UPS vs USPS vs FedEx

５箱、荷物を送ることにした。ずっしり重い20～25キロで、本や服がぎっしり詰まっている。送るのはいいけれど、どの会社で送ろうか、悩んでしまった。ハワイから東海岸だと、海外からよりは安いけれど、やはり長距離設定。最近、日本の宅配便はすごくサービスがいいけれど、アメリカの宅配便はもっとドライ。

アメリカ国内のパッケージ配達では、郵便局であるUSPS (United States Postal Service)と、配達便会社のUPS (United Parcel Service)やFedExあたりが大手。どの会社も、陸路での配達サービスと、空路を使った速達サービスなど、どのくらい急ぎかによって価格設定の違うサービスがある。私の場合は、１～２週間は使わなくて済むものなので、陸路を使う１週間強での配達という、安めのもので比較した。

まずは各社のホームページを比較して検討する。UPSとFedExはこのランクでのサービスは似たような感じ。値段的にも、引き取りにする追加料金も、住居への配達追加料金も（ビジネスの住所だと安いのは、営業時間内は受け取る人が必ずいて、再配達になるリスクが低いから？）似たような感じ。

USPSは、この２つより安い。船も使ってしまういちばん安いやつはうんと安いけれど、何ヶ月も待つのはさすがに嫌なのでパス。箱で次に安いのはPriority Mailで、２～３日（経験上は３～５日）で着く上に安く、取りに来てもらっても無料。土曜日配達もあり、たくさんある郵便局のどこへでも転送してもらえて取りに行くのも楽チン。この条件はすごく嬉しいのだけれど、問題はトラッキングサービスがなく、荷物がどこにあるのか調べられないこと（倍の値段を出してExpressにしたらできるんだけど）。紛失もありうるらしい。

UPSとFedExの陸路サービス（Ground Service）は、陸路といってもハワイから西海岸まで飛行機の空きスペースで運んでしまうので、１週間もかからず、USPSのPriority Mailより気持ち高いだけ。トラッキングサービスが付いていて、荷物がどこにあるのかオンラインで確認できるから、紛失の心配は少し少ない。ただ、ここの問題は土曜日の配達がなく、集配所の数が少ない（取りに行くことにしたときに取りにいくところが遠い）こと。平日の昼間に家で荷物の待機を一日中するわけにはいかないので、受け取りが、ちょっと面倒。

値段はほとんど変わらないから、便利さを取るか、トラッキング機能を取るか。悩ましい！そこで、利用者の声をブログで調べてみると、UPSは海外から日本へ送った人のクレームはけっこうあったけれど（紛失、破損の場合の対処が遅いなど）、アメリカ国内ではそれほど問題なさそう。手渡しどころか玄関まで持ってこないで門の脇に置き去りにされた、などというビックリな体験も読んだけれど、配達員が相当の数をこなさなくてはならないかららしい。結局、トラッキングがほしいのと皆さんの体験を元にして、集配所の比較的近くにあるUPSにすることにしました。。。

ところで、あるブログに「USPSを省略してUPSと呼ぶこともある」というあり得ない説明が。いや、紛らわしいし、たぶん、わざと紛らわしくして知名度を上げてるんだけど、同一だと信じちゃう人がいたなんて。あんまり個人提供の情報って信じられないかも。

Viva recycling!

The place I have been using very often these days is a give-away shelf in my dorm. It's a place for recycling, and people leave things that others may be able to use. I started to leave more things I cannot bring with me.

In the past, I have picked up numerous things here. A pair of durable glass plates I have used for 3 years come from here, and so do a coffee mug, a pair of unworn socks, a dress, a shirt, an unworn T-shirt, a pair of sandals, file folders, an unopened bottle of Japanese noodle soup base, a bag of pasta, a box of teabags, bags of ramen noodles, boxes of cake mix, a bottle of oil... I must still be missing many items.

I had a box of academic books I could not bring with me. They were books in my field of study, but my focus had shifted and I didn't think I'd read them any more in the future. I tried to sell them, but there were newer editions of the books published, and the bookstores would not buy them. I though of donating to the library or reading room, but I got lazy. So the other day, I just left the books in a box at the bottom of the give-away shelf. As there were quite a few students in my dept. in the dorm, I just wished some of them might be picked up by those students.

After a couple of hours, I passed in front of the shelf, and I was so glad to see the whole box gone! Maybe it was a student interested in reading them all, or thought of taking the effort to give away..., anyway...

Viva recycling!

