May 15, 2009

Baby Sign ベビーサイン


仕事で「ベビーサイン」の教室の見学に行ってきました。
「なになに?」と思っていたのですが、なんと赤ちゃん用の手話!6ヶ月から1歳半の赤ちゃんに、歌や絵本と一緒に動作をすると2~3ヶ月で覚えて、手話をし始めるそう。

なんだか凄くないですか!!:)
まだ言葉が話せない赤ちゃんと意思相通ができるの!

それでも「日本のサイン」と「アメリカのサイン」とすでにパターン分けされていて、バベルの塔は高かったな。と思わずにはいられないのでした。
***********
I visited a `Baby Sign` class the other day for work... I didn`t have a clue what this was, may be it`s popular more in the west, or maybe it`s me... But it`s sign language for babies!

You can start around 6 months till about 1 and 1/2yrs old (by then they start talking), you sign along with songs and books. They learn to sign in 2 to 3 months!

Isn`t that just amazing?
You can communicate with babies who don`t talk yet!

The interesting or rather unfortunate thing was that there already is `Japanese sign` and `English sign` already different at this stage. Sure there may be culture differences, but isn`t that a bit sad the difference already exists this young?

May 12, 2009

My top 5 Strength ☆私の「才能」トップ5!

It was a long weekend in Japan called Golden Week, the first week of May. One of the homeworks I had for myself during that break was to read this book called `Now, Find Your Strength` by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton.

It`s a book on finding out and building on your strength. Each book has an ID number which allows you to take a test, and the result will tell you your top 5 strength out of 34.
I found out about this book through another book I was reading and was curious...and here`s my top 5 strength.

1. Learner
2. Achiever
3. Harmony
4. Intellect
5. Developer

I`ve pasted the details below, but I think these describes me pretty well. I guess these are the main characteristics that I have that comes out everytime I think or make decisions... So I need to know that I do think this way and maximize it`s traits. Hmmmm.
**************
ゴールデンウィークに読もう!と思っていた課題本があったのですが、読みました! マーカス・バッキングハムさんとドナルドO.クリフトンの 「さあ、才能(自分)に目覚めよう-あなたの5つの強みを見出し、活かす」と言う タイトルの本です。 最近、勝間和代さんの本を良く読むのですが、勝間さんのおススメ本なのです。

タイトルのままですが、自分の強みを見つけて活かす方法について書かれています。 1冊づつに、コードがあり、それを使ってウェブでテストを受けることができます。 そして、結果的に34個ある「強み」から自分のトップ5が分かるのです。

そんな訳で私のトップ5:

1. 学習欲
2. 達成欲
3. 調和性
4. 内省
5. 成長促進

英語ですが、詳細も下につけました。(長いですが・・・。)
読んでみると、確かに当てはまる気がする・・・。
本によると、これらが自分の主な思考回路となっているようです。
「こういう風に考えてるんだ」と言うことを頭に置き、 それを意識して、仕事なりなんなりを効率的&得意な方法で自分なりに進めていく。 うーん。私のを見ると、「毎日目標を立てる」とか?

***TOP 5 DETAILS******
Learner
You love to learn. The subject matter that interests you most will be determined by your other themes and experiences, but whatever the subject, you will always be drawn to the process of learning. The process, more than the content or the result, is especially exciting for you. You are energized by the steady and deliberate journey from ignorance to competence. The thrill of the first few facts, the early efforts to recite or practice what you have learned, the growing confidence of a skill mastered—this is the process that entices you. Your excitement leads you to engage in adult learning experiences—yoga or piano lessons or graduate classes. It enables you to thrive in dynamic work environments where you are asked to take on short project assignments and are expected to learn a lot about the new subject matter in a short period of time and then move on to the next one. This Learner theme does not necessarily mean that you seek to become the subject matter expert, or that you are striving for the respect that accompanies a professional or academic credential. The outcome of the learning is less significant than the “getting there.”

Achiever
Your Achiever theme helps explain your drive. Achiever describes a constant need for achievement. You feel as if every day starts at zero. By the end of the day you must achieve something tangible in order to feel good about yourself. And by “every day” you mean every single day—workdays, weekends, vacations. No matter how much you may feel you deserve a day of rest, if the day passes without some form of achievement, no matter how small, you will feel dissatisfied. You have an internal fire burning inside you. It pushes you to do more, to achieve more. After each accomplishment is reached, the fire dwindles for a moment, but very soon it rekindles itself, forcing you toward the next accomplishment. Your relentless need for achievement might not be logical. It might not even be focused. But it will always be with you. As an Achiever you must learn to live with this whisper of discontent. It does have its benefits. It brings you the energy you need to work long hours without burning out. It is the jolt you can always count on to get you started on new tasks, new challenges. It is the power supply that causes you to set the pace and define the levels of productivity for your work group. It is the theme that keeps you moving.

