Busman's holiday

(For 21 April)

I started off today with something I really needed – a sleep in.  The first week of the course has been great but very tiring.  I’m used to 2 hours a week of Japanese and now I’m having 3 formal hours a day, followed by the conversations in the shops, cafes and restaurants, followed by trying to have intelligent conversations when I get home.  Once I get to bed, I’m out like a light.

My home away from home

After breakfast, I did some cleaning and tidied up all of my papers and purchases that have accumulated over the past week and then did some revision of the week’s classes (in my clean and tidy bedroom!).

After lunch, we went to the library, which has a very unusual design.  All of the walls are covered in little round windows, so everything inside is well lit.  The most amazing thing for me was the beautiful quiet atmosphere, where people could browse, explore books with their children or study, without the loud, bad-mannered, inconsiderate behaviour that has become the norm in Australian libraries.  There are even a couple of soundproof rooms specifically set aside for using mobile phones.  The library here really is a haven (big sigh!).

The library of many windows

The man in the red shirt is in
one of the mobile phone rooms

On the way home, I couldn’t stop yawning (that’s what a peaceful library will do to you!), so when I got home, I had a hiru-ne (afternoon nap).  Hiru-ne is my ‘word of the day’, and one that I intend to remember.

We had a lovely dinner, during which we discussed the comparison of lifespans in Japan and Australia, my next trip to Japan and my relatives in England.  The sentences might not have been quite grammatically correct, and I needed to refer to my iPhone dictionary occasionally (thanks again, Keith!), but we seemed to be having the same conversation.

After my much-needed soak in the bath, I had a quick Skype message chat with John and ploughed through a bit more revision so I can appear to be intelligent when I get to class tomorrow.

In the afternoon, we’re off to see Japanese Archery.  I’m assuming that we’re just watching, but we’ve been asked to take white socks, so we must be participating in something special.

All will be revealed next time!