October 26th 2020 - Day 2860

Ok, I know I promised you all weekly blog updates, but there are still times when it is hard to do when there is very little going on. Over the last month work has been going through an up down process, where one moment I am busy from dawn till dusk, and the next there is nothing going on at all. The only other major excitement during the weekdays is that I have started doing more English lessons in private, which is good practice for my Japanese and a good way to make some extra income. My wife has been hard at work trying to find work, or else looking after the house and me whenever I need it.

One major event from the last month was that my wife and I celebrated our one year Japanese wedding anniversary. To celebrate we had a magical day together out on the town. Specifically we headed to the shrine where we had our shinto wedding ceremony in the morning to pay our respects to the local dieties, an then went to the venue where we had our reception for a magnificent lunch. 

Other news, the new Pokemon expansion came out so we have been playing that almost non stop with our friends, and more recently, we went out to see a very cool play based on a game we love. We also brought a couple of my wife's Japanese friends, and we all had a spectacular time and a fun late lunch afterwards to catch up.

Otherwise we have mainly been keeping quiet and as far away from COVID-19 as possible. Probably going to be a bit more of that, but with the year almost over and life steadily stabilising in Japan to a state we can enjoy the outside again, we have several plans lined up for the rest of the year, so there may yet be a few things for me to write about.

September 27th 2020 - Day 2831

 The yearly outlook has taken a drastic turn on the work front. Monday and Tuesday were bank holidays, which was fun since my wife and I could continue to be lazy, and also take time to go to the Pokemon cafe. A themed restaurant as part of the Pokemon centre, it has basically everything we could have asked for. We had a lot of fun and made the most of our time.

Which is lucky because the next 3 days of work were no fun. For one thing, the usual workload has started to get piled on, and for another, the extra work is piling on too. Three days in a row of increasingly late nights, even when one of those days was working from home, and getting to the point of having to ride the last train on Friday. Even though the weekend rolled around quickly, and most of it was spent being lazy, it was marred by another request for some emergency work, so my Saturday night was ruined. But Sunday was a lot more fun. I helped some friends film an interview through zoom, and my wife and I went for a short walk that turned into a long walk with an hour of karaoke for the heck of it. Here's hoping the next week is not nearly so tough.

September 20th 2020 - Day 2824

 It has been a very unusual week indeed for me. Although quiet for most of it, it was by no means uneventful. For instance, one day this week I was at the office from the crack of dawn to be on standby, meaning I had to take the first train in for the first time in a while. And on another day this week, I had my yearly health check. Luckily it showed nothing out of the ordinary, but when it was over I then had to spend the rest of the day and work late on a new project. Friday was working from home again, and it was much busier than the last few days at the office, with a variety of new projects coming in, so I had to work overtime a bit, but thats ok since I was at home and I could get a jump start on the four day weekend. 

Speaking of which. For the first few days of the weekend, we spent most of it being chill or going for walk around the neighbourhood. We also had an online drinks party with a friend, which was a lot of fun since we could catch up after a long absence.

September 13 2020 - Day 2817

Been a quiet week on the whole. Had a few meetings at work, and worked from home one day, otherwise I've just been steadily knocking away each assignment as they come and in the mean time been making plenty of time for studying and some side projects. The weekend was quiet as well, mainly spent chilling inside or getting ready for some other upcoming activities, and also starting some new English teaching lessons.

September 6th 2020 - Day 2810

An up and down week this one, with some days quiet busy, and other days not busy at all. In particular, Wednesday was spent working from home, but there was very little for me to do that day, and Friday was so busy I was stuck at the office until 10 at night (first time in a while), so I guess these balance each other out. The weekend was once again spent being very quiet, shut up indoor to avoid the horrid weather from the typhoon, although we did still go out once or twice to get some food and to stretch our legs.

August 30th 2020 - Day 2803

A very quiet week on the whole, with only enough work to keep me busy during the day. On Friday I had to go out of the office for a bit for an assignment, but even that wasn't so trying as to take more than a couple of hours. The weekend was also quiet on the whole. My wife and I went for a few walks around the area, but on the whole we kept inside out of the heat and quiet.

August 23rd 2020 - Day 2796

Its been a very unusual week for me. For one thing, two days have been spent working from home, but no matter which day was spent working from where, its been very quiet indeed. Most of the time was spent editing various projects, so just enough to keep me busy without being stuck at the office (or the home desk) too late. The weekend was spent being quiet indoors. We did go for a walk on Saturday, but it was so hot we got wiped out. Sunday was spent being very lazy indeed.