So I've had my minidisc player for a year and a half (the longest a walkman has ever lasted me) and finally the remote control piece is wearing out. Having tried to buy one three weeks ago in a store here (Japan is the home of the Minidisc) and failing only because the store assistant was kind enough to phone Sony Japan to check the compatability (without my asking him to do so), I decided to turn to the internet. Sony-Europe is crap and has none for sale, so I phone the UK number given on screen. Hmm, the man I'm talking to has an interesting accent... So, in an attempt to get things moving, I tell him I'm phoning from Japan. At which point he laughs. And says, "ha ha, you're phoning from Japan, to a London number which is redirected to Brussels." Very international. And then they didn't have what I wanted. So I turned to the internet and bought the required item from someone in America.
Now I'm tired after this exhausting round of internationalisation, so I'm off to pack for my trip away! Yay, 7 days off work! I shall attempt to update via email- destiny's foresees a mysterious blog-wiping email incident...
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Sand in your crack
It's Tuesday afternoon, we've all eaten a nice fish lunch and with the sand from the playground flying in the air, all the kids are going home. But I'm not. I have work to do (allegedly). So I'm busy doing research on the internet (ie updating my blog). Yippee for even more downtime...
Actually the downtime hasn't been so bad lately. Last Friday I was back at elementary school and am here through till the start of the Golden Week holiday. (If it rains in Golden Week, does that make it a golden shower?) Saying that, the weekend was almost an orgy of downtime. (If it was an orgy of anything else I'd have phoned you all personally to share the good news.) Weeknights are very full here- dancing, Japanese lessons, and Friday saw the weekend start with a karaoke session. Karaoke machines tell you have many calories your singing has burnt off (although they don't take into account your dancing). On Friday I set a new record of 10.7 calories thanks to Debbie Gibson's Electric youth.
On Thursday night I had gone a bit daredevil/ stupid and spent over an hour cycling round the barely lit streets in search of evidence of life in the mountains (other than a few drunken pensioners there was none). So on Saturday I decided to repeat my efforts. But in the daylight. I cycled to Ochiai (two towns away) and back and then towards Yubara (17kms up north). I didn't cycle all the way to Yubara though. The "rocks slipping" sign set off warnings that the threat of wild boars, snakes and falling off the curb in the dark couldn't activate on Thursday night. I'll save that for another time. The night was spent watching videos (I have an urge to say movies- too much American company is affecting me) and preparing for more cycling on Sunday.
On Sunday I did more exploring, and headed back to Katsuyama castle. Having explored for the whole 5 minutes it took I have concluded that LeeJay's house is actually older than this castle and retains more original features (that's not a boast either). So I wandered round the forest paths only to find they were leading me to a) electric pylons (onwards ho? Onwards no), b) fallen trees and potential landslide sites, and c) a nice little river with an interesting bridge and rocks to sunbathe on. So I rolled up the legs of my shorts and sleeves of my t-shirt and lay there. For 10 minutes. Until I got bored and started cycling again. And after further investigation I found the REAL Katsuyama castle- or what's left of it. An archeological dig site shows the remains of Takata castle near the town office of Katsuyama. Not very exciting as all the signs are in Japanese. But nice to see.
The weekend ended with me cooking Aloo Gobi Saag for me and LeeJay and us watching "Romi and Michelle's High School Reunion" (possibly the best film ever). I was obviously so excited I couldn't get to sleep, so at 3am took a sleeping pill (only an anti-histamine, nothing that would actually DO anything). And I woke up at 9:15 on Monday morning. @!?# #$*?!"! I've got a lesson in 30 minutes and I haven't had a shower.
No-one noticed at school, and the day progressed as usual with me being asked at lunchtime if meat was ok and did I have a girlfriend. Wrong and so so so wrong...
Monday night's dance class was abandoned in favour of Baskin and Robbins and a trip to- guess where?- KARAOKE! Except the nice one in Ochiai was shut, so we had to make do with the ramshackle effort in my town where AbSlance went on to stub her toe approcimately 53 times.
