We’ve gone through all the preparation of visas, the planning, the Russian language study, and finally we’re ready for the big trip.  

Friday night I had a drinking party that I somehow survived without too much damage, and so we got up at the crack of dawn on Saturday and loaded our suitcase into the car. 

It was an easy drive to Kobe airport, an easy ride across the bay on the ferry, and we had no problems catching our departing flight to Seoul on time. 

We flew on Korean airlines the first two legs of the trip, so it was natural to spend some time at the airport at Incheon.  It is a big airport, but it does tend to repeat with the same pattern of duty-free stores and restaurants, terminal after terminal.  We had some good food for lunch – I had braised kimchee with a fried pork cutlet in a fish soup, and Kuniko went with the old favorite – Bibimbap.  The kimchee was free for the taking on the table, sitting at room temperature – that was a little surprising.  We had a couple of beers, and then went down to the gate and boarded our plane for Moscow. 

The plane had an extra 40 minutes waiting time before pulling away from the gate.  The announcement said that there was heavy congestion over China, but I don’t know what that really means.  

Once we actually left it was a very smooth nine hour flight to Moscow.  The entertainment system was quite good, and with plenty of movies and music to keep us occupied we didn’t need to even open a book.  

Once we arrived at Sheremetyevo Airport, one of the three international airports surrounding Moscow, we lined up in a very slow immigration line.  It might be the longest we’ve ever waited for immigration. The other passengers were starting to get impatient.  Once we finally got our turn, the immigration agent gave Kuniko lots of extra questions.  I was starting to get worried, but they finally let her pass in.  I went through without even one question.  Weird.

I had arranged with a taxi company to pick us up, but when we got into the arrival terminal there was nobody waiting for us at all.  We waited for a few minutes, but figured that they went ahead and took someone else – between the long wait for departure and the long immigration line we must have been more than an hour late.  Luckily it was no problem to get another taxi from the official taxi stand.  The prices were marked and I got a receipt in advance so no problems with negotiation and shady drivers.  It was about double the price of the taxi that I had arranged, but I guess you get what you pay for.

It was only about a 30 minute drive to our hotel since there was no traffic at all.  The hotel was located a short walk from Red Square, called the St. Regis Hotel.  It turned out to be a great location, and it was a really nice hotel.  Kuniko hit a home run with this place. 

After checking in and dropping off our bags we took a short stroll to Red Square.  The temperature was perfect – a little cool and very dry.  It was a big difference from the hot wet summer we left behind in Japan.  

In Red Square we got our first look at St. Basil’s Cathedral.  This was the main attraction for Kuniko and we took lots of pictures of it.  It was just as beautiful and impressive as the guidebook photos.   Red Square itself was quite large, and we could easily see Lenin’s Tomb, several other churches, the walls of the Kremlin, and a big shopping center.  Later we’d have time to explore in more detail, but for now we were happy to enjoy the experience of being in the center of Red Square.

Because it was so far north it stayed light out for a long time, so we could explore the area around our hotel.  Everything in Moscow was on such a big scale – the roads, the buildings, everything.  The main road surrounding central Moscow had 5 lanes going each direction, which made crosswalks impractical.  Instead we found that you need to find underground crossings and travel on foot that way.  

At this time of night there were a lot of young people out and about, and you could feel the kind of nightclub culture that some big cities have.  We found a “beer restaurant” that had a huge patio area with outdoor dining, and so we sat down and luckily got handed an English/Russian menu.  

With our Russian beers we had some pelmeni (dumplings stuffed with meat) and also some fish cakes that did a good job absorbing all the beer.  Since we had spent a very long day traveling it was good to slow down and soak in the city.  We tried some Russian phrases with the staff, but they looked too busy to tell us what we were doing wrong, so we gave up and just used English.  Later we had more success with Russian.

