busy busy bee

i dont know the last time i actually wrote about what i have been up to recently. its all been about the freezing cold weather. its starting to get warm again here and any moment now the ume (plum) blossoms will be blooming. when i walked though the kairakuen park on saturday they were preparing for the thousands of people that will come through to see them over the next month.

this month has been extreemly busy. i think it was a ploy to get me to recontract here at the kencho cause one of my qualms was that i didnt have enought challenging work to do.

over the last few weeks i have run a workshop day for the other JETs in Ibaraki, been to a PA training seminar in Tokyo, gone to a sake brewery to write about it, MC'd a speech contest for foreiners (i wish i could have taken part, they won some groovy prizes like bikes, money, suitcases, microwaves etc), translated the entire audio system of the Ibaraki Nature Museum (check it out as of April 1st if you want to hear my work), translated heaps of tourist brochures and letters for the governor, visited a number of primary schools to teach about Australia, and setting up a movie festival to start on the 26th February showing Australian Films such as "the dish" and "babe"

Now thats only what i have been doing at work. I went skiing the other week, taugh tom a lot of japanese, golf lessons at the driving range, english teaching at the local international centre, taiko drum concert in Ibaraki-machi etc.

Still this month i have another 3 school visits, a trip to the tatami and natto museums for the E-Ibaraki website, learning how to do indigo dyeing in Yuuki, helping out at english interviews in Tsukuba, talking at MESA, and the movie seminar from feb 26th.

if i am lucky i will go skiing in Fukushima on the 25th for only 500yen, but i might be too tired to move by then.
we have a JET bowling day on march 3rd too...

no wonder i have been tired recently.