May

 Even though I don't see much progress in the garden or getting my classroom set up, May has been very busy!

The few days' holiday at the beginning of the month was nice. Having Hannah home for a while was enjoyable. We talk every day, but just having her here was good for me!  I could take her shopping for her birthday when she came, and before she left, I could take her grocery shopping! I wanted to watch some musicals with her, but we were both sick and she had a lot of studying to do!

Hannah managed to order tickets for the Les Misérables Concert Tour. She called me a week after she ordered them and told me she had made a mistake with the credit card! To buy these tickets, she got another credit card. I think it's easier for her to budget that way. When she said she had a problem with the credit card, I imagined all sorts of things, such as being charged too much or not having enough money in the bank. She went on to explain that she had gotten a Mastercard. I told her that it was great, as Costco takes Mastercard. Her answer was, "That's the problem!"  I guess she won't be going to Costco with me!!

I posted that the rainy season had started. But not here. We've had a bit of rain, but not the weeks of nonstop rain!

I've noticed that the hydrangeas are coming into bloom. We have some out back, but they have just started to bloom. I'll try and get some photos when they are fully bloomed!

We've had a few really nice sunsets recently.

From my window, a lovely sunset

One thing that I'm going to challenge myself to do is to have a morning routine!

When the kids were in school, I used to get up, get breakfast, make lunch if the kids needed to take lunch. Put the laundry on, do dishes, clean, and then make something for lunch that could be served at dinner when I was busy!

Now I get up, take my medicine, have breakfast, and go back to bed or sit and watch YouTube for ages! Not good! 

I need a good routine, not just a busy doing-chores routine, but something that sets me up for the day. I'm thinking along the lines of making my bed as soon as I get up, getting dressed, and then having breakfast.

I want to start journaling, especially a gratitude journal. 

I have a few ideas that I'm going to try. Once I have a nice routine, I'll post it here! One thing that I do need to do is getting chores done early, it's getting warm, and I know once it gets hot, doing any housework will be hard!

June!! Hard month, Hisao's birthday and Mom's passing. But this year I'm going to open my English school here, and I hope I do well!

Wish me luck!

Not Ready!!

 I really thought that I would have everything sorted by now! I hoped that by the end of May, I would have my classroom set up and some of the garden cleaned out.

But of course, nothing is ready.

I think procrastination is a big problem for me. I always say I'll do it later or tomorrow. But, as my Mom always reminded me, tomorrow never comes.

Why do I do this to myself? 

I did this when we had to move out of the old house. I put off packing, cleaning, and moving until the last moment. Part of that was hoping that we wouldn't have to move! Then made myself sick by trying to do everything at once.

I'm doing the same again. I've put off setting up my teaching room until now because I just didn't want to clean and move furniture. I've put off and made excuses for not doing the garden, either the weather is bad, or I'm tired, but it has to be done!

Anyway, I managed to get the carpet moved into the tatami room. I got Christopher to do most of the work.

Of course, the cats have claimed the carpet for their own!

Cats are claiming the carpet

I'm amazed at how good this carpet looks.  This carpet is about 60 years old. It was in my husband's bedroom when he was a child. I've had it for the past 34 years. Tea, coffee, and cocoa have been spilled on it. I've used it in my classroom for the past 20 years, where kids have thrown up on it and peed on it, but it still looks good. I'll give it a good vacuum and wash it down with some hot water and laundry detergent to refresh it a bit.

I just had a walk outside. I needed to get some fresh air.

I've decided what I need to get done soon and what can wait a bit.

I really want to clean up the entrance and driveway.

our driveway

This is from the road. You can't see the house at all. So I want as much as this to be cut back.

Opposite view

All those branches that have been cut down need to be moved and burned. 

Misty Mountains

I had to get a photo of the mountains. The clouds are very low, I think we will be getting rain this evening!

One good thing is that we are seeing some Japanese plums. David picks them and makes this really nice drink for the summer.

Can you spot the plum?

I have a lot to do! I keep telling myself baby steps. I will get there! One day! As long as it's baby steps forward and not one step forward and two back!

Tomorrow I plan on going to the next town to put some leaflets. I hope to go early morning. I'll let you know if I get that far!

New Leaflets

 My new leaflets have finally arrived!

