Christmas Tree

[Walking and finding "the tree" at Chip's plantation on the first weekend of December]今年もエコ人、チップさんの敷地でクリスマス・ツリーを探しました。子供達は残念ながら車でお昼寝。

[Decorating the tree with the girls]家に戻り、テメスゲンがサッカーの練習に行っている間、女性群3名で飾りつけ。自然の木なので、ちょっとひ弱だけど、これも愛嬌で乗り越えましょう。

[Next morning, I found a Misha's note on the bottom of the tree - Misha, we don't even have an iPOD!]この数ヶ月、いろんな事を書き連ねるようになったミーシャより、翌日サンタへの手紙（催促）を発見！ただの「ゲーム」だと、絶対我が家には来ないことを承知してか、「学習ゲーム」になっている。最近、私のニュー・パソコン調達のため、よく電気屋さんに行ってたので、新しいものをいろいろ見たのだろう。こんな催促も成長の証かな。

Nutcracker くるみ割り人形

[Annual Nutcracker Ballet at Auburn University Theater-all local dancers except for one professional couples (pictured in center)]クリスマス恒例のバレエ「くるみ割り人形」。去年はテメスゲンと2人で鑑賞したけど、今年は我が家女性群3名、そして友人宅女性群2名で鑑賞。今回は最前列の席。歌のうまい人や、バレエ・ダンサーを見ると、同じ細胞、臓器をもった人間なのに、同じ人間の体を使ってこんな事ができるのか、と畏敬と不思議さがごちゃ混ぜになる。才能だけではなく、日頃の練習の賜物なんだろうな。

[Girls pose during the break]そしてこれは、休憩中に撮った子供達のポーズ。オーバーンのくるみ割り人形は、一組の招待ダンサーを除いて、衣装から何から地元ダンサーとボランティアで構成されている。一流バレエ団の洗練された技術を見るのも一案だけど、自分の知っている人達が舞台に立って、すごいことをやっているのを見る、というのも子供達にとって大事かなと思う。お友達のお譲ちゃんも最近バレエを始めて、3人できゃあきゃあ言いながらも、舞台の真似をしていた。こうやって、子供達の持つ関心を、横から支え、伸ばしていけたらな、と思う。 ちなみに、バレエ関連映画。ナタリー・ポートマンの「Black Swan」はバレエというより、心理映画だと思うけど、中国人ダンサーの自伝「Mao's Last Dancer」は、バレエだけでなく、中国の近代史（特に文化革命）も絡んで、なかなか面白かった。中国に関心のある方、ぜひどうぞ。

ボストン（続編）

3日目朝に体調を崩したボストン出張。胃腸系の症状が出ない事（食中毒ではない事）を確認した上、朝11時ごろに目眩の薬を飲み、目眩が治まったので、さっとシャワーを浴び、午後1時からのセミナーには出席することができました。歯内療法の講義があって、這ってでも聴講したかったので、ほっ。上の写真は、セミナー会場のすぐ横、コップリー・プラザにある教会。そして左がボストン図書館です。中の芸術作品は前回のボストン投稿に載せましたが、勉強する場所は緑のランプがあって、何回も言うようだけど、ハリー・ポッターの世界です（写真下）。

こんな所で勉強できるなんで、ボストン市民は幸せだなー。 前投稿で載せたボストンのフリーダム・トレイル（アメリカ、自由・独立への道で重要な歴史建築物を歩く）で思った事は、南部と北部の違い。「南部はまだ南北戦争を生きている」と言われてるけど、ボストンの古いお墓（1680年）には、白人男女だけではなく、アフリカ系黒人（奴隷）のお墓も同じ敷地内に区別無く収められていた。料金は白人男女が10シリングで、黒人が7シリングと、多少の差はあるものの、これは南部の歴史では考えられないこと。そして、アラバマの移民法（結果的に連邦政府の仲介が入ったので、大部分は却下）を聞いていると、その考えは今も根強くあるんだな、と思う。オーバーンでの生活に不自由はないし、幸せだと思うけど、娘達は将来、北に出さねば、と思った瞬間でした。

Quote of the Day: Immortality

[Coco and Nanash] "If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons." - James Thurber (1894-1961)

JFK: Quote of the Day

"A man does what he must - in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obsctacles and dangers and pressures - and that is the basis of all human morality." - President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)

Caught Off Guard

I caught off guard this morning by sudden dizziness. I woke up around 6am (EST), went to the gym in the hotel, and realized I was sweating on the stationary bike, which was supposed to be my warm-up, only after 5 minutes into it. Then I realized I was having cold sweat, sat on the couch for 5-10 minutes, and staggered back to my room. Did I eat too much last night? Is this food poisoning? Many questions quickly went through my mind. Yet no GI symptoms appeared except for mild nausea, which could be just secondary to dizziness. I so much wanted to attend today's seminars! After realizing this could be another episode of Menier Syndrome, I asked my student to go to CVS and get Meclizine, which worked like a charm. I was able to stand and walk again after 30 minutes. After a quick shower, I was able to attend the afternoon seminars - thank goodness! At Halloween at the fellowship, I visited a "fortune teller" booth. I was told that emotion makes decision for me, and I tend to do a lot more than I can handle. And I tend to lose balance because of this. But since I am "strong" (not sure if emotionally or physically), I finish them anyways. I need to take care of myself, not to lose balance. So I guess that is what happened this time. The funny part is: I am strong per fortune teller. I rarely call in sick for sure, but am I really strong!?! Spending all morning in bed today was NOT fun. Fighting with dizziness all morning was NOT fun. What triggered it this time (last episode was January 2001)? Keeping my fingers crossed for not having dizziness tomorrow morning.....

Boston

I have been slacking with blogging for the last few months.... shame on me! As a holiday season approaches (what happened to 2011? Why is it going so fast?), I hope my work volume will decrease a bit and I can make some time to record what has been happening, including Misha's 6th birthday in September. But anyways, I am in Boston to attend the annual dental conference. Fall serves Boston very well - changes of colors of leaves are just so beautiful with background of old brick houses.

Although schedule is usually quite tight during the conference, we (I am with a senior studentt) found time this morning to do Freedom Trail. Freedom Trail is a self walking tour of 19 historical sites in Boston, including Boston Common, Site of Boston Massacre, and Paul Revere house. The picture above is also one of them, Granary Burying Ground. Spooky even after the Halloween! But if you walk closely, you will see tombs of famous people from 1600s and 1700s, such as Samuel Adams (not a bottle of beer!), John Hankock, Paul Revera, etc. It is quite neat to be able to feel that history was made right here. I never learned American History well, and I look forward to learning more with the Girls in the coming years.

And lastly, we visited Boston Public Library. This was almost a museum itself. Look at this gorgeous wall! Lucky Bostonians - it is like studying at Hogwarts in Harry Potter. For the next 3 days, I will be sitting from 8am to 6pm every day to learn dentistry (yeah! and sigh at the same time...). I hope I learn lots of useful information that I can apply to my daily work. Enjoy the fall, everyone! I am sure Kyoto looks beautiful now, too. It is about time to visit my home country.