And so to today which has so far consisted of 2 lessons, a fire drill and lunchtime. Where I was asked again about girlfriends. It must be getting boring now, because even the office clerk said, "everyone keeps asking him that".
Actually the downtime hasn't been so bad lately. Last Friday I was back at elementary school and am here through till the start of the Golden Week holiday. (If it rains in Golden Week, does that make it a golden shower?) Saying that, the weekend was almost an orgy of downtime. (If it was an orgy of anything else I'd have phoned you all personally to share the good news.) Weeknights are very full here- dancing, Japanese lessons, and Friday saw the weekend start with a karaoke session. Karaoke machines tell you have many calories your singing has burnt off (although they don't take into account your dancing). On Friday I set a new record of 10.7 calories thanks to Debbie Gibson's Electric youth.
On Thursday night I had gone a bit daredevil/ stupid and spent over an hour cycling round the barely lit streets in search of evidence of life in the mountains (other than a few drunken pensioners there was none). So on Saturday I decided to repeat my efforts. But in the daylight. I cycled to Ochiai (two towns away) and back and then towards Yubara (17kms up north). I didn't cycle all the way to Yubara though. The "rocks slipping" sign set off warnings that the threat of wild boars, snakes and falling off the curb in the dark couldn't activate on Thursday night. I'll save that for another time. The night was spent watching videos (I have an urge to say movies- too much American company is affecting me) and preparing for more cycling on Sunday.
On Sunday I did more exploring, and headed back to Katsuyama castle. Having explored for the whole 5 minutes it took I have concluded that LeeJay's house is actually older than this castle and retains more original features (that's not a boast either). So I wandered round the forest paths only to find they were leading me to a) electric pylons (onwards ho? Onwards no), b) fallen trees and potential landslide sites, and c) a nice little river with an interesting bridge and rocks to sunbathe on. So I rolled up the legs of my shorts and sleeves of my t-shirt and lay there. For 10 minutes. Until I got bored and started cycling again. And after further investigation I found the REAL Katsuyama castle- or what's left of it. An archeological dig site shows the remains of Takata castle near the town office of Katsuyama. Not very exciting as all the signs are in Japanese. But nice to see.
The weekend ended with me cooking Aloo Gobi Saag for me and LeeJay and us watching "Romi and Michelle's High School Reunion" (possibly the best film ever). I was obviously so excited I couldn't get to sleep, so at 3am took a sleeping pill (only an anti-histamine, nothing that would actually DO anything). And I woke up at 9:15 on Monday morning. @!?# #$*?!"! I've got a lesson in 30 minutes and I haven't had a shower.
No-one noticed at school, and the day progressed as usual with me being asked at lunchtime if meat was ok and did I have a girlfriend. Wrong and so so so wrong...
Monday night's dance class was abandoned in favour of Baskin and Robbins and a trip to- guess where?- KARAOKE! Except the nice one in Ochiai was shut, so we had to make do with the ramshackle effort in my town where AbSlance went on to stub her toe approcimately 53 times.
And so to today which has so far consisted of 2 lessons, a fire drill and lunchtime. Where I was asked again about girlfriends. It must be getting boring now, because even the office clerk said, "everyone keeps asking him that".
Thursday, April 21, 2005
IMPORTANT UPDATE
The Lebanon is no longer in the Eurovision song contest having been forced to withdraw due to legislation. Under current rulings, the Lebanese broadcaster would be unable to tansmit the Israeli perfomance, and thus cannot satisfy all the requirements necessary to take part in the Eurovision.
The contest continues with a meagre (!) 39 paticipanting countries.
Although it doesn't matter, 'cause Iceland is going to win.
And yes, it is another busy day at school...
The contest continues with a meagre (!) 39 paticipanting countries.
Although it doesn't matter, 'cause Iceland is going to win.
And yes, it is another busy day at school...
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
I have the POOOOOOWWWEEEEER!
Not in a He-Man way of course, more in a Clark Kent bumbling journalist way, except without the spandex undersuit and inhuman strength. I do have x-ray eyes though. Do you see what I see? Mmm hmm?
