Yesterday I had the chance to relax for the first time in weeks since there were no bb matches to go to. Setsuo was also working so I had the house to myself which is also the first in weeks.

Around 10.30, I went to one of the local supermarkets and got all the notebooks, pencils and erasers bought for the graduating kids at the nursery school (every year, I give them the same present) and had them all gift wrapped ready to hand out at the last lesson tomorrow. I also had to buy 'return' gifts for those who gave chocolate to Setsuo on Valentines day - the woman in the office and also one of my 6 year old students! After that, I went to watch the younger kids playing bb, the older kids just have practice now but Keita was one of the 'umpires' during one match. (When I asked if he enjoyed doing it, he said it was boring!)

At around 6.30, I was just about to go shopping when the woman who originally wanted to buy our house asked if they could come and see the inside. I had to rush around hoovering, washing floors and generally tidying up! Luckily Setsuo also came home shortly after, so he did the 2nd floor. Poor Keita just got microwaved food that he made himself since we were too busy to stop for dinner. In the end she came alone just after 8pm because her husband had had to go out again. I'll see her today when she brings her son for his lesson and will get an idea of whether or not they are still thinking of buying it.

Today I'm really tired and lethargic and can't shake off being fed-up for some reason. Knowing I have 5 classes to deal with isn't helping much although that can't be the reason since I have them every week. I think maybe it's because there is so much needing to be done with the house, Keita's various ceremonies and generally just needing a break. It would be nice to be able to just go off on holiday somewhere but apart from the time, we don't have the money either. As is always the case, when money is short, all the extra bills start coming in. Ho hum.

Tonight we have to sit down and work out Keita's speech for the nursery school ceremony. Poor Setsuo is inundated with things to be done work-wise and could do without it but since it impossible for me........

Last night one of the teachers from the nursery school where I teach phoned to ask if Keita would read the 'speech' for the graduation ceremony this year. I said I doubted it since he gets embarassed easily but I'd ask him and let her know. Surprise, surprise, he agreed to do it although I don't think he realises that it's quite a long speech. He only has to read it though unlike Kana who had to memorise hers. The down side is that we have to compose it - and since I'm out of the picture when it comes to formal speeches, it's up to Setsuo. We have until Tuesday to come up with something and we also have the past 7 years worth to look at and get ideas from.

Since he is going to do it, I had to go and see if his new school uniform will be ready so he can wear the trousers. The woman in the shop said that Keita's were going to be too short after they had left the usual 8cm (for growing into) and was getting them order-made so they wouldn't be ready in time, so we've decided to just have him buy the regular size with a bit less spare material and if he does need longer later on, I'll buy him another pair. It seemed easier to do it this way rather than have to rush out and find him a pair of formal trousers in time for March 15th. I'll still have to get him a shirt/sweater but he needs that for his own graduation on the 19th anyway. Also, since I'll have to go too, it means taking another Saturday off. I'd already planned to take that afternoon off since I have to go to Kana's school but thought I'd manage the morning classes - it'll be the 3rd cancellation since the beginning of February but luckily both classes are single students and their Mum's are always nice about it.

Last night was great fun but too much beer was consumed and it doesn't feel that great today but I'm sure I'm feeling better than a few others! Four of us left around 10 but there were another 4 who stayed on.

Our friend's husband's restaurant it a yakitori (skewered chicken) restaurant which means that the majority of food is chicken but cooked (or even uncooked!) in a myriad of ways. The kids kept him and his staff busy with the amount they managed to eat - who said boys have a big appetite from JHS onwards? We got the kids all fed first and then sent them home around 7.30pm and it was time for the mothers to have fun!

Because I only have 2 lessons this afternoon, I should have been able to go slow this morning but it just happened to be the same day that they were coming to disconnect our cable for the TV and internet in the old house. Since we thought we would have moved by now, we cancelled the contract from the end of February so we are now without. Since I hardly watch TV anyway it's not that big a deal for me but I'm sure Keita and Setsuo are having withdrawal symptoms - we have it installed in the new house so they can always go and get a 'fix' if it gets too much for them. The lack of internet just means that I go to bed a bit earlier too which is no bad thing.

