I haven't updated the diary in ages, so here goes!
Firstly, good news, I have passed my End of Probation lesson observation,�@so am now officially off probabtion, and Nova can start paying me a decent salary (which I won't actually see until March, but never mind!) James also passed. We can also now start training for Kids teaching etc.
The other week, we had cable tv installed, mostly so that we can get CNN news and so that James can watch live English football (including some matches not shown back home!) I stayed up til 4am trying to translate the contract, including one paragraph which I painstakingly worked out, only to find it said something like "Dear honourable customers, we humbly honour you with our best wishes for health and happiness, honourable, honourable, honourable customer"! (Ok, maybe it wasn't quite that bad, but keigo [polite language] drives me mad!) The man came to fit it the next day, and we werre pleasantly surprised that he had finished the installation within half an hour - typical Japanese efficiency! What also surprised us though, was the lack of bureaucracy and form-filling involved - in Japan they usually make applying for anything an unnecessarily complicated process, but this was amazoingly simple! The only minor hitch was when the workman had to telephone his office to check if it was ok for me to sign my direct debit form instead of using an name stamp like Japanese people. I was also happy that he was patient enough to explain how it worked to me in Japanese, without getting all embarrassed if I asked him to repeat something as a lot of people do. So, full marks J-Com!
Went shopping for Mumk and Dad's birthday presents a few days ago - can't say what they are yet, as they won't have opened them, but they each have a rather funny one! They seem to be getting excited about their trip to Japan at Easter, I am frantically trying to shift-swap to get some time off to spend with them (and maybe go to Tokyo, Fuji-san or Fukuoka!)
Hopefully going to see the Charlatans next week - yeah! I need some English music - J-pops can really start to get annoying after a while, although there are a couple of Japanese songs I am really into at the moment, Utada Hikaru in particular seems quite good.
The weather has been freezing recently, and we have even had snow a couple of times, although it hasn't stuck. Today is a bit warmer thankfully - I have been neding hat, gloves and Leeds Uni scarf the last few days!�@
Last Thursday we went to the bay area of Osaka to visit the World Trade Centre. This is built on reclaimed land in the sea, constructed using landfill waste. It is over 50 storeys high (I can't remember the exact details) and we had a great view from the top. We could see Kansai Airport, our office building (although we did have a bit of a dispute over which exact building it was!) Osaka Dome, Tsutenkaku Tower etc. We then went to the Asian Trade Centre, which was full of cool shops. The area around there looks like it would be lovely in summer, with the sea and palm trees, etc.
James emailed the BBC a while back, asking if they needed any help with anything in Osaka for the World Cup. They contacted him this week, and we have been charged with finding a bar for them to broadcast from during the England/Nigeria match!!!!! Someone is coming out to meet us soon, and we are taking them around our favourite haunts for him to choose one!
James and I decided to brave having our hair cut in a Japanese salon last week, and eventually we were both pleased with the results, although it took a long time to explain what James wanted, particularly as most young Japanese men have longer, very shaggy cuts, and most of them also pluck their eyebrows!!!! They cut my hair dry and then washed and dried it, which was a new experience for me�@�| I have only ever had a wet cut before. After washing my hair, she gave me a scalp, shoulder and back massage - I fekt really pampered - apparently this is normal in Japan!!!
That's about all the news for now, I think!
Nic. xxx