３月１９日（土曜日）２０２２

    ワクチンを３回接種済みであれば日本到着時にホテルでの強制隔離がないと知り、初めは消極的であった三度目のワクチンを急遽ボストンで受けました。友人数名のアドバイス通り接種後は水を多量に飲んだためか副反応も出ずまずは安堵。

    飛行機搭乗前に受けるPCR検査は日米ともに費用は高額ですが陰性証明なしでは飛行機に乗れないため、空港内で検査を受け４５分後に結果を受け取り無事飛行機へ。機内での乗務員はマスクとゴーグルと手袋、食事サービス時は加えて防護服姿。接触を避けるためかサービス時間も短縮している印象を受けました。乗客は常時より随分少なくゆったりと過ごせたものの飛行時間は１４時間あまり。

    到着空港や時間によって違うようですが、同機から降りた乗客が一団となって一体どこへ行くのかと思うほど空港内を歩き、それから椅子に座って順番を待つこと２時間。赤ちゃん連れの母子や家族連れにはお気の毒でしたが文句も言わずひたすら待機。やっと検疫所で数種の書類チェックとPCR再検査、スマホへのアクセスなど、通して３時間半を超え、皆ぐったり。普通ならその日の内に滋賀に帰れるところを結局東京の友人宅で一泊させてもらって翌日滋賀に帰りました。入国者数に制限がある現在の降機後の時間がこれだけかかるのですから、今後はどうなることでしょう。

    Since I knew if I had a third vaccination, I was not required to be quarantined at the hotel after arriving in Japan from Boston, I decided to get it while I was in Boston although I had a little hesitation about it before. A couple of my friends in Boston advised me to drink a lot of water after vaccination, so maybe because of that, I didn't get any serious side effects which made me relieved.

    The PCR test which we need to take before boarding is very expensive in both US and Japan, but we can not avoid it to get on board without negative proof of it, so I went to the facility to take the test and get the proof after 45 minutes waiting for the result in Logan airport. In the plane, crew members put face covering, goggles and gloves in the cabin and wore protective suits during meal service. I guessed they cut the time of serving because of trying not to contact passengers very much. Since the number of the passengers was much smaller than the flight before covid-19 epidemic, we could stay relaxed in the airplane but still the flight time between Boston and Tokyo is very long, about 14 hrs.

    The situation must be different depending on the airport and arrival time, when I arrived at Narita airport, I was put in a group along with all other passengers from the same plane. We needed to take a long walk to reach the quarantine area and waited for over two hours on the folding seat. There was a mother with a baby and a family with small children among our group, and it must have been tough for them but nobody complained about the long wait. Finally it was our turn and checked several kinds of documents, PCR test, accessing each one's smartphone for checking health condition, location, etc. and the total time was 3.5 hours. Usually I get back to my home which is in the west district of Japan within the same day of arrival but this time I was so late so I decided to ask my friend to stay over on that night and came back home the next day. Foreigners are not allowed to come to Japan but even in that situation, it takes such a long time. I wonder what it will be like from now on.
 

３月１２日（土曜日）２０２２　　　

    アメリカにはTRADER JOE'S(トレーダー・ジョーズ）というスーパーマーケットほど大きくないけど有機野菜から輸入製品、冷凍食品などほかとはちょっと違う品を揃えた人気のチェーン店があります。大抵どこの店も店員のお兄ちゃんたちの愛想がよく以前はユニフォームがアロハシャツだったのが今は季節が違うからかトレーナーになっていました。　

    この店で先日「Mochi Cake Mix」が売出し中でした。カフェで「もち粉ケーキ」を作っている私としては気になるこの商品。箱書きには「モチのような粘りのあるハワイ風のケーキ」とあり、早速購入して家で作ってみることにしました。　 

    餅粉に水と卵、それにバターを入れて３５０°Fのオーブンで５０分。書いてある通りに作ってみた結果、ほぼ写真どおりの出来栄え。試食してみると、すでに粉に砂糖が入っていてかなり甘かったのですが食感は確かにもちもちの餅ケーキ。多賀あさひやの「もち粉ケーキ」は卵は入れますがバターは使わず、水の代わりに牛乳。きび砂糖を使い、小豆餡を中に入れます。ベーキングパウダーも少し入れるのでトレ・ジョーのよりふっくらと仕上がります。　

    どちらが美味しいかって？　勿論、あさひやの「もち粉ケーキ」!! 

