Lazy Mondays and Busy Sundays

2026 has blessed us with two three day weekends in a row. It was Coming of Age day on Monday and as my wife and I have already come of age we got to spend a lazy Monday napping and playing video games.

Due to this, Monday got rescheduled to Tuesday and Tuesday was postponed till next week. I’m a little bit sad about Monday as it was the first class I ever taught at this university, my first university class *ever* in fact, and next year I’ll be teaching something different (a prep course for the advanced level classes), so I’ve got a few fun things planned for it to make the last few weeks special.

On Wednesday I taught business English and Independent Study, two classes I didn’t think I’d enjoy but have found myself loving and on Thursday I did my communication classes and the English in Music and Film class, a class I knew I’d enjoy and absolutely did.

I found myself hitting an invisible wall and unable to do anything but plan the last few weeks of my business English class. I’m glad I have productive episodes of executive dysfunction, if nothing else. At least it meant my Tuesdays no longer need me to write out lesson plans.

Sunday was the only noteworthy day, unlike the lazy Monday I spent Sunday on my feet for a long time! A friend from when I was a student came to Nagasaki to visit.

I agonised about finding something fun and exciting to do with him, but eventually I took his words of “we’ll just wing it” to heart settled on just walking around Nagasaki with him.

We walked around Sumiyoshi and then down to Togitsu. If you haven’t been to Nagasaki, this is a gentle downhill walk across the main road that connects the outskirts of Nagasaki to the city centre and it takes a little over an hour.

Yes, there are amazing hikes and strolls in Nagasaki. I am a city boy first and foremost and find city streets soothing.

It was nice, I introduced him to my wife and the three of us talked about life plans, politics, comics, films, old friends we’d lost contact with and the last we heard from them and what we loved about Nagasaki as we meandered through city streets and alleys to the Togitsu Waterfront Park.

We even went into the second-hand manga and toy shop that we frequented almost weekly as weeby students studying in Japan.

It was at the point that we reached the waterfront park thag the “wing it” philosophy failed us. We needed food. After strolling through the park and visiting the cats, we decided on ramen and went to Hiiragi ramen, famous for it’s tomato ramen (that none of us ate).

After that we got the bus back to the city centre and went for some drinks. Nothing fancy, a nomihoudai at a skewer restaurant and then some cocktails in an izakaya.

It was busy, but it was the first busy day of 2026 that hadn’t been overplanned. It had just been “winged”.

Sometimes it’s easy to overthink guests. You want to make a big impression on visitors, show them the sites and the sounds and the coolest stuff in the place you live. But friends often wanna see you more than anything else. We don’t need to put on a big show for those we care about, we don’t need to eat special dishes or visit important landmarks. We can wander through the outskirts, and catch up.

Sunday the 18th of January 2026 was the first Sunday I finished feeling exhausted but energised rather than burnt out because of it.

I’m ready to face Monsay!