First Report Card 初めての成績表

At the humble age of 4, and considering they spend their time mainly dressing up and playing mummies and daddies, it's probably not of much consequence in real terms, but we just got Mairi's first official report card from HIS. Another rite of passage crossed off the list. On a scale of 1-5 (1 being the worst) she got mostly 3s aka "satisfactory", with a couple of 2s in predictable areas, which I will not elaborate her fo the sake of her dignity, but will boast meaninglessly on her behalf, for her few 4s and her 5 for effort in music! Effort seems to have been rated higher than skill, but I'm proud of her anyway. Allow me a moment of motherly love! Take care Mairi, the judgement has started already! Keep singing!

たったの４歳児だし、ほとんどの時間はママゴトとお絵描きをして過ごしていると思うから、意味がほとんどないだろうなと思うけど、この間HISの先生から茉利の昨年度の成績表をもらいました。また「ファースト〜〜」を一つが終わったね。成績は１から５の中で、１が一番悪い。茉利はほとんど３番の"satisfactory"をもらったから一応普通でしょう。茉利の気持ちを考えて、詳しく何のためには言わないけど、「２」が思ったところで２つほどありました。「１」が幸いになかった。その反面「４」が何個かあって、そして音楽で、"effort"（努力）のところで「５」をもらった！！実力より努力の方が評価されているのはちょっと。。。けど、親バカとして自慢させてください！頑張れ茉利ちゃん！もう４歳から始まるの！判断されるのが。。。

Better Late Than Never ちょっと遅いけど。。。

おじいちゃんのお誕生日の日にスイスにいました。そこからこのビデオメールを送ってみたけど見えなかったらしい。このブログにのせるようになりましたので、おじいちゃん、遅いけど、お誕生日おめでとうございます！

I was sad because I was in Switzerland on my Ji-chan's birthday. We tried to send him this video message by e-mail, but he couldn't watch it apparently. Now we can put video on blogger, so here's a belated Happy Birthday for you Ji-chan!

Grapes ぶどう

今日はおじいちゃんの実家に行って初めてぶどう狩りに挑戦してみたよ。友達のRお姉ちゃんも一緒に来てくれたから最高に楽しかった！

Today I went to my Ji-chan's family home to pick grapes. It was the first time I'd tried, and my friend R came with us so I had a great time!
R did a great job as a packer! We got about 30 bunches to take home!

Rちゃんはパッキング係で頑張った。３０房ぐらいも持って帰った！


Yさんが丁寧に教えてくれました。ありがとうYさん！

Mr Y from the neighbourhood, was very kind and taught us how to pick the grapes! Thank you Mr Y!


Afterwards we went to a nearby ranch cafe for lunch. There were lots of dogs there to play with, and saddles to climb on.

その後、近くのランチでランチをした！？！遊んでくれる犬もいっぱいいたし、この鞍にも登ってもいいんだって！


食べたら、なんと、馬にも乗れた！
After lunch we even got to ride on a horse!



What an unexpectedly great day! Thanks Ji-chan!
思っても見なかったすごく楽しい日だった！ありがとうじいちゃん！

Free at Last! ようやく外に！

It's been too hot for Mummy since we got back, so I have been stuck in the house during the day for the past two weeks. We finally got out yesterday as IF, my other half Scottish friend invited us over for lunch. His Mummy made us a lovely lunch and we played in his pool! My garden in my new house is too small for my pool so I was happy to get in the water!

スコットランドから帰ってきてから、Mummyにとって、外に出るのに暑すぎるから、２週間ずっと昼間家の中で過ごしてきた。昨日やっと解放された。友達のIくんの家によばれた。行ったら、Iくんのお母さんがおいしいランチを作ってくれたし、プールで長く遊んだ。うちの庭は前の家より狭いから私のプールをまだ出せていないので、とてもうれしかった！



Thank you for having us! お邪魔しました！

Kakigori かき氷

Mummy finally caved in and bought a kakigori (snow cone) maker. It's great what coming back to 36 degree heat can achieve! There really is nothing better on a hot day!

