Since Kuniko had yesterday off, I went through the whole day at work knowing that I would have a great dinner waiting for me when I got home. As usual, Kuniko exceeded my expectations.

She served a salad with wild greens feta cheese and avocado, and then two side dishes Рsaut̩ed potatoes and lotus root with cocktail weiners (I think this was for me) and then a roasted lotus root and carrot dish with mixed cheeses melted over it. We enjoyed the dinner with a bottle of French Rhone wine that we received from the Yamajis, and then had some homemade cake for dessert. Wow!Luckily Kuniko is still working, or I would weight twice what I weigh now.

We enjoyed listening to music and relaxing during the evening, and I took a break from my exercise routine to let some sore muscles rest. It was a good day.

Today we drove to work, and that means that I have an outside chance of getting a ride home from Kuniko if the timing is right. It also means that I didn’t walk very much today, so it’ll be time to get back on the exercise bike.

At the end of this week, on Friday, I have a party with some ex-students that I am looking forward to. Saturday Kuniko has to work and also has a party, so we’ve got to work on our timing a little bit so that we can spend more time partying together. The good news is that we both have Sunday off, and we’ll head over to visit Kuniko’s folks and help them get the shiitake mushrooms started off.

Last night Kuniko and I had the rare chance to ride the train home together. Recently her schedule is much more reasonable, and she has been taking the opportunity to go home early when she has the chance. It is a mark of how much we ate on Saturday that we skipped our tradition of going to the yakitori when we catch the same train home. Instead we went home and just had a salad. And it’ll take a couple more salads before we get our calorie account back in order.

Kuniko is taking today off of work. Normally she has a half day off on Tuesday, but today she had no classes or meetings, so she figured why the hell go in the first place? Good on her, and enjoy the day. I wish I could have joined her!

Today I have an extra class at the end of the day, but no group lessons, so it shouldn’t be quite so busy. Today is the anniversary of the big earthquake and tsunami in 2011, so there are a couple of events that will happen here at work. I’ll be teaching through the events, though – I received special permission from the building manager. Not even a disaster drill will keep my students from learning English…

We had a really good weekend – a big party on Saturday and a day of rest on Sunday to readjust.

Most of Saturday Kuniko was in the kitchen, putting together the dishes she wanted to serve. In the end we served about ten different tapas, and putting them all together is a big job. But a day in the kitchen cooking and sipping mimosas is a good day for us. We had a great time, listening to music, talking about our upcoming trips, and spending time together.

The Yamajis and Fukumis showed up right on time, and Ms. Yamaji was all over the Fukumi’s new son, Hiroka. He was very well behaved, and only cried now and then. Ms. Yamaji was a pro – she did a great job. I was playing some quiet tunes in the background, a mix of island music and reggae, and that seemed to keep the kid relaxed and sleeping. Meanwhile the adults were busy catching up on neighborhood gossip and discussing current events. We managed to kill about six bottles of wine, and Ms. Fukumi had a tiny sip of each one – the first alcohol she has had in almost a year. I opened up an old bottle of port that was made in 1989 – and we drank it 25 years after my high school graduation. Yum.

The dinner went over well, and we had a great time with everyone. We were pretty zonked the next day – that was a lot of wine… Kuniko went into Osaka to spend some time with her friends, and I cleaned up after the party, sat and watched a movie, and played video games.

We finally booked our hotel for Porto. After drinking the port the other night I am that much more excited to enjoy the city. Our planning is pretty much over now, we’re all planned until August 12th, when we meet my parents at the Toulouse airport. There is even talk that we may have a chance to meet Nancy and Lynn in Paris before we fly back to Japan. That would be fun to bring everyone together in Paris for a big night out. Maybe we should start looking for some good restaurants…

Yesterday we had some pretty cold weather. According to my students it even snowed at some point, although I never saw a flake of it. This morning was also very cold. Kuniko drove us to work today because of a strange situation involving homemade kimchee. Apparently she’ll be receiving some kimchee that she ordered from a Korean lady who makes it on demand, and the fermented cabbage will be arriving today. Rather than take it with her to her business trip after work, Kuniko will drive it home and then take the train to her business meeting.

