I CANNOT get back in the groove!

It is such a shock being back in Japan... I am still in the "I hate all things Japanese" mode that I have to suffer through every time I go away (not that I actually would want to leave here - on balance my life here is great, it's just that I see all the little niggles all over again after some time away....)

It is still hot hot hot during the day, though it cools off by about 2am, just enough for me to be deeply asleep by the time the alarm drags me up again....

I am NOT used to teaching six hours a day, and the house shows it! I have also run out of prepared stuff that I normally have in hand for most of my classes, so I am teaching "hand to mouth" which I hate. (I have a curriculum and know what I have to teach but if I need a game, cards or to print something I have not got it done yet.)

Yoshi and Harry have a lot of work to catch up on, so Yoshi's homework sessions have been long and fraught. It's been hard enough keeping Harry awake long enough to eat dinner, let alone wash or do homework so I've given him up as a lost cause!

Yesterday the kids both went off to their "Rinkan Gakko" (School in the Forest) The entire school goes off to the mountains where they play in the river, hike to a waterfall and do a night hike, have nature walks and talks, and put on a talent show at night. It used to be two nights and three days but last year there was a massive typhoon which caused a landslide at the nature centre, and the geography of the river has changed so that rafting and swimming is now impossible. That's really sad.

I was looking forward to having some alone time with Seiju last night. We ordered a pizza and ate it together, then....................

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At 8pm I fell asleep on the sofa, was poked and pulled to bed sometime later, and I finally regained consciousness at 8 this morning! I feel refreshed (and it was LOVELY not to have to deal with the school run this morning) but a bit miffed about losing out on all that free time we had last night!

Right, got a super busy day ahead of me, so I'd better get on. Sigh.

I'm Hooome!

Actually we got back a week ago, but arrived from coolish English temperatures which were in the mid-20's(C) (mid 70's F) to five days of burning hell. It was between 38 and 42C at our house during the day, never dropping below 30 degrees even at night. (That's high nineties to 107F for you farenheighters out there!)

So, as well as jet lag, we had to cope with unbearable heat. Yoshi's skin had become smooth and lovely by the end of our England trip, with even his deepest cuts healing over. Within a night of being home he was back to being scratched up and bloody again, poor kid. None of us could sleep, as our house has no airconditioning, and though we had fans and every single window open, there was not a breath of wind.

I was really worried about starting back at work, and wanted to cry thinking about six and seven hours of teaching in a sauna, but on we went to bed on Wednesday night, having seen that 42C (107F) temperature in our garden, and when we woke up the next morning it was 19C (66F)!! What a relief! We all had a really good sleep for the first time in a week, and I was able to struggle through my first day of teaching.

Since then the temperatures are slowly climbing back up - now they are in the high twenties C (around 80F) during the main part of the day, but the mornings and evenings are bearable. Harry is still a bit jetlagged, and we are all going to bed and getting up earlier than we normally do. That's actually a habit I'd like to keep to...

Right, got to get the kids to the bus for their first day back at school!

Still in England

NOTE THAT I AM POSTING PICTURES AS IF THEY WERE POSTED ON THE DATE THEY WERE TAKEN, SO SCROLL DOWN TO HAVE A LOOK!

There are about five days left of our time in England and I am ashamed to see how little I have posted. The problem is that we have been so busy! We have been to so many places and seen so many people but I arrive back shattered and unwilling to get to the computer.

Here's a quick list of what we have done and where we have been...

July 11th - Dubai on the way to England!

July 12th - Arrived in England.

July 13th - Went to all the rellies to say hello and catch up after two years.

July 14th - Went to Wales with Mum and Dad. Called in to my brother's house to see his lovely girls (and him of course!)

July 15th - To the beach in the rain with brother and kids.

July 16th - To Tawyn to look around the town, saw a model railway, and went to the market. Went to Corris and the kids went down a cave and across an underground lake with Grampa. Granny and I stayed firmly above ground...

July 17th - (My best day so far) - went to Harlech castle and Port Meirion. It actually didn't rain!

July 18th - Had Nancy, littlest niece for the day. Went to Corris to the craft village. Painted bowls which were fired that night.

July 19th - Actually a hot sunny day! Went for a long walk in the woods on the hills above our caravan. The boys looked for as many different seeds as they could find. Went to Corris to pick up the pots and then on to the Centre For Alternative Technology to meet with my brothers Father in law for a cup of tea and a chat. Rain began in earnest.