お母さんがやっとかき氷メーカーを買ってくれた！やった！暑い日にかき氷よりおいしいものこの世にないね！

Fireworks and Festivals 花火とお祭り

Coming back to Japan is very hot, but the best thing about it is being able to watch the various fireworks festivals and go to the summer festivals in my yukata. This year I came back in time to watch the famous Miyajima fireworks along with my Ji-chan and Ba-chan and 360,000 others who also thought it was a good idea!

日本に帰ってきてからとても暑いけど、花火大会と夏祭りに参加出来たからよかった！今年はおじいちゃんとおばあちゃんと一緒に宮島の水中花火が見えたからうれしかった。今年は３６万人が行ったらしい。だから広電でいくのは大変だったでしょうね。（残念ながら、水中花火のいい写真が撮れなかった。）
ゆかたを着て、お祭りに行くのも楽しいね！地区の小学校の夏祭りでヨーヨーをもらった！うれしかった！
The fireworks at the local primary school summer festival were impressive.


We even met a couple of old friends unexpectedly! N, K and K were home for the holidays.
春に東京に引っ越しをしてしまった友達ににもばったりあってびっくりした！



和太鼓とお盆踊りもあってよかった！

There was taiko drumming and bon (festival of the dead) dancing, so it was great!


But what's a good festival without candy floss??!!
でもどこの祭りおことも、綿菓子がないとダメでしょう？！




　

Jet lag 時差ボケ

治るのが１週間かかった！しんどいね！

It took a week to get back to normal. I hate jet lag!

Bouncing All Over Scotland スコットランドでピョンピョン

Well we're back! I had a great time in Scotland visiting my Granny and my Auntie Fi. I went to 2 weddings, I went to Switzerland, and we went to see "Beauty and the Beast" which was brilliant! I rediscovered my favourite foods in Scotland: macaroni cheese, haggis and sausage rolls, preferably for breakfast!



And I got to play with lots of friends in Scotland too. The best thing about Scotland for me, was that everyone has really big gardens, and the weather is cool enough that you can play outside in the garden. Lots of my friends had HUGE trampolines too, so the whole month was a fantastic bounce fest!

My feelings on being back in Japan? In a word: "HOT!"
只今帰ってきたよ！スコットランドの一ヶ月はとても楽しかったよ。

GrannyとAuntie Fiにも会えたし、２の結婚式にも出たし,途中でスイスにも行ってきたし、劇場で「美女と野獣」を見てきたよ。とても面白かった。私のスコットランドでの大好物のソーセージパイ、ハギス（スコットランド料理）とチーズのパスタもたっぷり食べてきた。
たくさんの友達とも遊べたからよかった。


私にとって、スコットランドの一番いいところは、皆の庭が大きいことです。天気も涼しくて、そとで気持ちよく遊べるし。最近向こうで流行っているのは大きなトランポリーンです。台風がないから庭におけるね。けっこう持っている友達がいたから、ピョンピョン大好きな私は、大喜び！こんな　トランポリーンが欲しいな！
日本に帰ってきての感想？一言で：「暑い！」

To the King

It's 30 years since Elvis died, and it's got me all nostalgic. My Mum was always a big movie buff, particularly musicals, so any of you who have had to suffer me doing " I could have danced all night" or "Over the Rainbow" (sometimes at quarter speed) at dodgy karaoke bars, or sing the "Sound of Music" in its entirety on a long car trip have her to thank. I can also remember watching all the Elvis movies. Even though I was born at the end of his era, I still had a sense of his impact on society. Like him or his music or not, he was one of those icons. He is probably the first of the people in my lifetime, where the question " Can you remember what you were doing when ****** died?" gets a yes.
I distinctly remember sitting on the wall by myself beside our drive in Townhill when I heard the news, with a sense that something big had happened. Even though he was "just" a singer, he made his mark. I remember wondering what mark I would make.
I can't believe 30 years have passed since then. When I was 8, "30 years from now" seemed like an impossible eternity. 14 was quite as old as you could get or needed to get to be cool. I was equally shocked when the first talk of the 30 year anniversary came on the telly. 30 years. Wow! And I'm still wondering what mark I am making, or might make......He probably died wondering too.
Elvis, I hope you are still around, whooping it up with Princess Diana and Lord Lucan somewhere, having the last laugh.