New leaflet

Not the best photo, but you get the idea!

The plan is to set up my room tomorrow, then send Christopher out on Saturday and Sunday to distribute the leaflets. I was going to send him tomorrow, but it's going to rain! I hope that I can get some students by the end of June.

I'm a bit excited by this. I hope I can get a few students, as our money situation is very tight.

We will see.

I'm a bit nervous as I haven't taught that much in the past few years, I've let Mikey do more and take on the difficult classes. Especially classes that need someone to explain grammar!

I guess it's time to take charge again.

I need to look through the junior high textbooks and see what is being taught.  I hope to get junior high school kids, high school kids, and adults. Also, I need to study Japanese so I can communicate with students and parents!

Here's hoping things work out!!

Harder Than I Thought

 On Monday, I wrote about my bad habit of sleeping during the day.

That day, I decided to stay awake until late evening, like a normal person, hoping to reset my body and sleep well at night.

Even though I was tired, I still couldn't sleep more than ninety minutes at a time. I really tried, I didn't read or watch TV when I woke up. I just lay in bed, hoping that just lying down would help.

Tuesday morning, I got up, made breakfast, but was so tired that I decided to doze again. Tuesday afternoon, I have to go to the other city to teach. I managed to shop on the way, do my two lessons, and had a long walk with Christopher. I actually got in over 3000 steps. I was so tired when I got back that I went to bed early and really slept.

But the night turned out to be rather weird.

The first thing that happened was that two of the cats had an epic fight. Because I usually sleep very lightly, I can hear when the cats start. Last night I didn't hear them until it got to the fur flying stage!

I went out to separate them, but Christopher was already there! He managed to put the cats into different rooms. I went to get a drink of water when I heard Christopher laughing!

Wondering what was so funny at 1am, I went to his room. He had a firefly in his room!

Firefly

He has no idea how it got in, as his screen is closed! He said between the firefly and mostiquito, it was very noisy in his room, they both buzzed around him all night!

Made for an interesting midnight discovery.

This morning, I woke up at 7am, determined to make today good. I had a nice lunch planned and a few jobs to do before going to the other city again.  But I was so deeply tired that I couldn't focus at all.

So I slept! A lot. I still feel tired, but I'm able to function. I've changed today's lesson to online. She is a high school girl, so not too hard to do online!

I also made the mistake of searching online about chronic fatigue. Looks like it's a death sentence!

There are a few diseases that have chronic fatigue as a symptom. Long Covid is one, and also myalgic encephalomyelitis. 

I have some of the symptoms of both, but not all. Also, it looks like lifestyle adjustments are as important as any medicine!  

I'll talk to my doctor next week!

Until then, I'm going to try and sleep more at night and push through the days! I have to get better, there's too much to do!

Breaking Habits

 I've written about this before, but I don't remember when!

I'm trying to change my life around, to do all the things that I have to do, chores, shopping, cooking, and teaching.  Then having time and energy to do things I want to do, read (I have over 6000 books on my Kindle, plus I have a lot saved on Everand). Do some baking, study Japanese and maybe try a new hobby!

But my bad time habits are stopping me from having the life I really want!

In my mind, I have this great schedule: get up between 6:30 and 7 am. Make breakfast, clean the kitchen, do laundry, and do any other chores that need doing. Go outside for a bit, pull weeds and try to tidy the garden. Come back in, spend time on my computer, then make lunch. Afternoons are for me to do what I want to do, then go to teach!

Reality, I'm awake at about 4am, I try to sleep again, but only doze! I get up at 5am, take my medicines, and have a small breakfast. I go back to bed until 10 or 11 am, get up to make lunch. I feel tired and very unfocused. After lunch, I read for a bit but then have another sleep until about 4pm. I get up, mess around on the computer, then have dinner, watch TV, and then sleep.  I try to turn off everything by 11pm, but it's hard. I'm usually asleep by midnight but wake up every hour or so. I don't sleep for more than 2 hours at a time. Waking up, I just toss and turn, worrying about not sleeping!!

On the days I have energy, I push myself to do things! This leads to extreme fatigue for about a week. I don't think it's normal to be that tired after a couple of days of work.

I have a doctor's appointment next week, I'll ask him about this constant fatigue and ongoing insomnia. I think part of it is depression, but I think there might be something physical going on. 

