How can I explain to my penpal....

That it's going to be difficult to talk to her over msn? I live in New Zealand, which is actually only 3hrs ahead of Japan, but last time she emailed me, I received it at 4am local time. Obviously I'm not going to be awake at 4am as I have school the next day. And assumably if my homestay experience is anything to go by Japanese students are constantly busy and late nights are common. So I don't think she'll be able to speak to me on msn very often.

So could someone with obvious proficiency in Japanese tell me how I would explain this to her. I have been learning Japanese for nearly three years now, and I can have decent conversations with Japanese people, but this is beyond my knowledge.

If you want to say something like:
It's going to be difficult to talk to you over msn. This is because we are ahead of you by three hours' time, and by your late night, I will already be asleep. I tend not to stay up very late at night.

Then it would be:
MSN de yoru hanasu no wa chotto muri ka to omoimasu. Jisa ga san-jikan de, Nihon no yoru osoku, kimi ga MSN wo miru jikan ga aru toki ni wa, watashi wa mou nete imasu. Amari yoru osoku made okite inai node.
(It's going to be a bit impossible to talk on MSN at night. The time difference is three hours, and by late night in Japan, when you have time to see MSN, I'm already asleep. Generally I don't stay up too late at night.)

ほんとにありがとうございました。

Well, not a translation but just a suggestion. If you yourself wanted to speak with her but you're just afraid of the time difference, can't you still somehow find a time appropriate for both of you? I'm often talking with my friend despite 7-hour (even 8-hour during the summer time!) time difference and although we obviously can't chat everyday, we still manage to speak at least once, twice or even 3 times a week sometimes. And moreover, she works very late hours almost everyday.

So I guess if you want to speak with her, it's not that impossible to find at least some free time during the week. It's a different story if you just don't want to speak with her at all, of course. ;)

I am a New Zealander living in Japan and there are plenty of times I can phone/ online chat with my family and friends back home- weekends in particular-just make sure she is aware of the time time difference. Also let her know that it is 4 hours during the NZ summer.

I'm pretty sure she doesn't expect you to be awake at 4am, most Japanese people aren't either, so let her know that was what time it was when you got her message- I'm sure she'll understand. I don't think this is a reason to never chat online with her- unless you don't particularly want to and are trying not to hurt her feelings?

My parents used to forget sometimes and send emails to my cellphone at about 8am NZ time- that was 5am here though. I just reminded them what the time difference was!

do you go to High School?

No, I don't. What does that have to do with her realising what the time difference is? Basically, anyone who knows that it is 4am where you are wouldn't message you at that time, would they? Does it make a difference if it's a high school student? Is it common for people your age to message each other at 4am?