Monday, 3rd March 2003
As I've said numerous times, time is just flying by. I only just realised that we only have 3 full months left in Japan. Thinking about that, that is about 12 weeks! What did I do with my time here? If you have been visiting my page recently, you'll know that I haven't updated my page for a while. I'd have to say that I have been a little busy doing things here and there. The New Year (although we are already 3 months in!) has brought me a lot of things to think about. Hopefully, things are beginning to settle down now and I'll have some space to breathe.
Tuesday, 4th March 2003
I don't like Tuesdays. There's nothing on TV worth watching and it's too close to the beginning of the week for my liking. The weather here recently was getting warmer until yesterday. I think that it knew that Monday was coming, as the temperatures have now plunged. We've had some 'adjustments' in our department and so right now, the atmosphere at work is a little strange.
Wednesday, 5th March 2003
We were informed that on the 29th March, there is a big company presentation. Everyone has to do a 3 minute speech about a chosen topic. This wouldn't be so bad, but it has to be done in Japanese!! Worse still, it is going to be done on an individual basis, so everyone takes their turn to do their speech in front of everyone who's employed at Macro! I'm all for treating us no differently, but I think this is pushing it a bit! Suffice to say, neither James, Phoebe or I are looking forward to it very much at all...
Thursday, 6th March 2003
Today is James' birthday, so, "Happy Birthday, James!" Tonight, as with all Thursdays, we go to Japanese class and I don't think that tonight will be any different. I think that we'll probably go out after Japanese class for a small celebration as tomorrow we will have work. Anyway, I have to go to get to class now.
Friday, 7th March 2003
Last night, we went out to an isakaya (Japanese style pub/bar) to celebrate James' birthday. It was good fun, although the birthday boy was a bit timid with his drinking! However, we couldn't fault his effort in trying to drink a drink through a stirring stick! It might have been his birthday, but James said that it wasn't his day...
I have a fair amount of things to get through this weekend. First of all, tomorrow, I'll meet up with Phoebe, Shingo and some of his friends for lunch. I have no idea what the occassion is! Then, after that, I'll have to dash to go to Japanese class and then afterwards, I'll have to do the menial chores, like laundry and shopping. Then, after that, I'll be going with James and Phoebe (and whoever else we can find) to go see the 'new' James Bond film. After that, depending how rich we are feeling, we might go out for a drink or two.
Monday, 10th March 2003
The weekend provided me with a little entertainment, but right now I have a few things to worry about rather than having fun. The film was ok, but it didn't exceed my expectations really. I only just remembered that Halle Berry was in the film as the film was beginning and I just thought that I wasn't going to enjoy the film. It's just my opinion. Nothing too exciting happened besides going to see the film. Every step of the way, I'm always reminding myself that I haven't got very long left here. I'm sure that this time will pass even quicker than ever before.
Tuesday, 11th March 2003
Another Tuesday. It's the middle of the week and nothing to look forward to at the moment. Maybe I sound a little bit miserable, but I am not at all. It's just that it can't be expected that something exciting is going to happen everyday while I am here. All I'm doing at the moment is living my life at the moment and quite frankly, that's all that I can do at the moment. Nevermind, tomorrow is another day.
Wednesday, 12th March 2003
I'd better retract my statement about there nothing being on tv on Tuesdays! Last night, we watched a show, where the idea was to catch out unfaithful boyfriends! I'd class it as being more than a little unfair, seeing as they hire a good looking girl to go after the guy! The guy already has a girlfriend and so the show is filming his every move! It's funny - if you are not the one who falls for it!
Thursday, 13th March 2003
As always, on Thursday, I have to got to Japanese class and so I cannot write much. However, it's not as if I've actually done all that much to actually write about! Anyway, tonight will be our last 'Winter' Japanese class, which sounds sad, but it's always fun because tonight we'll get to play games (in Japanese of course) instead of real studying! (I'm such a bad student) Anyway, I've got to go.
Friday, 14th March 2003
It's Friday again! Although I have just 'finished' work, I kind of feel sorry for Phoebe because seeing as she's currently the only girl here today, she has to clean just about everything that most of the girls normally do on her own! Nevermind, I'm sure that the fact that it is Friday will cheer her up no end. Also, today in Japan is "White Day", where all the girls are supposed to receive chocolates from the guys (in return for Valentine's Day). So, Phoebe should be happy today, seeing as there are no other girls in the office right now and it's full of guys!!
This weekend we are supposed to have a nabe party. Nabe is kind of like a hotpot and it's very tasty. It's also what sumo wrestlers eat to bulk up apparently. We've had a nabe party before and that was good fun and so I'm looking forward to this one too, plenty of people are coming, so it should be fun. I hope that I can get a chance to relax a bit for this weekend because recently, I've been doing things at 100mph, far too fast and I need to settle down to clear the air.