Anyway, back to the main plot. Within the body of JETs there is an elected national council called AJET, and each prefecture has it's own offshoot, thus in my prefecture we have Okayama AJET. It is run solely by JETs, it's entirely voluntary and no-one (and I repeat no-one) is in it for the money. And this week the team that have been doing it passed it over to the new team. Which includes me! And what post do I have? I am doing the publications! Yay! Scandal, gossip and salacious lies ahoy! My predecessors did a great job, and I am hoping to continue to do so (although I will have to learn quick and fast how to use various design packages- uh-oh...).
The handover was at Hattoji international villa on top of a mountain on what surely must have been the hottest two days of the year so far, and in order to look dressed-for-success without actually wearing anything special, I had my hair straightened again. Best yet too.
We had a pretty good meeting about what's involved, what problems we might face and what we might do in the future, so I think the 8 new members feel pretty clear about it all. The benefits are that it'll give me something to focus on at school instead of reading and re-reading my emails approximately 80 times a day and tugging at my (quickly thinning) barnet, and also that I get to make things look real purdy.
On Friday I was feeling a little bit home sick, sick for the lights and sights and sounds and buzz of London, so I rented a video, "28 days later". I knew very well it was set in London. And although I worried seeing London on the telly would make me a bit nostalgic and sad, the film did in fact have the opposite effect. Largely because all of London's inhabitants were infected with a virus called rage that made them bite and kill each other. Nice. So the heroes flee up North to Manchester. Ah! My other home! Now I'll really be nostalgic and sad. Oh, hang on, Manchester's burning down. And everyone's dead or infected. Suddenly the mountains are feeling pretty comfortable. But that doesn't mean I'm cancelling my 4-day May trip home. There'll be a new baby to see, a birthday to celebrate and, most pressingly, a Eurovision song contest to watch. I can hardly wait. And you can forget about that Javine bitch winning for England, Iceland is really where it's at this year. That is, Iceland or the mountains of Japan of course.
Anyway, back to the main plot. Within the body of JETs there is an elected national council called AJET, and each prefecture has it's own offshoot, thus in my prefecture we have Okayama AJET. It is run solely by JETs, it's entirely voluntary and no-one (and I repeat no-one) is in it for the money. And this week the team that have been doing it passed it over to the new team. Which includes me! And what post do I have? I am doing the publications! Yay! Scandal, gossip and salacious lies ahoy! My predecessors did a great job, and I am hoping to continue to do so (although I will have to learn quick and fast how to use various design packages- uh-oh...).
The handover was at Hattoji international villa on top of a mountain on what surely must have been the hottest two days of the year so far, and in order to look dressed-for-success without actually wearing anything special, I had my hair straightened again. Best yet too.
We had a pretty good meeting about what's involved, what problems we might face and what we might do in the future, so I think the 8 new members feel pretty clear about it all. The benefits are that it'll give me something to focus on at school instead of reading and re-reading my emails approximately 80 times a day and tugging at my (quickly thinning) barnet, and also that I get to make things look real purdy.
On Friday I was feeling a little bit home sick, sick for the lights and sights and sounds and buzz of London, so I rented a video, "28 days later". I knew very well it was set in London. And although I worried seeing London on the telly would make me a bit nostalgic and sad, the film did in fact have the opposite effect. Largely because all of London's inhabitants were infected with a virus called rage that made them bite and kill each other. Nice. So the heroes flee up North to Manchester. Ah! My other home! Now I'll really be nostalgic and sad. Oh, hang on, Manchester's burning down. And everyone's dead or infected. Suddenly the mountains are feeling pretty comfortable. But that doesn't mean I'm cancelling my 4-day May trip home. There'll be a new baby to see, a birthday to celebrate and, most pressingly, a Eurovision song contest to watch. I can hardly wait. And you can forget about that Javine bitch winning for England, Iceland is really where it's at this year. That is, Iceland or the mountains of Japan of course.
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Well, what ELSE could I do?
