Living La Vida Loca In Japan: February 2012

Showing posts with label February 2012. Show all posts

February 29, 2012

Wednesday - Sunny but cold

I slept in this morning and then got up and got to work. I did a lot of printing out with my computer, then packed my suitcase. It took a while, but I think it is finally done. I have a few things to slip in the case tomorrow morning but hopefully it’ll still close!

In the afternoon I had lunch and then I worked on my column. I finally got it done, although I wanted to work on it a little more before I sent it.

F came home while I was still tinkering with the words, and after watching the end of My Stepmother is an Alien and Project Runway, we went out for dinner. Tonight we went to Cafe Frambois and it was very nice.

We came home and had a quiet evening in. I watched some TV and did some last minute prep for my trip. I cleaned out my handbag and set out a few things to slip into my suitcase tomorrow morning.

I think I’m nearly ready. I’ll probably have forgotten to bring something vital, but I hope not! I’ll have to get to bed soon, so this is short tonight. I’ll be back on Sunday, late, so I might not blog that night. It depends. I’ll see you when I see you. Night!

February 28, 2012

Tuesday - Sunny but cold

I woke up this morning and took another look outside…and wished I hadn’t. There had been a bit more snow overnight. Not fair.

I got up and thought about taking a shower. I waited a bit and checked email and groups, then said hi to my husband as he popped back home for a minute or two. I showered and then watched an episode of CSI:NY on tape.

I had a quiet morning, but stopped what I was doing around 11:30 to start cooking my brunch. I made lunch for myself and then I headed out into the snow.

It was quite slippery in places as the snow had been packed until it was shiny, but I managed to make it to my school safely. I shovelled a bit of snow…got my parking space cleaned up and also the walkway to the school. Yay me.

When my student came we had a good class and time passed quite quickly. I sent her off on her way and then did my paper work and read the newspapers and worked on my column. Yes, I am that dedicated!

F called me around 6 and after he changed, he came to get me. We went out for dinner to Hana and they did that sexist thing again of giving me a smaller rice bowl because I’m a woman. I think it’s rather rude, not only which, it makes my meal more expensive as I’m not getting the same quantity of food for my (husband’s) money. Whatever.

We came home after popping back to the school for me to check that I’d turned off the water - I had. At home we didn’t do much, but F watched fighting and then put the O.C on. I haven’t been watching it so have no idea about the show! I watched Criminal Minds and started a new crochet project. Hopefully this one will be portable to take to convention with me. I wanted to get it started before I go, so that I can just work on it and do some crafting and chatting.

And that was that. My day. Tomorrow I have a lot of things to do and I need to get some sleep so I can get them all done. Got to go. Night!

Postcrossing - Incoming

To February 28, 2012

I've received a few cards recently and thought I'd share them with you.

This first card comes from Belarus.

This card comes from St. Petersburg, Russia and features a picture of The Bronze Horseman which is a monument to Peter the Great. It was sent by Svetlana.

This card is a place I have seen from afar. It is the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Eric sent it and says that he likes to collect stamps. He also asked me if I've been to Hong Kong. The answer is yes I have, twice!

This card comes from Germany and is a multi-view of Osnabruck. Teresa sent it to me and I was surprised at the parallels between us. She's from Portugal, but has lived in Germany for 15 years. She's married to a German man and doesn't have any children.

I have lived in Japan for 15 years next month, and I'm married to a Japanese man and we also don't have children. Interesting!

That's it for this week. I had a good bunch of cards again. I need to send some more soon. Thanks for looking.

February 27, 2012

Monday - Snowy

A good day.

I was up early this morning so that I could watch all of the Oscar fun. I was up an hour plus before things started, which was a little annoying, but apart from that I had a great time. The 84th Academy Awards show was quite good this year. Billy Crystal did a nice job of hosting and some of the speeches were really funny and/or touching. I Facebooked the whole thing with a friend of mine in Canada joining in the fun…and some of my friends in Japan popping in now and then too.

After it finished I had a proper lunch and then decided to get to work on my packing. I put on my outfit for the fancy dinner to make sure that I had everything that I need, and then packed it. One thing less to worry about. Still have the regular packing though!

