Japan & San Francisco Bound

Finally a chance to post. Had a very busy day on Monday and wasn't working yesterday, so this is the first time I've had the chance to post something since the end of last week.

Kirsten, Jon & Sofie arrived on Saturday and I've been spending a lot of time with them and their friends from Japan (who arrived on Sunday morning). Their friends don't speak much English, which is not a problem for me or Kirsten. Jon, however, only knows a few phrases (although he understands much more) so there are times when Kirsten and I have started speaking to Jon in Japanese. It's quite difficult to speak two languages at the same time and I've begun to realise that my mind functions quite differently when I'm speaking in Japanese. It's as if the thought processes are different.

Yesterday our plan was to take the ferry to Watson's Bay and have a picnic there. Unfortunately the weather conspired against us and it rained most of the day. Spring weather is extremely unpredictable here. Am supposed to be going to Watson's Bay tomorrow with my students - so hopefully the weather will be OK. So yesterday I spent some time with Kirsten and Jon then went to visit Cath, who left for India this morning. I have Qurban's car at the moment, so am making the most of it. I don't need a car, but there are times when one can be quite useful.

Tonight I was supposed to be going to see the free film at the NSW Art Gallery with Judith and her son. Judith isn't feeling so great though, so we've decided that we'll just go out for dinner instead - we're thinking about going to this great Korean place for our kimchi fix!

Two more days before my trip. Am really looking forward to it - will be great to catch up with lots of people again. My friend Eriko is meeting me at the airport in Tokyo on Saturday evening and Dan or Steve are going to meet me on Tueday when I get to San Francisco, so I'm going to be well looked after. Will try to post as often as I can and when I get back and get sorted out will try and post some pics as well.

Next post from Japan or San Francisco.