Osaka was very hot and crowded and the local special food is a heart attack in a plastic carton. It is taco-yaki. This is octopus fried into balls of batter. There is also a wide selection of other fried things on a stick and a turtle like thing called a Suppon. You are also supposed to drink it’s blood and it will give you some kind of magical powers or strength. I would imagine it would have the exact opposite effect on me as a foreigner though. I would probably go blind or throw up or something. The people of Osaka were really nice. That town has a reputation for being a bit heavy in the mafia but I thought people there were much nicer than Tokyo. Everyone wanted to chat and offer advice. Let’s see, what did I get up to? I went everywhere, pushing through the crowds the whole time. The worst for crowds was probably the zoo. I felt like I was in a crowded club without the dancing. The highlight was probably the fake zoo cage that you could put your kids in. Good idea Osaka! I should get some for school. The subway stop closest to the zoo was nicely tiled and I too a lot of photos of it. We saw lots of beautiful gardens and a couple of museums as well. There was a pretty good dinosaur museum with a lot of butterflies and insects on display. We stayed for one night in a 24 hour spa onsen facility called Spa World. It was a quite large place with about 6 floors of various baths. There is a men’s floor and a women’s floor. This month, the womens’ floor was modeled after various European style hot springs and baths while the mens’ floor was modeled after Asian countries. I wanted to use the men’s floor because they had countries like Bali, Malaysia and Thailand I believe. The architecture of those ones looked better in the pictures. The European ones were a little more stark and set on a grand scale, eg Rome. My favourite baths were the one where you rub yourself in salt and then sit in a sauna and also the mud bath, although it was a little icky feeling, my skin felt amazing afterwards. There was also a lounge area were everyone is sitting naked at tables like a bar and soaking their feet in stoned filled pools. That one was quite nice. Everyone slept in reclining chairs or on the floors in big halls. This was a little noisy because of the snoring. I didn’t really do too much shopping which is probably a good thing because I still manage to spend my money these days as well as ever. The pool floor looked refreshing but turned out to be heated to about 25 degrees. It was kind of unpleasant to swim in a heated pool. You know what it feels like when you swim in the warm patches of a pool? Well this is like a whole pool of it. Ick. There was one cold tap and that was about it.
The weather has been very warm recently and I have been extra busy with school this week. It is taxing on everyone’s concentration. The new first year kids at junior high are in very large classes and are too noisy. I am a fan of strong militant style discipline with big classes but most of the people I work with are really relaxed so I get irritated with them sometimes. I had the night off last night because of various cancellations and it was really nice. I weeded out the yard and garden and hit the tennis ball around a little bit while Tom played DS like a madman, giving me commentary the whole time. I also took the car in to get the brakes done. I was surprised that I could basically understand everything that was being said. They looked a bit nervous when I came in but it was all fine. Not only did they do the brakes but they also cleaned the car inside and out! That was a pleasant surprise because there were a few coins that had been adhering to the dashboard for some time that they managed to remove. They also cleaned my glasses that were in the car and organized my receipts and hair clips into a neat little bundle. Good man! It was a bit strange though, they never even asked my name. The mechanic just wrote my phone number down on his hand. The first garage I went to asked me to pick out the park I needed from a list. I got it narrowed down to two but then I though that it was stupid that they were asking me to do that in the first place. It turned out they didn’t have it anyways. At any rate we now have breaks again and I can once again show up slightly late to work without the whole world hearing me.

I found out yesterday that my replacement is another Canadian girl. Apparently they like to replace like with like. I hope her name is Jennifer like my three predecessors. That would keep things a little more consistent for everyone. I remember how that new person must feel right now. Nothing could have prepared me for the kind of experience that this has been. I just couldn't have imagined what my life was going to be like here. I wonder what I should tell her and what I shouldn't. There is an obvious temptation to say too much so that everything I have done here and the programmes I have created will continue but is that the right idea? As far as my students go, it would be a good idea but this new person will no doubt go through all the same experiences as I have, just like all the people who came before me. She will soon start living my life here. That is so strange. Everything that I am so wrapped up in on a daily basis will all be someone else's life. This includes the house I live in, the car I drive, my job, many of my japanese friends, my students, my garden, all of it. It's like you are literally stepping out of your japanese life and back into where ever you came from. We are all starting to tell everyone how much we will miss them when they are gone. It's hard for me to think about it. But I know the next thing will be good. It will just take some time to get used to it. Miss you all. Speak to you soon. Have a happy Mother's Day Mom!