I am getting sick of Geocities and/or Japanese computers, as on several occasions recently I have written diary entries and then have been unable to save them. So I'm a bit fed up of writing the same things out again and again!
I had my ten month observation at work the other day. One of my lessons was watched by a trainer, and thene I was marked on various criteria. My salary rise for my second contract will depend on how well I did! I did well for the most part except, surprise, surprise, teacher talk time was too high!
We also went back to Arashiyama recently to see the monkeys. I had hoped to visit some of the temples and bamboo groves too, but we didn't have time in the end. We did buy some nice Japanese souvenirs and Christmas presents though from the pretty little gift shops. The monkeys were great - we caught them at feeding time and they were running all over the place collecting chestnuts and grains. There were lots of little babies having piggy-backs as their mothers dashed around! It was lovely and sunny and the view from the montain was fantastic, although there was a bit of a chilly wind at the top. We fed them nuts, apples and sweet potatoes, and I took far too many photos! There were signs all over the mountain saying "Do not stare at the monkeys", but I think James must have looked at one of them a bit strangely when he was taking a photo of it, as it leapt out of the tree baring its teeth, and James and I ran a mile! They are cute, but I have no doubt that they could be vicious if they wanted to!
We also had friends to stay for a weekend recently. Matt and Mary used to live in the flat above us but got trasnferred to Nagasaki back in April. They were back in Osaka for a visit before picking up Matt's parents at the airport, so they stayed with us. They brought us some lovely cake from Nagasaki called "Castella" (originally Portuguese) and we went out to an izakaya with them for yakitori and drinks. It was nice to see them and hear their stories!
Anyway, that's all for now.
Nicola.