One of those "oh" weeks...

You may have noticed the word "oh" popping up recently, and that is thanks to it's seemingly unique versatility. Useful to express surprise, shock, lots of other things I can't remember and disappointment, I have taken "oh" to heart in Japan, and use it frequently throughout the day.

This week so far has been no exception. Further to Sunday's post about not climbing the mountain, I actually made it to the top at around 5:5pm, the rain having stopped at 5. And it was a bit of an "oh!", though only a small one, because a) it was steep b) it was sodden and c) it was getting very dark very quickly and I had to get back down. Monday was sunny, so I slid into my shorts and t-shirts and went hiking after school. Back up the same mountain (shiroyama- castle mountain, although where the castle went I don't know) and then along some other paths. Various "oh"s came in the form of, "oh, the view's wonderful", "oh, the path is blocked by trees" and "oh shit I'll never get back down that slope in these crappy trainers". But I did and I wandered around mountain paths until the sun started to go down, marveling at nature's beauty and the public loos that were installed at the mountain top (with full flushing water and hand washing facilities. Amazing.)

This full stop/ brackets thing is still bothering me. Corrections please!

Tuesday was an "oh, this English conversation class is very quiet tonight", and then a happy "oh, it's finishing early". And Wednesday was a trip to the acupuncturist's for some treatment. And he didn't do an acupuncture treatment, he did something called moxibustion. This involved burning small amounts of a fungus-type thing on my skin (with a small little discy thing in between to stop serious burns). "Oh! It's bloody hot!" ran through my head on several occasions (more info on moxibustion here) But after this and an amazing massage I was almost falling asleep when LeeJay came to complete our wednesday excitement with a lauderette/ laundromat/ coin laundry (delete as applicable) trip. And with the prospect of hot water washers looming, "Oh! My clothes will be clean again. Maybe..." passed through my mind. It surely doesn't get better than this...