げつようび は とても たのしいかった ひ です。

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Today was very, very nice.
I didn't do a lot of *work* ... but I did some of 'my' things, and I had conversations with several *really* nice people.

At lunchtime I had a "technical" rehearsal with my new band ( - note: I am only a *temporary* member of this band, and I'll be really unhappy when their usual drummer returns, and I become an *ex*-member ....).
A "technical" rehearsal is where the band concentrates on fixing the mistakes in certain parts of one or 2 songs, and the band plays those parts over-and-over again until it's *correct*. In a technical rehearsal, the band doesn't play complete songs, only parts of songs.
Unfortunately, I didn't manage to convince the band about several mistakes that they have been making (compared to the original versions of the songs), but I will bring a tape with me on Thursday to *prove* to them that they are wrong (and that I am right) ! ....

I helped one of my colleagues who had to write a letter to a Client, and he had no idea about what to write, and at the end of the afternoon I had a Japanese lesson.
Today's lesson introduced a new grammatical construction, and even though it was possible for all of the students in the class [ - including me !] to understand the construction, I think that it will be very hard [for me !] to *use* this construction. I hope that our teacher will be very patient with us ( - as usual).

I will write more soon about a "new project" that is starting in my life - the building of a (small) house in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
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You can click on these 2 pictures to get slightly larger pictures of the house and the surrounding land.

It is still my plan that I will continue to work at the office for at least another 4 years ... but today I felt bad because I was thinking about some of the friends in Holland that I will be "leaving behind".
For some of my colleagues, I wont miss them *at all*, ... but there are other people at the office that I will miss enormously.
- And so I will have to make sure that I enjoy their company while I still have the opportunity.

Tomorow is yet another strike day at the office - our top management wants to cut our pensions by 20 (?) per cent, and even though we might not be able to change their minds about the decision ... at least they will know that we are angry about the situation.
I'm hoping that tomorrow will be dry, so that I can use my "day-off" to repair a mosquito-net on the outside of the window of my bathroom.
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