The things we go through to enjoy kimchee.

We’re just about to the weekend, and I’m looking forward to the party tomorrow night. We’ve got all sorts of ideas for different tapas to serve, and I think we’ll get a jump on cooking this evening.

Kuniko has a rare two days off this weekend, so it should be a big opportunity to relax as well. We will probably do some shopping, clean the house, get some exercise, and then enjoy time with our friends and neighbors. Sunday will likely be a liver transplant. Two livers to go, please.

My wife has started looking for hotels for our trip, and she is unstoppable. Like some kind of tenacious travel agent she has been surfing the web finding hotels in the best neighborhoods, near the appropriate transit links, and researching prices, breakfasts, and other amenities. It is good to see her so engrossed in the process.

I think it’ll be my job to make sure that we get to each of these hotels safely and on time. It is also going to be a challenge to figure out how to pack for this trip – suitcases? backpacks? Too much fun.

This trip is still five months out, so we’ve got plenty of time to work out the details. We’ve also got another trip at the end of this month to Taiwan. Travel, travel, travel.

Today Kuniko has a day off, so she’ll have a chance to recharge her batteries and get some rest. Tomorrow is Friday, and after work we’ll start to put together some dishes for our dinner this Saturday. It should be a fun (if not high-calorie) weekend.

The planning stage is almost more fun than the actual trip. We’ve been reviewing our options about hotels these days, and it is fun to look around and try to find the best balance of location, price, and amenities. Kuniko has really thrown herself at the task, and since this month is a little bit lighter for her job, she should have some more free time to play with our options.

Tonight after work I’m going to head over to meet one of the inspectors at a tachinomi place in Shin-Nagata. It is kind of a sudden meet-up, but it should be fun. I haven’t been to many different tachinomi places in Japan, and each one is a completely different experience. The usual one that we had gone to before apparently is out of favor with the inspectors. They have a sign saying no cell phones, and if the noise level gets above a conversational tone, the master will growl at the customers. So we’ll see what the new place is like.

Tomorrow, my early morning class was cancelled, because the student had to go on a sudden business trip. So this week so far has been a pretty easy one for me, too. Let’s hope that students start showing up for their extra classes… we don’t have much time before they depart for America.

Yesterday I had a pretty light schedule at work. Like all Mondays I have two planning periods, and during the beginning and middle of the term I use the time to plan lessons for my group classes. However, now we are wrapping up the term, and I am using those times for making notes and doing paperwork. This week is our last week of classes for these students, and there are some things I’ve got to do to wrap up the term.

They aren’t completely finished, however. On March 20th they’ll have a presentation in English in front of their peers and supervisors. Hopefully they’ll use the rest of their time wisely and prepare for the presentation on their own time. Hopefully.

Last night after work we did a Costco run that went splendidly. We stocked up on some things we don’t usually buy – plenty of veggies and almost no meat. I’m really looking forward to the party this Saturday.

Also, the planning continues for our trip in summer. We are trying to align our trip so that we can spend a couple of days with my parents while we are there. There are still lots of things we haven’t seen in France, and we may do a little side adventure to another country while we are waiting for my folks to finish up with the wedding they are attending. It’ll be a fun trip – too bad we have to wait another five months for it to start!

Tonight after my regular classes I’m teaching an extra class, and I’ll have extra classes the rest of this week. Hopefully it won’t have too big of an impact on my exercise schedule at home.

This weekend was a pretty active one. I was on my own on Saturday, so I spent most of the day doing odds and ends and some problem solving around the house. In the evening I went over to Anaba, a cool little drinking hole that I only visit about once a year. The husband and wife owners are very friendly, and the average age of the customers is probably around 60 years old. Still, it is good practice for my Japanese skills, and it is fun to try things that I normally don’t eat or drink.

Sunday we got up surprisingly early, and decided to take a long walk to Akashi. We ended up doing the walk in about three hours, and then we did some shopping for dinner and went home. After a couple of bottles (!) of sparkling wine we decided to forgo a nap and do some more walking, so we walked all the way up the hill to Nafco and Izumiya, about two hours round trip.

We had a nice dinner of turkey with grilled veggies, and then watched a movie before bed. It was a pretty good day off.

