The party is over - hurray!

Altogether there were 65 kids and about 10 or so mothers but it wasn't as packed as I thought it might have been. Having just the one was a wise move - we were still knackered at the end but at least didn't have to face another. As always, the same group of kids were wild and half way through it, I was starting to lose my voice. We had about 3 extra games lined up but because it took so long getting them organised, we ran out of time. It was interesting to see that the mothers that came to help out were the ones with 'good kids' and those with the wild ones stayed at home, no doubt thankful to get a couple of hours peace from their offspring. Now, just the Xmas party to start planning for - groan.

Setsuo came back just after the party had finished so we all went out for lunch and then Setsuo and I went off to see Keita playing. I'd phoned my friend because it had been drizzling all day so I thought they might be sent home early but she said Keita was pitching in the 2nd years match. Stupid me asked if they needed anything brought and had to start making coffee to take (has to be percolated, not instant) and just as we arrived, they swapped pitchers! We ended up staying until the end though.

Because of the rain, both Keita's shoes and spikes were really caked in mud so he washed one pair and I did the other. His spikes have almost no sole left on one of them and I'm just hoping we've caught it in time to get it repaired. If not, I think we'll have to go and get his feet measured again before ordering another pair - he said they aren't tight but don't have the same amount of room they had when they were new so looks like his feet are still growing. When are they ever going to stop?

Also, when he went to get his hand X-rayed the other day, the doctor said his bones still haven't fused which means he is still growing. The Doc reckoned he'll go to at least 185cm (6 foot) but possibly be even taller.

Haven't heard from any of the girls lately although Lisa will be coming at the weekend because she wants to borrow the car. Kana has started talking about presents for her NZ friends so is obviously gearing up for coming home. Wonder if she'll be like Lisa was - everything was so much better in NZ!

After 4 more lessons today, I'm off for the next three days, yay!

Happy Birthday Mum!!

I'm sitting here surrounded by Halloween things - my office is never that organised but then again, never THIS disorganised! I have so many bags full of presents for handing out, sweets for the games, decorations etc plus my teaching stuff vying for space (you can't see my desk in the photos but believe me, it's twice as bad as the floor!) and I just hope I can find it all tomorrow afternoon when my classes are over and I have to start decorating the room and getting everything ready for the party on Sunday. At least we'll only have the one and can breathe a sigh of relief when it's over - until it all begins again in December with the Xmas one. This year is an experiment. Up until now we've had two parties but because we are always so knackered, we've decided to just do the one but we may find out it's even worse since I've a feeling there's going to be well over 75 in the room (so far 63 kids but then there'll be mothers as well as the two of us). Wish us luck!!

Nothing much else to write about. For dinner I've decided to take a break from cooking and have frozen lasagne (from Costco) and a simple salad and bread to go with it.

Another lovely day - how I wish it would stay like this and we wouldn't have to have the cold or even worse, the hot, humid summers (although this year I quite enjoyed it, but maybe only because I was away for 2 weeks).

A while back, on one of the sites I belong to, there was a question about whether we were happy in Japan and although there are days I wish I was as far away as possible, they are few and far between. I think for most women who aren't happy here, a lot has to do with having small children with no back-up. I know when ours were small I often felt as if I was bringing them up single-handed (even though Setsuo did help a lot) and a lot of frustration and even resentfulness that I was tied to the house all day and every day. Those days have long passed and even though I moan about teaching English, I have a lot of free time during the day to do whatever I want to do even if it's just sitting in front of the computer!

At lunch time, Setsuo and I were talking about how easy it is with just Keita in the house. Because he doesn't go to any after-school activities (other than his BB club on Tues and Thurs), I know exactly when everyone will be home for dinner at night and even if we eat late, it doesn't matter. Once Kana comes back in December it'll maybe change a little but if I remember correctly (from when Lisa was at the same school), unless she has extra long club meetings, she too should be home around the same time.

Apart from kids, in the 25 years I've been here, I've managed to find a good balance of both Japanese and foreign friends that I can just call up to go out for dinner with.

So, in a long-winded way, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm happy here!

This weekend had yet another Monday added onto it to make it a 3 day weekend. Although it's always nice to get them, if there aren't 4 clear Mondays in the month I always have to work (even though a lot of students don't turn up). It was the same yesterday - 2 in the first class, 2 in the next and a no-show for the last.

On Sunday it was my day on duty at the BB so I was there all day and then yesterday I went until around 1.30pm. Keita pitched the full 7 rounds of the 2nd years' match (they won) on Sunday and then the last 2 of yesterdays as well (another win). He only went into half of the first years match (1st base) yesterday (win). His batting is also getting much better and if he was a faster runner, yesterday he would have got home with one of his hits - he only made it to 3rd base but for his speed that was really good!!

Although I'm happy he's getting to play with the 2nd year team, I wonder what's going to happen when they leave to go into the high school - he's going to have to come back with the 1st years and nudge someone else out of a position they've been playing in for over a year.

Although the weather has cooled down a lot, yesterday I still managed to get sunburnt. Today is another rainy day.