I think it's just hitting me now. The trauma. The shock. I will be unable to speak by morning, and probably in a comatose state by lunchtime.
I went to the acupuncturist. This man has powers. He knew things. He said in Japanese, "you like sweet things". I said, "yes". He said "sweet things are bad for allergies and itching", and pretending he was a foriegner talking about vegetarianism, I said "but chocolate's ok?". No. NO. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
So what else could I do? I am drunk having eaten seven bars of choclit and lots of sugary sweet chu-hai. If I'm diabetic in the morning, well so what? It's like my arms have been cut off anyway (or something equally dramatic- am too drunk to think of valid examples).
Life is empty.
What shall I do?
Other than go to hanami party with LeeJay and Nao chan (as I did tonight) I have no idea...
I went to the acupuncturist. This man has powers. He knew things. He said in Japanese, "you like sweet things". I said, "yes". He said "sweet things are bad for allergies and itching", and pretending he was a foriegner talking about vegetarianism, I said "but chocolate's ok?". No. NO. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
So what else could I do? I am drunk having eaten seven bars of choclit and lots of sugary sweet chu-hai. If I'm diabetic in the morning, well so what? It's like my arms have been cut off anyway (or something equally dramatic- am too drunk to think of valid examples).
Life is empty.
What shall I do?
Other than go to hanami party with LeeJay and Nao chan (as I did tonight) I have no idea...
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Sakura, sakura
It's that time of yet again. The weather's gotten warmer, the air is getting moist and the cherry trees are in bloom. This is what Japan goes a bit bonkers for. Sakura. Cherry blossom. Across Japan people will be partying tonight as they were last night and through the weekend, eating and drinking under the cherry blossoms. Young couples enjoying the romance of the trees in bloom and the carpets of petals, salary men enjoying the excuse to socialise with colleagues and get completely plastered, and gaijin, wandering round, looking at the trees, saying "yeah, we have cherry blossom in England/ America/ Australia/ wherever". But really it is beautiful if just for sheer volume of blossom alone, and thus I made sure I was in a good state to make the most of it.
With an important work party on Friday night where we said our goodbyes to the teachers who were moving on, it was almost impossible not to drink too much, especially as it started at 6pm and finished just before midnight. But I did my best. I was drunk, but for the first time in weeks didn't have a hangover.
On Saturday I cycled to Kuse through the Kuse tunnel (the local name for the street lined both sides with cherry blossoms- like a tunnel when the trees are in full bloom) and had a good look at sakura. On to LeeJay's to meet Nao chan and the three of went to enjoy hanami (cherry blossom viewing party) in Tsuyama city. Hanamis usually involve lots of booze, but as ours was in the day and with a fair drive (1 hour each way), we went one better and had a chocolate hanami. Mmm... Well the weather outdid itself and it was in the low 70s, so I wore shorts and a t-shirt. Apparently a controversial choice as most of the people I walked past seemed to do a double take at my clothes. And why would they be looking at me with all that's around them? Kakuzan park is Tsuyama's old castle grounds. Most of the castle has gone, but the grounds are now stunning, each level holding hundreds of cherry trees, and on Saturday they were 100% in bloom. I know this because the Japanese have specific terms for how much of the cherry blossoms have opened and these were 100%. I'll put up some pictures later.
So we took lots of pics, sat down and ate chocolate, moved on to Shurakoen park and then headed back to Katsuyama where LeeJay, Christine, Jeremy and I had an evening hanami to go to . Again shocking people by only wearing a short sleeve shirt, we sat out till 10 eating and drinking and enjoying good company. The party was organised by the lady who runs our English Conversation class and her mother. They are the cool people in town, so this was a cool party. And the food was great. Lots of laughs and good conversation later and it was time to go. Mainly because we were way too plastered.
A lazy Sunday followed- a trip to Kuse to collect my bike, LeeJay came for tea and we watched films. Monday night saw me bailing out of dance class to try and sort out travel for Golden Week (I want to go to Tokyo). But to no avail as everything was shut. Bloody buggery. So I wandered round Kakuzan park in the dark (except it wasn't really dark as there were lanterns everywhere so people could have nighttime hanamis. And boy were they doing just that. The place was rammed full of partying people and drunken old men staggering up rocky castle path walkways. And it was rather pretty too.
