Another long gap between diary entries - I should make sure I always get one written when I'm online, but somehow it never seems to happen!
A week or two ago the man from BBC Radio 5 Live came to see us in Osaka, and we took him round to a few places in Kansai. We had a good time - it was a nice change from Nova, and I always like talking to other foreigners about Japan - I can't wait to show Mum and Dad everything when they come over. Anyway, hopefully he found some good venues to broadcast from, and who knows, they may need our help again!
I have decided that nomihodai is evil. We went out to a bar called "Get Some" on Sunday night, where our friend Kristen had organised 2 hours Tabehodai and Nomihodai. Unfortunately, I got a bit carried away trying the contents of the free bar, and ended up having to be literally carried home by James and my friend Toni, who were surprisingly very sweet about it!!!!
Recently we have been swimming quite a lot at our local pool instead of going to the gym. This works out well, as James can swim away to his heart's content whilst I sit in the jacuzzi and talk Japanese. Well, actually, I did manage 30 lengths the other day, which is a record for me, but the jacuzzi is more fun!!! I keep being told by old Japanese ladies how "ma-shiroi" (pure white) my skin is, and what a "bijin" (beautiful person) I am. I think that sometimes they think I can't understand, even though I chat away to them in Japanese, because they carry on talking about how beautiful gaijin are between themselves for ages afterwards!!! Yesterday they started going on about how red my lips were and how I didn't need to wear make-up (yeah, right!) and they even compared me to Diana-san (a very high form of compliment among old Japanese ladies!!!) Oh yes, and they think that James is my older brother! Still, its fun talking to them, and excellent practice for my Japanese! There is also a 5 year old girl who we have started teaching English at the pool. She is really cute and goes swimming nearly every day with her mother and little brother. She now knows her colours and numbers, and can answer basic questions. Apparently she is really looking forward to her next lesson tomorrow. James is really taken with her - they looked so funny standing on the poolside miming and singing "Heads, shoulders, knees and toes"!
We have also both been trained to teach the kids lessons at work this week. The teaching method is obviously quite different to the adult lessons, with lots of games, sounds, songs, pictures, actions, etc. It seems quite daunting, but we are really looking forward to it, and I'm sure we will get used to the lesson style soon, although I think we will have to be on the ball a bit more. We have not actually taught any lessons yet, although a friend had his first lesson the other day - the child picked his nose for the first 7 minutes, then slept through the last 33 minutes - but as some of the kids are as young as 3, its hardly surprising they are a bit restless at times!!!
Have just been doing some naughty clothes shopping - Oasis is having a closing down sale and they've got some gorgeous stuff - marked in English sizes too, so I couldn't resist! I only bought two things today, but when I got to the till I found there was an extra 20% off, so I may well be going back - restrain me someone!!!!
Had a meal out at our local yakitori izakaya last night - mmm! We sat at the bar for the first time, so we could watch some of the food preparation, and the guys working were really friendly, unlike the usual girl who serves us. We had a really nice meal, then went home to watch a video.
Anyway, that's all I can think of to write for now, but keep in touch, and remember, if anyone wants anything Japanese, my parents are coming in 5 weeks - with an extra suitcase!!!!
Nic.