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I thought it would be interesting to do a day in the life before the baby comes and shatters my peaceful existence. I`ll do another comparative one in a couple of months.

Wednesday May 31st

I wake up at 7:30 and make myself some muesli with milk and sliced bananas on top. I`m out of the door by 7:50 and cycle to the train station. I have a month pass for the bicycle park there guarded by a troop of senior citizens.

The train leaves at 8:15 and as my station is the start of the line, I`m guaranteed a seat. It takes me about 30 minutes to my first transfer station then I take another train for around 15 minutes and change again for another 15 minute journey.

I teach at a kindergarten today and arrive about 9:30 and prepare the materials for the five consecutive 20 minute lessons. The rooms are often heated even though it`s 27 degrees outside so I wear an England football shirt and tracksuit bottoms to cope.

By 11:40 the lessons have finished, I`m exhausted and I`m free to go. I catch a train to the nearest large station (Kyobashi) where there are lots of things I can while away a couple of hours doing. I treat myself to a Wendy`s burger and relax in a Starbucks reading, writing or studying. God Bless America. I may also take a look at the MUJI shop.

At 3:00 I change into more formal clothes and take a short subway train to the evening school. I get there at 3:30 and prepare the lessons` materials. Today I have a Beginner class of six four to seven year olds, an Advanced class of seven eight to twelve year olds and an Intermediate class of five eight to eleven year olds. All classes last 50 minutes.

By 7:00 the classes have finished and I take the subway again on a 45 minute journey and change to an overground train for the final 20 minute leg. I get to the station about 8:20 and am home around 8:30.

Reiko prepares dinner for me whilst I shower. I eat the dinner and talk to Reiko. When I`ve finished I surf the internet, catch up on blogs I read and blog.

I finish around 10:30 and go upstairs to bed where I`ll watch some Western TV or read. I usually get to sleep around 11:00.

Looking at this I actually only work for about 4 and a half hours a day but leave home early and arrive back late. This may be agonizing when the baby is out if I never see it. I also spend about two to three hours a day on a train.

I may not agree with his comments on the alphabet, but Jak sure knows how to find good videos. This is a Japanese advert for Mario brand Furikake the topping put on rice. Surreal.

When I first came to Japan and started teaching English I was adamant that I would teach the Queen`s English. This is strange as I feel no special allegiance to the old lady but felt I needed to promote her language.

This was because I felt a certain pride about the language born in my own country was spoken the world over. Of course the reason it`s so widely spoken is because of America.

Now of course I don`t care any more. 30 four year olds tell me the last letter of the alphabet is zee? Fine. Zebra magically gains an extra e when spoken? Yes it does. I help perpetuate this myth indeed. No in all seriousness I don`t care anymore. If you`d have told me that when I first came here I wouldn`t have believed it.

This is the ultrasound done last week. She was 33 weeks and 3 days old. At the start it`s focused on the head . You can see her lips move and her limbs and fingers.

Around the one minute mark it goes into a 3D rendition. It`s from this that Reiko reckons it looks like me. It has a long nose and big eyes. The big circle is the eye.

Reiko`s getting REALLY big now. I tell her I`m glad she`s big (and I am) because it means there`s a healthy baby inside her. It looks very strange. There`s a normal size Reiko and then suddenly a big beach ball inserted underneath her skin.

There`s around 6 weeks left until the due date and I can`t wait to meet her.

I feel sorry for the doctor. The first minutes are the important part as he measures bone length and head size to see if the baby is progressing healthily and to estimate the weight. The rest of the time is spent trying to produce a clear picture of a squirming foetus to please the parents.

One of my friends` sisters was pregnant and he told me it looked so strange it was as if she could detach it and leave it in a cupboard when it got too much to handle. If only that were so easy.

Here`s a young lady in a kimono on the train I took with my mobile phone. This was taken around the time of the graduation ceremonies for universities and schools in March and I think this is where she had come from.

The summer months see many outdoor festivals and firework displays so there will be plenty more of these to see in the coming months with people decked out in their yukata. I can`t wait.

I`ve been really impressed with a podcast called JapanesePod101 which teaches you Japanese.

They have one new lesson each day with a conversation played once at normal speed, then slowed down, then with a translation alongside it and finally an explanation of vocab and any interesting grammar points.

The levels range from Beginner to Intermediate and they have a new section about the Japanese Language Proficiency Test you can take when you`re in Japan.

If you`re learning Japanese or you want to start I can`t recommend this podcast enough. I have a goal of taking the JLPT Level Three test this December and I know this will be a very useful tool in my arsenal.

I`ve written before about how atrocious Japanese TV can be but this clip from Gaki no Tsukai of tarento messing around in a “library” is hilarious.

Found via metafilter

The always excellent TV in Japan has more from this as well.

Here`s a sign I spotted about Osaka. Anyone know what it means?

I wrote before about saving money with the baby by surviving on baby milk and towels. I recently come up with a further brainwave.

I`ll save money on expensive baby toys by buying dog toys that go squeak.

Reiko vetoed this the first time I proposed this screaming something about, “Not near my child…” and “What kind of madness is this?” but we`ll see what the baby thinks about it.

I`m a big believer in the “cardboard box more interesting than the toy” idea especially at a younger age.

The humble ball is the perfect example of this. There are thousands of games based around it. A beaten-up sponge ball keeps four twenty-something English teachers engrossed in an epic battle in an empty classroom during the lunch break.

And so in this frame of mind (insane) I will entertain her with dog toys. Just have to make sure she doesn`t bury them in the garden.

I was writing a half interesting post when the Internet Gods frowned on me and spirited it away somewhere. In its place, please find this picture of a house in Kyobashi, Osaka.