     There is a chain market,TRADER JOE'S ,which is not as big as a common supermarket but they sell many interesting items such as organic foods, imported products, and frozen foods, which are a little different from other markets. Shopkeepers at Trader Joe's are very friendly and they used to wear Aloha shirts but when I went to the shop the other day, they were wearing sweatshirts maybe because it is still winter season now.

    I found "Mochi Cake Mix" there and I was interested in it because I wondered how it is different from the "Mochi-ko Cake" in my cafe. "A Hawaiian inspired cake with a chewy mochi texture" was the description of the cake, so I decided to buy and make it.

    Mix Mochi cake mix and water first, and add butter and eggs, then pour into the pan. Bake 50 min. in a 350°F oven. As a result, the finished product looked almost the same as the photo on the box. Since there was much sugar already in the cake mix, it was too sweet for me but it was indeed chewy like Mochi. As for "Mochi-ko Cake" in my cafe, I use egg but not butter, and put milk instead of water. I also use light brown sugar and put red bean paste instead of white sugar. I baked a more puffy cake because I put a little baking powder. 

    Are you asking which one is good? Of course Taga Asahiya's Mochiko Cake is the best!

３月９日（水曜日）２０２２　

　家のそばの道路の反対側は人工池でその向こうには市の高校があります。留守にしていた三年の間に中高一体の新しい校舎が建てられ、新しい道も信号も増えました。その信号は押しボタン式で、押すと「Wait!（待て！）」と男性の声が出ます。押してから声が出るまで間髪入れないタイミング、しかも出てくる声が男性というのが日本の生活に馴染んでいる私には意外で、これが面白くて笑えます。他の信号は同様にWait！と言って少し置いて同じ声で「Walk sign is on to cross.（横断サインが点いてます）」というのが三回続きます。

    日本でこんな押しボタンがあるでしょうか。目の不自由な人のためにこのような音声が出るのでしょうが、日本ではどんな時も優しい女性の声。横断歩道では音楽が流れます。男性の声というのは珍しいと思うのです。気に入りました！

    Across from my house on the opposite side of the road, there is an artificial pond, and there is the Belmont city high school beyond the pond. While I was away from Boston for about three years, a new high school combined with middle school was built and new roads and traffic lights were also made. There are push button signals. The other day, I tried one of them, then I heard a male voice say, "Wait!". I heard the voice at almost the same time I pressed the button. It surprised me as someone who has been living in Japan these years because we usually hear female voices and male voices are very rare. It also made me laugh somehow. There is another type of push button signal which comes out with the same voice, wait!, then after a few seconds, I could hear "Walk sign is on to cross" three times.

    I wonder if we have this type of signal in Japan. These are for people who have problems with their eyesight and most of them are female voices. At the push button signals, we often hear electronic music or electronic bird voices. We seldom hear male voices and I like it!

３月６日（日曜日）２０２２

    これまで滞在期間が短いのを言い訳に家の中の整理をせずにいたのですが、今回は時間があり思い切って不用品を処分しています。アメリカの私がいる所は日本のように細かく分別を指示されず「リサイクルできるもの」と「リサイクルできないもの」に分けるだけです。不要家電製品などはあらかじめ役所に電話して日にちを調整し、当日は家の前へそれとわかるようにステッカーを貼って置いておくと持っていってもらえます。

    もはや出番がなくなったスーツやスカートなどは長年仕事ができたことへの感謝とともにゴミとしてごっそり出しましたが、セーターやシャツ、コートなどまだまだ活躍できそうな衣類はまとめてガソリンスタンド脇にあるRecycling Bin (リサイクル箱)に入れました。誰かの役に立てば嬉しいです。別のガソリンスタンドには同じような赤十字のリサイクル箱が置いてありました。連日映像で入ってくるウクライナから逃れ出る母子の姿が目に浮かびますが、彼らへの支援はやはり募金の方がいいのでしょう。

