this is working

see, now things are moving much faster blogwise, so I will post TWICE in one week. Not that I have anything to say at all at this point.

We are all on vacation now - Sam, me, Steve, some of us for longer than others. In fact, Sam has the longest vacation, haven't quite worked out how the logistics of that will work. Perhaps if we can train Fox (the wonder-dog) to function as a nanny... Although her training hasn't progressed beyond sit, treat, walk and over (thanks, Jo!). So I don't know how she will respond to "I need a snack! Read to me! Tickle me! Let's play monopoly." Probably just as she responds to anything else: a waggy tail, foul breath, and begging for a tummy rub. Useless beast.

Tomorrow, Disney! With a pair of 8-year-old boys (no, Sam hasn't divided, he is bringing a friend), what could be more fun... And Sunday, Kyoto! Which may be marginally more culturally correct than Disney. But no less incomprehensible. The Pirates of the Caribbean sound silly speaking Japanese. Really.

I had an odd moment the other day. It was finally cool out - kind of Ottawa autumn weather, and I was wandering down the street, smelling the autumn smell, getting that kind of autumn feeling, when all of a sudden I realized that everyone around me was speaking gibberish! Two and a half years here, and I have made NO progress in my Japanese. Not that I have been making any effort, but I would have expected to absorb a bit more by now. In fact, I now know LESS than I did after my 10-week Japanese course in Ottawa - now I can only count one way. I can no longer count flat things, round things, things that hold stuff, long skinny things, animals, people... All I can count is numbers! How useless is that. Bah.