But what exactly does that mean, compared to 南さんがそう言ったのに驚いてしまいました。without the は? That would be the default for explaining what surprised you, I think?
For me that entirely changes the grammar to のに. So “even though she said it, I was surprised by it”, which is a completely different sentence.
Honestly, I don’t think there’s a great way to explain は, it’s the kind of thing you eventually learn like “I is” is wrong. But that said, this is the most intuitive explanation I’ve seen.
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Finally finished this weeks reading! I am really curious how her friendship with 南 will develop. Also how the author will portray the selfharm 
So far we have several characters with things that the love/make them happy, Kiryu with his drawings and 南 with the writing, but they feel unable to express that or engage with that hobby because of the acceptance of society (I felt there were hints about bullying for 南, but we will see).
I wonder if this will turn into a “don’t care about what others think/say and do your own thing to be happy” story. It is certainly something Nanoka already lives by.
Those weird comparisons have been a highlight for me 
They are so strange, but fit Nanoka so well
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I enjoyed this week’s reading as well and agree that it’s nice seeing Nanoka befriend Minami, even though I miss the other two and hope they’re doing okay! It’s also unfortunate that Ogiwara seems to fear that his relationship with Nanoka might negatively impact his standing with his friends. It’s hard to blame him for it though, given how quick kids can turn on someone, esp in a collectivist society. I’m glad that Nanoka understands why, but still 
It would be the former: the mother was checking the date on the printout against her planner/appointment book to make sure there wasn’t a conflict, and then it implies that she let Nanoka know that she could attend (which is the とても嬉しい報告).
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Yeah! I’m glad that she actually does seem to feel pretty happy despite having rather absent (if loving?) parents and not having anybody that she actually would call “friend” at school. She sure seems to have found her niche with those random friendships across generations, and she knows how to make her own fun!
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薔薇の下で
いくつかしてくれた南さんのお話の中で一番素敵だなと思ったのは、英語で「薔薇の下で」というのは「秘密」という意味だというお話です。
By the way, since I haven’t seen it mentioned anywhere here: I think this is probably refering to sub-rosa. Maybe this is common knowledge to anyone but me, but since it took me a bit to find out I thought I’d share it 
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