Bangkok

Katzman at Temple of the Emerald Buddha, Bangkok

Bangkok—a five day trip to present my paper

"Becoming patient: a path to effective participation with chronic terminal cancer "

 at a nursing conference

International Council on Women's Health Issues

19th Congress, Bangkok, Thailand

November 14-16, 2012

 
The whole trip was great, starting with meeting a courteous Japanese on the shuttle to the airport. Ayumi announced Bangkok his destination, and at the airport we walked together. “Where should I exchange money? How much?” I asked.  “In Bangkok, at the airport--  About a hundred or two hundred dollars,” he replied.

Then he followed the business class line.  “We will find each other again,” he waved.

Boarding, he looked around, but did not see me.

At the Bangkok airport, business card in hand, I introduced myself. 

He agreed that the TRUE brand cell phone chip was the best.  He obligingly said to call if I needed anything. 

The hotel shuttle greets me, and shows me to a cell phone provider; I insist on the TRUE, and we go to that booth.

The ride to the hotel is uneventful, although the infamous afternoon rush hour is on.


FIRST FOOD
Tuesday
Arriving late afternoon, I will have my first hotel breakfast not until 6; the concierge said yes, there were food stalls on the small street next to the hotel that were safe.  A fruit slice at a cart tasted chalky.  At the end where the road turned, a woman welcomed my glance at the preparation activity of food by a man.  Perhaps the young couple owned the business. 

Drinks? 

dosage instructions in Japanese

I pointed at a bottle of water.

The rickety table near the Music TV had a view of bicycles, pedestrians, and motorcycles entering a narrower street.  I waited; the time was just long enough to feel comfortably in pace with the place.  A noise like a drum roll was not a musical instrument; perhaps a recycling sound of cans?  The food arrived:  a plate of sliced, broiled pork with a hot dipping sauce, a basket of sticky rice and a plate of cucumbers and raw green beans.  Tasty and satisfying.  About US $2. (someone more confident with currency exchange rates told me that the 75 Baht I paid was about 2 dollars; I used this as my standard conversion factor.)   Opened 4 pm to 3 am.  I was the only customer; the place had just opened.

Wednesday
Hotel breakfast.  I left the exotic choices for lunches and dinners.  I ate fried eggs, whole-wheat toast, juice.  A soy soup:  hot soymilk with sugar to be sprinkled on top.  A few croissants.  Many introductions by the early goers; table-hopping.  The conference book of proceedings was opened many times as “participants” promoted our presentations.

THE PRINCESS
Opening ceremony.
The princess is coming!

Yes, a real princess, and what a princess.  A white carpet at the hotel entry.  We some 600 conference-goers, mostly nurses, waited in the Ballroom, instructed on when to rise and how to bow and curtsy.  The princess, a lawyer and women’s health activist, talked about her work with female prisoners.

A question from the audience:  What can nurses do [to help the project of the princess]?
The princess answered:  Nurses are the first responders to women who are arrested, or who are victims.  The criminal justice system needs documentation of injury and complaint.

I poked the South African sitting next to me.  She had shown me the abstract of the presentation she would give on Friday:  the document filled out by nurses in South Africa in cases of allegations of sexual assault.

“How can I contact the princess?” she asked, modestly joking.

Lunch served by the hotel.  Rotating platters of Thai food. Fruit dessert.

Afternoon session about Media, law, women’s health.

The moderator mentions buying silk in the hotel vestibule.

I shop after the session:  silk scarves and a bracelet.

I put up my poster at the appointed time, 5- 6 pm; it will be seen on Thursday.  A nurse from Taiwan is unrolling her poster, and offers to help me assemble my 24 sheets of paper onto a white base.  I have brought my poster map, stick-on glue stick, and assorted actual evidence of my becoming patient (prescription envelopes with dosages in Japanese  ; finger cots that allowed me to play piano during days of painful nails; 5 x 7 photos of my red-edged swollen toes and fingers).

Finger cots

Katzman with poster

DINNER
I tell the Taiwanese nurse about the food stand down the street.  We sortie.  She recognizes the pot-on-pot dish.  It looks like two clay planting pots that are curved.  The top pot holds water; the bottom pot holds charcoal.  She cooked.  The waitress brought platters of fish, meat, and vegetables.

THURSDAY
Keynote speeches all morning. 

