Calendar

It's time for Christmas. I send some Christmas cards and exchange gifts at this time of the year.

A German friend of mine I used to go to university with sends me gifts every year. I studied at a UK university ten years ago. This calendar is handmade! The photos were taken and the dates were written by her. The photos remind me of beautiful places in southeast England and happy and hard days as a student.

I read "Katte saito: Senkusha ga akasu keitai bijinesu no shin kijiku" by Junya Ishino.

Overnight stay in Kagoshima

I went back to Kagoshima on Friday to attend a function and meet some friends.

It took roughly 7 hours to travel from Shizuoka to Kagoshima: one hour from home to Shizuoka Station; one hour and a half from Shizuoka to Shinagawa; one hour from Shinagawa to Haneda; two hours from Haneda to Kagoshima; and one hour and a half from Kagoshima Airport to downtown Kagoshima. I NEED Shizuoka Airport.

This is a souvenir, Kagoshima Romance, Baumkuchen enveloped in chocolate. It's good.

Last week, I read "Web ga tsukuru atarashii kyodo" by Hajime Maruta and the Japanese version of "The blended learning book: Best practices, proven methodologies, and lessons learned" by Josh Bersin.

Nagoya

I went to Nagoya to administer an entrance examination on Friday, 2 November. The previous night, Chunichi Dragons won the Japan Series. Many stores started victory sales and were crowed with people. In front of the hotel I was staying at was Nana-chan in uniform with a sash which said "Congratulations! Japan's Champion, Chunichi Dragons!"

For more information about Nana-chan (who is 34), visit her official site.

I read "iphone: shogeki no business model" by Yushi Okajima and "Shigoto ryoku" by Asahi Shimbun last week.