year-old lady is similar to his mother. Nowadays we have one thing in common to talk about. It is our mothers. We often talk about  how we communicate with our mothers without quarreling.

Christmas week has started

In a week Christmas holidays will come, and in a two week winter vacation will come, and in 10 month Yuki's daily life will not be depend on a calendar.

Oops, go back to the main story.
This week I have Christmas lessons, like making fake Christmas candy wreathes, and making paper crafts.

 

 

 

Tomorrow, it was going to be the day of volunteer reading at the library.

But I had forgotten that the library was closed. I didn't check the library calendar, and not only me, other members didn't.

 

So I decided to hold open-house this Thursday. I hope some people come to see my English books.

 

our winter cleaning is finished.

Today Yuki took a day-off, so he worked as an internship at Mieko's house company.
Now all the windows in my house has been cleaned. So most of winter chores are finished.
The things which are left are like that;
Yuki has to write New year cards.
I have my car washed somewhere. (I don't like washing the car myself)

Anyway to recognize our efforts ( does it make sense?) we went to Karaku to have lunch instead of making a toast.

 

From  the evening I have lessons. Yuki will out to attend a year-end party .

For a while each of us spend lazy .

a new watch

I sometimes use a watch, though many ladies use their cell phones instead of watches.
However, I use it just sometimes.
Last month I noticed that my two watches were out of batteries. Neither is  wind-up or solar.
So I  took them to a home center nearby. They said that it takes two weeks, because they would send them to a factory? or a clock shop.
It would be troublesome for me to find another shop which can change batteries there and then immediately. So I ordered to have the batteries changed.
However I realized  that in one week I need a watch.
So I bought one through the Internet. As you guess, it came the next day.

It costs the same as the fee of changing batteries.

Anyway now I have three watches.
One is a fancy watch but it has a small face with small numbers. ( For my aged eyes it is difficult for me to check the time immediately.)
Another the other one  has a big face with large numbers. It is very convenient. But the band is white, so it easy to see it's kid of old.
And the new one has a middle sized face with middle sized numbers. I like the orange band.

These are good excuses why I have three watches.
However, I wonder if all  three watches would be out of batteries at the same time
What do you think of it?

chaning tires

At last snow season has started, though here in Utsunomiya we don' have snow yet.
And since this Saturday all car shops have been very crowded  because many people started to change the tires of their cars at once.
We already did two weeks ago, saying more correctly we had the tires changed at a car shop.
Who changed the tires in your family?

When we were in our 20's, we did (including me).
And probably three years ago, we gave up. ( it was many years ago that I gave up.)
Usually when we had the first snow, Yuki would changed  the tires of his car, and a few days later after that he also changed the tires of my car. However currently we have the tires changed at a car shop or a tire shop. It costs2160 yen a car.

This year, he had changed the tires of his car at a tire shop.
And

we thought it would have been more expensive to change the tires at a car dealer (which means an official carmaker's shop). however it was wrong.
I bought my car at an official carmaker's shop, it the first time to contact with such a dealer.
I asked how much it was. It cost the same, though it is necessary to book the date.
So I drove there and had changed the tires.
While I was waiting the work, some cups of coffee served for free.

 

I was very satisfied. Because I was waiting at a nice room with  good coffee.

 



It was a very luxurious time.

What kinds of things do you drink or take when you catch a cold?

Suddenly last Friday night  I had a headache, and a slight fever. I know the reason, the two lessons before then, all students were coughing.
And as I expected,  I got bad.
Saturday morning I thought that I would go to see a doctor, but I didn't.
I took this drinks.
Do you know that, one is , yes, my homemade YUZU citrus and honey. The other is, German herb liquor. It was the first try for me.
Have you ever tried it? It tastes good.

And the Saturday evening we (Yuki helped a little) made a big noodle pot.

Anyway I got better, so this Sunday afternoon, I was able to go to this concert.

