Final gratuitous shot of Nagoya - Hisaya Odori Park
Friday, May 13, 2005
Going in blind
If I still have a weblog in 20 minutes I'll be rather amazed 'cause I'm doing this at school and all the on-screen options are all in kanji. I wouldn't mind if they were colour coded, but only 1 seems to be a different colour. Guess I'll find out which one it is fairly soon...
Anyway, as you could probably tell from the end the the last "me" entry (ie, not the one about Jordan and Javine) I was a bit bored after my return from holiday. Not for long though. This week's going at breakneck speed (though the only real injury is one of my teachers with a broken arm thanks to a cycling incident- I see myself in the not too far future...).
On monday I decided to cycle to Yubara, half an hour's drive away. I'd been told it takes an hour there and forty minutes to get back. In retrospect, I suspect that to make it in this time you need a) a good bike, b) general/ good levels of fitness and c) experience. So I really stood no chance. It's about 18kms which, I thought "oh, it's only about 12 miles" (!!?!) Have I suddenly gone mad? I cycled on the main road, through roadworks stretching along the mountainside where signs warned of falling rocks. I admired the beautiful scenery. I breathed in the fresh air (and some car fumes). And finally I decided I needed a drink. So I stopped at a shop which had the kanji for Yubara on the front. And I asked the lady inside how far it was from the shop to Yubara. I expected her to say, "5 minutes away", or, "you're here" and I would smile and tell her it was my first time and we'd share a perfect moment (but not in a Martine McCutcheon fashion). "Hmm," she said, "to Yubara it's 10km". Oh. "Thank you," I said, "and goodbye". And I turned the bike round and pissed off back home. I'm not that bloody mental.
On tuesday I broke the school laminator, when a laminating sheet folded back on itself and I lost the ability to do anything but watch it melt itself into the machine. When the machine jammed, I started tugging and pulling wildly at the bit of plastic hanging out, pressing all the buttons on the machine and tugging some more, only to be met with a chorus of "Chris! Stop" from about 3 teachers, all of whom were laughing. They were still laughing two hours later after taking the thing apart, washing it with alcohol and running card through it. If it were up to me we'd have just drunk the alcohol and gone out to buy a new one. Ah well. very good of them to fix it for me.
Wednesday, thursday and today have been crazy days at school with lovely screaming 5-10 year olds, and it been more than a little tiring. Add to that preparing for saturday's party, having Japanese class, prearing to produce the next edition of Okayama's AJET magazine (basically sending out 300,000,000 emails) and planning next week's trip home, I have been slightly run off my feet. It's just like the old days. But without the (actually) mental people or whinging scroungers. Yay! And I'm getting more and more excited!
Iceland had better bloody win though.
Anyway, as you could probably tell from the end the the last "me" entry (ie, not the one about Jordan and Javine) I was a bit bored after my return from holiday. Not for long though. This week's going at breakneck speed (though the only real injury is one of my teachers with a broken arm thanks to a cycling incident- I see myself in the not too far future...).
On monday I decided to cycle to Yubara, half an hour's drive away. I'd been told it takes an hour there and forty minutes to get back. In retrospect, I suspect that to make it in this time you need a) a good bike, b) general/ good levels of fitness and c) experience. So I really stood no chance. It's about 18kms which, I thought "oh, it's only about 12 miles" (!!?!) Have I suddenly gone mad? I cycled on the main road, through roadworks stretching along the mountainside where signs warned of falling rocks. I admired the beautiful scenery. I breathed in the fresh air (and some car fumes). And finally I decided I needed a drink. So I stopped at a shop which had the kanji for Yubara on the front. And I asked the lady inside how far it was from the shop to Yubara. I expected her to say, "5 minutes away", or, "you're here" and I would smile and tell her it was my first time and we'd share a perfect moment (but not in a Martine McCutcheon fashion). "Hmm," she said, "to Yubara it's 10km". Oh. "Thank you," I said, "and goodbye". And I turned the bike round and pissed off back home. I'm not that bloody mental.
On tuesday I broke the school laminator, when a laminating sheet folded back on itself and I lost the ability to do anything but watch it melt itself into the machine. When the machine jammed, I started tugging and pulling wildly at the bit of plastic hanging out, pressing all the buttons on the machine and tugging some more, only to be met with a chorus of "Chris! Stop" from about 3 teachers, all of whom were laughing. They were still laughing two hours later after taking the thing apart, washing it with alcohol and running card through it. If it were up to me we'd have just drunk the alcohol and gone out to buy a new one. Ah well. very good of them to fix it for me.
