Five Centimetres

This evening I nearly knocked two women off their bikes. I pulled up next to them, where they were waiting for the level crossing barrier to go back up, and overbalanced because of the heavy bag I had in my basket. Luckily, after knocking them slightly, I got my balance before the three of us would have ended up on the floor!

Why was my bag so heavy? Well, it was full of shopping (I'm going to a pot luck lunch on Sunday) and gym stuff.

Did you hear me? I said GYM STUFF. I finally did it. And it felt SO good. I didn't even get phased by the Japanese inputting instructions on the machines. Or the Japanese women who were a 1/4 of my size. Of course, one bonus was the lifeguide in the swimming pool, next to the elliptical I was on at one point, who kept walking around the pool. He was wearing the smallest and tightest little shorts and looked truly delicious. Now there is certainly another motivation to keep going!

Oh and the fact I'm paying and that I weigh more now than I have EVER weighed before, by a fair bit. Next session: Monday.

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Five centimetres = the amount of snow expected in this part of Tokyo tomorrow. This is not good. I don't want snow. I want spring. I don't enjoy winter. It's cold.

In its favour though, unlike winter in the UK, which is often grey, dull AND cold, Tokyo winters are just cold. They are generally bright and the sun can be seen in a clear sky. It just isn't warm. I don't remember the UK ever being so cold though.

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I've had a minor crush on one of my students for a while. Today he told me it's his 22nd birthday next week. We share the same Chinese horoscope (ie he's 12 years younger than me). How depressing. I felt old!

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Sometimes my students say weird things and I can figure out what they are talking about. Other times I'm clueless and sometimes just scared.

This week I was doing phrasal verbs with a couple of my students. One of them decided it was okay to combine the phrasal verb 'hang up' with the noun 'the cat'.

I always wondered what that student was about. Now I'm just scared!

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More news: although I had originally planned to spend three years in Tokyo, a few months ago I had changed my mind and decided to call it quits here after two years and move onto another country (with the same company though). It looks like that is not to be.

I'm going to be doing a TESOL* for four months from April. It would seem I'm then obliged, at the end of it, to commit to another six months with the company IN Japan. That takes me to next February so I'll be doing at least six months more than I (currently) want to do here.

Oh well.



*TESOL is an English teaching qualification. (No, I don't have one. You don't need one to teach in Japan).