Lisa just phoned to say that her cast has been removed but she now has on a 'supporter'. I was thinking about the stretchy bandage type supporters but she said it cost 8000 yen so I think it must be something different. She has to go back again in 2-3 weeks but her two snowboarding trips planned for the end Jan and beg Feb are no go's! At least she'll save a bit of money!

Kana is out with friends from her club tonight and then again on Saturday she'll be out with her old junior high school pals. I just hope she's in the house long enough to pack her suitcase! We have more or less bought everything she needs but need to get it all sorted out and see how much the weight comes to. I'll have to post some of her school books to her (can't remember having to do that for Lisa) and also winter jackets etc. I've also had an e-mail from her host mother who sounds really nice and I think Kana is going to enjoy staying with them. They had a new house built just over two years ago just outside of Geraldine with 5 bedrooms, a study and two lounges and she has invited us all to go and stay with them. Her youngest brother who lives in Australia is married to a Japanese woman so they obviously know a bit about Japan and the customs.

Meanwhile, on the moving front - still no progress other than we have got the date for the phones to go in, Feb 6th, so the office will have to be moved by then. The carpenters are in the process of moving everything from the 1st floor storage area into the new warehouse near Juso park so the whole place looks a tip! One of my student's parents are keen to buy the house but we may have some difficulty selling it because we built over the legal limit and so there is a chance that the big banks won't approve a loan for them. (The smaller banks will although the interest rate on the mortgage will be higher) They are coming tonight to talk prices and then once Kana is away and I have the chance to get the house in a bit better shape, they'll come and look it over. Here's hoping....