Wednesday, thursday and today have been crazy days at school with lovely screaming 5-10 year olds, and it been more than a little tiring. Add to that preparing for saturday's party, having Japanese class, prearing to produce the next edition of Okayama's AJET magazine (basically sending out 300,000,000 emails) and planning next week's trip home, I have been slightly run off my feet. It's just like the old days. But without the (actually) mental people or whinging scroungers. Yay! And I'm getting more and more excited!
Iceland had better bloody win though.
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
"Don't even speak to us you whore!"
This is apparently what Jordan (glamour model, failed at getting onto this year's Eurovision) shouted at Javine Bitch (bitch, this year's UK Eurovision entrant, failed at getting into Girls Aloud) at the British Soap Awards 2 days ago (for non-British readers: the soap awards are for TV soap operas, not cleansing bars).
You see, I may be in Japan, but I still know what's going on and what matters in the world.
Thanks to Popjustice.com anyway...
You see, I may be in Japan, but I still know what's going on and what matters in the world.
Thanks to Popjustice.com anyway...
Monday, May 09, 2005
Does Toyota car company have a slogan?
Because they have a city.
Last Monday I headed to Toyota to meet Eugene and Yuko and relax for a few days. I had heard that Toyota wasn't actually named Toyota until the car manufacturers moved in and became the single biggest employer in the town. Thus they changed the name. It's quite leafy and looks almost like countryside, but has some good facilities which match it's population size (ie large karaoke parlours). Toyota turned out to be a nice city, although a fairly standard Japanese one.
Our relaxing started straight away, when after a quick catch up over coffee we headed to a restaurant and had a very long lunch (3 hours maybe?) sitting in the sun and chatting. I don't get to see Eugene and Yuko often. They live in Tokyo, but Yuko comes from Toyota, so this rare chance to meet was not to be missed and it was good to talk about friends from home and discuss life here. And it was also a nice time to wind down and do things I haven't done for a while like bake a cake. Kind of a sudden decision, but Eugene wanted to make something, so I showed him how to make cake and he showed me how to make pastry. We both made it look very easy, though I'm not sure I won't be having more pastry-like-rock incidents again in the future. It was a quiet night of talking and listening to music and was greatly enjoyed.
Tuesday was another hot sunny day, so we walked Yuko's dog and then when to the Toyota recreation facility with Masa, Chinaka, Hiroshi and Mina to play putting golf. I of course was rubbish, a fact Chinaka declared after I took my first shot. I didn't let her down. Sometimes (well, rarely) putting the ball on par, and sometimes taking 14 shots to do it (instead of 4), I proved myself to have the hand-eye co-ordination of a dead person. I'd say a blind person, but they can see with their ears or something, I don't understand... Afterwards we returned to the house and after dinner, we played card games. We drank, we played cheat (or "liar" as it became in Japanese), we played shithead (with aerobic demonstration as a forfeit), and then we played Indian poker (where as a forfeit the winner of the round drew on the loser's face). We all looked rather alarming by the end of it. I looked like the village idiot, Yuko looked like a man, Chinaka just looked scary and words cannot describe how Eugene looked. Moments of panic followed later that night when it initially appeared the ink would not come off. Argh!
Wednesday was exercise day as we decided to climb a mountain. Lord it was hard! Half way up, while we were puffing and panting in a rest stop, a 73 year old man came over to show us the weights he had around his ankles while he was climbing. "1 kilo" he said pointing to them. "73 years old" he said, pointing to himself. "3 kilos" said Eugene, pointing to his own stomach, #34 years old" he continued, pointing to himself. I don't think the old guy got it, and pretty soon he was shuffling back up the mountain. As were we, and we finally go to one of the peaks with a feeling that Yuko wanted to go further. No! So after eating cakes (well, cakes for me, sandwiches for everyone else) that we had purchased earlier, we headed back to the car via a path that showed us a view over Toyota city. And I met a racist dog. It was quite happy till it looked at me. I was minding my own business, looked down at it, it sized me up and then let loose. Dogs here say wan wan apparently, so it wan wan-ed like never before and got dragged away by it's owner, before returning the favour by bolting at high speed down the path dragging his owner with him.