The first speaker, a Thai doctor named Krisana Kraisintu, told the story of her life, including leaving Thailand in 2002 to practice medicine in Africa, which led to building the first manufacturing plant for medicines in Africa with a Chinese pharmacist.  Self-effacing, she alluded to a movie made of her exploits.

Thai pharmaceutical consultant Krisana Kraisintu for provides access to life-saving AIDS medicine to disadvantaged people around the world.

Inspiring talk by Nancy Glass about a sustainable economy project in Congo involved Pigs.  Pigs become more pigs; women are allowed to own pigs; gardens/crops prosper.

An Australian, Jon Adams, speaks about acupuncture and childbirth, citing his own experience.  His wife refused doctors’ offer “to go in and get it,” and acupuncture resulted in the healthy birth of their first child.

I have introduced myself to Jon Adams, and agree to send him the articles I discovered about Military Acupuncture, a topic that surprises him as much as it did me.

Adams speaks about the need to bring acupuncture into the academic discussions especially about how people make decisions about health care.  60% of people use complementary and alternative medicine, but do not disclose their use to doctors.  “Don’t deny what 60 % of people do,” Adams says.

LUNCH
I stand by my poster.  One of the South Africans asks me to walk her through my poster.  She asks if “shredding fingers” is in my paper to be published in January; I say yes; she says that she will use my paper in the class she teaches, and I agree that she can give the students my email address.

A nurse sees my poster and tells of the disappearance of her Stage 4 cancer 30 years ago.  We agree on the transformative power of cancer on the personality, but do not recommend that route to a young nursing student who is her student.

Afternoon concurrent sessions; I miss the beginning because there is still some traffic in the poster room.

I tell someone that I consider using my academic paper about Becoming Patient for a class text, as I have for other academic papers I have written.  “Don’t,” she advises.  “I have talked about my own health in nursing classes, but I always say that I am talking about ‘a friend.’  Young students might be emotionally compromised to know that their teacher is the subject.”

Another nurse advises, “Go home to family when the end is near.  Death can be very lonely.”

I go between sessions on the 14th and 3rd floor, mostly attending the Track 5 papers about Chronic Illness.

I take down my poster at 4.30 PM and swim.  The banquet starts at 6.30.

Dancing lions and fish and monkeys are performed by costumed nursing students at a Thai university who also take part in the academics of the conference.

I am well tended by a couple of the Thai nursing students who are not in costume.

Friday
A stomachache plagues my sleep, and I vomit a large volume of liquid at dawn, the solid component evidently squid. 

I cannot eat breakfast, and several glasses of juice come right back up; I had prepared a plastic bag.  Shivering with chills, hearing only selected words from the speaker—“not their fault,” etc—I leave the room, accompanied by a breakfast friend.  I ask a nurse’s advice:  “lie down and sip a bottle of water; you have to be able to keep clear liquids down.”  She takes my room number.

I sleep outdoors by the pool for two hours, and drink a liter of water.

I re-join the conference for lunch, happily.

I hear a variety of concurrent session presentations.   There is a fascinating talk about the IRIS project to “improve safety for survivors of gender-based violence.”  An American lawyer presents a study comparing health protection for prostitutes in Nevada, the Netherlands, and Germany.

Closing ceremonies.  I see myself dancing with two lions (costumed) in the movie production of conference visual  highlights.  South Africa is announced as the venue of the 2014 conference; the South African contingent sings and dances.

Boat ride:  our boat meanders

Outboard engine

Katzman, Shirley, Temple of the Emerald  Buddha

I call Ayumi’s office again, and he is in!  He is leaving Bangkok that night, however, and so cannot go sightseeing, but recommends the ‘Floating Market.’

I swim.  I call about a massage; all booked for the evening in the hotel.  I talk to concierge about sightseeing tours for the morrow.  He shows well-thumbed plastic sheet with various tours.  He says I would have to book this evening for tours leaving Saturday at 8 am.  I decide to go without the tour, and hope for company.

I ask about local massages along the small street.  The concierge tells me the massage businesses are trustworthy, and quotes a price.  The massage place I go into succeeds in convincing me of the value of a 2-hour massage.  It was great!  Every muscle was relaxed when I left at 11 pm.
 
Saturday

BREAKFAST

Most conferees have departed.  About ten people remain.  As I was about to consign myself to sightseeing alone, the South Africans arrive.

