Disposing Garbage in Fukuoka

I recently moved out from my parents' place to live in Fukuoka City on my own. The new place is near my work place, which takes only ten minutes on foot. It is like a dream come true because it used to take about two hours to commute! Even if by chance I cannot renew my current job contract, I have more choices to find a new job than living in my parents' place.

I'm getting accustomed to this city but the most surprising thing is disposing our garbage. First of all, a garbage collection truck comes at night. In other places, it usually comes in the morning. Secondly, in places where I have lived, we had to separate plastics, magazines and newspapers, or kitchen garbage. However, these are all combustible in this city. It is easy for us to dispose it, but it is definitely not eco-friendly, is it?

Then, what can we do for an eco-friendly life in this city?
First, use a bicycle as mush as possible. Secondly, use an electric fan instead of an air conditioner as much as possible in the summer. Thirdly, try not to buy plastic bottles to reduce our garbage. I usually bring my thermos with tea. Fourthly, try to use recycled or energy-saving devices. However, new energy-saving home appliances are so expensive that I bought a used fridge and a used washing machine this time.

What else? I think separating garbage is very important for an eco-friendly life. The city government ought to reconsider it.

Nikkei Newspaper

Last week I went to a workshop held by Nihon Keizai Shimbun Inc., which is the only economic newspaper company in Japan. Also, they gave their newspaper to all participants as material for a week for free. What a generous! In the workshop, a female entrepreneur talked from her experience about why we should know about economics, how good the newspaper is, and how to read it.

I actually was not interested in economics at all in the past. I had thought economics was necessary only for business managers, and all we had to do was to pay national pension premiums in preparation for our old age. However, after the big pension scandal happened a few years ago, I do not believe the government any more and need to learn about the economy. Thus, the workshop was very useful for me.

Regarding the newspaper, it was easier and more interesting than I expected, but I have a problem: I do not have enough time to read it every day...!

Therefore, I am thinking of subscribing to NIKKEI WEEKLY, which is a weekly economic paper in English published by the same company. I can learn both economics and English. It's like killing two birds with one stone, isn't it? I will decide after receiving the sample.


By the way, I wonder if the government could give the economic newspaper to all jobless workers until they find a new job. It is like imitating France's policy, but good for economic recovery, I think. Don't you think so?

We Are Not Disposable!

Due to the global financial crisis, cutting jobs is a big problem in Japan. According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, 30,000 people will lose their jobs in a few months. However, it is much more serious.

CANON's 1,100 term employees got laid off at the end of last month and were forced to move out of their dormitory. Thus, they are complaining and asking the company to let them stay until they find a new job. Some companies withdrew employment offers so that some students cannot start working from next April. In addition, those companies forced them to sign documents that they had declined the offers because of personal circumstances, which is definitely illegal.

This is only a part of the problem. At my workplace, some temporary workers will be laid off at the end of this month. I was able to renew my job contract until next March, but I have no idea if I can continue to work here after that. God only knows.

The thing is the government has not taken any effective action yet about it, although we had already predicted such circumstances since the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers. I personally do not care who the Prime Minister is and which party takes over the administration. We just need politicians who seriously carry out politics for the benefit of the people. We do not need politics at play. Also, we are not disposable workers!

What Happy People Don't Do

I saw an interesting article on The New York Times: What Happy People Don't Do. According to sociologists at the University of Maryland, a new study found out that happy people spend a lot of time socializing, going to the church and reading newspapers. On the other hand, unhappy people spend a lot of time watching TV or sleeping. However, it was not mentioned how they categorized people happy or unhappy.

Thinking about myself, I actually used to watch TV or sleep all day in my free time when my job was really hard several years ago. I was so exhausted that I did not want to do anything. I enjoyed TV at that time, but was not satisfied. Since I quit the job, I have seen many new friends and co-workers. Then I realized that I like socializing and it is really great to broaden my perspective.

Now I still like watching TV, but I do not watch it so often. I have a lot of things to do: meeting my friends, studying English, taking Pilates lessons, going shopping, reading books, surfing Internet, watching movies, and so on. I am busier but much happier than before!

Speaking of which, what should I do if I get tired of socializing because someone is tiring to me? Probably it is time for me to travel and take a break. Also, I should maintain balance about socializing. This is because human being cannot live alone and his/her private time.

Next President

Obama won!

His victory speech was impressive to me.