After our beer and snacks we suddenly felt super sleepy.  Maybe the adrenaline and excitement of arrival in a new city wore off, so we made our way back to our hotel to crash.  Thanks to the long flight and the time difference we ended up having a very long Saturday.

The last week before a vacation is the absolute worst time to catch a cold.  I catch a cold on average just once or twice a year, so the odds are pretty slim.  Still, I try to do everything I can to avoid it in the weeks leading up to departure.  

From last week a lot of my students started to catch colds as the weather turned from rainy season to hot summer.  Last weekend I started to get the little dryness in the back of my throat that usually means a cold is coming.  From then I started gargling more, washing my hands twice as often, and I stopped riding the exercise bike every night to give my body a chance to concentrate on fighting the cold.

Luckily my efforts have seemed to pay off.

We are on target for a flight out early on Saturday morning.  Yesterday, today and tomorrow have been filled with little odd jobs to get done before we leave.  Friday I have one last drinking party with some coworkers, and then we’re off. 

The drinking party will be held at a restaurant called Sake Yashiro which literally translates to “The Shrine of Sake”.  I’ll have to be careful not to anger the gods of booze on Friday.

Today at work I had a couple of cancellations from two students back to back, and so I find myself with a little free time at lunch.  Why not do a little catch up blogging?

Here in Japan summer is really setting in.  We’re talking about the hot, wet and sticky that I had almost forgotten from last year.  We are struggling to find the best settings on our bedroom air conditioner to cool us down and keep us both comfortable while we sleep.  Usually we set a timer so that the AC kicks off a few hours after we go to sleep, but inevitably I wake up a little sweaty now and then.  I shower and go to work, but 30 minutes into my commute I’m all sweaty again.  Luckily I’m the only one in my office so I can completely control the air conditioner.  Power!

Last week I had the whole week off, and I spent most of that time staying inside, playing video games, riding the exercise bike, and doing preparation for our upcoming trip.  Kuniko and I went out for dinner a couple of times, we watched some movies together,  and really got to spend a lot of quality time together.  We had a great Korean dinner with friends in Osaka on the eve of the Tenjin matsuri, which was quite good timing.  We also had an anniversary dinner at Chiro in Akashi to celebrate our tenth year together (on paper).  The real celebration will actually be in November, but this was a nice way to remember that fateful day when we walked into the city office and filled out some forms.

So now we’re working through the heat, with just two weeks of work between the two summer holidays it is hard to stay focused on the job and not think too much about upcoming vacations.  

This weekend on Saturday we are planning to take Kuniko’s folks with us out to Okayama to visit Kuniko’s sister and our new nephew.  This’ll be our first time to see the little squirt – I hope he’s up for a visit from the wild relatives…

It is just about the middle of July, and finally it has started to get hot, rainy and humid.  Usually all the rain happens in June, and by July it is just hot and humid, but for some reason this year we’re getting the tail end of the rainy season combined with the stickiness of summer.  

Boo-yah.

I’m wrapping up a pretty busy week, and getting ready for a relaxing weekend.  We don’t have any plans other than catching a movie on Saturday evening.  I’m looking forward to the free time, but because of the weather it will mostly be spent inside.  Actually, most of my weekends for the next two months will be inside, come to think of it.

Next week is my last week of work before nine days off!  We’ve got some anniversary events planned, and also I may escape to Fuji Q Highlands if I can get away for a day or so.  For some reason July is full of social events for us, so I’ll have to start training up my liver to deal with it!

Usually we don’t get into Osaka very much.  Despite being the third largest city in Japan, and being just a 45 minute train ride from our home, we don’t have much need for it since Kobe pretty much has everything we want and it is only 20 minutes from our place.

But sometimes there are things that only Osaka can provide.  

Monday night after work I met Kuniko in Osaka station.  When I came out of sakurabashi gate in the station, she was there waiting and it was once again one of the moments when she catches me off guard and I do a double take, because I can’t believe the beautiful woman waving at me is actually my wife.  

