Spring has sprung

For some, now is the best time of the year in Japan: the sakura is out (that's cherry blossoms), a time of year where the Japanese celebrate hanami. The kanji literally means 'flower look/see'; not just a time for cherry blossom viewing, but basically where business colleagues, friends and family have a party and get drunk under the cherry trees.
Anyway, I've just been out for a walk near my apartment & met my new Japanese tutor, Chiaki, for the first time. We'll try and meet up about once a fortnight, to help me with the old Nihongo study, and for her to practise English. It's incredible. The people I meet and stuff I do always seems to just get better. Talk about exceeding expectations. My last tutor Yukiko was amazing, so kind and generous. But this one is good in her own way (well, it may be early to tell, but we got off to a good start I think). She's a trained Japanese teacher (like the Japanese version of TEFL), but hasn't used it for work. Guess where she trained though? London. Guess where? Eltham -lived there for the first 3 months anyway. Incredible- such a small world! Despite travelling the length and breadth of the British Isles, she didn't remember heading down to BR7 from SE9 though. Still funny to think tho.
Better dash - friend's b'day party to get ready for...