This past week has been quite hectic but at the same time relaxing knowing that I didn't have classes. On both Saturday and Sunday there were two practice matches each day. Saturday's match was at the back of Kyoto which meant an early start, traffic jam, a mountain road and a lot of sick boys! One woman was unlucky in that her car was brand new and she had one of the car-sick kids in it! The two matches were with a very strong team and not surprisingly, Keita's team lost both matches. Sunday was better although another early start (6.30am) and they won the first match and drew the second which made it worthwhile. Since Keita's new shoes still haven't arrived (they are having to be made from scratch) he was allowed to play in his running shoes. At first I thought he wasn't going to be allowed to pitch (due to the lack of proper shoes) because he was in a different position for the first match but then he pitched in the second. Usually he is the starting pitcher but they kept him back because the second team they played against was the stronger team. Anyway it was 2 long days!!

On Monday the club had a BBQ for the new boys and parents which was quite good although the weather was pretty cold (and so was the food!) It seemed even colder since it had been red-hot the two previous days but it was nice not to have to get up early and also get home at a reasonable time. This coming Sunday is another early morning for both of us.

On Tuesday - my first day of not needing to do anything - I was bored!! I set out to go shopping but then met Keita's last coach who said the new 6th graders were about to have a match at the other end of Juso so I went and watched. I used to be frightened when the ball came towards me but after experiencing the new team, they were very tame in comparison!!

Yesterday I did the bank rounds and then took Aya to get her Int'l driving license. Because she (maybe) won't be here when it expires next February, they advised her to renew it at the same time. Good advice but they forgot to tell us that since she is a new driver, there would be a 2hr long video that she had to watch before getting it. It was a looong afternoon for me.

Now that the time for Aya to go to the UK is just around the corner, she is having doubts. I've said to just go thinking of it as a holiday and to decide once she gets there. I don't know for sure but I think there is a good chance that she'll be back. She has a lot of friends here and compared with the UK, there is so much more to do here. Job-wise, she could probably get a better job in the UK but life-wise, I think she would enjoy herself better here. Only she can decide though.