"Points of View"

Well I'm back in Hiroshima, with particularly persistent jet lag. It's 5:30am, and since I've been lying in the dark for an hour and a half (not bad really since I was up at 3am for the first 2 days), pondering things like why planes can fly, or how, where, and if at all all this information on the internet really exists, what is jet lag really, and why people can't just all get on with each other, I thought I might as well admit I'll not be going back to sleep anytime soon, get up and have a wee online rant. ( I'm sure if I had studied some sensible scientific subject at uni, I wouldn't be losing sleep over these mostly explainable issues, but there you are; a born art fart - I've heard and processed the explanations by the way, but it all still comes back to "but no really WHY???").
Anyway, back to ranting. I had a more or less lovely time in Scotland, and Switzerland this month. Great to see everyone. Stuart and Lesley's wedding was great. Caroline and Markus had a stellar bash too. Saw lots of people I hadn't seen for a while. As usual, time isn't stretchy enough, and I was sad that I didn't see some people I wanted to. Spent too much and ate too much, but Mairi has had her yearly fix of CBeebies, sausage rolls and macaroni cheese, and Yasu even got to come with us for a whole week! So, all in all a success. Jet lag and my intolerance of the 36 degree heat I've returned to notwithstanding.


Our trip to Switzerland stood out. I was elated to be in a country other than Scotland or Japan for the first time since M was born. We went for a wedding, and it was 5 star all the way, jammily, even more than we had expected. My sister had sprung for a room at the lovely Park Hotel Weggis, on the shores of Lake Lucerne, where the wedding was to be held. Great food and wine, lovely pool and spa, fantastic service and breathtaking views. Very impressed therefore when we got there and discovered that they had upgraded us to one of the brand new suites! So a fabulous time was had by all! Perhaps whichever spirits were watching over us were trying to make up for our journey, which little did we know, was about to be even worse on the way back.
"Attila the check in girl" as Fi dubbed her, followed by delays on the way back, culminating in a night with no clean underwear in a very dodgy airport hotel in Amsterdam with a 4 year-old, kind of took the shine off the trip. I'm not normally some one who feels the need to write letters of complaint. I can usually find some mitigating circumstances to calm myself down with in the face of bad service, and also of course, I can't be bothered! You'll imagine how bad the trip was then, if I felt compelled to write to KLM and Servisair about it.

If you've read this far and are still interested, you're probably sadder than me, so I'll let my correspondence with KLM so-called "Customer Care" speak for itself. You can leave a comment and tell me if you think I'm just turning into an old git in the corner, and I need to let it lie. But they haven't heard the end of this yet!


Letter 1:

Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2007 7:27 PM
To: TYO Customer Care - TYOMB
Subject: ground