After a gourmet meal cooked by Yuko's Mum and Dad of tempura and sashimi we headed over to Karaoke and tried our best to have some sort of competition, but the machine started to forget to score our turns. Of those with scores, I just pulled first position with 93%, Yuko was a very close second with 91%. I'll have to prepare hard for next time... And after absorbing whatever I could from the neon of the night city, it was time to go home to bed, and then on thursday back to Katsuyama. Boo!
Only slept 2 hours on Thursday night making the return to work on Friday torturous, but on Saturday LeeJay returned, so we hung out, went to dinner with Christine and Jeremy and then did karaoke again. Yay! And then on Sunday we met up with AbSlance, Phil and ChoLyn for lunch and then just blobbed at LeeJay's for the rest of the day. And here I am again at school, haphazardly preparing lessons, wondering how to teach the kids to read, and whether tube is pronounced chube, ti-ube or toob...
Last Monday I headed to Toyota to meet Eugene and Yuko and relax for a few days. I had heard that Toyota wasn't actually named Toyota until the car manufacturers moved in and became the single biggest employer in the town. Thus they changed the name. It's quite leafy and looks almost like countryside, but has some good facilities which match it's population size (ie large karaoke parlours). Toyota turned out to be a nice city, although a fairly standard Japanese one.
Our relaxing started straight away, when after a quick catch up over coffee we headed to a restaurant and had a very long lunch (3 hours maybe?) sitting in the sun and chatting. I don't get to see Eugene and Yuko often. They live in Tokyo, but Yuko comes from Toyota, so this rare chance to meet was not to be missed and it was good to talk about friends from home and discuss life here. And it was also a nice time to wind down and do things I haven't done for a while like bake a cake. Kind of a sudden decision, but Eugene wanted to make something, so I showed him how to make cake and he showed me how to make pastry. We both made it look very easy, though I'm not sure I won't be having more pastry-like-rock incidents again in the future. It was a quiet night of talking and listening to music and was greatly enjoyed.
Tuesday was another hot sunny day, so we walked Yuko's dog and then when to the Toyota recreation facility with Masa, Chinaka, Hiroshi and Mina to play putting golf. I of course was rubbish, a fact Chinaka declared after I took my first shot. I didn't let her down. Sometimes (well, rarely) putting the ball on par, and sometimes taking 14 shots to do it (instead of 4), I proved myself to have the hand-eye co-ordination of a dead person. I'd say a blind person, but they can see with their ears or something, I don't understand... Afterwards we returned to the house and after dinner, we played card games. We drank, we played cheat (or "liar" as it became in Japanese), we played shithead (with aerobic demonstration as a forfeit), and then we played Indian poker (where as a forfeit the winner of the round drew on the loser's face). We all looked rather alarming by the end of it. I looked like the village idiot, Yuko looked like a man, Chinaka just looked scary and words cannot describe how Eugene looked. Moments of panic followed later that night when it initially appeared the ink would not come off. Argh!
Wednesday was exercise day as we decided to climb a mountain. Lord it was hard! Half way up, while we were puffing and panting in a rest stop, a 73 year old man came over to show us the weights he had around his ankles while he was climbing. "1 kilo" he said pointing to them. "73 years old" he said, pointing to himself. "3 kilos" said Eugene, pointing to his own stomach, #34 years old" he continued, pointing to himself. I don't think the old guy got it, and pretty soon he was shuffling back up the mountain. As were we, and we finally go to one of the peaks with a feeling that Yuko wanted to go further. No! So after eating cakes (well, cakes for me, sandwiches for everyone else) that we had purchased earlier, we headed back to the car via a path that showed us a view over Toyota city. And I met a racist dog. It was quite happy till it looked at me. I was minding my own business, looked down at it, it sized me up and then let loose. Dogs here say wan wan apparently, so it wan wan-ed like never before and got dragged away by it's owner, before returning the favour by bolting at high speed down the path dragging his owner with him.
After a gourmet meal cooked by Yuko's Mum and Dad of tempura and sashimi we headed over to Karaoke and tried our best to have some sort of competition, but the machine started to forget to score our turns. Of those with scores, I just pulled first position with 93%, Yuko was a very close second with 91%. I'll have to prepare hard for next time... And after absorbing whatever I could from the neon of the night city, it was time to go home to bed, and then on thursday back to Katsuyama. Boo!