Harmony
You look for areas of agreement. In your view there is little to be gained from conflict and friction, so you seek to hold them to a minimum. When you know that the people around you hold differing views, you try to find the common ground. You try to steer them away from confrontation and toward harmony. In fact, harmony is one of your guiding values. You can’t quite believe how much time is wasted by people trying to impose their views on others. Wouldn’t we all be more productive if we kept our opinions in check and instead looked for consensus and support? You believe we would, and you live by that belief. When others are sounding off about their goals, their claims, and their fervently held opinions, you hold your peace. When others strike out in a direction, you will willingly, in the service of harmony, modify your own objectives to merge with theirs (as long as their basic values do not clash with yours). When others start to argue about their pet theory or concept, you steer clear of the debate, preferring to talk about practical, down-to-earth matters on which you can all agree. In your view we are all in the same boat, and we need this boat to get where we are going. It is a good boat. There is no need to rock it just to show that you can.

Intellection
You like to think. You like mental activity. You like exercising the “muscles” of your brain, stretching them in multiple directions. This need for mental activity may be focused; for example, you may be trying to solve a problem or develop an idea or understand another person’s feelings. The exact focus will depend on your other strengths. On the other hand, this mental activity may very well lack focus. The theme of Intellection does not dictate what you are thinking about; it simply describes that you like to think. You are the kind of person who enjoys your time alone because it is your time for musing and reflection. You are introspective. In a sense you are your own best companion, as you pose yourself questions and try out answers on yourself to see how they sound. This introspection may lead you to a slight sense of discontent as you compare what you are actually doing with all the thoughts and ideas that your mind conceives. Or this introspection may tend toward more pragmatic matters such as the events of the day or a conversation that you plan to have later. Wherever it leads you, this mental hum is one of the constants of your life.

Developer
You see the potential in others. Very often, in fact, potential is all you see. In your view no individual is fully formed. On the contrary, each individual is a work in progress, alive with possibilities. And you are drawn toward people for this very reason. When you interact with others, your goal is to help them experience success. You look for ways to challenge them. You devise interesting experiences that can stretch them and help them grow. And all the while you are on the lookout for the signs of growth—a new behavior learned or modified, a slight improvement in a skill, a glimpse of excellence or of “flow” where previously there were only halting steps. For you these small increments—invisible to some—are clear signs of potential being realized. These signs of growth in others are your fuel. They bring you strength and satisfaction. Over time many will seek you out for help and encouragement because on some level they know that your helpfulness is both genuine and fulfilling to you.

May 11, 2009

Maternity & Baby Fiesta! マタニティー&ベビーフェスタ

I put in my precious weekend hours to work at the Maternity&Baby Fiesta this Sat and Sun!
I worked at one of the booth to hand our products...So many cute pregnant women and babies!!!It was incredibly fun.

It happened to be Mother`s Day on Sunday, thank you for all the wonderful mothers working hard!! :)

The picture is yoga mattress and baby dolls for yoga trial class.Rather tramatising sight...
**********************

週末、東京ビックサイトで行われたマタニティー&ベビーフェスタに
参加してきました!

たくさんあるブースの一つで商品サンプルを配ってきました。
妊婦さんやベビーがいっぱいで可愛かった!!
恐らくあまり私と年も違わない新米パパとママを見てるのは
楽しく、ちょっと不思議でした。

日曜日は母の日だったので、「初めての母の日」の方も
いっぱい居たはず。お母さんは大変です。いつもありがとう!

写真はベビーヨガ体験クラス用のマットレスと赤ちゃんの人形。
ちょっと怖いけど・・・。

May 4, 2009

1st Post!  ブログ第1号

Welcome to Mizuka`s Notes!

This is a new attempt to share a bit of my life...
Many of you who knows me knows that I`m a note taker...
I have at least one notebook at all times, writing down anything
and everything that is curious to me...
Including new found birthdays, friend`s favorite food,
recommended books, and the cute outfit that I though looked great on you today.
So the blog gets it`s name, to share things that would be part of my entry.

I`m not a high tech girl, so I`m having trouble with
all the settings already... but I hope I`ll get used to it!

Since I have friends who reads Japanese and English,
the entries will be in two languages.

Some of the content won`t be exactly the translation,
because I think I use different words and phrases when
using the two languages...
So this is kind of interesting for me as well.

Well, so hopefully you enjoy!
Do drop me a line when you can and say Hi.
You know that I always delighted to hear from you!

***********************************************
「mizuka`s notes」へようこそ!

大したものではないですが、生活の一部をおすそ分けしたいと始めました!

私と居ると時々目撃すると思いますが、
常にノートを持ち歩き、人のお誕生日や、面白いと思ったコメントや
お勧めの本のタイトルなどを常に書き留めてます。

このブログのタイトルは、そんなノートの一部をおすそ分け。と言う意味でつけてみました。

あまりPC等は得意じゃないので、もうこのブログ設定から かなり時間かかってますが・・・。 ちょっとずつ慣れるようがんばります☆

このブログを読んで欲しい方たちは、英語を読む人も日本語を読む人も いるので、ちょっと2ヶ国語で書いてみようかな。と思っています。

よく、英語を話している時と、日本語を話している時は、 声も、表情も、顔つきさえ違うと言われますが、 文章でもちょっとそうかも・・・。 そんな訳で直訳では無く、なんとなーくフィーリングで自分の使う言葉で 同じ内容について書いてみようと思います。 間違いもあると思いますが、寛大に見守ってください。(笑)

とりあえず第1弾発信! これを読んで、「お、どうしてるかな?」と思ったら 電話なりメールなりしてくださいね~♪


近況聞けるの待ってます!