One good thing is that I'm trying to do some exercise again. Since last Monday, I've done chair exercises almost every day. Tuesday and Wednesday, I go with Mikey to the other city to teach, on those days, I try to walk around the gym, if it's free, for about 15 minutes. I try to get up to 3000 steps, some days okay, other times not that many!

I've also been a bit more careful with my eating. I try to be very mindful of what I've eaten and what the food will do to my body! As I mentioned, I've started to drink matcha, so far I've been enjoying it, and I hope to keep it up! Also, I've been making more salads and using a lot of vegetables; everyone needs more vegetables in their diet!

One thing that has cheered me up is the blueberry bushes!  Looks like we will have a lot of fruit this year!

Blueberries are just starting to grow!

I'm hoping to make jam this year!  I need to find a good, easy recipe!

Teru Teru Bozu

 It's raining! It's been raining since last night, and it looks like it isn't going to stop anytime soon. The rainy season is upon us, very early this year.

I was saying to Hannah that the weather wasn't cooperating at all. I have so much that I want to get done outside, but can't because of this constant rain! 

She told me I should make Teru Teru Bozu! I had forgotten about these.

Whenever there is a lot of rain, like now with the rainy season, or there are outdoor school trips or festivals planned, these handmade ghost-like dolls appear hanging in windows. They are usually made from tissues or white cloth. They look like ghosts or a bald-headed monk.

Teru Teru Bozu hanging on my laundry hanger

I often wondered where this idea came from. I thought it was just something for the kids to do when it's raining!

The name Teru Teru Bozu means shine monk. Teru means to shine or be sunny; when it's repeated, it emphasizes the wish for sunny weather. Bozu means Buddhist monk or someone with a bald head. Literally translated, it means "shine, shine, monk."

The tradition of Teru Teru Bozu dates back to the Edo Period (1603-1868) in Japan, but its roots are thought to be older, adapted from the Chinese during the Heian period (794-1185).  The Chinese customer involved a paper doll of a young girl holding a broom to sweep the clouds away.

The history or legends of where this idea came from are rather dark.

One story is that a feudal lord asked a Buddhist monk to stop the rain that was destroying the crops. The Buddhist monk said that he would stop the rain, but he couldn't. The feudal lord was so angry that he had the monk decapitated, wrapped his head in a white cloth and hung outside. The strange thing was this stopped the rain!

The other story is that the Teru Teru Bozu is a Yokai, a Japanese supernatural entity. This entity is named Hiyoribo. He is said to be a weather monk who can't be seen on rainy days!

Today, the idea of making Teru Teru Bozu is something kids do on rainy days! Making a wish for better weather! I remember when I used to teach at kindergartens, there would be a load of Teru Teru Bozu hanging around the classrooms during the rainy season. I think my kids made them as well.

I'm hoping that my two little Teru Teru Bozu that I have hanging up will bring better weather tomorrow, so I can get out and tidy the garden more!

Matcha

 I like Japanese green tea, kind of!

It's very bitter, so whenever I drink it, I usually have some kind of Japanese sweet with it. Traditional Japanese sweets are very sweet.  I love Yokan, a jelly like sweet made from red bean paste and agar or Dorayaki, small pancakes with sandwiched together with sweet red bean paste.

The tea or the sweets alone don't work for me; they are at the extreme end of the taste spectrum, very bitter or very sweet. But taken together, they are really nice!

But matcha is something that I have never wanted to try.

Matcha is a finely ground green powder that is made from tea leaves that are grown in the shade. Because all of the leaf is used, it delivers a richer, more concentrated flavor, which is earthy and slightly bitter.

The powder is whisked with hot water to create a frothy drink. Matcha is also used in desserts, ice cream, and cakes. There is even a match latte.

I have shied away from matcha after my first experience with it many years ago when I first came to Japan.

I was in a store that was selling ice cream. There was green ice cream on sale. I assumed it was mint. So I ordered one. Turned out to be matcha ice cream and not a good one at that!

Since that disappointing experience, I've kept away from matcha until now.

The other day I was listening to a podcast, I forgot the name of the doctor I was listening to!! He was talking about the health benefits of matcha, saying that there is some chemical in the matcha that stops the stem cells of breast cancer from growing.  Since I've already had breast cancer, I'm always looking for ways to stop it from coming back. I know that stopping sugar is good, but I'm having a hard time with that at the moment!

