New Car

In March I scrapped my car. I was sad to get rid of it but, it was very old. I decided to buy a newer and safer car. It has taken a long time, but finally I ordered a car. About the end of January, I hope to get it.

The car is a yellow Honda Fit. I want a color that is easy to find in a parking lot. White or black cars are very common, but yellow is rare.

Soon, I will have a car. The Fit is very efficient. It will be cheap to drive. Also, it will be nice on rainy days and cold days.

What kind of car do you drive?

Eating a Monster

Japan has many interesting coffee shops. My friend’s wife runs a coffee shop. Her shop is in Toba. The shop is named Ciao. Ciao is a greeting in Italian. It can mean, “Hello,” or, “See you again!”

They make pizza, pasta, doria, and sandwiches. Also, they have very good cakes and desserts. I like ordering the fruit parfait. They have three sizes of parfait. The largest size is called Monster. It is big and includes a piece of cake… inside the parfait!

Sunday we ate lunch at Ciao before going to the hot springs.

Fresh Fish and Oysters

Saturday night I ate dinner with visitors from Yokohama. We went to a restaurant called Toramaru. The restaurant is in an old storehouse along the riverside. They served very fresh fish. We also ordered many oysters. It was very good. Everyone had a good time.

It was fun having visitors on the weekend. Now I am very tired.

Wearing Shoes Outside

I work at seven schools. I keep one pair of shoes at each school. These shoes are for wearing inside. Normally, we only wear these shoes inside.

Today I will wear them outside! Why? Because we will have an earthquake safety drill. After we hear an announcement, we will pretend there is an earthquake. We will hurry outside with our inside shoes on.

After the drill, we must clean our shoes, so we can wear them inside again.

Warm and Comfortable

Japanese homes and apartments are often cold. The front room in my apartment has no air conditioner to heat the room. I want to do paperwork at my desk in that room.

My friends use kerosene heaters. They are very smelly. Also, it is troublesome to keep a tank of kerosene at the apartment. So, I bought a gas fan heater.

The gas fan heater is easy to connect. It gets warm very fast. It doesn’t smell. I don’t have to keep kerosene. I am very happy to have the new heater.

Now I can be comfortable while doing my paperwork.

Oversleeping

This morning I overslept. Yesterday morning I overslept. Every night I have a busy schedule. I am worried that I might oversleep tomorrow, too. Tonight, I canceled my plans, so I can sleep.

Tonight is the monthly meeting for my photo society. I really enjoy hearing my teacher’s comments. Also, we often go out for dinner afterwards. I am sad to miss the meeting, but I need more sleep.

Safety Patrol

This morning I rode the train to Tsu, got on my bike, and rode to my school near the waterfront. On my way to school, I saw many police officers and many safety patrol members. They were standing at almost every intersection near Route 23.

I asked one officer if today was a special day. He said they have a safety exercise on the 11th of every month. Yesterday was a holiday, so this month it is on the 12th.

I realized that I have never come to this school on the 11th of any month.

I like safety very much. I hope everyone is driving safely today. And tomorrow. And the next day…

Missing Posts

Since January 5th, I have been writing a new post every day. However, today I noticed that some of them didn’t appear. Because of a software problem, they got sent to a temporary place. I was sad, but I made them appear today. I hope you can read them.

One post was from February 5th last year. I wish I had noticed it sooner.

This evening the weather turned cold again, but I have a new hat. It kept me very warm. Take care and stay warm.

Cute Round Belly

I watched the movie “Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea”. It is an animated movie by Studio Ghibli. They are very well known for movies like “My Neighbor Totoro” and “Princess Mononoke”.

The movie was very cute, but some parts were hard to understand. Like many Ghibli films, it had a strong message about pollution and nature.

Did you see the movie? Did you enjoy it?

Paperwork

One thing I don’t like is paperwork. It takes time away from important tasks. It often serves no purpose. Of course, we all have paperwork for our jobs and our daily lives. It is inescapable. So, we have to be tough and just do it.

In August, while riding my bike, I was hit by a car. Because I had many injuries, I have to spend a lot of time at the doctors’ offices. Also, many things in my life have changed. However, what I hate the most is the extra paperwork.

I get many documents from the insurance company. All of the documents are confusing. Often I send a document away and get another document in return. Sometimes it feels like there is no end to the paperwork.

I hope your paperwork is light. Bills, taxes, loans, bookkeeping, … so many kinds of paperwork.