Fi-ind a place to crash...

I'm finally starting my weekend...

One of the girls from training broke her leg this week. How horrible is that? She is stuck in hospital for a couple of weeks. If she lived anywhere nearby I'd go and visit her, but it'd be a six hour trip. But to have that happen during your first few months in a new country...

You'll have noticed that I post a *lot* more now that I have secure Internet. It's exactly what I feel like doing at the end of the day - coming home and writing a diary entry. I always liked keeping a diary, but sometimes I wasn't very reliable at posting because it was such a hassle to go online. Now I finally have a computer that boots up really fast, and a flawless Internet connection. So it's a nice way to unwind, and write.

Already I don't know how I'm gonna re-adjust to the non-existent high-speed Internet services in Australia after this. I don't know the technical details of my connection or even what technology it uses (I have no idea what I signed up for; I just registered for the only one I could get in my 'mansion'.)

I'm paying about $40 a month. There are no installation costs. It's very reliable. I have unlimited hours and unlimited downloads. And it's extremely fast. I can download a 10 meg file in about 3 seconds.

So I've been hitting YouTube a lot and watching lots of videos. My favourite one so far is this MST3K video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THYVh9AhtLk - it's semi-geek humour but I still recommend it. :) Basically it's a bunch of sarcastic American guys commenting on an old 50s video on 'the ideal way to comport yourself at the family dinner table'.

Right now I'm listening to Mix 102.3 as I blog...

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I don't know what's weirder - the fact that toilets speak to me, or the fact that I speak back!

The toilets in the Kawasaki Station food court speak. You approach one and it introduces itself ('kono toire wa...') If you take more than a couple of seconds to sit down, it repeats the message (to which I usually say 'stop talking to me!').

Once you sit down it immediately starts this fake water-running noise. This sound is common in many of the nicer toilets, but to be honest, I find the sound more embarassing than the 'other' sounds it's meant to disguise! It kind of draws attention to what you're doing - I mean, the fake flushing sounds are pretty loud!

Then, frequently, the toilet will decide it needs to flush, often before you're actually finished. So then you need to flush it again, all because the toilet was over-eager to save you the 'exertion' of pushing a button. What a waste of water. Not to mention power. Do I really need a toilet that speaks to me? I suspect not.

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I can't believe how many nice people there are around here. Almost every time I meet a new prospective student I come out saying 'wow, they're so nice' or 'she's really sweet'. I just like everyone. It seems like we've had a few prospectives in lately, which is good for business - we really want all we can get, and we've just had a slow couple of months. Today I was told that a new student is gonna take private lessons with me - and him an almost total beginner! I wasn't so thrilled, but then I met the guy and he was lovely, despite his few words of English.

As I write things like that, I can't help but see in my every attitude the classic 'honeymoon' attitude they say often accompanies the first few months in a new country. No hassle is a big deal; everyone is nice; work is fun; nothing can really overshadow the enjoyment I get from living here. It will be interesting to see what life is like in a few months... I wonder if I'll still like it just as much? I guess every new thing is exciting at first but all novelties wear off....
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This morning I was sussing out the best time to leave my house to get the trains. I think Japan is the only country in the world where you can think:
"Okay, so my train arrives in the station at 11:27, and the connecting train leaves at 11:28. One minute should be long enough to go up the stairs and across to the next platform."
And you know for sure that your first train *will* arrive at 11:27, and the second train *will* leave at 11:28...