Kicking and screaming

No doubt the worst bit about holidays is the horrendous comedown - the first few days of being back in the grind that really hits home how far from more holidays you are. I made my inglorious return to the workplace on Thursday and for the most part felt like a plump Christmas turkey dreading the sound of knives on sharpeners; I'm a captive audience for the next year and at some point I'm going to have to perform. It's reverse (reverse?) culture shock, I keep telling myself, but that isn't helping me feel any less hunted - my head is full of the faces of disappointed coworkers and empty blog posts. Time to do something about the latter, I think.

Ditto marks

Nothing particularly new this week, and sitting here in soaking pants and shoes that go "slosh slosh" has limited my desire to write (and live) so we'll see how this goes. I saw 3 umbrellas turned inside out this morning and I literally wrung my socks out into the sink when I got to school. Rainy season manages to combine tropical heat with driving rain, which turns the entire country into a concrete rainforest. School is even cancelled this morning due to flood warnings. It's apparently not cancelled for teachers though, who by their very nature are immune to storms and hypothermia.

Taste handbag, fiend!

This weekend was the Kobe Festival, a big parade and a bunch of stalls which closed off the whole of Sannomiya's Flower Road (which is a very big deal). I really enjoy having "things" happening all the time - people bellowing about the latest sale or "campaign", buskers and street music, huge events and festivals like this one. Unfortunately, so do the pushy old ladies and woe betide anyone who gets between them and a good view. When all you have is an elbow, every problem starts to look like someone's ribs.