    I didn't clean up my house for a long time with my excuse being that my stay in the US was too short to do it, but this time since my stay is much longer than usual, I decided to remove unnecessary things. In Japan they ask us to separate the garbage by type and there are too many categories which makes me confused sometimes, but in my place in the US we need to separate only "recycle garbage" and "nonrecyclable garbage". As for household electric appliances waste, we call the city hall to set the date and put a sticker to let them know it is waste and put it in front of the house, then they will take it away.

    I packed all stuff such as suits and skirts which I wore when I was teaching at the college and do not need any longer, put them into a garbage bin, but I brought other clothing such as sweaters, shirts and coats which were still good, to the Recycle Bins which are located at the corner at a nearby gas station hoping somebody will use them. I found a similar Recycle Bin which is organized by the Red Cross at a different gas station. Everyday many video clips are coming into our eyes which show mothers and children who are escaping from Ukraine which make us feel so sad. I think the thing we can do for them is probably to donate money rather than clothing.

３月４日（金曜日）２０２２　

　米国で仕事をしていた時から仕事を離れて日本に本拠地を移した今も温かく応援してくださっている先生とご主人に中華料理のDim Sum（点心）と海鮮料理をご馳走になりました。シュウマイや透明な包みの中にプリップリッのエビが入った蒸し餃子など次々にテーブルに並べられるお皿に圧倒されている私の前で取り皿にご主人がどんどんそれらを置いてくださいます。圧巻はロブスターが生姜とネギのソースで絡めて炒めて出てきた大きなお皿でした。ボストン名物の蒸しロブスターを溶かしバターレモンで食べたのは記憶がおぼつかないほど何年も前のことで、まさかこんな立派なロブスターが中華風に目の前に出てくるとは想像もしていませんでした。中国の青菜と一緒にいただきましたが、中華を久しぶりに口にする私が勧められるままにどれほどガツガツ頂いたことか。ネバダの砂漠を何日もハイキングして帰ったばかりというお二人との話も盛り上がりましたが、お腹は超満腹。お返しなど何もできていないのが情けない限りですがお二人の優しいお心遣いに感謝の気持ちでいっぱいです。

    インディアンが作ったドリーム・キャッチャーはネバダ州からのお土産。枕元や窓辺に吊るしておくと悪い夢はネットに引っかかり良い夢だけ真ん中の穴から出てきて見られるそう。悪夢どころか地獄のような事態が現実に起きているウクライナに一刻も早く平穏な時間が戻りますように…  

    I have a friend who is an emeritus professor of the college where I used to work and both she and her husband have been warmly supporting me even after I have already left and moved to Japan. I met them with my daughter at a Chinese restaurant and we were treated to Dim Sum and Seafood dishes. While I was overwhelmed by the many kinds of dim sum such as steamed dumplings, her husband kindly put them on the small dish which was in front of me. The most surprising dish was a big plate of lobster with ginger and scallion sauce cooked in the Chinese way. When I ate steamed lobster with lemon butter sauce, it was a long time ago and I was not expecting to have such a gorgeous dish for us on this day. It came with sauteed Chinese green leaves. Since I hadn't had Authentic Chinese food recently, I ate a lot of what was offered and my stomach was full. They had just returned from Nevada where they hiked in the desert for days, so we had a good talk about their experience. It was a really wonderful lunch and I thanked them so much, but I was feeling bad because I did nothing in return. 

    They gave some gifts to me and among them was a Native American Dream Catcher. It is said that if you hang it by the window or at the head of your bed, the bad dreams get caught in the web and the good dreams work their way through the hole in the center. At this moment, unbelievable destruction which is much worse than bad dreams is happening in Ukraine. Wishing they get back to their normal peaceful days immediately.

