Saturday, April 12, 2008

Home again

Sorry if there is anyone out there who has been checking this to make sure that we made it home safely... Yes - we did make it back to Japan in basically the same number of pieces that we left in and are now back into our "normal" routines here. Unfortunately the camera is broken right now so I can't show you any pictures of the beautiful spring colours, the weed piles, the seeds I have planted etc. You will just have to imagine them!
It is really good to be back, but of course it was very sad to leave New Zealand too. We had a wonderful time and I am so grateful to everyone for helping to make it so good. Thanks - please let us repay your generosity sometime soon. The cottage is waiting for you all!
The children are back at school/kindergarten and my current complaint is the very early finishing times.... my son goes to kindy at 9am and is home at 11am all next week. My daughter went to school at 8am and finished at 11am more than once last week. As I am sure I have mentioned Japan is crazy about ceremonies, so the first day back at school consists of going to school in the morning, greeting the teachers, officially starting the term and then going home.... And then of course there is the official entrance ceremony for the first grade students which finishes at about 11am so then all the other students go home for the rest of the day. And then of course there is every Wednesday when the teachers have a meeting so the students finish at 2pm. There has been some comments lately by teachers that they think it is necessary to bring back school on Saturdays in order to cover all the work expected of the children. I am guessing there are other ways around this!
Oh and for anyone worried about my daughter's arm it is now in a full plaster and should be fully mended in about 6 weeks - hopefully with the cast coming off in less than 4 weeks. Hopefully the novelty won't have worn off by then!

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