Sorry about the long delay. Life has been as busy in the last few weeks as it was boring in March. In March I felt essentially ready to go. Now I am not so sure. I'll have to explain that at some other point as I am watching sumo now and will soon have to get dinner together. But trust me when I say that along with the April and May weather has come a new found joy in living in this country. Gonna be quite sad in about 10 weeks if things stay as they are.
But anyway, I've been busy since early April. Schools started back up and then my uncle and aunt came over for a visit. My weekends have been filled with friends and drinks, my weekdays with students, and my evenings with baseball, sumo, and the books I've been reading.
I will get into the details of Ray and Judy's visit at a later time, but believe me when I say that we had a damn good time. They got to do a lot that regular tourists don't get to do in this country and I am happy to have been able to provide the experience for them. It really was a good vacation for all of us. They got a nice trip and some good experiences out of it and I got the experiences and a chance to see Japan through fresh eyes again. You tend to take things for granted eventually no matter what you do and to have them here and asking me about things allowed me to remember what it was like to be new here all over again.
As far as my schools go, it is all good. Got some new students and some old ones, got a couple new teachers (which brings the count of teachers I have worked with while here up to 30 if I am remembering everyone), and in general it just feels nice to be back up in front of the classroom entertaining the students and putting on the little show that I do. So no worries there.
So there you are. A little note to let you that things are good and that I am still amongst the breathing. I will write more soon as I imagine things will start settling down in the next week and two. So until then open a bottle of sake and drink it cold.