I phoned the nursery school today to see if they'd managed to find another teacher and it turns out that the woman who was going to do it has to go back to NZ so it looks like I'm going to be there for a bit longer - in fact have to start again next week which is a bit depressing since I thought I had finished. Since I've had a bit of a break over the summer, maybe it won't be too bad.

Some days I really think I've picked the wrong job and would like to pack the whole English teaching thing in but then other days I really enjoy it. Its a catch 22 kind of thing, I know if I did stop I would miss it and also know that I have a cushy number in the amount of hours I teach.

Other news is that FIL wants to come back home (according to him, he's now been in there for over 4 years!) and can get quite stroppy with both Setsuo and the staff. Last weekend, Setsuo took him to the local barbers to get a haircut and he wasn't at all happy about going back. Two of the women came to collect him and he was lashing out at both of them and Setsuo and when they finally got him back inside, they told Setsuo it would be better if he just left. I haven't been for a while, mostly because I've had to go to the baseball but also because he keeps on at me about stealing his pension! The monthly 31,000 yen he gets is going towards our monthly bill of nearly 200,000 for him but he can't understand that so thinks I'm pocketing it. I can live with it. Just hope they don't ask him to leave. Both Setsuo and I have said that if it does come to that, we'll find somewhere else. Now that we've had a couple of months of knowing what it's like to 'live', neither of us are willing to start sacrificing again. Shame for the FIL but there comes a point where we have to put ourselves first for once.

Forgot to say that we had pretty good weather too. We did have a few days with on/off rain but generally it was quite warm and sunny and I more or less got away with just wearing a nylon sports jacket on both islands. Must have taken the good weather with us because everyone said it had been pouring down until we arrived (it also poured down the day we left too!)

We're back!

It was a great holiday and the fact that there was no teaching, cooking, cleaning etc was the icing on the cake! Since I'd left it until late to book flights we had to go with Cathay Pacific via Taiwan with a one hour stop, then Hong Kong with 5 hours before arriving in Auckland but since it was at the beginning of the journey it was okay albeit a bit boring having to stay in HK airport for that length of time. We spent the first 4 days with my sister in Auckland and then headed off to the South Island to visit Kana. To get there we had to fly from Auckland to Wellington and then Wellington to Timaru and I couldn't believe the size of the last plane - there were 10 rows of two seats and it was probably the size of a small minibus although maybe a bit longer!

Kana's host family was lovely and because they gave us the loan of one of their cars, we could go exploring the area. Their house in Geraldine is on the top of a hill with a 360 degree panoramic view of mountains and rolling hills. Kana had school that week (we didn't dare take her out for any longer) so we paid a visit there and also went to Christchurch for the day where we met up with Kana's advisor for lunch and went to a small wildlife centre.

We took Kana back to Auckland and did all our dreaded souvenir shopping and generally chilled out with Steph and co. Stephanie was working some of the time so we usually went to Auckland by ferry which was much nicer than the traffic jams. Auckland hasn't really changed since I was over 4 years ago but there are so many Asian faces, voices etc that you could almost forget you are in NZ.

We also managed to go and visit Lisa's homestay family and it was just as well we did because they are moving to Australia next month. We now have an invite to the Gold Coast so we have another destination/country to choose from - loads of destinations, just no time!

When we got to the airport for our return journey we found that our flight to HK had been cancelled due to a typhoon. Because of having to stand in a huge queue to try to get alternative flights, we couldn't go with Kana to see her off but luckily Stephanie was there to help her out and we managed to get on a ANZ/JAL direct flight to Osaka 45 minutes later. It shaved off 4 hours of our flight time and the meals were much better too!

Now that we're back, it's the same old routine for me but at least I'm feeling a lot more refreshed - wonder how long it's going to last!

This morning we all got a rude awakening thanks to an earthquake. I was still half asleep so didn't really feel it all but I knew it had happened. Setsuo was watching the news and I heard him say it was a '3' before going back to sleep again! I should have stayed up because when I did rouse myself, I suddenly realised that I am flying to NZ tomorrow and all my winter clothes were still in the packing cases and I needed to go and buy another suitcase so should get my #"$% in action.

It was a mad rush but I unpacked the clothes (but then remembered that I had thrown out the majority of my winter stuff anyway) and went out and bought some new undies - the stuff I've been wearing lately are definitely 'for my eyes/washing line only' and since I may have to do a wash at Kana's homestay, thought I should have presentable ones. The suitcase was a bit trickier. The cheap ones were heavy enough to take up half the weight luggage empty and the lightweight ones were going to cost an arm and leg and since they are usually knocked to hell after a couple of trips, I decided to go with one of the mid-priced ones which was 6.4kg. Tonight I have the joy of trying to get everything packed up. (We have another suitcase too so it shouldn't be so bad especially as I'll be going with new undies and not a great deal more!)

Yesterday, as a house-warming present, Fumiyo (Setsuo's sister) sent us 2 paintings of Spike and Daisy (the dogs) that she'd done. They are really good and once I get back, will take photos to post. I had a feeling she would send a painting but didn't expect 2 and not of the dogs either. Thank you Fumiyo!

Well now it's time to teach my last two classes, charge my camera battery and then start the packing. Aya is going for dinner with the people from her new job, Keita and Setsuo are going to watch a baseball game (a professional one) so it's just Lisa and I which will help.

See you at the end of the month!

Not a great day yesterday - Keita got hit in the chest with a ball but was okay after a short rest (although still has the ball mark on his chest!) and my car also got a lovely dent in the roof because of another stray ball. Added to that, it was my day on 'duty' so was there from 7.30am to 7pm. Still, it was good that I was there to make sure Keita was okay.

I think all baseball clubs should have the AED equipment to hand - you can even rent them so it wouldn't be that much of a financial burden and I can't understand why our club doesn't have one. Next time I'm talking to the head of the club, I'm going to bring up the subject because I'm sure I'm not the only one who wouldn't mind paying a bit extra for peace of mind.

After seething all morning about the teacher's phone call, I decided to hell with the school, we are keeping to the dates we have planned.

I phoned Kana's host mother to see if she was okay with it - I'd hate to do it and for HER to get into trouble - and between us we've come up with a plot incase the school does check, which I doubt they will.

It turns out that the Monday is a school holiday anyway so we are now down to only 4 days off school. I thought about telling the teacher to see if they'd be okay with it but then decided it wasn't worth it.

The 'meet the boyfriend' night went quite smoothly. Turns out that he's been to my friends restaurant before so they probably know him better than I do! He was nervous at first (he'd also had a haircut and dyed his hair back to it's original colour since he was meeting me) but he soon relaxed and by the end of the night was suggesting another night out!