We walked through the underground walkways that make up the catacombs of the Osaka Umeda area, which is nice because even on rainy days you can walk through the city without getting wet.  Kuniko led me up and out on the street to a little restaurant that she had researched for tonight.  It was kind of a Spanish/Italian tapas bar with an emphasis on vegetables, and it was very good. The atmosphere was nice, too – good music and a dark restaurant on a busy street.  They got the European feel just about right, too.  The place was empty on a Monday night, so the service was prompt.

After catching up on our day over tapas and Cava we hit the road and went to our next stop, the Ritz Carlton hotel.  Kuniko’s friend and former co-worker does some jazz singing at the hotel lobby lounge, and so we went in and grabbed a table with a good view of the piano and stage.  Her name is Eppi Esperanza, and she’s got a single on iTunes if you want to check out her music.  She introduced her pianist, a Japanese guy who did his best to play some of Kuniko’s requests.  Eppi’s voice was quite nice, and she started out with a husky-voiced rendition of Etta James’ “At Last”.  Her voice reminded me a lot of Norah Jones, but she also had a song in Spanish that I really liked. Her performance and stage presence were worthy of the Ritz Carlton, that was for sure.

  
While we watched we split a cheeseburger and we each had a glass of red wine with our (second) dinner. We wanted to spend a little money there to let the management know that Eppi’s friends were bringing in business.  Between songs Eppi chatted with us, and after the set she came over to take some pictures with us and talk some more.  

After that we decided that we had stayed out quite late enough for a school night, and so we made our way back to the train station.  We passed big tents and temporary restaurants that had been erected for the summer beer garden season.  There is big money in summer beer drinking in Japan, and it is really on display in downtown Osaka.

Kuniko bought me Tuesday’s lunch at the Ritz Carlton gourmet shop, so I’m looking forward to a nice quiche today at lunchtime, with a macaroon or two for dessert.  It’s nice to live the good life once in a while!

I thought I should pop in here and post a quick update.  The last month has been pretty busy with work, but I think I’ve started settling into a more comfortable routine.  The real ordeal last month was a toothache that was getting worse and worse.  I went into the dentist three times before he found what was wrong – underneath one of my old fillings was some decay that had gotten bad enough to cause the pain and headaches.  He did a root canal, but two more visits later and I was still in remarkable pain.  I was taking about 12 ibuprofen a day, combined with a slug of whiskey before bed to help me sleep – seriously bad news.

I finally ended up taking a day off of work to have the dentist take one last shot before I fired him and moved on to a specialist.  Luckily on that day he found a completely different cavity on a different tooth, and after giving me another root canal on the other tooth the pain completely disappeared.  For the first time in what seems like years I can drink a glass of cold liquid without having any pain.  My ibuprofen count went back down to zero and things are getting back to normal.  I still need to get crowns for the two teeth, and before that I have to let some temporary medicine sit inside the empty teeth to completely disinfect the teeth before sealing them up.  That means chewing on only one side of my mouth, but I am getting used to it.  Hopefully I’ll have the crowns in place before our trip in August.

Today after work I’ll join a farewell party for Mr. Watanabe in the human resources department.  He was one of the first contacts I had with the company, and it’ll be sad to see him go.  He is leaving Kawasaki and moving to Tokyo to work for another company – which is a rare career move in Japan.  I hope he’ll be happier in Tokyo but we’ll miss him around here. He is a very good worker.

Kuniko has a party tomorrow night, and she’ll be working on Saturday, but we are planning to go to the Osaka Ritz Carlton on Monday night to see one of her ex-coworkers singing jazz in their bar.  I’m hoping they sound something like Sausalito from “Lost in Translation”.

These days I am teaching a couple of new kinds of classes.  One is actually not a class, but really more of an opportunity for people to come in and chat with me and other students in English.  It is called “English Cafe”, and we even have some coffee, tea and snacks to make the name more or less true to the experience.