Only slept 2 hours on Thursday night making the return to work on Friday torturous, but on Saturday LeeJay returned, so we hung out, went to dinner with Christine and Jeremy and then did karaoke again. Yay! And then on Sunday we met up with AbSlance, Phil and ChoLyn for lunch and then just blobbed at LeeJay's for the rest of the day. And here I am again at school, haphazardly preparing lessons, wondering how to teach the kids to read, and whether tube is pronounced chube, ti-ube or toob...
Thursday, May 05, 2005
Holiday! It would be so nice...
CORRECTION: it was so nice. After a heated Thursday night "discussion" with the Board of Education which I won (over whether or not I am entitled to sick leave and whether a previous day off sick used up my day in lieu) nearly led to the cancellation of my holiday , I set off on Friday morning to Japan's fourth largest city, Nagoya. And wow, what a trip. If I was missing the city, I surely had my fill (if that's possible in four days).
Nagoya is a great city too. As you come out of the station you walk into what could be the financial district of London or New York, with tall, modern buildings and wide avenues lined with statues and works of art. And if you're like me, you walk the 25 minute walk to your hotel which happens to be in the heart of the red-light district (I'm getting concerned about how naturally drawn I seem to be to red-light districts). You then drop off your luggage and explore. So I wandered around the almost European streets in the blazing sun and explore the shops. And see exciting city-type things, like a pop singer (May Nakabayashi) launching her debut single outside Parco dept. store. And walk round the park that runs through the centre of the city (Hisaya odori park) admiring the art, the TV tower in the distance and the sunshine, and start talking to a Japanese guy who is on his lunch break and really wants to visit England. Continuing, you find a Fortnum and Masons which sells LEMON MERINGUE PIE (albeit very expensive homemade pie) and when it's dark you head to Oasis 21, the space-station like bus station. I don't know what it is about bus stations, but loads of them seem to have ground breaking designs. Well, 2 at least- this one and Stratford's. Then to the TV tower which is another Eiffel tower rip-off, but is in a much nicer location compared to Tokyo's tower (which looks like it's sitting on a warehouse). Lots and lots of photos get taken.
After changing at the hotel I head out to a Turkish restaurant for some exceltlent Turkish cuisine and then onto a hiy-uuuge nightclub where I end up dancing with a Phillipino transexual and her Peruvian "friend". Now that's something you can't do in Katsuyama. Imagine my surprise then when I get an email to say I'm an uncle at 1:20 am April 30th (Japan time). It almost makes me stop drinking. But not quite... Congratulations baby Amelia! and John and Sarah!
Saturday was a frenzy of walking and sightseeing, starting with Atsuta Jinja, a very important shrine where the legendary imperial grass-cutting sword is allegedly kept. The temple was nice and a wedding was in progress, so I loitered for a bit before moving on to a municipal park (Tsurumai park) which was half in a European style and the other half Japanese style. Complete with scary giant Japanese hornets. Understandably I ran away screaming like a 6 year old all the way down Osu-dori, (stopping only at the second hand CD stores to stock up on cheap classics- as in Lolly and Technotronic, not Beethoven) ending up at Osu-Kannon, a very old temple which is bright red and covered in pigeon poo. Nearby shops were eclectic and fun and led me to Shirakawa park with it's fountains. Avoiding the science and art museums at the park, I went instead to the Orchid park to see a huge variety of orchids, some with flowers larger then my fist. Additional excitement came from a high school Jazz band who were playing well, although their two tone-deaf-due-to nerves singers weren't doing them any favours... A walk in the sun to the station led to more shopping and a trip to the cinema (saw Hide and Seek which was entertaining if a bit crap).
Sunday continued in a similar vein- started late after a slow coffee at Starbucks (I rediscovered my love of drawing) and then in the rain I headed to Nagoya castle. Which is great. Having survived plans to demolish it in 1870, it was declared an important historical site in the 1930s and then completely destroyed in a 1945 bombing raid. The castle was reconstructed fully (the inside is an intersting museum with English info), and there are plans to restore the palace that stood outside it. The grounds also contain the Ninomaru gardens, which are rather lovely, and a tea house where I enjoyed green tea and Japanese sweets. As the rain continued, I continued walking in my shorts and t-shirt, exploring the Hisaya Odori park where I found a full Mexican section (statues, art and spanish-language plaques) and replicas of celebrities' signatures from Sunset Boulevard's paving stones. More shopping, and after a trip to the small, but exciting design museum with it's moving displays, I felt it may be time for an umbrella. That makes it six I own. Oops. Having local foods for dinner (kishimen noodles- flat like tagliatelle) I ended the night exploring the park and enjoying the night scenery. And being approached by men who looked like drug dealers. No thank you!