Here's a photo of the baseball kids after the leaving ceremony for teams in this area. There were 5 teams altogether - the same ones that the players were taken from to form the All Star team.

Tomorrow night the 6th graders and mothers will all go out for dinner and then on Sunday it will be Keita's team's leaving ceremony too. After that it's onto whichever JHS team they decide to join.

Today, was my 2nd last class for the nursery school kids who will be going into elementary school. As always, the class is split into two - one week half the class have English with me and the next they do a swap with the other half and go for a pottery class - and today it was the least energetic (lethargic?) of the the two so it'll be nice to finish on a high note next week. This year quite a few of the mothers have asked about joining regular lessons which is good since most of my students are coming up for their last year of elementary school which means there is a good chance they are going to be lured away to juku (cram school) in a year's time so I should try to start getting some more young ones in the door.

Around December, a few students wanted to join but because it's too difficult to let them join part way through, I started an 'intensive' 1.5 hr class on a Saturday afternoon with the intention of having them come until April to get them up to the same level as the other kids and then have them change into a regular lesson. I didn't realise just how quickly they would progress and they are more or less up to where I wanted them so I'm seriously thinking about keeping that class going and also adding another 1.5 hr lesson after it. If it was in anyway possible, I would change all the classes to 1.5 hrs because the difference is amazing. Mind you, the kids are also really good and when I ask them to do a couple of pages of their worksheets for homework, they usually bring them back the next week and they've done the lot - on average 10 -15 pages - I just wish all the kids were like that! After talking to another mother about the class yesterday, she decided to have her daughter come to that class rather than the 45 min one so I think there may be quite a lot of interest. Unfortunately I don't have the time to change all the classes to that length without letting some of the current students go but I'm definitely keeping it in mind for the future.

Now I just have to try to work out what to do about one of my JHS lessons which just seems to get worse and worse........One boy is painfully shy, one talks non-stop - in Japanese of course - and the third one who joined last year just isn't making any progress. Can't have it good all the time I suppose!

On Saturday I tidied all the boxes and put them into the room where most of the other boxes were and cleaned the kitchen, bathroom, toilets etc and then when I went to the baseball, Setsuo washed all the floors (which is a lot of floors!). I got back around 12.30pm and since they weren't due to arrive until around 2pm, the pair of us tackled the FIL's kitchen and rooms as well as his toilet (which is always Setsuo's job!). By the time they arrived, the place was clean albeit full of half-empty rooms with boxes galore.

It was a young couple with 3 month old twins (boy and girl who were gorgeous) and her mother. I think the house was too big for them and I doubt they will buy it but at least it gave us the excuse to tidy/clean up a bit.

We are now thinking that if it doesn't sell quickly, we might just rent it out. Anyone want a 4-story, 9 room house with office and storage space to boot!!

Today we went to get Keita's school things and yipee there were size 30cm gym shoes so that is what we got! Good that they went up to that size but bad that that is the biggest size and they aren't THAT big on him right now so wonder what he's going to do for gym shoes if his feet grow. Also the slipper type things they have to wear inside the school only went up to a certain size and so his feet are at least 2cms bigger than the slipper! At least they are slippers though.

Tomorrow someone is going to come and look at the house - it's a relative of the woman who works in the office. The other family (my students' parents) didn't manage to get the loan so I'm hoping this next lot will be more successful. Only problem is that the house is a tip with all the half packed rooms and I have to go to baseball at 9am morning so it looks like we are going to be cleaning, cleaning, cleaning tonight. If it's still a tip, at least I won't be there to cringe with embarassment!

I'm teaching in 30 minutes - had to delay my last class because of going to the school - so should go and get ready for it.