We have one more hanami party to go and that is on Wednesday in Kuse. That is providing that they still have the lanterns by the river...
With an important work party on Friday night where we said our goodbyes to the teachers who were moving on, it was almost impossible not to drink too much, especially as it started at 6pm and finished just before midnight. But I did my best. I was drunk, but for the first time in weeks didn't have a hangover.
On Saturday I cycled to Kuse through the Kuse tunnel (the local name for the street lined both sides with cherry blossoms- like a tunnel when the trees are in full bloom) and had a good look at sakura. On to LeeJay's to meet Nao chan and the three of went to enjoy hanami (cherry blossom viewing party) in Tsuyama city. Hanamis usually involve lots of booze, but as ours was in the day and with a fair drive (1 hour each way), we went one better and had a chocolate hanami. Mmm... Well the weather outdid itself and it was in the low 70s, so I wore shorts and a t-shirt. Apparently a controversial choice as most of the people I walked past seemed to do a double take at my clothes. And why would they be looking at me with all that's around them? Kakuzan park is Tsuyama's old castle grounds. Most of the castle has gone, but the grounds are now stunning, each level holding hundreds of cherry trees, and on Saturday they were 100% in bloom. I know this because the Japanese have specific terms for how much of the cherry blossoms have opened and these were 100%. I'll put up some pictures later.
So we took lots of pics, sat down and ate chocolate, moved on to Shurakoen park and then headed back to Katsuyama where LeeJay, Christine, Jeremy and I had an evening hanami to go to . Again shocking people by only wearing a short sleeve shirt, we sat out till 10 eating and drinking and enjoying good company. The party was organised by the lady who runs our English Conversation class and her mother. They are the cool people in town, so this was a cool party. And the food was great. Lots of laughs and good conversation later and it was time to go. Mainly because we were way too plastered.
A lazy Sunday followed- a trip to Kuse to collect my bike, LeeJay came for tea and we watched films. Monday night saw me bailing out of dance class to try and sort out travel for Golden Week (I want to go to Tokyo). But to no avail as everything was shut. Bloody buggery. So I wandered round Kakuzan park in the dark (except it wasn't really dark as there were lanterns everywhere so people could have nighttime hanamis. And boy were they doing just that. The place was rammed full of partying people and drunken old men staggering up rocky castle path walkways. And it was rather pretty too.
We have one more hanami party to go and that is on Wednesday in Kuse. That is providing that they still have the lanterns by the river...
Thursday, April 07, 2005
One of those "oh" weeks...
You may have noticed the word "oh" popping up recently, and that is thanks to it's seemingly unique versatility. Useful to express surprise, shock, lots of other things I can't remember and disappointment, I have taken "oh" to heart in Japan, and use it frequently throughout the day.
This week so far has been no exception. Further to Sunday's post about not climbing the mountain, I actually made it to the top at around 5:5pm, the rain having stopped at 5. And it was a bit of an "oh!", though only a small one, because a) it was steep b) it was sodden and c) it was getting very dark very quickly and I had to get back down. Monday was sunny, so I slid into my shorts and t-shirts and went hiking after school. Back up the same mountain (shiroyama- castle mountain, although where the castle went I don't know) and then along some other paths. Various "oh"s came in the form of, "oh, the view's wonderful", "oh, the path is blocked by trees" and "oh shit I'll never get back down that slope in these crappy trainers". But I did and I wandered around mountain paths until the sun started to go down, marveling at nature's beauty and the public loos that were installed at the mountain top (with full flushing water and hand washing facilities. Amazing.)
This full stop/ brackets thing is still bothering me. Corrections please!
