raining, raining, raining

I`ve been in Tokyo 22 days now. I think there`s been about 3 days when it`s not pissed it down. I keep getting told this is not normal. Now, does this help me? And, we`ve another typhoon hitting Tokyo around midnight tonight. The rain is getting heavier and heavier and areas of Japan are already flooded and people dead......

My day off yesterday: I mentioned I went into my head office to do some lesson planning. Problem with that though is the other teachers are all so friendly and want to natter when they`re not working. Of course, I love nattering as well -- but it does mean it takes three times longer to get anything done.

I had a lesson observed by one of my bosses today as part of my `ongoing` training. (Yeah, right). Of course, the lesson he observed was my nine year old lads. Not the class I find the easiest. And I decided to try several new things with them today....... At least someone else can now see the difference between divvy student a and uber bright student b, and how it`s a pain trying to strike a decent balance so they both benefit. The ones in the middle neither lose nor win by the situation.

And I played buses with my 3 year olds today. Shit, kids are exhausting. Actually, low level adults are pretty exhausting too, but they`re a laugh.

The comfy internet (media) cafe`s I`ve mentioned: what I didn`t mention was that the massive comfy chairs take up the entire booth you are in and you need to manipulate yourself into them. A bit like your average small public loo in the UK.

I was in heaven yesterday: I`ve found a huge, cheap chemist. They even have some brands of shampoos that I`ve used before in the UK.

Very exciting.

I just wish this weather would clear up. It`s SOOOOO depressing.

And another thing I`m longing for is a real Autumn. I love kicking leaves as I shuffle along the ground. Here though, maybe because they`re so super efficient, or maybe because I`ve not ventured into a park yet, but I`ve not seen any leaves I can kick. This saddens me and I feel I`m missing out. If it EVER stops raining I may have to start going to parks to hunt out some leaves.

And I`m missing English newspapers. I`ve seen English Language newspapers here, but no English ones yet. I don`t have a clue what`s happening in the world. Once I get netted up at home (next week hopefully), then I`ll have time to check online without having to pay for it....