It's also rich in L-theanine, an amino acid that promotes relaxation and focus, something I really need! 

So I bought some matcha and have been drinking it for the past few days. It's not as bad as I remember it!

Hot matcha

Today was a latte matcha

 Christopher makes it for me; he doesn't make it too strong which helps.

The podcast was talking about food as medicine, something that I find very interesting.  

I've managed to download a few books on this idea and am going to try and see if I can start to prepare healthier meals without losing taste!

Throw Back Thursday

 I've noticed that some blogs and Facebook groups have different themes on different days. I always like the idea of Throwback Thursday.  A chance to wander down memory lane, so I thought I would add it to my blog! I don't think I'll be doing it every week, but sometimes it's nice to share where we've been!

This first one is about Hannah. 

This is from Christmas 2011. Hannah would have been 9 years old. We had been in the old house for about a year and a half. Our little school had taken off, which meant I was very busy, so the holidays we had were very important to me, a chance to be with my family without the time stress of getting ready for work.

I had the tradition of putting up the Christmas tree at the end of November. A bit early but I always took down before the New Year's holiday!

This was our Christmas tree, this is from a different year, but gives you some idea of what it was like!

Our Big Tree

To get this up meant moving furniture and doing a big clean of the living room. It would take most of the day, and after we would watch a movie together with the first batch of Christmas cookies!

The year that Hannah was nine she helped out with decorating the tree. Once it was up I told her that Santa would be watching closely from now on, so she had to be a very good girl!

Her answer was a classic Hannah answer!  She said, with a very serious face, "I'll try to be good, Mommy, but you know life happens!"

I couldn't believe what she came out with! I actually wrote it in my journal!

This is Hannah with the tree that year!

Hannah with the tree

This was also the year that we took 3 hours to get one photo for the New Year's greeting card!

This was the image we used; the ones above were part of the daftness that day.

The kids were copying this image. I have no idea where this came from!

My kids version

evolution?

This was a great Christmas!

I'm glad that I keep a journal, and that I have a load of photos from these times!  Very precious!!

David

 David always seems to have funny stories!

The other day he climbed on top of the storage building!

David on the roof of the storage building

I asked what he was doing up there. He said he went up to clean out the gutters but found that it was the best place to see the mountains! He was wondering if he could spend time up there reading!

The next day he sent me this photo!

Snake

David said that he was picking up some of the tree limbs that he had cut down. Went to grab one and it slithered away!  

I forgot about the snakes here! Another thing to look out for!

The other day I was telling David that Hannah was having problems with her ears, that they felt blocked. David told me that last year he went to the doctor because he had the same problem. 

The doctor examined David's ears and then tried to explain what was wrong and the course of treatment. David couldn't hear, so he said in Japanese, can you say that again please. The doctor then switched to English, but still speaking in a low voice. David asked again for the doctor to repeat himself, at which point the doctor started to use his phone and Google Translate.  David gave up at that point!!

I have had the opposite problem with doctors, when I can't understand they start shouting at me in Japanese. Doesn't help!

David is shy and doesn't like to be with people, except his family! But he loves taking selfies, he took so many that his phone camera doesn't work! Here are a few.

with Hannah

pulling the same faces as the cats!!

Always pulling faces!

A Bit Of Progress

 Since the end of April, I've been rather sick with a stupid cold.

I think the fact that my seasonal allergies kicked in at the same time really didn't help at all!

The past few weeks, I've had no energy to do anything beyond the very basics. Just making lunch or teaching exhausted me. I tried to clean outside or do more deep cleaning inside, but found it very difficult. 

I really wanted to set up my classroom but everytime I looked at the tatami room I just felt so drained that I couldn't be bothered. 

Tatami room

It doesn't look too bad, but the cats have peed on it. I've tried to keep it clean by cleaning up as soon as possible. But tatami soaks up any liquid.  I thought it would smell very bad but it doesn't.

Today I vacuumed it very well, got into all the corners, and then got Christopher to wipe it over with a damp cloth. Feels a lot fresher.

