I'm back home!

After three days of relative nothingness my internal clock is finally appearing to be adjusting itself. A three day trip with the last night spent sleeping in an airport lounge is, for some strange reason slightly tiring, not to mention when accompanied by two kids and the compulsuory excess baggage, one always promices oneself not to repat the next time round ;-P
The trip to Japan was amazing!! The strangest of alll was how everything felt familiar, it felt as if it were a an everyday occurrence, that I'd only been away for a few weeks.. The kids loved it as well, giving rise to plans to come study there, of course they were being incredibly spoilt by their "grandparents" ;-) so their impression might be a tad biased. It was a wonderful feeling to be so weclcomed, and the kids were unerringly treated as favorite only grandchildren. Now I just keep my fingers crossed, any day now I'll find out whether I'm in the draw for the Japanese university grant. Personally I think my possibility is slim, the whole japanese exhange student and folklore enthusiasm works for me I know, but the single, divorced mother of two I am sure will deter some on the board. MMostly just because it is an automatic assumption in Japan that a woman who has children can not study....... oh well as I say fingers crossed.
We were very lucky with the weather whilst in Japan, it was moderately warm and whilst up north there was nearly no humidity. The last four days were spent travelling with Okasan, Otosan and Asuka. Wisiting An amazing Edo village, a fair ground, a monkey show and a famous heritage shrine, whilst staying at fancy Ryokans (Japanese style hotels) at night, and being so lucky as to have a Mazuri (annual festival) being played out both nights at the hotels and in the streets outside. The last two nights we stayed with my friends Ragga and Ester in Tokyo, whom I met in Japanese class at the University of Iceland. The funny thing is that just over a year ago we were having lunch together at Indokina on Laugarvegur (Reykjavik) and wondering where we'd find ourselves in a years time, Ragga wa heading off to Spain, Ester had just been admitted to University in Denmark and I was off to Britain to study. Yet, a year later there we were drinking japanese beer on ttatami mats in Tokyo.... goes to show you never can tell ;-)
Well, now it's back to work, one Masters thesis to be handed in next month and only two and a half week until the kids return from their dads. i'll be posting some more pictures soon, once I manage to wade hrough the masses I took ;-P But first, *blush* there is the small matter of ne Harry Potter..... I promice as soon as I finish that I'll get to work ;-P