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This is a whiny post. Apologies. I was expecting a call yesterday that was telling me I was accepted for a new job. I applied for teaching school children in early evening at an English schoolbut it never came. They told me cunningly enough that if they didn`t phone I didn`t get the job. I didn`t get the job.

It hammers home how fragile my position here in Japan is. My visa is valid only for a year up to this June and if I can`t get a job and then get them to sponsor my visa, I will have to go back to England (or get married.) Has anyone reading done this? I really love living in Japan.

I am sure I only got the job I`m in now (and ends in March) as I was the only one who applied. I did okay in my interview until they asked me on the spot to produce a lesson plan for Animals. I fumbled and scrambled around and feared the worst. Of course I didn`t realise how desperate they were. Never overestimate the employer`s position.

In the meantime I am drinking lots of excellent Japanese beer (Magnum Super Dry (cheaper than Asahi), surfing blogs and learning Japanese a distant third. I can now write about 80 per cent of the hiragana characters with RA RI RU RE and RO learnt today and I impressed Reiko by writing her name out in Hiragana. Suave. I however know little vocabulary save for vocab related to food which (thanks to the Japanese obsession with eating) I understand in abundance. I`m not sure if they have New Year`s Resolutions in Japan but I have two. Get another job and spend more time learning Japanese.