A monthly summary

July has been knackering...It was super busy at the beginning submitting abstracts for meetings and sorting out accommodation for another meeting in September. Then I was put on registration desk duty at an international meeting our department held. Mostly for english language support- though I found myself speaking alot of Japanese. I couldn't stop bowing to everyone, including all the Aussies who were there (score one for loopy foreign behavoir- I think I need to escape Japan for a bit). It was punishingly hard days though- smart and heels for 4 days and smiling and helpful from 8am till 10pm at night. I was a little miffed at being called "secretary" by the department head when he introduced me to the delegates- though I suppose thats what I was actually mostly doing at the conference.
Thank god the following weekend was umi-no-hi holiday weekend. I was incredibly lazy for the whole weekend and it was great, shame that the weather was wet and cold. Though I ended up with a sore throat and fever off that weekend. My hypochondriac brain went into overdrive as I though maybe it was the dreaded H1N1... however a day off work sorted that out. Last weekend I went on a full on Japanese tour up to Rishiri and Rebun island (off the north of Hokkaido), which I will post about at some point.
This week has been a bust on productive work though as I"m fighting off a cold I got when I was up there and I just can't seem to find motivation at the moment. Probably its this god awful weather we've had this month. Not as bad as the south of Japan admittly but still, grey and cool and rain almost everyday- so very different from the last 2 summers I"ve been here.


Okay lets be positive to finish
1. I'm leveling up in my tennis this weekend!- I will no longer be lowest of the low (newmon), but will be at the beginner stage which means an extra 30mins to the lessons (up to 1 and half hours now).
2. I think in the next week I will be able to eat my first ever homegrown (by me) tomatoes last weeks first fruits

3. Finally booked my flights for the meeting in September in Budapest, managing to squeeze an extra days holiday out of it too.