Believe it or not, Kuniko is going hiking with her students today on a special field trip, so hopefully her legs aren’t too sore to climb a mountain. My legs are feeling a little ache from yesterday, and all I’m doing is sitting in an office chair.

The plan tonight after work is to make a Costco run. We’re having a party next Saturday, and there are some essential party items that we’d like to pick up. I guess the good news is that I won’t have to walk home from work – Kuniko will swing by to pick me at five pm. I’ll take the day to rest my legs…

I was swamped today at work – luckily it is a Friday! I’m looking forward to enjoying a cocktail and maybe firing up the BBQ tonight.

Kuniko is out and about all day tomorrow, so I’ll have to clean house and maybe catch up on Survivor. It should be a nice relaxing weekend.

This week for some reason we’ve been eating pretty healthy. If I had to guess the reason it would be that Kuniko has had a chance to cook a couple of meals this week, and also the cold weather has us making soup or nabe, which are pretty healthy dishes from the get-go.

So I’m not complaining, and I feel pretty good every morning when I crawl out of bed and trudge off to work in the darkness.

Speaking of work, yesterday I had a visit from one of the guys in the HR department. Around this time every year the company selects a small group of young employees and sends them on a six month training program to the USA. There are two Kawasaki production plants there, one in Nebraska and one in New York. As part of the deal, they get some special English training from yours truly before they go. For these lessons they open up the budget purse strings and I end up working some extra time and making some extra money.

I don’t mind the extra work, especially since the students are pretty motivated knowing they’ll be living and breathing English before long. What this does mean is that I’ll be getting home about an hour later every Tuesday and Thursday for the next few months. But during this part of the year I don’t mind trading free time for money.

We’ve got no special plans for this weekend. This Saturday Kuniko has a party after work, which means I’ll be on my own for most of the day. Maybe it is time to break the healthy streak and have a steak or something.

Last night we booked the flights for our summer trip to Europe. We’ll be flying into London Heathrow on August 2nd, and then flying out of Paris on August 15th. What we do in between those two flights remains to be seen.

Originally we had planned to stay in Asia this year, mainly because Kuniko has a lot going on with her students graduating and applying for universities. However, the word was that my parents may end up in Europe for a wedding in France this summer, and on top of that we found really cheap airline tickets, so we decided to go for it.

Now the next step is figuring out what we’ll be doing between those two flights. London, Stonehenge, the Eurostar chunnel train, and after that we’ll see. Something to look forward to this summer…

Yesterday afternoon I had a good meeting with my immediate supervisor about our plans for the next term, and the rest of 2014. I got some valuable information about what I can expect, and that will help me plan this year.

One thing that is decided is that we are a go for our trip this summer to Europe. In the next couple of days we’ll buy some plane tickets that I’ve had my eyes on. Once the tickets are purchased, then the fun of planning what we’ll do begins.

These days the weather keeps threatening to warm up, but unfortunately it hasn’t made any big changes yet. It is hard to believe that we’ll have cherry blossoms in about a month. It seems like it has been dark and cold for a long time.

Next month should be interesting. I’ll have fewer classes as things wind down for my group lessons, Kuniko will have a little more free time on the weekends, and we’ve got a couple of events planned. We’ll be hosting the Yamaji and the Fukumi families for a dinner, and we’ll have the youngest attendee ever. Also we’ll have the chance to visit Kuniko’s folks and help start growing shiitake mushrooms at the farm. Can’t wait!

I had quite an eventful Saturday. It all started off with a walk to the store to do a little shopping. On the way to the store I suddenly felt that itchy feeling on my skin which is a sign of an allergic reaction. Oh no!

Now and then I have gotten these big hive breakouts that come out of nowhere and last for about an hour. Occasionally they have been really bad – in Hawaii I had a particularly bad reaction where I almost fainted.

Saturday’s reaction was just like that one. I got home from the store and thought it might be a good idea to go see a doctor, and since there is an allergy specialist about 10 minutes from our house I turned right back around from our place and went to see the doc.

