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Its raining again for about the 4th day in a row.  I'm not actually complaining, M has been ill since the weekend and I've had my nurses outfit on, looking after him.  Now he's officially off for the rest of the week and we're planning to get out of town for the weekend to give him a break.  I'm also a bit done with sightseeing, having been here for 3 weeks and then 3 weeks in Argentina before that.  Yes thanks, I'm aware of how that sounds.  I just mentioned the rain so you know that its not perfect all the time! 

I did get out on my bike yesterday for a couple of hours and had a delicious latte.  It was a treat because at £5 a cup, its not an everyday purchase.  Trying desperately to avoid getting soaked, I found an amazing bookshop that specialised international design titles and I spend hours drooling.  I also found a fashion store called Grace Continental (www.grace-net.jp) that sells the hippy type clothing that I love.  Naturally, and probably thankfully, the largest size they stock is 10 so I vowed to come home and thriftily knock up some of their ideas on my sewing machine.  Sure, that will probably happen when I'm baking bread and growing my own vegetables!

Anyway, back inside, the purpose of my post today is to discuss my communication exploits. When I first got here, I struggled for a few days because I felt cut off and a bit lonely - my non G3 crackberry habit switched off and access to emails and texts denied.  But these challenges have made me look at other ways to communicate and have pushed my boundaries in terms of putting myself 'out there'.  The result, supported by the fact that I have more thinking time on my hands, is that I have happily felt more in contact with the people that I really want to be.  

This blog for one, challenged me at first, not knowing who might be reading and what they might be thinking of me or my writing.  It does feel a bit one way, but although I still wish you would sign up so I know who you are (thank you Kelly), each morning I can tell from the counter how many 'hits' I've had during the night.  Many of you have written to me via Facebook to comment.  Then of course there is FB itself.  I love the chat facility (bottom right), where you can see who is online and be able to 'chat' to those people in real time.  Whilst the UK is sleeping, I've been chatting to Nicolette and Karina, both in Melbourne, whilst trying to keep up with Billie.  Plus of course, FB offers me the opportunity to whip David and Robert Lee at scrabble (no David, I am not cheating!).  It also allows me to be aware of day to day activities of many other people, including old friends, with whom, I had previously long ago lost touch and, who now share brilliant Japanese tips.  Then there is Skype, through which I've made all my calls to the UK, and have been able to share my porridge and my daylight, with Clare in exchange for her glass of wine and snow covered street.  As well as sweating the small stuff with Jossy, now working too hard in UAE.  

I think its this small stuff that counts in a friendship and keeps it going.  When I was young(er), I used to try desperately hard to keep up with ex school friends who lived abroad, either by letter or email. I still feel very guilty about never having time to write or read the lengthy emails from one particular friend in Florida, and our friendship is no longer as a result.  I realise now that, whilst we shared what was happening in our separate lives, there was no interaction.  The reason that I am able to feel connected with my nearest and dearest in a country such as Japan is, because I am able to talk to them daily about the tiny details of both our lives in a way that I would if they were along the road.   Little 'soundbites' of information such as Leo's first snow are there for me in real time, like comments, without having to dedicate hours to friendship maintenance.

Someone once said to me, 'Why do you have to message me via facebook?  Why can't you just send me an email?' I guess someone also once said, (although not to me), 'Why can't you just write that on the cave wall' .  I think we are so lucky to live in the age that we do, and I think its very important, no matter how old we are, to keep up and to explore the technology that is available to us, integrating it into our daily lives as much as we can.  My latest discovery, although I fear that I am slightly slow on the uptake here, is 'Twittering' (www.twitter.com). Twittering, is basically the next step on from blogging, where you send out into the ether, a stream of information about anything you like, to be shared with other users.  Not only between friends, but twittering can bring you a different perspective on people you have previously only viewed from afar - Obama currently has the biggest following.  It is also an excellent, although not necessarily reliable, source of real time news - the twittering network broke the news on the Hudson river crash a long time before the traditional sources.  If you haven't already, I urge you to try it, and download a 'twitterboard' onto your desk top to make it easy to join in.  Read http://bit.ly.IVXiJ if you want to know more.