During this time I looked out the window and was horrified to see that we had about 10 cm of new snow. Oh no! I wasn’t too happy about that. Our parking space was completely covered so I went outside and shovelled out the space for F. He came home just before 6 pm. I watched Project Runway and then we went out for dinner.

It was strange, but today, F asked for yakiniku again. I got him to go to the one we tried to go to yesterday as they have a salad bar. A few weeks ago F was swearing that he didn’t want to eat meat so much anymore and that he was only going to eat fish. Today HE suggested a yakiniku place for the second day in a row. Weird. We did have a nice meal though.

We came home and I put on the rebroadcast of the Oscars. It was fun to watch it again for me, and for the first time for F. He wasn’t really paying attention, except when I told him to, but think he enjoyed it!

And that was my day. I wrote a bit more of my column tonight, I did a bit of packing today and I had my Movie Holy Day. What more could a woman want? Night.

February 26, 2012

Sunday - snowy and colder

A good day today. I woke up to an empty apartment. F had gone out and not left a note or anything for me. I got up, it was before 11 so I almost felt virtuous, and turned on the computer. I had been there for a few minutes when F came home. He’d gone out to have a massage and felt better.

We went for lunch after a bit and our first choice wasn’t open, so F suggested going to Mikawa mall and eating there. We decided to do that. At the mall we went to a Yakiniku place that also had a buffet for their lunch. It wasn’t bad at all. It wasn’t great, but we enjoyed it. After lunch, we did a bit of shopping and hacking around, but really didn’t buy that much of anything. We debated going to a movie, but nothing was on for hours. We did have some chai at Seattle’s Best.

We came home and F went to sleep for hours! It was around 5 when we got home and F slept until after 7. I didn’t grudge him as he obviously needed it.

While he slept I did a little bit of preparing for my convention and some internet stuff. It was fun.

When F woke up I went in to see him and ended up falling asleep while he got up. I dozed for a bit and then got up and we went out for dinner. Tonight we went to Cocos and had an okay meal. Mine was chicken caesar salad.

We came home via the grocery store and had a quiet evening in. I finally got a start on my column and have a good list of movies to discuss. Tomorrow though, is my big Movie Holy day of the year. The Academy Awards will be on. I’ll most likely Facebook them like I did last year, so you might want to follow along there, or not! Got to go now. Night!

February 25, 2012

Saturday - snowy then clear

An okay day.

I got up before F this morning. It surprised me too! In fact, I took a shower and when I came back to the living room, he was still in bed. Not sure why!

We went to Marumatsu for breakfast. I didn’t want to go there, but F announced that he hated all the other restaurants that we usually go to, so it seemed like the least bad choice out of the bunch. Of course, our food wasn’t that great. Mine started out as okay, but the last bit of chicken I had was yucky and I left it.

We went to my school and shovelled the snow in the parking space and on the walkway. F left, and I went inside, vowing to return just before my class so I could move any last minute snow. I got ready, and then checked out the snow. Not only had it stopped snowing, but all the snow that had fallen had melted. Joy!

I had a good lesson with my student and I reminded her that I was away next weekend, then I did what I usually do, prep next lesson, do some paperwork, the works. My 4 pm student called to say that an urgent matter had come up, so she couldn’t come to my class today. We checked the next class and then she rang off.

I called F around 5:40 and he picked me up. We went to a drugstore and then home for a few minutes. After a bit, we went to the theatre. Tonight we had dinner at the theatre and then went to see In Time. I quite liked it. It had possibilities. I liked the ideas behind it, although F didn’t like it that much.

After the movie, we went to Mr Donuts for a cup of tea. Doughnuts were on sale tonight and I got enough points to get two ramen bowls. Now I personally don’t need ramen bowls, but they are useful for serving food and eating things like pasta and salad in them. So, yay!

We came home and had a bit of kerfuffle over the TV, but it got smoothed over. We re-watched The Walking Dead from Friday, from the beginning this time. I watched some other stuff too. No big deal. F went to bed a couple of hours ago. I should get to bed too. So, I’ll bid you all adieu. Night!

Just in case anyone is interested…today is the anniversary of the day my mother died. It’s a little sad for me as there is no one here to remember her with, but it wasn’t a bad day.