I wanted to buy some sort of cover, like lino but it would be very expensive as the room is rather large. So I'm going to use the old carpet that I had before. I asked Mikey to put the carpet outside just air it out, I hope tomorrow to put it down. Then get the tables and chairs out of the storage place.

One problem is the air conditioner. 

old air conditioner

This air conditioner was put in when the house was built, 33 years ago. It's never been cleaned! I wasn't going to buy one for this room as it isn't used, but if I'm going to teach in there, I need an air conditioner. 

This morning, I got brave and opened the front. It wasn't that bad. I took out the filters and washed them. Christopher used the vacuum cleaner to get some of the dust out and wiped down what he could. There is a special spray that cleans the deeper part of the machine. I'll have to get some soon. We turned the air conditioner on and it works!  It's old and doesn't have energy energy-saving mode, but it will do until I can make some money.

After all that, I made a nice lunch. Roasted pork chops, vegetables, and gravy!

lunch

I'm not sure what happened, but just as I started to put the lunch out, my energy dropped. David had to finish putting the lunch out.

I'm glad I could get a lot done this morning. I hope by the end of the week to have my classroom set up. My plan is to start teaching from June!  Wish me luck!

It's early evening now. I'm going to rest. I've realised that as I recover, I need to take it easy until my energy levels are stable. I tend to try and make up for the time I haven't been able to do things by doing everything at once. This leads me to getting sick again!  I'm going to try and be more sensible this time. 

Rainy Season

 According to the Japanese Meteorological Agency, the rainy season has started in southern Kyushu and Shikoku. This is the first time in 62 years that the rainy season has started somewhere other than Okinawa. Also, it's about 2 weeks earlier than usual.

Where we live, in northern Kyushu, the rainy season hasn't started yet!

But last night we had an awful storm, very heavy rain and wind.

In the old house, I never worried about these storms as there were no mountains or rivers nearby. Here we live at the foot of a large mountain.  

There have been a few landslides from this mountain range. I can see that part of the vegetation is stripped away up on the mountain. There were some blue tarps on some areas, those have gone! Moved by workers or washed away?

I think we are far enough down from the mountain, plus there are other buildings between us and the mountain, but it is a worry. 

Japan has a lot of landslides every year! Seventy percent of the country is covered by mountains. The small flat lands are highly developed, as the population has grown villages and towns have started to creep up the mountains, meaning that more and more places have the possibility to be hit by a landslide.

Add to that the weather, a rainy season and typhoons, and ground-altering earthquakes it is inevitable that landslides will occur!

What to do? 

Nothing! Well, not really nothing. I think being aware of the possibility of a disaster is wise!

Have supplies of food and water (and cat food in our case), have a first aid kit, and any medicines that you need at hand. Have a family plan, where to meet up, who to call for help, etc. Keep informed of the possibility of a problem.

My kids say not to worry. If it happens, it happens; worrying is not going to stop the mountain from falling on your head!

So I'm trying to not worry too much!!

This had me scratching my head the other morning!

Alan was staring at the wall.

He sat like this, perfectly still for about an hour. The other cats walked past him but he just didn't move.

I thought it was the resident ghost that he was watching! Turned out to be a big spider that was walking back and forth across the top of the wall. I think I would prefer the ghost!!

Happy

 One question I always start my classes with is "How are you?"

Most kids give the standard answers: "I'm okay," "I'm tired."  Sometimes they reply in Japanese if they have difficulty expressing things in English.

I have a 5th-grade boy who always answers "I'm happy."  No matter how busy he is at school, how bad the weather is, or any other external factor, he is always happy.

During his lesson this week, he told me about his Golden Week holiday. He went somewhere with his family.  It sounded like a nice few days away from the city! He was really smiling as he recalled his holiday. 

This had me thinking about being happy.

Do we lose our ability to just be happy when we get into adulthood?  Are the stresses of paying bills, meeting deadlines and long lists of things that have to be done robbing us of being happy?

Am I happy?

Actually, I'm happier than I thought I would be.  When we lost the old house, I went into tail tailspin of depression. 

In my diary, I wrote that moving to this house was a death sentence. I was that unhappy about being here. But somehow I'm not that unhappy about living here. Are there problems here, yes!! A long list of things that need to be fixed or changed.  Will they be done before the end of the year? Probably not!

Do I have the money I need to do all the things I want to do, plus some left over to do things I would like to do? Again, the answer is no!

