Last night's 'farewell' enkai was fun, though I'm a little sad that some of the English teachers are being transferred to other schools in the Nagasaki prefecture. The evening ended with all 70 or so teachers making a large circle with arms around each other, swaying from side to side while singing the school song. These kind of events help create stronger bonds in the workplace..something the Japanese put a lot of emphasis on since people generally spend more time at work than anywhere else!

I'll be leaving bright and early tomorrow for Tokyo where I'll be doing a homestay with a Japanese family as part of the 2 week Japanese course I'm in enrolled in. I'm not sure what to expect, we'll see how it goes!

I just received directions to Iwakura san's (NSA member) place where I'll be staying the first night. Although the transportation system in Tokyo is very efficient, it's also very complicated..there's so many different transportation services, each of which has many different lines etc. I hope I can find my way to her place.

I have to leave the house around 5:30am tomorrow...better go catch some Zzzzzz...nite nite!