February 24, 2012

Friday - Clear and sunny

A good day. I got up early to watch Nurse Jackie, only to find out that it wasn’t on for 30 minutes or so, and nothing else was on. I turned off the TV for a bit. After Nurse Jackie, I turned off the TV again and was just thinking about changing my clothes when F came home for a bit. He brought some Tai-yaki for us, so the fact that he brought me breakfast today was greatly appreciated. He got us the German Potato ones and then the chocolate cream ones. Yummy.

He left after a bit and I got dressed. I wrote out a couple of postcards and then was going to mail them when a movie started on WOWOW that I wanted to see. I ended up watching it and making my lunch at home. The movie was Red with Bruce Willis and Helen Mirren. It wasn’t a great film, but it was rather fun I thought.

A while after it ended I did some laundry and then F came home. We watched Project Runway and then went out for dinner. We had one of those nights where we couldn’t decide where to go. We finally decided the Daiichi Hotel’s restaurant, but they only had set course meals and they were quite expensive. We looked at their other restaurants. F was keen for the Japanese one, but they only offered fish and I’ve had enough of that for the week. We were driving away from the hotel/mall when I remembered another restaurant nearby. We went there. They also had set meals, but they had more options. Yay. I had steak and F had fish. The meal was really nice, but a little pricey.

We came home, having bought more gas and setting the heater for my school before we went for dinner.

At home we had a quiet evening of watching TV. The Walking Dead was cool and scary, The Good Wife was excellent as usual.

That’s about it for my day. Tomorrow I’m back at work and I have a couple of classes. Then I’m off for the weekend. Woot!

February 23, 2012

Friday - Rainy

A good day.

I got up early and took my shower, then came back to the living room and watched a bit of TV.

I cooked my lunch early and then headed out to my school. It wasn’t raining too hard, but it was raining, so I wore my trusty Disneyland cape! I think I got my money’s worth out of that thing.

I set up the school and my student arrived a few minutes late. We had a good class together, and then she left. I had lots of free time after that and I used it wisely. I did my paperwork, read the newspaper and then worked on my hat. Yep, my hat! For the convention that I’m going to next week we’re supposed to make our own hat. Mine is quite cute…I’m just not sure that it’ll match the dress I’m planning to wear. Hmm. Should I change the dress? Decisions, decisions.

F phoned me around 6 pm and then came to pick me up. I waited outside and it was very rainy. The rain was coming down in sheets. We came home for him to change and me to watch Project Runway. After that, dinner time. Tonight we went to Grado and had their set menu. It was nice, fish and pork. We came home after that.

I watched a bit of TV tonight and then settled onto the couch with my crochet hook and some hot yuzu drink to watch Shameless. That show is so out-there. I like it, but at times I’m a little shocked!

And that’s about it for my day. It was a pretty normal day, but a good one. Talk to you tomorrow? Night!

February 22, 2012

Wednesday - Sunny and clear, coldish

An okay day. I overslept a little, but I’ve had quite a few early mornings so I almost deserved it!

I had a quiet day at home today. One exciting thing was I finally used the microwave pasta cooker that I bought at the hundred yen shop a few weeks ago. I had pasta for lunch and it was really delicious. I expected that the plastic would be all hot and hard to handle, but it worked perfectly and my pasta was excellent. Hurray for that.

I worked on something for the Journal, but I still have to come up with an idea for a column. Sigh. Once I have the idea things usually go well.

F. came home on time, rather than the late he thought he’d be. We had a bit of downtime, and then went out for sushi. It was good, but at the next table there were 4 university students and they were being stupid. One of them put her cellphone on a platform for sushi, and later on, she touched all of the boxed drinks. I think she was checking temperature, but, I just thought she was strange.

After dinner, we went to my school to set the heater, then bought a couple of things at the grocery store.

Came home and watched a bit of TV. No big deal really. It was a nice and quiet evening. That’s it for me. Night.

February 21, 2012

Tuesday - Rainy and then clear

A good day.

F woke up a bit late this morning and in the process of getting ready woke me up too. I didn’t mind that much. Wished him a good day and all before going back to sleep.

I was surprised to see that there was a lot of rain outside this morning. Part of me was happy because it would help melt the snow, part of me worried that it might make it difficult to walk or drive in the slush.

I had a quiet time around the apartment. I watched The West Wing and then cooked my brunch. I just had an omelette with some English muffins, but it was good. I also watched Miss Congeniality. I like Michael Caine in that film. Well, in any film for that matter.