So, how can I state that I'm happy?  Because I've realized that happiness has little to do with my surroundings!  I could live in the perfect house, with lots of money, in a vibrant city where I could visit museums or watch musicals, but still be unhappy!

I am choosing to be happy now! Every morning I wake and say to myself, "I'm grateful and I'm happy!"

I can watch my garden grow, scream at the bugs that are starting to crawl everywhere, play with my cats, cook nice meals, and the occasional treat! I have my kids nearby, we can talk and laugh together. 

Does this mean my life is easy? No, there are still challenges! My health is rather bad at the moment, allergies and a cold that seems to be going round and round here!  

We still don't have money, and aren't getting a lot of new students.  

I worry about all sorts of things, but in reality, it's not that bad.

The big question is, why did it take so long to get to this mindset?  

I knew about this, that finding happiness is a choice, but I never put it into practice before now! I guess better late than never!

The full moon the other night made me really happy. I love looking at the night sky. There is very little light pollution here, so the sky is very clear.

These photos were taken in the city, so not so good. 

Moon rising

Beautiful moon

I was going to wait until we got back to take photos, but I realized that it would be a lot later and the moon wouldn't appear so large. 

Now I've written this, I'm wondering what is going to happen to challenge my happiness!

Good News!

 Hannah and I got tickets to see the Les Misérables Arena Tour Concert!

This tour started last year. When I first heard about this concert tour, I thought we would have to go to Osaka or Tokyo, but it's coming to the city nearby. The local run is just 3 days! I didn't think we could get good seats, but we did! 

The only problem is the cost. 

One seat was 19500 yen, about £100.

I know that is crazy, I know our financial situation is not good, but I've been looking forward to this for the past two years! 

When I first read about this concert tour, I really hoped that our financial situation would be a lot better than it is.

But we are still struggling. 

I'm really determined to get new students. Life shouldn't be about just paying the bills or living month to month. 

There are so many things that I want to do. I want to shop without having to worry if there is enough money for next week. I want to see more of Japan, there are many beautiful places I haven't had the chance to go to. I want to help Hannah out more so she doesn't have to work two part-time jobs to pay for her graduate school.  I want to go to musicals with Hannah while we have the chance!  I would love to have this reformed so that it's more livable.

I don't mind working; I actually enjoy teaching. It's just getting students that is the problem at the moment.

I'm looking forward to this concert. I've seen Les Misérables twice, but both times in Japanese. This might be the only chance I'll have to see it in English!

The Japanese production was great. Even though I don't understand all the Japanese, because I know the story and the songs, I could still follow the plot.  

I hope the next good news is that I have new students!!!

Just a cat caught in mid-meow to finish with.

Fred is having a moan!

Outside

 Recently, we haven't done anything outside. 

When we have time, the weather has been bad, but when everyone is busy, the weather is nice!

Today, I pushed to go out and pull up a few weeds. I only did about 10 minutes as I still feel really rough. I think the allergies I've been down with became a cold. Or I caught a cold on top of allergies. Not sure, all I know is that my throat is sore, I have a headache, and I feel like just staying in bed all the time. I thought a few minutes out in the fresh air and sun would help. 

I'm tired now, but am glad I tried.

David and Christopher are doing a bit more.

David decided to cut down some of the trees that are growing next to the storage place. The trees were leaning on the storage place, not good at all. The storage is old, built in the 1960s, it's been through a lot of typhoons and earthquakes, I'm not sure how strong it is now!

David up the ladder

I'm glad that David can do these jobs, as I know I would never be able to climb a ladder like that!

I have lunch to make, so I should get off my computer!!

Not Sure....

 If there is more crime in Japan or if I'm seeing more Japanese news on YouTube!

The past 10 days, there have been 3 separate incidents that have caught the media's attention.

The first was on May 1st, when a 28-year-old man drove a car into a group of elementary children. The group of 7 children were 2nd and 3rd-grade kids.  Fortunately, none were seriously injured. According to the press, one girl had a broken jaw, the others were cut and bruised. Even so, it must be traumatizing for the kids and their families!  The young man who did this said that he was "fed up with everything" and wanted to kill someone!

