Week 15

Last Tuesday (the 3rd) I ran some errands in the morning but cut my outing short in the afternoon as the forecast called for heavy rain. I was really glad I happened to make it home before a massive storm rolled in and dropped several inches of water in just over an hour. Luckily the weather cleared in the early  evening and I could go out and meet with some friends.

Wednesday morning I finished up Tuesday's errands before going over to another friend's house to have a second go at the new pirate-themed board game we started playing recently (I didn't do as well this time but still had a lot of fun.)

Thursday I went to the first new school of my new contract. Things went well, I like the staff as well as the other teacher that's there on Thursday. The school's out in the middle of nowhere but on the bright side I have a lot of time to read/study on the train now.

Friday I got sent back out in the direction of my Thursday school (not quite as far, but close) for a sub-shift. Luckily I ended up working with the same other teacher as I did the day before. Because Friday's schedule was a lot emptier that Thursday's I actually had a chance to sit and talk with my new co-worker which was nice.

Saturday I got up at the crack of dawn to go back out to Thursday's school which happens to be Saturday's school as well. My co-worker on Saturday is a guy I worked with a few years ago at another school. I think it'll be nice working with him again this year. I met a friend on the train back home in the evening and was invited to a hanami (cherry blossom viewing party) that night. I passed in the end as temps ended up dipping into the upper 30's and it was way to cold to sit outside and look at flowers in the dark.

Sunday I was back to my usual Sunday gig. Also as usual I met with the guys in the evening and we made some progress on beating the video game we're playing through.

Monday I got up and phoned home as usual but instead of writing this post afterwords I got on my bike and rode around Osaka taking pictures of the blossoming cherry trees. I made it home with a bit of time to relax before going to work in the evening.

Tuesday (the 10th) I got up early again and went out for a "luxurious" (read: expensive) breakfast a the local bagel shop before riding around the other half of Osaka I didn't hit up the day before taking more pictures. In the evening my video game playing friends came over and we took out portable systems out to the park and sat under the cherry trees, drank beer, played video games, and were generally very nerdy. (I called the event "Mon-Hanami", a combination of the game's title and the Japanese for a flower viewing party... well, it was clever in Japanese anyways...)

Today (Wednesday the 11th) I lounged around most of the morning as heavy rain precluded doing much else. I did manage to get out of the house for lunch and an afternoon karaoke secession. After pizza and a hollywood block-buster on video I had some free time in the evening and decided to crank out this post before it got any more behind schedule.