I walked to work. The rain had stopped so it was good weather again. I made reasonably good time, except in some soggy areas. At school I checked the snow in my parking space and around the gate. It was okay.

I got ready for my class and just before my class was to start I got a call. My student was busy and had just finished a meeting, but would like to come. Was it okay if she came late? Of course, so I waited a little longer for her. I read some of the newspaper.

We had a good class and after the class, she left. I stayed in my school a bit longer doing paperwork and read another newspaper. I called F a bit after 7 and he picked me up.

Dinner tonight was at Jiro. It was just what I wanted! We both had the pork saute in garlic oil. It was, as always, wonderful. During the movie, F asked me if we could watch a DVD tonight, so I said sure. We came home and I grabbed a few and gave him the final choice. He picked Ever After, an older Drew Barrymore movie based on the Cinderella story, so we watched it. It was good, but I think it could have had about 15 or 20 minutes edited out of it. It dragged a bit at the end.

F enjoyed it, and after it was over, I watched Criminal Minds and then turned off the TV. Hubs went to bed fairly early, and I’m going to try to go soon too. I know, I always SAY that, I rarely succeed! Tomorrow I have a few things to do, including laundry and preparing for my convention next week. Yikes! Night!

February 20, 2012

Monday - Cold but sunny

A mostly good day.

Yesterday was great. The drive to Koriyama went fast and we found our hotel easily. There was an earthquake soon after we arrived though.

In the evening we went out with a couple of my ex-coworkers and had dinner. It was very nice! I even ate oysters and didn’t mind. I tried to watch Hanna on the Video on Demand system in the room, but F was making so much noise I wanted to throw something at him. I’m not talking about about his cough, but his searching for things, rustling paper and just general male noisiness.

This morning I got up before him. He didn’t want to get up at all. When we finally went down for breakfast he got rather mad at me…okay, we got mad at each other. I couldn’t read the sign and thought that the jug full of an icy beverage was water, but apparently it was apple vinegar. I took a bit in my cup but smelled it. As it smelled like apples I held it up to F to smell it too and said it was vinegar. He grabbed it and drank it. I have no idea why. I got mad and looked for the water, before I finally found it. Then I got a lecture on how selfish I was.

We checked out after I took a shower. We tried to find a coffee shop with parking so we could spend some of the time between our appointments, but couldn’t, so F dumped me off unceremoniously at the station and went on his merry way. I did a bit of looking around the station and then met up with Judi around 11. We went to Tullys and had tea or coffee and a cookie each.

We talked about our club stuff and then she gave me a guided tour to a department store with great stuff in it, before she left for work. I hacked the store for a few hours. I bought a few post cards, but nothing else. I wanted to, believe me, but I didn’t have the money or the need.

I walked back to the station after a while and had lunch. I was nearly finished when F called to say he was done, and was going to the meeting place. I finished, went to a store for an import bar of chocolate, then crossed the streets to the Mr. Donuts. I had just arrived, when I saw F’s car coming down the road. Good timing!

We had a quick meal at Denny’s. Okay, I didn’t, F did. He had noodles, I had an avocado gratin that was really delicious. We headed home soon after this and started the long trip back to Tsuruoka.

It was mostly uneventful. I fell asleep for part of it, as usual, but for the most part stayed awake I think. We stopped a few times for drinks, eats, and toilets.

When we arrived in Tsuruoka, we went to New York, New York for dinner (steak—we had discount coupons), then my school, the grocery store, then home.

We spent a quiet evening at home. I had a lot of email to read, F watched stuff on his computer while I watched Harry’s Law. That was about it. I’m really tired now, so I think I’ll just end this and go to bed soon. Night!

February 18, 2012

Saturday - Snowy and cold

An okay day. I overslept a bit…been doing that a lot this week. With F around, it just means that I don’t run my days the way I want to. I got up finally, showered, and checked email on my computer. The usual.

We had brunch today in F’s favourite Chinese restaurant. It was okay. I had some kind of stirfry with a lot of veggies, some rice, gyoza and soup. Not bad really. He had ramen of course.

We went to my school and checked the parking space. Covered with snow of course. F worked on the back parking space, I went to my apartment, got out the shovels and cleaned the front steps and the walkway. I did a bit of the way to the parking space from the walkway too. It went rather well. F left around 2:30 and I went into my school.