Pearl Harbor

I finally went to Arizona Memorial yesterday. It is the anniversary of the day in 1945 that the end of the war was announced.

As the Memorial opens at 7:30am, my friend and I arrived at around 7:20am. There were a few tour buses, and that was an indication that there'd also already be a looooong line. The line looked even longer than the one for attractions at Tokyo Disney Land. I thought I'd have to wait for a couple of hours. An attendant came to sell an audio tour, and I bought one. The admission is free, so $5 for more info should be justified. But the line moved rather fast as the first people start going in, we were able to get inside the visitors' center at around 8am.

Each person receives a ticket for the movie and boat on entering the visitors' center. Our tickets had about 40 minutes to wait, so we headed for a museum that was super crowded. With the audio tour, we looked at many pictures and artifacts - like the letters written by the victim of the attack. People were generally quiet in the museum and reading the signs and boards attentively. There was one older couple that were a little disturbing. The old man was preaching how many people were killed, and the old lady was saying that was a larger number than the 9.11, and she boasted that her relative was a victim of the Pearl Harbor attack. I felt disgusted, and moved to the other corner. In that corner, displayed was the Japanese aircrafts and aircraft careers. I thought it was good that information on both sides was provided.

The movie was a rather extensive documentary that lasted about 30 minutes. Some review said that the Japanese were depicted like a super terrible barbarians, but I didn't get that impression at all. I thought it was rather trying to be removed. I think the review came from the people who didn't understand the English narration.

The memorial was a short boat ride away. The white memorial is above the sunk USS Arizona. In the back is a room with all the names of the victims on the USS Arizona. There were gun spinner on the surface (left, picture), and oil still running from the battleship. The ship feels so real, but the memorial was so peaceful (although very windy as you can see in the picture). The contrast was surreal.

One thing I was surprised at there was that the place was so different from the other part of the island. The visitors there were at least 70 per cent white, and the second largest population was tourists from China, speaking Chinese among themselves. I think it was really a good place to visit, and I'd recommend Japanese tourists to go there too.

Pepsiからの葉書き

今日は、郵便受けにおもしろいものが届いていました。ことのはじめは１週間前。

そのうんと蒸し暑い日に、汗をかいて、今日はDiet Cokeが飲みたい！と思ったのです。寮の自販機にはDiet Pepsiのペットボトルがあるので、１ドル札を２枚入れて、Diet Pepsiのボタンを想いっきり押して。。。。

カラコロン、勢いよく落ちてくるはずなのに、あれ？もう一度押してもダメ。見ると、お選びになった商品は売り切れておりますので他のものをお選びください、との表示。仕方なく、すぐ隣りのPepsiボタンを押してもだめ。あれ？この機械、壊れてる？と思いながら、Tropicana Twisterというフルーツパンチを炭酸にしたやつを押したら、やっと出てきた。

お釣りも出てきたけれど、足りない！１ドル４０セントのペットボトルだから６０セント分のはずなのに、２５セントのQuarterと１０セントのDimeがひとつずつ出てきただけ、どうやらQuarterがひとつ、足りない様子。

寮のフロントデスクに行って事情を話すと、自販機に書いてある番号に電話するといいよ、という。受付のお兄さんによると、こういうのはよくあることらしく、自販機会社の人がわざわざ寮までQuarterのコイン１つ届けに来るんだと言う。えええっ、まさかあ、と思いながら、電話してみた。

電話すると、住所を聞かれて、郵便で送ります、という。封書の切手代は４１セント。Quarterを送ったら足が出てしまうじゃない、と不思議に思っていたら今日届いたのはこれ。

葉書きで、ご迷惑おかけしましたというお詫びの裏側は、Pepsiのどの種類でもOKのペットボトル（大）２リットルの無料引換券。なるほど、Quarterを送る切手代や人件費よりも、このほうが会社にはお金がかからないし、２リットルのボトルが無料でもらえればもらうほうも文句はない、というわけみたい。かしこいなあ。

これでしばらく分のDiet Pepsiが手に入ります。ちょっと時間がかかったけどね^-^;

Green Manoa

I am enjoying the green Manoa these days.

I went to Lyon Arboretum two days ago. I've wanted to go there a while ago, but was closed at that time for maintenance. Arboretum is a botanical garden of trees, and is in the deep deep Manoa, near Manoa falls. It is a facility of the University of Hawaii, and the admission is free (donation is accepted).