While waiting at the intersection for the light to change I felt the kind of rushing in your head and loss of hearing that means that you are on your way out, and then the next thing I knew I was kind of kneeling on the ground right next the street – I was lucky I didn’t pass out into traffic. There was another person waiting to cross, and I noticed kind of peripherally that she was definitely looking the other way – she probably figured I was drunk at 11 am in the morning.

I was able to get up though, and walk the rest of the way without losing consciousness. In the doctor’s office I had to wait a while to be seen, and the staff were clearly overwhelmed with all the patients. Finally I got in and talked with the doctor, who told me that I had an allergic reaction (duh), and he prescribed some medicine to combat the hives and shortness of breath. After that I picked up my medicine and went home without incident.

This kind of reaction is a little bit strange – I have had two reactions this month, but the previous reaction was about a year ago, and the one before that was another year ago. Anyway, I’m tracking the food I eat to see if I can find a common point. We’ll see what happens, but next time I feel a reaction coming on I’ll stay home and not attempt another run to the doctor’s office.

Back at home I took the medicine, but the reaction was already fading away. The medicine came with a warning about drowsiness, and it was spot on. After taking the pills I fell asleep within a few minutes, and didn’t wake up for about an hour. I was kind of a zombie the rest of the day, and so I decided to stop taking the meds. The reaction was gone anyway, so I’ll save the meds for another time.

Anyway, it was a wild Saturday, but it ended well – Kuniko came home and we ordered pizza in, drank some beers, and watched a movie. The next day we could sleep in until 10 am. Nice!

Sunday we spent most of the day at home with only a short shopping trip and a long walk to get us out of the house. We watched a Russell Crowe movie while drinking some champagne that Kuniko bought me for Valentine’s day (probably the best champagne I’ve ever tasted) and just kind of snacked all day and rested.

Now I’m back at work, and getting ready for the week. I have a meeting about my time off for 2014, and I hope that goes smoothly. It’s getting to be time to buy some plane tickets!

Yesterday during a meeting with my boss (who I really only talk with about once every two months) I found out some interesting news.

Apparently the guy that helped me land this job several years ago is being transferred from this company to be the president of another Kawasaki related company. The catch is that this new company is all the way out in Hokkaido. I was sorry to hear that he was leaving, but it sounds like a good career opportunity for him. Except for the cold weather.

So now I’ve got to wonder how this might affect me. At least when I first started working at this company directly I think I owed a lot of my presence to his support and belief in the idea of a full time English teacher on staff. He is a pretty high level employee, and so his influence was what landed me the job in the first place. What remains to be seen is whether I will be able to stick around after his influence is gone.

Anyway, I’m under contract through the end of 2014, and so December will be the month of reckoning. Have I done well enough here to stand on my own, or has somebody looking to cut the budget been waiting patiently in the wings to give me the boot? Maybe it is time to pad the emergency fund, just in case…

Tonight after work Kuniko and I will go to our favorite French restaurant in Kobe for dinner. Lately they have gotten some great reviews, and I was a little worried that it would be tough to get reservations, but no problem. We’ll celebrate Kuniko’s birthday in style tonight, and I’m hoping they have a bottle of wine from the Langueduoc region that we can try out.

There are a lot of computers in our place. We’ve got a big laptop we use as our main computer, the jukebox laptop we only use for music, a tiny computer in a box that we use for streaming movies and displaying them on our TV, and finally a big black file server up in the bedroom that holds all the music, movies, pictures, and whatever else we have that is digital.

Recently we replaced the jukebox computer because the old one was choking on very simple tasks, and today we are receiving a replacement laptop for our main living room computer. All this new hardware means a bunch of time setting things up, and every computer I buy has Windows 8, which is something I haven’t completely gotten used to.

Still, the networking performance of Windows 8 is much better than Windows Vista (which we have on our old computer). Hopefully we’ll get used to the new OS soon and be able to use it smoothly.

Last night a big shipment of goodies showed up from my parents – some Valentine’s stuff, some stuff for me, and some presents for Kuniko’s birthday. It is always nice to get a care package from home. Once again the package was inspected by the Japanese Postal Service – we must be on a blacklist somewhere. But everything seems to have arrived without any problems, so no worries. Thanks Mom and Dad!