Cha-ching

The showpiece of last week had to be Culture Day, a glorious midweek public holiday that I'm not entirely sure of the purpose of; it's probably another one of Japan's many examples of "let's think of a provocative name for a day off". Being the refined creatures we are, we decided to focus our attention on Osaka shopping culture and had what I think was my 3rd successful trip out there in a row. At this rate I might actually start liking the place.

We had a lie in and a late breakfast then wandered down to the train station bound for Namba, one of the biggest shopping/fooding districts in Osaka. It's also home to Den-den Town, the electronics district that you must be this nerdy to enter. Mel and Lisa went into H&M (which seems to be like catnip for girls) and I pottered around the arcades for a while, earmarking the odd restaurant and coffee shop for later use. I was then dropped unceremoniously in Den-den Town and the girls headed off to Namba Parks, which is considerably trendier and less sweaty. My main mission was to try to trade in some games and after a failed attempt or two, I stumbled on the import game shop that Abel had introduced me to on our last visit; I'm fairly sure they gave me more money than I bought them for.

While there I wandered into the big electronics bit and looked at 2nd hand TVs. "I would probably just get a new one," the guy said, looking worried he would be overheard, "they're not much more and you get a proper warranty and stuff." So I went to the new ones, took photos, agonised and eventually bought one. Once it arrives, there will be a Harry Potter marathon to celebrate. I met Lis and Mel to compare war stories - the two of them had had just as successful a trip. Lis handed me a wallet to replace the one that had more holes than a golf course and we headed back over toward the train station for dinner. Shakey's Pizza I can thoroughly recommend if you're ever in the area - $10 for all you can eat pizza and pasta and another $5 for all you can drink softies and booze. Now that's what I call culture.

The mid-year seminar is next week and I've been furiously working on all the workshops and presentations for it; on Friday I'll hand it all over to others and it'll officially be out of my hands. More than I thought, actually - I'm apparently "MC" which means I don't present the workshops myself, I just swan around and introduce the occasional guest. My big part doesn't come until the end of the second day, where I spend 75 minutes torturing everyone with endless speak of classroom management and instructional strategies. Writing the damn thing is a pain, but the horror on their faces will make it all worthwhile.

Speaking of horror on faces, halfway through our very lazy weekend, Lisa managed to lose her purse somewhere in the 50m gap between the train station and the bus. I heard her frantically rifling through her bag and somehow knew we were going to be making a trip back to peer around in the dark. It wasn't there, of course; we went into every shop and left our details, then eventually went to the police station to see if it had been handed in. It hadn't, so we left a report and slunk home, heads swimming with all the card cancelling and insurance claiming we would have to do as a result. Fortunately the next day a different cop shop called up and said it had been handed in, so we tore down there and picked it up very apologetically. "The person who found it doesn't want a reward or anything," the guy said, "so I'll just call and say thank you for you." We're astonished by the honesty and kindness of people in this country - to find everything handed in completely intact isn't something you'd expect at home, but Japan continues to amaze. That's hopefully the end of our losing things - I'm quite happy not to test people's generosity any more.

I'm not sure I'd say I was on the home stretch just yet, but after I get over the hump of next week I think things will be starting to wrap up in a big way. I feel like the air's escaping from me at the moment - I get home from work and just collapse on the couch in half-deflated contentment. It's come full circle, to think of it - one of the first things that came into my head this year was "I shouldn't be just sitting around, I should be making the most of this" and it seems to be one of the last as well. The answer is the same, I think - relax, pace yourself, there's plenty of time. I'm just worried I'll suddenly realise there isn't.

There's no time to lose then - to the shops!