It was James' birthday on Monday, so on Tuesday night we went out with some friends. We went to the famous 280 yen bar, only we did a special version - all you can eat and drink for two hours for 2800 yen! Needless to say, we made the most of it! James and I also went to Universal Studios again last week as a birthday treat. I've put some pictures up on the photos page. It was much better than last time, as the sun was hot enough to get a tan (as opposed to the sub-zero temperatures last time!) and also, with it being mid-week, the queues weren't too bad either - we didn't have to wait longer than 25 minutes for anything.. They also have a special parade every afternoon at the moment - with characters from Shrek, The Mummy Returns, Sesame Street, and lots of other films/cartoons. It was really good. We went on all the rides again - the Jurassic Park log-flume was also better in summer - it cooled you down rather than giving you a cold!
Yesterday, James had to work, so I did lots of Japanese study. I am working really hard at the moment to be ready for the Japanese exam I ahve entered for in December. I am going to do level 2 (four being the lowest and one the highest), and am not at all sure that I can pass, but felt it was worth a try. My kanji are actually starting to improve, but my vocab still needs a lot of work.. Anyway, yesterday was a lovely sunny day, so I was getting fed up of pouring over my books in an apartment that hardly gets any sunlight, so I decided to go and sit outside and study. I got a train to Osaka Castle Park and found a bench under a willow tree, overlooking the moat. It was nice and peraceful, and I even caught the sun on my shoulders. What I didn't realise until I got home was that I had got over 40 mozzy bites - 26 of them on one leg alone. Japanese mosquito bites are really nasty because they start to itch before you can even see or feel them, so you scratch them without realising what they are. I was in agony for a couple of days!
In the evening there was a quiz at the Green Leaf pub in Tennoji, so I joined a team with my friends Becs, Louise, John and Debbie. We came second - it was a good laugh. A fellow Nova Ochanoma teacher had written the questions, and we discovered that he was a Sale of the Century champion back home in Austraila, so we are trying to get him to show us the videos!
That's it for now.
Nic.