What's going on in the life of Suzi?

Well! I cannot begin to say how relieved I am at the moment. I finished my final exam today. The exam itself wasn't so good, but at least it's behind me! "It wasn't good?" you ask eh? Well, one word... ACCOUNTING. Argh, it bores me to tears! I know that there are people in this world that really love accounting, but I am certainly not one of them! Why would any sane person decide to debit and credit a trillion different accounts when somebody purchases a packet of fruit tingles? Well, the subject certainly led me to have an appreciation for the accounting people. The only side of accounting I ever want to see again is on my paycheck! On the other hand, I am one of those people in the world that has a passion for analysis. I had my Data Analysis for Managers exam last Tuesday, and it was the most fun exam I have ever done! I love translating statistics and predictions into plain English and vice versa. I suppose you could argue that is what accounting essentially is. But it's different. Just accept it.... Hehe.

So now I have 5 weeks and a bit until I come home, and no study! I am so happy about that! Next month I'm heading to Nagoya for a sumo tournament. I'm looking forward to seeing people who have more meat on their bones than me! Today is also a good day because I found $120 in my purse that I didn't know I had. It's because my purse is loaded with receipts. In Japan, you get a receipt for everything you buy. If I buy a lollypop, the shop assistant would not hesitate to put it in a plastic bag (and then probably a cardboard box, followed by yet another plastic bag - I never let them get past the first plastic bag stage though...), and give me a receipt! So the money was hidden between all of the receipts. Lucky me.

So now I have a load of free time on my hands, I thought I would post some random pictures of my time in Japan. They are pretty much in relation to my previous blog entries, but I thought that you might like to have some variety!

Volleyball Day at school. They were dead set serious about their volleyball!The pretty cherry blossoms at school, a couple of days before I came back to Oz

My favourite car at the Toyota museum. It looks like a shoe. It was huge.In Okinawa - the kids in Japan learn the peace sign at an early age!A big bird statue thing in Okinawa. Megan saw the bird from across the peninsula thing, so we went on a crazy bird chase up and down windy narrow roads.Cleaning time at school!
Going home time! This was in winter. These girls are not the same girls in the photo above...
Where the students take off their "outdoor" shoes and put on their "indoor" slippers. There's 1000 pigeon holes!
The view from Gifu Castle
Gifu Castle
A dude with a transmittor radio at Gifu Castle. It was fun to watch him, he looked so serious.
In Kyoto, I watched funny Japanese TV. It was like Australian Idol or something, but the Japanese guys dress up as Elvis or Michael Jackson. They sing funny.

A graveyard in KyotoOne of my favourite stores... the 100 yen store! It's huge.
Doing my first calligraphy with a first year student (she's second year now). I'm painting the character for strong. Because I am...
Land of the Rising Sun? This sun is sinking....
Ogaki Train Station
"Purifying" myself at Ise Shrine with the St. George's exchange group from England.