I left Nagoya on Monday in the sun to head to Toyota to meet Eugene and Yuko, but that's for another entry... Ignore what the travel guides say, Nagoya is well worth a visit.
Nagoya is a great city too. As you come out of the station you walk into what could be the financial district of London or New York, with tall, modern buildings and wide avenues lined with statues and works of art. And if you're like me, you walk the 25 minute walk to your hotel which happens to be in the heart of the red-light district (I'm getting concerned about how naturally drawn I seem to be to red-light districts). You then drop off your luggage and explore. So I wandered around the almost European streets in the blazing sun and explore the shops. And see exciting city-type things, like a pop singer (May Nakabayashi) launching her debut single outside Parco dept. store. And walk round the park that runs through the centre of the city (Hisaya odori park) admiring the art, the TV tower in the distance and the sunshine, and start talking to a Japanese guy who is on his lunch break and really wants to visit England. Continuing, you find a Fortnum and Masons which sells LEMON MERINGUE PIE (albeit very expensive homemade pie) and when it's dark you head to Oasis 21, the space-station like bus station. I don't know what it is about bus stations, but loads of them seem to have ground breaking designs. Well, 2 at least- this one and Stratford's. Then to the TV tower which is another Eiffel tower rip-off, but is in a much nicer location compared to Tokyo's tower (which looks like it's sitting on a warehouse). Lots and lots of photos get taken.
After changing at the hotel I head out to a Turkish restaurant for some exceltlent Turkish cuisine and then onto a hiy-uuuge nightclub where I end up dancing with a Phillipino transexual and her Peruvian "friend". Now that's something you can't do in Katsuyama. Imagine my surprise then when I get an email to say I'm an uncle at 1:20 am April 30th (Japan time). It almost makes me stop drinking. But not quite... Congratulations baby Amelia! and John and Sarah!
Saturday was a frenzy of walking and sightseeing, starting with Atsuta Jinja, a very important shrine where the legendary imperial grass-cutting sword is allegedly kept. The temple was nice and a wedding was in progress, so I loitered for a bit before moving on to a municipal park (Tsurumai park) which was half in a European style and the other half Japanese style. Complete with scary giant Japanese hornets. Understandably I ran away screaming like a 6 year old all the way down Osu-dori, (stopping only at the second hand CD stores to stock up on cheap classics- as in Lolly and Technotronic, not Beethoven) ending up at Osu-Kannon, a very old temple which is bright red and covered in pigeon poo. Nearby shops were eclectic and fun and led me to Shirakawa park with it's fountains. Avoiding the science and art museums at the park, I went instead to the Orchid park to see a huge variety of orchids, some with flowers larger then my fist. Additional excitement came from a high school Jazz band who were playing well, although their two tone-deaf-due-to nerves singers weren't doing them any favours... A walk in the sun to the station led to more shopping and a trip to the cinema (saw Hide and Seek which was entertaining if a bit crap).
Sunday continued in a similar vein- started late after a slow coffee at Starbucks (I rediscovered my love of drawing) and then in the rain I headed to Nagoya castle. Which is great. Having survived plans to demolish it in 1870, it was declared an important historical site in the 1930s and then completely destroyed in a 1945 bombing raid. The castle was reconstructed fully (the inside is an intersting museum with English info), and there are plans to restore the palace that stood outside it. The grounds also contain the Ninomaru gardens, which are rather lovely, and a tea house where I enjoyed green tea and Japanese sweets. As the rain continued, I continued walking in my shorts and t-shirt, exploring the Hisaya Odori park where I found a full Mexican section (statues, art and spanish-language plaques) and replicas of celebrities' signatures from Sunset Boulevard's paving stones. More shopping, and after a trip to the small, but exciting design museum with it's moving displays, I felt it may be time for an umbrella. That makes it six I own. Oops. Having local foods for dinner (kishimen noodles- flat like tagliatelle) I ended the night exploring the park and enjoying the night scenery. And being approached by men who looked like drug dealers. No thank you!
I left Nagoya on Monday in the sun to head to Toyota to meet Eugene and Yuko, but that's for another entry... Ignore what the travel guides say, Nagoya is well worth a visit.
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Around the world in 10 minutes.
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...
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...
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