This week I’ve done two sessions – both of which I consider a qualified success.  Tomorrow I have the last one of this week.  I like the free coffee, but I realized this event will really increase my calorie count every week.  Maybe I can do sit ups while I talk with the students?

The other class I started was an email writing class.  The students came in, and I think they got more than what they were expecting.  One of the HR people gave a short speech in English explaining that the company expects them to do all communication in the class using English.  That means all the writing, and all the speaking during class time.  I could see a look of shock on some faces – it was the last thing that they were expecting.  Some of the students have been in my class before and were ready for it.  Some of the newbies I will have to watch closely in the future for signs of surrender.  

This weekend Kuniko is working on Saturday, but we’re hoping to go out to dinner somewhere Saturday night after she gets off of work.  The sky is really the limit since our restaurant zone has expanded to Osaka.  We’ll just have to see what we’re craving on Saturday and go with the flow…

I’ve been plugging along here at work, getting ready for a little change of pace in my courses starting next month.  I’ll begin to teach a business e-mail writing course to a small group of students once a week.  It’ll be a good way to stretch my teaching skills a little since it isn’t as much of a student-centered class as my one-on-one classes are.  I’ve got a curriculum and outline put together, and now I’m just filling in the details of the class flow.  

Also next month we’ll start a little experiment where I work – an “English Cafe”.  It sounds more stylish than reality – but I’ll be spending some time before and after work in a classroom in different parts of the factory, and we’re hoping that people will drop in and spend some time talking to me in English.  If lots of people stop by then we’ll see about extending the chance, but if it is just me alone then it’ll be a great chance for me to do deskwork.  Either way I get paid overtime rates so I have nothing to complain about.

The weather here in Japan has been steadily warming up.  For the first time last night I had to turn on the air conditioner while I rode the exercise bike.  The rainy season should kick in next month, and then after that it’ll be heat and humidity for three or four months.  I’m ready to sweat off some pounds!

Last week we enjoyed a long holiday – called Golden Week in Japan.  The bad news with Golden Week is that everyone celebrates it at the same time, which means any kind of travel will be about four times as expensive.  In addition, there are lots of traffic jams all over and domestic tourist destinations are filled to capactity.  

Originally my parents had planned on coming to visit during this time, but they had to change their plans, and so Kuniko and I had a wide open schedule.  

The weather cooperated with our easy-going plans, and we spent a lot of time outside.  We took several walks out to the beach to sit in the shade of the palm trees and watch the ocean.  I discovered a brewery making local craft beers not far from the beach, so that was worth a couple of visits.  We bought a couple of folding wooden chairs at IKEA, so we could sit out on our patio in the late afternoon and sip drinks and watch the sun go down. 

We also spent a couple of evenings at the Yamaji’s place.  They also like to eat and drink outside while the weather is good, and so we went over to play with their kittens, as well as eat good food and meet Yuki’s girlfriend.  

Towards the end of the long holiday we did some gardening out front, and I think it turned out pretty well.  An old tree that didn’t quite make it was removed, and now it has a much better look.  The Yamaji’s dropped by while we were working to take a look.  Their yard sets the standard for the neighborhood, so I was happy to hear their approval.  Mr. Yamaji offered the use of his power washer in the future, so I might take him up on that once the weather heats up even more. 

Finally we were able to get a lot of other things done, a trip to Costco, a couple of BBQ nights, lots of lesson planning, some video gaming, exercise every day, and a couple of trips to Osaka for nightlife. 

In Kobe my Japanese visa was approved for another five years, so it’ll be nice not to worry about that until the Olympics roll around in 2020.

I also applied for our Russian visas, which was an ordeal for me as an American but a piece of cake for Kuniko since she is Japanese.  Hopefully we’ll get approved in a couple of weeks.  The Russian consular building was a story in itself, and I’ll go into that more later (like, after our visa approval).  

