as always, once i get done with crazy things like travel or family, i go back to work at the elementary schools where i have no time or computer access to update.

let it suffice to say it was good to see my sister, and my mother has seemed to have taken a turn down crazy-lane since i last saw her at christmas. we stormed himeji castle and shopped in kobe, and they survived my insane eikaiwa students.

mostly unrelated, kanji sono mama has turned my nintendo ds from a fun novelty to an invaluable resource. my sister bought a ds here (so we could pictochat without my mom hearing us call her crazy, hehe) and that program, but the level of japanese you need to read it is still above her, so i bought it off her. i'd been meaning to pick it up for a while, but i just hadn't gotten around to it. i can't understand how i lived without it. writing kanji instead of having to count strokes to look them up? brilliant and amazingly helpful. now i feel validated for having bought that ds after all!

i may be going to some crazy all-nighter party in osaka this weekend, but then again, i may not. only time will tell. tomorrow is another day at elementary school, teaching time, countries and animals. oh my yes. later folks!