I was changing around 3:00 pm when my student called to say she couldn’t make it. Sigh.

I worked on a secret project for a while and then called F and asked him to pick me up. He did, and we had a nice dinner in Kintaro Sushi. We followed that up with a visit to the gas station. Then, we went to S-Mall. I wanted some more supplies for my project, and F wanted a couple of souvenirs to take with us. I got my stuff, he got his stuff and we left the mall happy.

We came home and F found a movie, The Jewel in the Nile so he watched it. I liked Romancing the Stone so much better, but it was fun to watch it again after all these years.

We watched a lot of different things tonight, but finally I turned off the TV and got down to the serious business of blogging!

By the way, we’ll be on a road trip tomorrow, so there won’t be an update tomorrow night unless I’m moved to blog by phone. Hopefully I won’t do that! Got to go. Night!

Postcrossing - Incoming

February 13th to 18th, 2012

More beautiful cards for your enjoyment today.

First up is a card from Finland. This one comes from Juha who wishes me a fun, happy, healthy 2012. Thanks! It is appreciated. I like the picture on the card too, although it makes me think of Christmas!

Nordic Day by Osmo Omenamaki

I received this rather spooky card from Gerald in Germany. He says that this is Klaus Kinski on the front in a Vampire film. The card is promoting a Vampire film festival. I'm sure I would have been too scared to attend!

This card comes from Holland. Bianca says that these views are her favourite. She loves empty wide beaches, lovely white clouds and only the sound of water, wind and a seagull or two. She's a teacher and a mother of two, who loves reading and the beach.

It's a bigger than usual card, and very beautiful. I think I would love to be on this beach too. Thanks Bianca!

Dani in San Sebastian, Spain sent me this lovely card. It's a multiview of various sights. She didn't say very much on the card though.

Basque Country, Spain

Jerry in Taiwan sent this neat card. He didn't say very much about it either. The stamps he used were interesting. Thanks Jerry.

Elina in Latvia writes that she lives in a small fishing village near Rija. She likes reading, watching old movies, knitting, but her favourite movies are ones with Audrey Hepburn in them.

She actually sent me a greeting card, but it is so beautiful that I don't mind at all. In some languages, postcards and greeting cards use the same word, so it isn't too uncommon at Postcrossing. This is my first occurrence of it.

The stamps that she used on the envelope were very beautiful too. I'll try to keep them.

There you are, my week's beautiful postcards. It was a good week. I think I need to send a few out again.

February 17, 2012

Friday - Snowy and warmish

Had a quiet morning today. We both slept in a bit and then got up. I watched some of the news and then we went out for Brunch. F was in a rush as always, without having a place in mind. I just don’t like that at all!

We had a pretty good lunch/brunch in Patio in S-Mall. I had pasta, F had ramen and for a change he didn’t complain too much. We did have an ulterior motive for going to the mall though, we wanted to submit my income tax forms! When we were in line to be seen, there was a little bit of a problem. A man came storming out of the office, chased by an official. I have no idea what was happening, but there was a bit of coming and going for a few minutes. I think the man finally left, but I’m not sure. A couple of stamps later and we were done. Yay.

I did a tiny bit of window shopping while F went to the bank machine, then we left the mall. On the way out, I snapped this picture of a t-shirt in a shop that left me a little perplexed. I’m not sure what the designer had in mind with it. I will say that for a change, it did have perfect English!

How long do you plan to stay in this country?

We came home after another quick trip to a bank machine and had a quiet time at home.

We went out for dinner around 8 tonight. F wanted to go to a fish restaurant, so that’s where we went. We were both surprised to see a few centimetres of snow outside and on the car. We had a decent meal at the restaurant and left about and hour later.

We made a quick detour through my school to turn on the heater and then went home. At home we immediately started watching The Walking Dead. I think it was the end of the first season tonight. It’s quite a good show. Even F is getting into it. At 11 I watched The Good Wife again, and did another couple of rows of crochet. It was fun. They went fast today. I’m quite into that show now. After it finished, I watched Love Lessons on Fox. It’s a reality show about some unreal women who are trying to find boyfriends. Basically, some of them have no idea how to act like normal people. F and I watch the show and just laugh at some of the women who are so over the top.

