House Hunting

In America, when we look for a new house or apartment, we call it house hunting. It is a strange term. We think it is hard to find the right house, so we have to look very carefully, like a hunter.

Soon, I hope to move to Tsu. I am living in Ise now, but I work in Tsu. Every day I spend a lot of time commuting. This seems very wasteful and makes me feel tired. Every month, I spend a lot of money on gasoline and train tickets.

If I move to Tsu, I can rent a nicer home and still save money because the commuting costs will go away.

Have you moved recently? Do you have a long commute?

Rainy Race

Sunday morning I was in a bike race at the Suzuka F-1 Circuit. We use the same course as the F-1 racing cars and the motorcycles. It is really fun to see thousands of bicycles on the racetrack.

All morning it was raining very hard because a typhoon was coming. If you get wet while riding it is easy to get too cold, so I wore a jacket. Sometimes when I race, I overheat. That was not a problem on Sunday.

The race course is 6.6 kilometers for one lap. My team rode 21 laps in 4 hours. That means we traveled 138.6 kilometers at an average speed of 34.6 kilometers per hour.

It felt great to get some exercise. Have you ever been in a bike race? Did you enjoy it?

Fuel Efficiency

My car is a Honda Fit. One reason I purchased this car is it’s high fuel efficiency. Many people think that Kei cars are very efficient because they have small engines. The Fit actually gets better gas mileage than all of the Kei cars.

Recently, I was thinking about how to get better efficiency. I noticed that driving just a little slower on the expressway increased the efficiency a lot.

Today I drove home on the expressway and got very good gas mileage. I think I will drive slower now.

What kind of car do you drive? Do you think about fuel efficiency?

Beautiful Weather

Recently the weather has been getting warmer. Many days were warm, but got cold at night. Soon it will be too hot during the day.

Today it was sunny and warm all day long. Tonight it is cool, but not cold. I think this maybe the best weather of the year.

When I was driving today, I had the windows open. It felt very good to have the warm wind in my hair.

How is the weather where you are? What time of year has the best weather?

Slow Day

I teach English at elementary schools in Japan. Usually I teach three to five classes each day. Three classes is an easy day and five classes is a very busy day. When I have five classes, I am usually very tired at the end of the day.

This morning I found out that all of my classes were canceled. We have special drills today, so the schedule changed.

On my easy days, I spend some time studying or preparing lesson plans. On days where all of my classes are canceled I can finish all of my preparation and still have free time. It is very boring.

Do you ever have too much free time?

Cheering People Up

My father-in-law was sick this week. When people are sick, they don’t feel well. Of course, he got lots of rest, so he was getting better; however, I went to visit him today. We talked a lot about his hobby and had a nice dinner together.

I think he was much happier when we left. I was happier too. Cheering people up is fun.

Have you cheered anyone up lately?

Urgency

Several days each week I ride the train to work. On Monday and Wednesday, I must change trains in Tsu.

Today my condition suddenly got bad and I needed to find a toilet. There are toilets on the trains, but during rush hour the trains are crowded. It is very hard to get to the bathroom on the train.

I ran to the bathroom in Tsu, but I was worried because there is not much time between my trains.

Have you ever had an urgent situation?

Potlatch

Tonight there was a potlatch at my friend’s home. We often call this kind of party “pot luck”. Every guest brings food. All of the food is served.

At a potlatch there is plenty of food, but nobody has to cook very much.

Everyone ate a lot of food, but there was lots of food leftover. Tomorrow we will eat some of the leftovers for breakfast.

My wife is an excellent cook. Everyone enjoyed her dishes.

Have you ever joined a potlatch?

Children’s Day

Yesterday was Children’s Day in Japan. It is a holiday for children, but mostly we consider it a holiday for boys. It is traditional to fly ‘carp kites’ over homes that have male children.

Carp kites look like wind socks. They are decorated like Japanese carp. When I was a small boy, I had a carp kite.

Someday I hope to have a son. I will buy him a carp kite and fly it proudly.

Strange Schedule

Often I can take vacation during Golden Week, but this year I can’t. Friday, April 29th was a holiday. Tuesday, May 3rd through Thursday, May 5th are holidays, too.

On Monday, May 2nd and Friday, May 6th I have to teach many classes. This makes a strange schedule: 3 days off, work 1 day, 3 days off, work 1 day, 2 days off, and back to normal.

Do you work during Golden Week?