So, I took a moment just now. After the shock - no matter how many times I do it or prepare myself for it, the cold toilet seat against my bum never fails to give me a little jolt - of a cold toilet, I walked slowly back to the staff room.

No lessons today - and tomorrow. The school year is winding down. The first- year classes are done for the week; the second-years are on an internship programme, and the third-years are having tests.

It's a beautiful day. After days of dreary, gloomy weather, today is a day of clear blue skies. I thought to myself, "It's a warm day - I didn't even need to wear a scarf today." Then I realised it was 4 degree weather and that my perception of heat and cold has been forever altered.

I stop just outside the door to the staff room. The vivid blue of the skies has drawn my eye, the backdrop against which the kanji boards of my school's name sit plain and clear.

Inside the staff room, teachers talk and discuss matters. I catch snippets of what they say; the rest, due to my ineptitude at learning Japanese, are just comforting noises to my ears. Unlike many of my friends, I actually enjoy not understanding every thing that is being said around me.

This school has been so good to me.