Monday, 17th March 2003
We had the nabe party on a Saturday and it was a bit of a tight squeeze! We had just about enough room for everyone and everything went ok except for a minor glitch. I'm sure that everyone enjoyed themselves, because I know that I did! It was great because all the girls there did all the cooking - whilst, us guys just sat in the living room... Even afterwards, there was no mess to clean up because everyone helped afterwards to clean everything up! The rest of the weekend was basically time for me to get chores done. As per usual, my Sundays are spent cleaning, food shopping and getting ready for the week ahead. Sounds exciting, doesn't it? This week, I've been informed that we have the Friday off, which is good news! I think that I'll have to think of something to do for the long weekend.
Tuesday, 18th March 2003
Last night, I watched a drama program on tv, it was called "Itsu mo futari de" (Always by two/together). I've been following it for a little while and it was the last show last night. As always, it's the typical drama where the guy and the girl get together in the end. I quite enjoyed it, most probably because I find it quite easy to understand what is going on - though the acting isn't all that great!
Wednesday, 19th March 2003
We have a company presentation coming up soon, where we will have to do a speech in Japanese. I am not looking forward to it at all seeing as the whole company will be there watching us. Also, we can't do it collectively, we must do separate speech on our own, as must everyone else! So, part of my work recently has been trying to compose a speech. Luckily, I have Mika to help me, which is great! I must say a big, big thank you to Mika, who makes my life so much easier!
Also, last night, I played James at Winning Eleven 6 (FE), where I gave him a whooping.. I won't mention anymore in case he gets annoyed!
Thursday, 20th March 2003
Today, the world seems to have gone mad. We have seen the start of war, although thankfully, it hasn't affected us too much (if at all) in this part of the world. Today has just been like any other normal day, however, my thoughts go out to all those involved in the conflict. I suppose it kind of has a greater meaning to James here, who has his brother out there. The problem is that you can't avoid the topic right now and I have to admit that I don't quite fully understand everything that is going on. I will reserve my opinion just now.
On a lighter note, tomorrow is a day off for us and so it'll be a long weekend! I haven't got any plans though, so I'll see what I can muster up. See you all Monday (if we are all still around -j/k)!
Monday, 24th March 2003
Over the long weekend, I spent some time doing not very much! Having said that, I did meet up with Miho, Phoebe and Sanae-san on Saturday to go strawberry picking! Afterwards, we went to go to an onsen (hot spring bath) - separately. It was my first time going to one of these places, Phoebe having been a fair few times already. Not really knowing just what to expect, I can say that it was quite surprising. However, I'm not going to say any more than that! Then, later on in the day, we went to famous restaurant that serves hand made udon. It was very good.
The rest of the weekend was spent recovering from an improptu celebration - although I have no idea what the celebrations were for - Blackburn Rovers got a 5-1 thrashing!
Tuesday, 25th March 2003
As we all know, we are currently going through a crisis in the Middle East. Thankfully, I am situated in the Far East, however, that's not to say that the events do not affect us here too. I wonder at times what it is like to be back at home in the UK now. I haven't really spoken to anybody (other than James and Phoebe) about the war, however, being non-Japanese, information seems to be quite thin in the ground here. It's times like these that the internet is a great source of information, however you have to be careful that what you are reading is really the case.
Wednesday, 26th March 2003
Right now at work, it's all very quiet, probably because there aren't many people in the office. I think it has something to do with the fact that it is coming up to April (the start of a new fiscal year). It's an important time because things need to be cleaned up business wise. Soon, there will be some new employees, which should hopefully bring some fresh ideas to the workplace.
Thursday, 27th March 2003
The big day is drawing closer and closer. Whenever you aren't looking forward to something, I'm sure that time speeds itself up just to spite you! My event that I'm not particularly looking forward to is the Macro New Employee's Event, where all new employees (1 year or less) have to prepare a speech and tell everyone what their experiences so far have been. Strict rules seem to be in place, but thankfully, we have been told that they won't be quite so strict on us. Still, I was just informed about the sequence of events and it looks like I'll be lining up first!! I am really not looking forward to this at all, although I'll bet that everyone is looking forward to see what we have come up with! This is going to be beyond embarressment I think...
Friday, 28th March 2003
This is it.. tomorrow is the day that I'm going to die (of embarressment). There's nothing else for me to do at the moment, other than to go home and get some practice. It's going to be an early start in the morning tomorrow too... doh!
Monday, 31st March 2003
As I said before, Saturday was the day. As it turned out, I was the very first person to go up on stage to do my speech. To say that I was a little nervous would be a bit of an understatement. I think that everyone could sense how nervous I was, especially after the event when Miyoda-san asked me if I was ok because I was 'terribly nervous'!! At least it's over now, which is good.
Tomorrow sees the arrival of the new employees. Also, it will be the start of a new new in business terms and so I hope everything goes well - as you do. Other than the speech, I didn't really do anything else of any real interest over the weekend. I did watch the K-1 Extreme Fighting Tournament last night though, which was quite good! For those of you who know, Bob Sapp lost, which goes to show that you need more than just huge power to win. Also I watched Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, although I'm sure some things are lost when it's been dubbed over in Japanese!
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