The arboretum was nicely maintained (even the grass lawn on the hill was mowed!), and is the right size for a walk. Walking in the tropical forest, feeling the shade, the moist, and life of the trees, it was really a relaxing time.

Yesterday, my friends at work took me to Wai'oli Tea Room also in Manoa for lunch. We sat outside in lanai, and the table was right by a little cute garden with a fountain. Surrounded by trees and plants, the tea room also gave such a relaxing moment. The food was really good too; especially the house coffee, curry soup and mango mousse - soooo smooth, soft, fresh, airy and tasty!

Walking on UH campus, I saw a big cannonball tree this morning. It had lots of canonballs and flowers were in bloom. Same one I saw at the Foster Botanical Garden when my family visited for my graduation. I was surprised that I had such one this close...

Peace Month

August is a month of remembrance.

August 6, 1945 is the day the atomic bomb was dropped in Hiroshima, August 9, 1945 is the day of Nagasaki, and August 15, 1945 is the day Japan surrendered. Although these days are remembered in Japan and the news cover the front page, it is almost unknown here in the US. (Photo from www.reuters.com)

My dad and his team mates are running "Peace Run" starting today (August 6) in Hiroshima and finishing in Nagasaki on Aug 9. It is not a race but a run to remember the victims of the atomic bombs and pray for peace. He is posting updates on his blog, found here. (Sorry, Japanese language only)

Very recently I watched the DVD of the movie "Pearl Harbor." It is a fictional love story, with a background of the Pearl Harbor attack. I can understand the anger of the Americans, especially from the point of view of the common people who lost their friends and family in the surprise attack. And It is a love story anyway, so it doesn't make sense to criticize it for its one-sidedness.

One reason I watched the movie is because I've finally decided to visit Pearl Harbor before I leave Hawaii. It is one of the famous sites on this island, and I haven't been there yet. It is sort of a place that I have hesitated to visit as a Japanese national. I browsed some Japanese visitors' blog entries and diaries, and they reinforced my apprehension. They wrote that the film that was shown before entering the museum portrayed Japan as an evil enemy, and they felt that the white American tourists on the same boat seemed to stare sternly at the Japanese tourists there. These episodes do make me conscious of myself. And I hate to see "a history" presented as "the history"; there are numerous histories experienced by numerous people who lived that time. Well, living here for four years and never visiting is not a good idea. So I made up my mind.

I'm planning on visiting after the week of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, though. It is true that it may be appropriate to visit the site that the war started, in the very week we remember the end of the war. But Pearl Harbor seems to be a place Americans remember themselves as victims. If I get the message too strongly that Japan is the evil and America is a victim, in this very memorial week of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I may resist strongly and start criticizing Americans for not even knowing it is the memorial week, and that America too has done such inhumane damage and killed over 200 thousand civilians. It's just a sentiment that I want to reserve this week to remember the victims in Japan. The week after, I will listen to voices of the victims in Pearl Harbor and pray for the world with no war...

飯炊き女

今日の私は飯炊き女です。。。文字通り。
というのも、引越しを３週間後に控え、炊飯器を引越し荷物に入れてしまいたいから。

あと３週間、まだご飯は食べたいからギリギリまで片付けられないかも、と思ってたのですが。
３週間分炊いて冷凍しとけばいいんだ！と気づいたので、おとといからせっせとご飯を炊き始めました。

私の炊飯器は一人用の３合炊き。一度に２合程度までがおいしいと言われたので２合ずつ。
おととい２合、昨日２合、そして、今日は２合を４回、これで合計１２合。
プラスチックのリサイクル米びつ（海苔の入れ物だった）に残ってたお米ぜーんぶ。
これだけあったら３週間余裕でしょう。

炊飯器くん、ベーシックなタイプでタイマーなんてないので、お米を洗うのと炊飯スイッチと、いっぺんいっぺん４階のお部屋から１階のキッチンまで階段で往復。なかなかの運動です。。。

たった今最後のお米とぎを終え、米びつを「ご自由にどうぞ」コーナーへ寄付してきました。ふうう。

Airmail from the East Coast

Someone thinks Hawaii is international...

I just got a letter from the East Coast (where I'm moving in about three weeks), and on the envelope was a handwritten and underlined Air Mail on top. Well, I think this person might not have known that Hawaii is a 50th state.

Maybe that's understandable. Long time ago, when I first came to Hawaii, I also did ask at the hotel how much the postage was to the mainland US after how much the local postage was. I thought the postage would be higher to send outside of the state. I didn't know that all the mails were to be sent and sorted in Washington, D.C....