Sayonara Jimmy
We recently bid farewell to our man in Haibara, Jimmy. On the auspicious day of Friday, May 13 the Haibara members hosted a rocking and heartfelt farewell party in Kakegawa. We had a good time feasting on Korean food then after some of us bid our final farewells over drinks at a local watering hole.
And now, a final message from the man himself...
To My Former FIA Trainers,
I’d just like to say thanks for the 2 years that I have gotten to know all of you. Also, much “Mahalo” (Thank you) to those of you who made the trip out to Kakegawa to attend my farewell party with my fellow OJT members. Really appreciated that!
I also would like to say thanks to the new trainer at Haibara, Matthew! Although it was only a short time in getting to know you, it was great meeting you and I am very happy to know you will be taking over for me at Haibara factory. I hope you’ll have a good time in getting to know the wonderful people there. Best of luck to you!
Although FIA had been going through some hard times this past year, I am hopeful that things will pull through and get better in this upcoming year. Wishing all of you the best, whether it be with FIA or whatever each of you may eventually pursue for your future. Ahui Ho! (Until we meet again !)
The Great Canadian Trek
By Lonnie
Since the World was going to end on the 21St of May, I figured I ought to make a last trip to Canada, and considering my bags would already be packed for Armageddon, I jumped at the chance. It was a long 3-year wait, but I was finally heading back to the land flowing with rivers of maple syrup and where your weekend activities may involve some form of bear wrestling. I was off to show the family my newest creation; a 7kg, bald, and continuously pooping 5 month old that has forever changed my life. By ‘changed’, I mean literally changing diapers every 5 minutes. I sometimes wonder if it would be easier to just let her do her business on the floor and mop-up later. My wife has a different opinion which I am striving to alter. The flight to Canada proved to be less of a hassle than I had anticipated. Aside from the constant pooping, she slept like a sh#tty smelling Angel.
Our first stop was Kelowna. The jet lag was pretty horrendous but was easily remedied with a case of Canadian beer. I savored every moment I had with my dear friends Kokanee and Alexander Keith’s. I even put aside my dearest friend Lefty to enjoy the mighty Canadian brew (Lefty, you may remember from my last article). It seemed as though I had a bottle in my hand at every turn, which proved dangerous behind the wheel. After a quick visit with the old man and a game of golf, we were off to our next destination, Grande F#$kin’ Prairie. (The F#$kin’ was placed for added emphasis on my hatred for this town). If it were not for my mother, sisters and a few slow friends, I would never set foot in that town again. I did, however, have a fantastic visit with my family. We did not stay long in Grande F#$kin’ Prairie as I was in dire need of clothes and other such materials that are difficult for a large ‘round eye’ to find in Japan. We headed to West Edmonton Mall, no ‘F#$kin’ emphasis needed here as my wife and I love this place. We spent two nights at the luxurious West Edmonton Mall Hotel so we could simply wake up and shop. And shopping I did, I now have enough clothes to last until the next predicted Armageddon. I was also able to visit many of my friends in Edmonton that have also made the life altering exodus from Grande F#$kin’ Prairie. We shared many laughs recounting the trials and tribulations we endured during our young adolescence, lost to such a wasteland. Who could forget the time we spent swimming in brown F#$kin’ rivers with leeches stuck to our nether regions, ahhhh memories.
The rest of our trip was spent cursing the snow that seemed forever to lie upon our feet. I shall take a moment to post a message to Canada. ‘Dear Canada, if it were not for your 8 months of winter and a beaver for a mascot, I perhaps would never have left your bountiful bosom. But, here I am in a new magical land of raw fish, natto and a sense of hostility towards me from purple haired old ladies at every corner. Please change thy ways so that I may return someday to play reasonably priced golf and wrestle bears that are over 4.3 feet tall.’ Thanks to global warming and the postponement of the apocalypse, I may someday soon get my wish!
What's Happening in June...
The Rainy season is coming! Are you prepared? What are you favourite ways to spend the rainy days?
Got a good book you’re reading? Good movie to recommend? Share them in next month’s newsletter!
Technology making your work easier
by Brian
www.fia-first-hand.com
Have you ever had trouble finding that one OJT document that you needed quickly?
