Falling Apart

I REALLY have to get this sleep business sorted out. I did try sleeping with my head facing the other way, which has worked in other places I`ve lived in, but not here. More futon movement needed me thinks. In the meantime, I`m now 4.5 weeks into this cold and every time it nearly clears another student snuffles over me, or another commuter coughs....

I did find echinacea in a pharmacy here and stocked up on that and vitamin C. Actually, finding echinacea was SO wonderful I can`t actually explain it!

I`ve also got a bit of a swollen eye and a bit of a swollen gum. And my skin won`t clear up (I have eczema). Again, I put all of this down to lack of decent sleep.

One of my students bought me a bag of persimmons today. Apparantly they are rich in vitamin C. I love students that bring me gifts! I`m not sure if they are the same as what we call Sharon Fruits. Shaped like an orange but hard and shiny on the outside. You have to peel them...... Yummy! Can`t wait. Of course, they might be horrible........

Talking about fruit. I bought my first apple yesterday since I`ve been in Tokyo. It was big and juicy and wonderful. Although for nearly 200 yen (a pound to UKers) I was expecting pretty amazing things. I`ve mentioned before that fresh fruit and veg are shockingly expensive here. Most annoying.

And one of the school receptionists suggested we should go out for a drink next week. Awww!

I had a couple of interesting train experiences the other day. Someone who was sitting next to me got up and moved away to sit somewhere else. Silly cow. Maybe she was scared of gaijin`s or something. That evening, an oldish man came and sat down next to me and started nattering away for the whole duration of the journey. His English was pretty good and he obviously loved chatting in English. I couldn`t understand everything he said, but let him ramble anyway. We talked about the decline in religion in the world, and all sorts. Sweet guy!

Remember all the rain we`ve had here? Well, the last few days we`ve had glorious sunshine! Though today I stepped outside the school at five to get some lunch and it was dark and grey. I guess the constantly changing weather here isn`t helping with all the colds either.

And I`ve started seeing lots of leaves on the ground! Finally!

Especially on Sunday when I went to a local festival (Kokunbungi) in a large park near where I live. Apart from seeing a Yorkshire Terrier in a Beckham t-shirt, of which there is absolutely NO acceptable excuse, everything was wonderful. Though there were a lot of men without any trousers on and THE skinniest legs you could ever, or never, imagine. We`re talking about a sparrow looking fat in comparison. They looked like they would break. And I have no idea why they were trouserless. Though at least one was wearing a thong..... Well, if you WILL bend over to pick things up when you have nothing on your lower half what do you expect.....

As for the rest, lots of traditional costumes, traditional dancing and musical instruments and drumming displays on the BIGGEST drums I have ever seen. Oh and loads of food stalls and things being sold. In the autumn background of a warm day it was the perfect way to spend an afternoon off. (I could have spent the morning too, but sleep seemed more alluring).

I also bought a whole kilogramme of miso paste yesterday. Now I adore miso soup, but whether I can get through a whole kilo before it goes off, remains to be seen. Thing is, I didn`t see anything any smaller!

I think one of the reasons Japanese kids are so cute is because they are so tiny compared to British or American kids. I had THE cutest six year old boy today. He lived in the UK for four years (he`s Japanese) and returned to Japan about three weeks ago. His mother is worried he`ll forget his English and wanted a British female teacher. I gave him a trial lesson today and he`s now signed over to me. He`s SO SO cute, and really bright too. My Mondays are going to become even more tiring, I feel!

Oh and one student asked me to rewrite her daughters essay to win a place on a homestay in the UK next year. Technically, that`s not cheating is it? I`ve given her a wonderful essay to hand in!