Well, what a week I had. I spent most of the week getting ready for a Japanese Speech Contest. I placed exactly in the middle...number 7 out of 13 so i can not complain. It was a great experience and that was why I was doing it. I met a lot of other people there and it was wonderful. Giving my speech in Japanese was very tough...especially since I have a small fear of speaking in front of big crowds. I did do some shaking, but overall, did alright. I won 10,000 yen which equals about $100, so that was an unexpected bonus...I would have tried much harder if I had known money was at stake. But I did it only for the experience and had fun doing it. Some of my students even came and watched me!

Other than that...it's been a nice slow week. I started my holiday shopping. Still have a couple more gifts to buy, but I think everyone should like there gifts. Well, I need to catch some ZZZs, have a great day!