Shirley and I leave the hotel around 11 am, headed for the public transit a block away.   I want to take a boat ride on the river.  We get as far as the transit transfer; Shirley asks directions, and we get diverted to a private boat service.  Shirley negotiates price (“Don’t mention again that you have American dollars!” she tells me.)  The boat meanders; very crowded boats with outboard motors pass us.  We are happy.  Our guide stops so we can walk around the Temple of Dawn.  He leaves us at another landing, and I am not ready to return to the hotel and we accept the guidance of an enterprising woman to tour the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.

DINNER

Shirley and I returned to the hotel around 5 pm.  The sun was setting.  A loud thunderstorm hit.  We watched the concierge skillfully field questions about jewelry shopping.


I was hungry.  I had plans.

Shirley, also hungry, agreed to accompany me to dinner.

The cook at the street shop holds a root vegetable in one hand. He’s already peeled it.  The fruit is hard and white.  He cuts it by wielding a 5” bladed knife into it attacking on the point.

“I wonder what vegetable?” I ask Shirley.
“Zucchini?” she guesses.
‘No, it’s too hard.”

Finally her fish arrives, after the waitress took off on the bicycle and after profuse apologies for lateness.

The fish was large, flat, had been grilled; the meat was white.

 I swam, and slept, awakening to a breakfast of napkinned bread from the previous morning and yoghurt.

 RETURN

Ayumi, the gracious Japanese, had sent me email with his cell phone number, but I hadn’t checked my email all week.

Hot summer clothes

Summer is hot; what to wear?  In Japan, I often wear jinbei: shorts and a jacket.  My jinbei is red.  Women’s are brightly colored.

“That is for night wear at home,” a friend told me.  

But there are different opinions.

The jacket is closed by ties.  Therefore, I don’t wear it to sleep because the ties become undone and wrap around me.

Yesterday, I wore the jinbei to my piano lesson.

“Ah, a jinbei!” my piano teacher said.

“It is ok to wear outside?”

“Yes, yes,” she said.

At hearing her answer, I was relieved.

夏は暑いので、 何を着 ていいかわかりません。日本では、私はよく甚平を 着ていて。甚平は ショートパンツ と上着からなっています。私の甚平は赤い 。おんなものです。

「それは夜に着るものです」友達は　私に言った。

しかし、さまざまな意見があります。

甚平の上着はジッパーではなくひもで結びます。だから、 寝 ると、ほどけることがあります。だから私は寝る時には甚平を 着ません。

昨日私はピアノのレッスンに甚平を着て行きました。

「甚平ですが 」 と　ピアノの先生は 言った。

「それは外で着用しても大丈夫ですか。」

「はい、はい、」と彼女は言った。

 それを聞いて私は安心しました。

Fukushima report: feeling unsafe

I have never felt unsafe in Japan until now.

A Japanese report states the Fukushima nuclear disaster was not a natural catastrophe.

The damage was the result of collusion between the government and the electric power company.

I thought about the safety of Japan before I moved here from the United States. The Kobe earthquake occurred in January 1995. The subway sarin attack occurred in March 1995.   I was offered a job in Japan in 1996.  “There are earthquakes and terrorists in Japan,” I thought.  “But the chances are small that those dangers will affect me.”

I live in Kyoto, which borders Fukui, site of the restarted nuclear power plant.

私は今まで日本では危険を感じたことがありません。

日本の報告書は、福島県原子力災害が自然災害でなかったと述べています。

被害は、政府と電力会社との間のなれあいの結果であった。

私はアメリカから日本に移住する前に、日本が安全かどうかを考えた。阪神淡路大震災は1995年1月に発生した。地下鉄サリン事件は、1995年3月に発生しました。私は1996年に日本での仕事に誘われた。 「日本には地震とテロリストがありますが」と私は思った。 「しかし、それらの危険性が私に影響を与えることは少ない」。

私は京都府、つまり再起動された福井県原子力発電所の隣の県に住んでいます。

I'm lovin' it

I’M LOVIN’ IT

A Japanese colleague asked me to comment.

McDonald’s in Japan often says “I’m loving it” in its TV commercial.   According to a grammar book, “love” is usually not used as a present progressive form.  Here are examples of this type of verb used incorrectly.

 I am belonging to the music club.
 Lilies are smelling sweet.

Describing a mental state, these verbs can be used:  love, like, hate, know, believe
However, it is wrong to say, “I am liking hamburgers.”

Japanese students and their teachers wonder why McDonald’s says, “I’m loving it.”

Here are my comments about “I’m lovin’ it.”