Question or remark:=Having returned yesterday from my trip to a friend’s wedding, I wish to draw your attention to my experience at the check in desk at Glasgow airport on the morning of Thursday August 2nd. First let me say that I have lived abroad for 16 years and have almost exclusively chosen KLM when I have traveled home to Scotland during that period, as I have always found the staff and service to be very pleasant, helpful and reliable.
I was therefore surprised by the standard of “service” last Thursday.
Flying by e-ticket, and having checked in online, as I have done many times in the past, my sister, myself and my 4 year old daughter joined the queue at the business class/elite/baggage drop off desk, which I believed was the correct one, in good time. We had no access to a printer and had luggage to drop off. After waiting for 40 minutes to be seen in this elite line, despite the fact that people who joined the two economy regular check in lines long after we arrived, some of whom had left our line exasperated already, were served much faster, we were checked in by Lauren, of I believe, Servisair. (I am unable to be more specific, as when I politely asked her surname, she pointedly answered “just Lauren”, but I’m sure your records can identify her).
We were then made to wait further, with no explanation from Lauren, as there was apparently some issue on her computer screen, which stopped her from issuing us with boarding passes. She eventually conferred with her two colleagues on neighbouring desks, who were incidentally very professional and tried to help her expedite the situation, one of them even printing off our boarding passes for her. Even then she still retained our passports and boarding passes, while staring at her computer screen for a while longer. When I asked what the problem was, she said “it’s saying your documents haven’t been checked”, and explained no further. As far as we knew or understood, she was in possession of our documents, and had the power to check them. She asked for our itinerary. We explained we didn’t have a printed version of it as we didn’t have access to a printer . We did have handwritten details of our e-ticket numbers and flight details, which she wasn’t interested in. Quote from Lauren accompanied by a long irritated sigh, “ You need to bring a print out of your itinerary with you”. I have never needed an itinerary before, and have traveled by e-ticket many times. In fact I thought the whole point of e-tickets was to reduce the risk of information on paper tickets being lost, by having everything stored on a computer, and to avoid wasting paper. Quote from KLM’s website “Simple. Just show identification to check in and you’re on your way”.
When I said this - politely - Lauren said “you need to bring it, it’s for us”.
She then, again with no apology or explanation, decided to phone someone to ask. She talked for a while, in no great hurry, and then decided to issue me with the passes. In the meantime, my sister, whose patience had run out before mine, unbeknown to me or Lauren, had already gone over to customer service to ask how to lodge a formal complaint about Lauren’s attitude. It transpires that by pure luck she was standing in front of the person who took Lauren’s call and heard the other side of the conversation. The lady there explained to Lauren that there had been a change in our flight schedule, and that as long as we were ok with that, she could go ahead and check us in. At no point in our conversation did Lauren inform me that my returning flight time had changed and was now 1 and a half hours earlier than I thought. In fact when I asked her what the problem had been, she said “ they are not telling me what the problem is”.
She then handed over the passes and asked to see my hand luggage. “ You can’t take that on. It’s a wheelie bag” I must admit at this point I probably was less than polite myself in my reaction, which was “What? Since when?” “You are not allowed to take wheelie bags on to city hopper flights. “ Living in Japan, and having been in the middle of a trip home to the UK in July 2006, I have been very careful to check all luggage restrictions, even signing up for BAA alerts on cabin baggage restrictions. I am someone who is happy to comply with the rules, and am aware that they can change at short notice. My bag was well within size and weight limits because I checked. I have never been told that merely having wheels attached precludes luggage from being take on board, which is what Lauren expressly stated. She neither weighed nor measured the bag. I add that I brought the same bag into the UK on a City Hopper flight from Amsterdam on July 11th this year unquestioned. Again the Servisair agent next to Lauren intervened and suggested she tell us we could hand over the bag at the gate and get it back in Amsterdam, and that we would be able to take it on board normally from there. Which I then did.
You can imagine my feelings when I counted at least 7 people taking wheelie cases much larger than my own, onto the flight unquestioned. It seems it was only people in Lauren’s queue who had this rule enforced, if indeed it is a rule.
As I said, I am not someone who gets unreasonably irate because rules do not suit my personal circumstances. I am also aware of the current climate for travel and the extra pressure which this puts on service providers and customers alike to facilitate safe travel and a smooth process. Possibly there were unforeseen factors unrelated to me which caused all of the delays we experienced. I can even accept that there maybe a reason for a blanket ban on wheeled luggage that I do not understand.
However, what we experienced at Glasgow airport, was basic rudeness and bad service, at the hands of someone who has no place in an organization which aims to, quote, “anticipate and respond to the specific and diverse needs of the travelling passenger, never losing sight of the need to treat each one with the compassion, respect and understanding they deserve.” (Servisair Website) I am happy to comply with rules. As a paying customer, all I expect is a polite explanation of those rules, or any situation which arises, which might cause delay or other problems in what is for all of us an already stressful part of the travel process. Apologies for keeping customers waiting, an attitude which suggest a desire to expedite problems, and perhaps even the ability to produce the occasional smile, should surely be prerequisites for a job on the frontline of customer service. “Just Lauren” was devoid of all of these qualities of Thursday.
Having worked in the service industry in the past, I know there are difficult customers who complain despite the best efforts of staff. I honestly do not believe I fall into that category. I believe I waited quietly where I thought I was supposed to for longer than most would have, and politely asked what the problem was several times in the face of no information. Once again I will state that the attitude of all other people from both Servisair and KLM in Glasgow airport was exemplary. I believe that our experience was a result of Lauren’s bad interpersonal skills rather than any policy on the part of KLM or Servisair. However, if we had not had to deal with her on Thursday morning, I would have enjoyed a speedy check-in, had plenty of time to achieve all the pre-boarding plans I had, such as changing money for my trip, feeding my 4 year-old daughter breakfast, and buying a few last minute essentials, and not had to start my trip feeling unfairly victimised and provoked.
In the current political climate, all of us are worried and nervous before setting off for the airport to start with, recent events at Glasgow airport underline this, and I appreciate that staff must be under pressure too. However travel is still as far as I know a service, and not an inexpensive one. Both Servisair and KLM, whose livelihood now more than ever is dependant on satisfied customers returning, surely have a responsibility to make sure that the staff who are their representatives to the customer, have the basic communication skills necessary to put passengers at their ease in a highly charged situation, rather than unnecessarily enflaming the situation. Lauren may be an employee of Servisair, however, as a customer of KLM, It should make no difference to me who employs the people who deal with me on their behalf.
My primary goals in writing this today are firstly, to give you the opportunity to take some action to make sure that other passengers do not receive similar treatment、and instead “have a positive ground service experience.” (Servisair Website).
Secondly, as I am traveling back to Japan on Friday of this week, I would be grateful for any advice you have for me, if there is anything I for my part can do to ensure a smooth journey. I will be traveling alone this time with my 4 year old daughter, a stressful experience at the best of times, so would like to know of any restrictions or requirements for the check-in procedure before I arrive at the airport.
Incidentally, on the return journey from Switzerland, my flight was delayed and I had to spend a night with my 4 year old in an unknown hotel in Amsterdam, with no food for her till 11pm, no facilities, and we had to get up at 5 am to make the rebooked flight on Monday, a day later than planned. While I realize that unforeseen delays happen and procedures have to be followed to ensure our safety, you’ll understand that my recent experience with KLM has not inspired me with much confidence for my return trip to Japan.
I’d be grateful for anything you can tell me to reassure me.
Subject:=ground

