There is a lovely bright mist on the river today, although it is cool here. I've been using the kerosene heater in the mornings in my bedroom. I like to turn it on as soon as I wake up, so that when I finally get out of bed the room is toasty warm. My futon is a very thin mattress on the floor that took some getting used to, but the blankets are warm and I'm generally sleeping very well.

Yesterday, my first full day of teaching, was exhausting but good. I made posters and pulled supplements and dialogue cards and games from the files for all of the classes, and practiced with Miyumi-sensei, the head teacher. I had most of the afternoon to prepare and then dove into three straight 50-minute classes in the evening. It's like riding a rollercoaster. Once it starts you can't get off or take a break. But the classes themselves are fun, and the students are very engaging. Their vocabulary, for the most part, is really good; what we tend to concentrate on is pronunciation and grammar.

At Miyumi-sensei's suggestion, I made a poster introducing myself to the students, with my picture on it and a little map of Canada on it showing where Nova Scotia is. The students are very curious, and I am encouraged before and after all of my classes to chat with them in the lobby as part of my job. Neal described the foreign teachers as the 'mascots' of AEON; we represent the ultimate goal of fluent English that the students hope to attain.

Miyumi-sensei took me to city hall yesterday to do the paperwork so I can get my Alien Registration Card (ARC). The ARC is very important; I can't get a bank account, phone or email without it (or proof of it). As we drove over the "new" bridge (there are four bridges in total), I got my first glimpse of Lake Shinji, which is very beautiful. It made me think of Lake Memphramagog in the Eastern Townships, where we used to visit my grandparents when I was young. There is a tiny island dotted with wind-blown pines on the lake, called "Bride's Island", which has a sad legend of a spurned maiden who drowned herself on its shores hundreds of years ago. I could see what looked like weirs closer to the northern shore - the north shore is the older part of the city. On the south shore, I could see the Shimane Prefectural Museum, its curved metal roof gleaming in the sun. Miyumi-sensei also took me past the Martial Arts gym near the castle, where I will go on the weekend to see it I can find an aikido class.

I'm getting more proficient at riding a bicycle, although I don't think I'll achieve the skills of some of the cyclists I have seen, carrying their umbrellas in the rain, talking on the phone, a university student writing a paper. It's second nature to them. I'm still figuring out the fine art of cycling in a skirt, and not knocking the bike over when I dismount.