July 20th - Woke very late in the pouring, slamming rain so decided to pack up a day early and head back to home.

July 21st - Went around the rellies again!

July 22nd - A quiet day at home and visiting family.

July 23rd - Another restful day. The boys played on scooters that my parents got for them, and made craft projects etc.

July 24th - Went to Nottingham to meet my friend Hellen, who is another foreign wife in Japan. We live too far apart in Japan, so we meet every time we are home for the summer! The boys had an orgy of Japanese chat as we went to the Brewhouse yard museum where the kids learned about housekeeping Victorian style, getting to clean silver and do laundry! Then we went to the Arboretum and the playing fields for a run.

July 25th - Went to see my college roommate Sally in York. We haven't met for three years and in that time she has had three children!! All cuties I must say. Then the boys and I went to Jorvik Viking museum, but the ride around the village broke down and we had to be evacuated and our money was refunded. We had a good look around the museum and they tried on a lot of helmets and chain mail so all was not lost. Walked around the old town and along the walls on the way back to the station.

July 26th - Did a talk for my Auntie Win about Japan at her Ladies Circle. The boys came in at the end and sang three songs in Japanese for them, and passed around green tea and Japanese biscuites. I was very proud of them, little gentlemen they were.

July 27th - Went by myself for the night to see my friend Fran and her husband in a theatre festival in the city centre.

July 28th Came back from Manchester. The boys went to Chatsworth with my parents to the farm and the massive play area they have there.

July 29th - Went to Markeaton Park with the kids and Dad while Mum made Sunday lunch. Kids canoed on the boating lake, had a go on the bumper cars and played crazy golf.

July 30th - Left the kids with Mum and Dad and went shopping in town with Auntie Win. Met up with my friend Rachel and her partner Victoria for pizza and a play in the park afterwards.

July 31st - Went to Sheffield to see my friend Lotta and her three girls who are all very grown up now - the oldest is 17! Walked through all the lovely water features that have just been installed, went to the Millenium Gallery to see a costume exhibition, then an exhibition about the life and work of Ruskin, then out through more water features to the town where we went mad in the big bookshop. Then we went back to Lotta's house for tea, and Harry bounced himself into a coma on their trampoline.

August 1st - Hellen came here with her boys, and we went to Markeaton Park. The kids played in the play area for a couple of hours, and we had a picnic there. Then we moved to the paying play area where they went in the canoes, did crazy golf and went on the bumper cars again (for my boys!) Then we moved placed AGAIN and set up camp on the grass near the wading pool where the boys cavorted among the hundreds of other kids, as it was the first really hot day of the summer. Came home and ate chipshop chips with pickled onions and lots of vinegar, white buttered bread and hot sweet tea. Ahhhh.

August 2nd - (Harry went to bed last night and told Yoshi that we didn't have to go anywhere! I think the pace is beginning to tell on them!!) Rest day. We all slept late, then walked/scooted over to the rellies to say hello. Went to Aunty Shirley's in the afternoon then scooted down the hill to call in on Great Granny.

August 3rd - Went to Banbury to visit another former roommate Alison and her husband and twin daughters who are the same age as Yoshi. Walked through their village to the park, came home and played and chatted. Stayed the night.

August 4th - Left late morning to see former Co-worker Tim and his wife and four kids in nearby Oxford. Had lunch and chatted, and caught the train back late afternoon.

August 5th - (Today!) A hot, hot, HOT day (Over 30C which is hot for England!) Went with Dad to bring Great Granny back here for Sunday lunch, then while he took her back Mum and I walked/scooted the boys partway to the canal. Dad caught us up halfway and took us the rest of the way in the car. Watched canal boats going through the lock and the boys helped open and shut the lock gates. Had a drink and then gave up as it was too, too hot and came home for a nap!

Augsut 6th - Going to Cambridge to meet friends and stay the night with them. Planning on punting if the weather is good enough.

August 7th - Planning on coming back late afternoon ish.

August 8th - Meeting Aunty Shirley in town for coffee and a chat and a bit of a shop, then we'll go back with her on the bus and visit Great Granny to say goodbye.

August 9th - Say goodbye to all the other rellies, and pack. (As always a problem as I have done a lot of shopping!!!)

Auguast 10th - Sad.... Fly home. Happy, see Seiju!!

See, agree with me that there has been hardly a moment to blog!!!