So today is the day before Thanksgiving in your country. Over here it is simply Wednesday. Tomorrow I will be going to the aviation academy as usual. But hell, I can't complain as Monday was a holiday here and we did get two live football games. One was at 6am so I recorded it and watched it in the late afternoon. But the other one was at 1030am (530pm Sunday for most of you) so that meant we got the Sunday Night Football game live, with Mike, Paul and Joe. Was a good game too. So although I don't get to see my Cowboys play on Thanksgiving for the first time since 1985, I did get a bit of the football fix. So anyway, Happy T-day to you all.

Today was Yuda (all-girls) day. Only, my first class is in Europe and my third class is in Okinawa. So that meant that I only had one class today. Waddled in there around 1030am and expected to be out of there by about noon. But out of nowhere this teacher that I don't work, have only talked to him a couple times, came over to me at my desk and informed me that my second class was not to be--something about a schedule change--and asked if I would please work with him in his fourth period class (that's what is normally my third class time). So I said, of course, that I could, and we spent the next hour in the library talking about the upcoming class and English and language in general. A very nice guy he is except that I don't always understand what he says to me. But no matter, we figured it all out and went to his class (16 students) where I introduced myself (an abbreviated version) and then the students all introduced themselves, albeit a bit reluctantly. So that went ok and I was back to my place by about 115pm. Short day, aye?
But instead of taking advantage of the day and going out and seeing things, I am staying in and cleaning and doing laundry and stuff that is better done on a nice day being that clothes take a long time to dry in the cold and I can leave all the windows open while I clean for the fresh air. Yesterday it rained nearly all day and was overcast and quite cold. This morning I woke up to a 13 degree Celsius room (about 55 degrees f) and now it is 20 degrees (68 f). So it is very nice today. I found a thermometer in a drawer the other day so I have it hanging up in this room for reference. Quite interesting. It is finally cooling off. Or rather, getting kinda cold. Those of you who knew me in Bakersfield last year might remember that I pretty much wore shorts all winter. Here, though, I don't think that will be happening. First off, I have to wear pants for work and second off, it's going to be much colder than it ever gets in B-town. I can still wear shorts on days like today (after work) but I imagine that in about 2 to 3 weeks time the shorts will be put away for a few months. Nights are getting cold and the days are cool and crisp. I bought a wire for the kotatsu (a low table with a heater attached to the underside, with a blanket over the top of the table, and this you slide your lower half under and stay warm) and the thing works pretty well. But it does not heat the room at all. You have to stay under the table to get the benefits of it. But I do have a wall mounted heater for this room and a kerosene heater for the bedroom (though I don't have any kerosene for it yet). So soon I will be figuring out the best way to really keep this place nice and toasty. I did screw in a series of hooks and put up a clothes line in the shower room so that I can hang up clothes in there to dry. I figure it is a nice small room to have to heat and that the clothes might dry more quickly. Gonna be an interesting winter, it is.

Gaylyn is coming to visit me, I found out a few days ago. She's coming right in the dead of winter but what the hell. Just happens to be the best time for her. She's be here from Jan 16 to 26. Should be a nice visit. Am taking her to a Sumo Basho upon her arrival and then after that I'll bring her to Yamanashi and we'll probably just explore around here. She's my first visitor and I am still rather new here so I am not sure about where I should take her but luckily she is pretty easy to entertain. I do have to work while she's here so I am thinking that I might take her to a school or two if she wants to go and if it's ok with the school. I think she'd like it and I know the students would be in shock to see not one, but two two two foreigners in their sacred classroom. We'll see.

You all missed a mighty Rugby World Cup Championship game last Saturday night. Went into overtime after it looked as though England would handle the Aussies pretty well. But the Aussies tied it up and my Enlgish friends looked as though someone had just informed them that they'd have to undergo surgery for a sex change. Funny thing was that I asked a couple people who are more rugby knowledgeable than me about how overtime worked and not one of them knew for sure. Seems rugby hardly ever goes into overtime, so I got to witness something special. And only once every four years does this whole thing happen...and this was the big game! So it was awesome! So they played two ten minutes periods with England scoring a three pointer and then a few minutes later Australia scoring a three pointer. But then....with about 20 seconds left to go.....ol' Jonny Wilkinson (the star of England) kicked a field goal from about 25 meters out. So England won the game, my friends were given back their privates and the party really got started. It was great.

Sun just went behind the hill and man, it cooled off in here quickly. Guess I'll go now and hang my clothes up in the bathroom. You might call this upcoming season the winter of my discontent...but hell, I don't like being too content anyway. Until next time, happy T-day and GO COWBOYS!