Anyway, today was quite good. I could have done without the snow though, but I don’t have any control about that. That’s it for me. Night!

February 16, 2012

Thursday - Mostly clear, with a bit of snow in the daytime and at night

Different day! We both slept in this morning. Well, I got up around 9, checked email and then went back to sleep. We got up later, I watched The West Wing and then let F take me out for lunch. We only went to Tsukiya, so it wasn’t an elegant meal!

After lunch, we headed to my school. It was tax time. F very nicely did up my taxes for me this year again. I let him have the table and I worked on some other things. I did a little book-keeping, then I read the newspapers, did some crafting and finally tried to nap, but couldn’t.

We spent about 3 hours at my school, but the good thing is that the taxes are done. Woot. We might go and take them in tomorrow.

We had an okay dinner in Gusto, then came home and watched some TV. I was on my computer for most of it, but for Shameless I went to the couch and did some crochet. The most shocking thing about Shameless tonight for me was that Joan Cusack’s character said she had knitted a sweater for baby Liam, but it was obviously a CROCHETED sweater! Egads!

And that’s about it. It’s been a nicer day than I expected because F and I didn’t fight. Happy about that. Tomorrow, though, who knows? Got to go. Night!

February 15, 2012

Wednesday - Clear but cooler

An okay day.

I woke up early this morning, but ended up sleeping late. I kept hitting the snooze button on my cell phone, but when the alarms stopped going off, I fell back asleep. Anyhoo, got up, watched The West Wing and then went out with F for lunch. We went to Coco’s Curry House and both had basically the same thing, the Grandmother’s curry. It’s quite nice.

After that, F went to get kerosene and dropped me off at the craft shop for a while. I had a good nose around, but didn’t buy anything. However, when he picked me up, F bought me a pair of nice warm slippers. Yay!

We went home for a few hours, watched last week’s Top Gear and I got an email from a student cancelling her class tomorrow. Sigh.

We went out for dinner too. Tonight was to Cafe Pacific Airy Heights. I had beef stew, which was the recommended dish for winter and F had ginger pork. We both enjoyed our dishes a lot.

We came home and watched a bit of TV. Around 11 I went over to the couch and watched Private Practice. It was a good one, not one of their usual ones where characters did stupid things with each other. It was a serious episode. I did a couple of rows of crochet while I watched it, and F was surprised at how big the afghan is getting!

Well, really that’s about it for me. It was a quiet day at home. Got to go. Night!

Postcrossing - Incoming

February 8-11th

I had a super week of receiving postcards and have been getting one or two at a time. It makes it rather hard to keep up with these posts. I hope you enjoy these cards as much as I do.

I also received 3 movie related cards this time. I seem to be getting more and more of them, which pleases me to no end!

Anyway, first up, is a card that comes from China. I've actually never watched Gone with the Wind all the way through, believe it or not.

Gone with the Wind

This still life is called "Gifts of Summer" and comes from Tanya in the Ukraine. She writes that her favourite movies are Some Like it Hot, Leon and one that I'm afraid I can't quite make out. She also used a lot of beautiful stamps on the card. Thank you!

Speaking of Leon, I also received a card from that movie. This one is from Japan. I was quite surprised to receive one from Japan, but then again, I've sent one to Japan too! It comes from Tomoko in Hyogo-ken and she says that Leon (The Professional in English) is her favourite movie. I like it too!

Betina, Croatia

This is my first card from Croatia, and it comes from Kate. She reads a lot and likes swimming, rollerblading and riding a bicycle. She says that this is a small island on the Adriatic Sea. Her town only has 700 citizens but she likes living there. In summer it is very popular with tourists.

I'd love to visit, it looks lovely!

The last card comes from West Palm Beach in Florida. One of Shawna's favourite movies is The Wizard of Oz, so she sent me this lovely card from the movie.

Glinda the Good

Well, there you have it...Five lovely postcards. I wonder what's in my postbox today?!

February 14, 2012

Tuesday - Clear and sunny

Happy Valentine’s Day

I got up fairly early this morning, think I even got up before F did. Yay me. I did some computer stuff and then took a shower. I even watched part of the British news, before F watched the rest of the international news in Japanese. I did get to watch The West Wing, and I made us some brunch. We had scrambled eggs on English Muffins with ham and cheese. It was pretty good, even if I say so myself.