Reply 1:

Dear Ms.J Ikegami,

Thank you very much for your email.

It is with extreme disappointment that we read of your experience with KLM service during your check-in at Glasgow Airport and our flight was delayed arrival at Amsterdam. We would like to offer our sincere apologies for the lack of service that you encountered.

Naturally you expect KLM staff to provide the very best service possible. We assure you that where you were treated with anything less than the utmost care and courtesy upon which we pride ourselves, steps will be taken to both reproach individual staff members for their lack of professionalism and to remind them of their correct duties and responsibilities by forwarding your email to a person in charge at Glasgow Airport. Therefore, when you check-in at Glasgow on 10 Aug and still have a problem, please send
us your comments to us.

I have one information. As far as a cabin baggage is concerned, there is a special rule for a Fokker 70 which operates to/from Glasgow and Fokker 100 aircraft as well.
Usually, one piece per passenger can carry a cabin baggage, max dimension 55 x 35 x 25cm., max weight 10kgs in a wide body aircraft.
However " No trolley bags( roller cases) may be accepted in the cabin for passenger traveling in Economy Class. An exception will be made for World Perks Platinum,
Gold and Silver cardholders. So, if you are a member of Elite member card holder, then there is no problem. If you are not a member of Elite cardholder, then
these must be tagged upon check-in/embarkation with the tag.
For your suggestion, please do not contain the valuable items and a goods which tend to break in a cabin baggage in view of the situation.

We hope you have a nice flight to Japan this time.

Sincerely.