３月１日（火曜日）２０２２

    今日は歯のクリーニングの日。しばらくぶりなのでまずはレントゲンから。次に歯石の除去。衛生士は気のいいレキシー。右上奥の歯が半年ほど前に痛かったことを告げると途中で歯医者のラピドス先生が入ってきてチェック。少し削ったみたいだったけど何ともなかったので様子をみようということになって、クリーニング続行。下から見上げるラピドス先生はこの３年間に白髪が増えたよう。院内はプレスリーが歌うような軽めのロックが流れる中、レキシーが２ヶ月半歯科医院が閉まっていたこと、再開してもCovid-19で皆ピリピリムード、患者も歯科側もものすごい体制だったことなど話してくれました。口をすすいでミント味のフロスをしてもらって完了。スッキリ感いっぱいで感謝すると、Yei!と喜んでくれました。Goodie Bag（お土産）の中身は歯ブラシ、歯磨き、フロス、リップクリーム、それに歯ブラシカバーでした。歯科の保険料が高い分応対などサービスはいいように思います。

    I had a dental appointment today. It has been almost three years since my last visit to the dentist, so I was taken for an X-ray first then moved to remove tartar. Today's hygienist was Lexi and she was very friendly. I told her that I had a toothache in my right upper rear tooth about a half year ago and Lexi seemed to have reported it to the doctor. Shortly, Dr. Lapidus came into the room and checked my teeth. It seemed that he didn't find any problem with my teeth, he said that he was going to wait until next time and see it again. Lexi worked on my tartar removal again. I thought that Dr. Lapidus had more gray hair than the last time I met three years ago. Listening to light rock music from the speakers in the ceiling, Lexi was talking to me about the clinic being closed for two and half months because of Covid-19, that everybody was so tense even after the clinic opened again, and the strict protection for Covid-19 both on the clinical and patient sides at the beginning because nobody knew what covid-19 was. I rinsed my mouth and she did peppermint floss for me, then everything was over. I felt so fresh and told her about it. Lexi said "Yay!". She gave me a Goodie Bag which contained a toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, lip cream and toothbrush cap. I think the dental service is good, maybe because we pay a high monthly insurance fee.  

２月２７日（日曜日）２０２２ 

    メイク落としはベビーオイルがいいよと友達に勧められ、それまで台所のオリーブオイルを小さな瓶に入れて使っていたのを薬局で買ったベビーオイルに替えました。費用面で安いからです。さて、今回は旅先で買おうと、ボストン到着後薬局に行って旅行用のベビーオイルの小瓶を探しました。最初の店には大きいサイズのものしかなく、次に入った店にちょうどいいのがあったので早速購入。容器が小さい分書いてある字も小さくbabyは読めるのですがほかの字は読めない、それらしいものは他になかったので買ってきて家で使っていました。コットンに含ませて使うも、いつもとはちょっと違う。国も違うしこんなものかと思いつつ、本日メガネをかけてよ〜く見たらBaby shampooと書いてありました。あぁ、またー。どうしてこうドジを繰り返すのだろう…。今回は人に迷惑を掛けなかっただけよかったのですが。

    I was recommended by my friend that baby oil is better than olive oil to remove makeup, so I went to a drug store to buy baby oil and switched to baby oil from olive oil by replacing a bottle from the kitchen with a small bottle. It was because baby oil was less expensive than olive oil. Well, this time I decided to buy baby oil in Boston rather than bringing it from Japan. The day after I arrived in Boston, I went to the pharmacy to find baby oil for travellers. There was only a bigger size at the first shop, and then at the second shop I found one in an appropriate size. The bottle was very small and the letters were also small. Although I recognized the word "Baby" I couldn't read the rest. It seemed pretty much like Baby Oil and there was no such thing on the shelf, so I purchased it. I had been using it for a couple of days as a remover of makeup with a little strange feeling about it. I thought that it was because these are products from two different countries, JPN & US. Today, I looked at the bottle with my glasses and read the small letters. It said "Baby Shampoo". I felt silly again! I didn't involve other people in my mistake, which was good, though.