F drove me to work after that and he helped me do a little snow shovelling. It wasn’t too bad at all. He left and I finished up, then went into the school and got ready.

My student came about 5 minutes early and I was ready for her today. We had a good class even though she finds our targets a bit difficult.

After her class I did paperwork, read the newspaper and then worked on a project for myself. After that, I called F and asked him to come and get me. We bandied around some ideas for dinner, but finally decided on Simon for dinner. There was only one other couple in the restaurant, which made me sad. It was Valentine’s Day people! F and I had the same dish, fish. It came with a few side dishes, it’s sort of a French/Japanese fusion place and they were all nice.

Afterwards we came home and watched a little TV. There was a few minutes of American Idol, then Just for Gags, the Canadian “Candid Camera” sort of thing. I also watched an episode of CSI: NY and then Criminal Minds. While I was watching telly, I made up 3 postcards to send. They are all going to regular places: Finland, Russia and the Netherlands.

And really, that’s about that. It’s been a quiet day at home or work, quite nice. I’m rather tired, so I think I’m going to pop off to bed soon. Gotta go. Night!

February 13, 2012

Monday - Sunny and warmish in Niigata, a little colder at home

I had a great weekend, but it could have gone very wrong!

Saturday was a pretty good day, I went to work, my student came and we had a great class. At home, F chased me off to bed around 1 am so when 6 am came along I wasn’t as tired as I normally would have been!

I caught the train, which was running a little late, in Tsuruoka station and had an uneventful ride until we stopped in a little town called Sasaki in Niigata-Ken. We didn’t get moving again. The conductor came by and announcements were made using the word “basu” a lot, so I surmised that we would be finishing our trip to Niigata station by bus. I was right. However, it took more than two and a half hours for the bus to arrive to pick us up When it arrived, we duly trooped off the train and got on the bus.

Unfortunately, I had been planning to go to an Oxford Teacher’s Workshop, which started around 10. I had taken the 7 am train as it would arrive before 9 am. However, because of the stoppage, we didn’t arrive in Niigata until 12. I got off the bus, bought my lunch quickly and hurried to the Workshop presentations. I arrived at the very end of the second presentation, just in time for lunch! I ate and chatted, apologised to a couple of presenters for missing their sessions, and met up with my friend. I did manage to see one presentation, so that was good, but I’m rather miffed at JR.

I checked into the hotel with my friend’s help, and after a bit, we had dinner together. While there were some problems with some of the food, overall, dinner was nice, and it was lovely to have some “girl-time” and chat about things in our lives.

In the hotel room last night, I watched a Jason Statham movie that sadly wasn’t as great as he is, although he did a bit of swimming. I went to bed rather early for me, at 2am.

Today, I was awake at 8, up before 8:30 and down for breakfast before 9 am. I had a bit of fish and a couple of onigiri before coming back upstairs and taking a shower. I managed to check out on time and asked the hotel to store my backpack for me. Then, I went shopping.

I had seen a Don Key-ho-te yesterday from the bus, and since I have NEVER been to one before, decided to try to find it. Of course, I went the wrong way at first, but did finally find it. I spent a bit of time wandering the store. It’s the type of store that sells everything, some of it was good, some of it was junk. I didn’t buy very much, something for a project, and something for the trip home.

After I finished I went back through the station and ended up at Billboard Place. I started buying postcards, and honestly, I never stopped! I think I bought all the postcards in Niigata city.

I stopped for lunch at Comme Ça Cafe, and read the text message on my phone. F has the flu and has to stay home from work for the next 5 days. I was not a happy camper. Not only am I going to have him underfoot for the next 5 days, but he’s sick. I have a big trip planned at the end of the month and if I’m sick then I can’t go. I’m sure he didn’t get sick on purpose, but it is annoying.

After a little more shopping I decided to head back to the station area. I had a tea in Tully’s and then picked up my backpack.

I caught my train easily and had a very pleasant and happily uneventful trip home again. F picked me up at the station and we ended by having a quiet evening at home.

Tomorrow I’m off to work. I’ll have a bit of snow shovelling to do, but ironically, not much of it will be in my parking space! Most of it will be along the passageway leading to my apartment.

That’s it for me. I’m quite tired as it has been a long but good day. I’ve got to go. Night!