Tuesday was an "oh, this English conversation class is very quiet tonight", and then a happy "oh, it's finishing early". And Wednesday was a trip to the acupuncturist's for some treatment. And he didn't do an acupuncture treatment, he did something called moxibustion. This involved burning small amounts of a fungus-type thing on my skin (with a small little discy thing in between to stop serious burns). "Oh! It's bloody hot!" ran through my head on several occasions (more info on moxibustion here) But after this and an amazing massage I was almost falling asleep when LeeJay came to complete our wednesday excitement with a lauderette/ laundromat/ coin laundry (delete as applicable) trip. And with the prospect of hot water washers looming, "Oh! My clothes will be clean again. Maybe..." passed through my mind. It surely doesn't get better than this...
This week so far has been no exception. Further to Sunday's post about not climbing the mountain, I actually made it to the top at around 5:5pm, the rain having stopped at 5. And it was a bit of an "oh!", though only a small one, because a) it was steep b) it was sodden and c) it was getting very dark very quickly and I had to get back down. Monday was sunny, so I slid into my shorts and t-shirts and went hiking after school. Back up the same mountain (shiroyama- castle mountain, although where the castle went I don't know) and then along some other paths. Various "oh"s came in the form of, "oh, the view's wonderful", "oh, the path is blocked by trees" and "oh shit I'll never get back down that slope in these crappy trainers". But I did and I wandered around mountain paths until the sun started to go down, marveling at nature's beauty and the public loos that were installed at the mountain top (with full flushing water and hand washing facilities. Amazing.)
This full stop/ brackets thing is still bothering me. Corrections please!
Tuesday was an "oh, this English conversation class is very quiet tonight", and then a happy "oh, it's finishing early". And Wednesday was a trip to the acupuncturist's for some treatment. And he didn't do an acupuncture treatment, he did something called moxibustion. This involved burning small amounts of a fungus-type thing on my skin (with a small little discy thing in between to stop serious burns). "Oh! It's bloody hot!" ran through my head on several occasions (more info on moxibustion here) But after this and an amazing massage I was almost falling asleep when LeeJay came to complete our wednesday excitement with a lauderette/ laundromat/ coin laundry (delete as applicable) trip. And with the prospect of hot water washers looming, "Oh! My clothes will be clean again. Maybe..." passed through my mind. It surely doesn't get better than this...
Sunday, April 03, 2005
My what lovely weather!
It's spring at last! I think I'll don my shorts and a t-shirt and walk the mountain paths . Ah! It's nice and warm too! Oh! A splash of rain! Still, I'm about 30 minutes walk from home, it'll stop soon. Onwards! Hmm, the rain isn't stopping, but the path is lovely, lots of fruit tree blossoms, I'll carry on. Gosh darn. The rain is getting stronger. What's that noise? OH! The sky doesn't light up like that unless it's... thunder. The first bloody thunder storm of 2005.
And so goes my first sunday in Katsuyama for months. So I'm now indoors keeping dry and watching the end of Dallas: series 2. Thank the Lord for DVDs. And the internet.
Not much of note for the rest of last week- dinner at Johanna's on thursday with Nao chan, AbSlance, and the American Friend, and then karaoke crazy. Followed by mean giong stir crazy on Friday when I arrived at school late and everyone was in a meeting, and then more meetings throughout the day and I kust had to sit and do nothing. ARGH! Still, Phil's birthday dinner in town on Friday night livened things up, and seeing Chad and then Busty put the spring back in my step.
If only I'd been able to use that spring up a mountain today. Bugger.
And so goes my first sunday in Katsuyama for months. So I'm now indoors keeping dry and watching the end of Dallas: series 2. Thank the Lord for DVDs. And the internet.
Not much of note for the rest of last week- dinner at Johanna's on thursday with Nao chan, AbSlance, and the American Friend, and then karaoke crazy. Followed by mean giong stir crazy on Friday when I arrived at school late and everyone was in a meeting, and then more meetings throughout the day and I kust had to sit and do nothing. ARGH! Still, Phil's birthday dinner in town on Friday night livened things up, and seeing Chad and then Busty put the spring back in my step.
If only I'd been able to use that spring up a mountain today. Bugger.
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