So now I’m back to work on a very regular schedule, and I don’t have any extra classes so I can concentrate on exercise and cooking in the evenings.  I’ll be on this schedule until the middle of July, so it’ll be nice to settle into a routine.

We had quite a weekend.  It all started on Friday night, when we agreed to meet up with the Yamaji’s in Osaka after work.  Mr. Yamaji used to spend quite a bit of time in Osaka and he wanted to introduce us to a tachinomi (standing restaurant/bar) in Umeda.  Friday actually turned out to be a very busy time in Osaka.  It was the first payday for all the new employees in Japanese companies, so lots of younger folks were out burning their first paycheck on drinks with friends.  

We followed Mr. Yamaji to the tachinomi restaurant, and after a brief wait outside we were able to stand at the counter and get started.  The place served kushi-katsu, fried food on sticks, along with plenty of cold beer.  The frier was right in front of us, so we could watch the guy cooking for a crowded restaurant in the heart of one of Japan’s biggest cities.  It was a really cool experience.  

We ate a lot of sticks – fried tuna, chicken, lotus root, chikuwa, kisu, tomato and basil, pork, cheese, shumai, and a few more that I forget.  After dinner Mr. Yamaji said, “Just one more drink” and so we followed him to the Kita Shinchi area of Osaka.  It is kind of the traditional nightlife and entertainment district of Umeda, and it was full of older guys drinking with younger ladies, and big money changing hands like back in the days of the bubble economy.   I didn’t realize it at the time, but we had been there once before last year to eat yakiniku and meet Ai-chan’s husband for the first time. It is an interesting place to hang out – and it kind of puts Kobe’s Higashi-mon street to shame.  

Our destination was a snack/restaurant that is owned by one of the Yamaji’s friends.  We had met her once before – she came to a party at the Yamaji’s house and was introduced as a sommelier at a restaurant.  On Friday night she produced a bottle of Zinfandel from California, so she knew what we liked.  It was a really nice wine.  While we were there the other customer in the place came over to have his picture taken with us, while he wore a rubber horse head mask.  Kind of surreal. 

Another one of the Yamaji’s friends, a sushi master from a nearby restaurant, dropped by with a box of sushi for us to enjoy.  We had met him before as well, and it was good to see eveyone again in such a unique place.  

Finally, we wrapped things up and caught a train back to Okubo.  I think everyone was sleepy from the long work week and the late night of eating and drinking, but it was a great time out.  

We managed to sleep in a bit on Saturday but in the evening we went over to the Fukumi’s for dinner, and were also joined by the Yamaji’s.  Party, party.

Before going over Kuniko and I decided that we would try to leave as early as possible – the Fukumi’s have a kid now, and previously while over at their place we kind of wrapped things up early.  They don’t drink so much, and we had partied pretty hard on Friday, so all signs pointed to a short night.  

But we were wrong.

Sayaka prepared a really good dinner – Russian cuisine.  We had piroshkis, borscht, a Russian beet salad, a potato cassarole with a rich beef sauce, and even a Georgian wine on the side.  It was damn good.  The Fukumi’s also had a box of Every Flavor Beans from USJ, and those were a big hit.  I liked the vomit flavored one, and the sausage one was good too.  While we ate everyone kind of rotated playing with Hiroka-kun, and he was having a great time.  We went through lots of wine bottles – I think when we finally left after two am there were eight empty bottles lined up.  Mr. Fukumi was down for the count, and everyone was feeling no pain.  Time to go home and take some aspirin!

Sunday we watched some movies at home, one of which was called “The World’s End” which I enjoyed immensely. It has been a while since a movie caught me by surprise like that. Highly recommended! We also did some chores but mostly took it easy to recover from the wild party.  It was a comparatively mellow day, and I think we needed it.  Our livers have been working overtime lately, so I think we’ll have to take it easy this week and next.  Luckily we don’t have any parties scheduled in the near future.  

