Building our castle: A lot can happen in a month
A lot can happen in a month. The weather has changed from oppressively hot to very cool mornings and evenings. The leaves have already begun their autumnal transition and people are already starting to talk about Halloween and Christmas plans.
I have been flat out with work commitments, but also had the pleasure of seeing my kids do their best at the annual school sports festival (undoukai, うんどうかい、運動会). We also had an annual community sports festival. This is basically a sports carnival for five neighbouring suburbs that involves the young and old. This year the track events were washed out, so we held the "field" events inside the local elementary school. After getting over the feelings of "not another Sunday lost to something", you start to realize that this is such a good idea. There aren't many chances for the young to meet the old and getting to know your neighbours in your own suburb a little bit better. Additionally, it builds pride in your community.
I was fortunate to also have a presentation of mine published in a small academic journal just recently. It feels like a long time ago now (1 year) and I am pleased to say that I do not hold the same pessimism about my school's situation that I held at that time. Please have a read and you'll know what I mean.
Back to the house. This time last month, the frame was only just beginning and we were marvelling at that. Now, things have progressed very quickly.
The roof and walls are well and truly up, and the windows are fixed into position. The first layer around the exterior has begun and we learned today that there will be another layer progressively added each week for the next 5 or so weeks (dependent on weather of course). We've already had a guided tour inside the house and decided the position and number of electric sockets in the walls. We've also chosen our light designs and reviewed a few of the recent "I can't decide now" problems. Unbelievably, the completion of this mammoth project is rapidly approaching and the excitement of being in a warm/cool house is swelling.
However, there is one very unique challenge that awaits. Since we have moved from country to country, we do not have any furniture to... well, we don't have any furniture.
