Backwards and forwards...

Well, it's coming to that time of year where thoughts turn to the future. Our current work contract finishes in July and I won't be resigning, so I'm thinking of what to do next- run back to London, pimp myself in Tokyo or something completely different. And of course my thoughts take me back to mental health nursing and I wonder if I should go back. Actually, it's my laptop that makes me think of mental health nursing as it demonstrates that even things made of metal can have personality disorders. For some reason it's started working again despite my having done nothing different to before (It clearly "found" its' hard drive- why did I have to the sarcastic p.c.?) Perhaps perserverance has beaten it down, or maybe the fact that I showed it I didn't need it. Maybe it didn't like my having visitors at the weekend, or it envied my trips to JoyFull with Cheryl (formerly Nickname Pending), or perhaps it wanted to see more monkey pictures, but whatever it is, it's back (until tonight, when it'll no doubt conk out again).

Anyway, the weekend was a gem. Most likely an emerald with a bit of tipp-ex on it. After a second trip to Joyfull with Cheryl on Thursday, I decided that Friday should be a stay-in-and-clean night. Except that I got distracted and ended up in an Izakaya with Nao chan, Papa san and Oji san and ended up going to bed at around 10pm. Yay for early nights! So Saturday morning became frenzied cleaning morning as I rushed to hoover, wash and polish, cleaning the windows for the second time in 18 months and slamming my fingers in them for good measure. Ooh. Slice of finger-skin anyone? And it was all done just in time for the visitors. Cheryl (whose nickname may change again as Cheryl sounds a bit crap) rolled up to my ritzy mansion with Betsy, Bob and Adam in tow, and after dropping their luggage at mine we all set off to Yubara onsen, Okayama's famous outdoor onsen. Betsy and I were not wanting to take part in the outdoor nude frollicking, so we left the others in the company of 6 highly immodest male Japanese pensioners and their dried fruits and climbed a nearby mountain. We had to stop half way up as the snow was a bit too deep for our non-walking shoes and we were never quite sure how far underneath us the ground was...

Vicki was waiting for us when we got back to Katsuyama, and after dropping some personnel at my luxury apartment (tm) we headed out to the supermarket for food only to be accosted by Nao chan who was bearing gifts of vegetables, chocolate and ichigo daifuku. She knows me well. So we stuffed our faces with nabe then headed out to Uenodan, the newest cafe in town, and enjoyed non-alcoholic beverages before being turned away from karaoke "because it was full". I have a sneaking suspicion that I may have confused them when I unintentionally asked for "karaoke, 60 people 1 year please!" as opposed to "6 people one hour please". It's a simple mistake to make. If you are stupid. One hundred d'ohs to me! Curses! So we returned to mine and ate and drank tea and wine and eventually passed out with plans set for the morning.

Sunday was monkey day as the group visited Kanba waterfalls and saw well over 100 monkeys- apparently they are macaques. Whatever brand they were they were looking desperate as they foraged for food in the snow. So we took the customary photos, viewed the waterfall and set off on our way. We rendezvoused (spelling?) in Takebe, some leaving and some staying for more Nabe, and then Vicki andI headed back to Katsuyama for her train via Rachel's and a chance to watch Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. Always a pleasure, never a chore.

Anyway, this week's been fine. Eikaiwa on Tuesday coupled with the reincarnation of my laptop made for a special day, and a trip to JoyFull (this time in Ochiai) last night with Cheryl helped me to stay up past my bedtime again. So tonight I will get to bed early. After dinner with Christine in Wakaba that is...