Rainy days

It's grey and rainy today, and will probably continue for a few days. I'm holed up with a couple bad DVDs, but I still feel restless on the weekend. I always feel like I should actively "recreate" somehow. Hmm ... maybe I should take a trip into Oita city for the day. In any case, I don't think I want to stick around the apartment all day; it's election time, and the Japanese idea of election campaigning is for each candidate to get in a car, put a big sign with their name on the side, and then top the whole thing off with a big set of loudspeakers. Then you drive around the neighbourhood repeating something like this:

"Ito Hiroshi! I am Ito Hiroshi. I am Ito Hiroshi. I've been doing my best. Let's look forward to a great future together. Please vote for me. Ito Hiroshi! I am Ito Hiroshi..."

They drive really slowly, and their loudspeakers are quite loud. Plus, there are at least 50 people campaigning for municipal office here in Beppu, so everywhere you go, there's some dolt with a loudspeaker spouting pointless noise. It grets pretty annoying.

What else is going on? Not much, to be honest. School is going well, my classes are okay, and I'm keeping busy, but not too busy. I have an iaido grading next week (for 5th dan) but I suspect I will fail it because I didn't practice much for the last two months in Tokyo, and there haven't been any practices here this past month. I've been doing a bit on my own, but I really need some pointers from the teachers who will be on the grading panel. Speaking of inactivity, I have put back on most if not all of the weight I lost last term ... argh! ... so I am feeling a bit anxious to get back into jogging or cycling or swimming or something. I don't live very close to the park anymore, so maybe I will try cycling for 30 minutes every night; it's probably much better on my knees, too.

Well, that's about all I've got. Quite an un-eventful week, really.