I've been staying at Hannah's since Wednesday, going home tomorrow. I've really missed the cats! It's so quiet here, except for Hannah's neighbour! It's really strange not hearing the cats, especially at night. I know once I get back home, I'll be complaining about the noise the cats make! For now, though, I'm missing them. I talk to the cats a lot, I ask their opinions on things, like what to make for dinner! I know I'm really talking to myself, but having an audience does help!
I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but my left eye socket is swollen and rather painful. It feels like I've been punched!
Swollen eye
I'm really not photogenic at the best of times, but with my eye swollen, I look awful. Never mind.
I think it might be from the allergic attack I had the other day. I'm not sure why, but I started to sneeze like crazy, two boxes of tissues in half a day after taking medicine. This went on for two days with very little relief. When the allergies calmed down, the area under my left eye felt sore. Yesterday morning, it was so swollen and painful I thought about finding a doctor, but I didn't have a chance. This morning I used an ice pack wrapped in a towel, which helped a lot. It's still painful but not as bad. Perhaps some swelling in my sinuses is pressing on my eye. If it isn't better by Monday, then I'll have to go to an eye doctor. I hope it gets better as I really don't want to go to the doctors!
Back home tomorrow. I hope I'm not greeted by a load of dirty dishes! The weather has cooled down a lot; if it's like this next week, I want to go out, visit a few places. Hannah is coming back for the holiday. She wants to visit a bookstore that is in the city, just a bus ride away! Plus I must get everyone out in the garden!
It feels strange staying here. Nice but strange. I ask permission to take a shower or put the air conditioner on, as this isn't my home, and I don't pay the bills.
Yesterday we went out for lunch. There's a nice family restaurant just down the road from Hannah's apartment. A family restaurant is basically a chain of casual dining restaurants that are family-friendly. They have a large choice on the menu and a lot of kid-friendly choices. They are also very affordable.
The one problem is that there is so much choice, and most meals are very good value for money, that it can take a long time to decide what to get!
Yesterdays lunch
We shared the salad and pizza. I had the hamburger and sausage plate with bread. Hannah had steak and hash potatoes. All this for just 3,000 yen, about £15.
After lunch, we had a little walk to an electric store. Hannah needs to buy a new computer, so she wants to compare prices. The computers in there were twice as much as online, so she gave up. But this store also sells furniture, so she bought a desk and chair. This wasn't an impulse buy; she's been looking for a good desk and chair for a few months!
The store delivered the chair and desk today and assembled them as well!
I'm glad that the delivery people put the chair and desk together; it took them over 30 minutes. The desk was a lot harder to assemble than I thought it would be. They kept unscrewing parts and moving them around. All rather amusing!
New desk and chair
Set up with her books, she needs more bookshelves
This morning, Hannah had an MRI. There is nothing visible that could cause these episodes. So maybe just stress. She has another appointment in October. I hope that she can put this behind her and move forward with her studies and her life!
I'll be glad to get back to my own house. Even though I don't really like the place, it is mine and I have a lot of work to do there. Anyway, this time here has been a little holiday for me!
Hannah had another episode on Tuesday, not a seizure, from what she described, it sounds like sleep paralysis.
My understanding of sleep paralysis is that there is a disconnect between the brain and body. When we are in REM sleep, the time when we dream, our brains temporarily paralyze the muscles in our body; otherwise, we would be acting out our dreams! As we wake up, the muscles become active again. Sleep paralysis happens when we are waking up, but our bodies are still paralyzed. It's not dangerous but rather scary. I've had a few episodes of this myself, so I can understand Hannah's panic.
She decided to come home Tuesday evening. She spent the night at home but had to return to university today. So I've come back with her for a few days. Next week is a holiday, so she can come home again for a few days.
This morning I offered to make breakfast. Just something simple, sausage, eggs, and English muffins.
Breakfast at Hannah's
It took longer than it should have, as I spent time looking for things. I forgot how difficult it is to cook in somebody else's kitchen!
I made a little video of Hannah's apartment. I narrated it, but my voice sounds awful. It always does, but sounds worse than usual as I have awful allergies and a sore throat.
Enjoy the video even though it's not the best quality!
Hannah has an MRI appointment on Friday, so I hope she can start to get some answers as to why these things keep happening to her!