Y.Nosaka
Customer Care
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines

My response:

To: TYO Customer Care - TYOMB
Subject: Re: ground

Dear Ms/Mr Nosaka

Thank you for your reply. I do have one question/comment in response.
Thank you for confirming the trolley bag question. I will do my best to comply with the rules. However, you must acknowledge that this is a very unfair and inconstistent policy. If I was able to bring my luggage into the country on the same aircraft, with no comment., I should surely be allowed to take it home with me. Choosing KLM as a carrier should not require passengers to purchase new luggage in the middle of their trip.
Also if there is a reason why trolley bags are not allowed I would like to know what it is. I brought my computer and camera in my case, which was as far as I knew within the specifications for acceptable hand baggage. Nowhere on your website, nor the BAA website does it say anything about trolleybags. Even if I had been informed at Kansai that this would be an issue, I would have less complaint. As I said, I checked several times what hand baggage was allowed before I left home. I could have brought a bag without wheels, if I had known.
If my bag is within the size and weight limitations, I do not understand why wheels should stop me bringing it on, economy or otherwise. Every picture or diagram of hand luggage in the airport is a picture of a trolley bag. If trolley bags are allowed for some passengers, what reason can there be for not allowing them for all?
Arguments about fairness aside, the bottom line is that I need to take back to Japan what I was allowed to bring out of it. Can you reassure me that my computer and camera will reach Japan safely tomorrow? I will be tavelling on KL 14## and KL 8##.
I might add that having to write all these e-mails has not only caused me severe frustration and stress, it has taken up considerable valuable time during my trip, spoiling my holiday. What can KLM do to compensate me for that?

I assume they have forwarded my e-mail to you because my address is in Japan. I would perhaps feel more reassured by some confirmation from someone in Glasgow that all will be well tomorrow. My contact number here is 0141 #########.

Thank you for your help.
J Ikegami

Reply 2:

Dear Ms. Ikegami,

Thank you very much for our email.
I understand your concerning about the cabin baggage. Unfortunately, the rule is in the manual.
According to the General Condition of Carriage, the passenger shall not included in Checked Baggage fragile
or perishable items, computer, camera and valuable items. It means even if a checked baggage was damaged,
KLM does not liable for it. Of course, if they accept as a cabin baggage, then there is no problem.

So, I suggest you to confirm the rules in KLM UK.
Because, I am unable to make a promise to you that someone of KLM contact your telephone number today.

1) KLM Reservation/Information : 08-705-074-074
2) KLM Customer Care : 08708-500-747 option 5 / open 09:00 - 13:00 and 14:00 - 17:00

Thank you very much for your understanding.

Sincerely,

Y.Nosaka(Mr)
Customer Care
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines

My response:

Dear Mr Nosaka

Thank you very much for your prompt reply.
I tried contacting customer care at the number you suggested, but was quoted the same rules that you gave me.
Once again I was given no answer to the question why wheels alone are a reason for bags to be precluded from hand luggage, and only for some customers. It is obviously not security, nor space reasons as my bag was smaller than the size and weight restrictions. The advice I received from Customer "care" was that I should buy a new bag, for which KLM would not be obliged to pay. Is this appropriate "service" for a valued customer.

I am not trying to be difficult, or cause unnecessary trouble for anyone at KLM, I merely wish to complete my trip without further inconvenience, and with the same treatment afforded to other passengers in the same situation as myself. If KLM's staff allowed me to bring the bag on board originally, whether by a staff member's oversight or not, then surely it is KLM's responsibility to let me take it back home.
I assume that this matter will now not be able to resolved satisfactorily in time for my boarding tomorrow morning, but I would be grateful if you, as my only personal point of contact with your organization, could forward this correspondence to someone who might give me satisfaction in this matter, or give me a name and address or contact details for someone with the authority to answer my questions.
I am not someone who writes letters of complaint, but I strongly feel that my treatment in the matters I reported to you has been unfair and impolite.

I'm sorry to trouble you personally with it as I realize you had nothing to do with any of it.

J Ikegami


I have heard nothing from Mr Nosaka since, funnily enough, but I'm going to have another go at KLM, until they admit to me that there is no good reason for the wheelie bag rule, if indeed it does exist! So there! I'll keep you posted.
As for "just Lauren" I hope she's not on my check-in desk again at Glasgow, as she'll surely have a debt to repay. As I was passing through security at Glasgow (smooth check-in by the lovely Tom completed) the Airport Manager found me and apologized, assuring me it would be taken seriously. She told me she was going to show Lauren my e-mail and let her respond. Haha. I can imagine what her response might be! So Servisair and Glasgow airport have redeemed themselves in my eyes, but KLM will be receiving a few more e-mails. I've got the bug!