お出かけの色々（雨の中で）

今日は入国管理局に行って、「再入国許可」というものを申しこんできました。日本人ではない場合、日本を出てまた入りたければ必要な許可です。今まで管理局でかなり待たされることが多かったのですが、申し込む人がいなければすぐ終わるものですね。それにしても、入国管理局の方々は、常に外国人を相手にして仕事をしていますので、面白い職場でしょうか。申し込みが済んだら、札幌駅でそばを食べて帰りました。あ、速読の教科書を本屋さんで見てみましたが、翻訳業とは、逆にそんなに早く読めば、ミスを起こしそうなので、買うのをやめました。代わりに、日本語の小説を買うことにしました。読書も仕事での効率を上げる練習です！

Today I went to the Immigration Office and applied for a "Reentry Permit." This is a permit you must have if you are a non-Japanese leaving Japan and you want to come back. Up until today I have usually had a really long wait there, but apparently if there is no one else applying for permits, the application process is over in a flash. But you know, when you think about it, the people at the Immigration Office are constantly working with foreigners... it must be an interesting place to work. Anyhow, after I finished applying, I went to Sapporo Station, had soba, and came home. Oh, I also looked at some textbooks on speed reading, but you know, in the translation business, I feel like if you read that fast you are more likely to just make mistakes, so I decided not to buy any.  I bought a new novel in Japanese instead.  Reading novels is great practice for increasing efficiency at work!!

ホッとしました！新しい保育園は大ヒット！

蓮は新しい保育園が好きですって！とてもホッとしました！気に入れてくれるかどうかは行ってみないと分からないもんですから。一日に2回散歩するようですし、そこのおもちゃが気に入れたようです。新しいお友達の名前はまだ言えていませんが、近いうちにまたいろいろな、「なになに君が変な歌を歌った」や、「今日はなになにちゃんが泣いたよ」など、前の保育園に行っていた時のように報告が始まると思います！楽しみ、楽しみ！


So, Ren says that he likes his new daycare! I'm so relieved! I wasn't sure if he was going to like it or not untill he actually started going. They go on walks two times a day, and he seems to be pretty happy about the toys that they have there. He still hasn't remembered the names of his new pals there, but I'm sure we'll be getting his little reports again just like we did when he was going to the old daycare --- "so-and-so sang a weird song," or, "so-and-so cried today".... I can't wait!

新しい保育園… どきどき！

今日、蓮ぼうは新しい保育園に行きました！いつもより一時間起きて、ちゃんとう時間通り準備完了！先生が車で玄関まで向かいに来てくれるのって、かなり便利！妻がそのあと、仕事に出かけましたが、準備などはいつもよりかなりゆっくりで余裕もってできたみたいでした。。。今、うちの蓮ぼうは何して遊んでいるのかな？

Renbo went to his new daycare today! He successfully got up an hour earlier than normal and was ready in time to go! One of the daycare workers comes right to our door to pick him up and drive him there... it is SO awesome! My wife had to go to work after that, but she was able to take her time getting ready for work in peace & quiet... I wonder what kind of fun Renbo is having now...

ナゲットですか？

息子と二人で、お出かけ中。本当はお蕎麦屋さんに行きたいけど、お金あまり使いたくないからマックによってみます。そこで、アイス食べたいアイス食べたいと言い張っている息子に、「ちゃんとうしたものを食べなきゃいけないから、チキンナゲットとか食べてからにしないといけないよ」と変に拘っている自分がかなり矛盾している、情けない父だなあ、と。そんなに拘るなら、チキンナゲットじゃなくて、蕎麦がいいんだ、蕎麦が、と考えながらナゲットとアイスを買うためにレジに近づく自分。。。

I was out with my son the other day. I was in the mood for soba noodles, but I also didn't want to spend so much money, so I decided to stop by McDonalds instead. My son was very adamant about getting ice cream there, but I caught myself saying, "You have to eat a real meal before you can have ice cream. You know, like some chicken nuggets or something." It was an extreme moment of horrible parenting, that's for sure. If I was so concerned about health, why were we in a McDonalds instead of the soba shop?! That was what was going through my mind as I walked up to the register to buy an ice cream and an order of chicken nuggets for my boy...

芸術いっぱいの一日！

昨日息子の蓮（れん）を４つの展覧会に連れっていきました！（一つは時間間違えて、もう終わっていましがが）書道、現代絵画、子供たちが作った絵。。。盛りだくさんでした！セントラルにも行って絵具やペンなど、色々見てきました。アイスもたべて、センベイももらいました！

Yesterday I took my son Ren to 4 art exhibits! (One was closed though because we got the time wrong.) Calligraphy, modern painting, kid's drawings... We got to see so much cool stuff! Then we went to Central and looked at paint and pens and stuff. We ate ice cream and Renbo got some sembe (rice) crackers!