Ever wanted to ask your fellow trainers a question or hada great lesson plan to share?
Do you know that member who borrows Rhythm Training CDs and never returns them?
Would you like to streamline your member reports and attendance reports?
Then the revamped and always evolving FIA First Hand website is your answer! Have you visited the First Hand website recently? There have been a lot of updates and changes to make the website more useful and more informational. Changes such as an online documents area where trainers can download, and upload, common documents such as the Member Progress Reports forms, a business syllabus to use in your classes and many more useful documents.
Another test project currently underway is the online Rhythm Training section where students can listen and download RT discs and play them right from the web. A great way to not have to worry about discs not being returned! Also we are currently testing an online RTO where trainers can easily submit an RTO online.
Another great area is the trainer forum section where trainers can post comments, questions, or ideas about anything. Get a discussion going about the best sushi restaurant in Japan or discuss the use of the present progressive tense of ‘be’! It’s a great way to share ideas!
Other projects that are set for the future are a members’ area where we could integrate the website into the OJT program as a place where students can ask questions to trainers and other students, do homework or other exercises, and also combine it with the MATE program giving students a chance to email other trainers within FIA.
Please check out the new web site and try out some of the features for yourself! It is always a work in progress so if you see any problems or have any ideas to improve the site your comments are always welcome! See you on the First Hand website!
Making More Sense
By Joe
Last month I shared some information about the various types of radiation and I wanted to continue this month by trying to shed more light on the measurement of it. It seems that every piece of news I read about the levels of radiation was written in the most exaggerated way. If a reading is a million times higher than its normal level then surely it must be dangerous. However if you start with a miniscule fraction, say 0.000,001, and multiply it by a million, you still only get 1. So it’s important to understand the scales and measurements we are talking about.
Sievert – This is the primary unit we have seen for radiation which is a biological rate of exposure to radiation. This means that you would usually hear a number of sieverts per hour or day or year. An average reading for Shizuoka city is between 0.0281 and 0.0765 microsieverts per hour. The highest level of background radiation seen in Shizuoka because of Fukushima was 0.0887 microsieverts per hour. That’s 0.000,000,028,1 Sieverts per hour.
Becquerel – This is the other main unit used for measuring radiation which is defined as the activity of radioactive material in which one nucleus decays per second. Often you will see Geiger Muller tubes set to read counts per minute or per second which can be readily converted to becquerels. For us the drinking water radiation levels have always been displayed using these units.
A lot of the scare has been caused because we have levels set by the ALARA method (As Low As Reasonably Achievable) which have little relation to what actually harms us and what we can withstand normally. These levels were set after witnessing the tragic scenes of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But since radiation is always present in our lives it’s important to know what an acceptable level of exposure is and what limits have been reached here.
250 millisieverts in single dose (0.25 sieverts) is the minimum level at which you will start to feel the effect of radiation sickness. That said, we can be exposed to much higher doses than this in certain situations. Cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy often receive doses over 50 sieverts, a fatal amount, but because it is concentrated in the cancerous tissue, they stand a good chance of surviving. Now if we take the dose gradually over a long time it becomes more dangerous and more difficult to understand.
100 millisieverts per year is the minimum level at which an increase risk of contracting cancer has been proven. This increase in risk is 0.5%. This means that your risk of contracting cancer later in life (which is normally at 20-25%) has gone up to 20.5 to 25.5%. Now the average for us is about 4 millisieverts per year from background radiation (living within 50 miles of Hamaoka = 0.9 microsieverts per year), food (one banana = 1 microsievert) and so on. Smokers should take note that a 30 a day habit gives a dose ranging from 13 to 60 millisieverts per year, a significant increase in exposure.
But to try and give back a sense of ease, the most recent data, as of 25th May 2011 shows a reading of 1.6 microsieverts per hour in Fukushima city. This converts to 14 millisieverts per year and is steadily decreasing every day.
Thanks to … Jimmy, Lonnie, Brian W.(!), Joe and Iida-san from Haibara (for a group picture) for contributing to this month’s information extravaganza.
Don’t forget, if you have something to share, you too can become immortalized in print and on the net by sending stuff to: fiappcom@yahoo.com
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