Aya has got settled into her flat and apart from small things, I think they have more or less bought everything they need. She had a small fridge from when she was in Tokyo that has been up on the top floor of our house so instead of taking that (it's got my beer in it!), I bought them a bigger one. I also paid for their bed but that's a secret!! Daisuke's parents bought their curtains, carpet and rice cooker and his mother bought them a dish cabinet.

Lisa has been rather quiet lately - her Uni started last month so I'm *hoping* she is busy with her classes. She's coming back on Saturday because she wants me to take her to Costco and she also needs to take another sample to the doctor. A couple of weeks ago she kept having colitis symptoms and thought it might be another flare up. The first sample was borderline so they want her to do another even though the symptoms have now passed.

Only another 2 months left before Kana comes home - 11 months seems a long time at the beginning but the time has passed really quickly. Wonder how she's going to re-adapt to her school and all it's pressures. Since the NZ holiday fiasco, I haven't been to the school. We were supposed to go and help out with the Festival Day in September but I reckoned that since they wouldn't bend for me, I wasn't going to go and do anything for them especially since Kana wasn't even there. Will probably have to go to the meeting before the kids come to back Japan though.

Today, with all the talk about UK banks going belly-up and people losing their life savings, I thought I'd better phone MY bank just to be aware of what is or isn't guaranteed. Turns out that there is a 50,000 pounds guarantee on my particular account so I'm going to have to keep a close eye on the market and pull out if and when needed. Problem is, it's a 5 year savings account and if I do cancel it before the time is up, I'll get back less than what went in (but probably still more than just the guaranteed amount).

I've been pretty busy lately with trying to get the Halloween party planned and all the bits and pieces bought for it. I finally ordered all the 'prizes' the other day and hopefully they should arrive within a week. Now I just need to try to come up with a few more new games to join the ones we do every year. My Japanese friend will help me again (I ordered costumes for us - a banana and a whoopee cushion! I'll take the biggest of the two but I'm hoping I'll get to be the banana!) and some of the mothers have also offered to help man the game stations so we should be okay. This year I ordered prizes for up to 60 kids (previously it's been 72) and it looks like it's been a wise decision since I only have 52 kids signed up so far. Unlike past years, I've decided to only hold the one party in the morning - two was just too tiring - so we can run over the time limit without worrying about the 2nd lot of kids arriving - some of them came up to an hour early, just as we were ready to eat lunch.

Last Sunday I had an English Teachers' meeting here which turned out to be a great day. There were around 24 teachers and 12 of us went out for dinner later on.

Aya moved into her flat the same day as the meeting so she had to do it alone - but then again, even though she was here, I had to do ours without any help from her so we got even!

Other than that, nothing new.

After about a week of solid rain, the weather has picked up and it's lovely - neither hot nor cold. I just wish it would stay like this.

Yesterday was Keita's sports day and unlike the elementary school where they line the kids up with the smallest in front, at the high school it is tallest at the front with the result that we could see Keita easily but nobody else! I'm sure a lot of mothers were a bit disgruntled at not being able to take photos of THEIR kids.



He was in the 100m race and (surprisingly) came first - he's not known for his speed!




He was also in the 3-legged race - in this case it was a few more legs - and I think they walked more than ran!
It was a red hot day so I was kind of glad that I had classes and could only go in the morning.



On the baseball front, Keita and Riku are mostly playing in the 2nd year team these days. The 2nd year has a lot of players out with injuries but I think they are also hoping to strengthen the team by putting the two of them in. Good for Keita and Riku (the more tournaments they play, the more exposure they get and from now on, since the High Schools have already picked who they want from the 3rd year teams, they'll be looking at the 2nd year kids). I've a feeling that there's going to be (more) jealousy/envy with some of the more competitive mothers though but at least it's two of us rather than just the one. I can live with it.

A few weeks ago Setsuo won tickets for a pro baseball match and because Oct 1st was the only day he and Keita were both free, they picked that date. Lucky for them because it turned out to be the farewell match for one of the famous baseballers (the tickets were supposedly sold out wihin 5 minutes). They both came back very happy!

While they were away, I went with Aya and Daisuke to see their new apartment. It's just a one bedroom flat but the living room is quite big and they have a big verandah too. They plan on moving in over the weekend although Aya hasn't even started packing yet!

Tonight I'm going out with 5 of the mothers from the old baseball club but need to be back at a decent time because I've a class tomorrow morning. I also have an English Teachers' meeting at my school on Sunday so need to get the place tidied up. Once this year's Expo is over, I'm going to step down from being coordinator as most of the meetings clash with bb matches so until Keita is in Snr high, I'll concentrate on him.

I did in fact have the Sunday off although didn't do anything very exciting. Went to collect Keita's shoes that had been ordered, went to a do-it-yourself shop where there was a gorgeous American Spaniel that I would have loved to take home and then onto Costco for a bit of shopping (as always I spent too much in there). After that I came home and Setsuo went to see his father - who was in a great mood seemingly. After I'd put all the shopping away, I decided that since I was the only one in the house, I would watch a DVD that Stephanie had given me in NZ (The Whale Rider). It was nice to just sit back and relax for once.