This week I have to work only three days, and then I get eleven days off for Golden Week.  We’re trying to think up stuff to do during the Golden Week holidays, but I think our top priority is gardening and relaxing.  Can’t wait for the long holiday!

It has been a little while so I thought I should check in on the blog and give a quick update.  April is a busy month for Human Resources at my company.  During this month all the interdepartmental and intercompany transfers kick in, and also it is the first month of work for newly hired employees fresh out of university. 

I always start a new term in April, so we have to line up students and get them used to the course system and flow, and also we have to close the previous fiscal year and so some reports need to be published in English, and I always seem to catch a little work checking documents for people in between my regular classes. 

Phew!  That’s a lot to do.  Luckily next month should be much more sane.  

Yesterday I taught two special classes to the new employees, and also gave most of them an interview test to get an idea of their English speaking ability.  This term the overall ability was pretty high, but we’ll need to work on the business side of their English, which seems to be lacking.  I had fun teaching the classes, though.  One student described a tomato plant he bought and put in his dormitory room.  He is now living far from his family in Fukuoaka, so he said that the tomatoes are his family to keep him company.  I asked him if he was planning on eating his family, and he proudly said yes.  

This weekend we’re going over to have dinner at the Fukumi’s place.  Last weekend everybody got together for an impromptu party at the Yamaji’s, so I don’t think we’ll have too much new to talk about, but it should still be fun.  I’m going to try to eat and drink less than last weekend – I woke up with a serious hangover on Sunday and it pretty much knocked me out for most of the day.  I guess I can’t party like a rockstar anymore…

It feels like it has been a long time since I’ve blogged, so I better get back to it.  

Last weekend was a pretty social weekend for us.  We were invited by the Yamaji’s to their house for a lunch BBQ with some other guests.  The Fukumi’s were there, but also some of Mr. Yamaji’s staff and coworkers.  His company is apparently doing well.  It was nice to meet everyone, and luckily the weather cooperated and we could sit in the the sunshine outside and enjoy the day. 

In the evening we had the Takeda’s over for dinner.  It was the first time that we had seen them since 2009, and they looked happy and healthy.  The kids had grown up a lot, and we had fun with them playing Jenga in the living room.  The Takeda’s also like to drink wine and eat lots of food, so we got along really well.  They are moving into a new place soon, so we’re looking forward to visiting them and checking out their digs in the future.  

This week I’ve got a pretty regular routine at work, with a couple of interviews of new employees and a lesson with the VP.  Next week should also be pretty normal, but after that I only work three days before Golden Week starts.  We’ve got a pretty wide open schedule during Golden Week, so we’ll probably end up cleaning up our front yard, pulling weeds, and drinking lots of sparkling wine.  I’ve got some good books to read, too, so there is a lot to look forward to.  

Today at work I’ll meet the last of my new students, and my routine at work should start to become a little more clear.  So far I really like the students I have met, and I’m looking forward to watching their speaking skills develop over the next six months.

This term I’ll be teaching a business email course, and I have this month to plan the curriculum and activities for the students.  It will be good to try out a new course, and part of the design of the course will be lots of homework for the students.  I have to put my thinking cap on to come up with some challenging assignments that will work for all students across all departments.  

This weekend we’re signed up for a drop in lunch at the Yamaji’s on Saturday.  They have some new kittens and I’m hoping to get some playing time with them.  Kuniko is very allergic so there is no chance of taking one home.  It is like risk-free kittens.  I heard the master of Paddy (formerly Red Spanky) will be there too, so it’ll be nice to see him in a smoke-free environment.  We’re hoping the weather is good enough for sitting outdoors.

After lunch we’re hosting the Takedas.  Mr. Takeda was one of my students back when I taught at Mitsuboshi belt years ago.  He was transferred to Thailand for five years, and we visited him the last time we were in Thailand.  His family really rolled out the welcome wagon for us.  I was checking the dates and it has been almost eight years since that trip.  Unbelievable how time flies.  It will be fun to see the kids grown up a little bit and to catch up with everyone.  

