My shower is broken! It was working for a few seconds. Just long enough for the garden dirt on my feet to leave a muddy pool in the shower. Then nothing. So people are coming to look at it even though it is all mucky. I mopped it but the cats also later walked in it after being outside and thus left mucky footprints again. That should be very worrying for the Board of Education people. I had a lovely weekend. I went up to Nagano City to visit Rachael yesterday. I did several hours of accessory shopping before we met and actually managed to find some clothes as well. Clothes that fit! I know I can shop when I come home and I am trying to do something to prevent excessive spending when I do go home. We went out to a Hawaiian restaurant which was essentially an American restaurant but it was good. I hadn’t had onion rings for a long time. We drank many beers and then I headed for home. I was drinking a beer on the train as well while playing Nintendo. Unfortunately, I managed to knock the almost full can off the tray into my shoe which I had taken off to air my hot and smelly feet. Almost half a can poured into my shoe. I wanted to drink the rest of the beer that was still in the can but it smelled like my stinky shoe so I had to pour it down the sink.

I am in a gift giving marathon recently because I want to get rid of any residual Canada stuff before coming home. I rarely give my students prizes because I don’t want to reward them for doing everyday things. I want to give them something when I am stunned by their effort and ability. Thus, I rarely give them anything. Oh I don’t mean that. It’s just that they were bad today. One of my third year boys asked if he could look down my shirt for sen yen. Essentially 10 dollars. No. No, you cannot. Little bugger. He usually shouts that he loves me from the other end of the hall. Usually one of his friends will punch him in the stomach and tell him to shut up. It is about the only English he speaks though so I probably shouldn’t deter him. I feel like all of the third year students are unbelievably low. They don’t speak very much at all. But they have been bad since they were in first year. I like them but they are a pack of dogs.
I lost two good tennis balls on the balcony of the city gym. I need to go and ask for them back today. I hope they will let me get them. I like to hit the ball against the side of that building. But I was feeling irritated then and was hitting them too hard. I tried to recover the balls by my own means but I would need some kind of rope ladder. Since I want to maintain my injury free streak, I abandoned that idea.

On the weekend I watched Little Miss Sunshine. I really liked that movie. It had a good score too. That is the kind of music I want to write. I got the boys fixed on Wednesday. I felt bad about it and also sad that they were gone over night. I missed them greeting me at the door. Now they are stinky like the vets office. I should shampoo them when I get the shower back again. I don’t want to get scratched that much though. I did some serious work on the garden this weekend. It is looking much better than last year. I weeded it really thoroughly and put a few more new things in Tom’s side and my own.

I only have two classes left with some of my private students. It’s so sad! I am going to miss them so much. But at the same time I am looking forward to a bit of relaxation time. I am taking about one month’s holiday at the end so I can say good bye to Japan. I have a feeling I will just sit around in Shiojiri the whole time even though there are things I want to see. I am trying not to feel sad about things but it is hard. Everything makes me a little sad, even the things I don’t like. Because I know as soon as I am home I will be nostalgic for those things and no one will be able to relate to me. I am looking forward to talking to people when I get home though. I have noticed that more and more, I am not talking so much. I write to people way more than I talk to them. On Saturday morning, no one was really around. I called everyone I could think of to try and talk to someone but there wasn’t anyone around. I need people around me. I am one of those people who likes to work silently but with other people. The other day, me and my neighbour lady gardened together for about two hours but we didn’t say anything to each other. We just silently enjoyed working together. It was nice. I’m getting a bit weird maybe. Or maybe a bit Japanese. I don’t know which. We have all noticed that we seem to mumble to ourselves in Japanese these days. That is going to make us look a bit crazy back home. I don’t talk like I used to either. I have to talk to other North Americans for a while before my normal speech comes back. It is too easy to mimic the accent that other people use or try to do the Japanese one to make yourself understood easier. I am sure it will all melt away when I come home though.

Today's photos are as follows:

The first one is of a frog on my disgusting shower door. Next we have the grungy hightop trainers worn by the student teacher with his suit everyday. We do that here but still, you don't have to tuck your pants into them. It was kind of cool though. He is really young. They made him take out is piercing as well. Following this are three phtos of my trip on saturday morning to see the flowering azalia bonsai trees of a man in a community group that I know. He wanted us to go last year but we couldn't make it. The last two photos are of mine and Tom's yards. I went out and took a photo of them this morning. I know my grass looks long but keep in mind I have to cut it with scissors.