First, consider grammar. The pronoun referent is unclear.  If “it” means “McDonald’s,” the sentence is acceptable.  Because of the ambiguity, the sentence sounds strange.  The strangeness is invaluable for advertising.  People remember the sentence.  People talk about the sentence.

Second, consider the strange bad grammar ubiquitous in English spoken as a second language, especially in Japan.  A tissue box proclaims, "HOXY will always offer you a rich and comfortable life with paper." A Toshiba desk lamp declares: "Makes a good idea cross your mind."

Finally, consider the source, a native English advertising campaign slogan.  Ignorance cannot be pleaded.  Inept translation cannot be pleaded. The result -- I’m lovin’ it-- is a great advertising slogan with sexual innuendo.

In conclusion, “I’m lovin’ it” is an original clever corrupt addition to the English language.

日本人の同僚は、コメントを私に尋ねた。

日本マクドナルドでは、しばしば、そのテレビコマーシャルで "I’m loving it" と言っています。文法書によると、 "love"は、通常現在進行形として使用されません。ここでは動詞のこのタイプの例をあげたいと思います。

私は音楽クラブに所属しています。 I am belonging to the music club.
 

ユリは甘い香りしています。 Lilies are smelling sweet.
 

精神状態を記述するこれらの動詞を使用することはできます。たとえば、愛する、好きです、嫌いです、知っている、信じているということはできます。

しかし、"私はハンバーガーが好き"とはいえません。

" I’m loving it ." --日本の学生とせんせいは　なぜマクドナルドがこのフレーズを使うのか

不思議に思っています。

ここに私のコメントを記しておきます。

最初に、文法を考えてみましょう。 "それ"ITが何を意味するかわかりませn。それが"マクドナルド"を意味するのであれば、文は文法的に正しいです。しかし、それば何を意味するかわからないので、文は奇妙に聞こえる。ストレンジネスは広告のために貴重です。人々は、文を覚えています。人々は文について話しています。

第二に、日本には奇妙な英語の広告が氾濫しています。ティッシュボックスは、 "HOXYは、常にあなたの紙と豊かで快適な生活を提供します。"東芝デスクランプが宣言： "良いアイデアがあなたの心を横切るようにします。"

最後に、奇妙なフレーズ、英語のネイティブの広告キャンペーンのスローガンを検討して見ましょう。ネイティヴが作った広告なので、英語にたいする無知はありえません。不適切な翻訳のせいにすることもできません。" I’m loving it "という広告の結果は、性的なほのめかしに満ちて素晴らしい宣伝スローガンである。

Annular eclipse: 21 May 2012

The weather had been cloudy so I hadn’t bought dark “eclipse glasses.”   However, Monday dawn was clear. At 6.30 I could hear neighborhood children in the street. The morning light dimmed about 7.00 as the eclipse began. In my room, I watched multiple shadows.  I went outside at about 7.20. 

I approached the group of kids and mothers.   The kids counted 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.  The partial eclipse was at 7.30.  It lasted several minutes.  The mother showed the kids the shadows from the tree leaves on the street.  “It’s everywhere,” I said. The children lent me eclipse glasses.  With the eclipse glasses, the red-orange ring could be seen around the black shadow of the moon.

数日間天気が曇りだったので  私は 日食メガネを買っていなかった.  しかし、月曜日は晴れだった。

6.30に、 通りで近所の子供達の声が聞こえる。７。００で、日食が始まったので、朝の光はちょっと黒くなった。部屋で、 私は日食の影を見ることができた。私は7時20分頃に外に行ってきました。

私は子供たちのグループと母親たちに近づいた。子供たちは10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1をカウントダウンをして数えた。日食のハイライトは7時30にあった。母親たちは木の葉から日食の影を路上に残し子供のそれを示した。 "それはどこでも見ることができる"と私は言った。子供達が貸してくれた日食グラスで、私は赤オレンジ色のリングを見ることができた。それは、月の黒い影の周りに見られた。

Darwin's Compass

17 May 2012 Blog.

Darwin’s compass

I teach a class about Darwin.  We are reading VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE.  We are at chapter 3.  Darwin shows South Americans a compass, a tool showing direction.  They are surprised and excited.  They show Darwin a tool for catching animals.  Darwin tries to use the bolas, a rope attached to two stones.  He ropes himself.  Everybody laughs.

“When did Darwin travel to South America?” I ask.

“1832,” a student says.