For the past four days we’ve been enjoying a break between the previous fiscal year and the new one starting April 1st.  We were lucky enough to host Roger and Philipp for a couple days, and also to have some time on our own to get some annoying paperwork done. 

Roger and Philipp came in on the Shinkansen on Saturday, and we spent the afternoon showing them around our town, eating a little conveyor belt sushi, settling them into our place, and then heading to Akashi for yakitori. We ended up drinking way too much at the yakitori and later at our place, so we were nursing a hangover on Sunday.  We braved a light rain to go see Himeji castle, which look very much refreshed after several years of renovation.  The rain let up in the afternoon, and we went in to look around Kobe and have Kobe beef and okonomiyaki for dinner.  

On Monday we drove into Kyoto, and waded through the crowds at Fushimi Inari, Arashiyama, and Kinkakuji before taking Roger and Philipp back to their hotel.  We had dinner with them near Kyoto station and enjoyed some shabu shabu and more drinks.  We had to drive back to our place afterwards, but they were doing one more day in Kyoto and then heading out for a day in Osaka before heading to their final day in Tokyo.  Their timing was pretty good with the cherry blossoms –  I think they’ll be able to see plenty before they head back to Switzerland.

We had a great time with both of them – they were cheerful and funny, and great guests.  We’re hoping they’ll be able to come out to Japan again sometime in the future.  

We had Tuesday on our own, so we went out and did some boring government business.  I applied for a renewal of my Japanese visa, which apparently you have to do in person on a workday only.  The application took only ten minutes, so it was hard to believe that people have to take an entire day off just for ten minutes of paperwork.  

Then Kuniko and I both went together to an office that handled title transfer of automobiles.  We recently paid off our car, and in order to transfer the title you have to go to a special office and file a bunch of paperwork.  The amount of paperwork, special stamps, and the number of staff were mind-boggling.  Even Kuniko said, “There is something wrong with this country” upon seeing the amount of people and paper and low technology going on in that place.  I watched a lady stamping documents; the whole time we were there her job was just to stamp documents, again and again.  

It was obviously a pain in the ass for people to go down there during business hours and take care of the task, so across the hallway in the same building were some offices of people who you can hire to take care of it for you.  They were also filled with people wasting paper, and physically walking documents across the hall to the workers in the main offices.  It was interesting to see inefficient side businesses being built around the inefficiencies of the main business, which itself is built around the inefficiency of the government.  It would take colossal time and energy to change something like that in Japan – even a foreigner like me could see that.  It was a unique experience.

Today I start my new term with new students, a new schedule, and hopefully, more planning time.  At this point it looks like my schedule is lighter, with fewer group lessons, but we’ll see how quickly that changes.  I’m also working on planning an email writing class for later this term.  That should be a fun class to plan – it is a high priority for the workers here to write better emails, and I would agree based on some of the emails they’ve sent to me to correct. 

It is Friday, and my last work day of this month and the fiscal year.  Every company in Japan follows the same fiscal year starting April 1st, so lots of things change at this time. And we’re no exception.

Kuniko was in California visiting my folks the last few days, and she just returned last night with a load of American goodies.  

This weekend and part of next week we’ll be hosting Roger and his friend for a few days.  They are touring Japan, and we’re going to show them around western Japan – Kyoto, Himeji, Osaka and Kobe.  It will be good to see Roger – the last time we saw him was with his parents in Paris last summer.  The guest room is ready!

Today I’m wrapping up my classes from the last term, and doing a little bit of prep work for the students in the next term.  I’m taking Monday and Tuesday off, so it will be a fresh start from April 1st.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to let my mind wander a bit this long weekend and have some fresh new ideas for my students when they arrive.

The last week while Kuniko was away I was living like a monk – healthy meals every day and double time on the exercise bike.  I’m sure this weekend I’ll thoroughly erase any progress I made, but it should be fun doing it!