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I had an awful dash to work today when a shift was messed up and I had to rush to a branch I had never been to with no time to spare.

The trains here are excellent, but could possible be marked a little more clearly at times. Finding the correct platform is usually quite straightforward, however, if the platform is shared by more than one line, things get horribly confusing.

Today I had to take the Saikyo line, which shares its platform with two other trains. On the noticeboard that announces the arrival times for each train and whether each will be local, or rapid, or express, or semi express or… whatever else they are… the line is called something completely different. Eeehh… why is it done this way?

Luckily I asked another commuter at the platform rather than trusting my instincts today and was given the correct arrival time.

15 minutes and a few stops down, I saw my platform assistant hop off the train and carefully check all the departure times at that station and a few of the signs along the platform. She then ran back into the carriage and told me that if I took the train next to ours it would get me to my destination much faster.

So sweet!

I chatted a little to her for then next few minutes and found out that she was on her way to get some travel vaccinations as she leaves on a world trip next week. If only I hadn’t been so flustered in my rush to work, I might have thought to get her email address and maybe be able to repay her favour one day. I’m so disappointed I didn’t.

I think Patrick and I miss out on meeting a lot of sweet people just because it is the two of us travelling together, we are not quite so approachable, probably even more so because Patrick is easily mistaken for a local.

We do have our lovely friend at Kuchaina though, who seems to delight in us despite our togetherness. We went to dinner there again on Friday and I was a little sad when we were seated by an unfamiliar staff-member.

A few minutes later, however, our friend dashed out from her hiding place and into the middle of the restaurant to wave madly and yell “Konbanwa!” at us before rushing back out to her evening’s post in the kitchen. A very welcoming reception.

I taught a class to Darth Vader today.

This wouldn’t be so odd in itself, it’s just that I used to teach Commander Skywalker in Hefei, and was even chatting with Commander on msn just yesterday.

I haven’t told either of them that I know the other, who knows what they might think.

Bet none of you knew that Commander Skywalker is a Chinese university student, and Darth (first name terms) is a public servant in Tokyo.

Commander wants me to bring back a souvenir from Tokyo, I must ask Darth for some advice.

I’m starting to feel a little sad we will be leaving soon, we seemed to settle in so quickly.At work I happily look up at the calendar and count down the days, but the times I am not working I remember there is a lot to miss here. I will even miss work once I am gone, I am sure.

Wont be missing the awful view from the office though.

My train was absolutely packed with commuters when I went to hop on this afternoon, and there was another crowd waiting to get on. I wouldn’t have even bothered thinking about boarding such a full carriage in Melbourne, but here, more space mysteriously materialises and we all fit in without any difficulty. Quite a mystery how this happens.

I have begun to update the photos in my past posts that I copied across from my Vox blog, so although it seems I haven’t put much effort into blogging, I have! Really!

I also finally managed to remember where I got the beautiful brush set for my header from. Designfruit has made them available free to download. Lucky for us!

I put in my resignation today. I had wondered a few times if it was almost time to leave and finally decided it was. 6 months in Tokyo is not so long, but long enough to do all we wanted to do.

I’m torn between being really excited about going back to Hefei, and being a little sad to be leaving.

I will finish work on the 30th of this month and then we will hang about and enjoy ourselves until late July. I must start thinking carefully about what I want to do here before we leave… I know it will sneak up on me quickly.

I KNOW I want to see that bloody Mt Fuji. I am not leaving until it has revealed itself on a day when I am around to see it.

I have added another link to my blogroll.

Ayako gave me her web address today so I could see her lovely creations.  I am enormously envious because she works from home and makes a living from her online store.  I want an online store too!

I must develop a talent….

I grew up thinking I was creative.  It has only been recently that I have come to realise I am not at all creative, just kind of good at recreating pretty things.  Not such a useful talent really.

I can see what works and what doesn’t work in other peoples efforts, but don’t seem to be able to come up with anything original myself… only modifications of all the things that appear around me.  How boring.

Maybe Patrick has some good ideas.