Christmas, I'm coming!

Gosh, sorry about the long drought. It wasn't even me putting off doing this, I guess I've just been busy at work recently. It's not like they work me really hard, but lately they have put an extra three classes into my week, as I'm meeting each of the nine second year classes for a self-intro lesson. A bit of a funny time for them to 'meet' me - when I've been around for four months, but I guess they have a bit of downtime before the winter vacation. I'm not sure 'nervous' is the right word, but I have been a little tense about those classes. It's always awkward going into a new class, not knowing what to expect, and most of the classes thus far have been with new teachers that I'm not used to, too. This morning was an exception - I taught my regular first year class with Inohara-sensei, then we went to her second year class. The fact we are used to teaching together really showed - the students were relaxed and comfortable and we covered much more than I had managed in any other second year class so far. So while an extra three classes a week isn't a huge deal, I have been noticing the change in my schedule.

Of course, my real source of tension could be Christmas. Jeff and I had noticed we had been down recently - taking it in turns experiencing wee bouts of culture shock then having to bouy the other up. But when we caught up with friends, we found it is clearly not limited to us. It seems everyone is finding it a hard time of year to be away from family - with the likely exception of those who went home for the holidays! I'd heard how winter is such a hard time for ALTs and Jeff and I totally disagreed because the snow is beautiful and the snowboarding is great fun, but maybe it's actaully being away from family for the biggest celebratory day our culture has that is so hard. Last year we were lucky enough to have Kate here until the day before Christmas (poor her - she spent Christmas Day on the plane!), but this year we have struggled like all the rest of the ALTs.

However, this is the week of parties - no more moping. Tomorrow we have a 'Tea Party' with our ancient English group. This involves the group of us sitting around a low table while the Japanese people stuff the foreigners with an insane amount of food. What we can't eat then is bagged for us to take home.

- Thursday Jeff and I both have work parties, mine in Fukuyama, his in Sanwa (where his Board of Education is based and about half an hour from home). Sucks for him - he can't drink and drive! For myself, I'll be training home :)

- Friday we are having dinner with our good friends Sonoko and Nishikawa - also known as J-Mum. J-Mum is prepared to cook us huge, sumptuous meals on the condition that Jeff drinks excessive amounts of beer with her. She eats like a sparrow so she can keep her figure without cutting back on the beer. Hilarious, awesome woman!

- Saturday we are attending a fundraising concert at a buffet restaurant. One of the teachers from my school is in a gospel group who will be singing Christmas carols - in English. 500 yen from our ticket price will go to the Tohoku area, so I'm really happy about that.

- Sunday, of course, is Christmas. The other local ALT is letting us borrow his oven for the day, so Jeff and I will attempt to gather the necessary components to do a roast. We are very excited about this! We also went to the import store and bought a number of tasty goodies that we wouldn't normally allow ourselves - Jeff buying the favourites he always craves, while I bought all the exciting things I have been wanting to try for ages. That way we figure, although they may not be the traditional Christmassy foods we eat back home, at least we are ensuring the day is dedicated to eating and presents. I'm particularly excited about the feta-like cheese and the lemon white chocolate. Not together...

The day after Christmas I will go to work. It'll be strange working Boxing Day, but by the time I take time off for our Singapore/Malaysia jaunt and for our trip home in March, I have only two days of leave left (excluding my summer leave, which can only be taken during a certain period in mid summer). It will be a pain in the ass - I will drive from Jinseki to work, do my hours, then drive back to Jinseki to meet Jeff, who will drive us both back down. Roughly 4.5hrs on the road in one day. But I feel it's better to do all that driving and have an extra holiday day available to me next year. Jeff gets more leave than me, so he will be relaxing at home on the 26th...

Well, I should stop procrastinating my favourite job - that is, hoovering. I don't know what my issue is - it takes less than two minutes to hoover my tiny apartment - but of all the jobs around the house, it's the one I procrastinate the most. Stupid because I almost like sweeping (I mean, if I've got to do some form of cleaning!), but the hoover is the only thing that will work on the tatami. Oh, the neighbours are going to hate me - the walls are really thin and it's 9:30pm. But I'm not going to bed tonight until I've done it, so the neighbours will have to deal. Serves them right for washing dishes before 6am and taking ages to turn off their bloody early alarm in the morning! It's the oddest thing, being woken by the alarm from the stranger's apartment next to you. Shows how much you can influence a stranger's life without ever knowing them.

Night,

Charly