 

Today it is the day for KARAKU. I'll perform a 30 minute Christmas concert.

Tea bath

This is jasmine tea bath.
As you know most Japanese people like to soak in a bath.
It is one way how to use expired things.
I put the rest of bags of jasmine tea which were expired away into the bath.

I sometimes put some leaves of laurel, fig and loquat which are in my garden.

season word 1206 mistletoe

I'm really surprised to see this article.
Because, "mistletoe" is not so familiar yet (I think) in Japan. so it makes me surprised that the word of mistletoe was chosen as a season word.

 

 

 

Of course I know the song, but does the Christmas tree means mistletoe?

 

Anyway for me mistletoe is not familiar.

Thanks to this article, I learnt about mistletoe.

I bought some fresh branches of mistletoe, it will be delivered in a week.

 

 

If you have some your story about mistletoe, I'd liked you to share them to me.

the half of winter cleaning is finished

I don't know who and how you clean the windows in your house.
Anyway it is our (probably most general Japanese people) chores, and in this season many people struggle to do it as the hardest chore of winter cleaning.
These years Yuki and I  did a  scheduled day all windows at once, and probably you can guess, we always had some pain on our shoulders, back  or twist. This year though it is getting better, my left shoulder still hurts, so I decided not to depend on Yuki, to clean windows a little by little by myself.

Well, the windows on the first floor was cleaned.
The rest was the ones on the second floor. And my role is to clean the windows of my bed room.

With cleaning the windows, I managed to discard 10 things of each room.
 Now, I'm really satisfied with myself. It is almost 10:30 in the morning.
From now, I'll go out to get a massage.

some tricks of conversation between a couple

Though it is Japanese, I found an interesting article on the paper.

 

Nowadays Yuki and I talk and talk a lot about our retirement life, mainly our financial situation.

Last Saturday we had a meeting with a financial planer.  It was the second time, and thanks to him, we understood (probably) our financial situation including pensions and tax system in our retirement  life.

 

Without the meeting  we would have talked about our financial situation. However probably it would have been end in collusively.

 

(I used "subjunctive mood", does it make sense?)

 

Well, let's go back to the article.

According to the article, to keep good conversation with a couple (not only senior one), there are some tricks. However probably they are useful for Japanese couples.

 

You should not make such assumptions.

1. Without expressing your feeling or what you think, the other should understand you.

2. It is all right to express everything what you want to say.

3, Each way of thinking and concept of values should be  the same.

4  Understanding the other means giving way. ( I didn't use the word of compromise, compromising is

5, Men should be men and women should be women.

 

Probably for us, the most difficult point is No.4

What do you thing of it?

 

 

PLaying with herb

Last year I gave my homemade herb tea as a Christmas present or a New Year's present.  It seemed that my friends looked happy. So this year I also made my ordinal herb tea with lavender, and lemon grass.

 

To tell the truth, herb is kinds of luxury nowadays. However the origin is just grass.

So I grow some herb in my garden which survives, and as a leisure, I pick some organic herb in some farmer's garden. Luckily, here in Utsunomiya, some farmers are interested in growing herb.

 

On the other hand, I like using aroma oil. And nowadays, Yuki also likes it.

So as the present to him, I bought this gadget at a popular aroma shop, and I blended special oil for eliminating cigar smoke, and preventing from catching a cold. It looks cool, however it doesn't work well for eliminating cigar smoke.

 

Anyway making herb tea, and blending oil, made me fun!

calm Sunday

Yuki has gone to play golf since early morning.

In the afternoon, I'll attend  a Toast Master meeting .

This weekend I checked stock foods in the shelf.  Some things were almost expired.

 

So I baked bread with hard flour.

 

I baked homemade cottage chees cake with my yogurt, and fresh YUZU citrus instead of lemon.





 

 

 

 

And I also cooked pre-cooked dishes for this week. 

 

 

 

December has come.

This week I'll have individual parents' interviews of my students.