Another incident, also involving a school, occurred this week when two men went into an elementary school and attacked staff. Again, no life-threatening injuries, but the two men attacked two teachers in front of a class of 2nd graders.  The whole incident was rather bizarre. That morning one mother went to speak to a teacher about something, the press didn't say what the problem was, the mother wasn't happy with the conclusion of the talk and asked one of these men to go to the school, the older man, in his 40's bought a younger man with him. One of them was carrying a green bottle. 

The same day, a man wielding a large knife was arrested on the Tokyo metro for attempted murder. He apparently attacked a young student on the head before being tackled by a police officer and a Nepalese man on the train. The Nepalese man suffered minor cuts on his hand. 

I'm shocked at these incidents. I know that crime exists in Japan, but it is a safe country. I always felt that in Japan, natural disasters were a big problem, not people.

I think one problem that Japan is facing is the lack of mental health awareness. Even though Japan has universal health care, mental health care is not talked about. It is still stigmatised in Japan; there are very few counselors or mental health workers. I know when my kids were in school, there was just one school counselor for five schools, but bullying and suicide were very high!

Seeking help for depression or anxiety isn't done; there is still a stigma to these problems, especially for men.

I don't know if the people in these news articles have mental health problems, maybe the first guy, but I have seen a tendency in recent years where people who commit violent crimes state that they have had enough. These are the ones that are making headlines; there is an increase in domestic violence and school/workplace bullying. Suicide is also very high among all age groups.

I have no answers. I wish I did. I suffer from depression, but as I've gotten older, I have found what works for me. I don't feel sad, but when I start to feel down, I lose energy and don't want to do anything, even the things I like to do. I've found that finding one thing I can do, such as reading a book or cleaning a small place, helps to move me forward. As I gain momentum, I can pull myself out of my depression. It's not easy, but I can manage. Part of writing this blog is to help with my depression. 

I hope that these incidents are just a blip on the social radar and that Japan will return to being a safe country, where the biggest threat is the possibility of an earthquake!

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Misery Loves Company

 I've felt miserable for the past week or so!

My seasonal allergies are extreme. Mikey is down as well today but he says it feels more like a cold. So maybe I have both, a cold and allergies. All I want to do is sleep!  I planned on making dinner but I really don't feel like cooking or eating!

Then just to add to my misery and stress I got a letter from the city hall about the land tax that we have to pay!  It's a lot more than I thought it was, the full amount is 10,3194 yen, about £536. Not a lot but more than I have. Looks like going to the city hall tomorrow and seeing if it can be divided into monthly payments! 

Problem is that my income just covers my national insurance. David is paying for everything else, which isn't fair on him. Mikey needs to save for a new car and to move out. Christopher isn't working, he's looking but there isn't anything near here at all! 

One good thing is that a friend bought me a flag for the front of the yard.

My new flag

There's a pole and stand as well. I'm really moved by this. This friend was my acupuncturist many years ago, we reconnected through Facebook.  I was surprised when he said that he had bought this to help me!  This simple act has restored my faith in people!! 

I'll have to get the front cleaned out more before I can put this flag up! David cut down some of the trees last week but he has hives on his face, looks like he is allergic to something but he doesn't know what!

I'm going to sleep again, I need to get over this cold/allergies as soon as possible as I have so much to do. I want to start teaching by June! So just three weeks but a lot to do!!!!

Goodbye Hannah

 Hannah spent the Golden Week holiday here. It was nice to have her home for a few days, but she has classes from tomorrow, so she had to leave early. I hoped she could stay until the weekend.

I had great plans; I thought we could go somewhere, watch movies together, and just hang out. But, as usual, plans and reality didn't match up. 

Mikey and I picked her up on Saturday. I took her shopping for her birthday.

On Sunday, she spent most of the day doing research for her course. We had a nice birthday lunch, but other than that she was on her computer. Monday, I took her grocery shopping, but both of us were feeling unwell. Most of yesterday and today was spent in bed!  I really don't know if it's allergies or a cold that we have!  I suggested to Hannah that she go and see the campus nurse and ask what medicine is good and where a local clinic is.  

Even though I feel awful, I've had a nice few days. Just watching TV and reading. The only chores I did were cooking and doing the dishes.  I gave myself permission not to clean or worry about things being a mess. I really needed a couple of down days! 

