Spring has arrived...
Mar. 22nd, 2006 07:56 am...Officially, that is. The equinox is a national holiday here, so I got to spend the whole day at home playing on the computer.
I really can't wait until we get internet at work. They came and put new outlets in over the weekend...without saying anything about it. So when I brought my laptop in on Monday and plugged it into my extension cord as usual, I was shocked to get the message after a while that my battery was low. I thought my cord had stopped working. I jiggled all the connections with no luck. Finally I followed the extension cord and discovered that someone had unplugged it from the outlet. The new outlets are a type where you have to twist the plug after putting it in.
The students have no more classes for the year. Instead, they have two sports days (Monday and Wednesday, sandwiching the holiday), and then a cleaning day before spring break. The kerosene stoves will be packed away on Thursday.
They announced on the news yesterday that the sakura are officially open in Tokyo. It was the funniest thing to watch. They had this guy carefully examining a tree. "There are seven flowers open!" he exclaims excitedly. "Seven?" someone confirms. "Yes, seven!" (Close-up shot on several flowers.) "Okay, then. We can announce that the sakura are officially open!" They then go on to interview random people on the street, asking them if they like sakura. There is a comparison with last year's official flower-opening date. (They're a week early this year.) They discuss how the stormy weather will affect the flowers. They REALLY take their cherry blossoms seriously.
I really can't wait until we get internet at work. They came and put new outlets in over the weekend...without saying anything about it. So when I brought my laptop in on Monday and plugged it into my extension cord as usual, I was shocked to get the message after a while that my battery was low. I thought my cord had stopped working. I jiggled all the connections with no luck. Finally I followed the extension cord and discovered that someone had unplugged it from the outlet. The new outlets are a type where you have to twist the plug after putting it in.
The students have no more classes for the year. Instead, they have two sports days (Monday and Wednesday, sandwiching the holiday), and then a cleaning day before spring break. The kerosene stoves will be packed away on Thursday.
They announced on the news yesterday that the sakura are officially open in Tokyo. It was the funniest thing to watch. They had this guy carefully examining a tree. "There are seven flowers open!" he exclaims excitedly. "Seven?" someone confirms. "Yes, seven!" (Close-up shot on several flowers.) "Okay, then. We can announce that the sakura are officially open!" They then go on to interview random people on the street, asking them if they like sakura. There is a comparison with last year's official flower-opening date. (They're a week early this year.) They discuss how the stormy weather will affect the flowers. They REALLY take their cherry blossoms seriously.