“When did the Black Ships of Perry open Japan?”

“Around 1860,” a student says.

The compass had been invented by 1860. Japanese ships were not allowed to cross the seas with a compass. Japan was closed.  Restriction of technology was effective.

Ideas are powerful.

2012年5月17日ブログ。

ダーウィンのコンパス

私は、ダーウィンについてのクラスを教える。我々は、ビーグル号航海記を読んでいます。我々は第3章を読んでいます。ダーウィンは南米に滞在中で、方向を示すツールであるコンパスを南米の人々に示しています。彼らは驚き、興奮しています。彼らは、ダーウィンに動物を捕獲するためのツールを見せています。ダーウィンは、ボーラスという動物を捕獲するツールをみて、二つの石に取り付けられたロープを使用しようとします。彼は自分自身をロープで捕獲したぼで、皆が笑う。

"ダーウィンはいつ南米に旅行をしましたか？"私は学生にたずねました。

"1832年、"と学生は言う。

"いつペリーの黒船は日本を開国しましたか？"

"1860年、"と学生は言う。

コンパスは、1860年までには発明されていた。日本の船はコンパスで海を渡ることは許されませんでした。日本は鎖国をしていました。技術の制限が有効であった。

Evolution versus Creationism

12 May 2012 Blog.

Evolution versus Creationism

I teach a class about Darwin.  Evolution explains change, Darwin said.

But creationism is right, 1/3 of the class said.

These students had reasons.

1. Recent research shows genetics of monkeys and humans are different.   Therefore, monkeys and humans cannot have a common ancestor.
2. The amoeba has one cell.  The condition has never changed.  This proves there is no evolution.
3. Nobody has seen evolution.
4. Japanese people study only evolution in school.   But creationism is a better theory.
5. God created evolution.
6. We cannot prove creationism is not true.

2012年5月12日ブログ。

進化対創造

私は、ダーウィンについてのクラスを教える。ダーウインは進化は、変化を説明すると言った。

しかし、創造論は正しいと、クラスの1/3は述べています。

これらの学生には理由があった。

1。最近の研究ではサルとヒトの遺伝子が異なっていることが分かっています。したがって、サルと人間は同じ祖先を持つことはできません。

2。アメーバは、1つのセルしかを持っていません。それは変化していません。そこには進化はみられません。

3。誰も進化を見たことがありません。

4。学校で日本人は進化論しか習いません。しかし、創造論は、より優れた理論です。

5。神が進化させました。

6。私たちは、創造論が真でないことを証明することはできません。

Teaching Darwin in Japan

27 April 2012

This year, I teach a class in Anglo-American culture.  I chose the subject of Darwin.  I chose the book about his sea trip.  It is a diary of a five year ship voyage from England to South America.

The students must have high English skills.  Each must have at least a 730 TOEIC score.

All students knew the name of Darwin.  All students knew he was famous for the idea of evolution.  None of the students had read Darwin.

The class plan is simple.  We read and discuss one chapter every week.

Darwin wrote about his observations in South America.

Groups of students present observations about Japan.

I have learned many things about Japan.

--Okinawan people live longest.

--Japanese monkeys don’t need long tails to swing from trees.  Monkeys travel safely on the ground.

--Very few Japanese prefectures are inland.

The class is fun for everyone, I think.

4月２７日

今年、私はアングロ·アメリカ文化のクラスを教える。私はダーウィンの主題を選んだ。私は彼の海の旅についての本を選びました。それはイギリスから南米までの5年間の航海日記です。

学生は、高い英語力を持っている必要があります。それぞれが少なくとも730 TOEICのスコアを持っている必要があります。

すべての学生は、ダーウィンの名前を知っていました。すべての学生は、彼が進化論で有名なをと知っていました。学生のいずれも、ダーウィンを読んでいませんでした。

クラスの学習計画は簡単です。 毎週1章を読んで話し合う。

ダーウィンは南米の彼の観察について書きました。

学生のグループは、日本についての観察を提示します。

私は日本について多くのことを学びました。
- 沖縄の人々は、日本で一番長生きです。
- 日本のサルは木にぶら下がる長い尾を必要としません。サルは地面を安全に移動する。
--ほとんどの日本の都道府県が海に面している。

授業は誰にとっても楽しいものです。

Japan Arms Export: Asia-Pacific Defense Forum

Here is my second story published by the news outlet sponsored by the United States Pacific Command.


Katzman's journalism