I was feeling good about not worrying about the mess in the house until Google Photos made a memory of similar shots.

What's similar?

These are from the old house. I was wondering what's similar, the fact that they all have cats in them, but most of my photos have cats in them. I think the theme is the mess in the rooms!  The house we are in now isn't that bad, but if I don't do something every day, it gets to be like that.  

From tomorrow it's back to work, teaching and cleaning. Also I need to focus on setting up the classroom and get some flyers posted! Busy time ahead!

Golden Week

 Golden Week is a series of national holidays that run consecutively at the beginning of May. The odd one is April 29, Showa Day.  The other holidays are Constitution Day, Greenery Day, and Children's Day,  during the first week of May. Some companies give the few days between Showa Day and the other days, making it a nice long holiday.  Even though most companies have a paid leave system, many workers don't take the holidays. I think things are changing, but older people rarely took holidays!

I like having these few days off, but I refuse to go out as everywhere is busy!  Even shopping is a nightmare! When I was teaching full-time, I would take advantage of these few days to finish spring cleaning, prepare lessons for the next couple of months, and spend time with my kids!

Now it's a chance to binge-watch TV and read a few books without thinking that I should be doing something useful!!!

I'm not sure why, but recently, YouTube has been showing me Japanese news.   I can't understand everything, but most of what has happened I can catch.  

Yesterday, I watched a news segment about the main Shinkansen (bullet train) between Tokyo and Osaka. There was a power outage that stopped the train from running for about two hours. This was on Wednesday, the day after the first Golden Week holiday. The trains were packed, stations were overrun with passengers trying to get places. There were public announcements about the stoppage, but no reason was given. A few people managed to find alternative modes of transport or got an extra night at local hotels, but most just waited for the trains to resume operation. After a couple of hours, it was announced that a snake had gotten into the electrical wiring, causing it to short out and stop the trains. I know that for the people being stuck on the trains or in the stations, it wasn't a nice experience, but all I could think was only in Japan!  

Today we had a nice birthday lunch for Hannah. Sushi and karage (Japanese fried chicken), stuff for sandwiches, and salad. We have a cake for later, and I'm making a trifle! It was nice to have everyone here, just to chat and catch up!

Unfortunately, both Hannah and I are a bit down. Hannah has a sore throat, and my allergies are extremely bad!

Never mind, this too shall pass!

Our lunch today!

Lots of nice food

Fred took to guarding the sushi when David bought it this morning.

Fred on guard duty!

Feeling Nostalgic

 Today is Hannah's birthday!

That's had me going down memory lane!

My tiny, premature baby, who was given just a 30% chance of living, is now 23!  Time really does fly!

I've been looking at photos today. 

With Dad, about 8 months old

Hisao really doted on her. 

With Granddad and Grandma

There are only a few photos of Mom with Hannah. About a year later, Mom passed away. I'm glad that Mom got to meet Hannah!

outing for Hannah's birthday

Hannah's birthday is a day before Golden Week, which is one of the main holidays in Japan. There are four national holidays, and sometimes they run consecutively, making it a nice, long holiday.  The problem is that everywhere is packed. With Hannah's birthday falling just before meant that most places weren't that busy. Good chance to go out before the crowds start.

playing Cinderella

With Dad, just a year before he passed away

I'm constantly amazed at how well all of my kids have turned out after losing their Dad so young! Mikey was just 20, David 18, Christopher 14, and Hannah 10!  I know my family is not unique in losing a parent when they are young, but the fact that they pulled together, supported each other, and me, they didn't internalize their grief or let it become a bitter anger, always amazes me. We talk about Hisao almost every day. He is still part of this family, always will be!

Graduation from elementary school

2nd visit to England

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Starting high school

Starting university

graduation from university

Now all grown up!

She is coming to visit tomorrow. It'll be nice to visit with her for a while. I think she enjoys living at the apartment, but the idea of someone else cooking, cleaning, and doing your laundry for a few days is nice!

I managed to get outside this morning!  Pulled some weeds, Christopher helped. David and Mikey attacked some of the trees. 

before

After this is the front of the property

Found some more lovely flowers, I don't know what they are.

lovely flowers

I know that pulling weeds is going to be never-ending. But seeing an area cleaned gives me hope that we are getting somewhere, even if it's slow going!