I'm wondering what to do for the rest of the morning! I've cleaned up, hung the laundry, I have to wash the dishes from breakfast, but after that I'm free. Read? Watch TV? Lie around? I would go out but the weather is rather unstable, thunderstorms on and off, and rain that goes from a little drizzle to full-on downpour in a matter of seconds!
It's very quiet here, no cats. I never thought I would miss them so much! I'll have to ask Christopher to send some photos later!
Today, at 8:15 am, the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, 80 years ago. Three days later, the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.
Every summer, these events are marked. August 15th, the day that Japan surrendered, is marked a day to remember the soliders who gave their lives in war.
I have very mixed feelings about these dates of the bombs be memorialized.
Of course, it's important to remember the innocent victims who died on those days, about 80,000 in Hiroshima and 40,000 in Nagasaki. Plus the ones that suffered for many years after with burns, radiation sickness and cancers caused by the bombing. I say a prayer for these people every year.
What I struggle with is the fact that the media always portrays Japan as being the victim. Japan might be the victim of the atomic bomb but it was the aggressor in the war.
One of the reasons Amercia joined the war in the Pacific Thearter was the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
The Japanese had already expanded it's emipre across a large area of Southeast Asia. Japan was driven by the desire to obtain natural resources. Also national prestiage and military power played a part in the expansion.
These facts aren't really talked about, either in education or in the media. It's all about the suffering of the Japanese people. The atrocities commited by the Imeperial Army (The Rape of Nanking or Comfort Women, for example) are brushed over. Some people believe that all the awful things that happened in the war are conspirecy theories put out by western media.
Was the use of the atomic bomb really necceasary?
I've heard arguments from both sides. But it's hard to judge, I wasn't there and I wasn't the one to make the decision to drop the bombs.
One argument for using the bombs is that it shortend the war. The loss of life was horrendous on those days but a prolonged war would of caused a lot more casualites.
Were both bombs needed? I don't think so, dropping the one on Hiroshima was enough to scare the Japanese leaders into considering surrender.
There are many lessons to learn from these tradgies. One thing I would like to see is that the children are taught that even countries have to face the consequences of their actions. If Japan hadn't attacked Pearl Harbor, then maybe the bombs wouldn't have been used!
I've visited Nagasaki and toured the area where the bomb was dropped. There is a beautiful Peace Park. I had a look at the museum but had to leave as the photos were very disturbing.
This year Hannah went to Hiroshima. She visited the Peace Dome and meseum, again a very disturbing place to visit.
Some photos from Hiroshima.
A drum that was found in a school
An elementary school, this place was used as a makeshift hospital
The Peace Dome
By the way, I'm sorry for any mistakes, especially spellings. The spell/grammar check AI use isn't working!
As much as I enjoyed my shopping on Sunday, it left me totally exhausted!
Yesterday was made even more difficult because of the ongoing thunderstorms all morning. I ended up with an awful headache. Needless to say, very little got done!
I had plans, clean the entrance and the tatami room again. The cats have decided that the tatami room is theirs. I don't mind, but finding hair everywhere is driving me crazy, even though we keep brushing the cats, they still seem to shed a lot! Also, the smell is driving me up the wall! I need to keep on top of the cleaning, but with the heat, it has been really difficult!
This morning I pushed myself to get some done, not 100% but a good start, I hope to finish tomorrow and then try to at least run the vacuum once or twice a week.
I need to make a good cleaning schedule. I've written about this before; in my mind, I have an idea of what needs to be done and when, but I don't write it down. I'm also very good at making excuses; I have classes today and don't want to be too tired for that, I have to clean the kitchen and cook lunch, the garden needs doing, I'm tired, etc. Some of my excuses are very creative; the mess is an ongoing work of art, the best one I came up with was after watching a documentary about hoarders, I actually told the kids I was trying to see how long it would take for the mess to become unlivable, only lasted two days! Even though my house isn't that clean, I actually don't like a mess, and I especially don't like things that smell! I think that is why I spend a lot of time and energy cleaning the kitchen.
I guess it's time to get off my computer and start some lunch!
Just a few photos of the cats, the ones that cause so much trouble, but are still cute!
Mama
She came back after a week.
Fluffy lying on my iPad and phone
Steve
Five of them in the dirty corridor, which is the coolest place.
Recently, the only shopping I do is grocery shopping. It's turned into a rather stressful chore that needs to be done! The main stress is from the price of everyday things. I'm spending more now to feed four of us than when there were six of us! I know that when we were a family of six, the kids were little, but I would buy things that I now consider luxury items, fresh fruit or ice cream, come to mind. My shopping now is very basic things, a bit of meat, chicken, maybe fish sometimes. Basic vegetables, always seasonal, as they are cheaper. Then the daily necessities, like milk, bread, eggs, and sausages. Nothing fancy. I can pick up 20 items and pay over 7,000 yen, about £35, that would be for three days! Also, I go to two or three different supermarkets, one has cheap meat but the fish is expensive and never looks or smells very fresh, another has good deals on vegetables but milk and eggs are expensive, and then another for all the things I couldn't get at the first two shops! It is exhausting and rather frustrating!
Today we went to a shopping mall. I usually don't bother with these places, too much walking, and the supermarkets there are a lot more expensive than the other places. But I saw on Facebook that there's a coffee/ import shop that had English brand tea! I buy cheap tea, it's okay, but I really wanted something a bit special. Also, these stores are good for Christmas food, and yes, I know it's only August, but this is one way I survive the summer, by planning Christmas!
The mall was a 30-minute drive from here. We had to cross the river, I was shocked at how low the water was.
I think we need some rain.
Since those awful thunderstorms the other week, we haven't had any rain. The forecast is for some this week. I hope it rains as it does cool things down a bit!
The first thing I noticed at the mall was the flood barrier. This mall is close to a river, not the one in the photo! The problem is that the river is higher than the mall. Christopher worked at this mall. During the rainy season that year, the river burst its banks and flooded the mall; the water came up to Christopher's knees. He was working at the bookstore and said that all the books on the lower shelves were damaged. Because of this, Christopher lost his job! He had only just started to work there. This was the second year in a row that the mall had flooded, so I think that the insurance couldn't cover the damage. The store had to find a way to save money, so maybe that is why Christopher lost his job!
Now the mall has these barriers at the entrance.
These barriers pull across the entrance during floods.
I wonder if they work!
I managed to find the store that I wanted to go to. It was smaller than I thought, but they had the tea.
English tea
I'm looking forward to a cup of real English tea.
We had a little wander around and found Muji. This is a lovely store that has a minimalistic design philosophy. They sell a wide range of goods. I'm always drawn to stationery goods and kitchen goods. I bought myself a couple of nice pens.
Nice pens
I also bought Christopher a new T-shirt.
Of course, green.
I had a look at a few things for David's birthday. I think I'll have to go back there to get him something.
I had a look in the supermarket, it was expensive, but I came across a small corner of plant-based items. This is something that is only just catching on in Japan. I saw these noodles.
Vegan
Somehow, they don't look very appetizing!
On the way out, I caught the back end of a train that goes around the mall. The kids love it!
Train ride around the mall.
I tried to get some video on the way back, but Mikey was driving very fast! I really liked the trees that have been planted along the road. The red flowers were very beautiful!
As you can see, the mall is in the middle of the countryside!
The heat has really intensified! The past week has seen temperatures in the upper 30s; I think one day it reached 40 °C. I'm not sure about other places, but here the humidity has been around 50%, which makes it a bit easier.
I still don't have air conditioners in all the rooms. I have mine, which really helps. David's is working at the moment, he went outside and kicked the machine, then it worked.
We tried to get the old machines working, but no luck.
But somehow we are surviving!
It's not easy, but if I can get up early to clean and start lunch, it really helps! Also, I give everyone an area to clean. Then I stay in my room with the air conditioner on for the rest of the day.
I realized the other day that this is the first summer that I haven't had an air conditioner in the main rooms. A few times I haven't had air conditioners in the bedrooms, but I've always had them in the rooms that are used a lot, the kitchen, dining room, living room, and the rooms I used for teaching. I've often wondered if it would be possible to live without air conditioning! Now I know it's possible, but not nice!
I keep telling myself that it's almost autumn! That the temperature will go down, and soon I will be complaining about the cold! For me, the cold is a lot easier to deal with!
Last week I went shopping with Christopher. We found these cute soft toys. I thought this one looked like Christopher!
