The weird and wonderful...

This morning I had one of those weird moments that I think most people get when they are living in a foreign country such as Japan. It was the 'what the hell am I doing here?' feeling. It's not a particularly bad feeling, in fact most of the time I quite like it. It makes me feel once again what an adventure it is to be living out here in a part of Japan that people don't usually see in favour of the bigger cities.

When I first arrived this feeling occured pretty much everyday, at least a couple of times. Soon, the intervals began to get longer and now I only get this sort of feeling once a month if that. But, I still get it and it is still intense.

Yesterday for example, the only western person that I saw all day was the one staring back at me in the mirror. The only language I heard was Japanese or Japanese English.

My visits to elementary schools are always met with gasps as if it is the first time I have visited there; kids are always asking me to sign autographs and shake their hand. Recently there has been an outbreak of 'touch the foreigner'. At least four times this week I have had my arms touched or properly grabbed onto.

Most of the time I don't really think about it - I have become accustomed to it. But every now and then the odd burst of 'what the hell am I doing here?' comes out to keep me on my toes!

All around thw world

Quite interesting thing this. This is all the countries that I have been to (can't wait until I go to Russia and China!):

Here's the website:

http://douweosinga.com/projects/visitedcountries

Word up foolz!

Back in Nagoya this weekend. HEEE heee!

Another long weekend in Japan, another interesting adventure. This time going to see DJ Shadow playing a 'Deep Funk' set (as opposed to a 'Shallow Funk' set, Hee hee. Yes I am funny). The gig(???) was in a little tiny club called Club JB's down in Nagoya's funky area of Sakae. Highly recommended.

As you can see from the photos got quite tanked, danced a lot and had a good time. Which was good - a real difference from last time I was in a Japanese club in Roppongi (Tokyo). They played nothing but hard house all night. Frankly, this is not music, just a thumping bass and not much else. If there is any one reading this who is a fan of this sort of music, please can they explain to me what's so good about it?

But this club night was great. It was crowded for most of the night, but it was great to see DJ Shadow playing in such a small venue. What a treat!

From wretched to refinement in one weekend...

There are two great things about Japan:

1. There are so many National Holidays. I have no idea what this week's one was commemorating, but I do know is that they are not to be wasted.

2. Outside of holiday season, no one goes on holiday! Not even for a little camping trip.

Wretched...

With these points in mind, a camping trip during a three-day weekend, and after the end of the holiday season, ensures success! So we headed up Saturday morning to a nice little campsite (completely empty) deep in the Japan Alps, and possible bear territory; and then headed back dirty and smelly on Monday.

The points inbetween? Not really much to tell. There is of course drinking, sleeping, eating, cooking, talking and some hiking. The hiking was the hardest bit - mostly up hill and unfortunately no specific end point, so we ended up turning back having not reached a peak of any kind. A bit disappointing, but the exercise was appreciated.

...refinement

So returning from the mountain tired and smelly, we headed to a nice little onsen past Unazuki Onsen town, with a lovely view looking down the gorge. This was pretty important, since a few hours later John, Kirsten and I would find ourselves kneeling at a tea ceremony, fully suited and booted and a world away from the stinking campfire.

Last night...

Last night a strange thing happened. I had just had a shower and was in my dressing gown (picture if you will: smoking jacket, slicked back hair, dry sherry, cigarette in long cigarette holder) and was about to sit down and watch another episode of 24 (what a great show). My doorbell rang. It was a neighbour of mine, who lived across the road.

He was clutching a sixpack of beer and some bar snacks. He asked me if I was busy.

I had absolutely no idea what in the world to say. What exactly was going on here? I took the beers and the bar snacks which he offered me giving me some more time before presenting an answer. After a few seconds of giving off a vacant/bemused stare, I told him that I wasn't busy.

So he came into my apartment, plonked himself down in front of my television, told me to crack open the beers, and then began asking the usual questions like 'Where do you come from'.

What made the whole situation particularly strange was that I really didn't know this guy from a bar of soap. I had seen him a couple of time (a couple of times!!!) in the past year, but we had never got passed saying 'Konnichiwa' or a polite nod when passing in the street.

We talked for a few hours and got merry with me still in my dressing gown throwing back the beers. However, our conversation consistently return to the subject of dogs. He was very proud to tell me that he had a prize British Bulldog, costing in excess of 1000,000 yen (it may even have been ju-hyaku man but really can't remember). I suppose through his dog, me and my neighbour had something in common - the dog and I were both British.

Since being in Japan this is never happened before.

So I am wondering - is this an aspect of Japanese custom I have never encountered before, or just a very friendly neighbour?!

Koizumi's election

Yesterday was the Japanese elections and according to early indications it looks pretty certain that Koizumi has won a second term.

Now, I don't know very much about Japanese politics, but I do know that this is a pretty important election. It seems that it is not just to do with post office reform which Koizumi is pushing for. It is more fundamental than that - seemingly a big step towards more radical reforms.

I don't really know what these reforms are, other than the postal one. But having spoken to a few people about it, it seems that Japan could go in two directions: The Liberal Democratic Party with its promises of sweeping reforms; or the more conservative Democratic Party of Japan.

This election, therefore, is a rather large gamble.

It serves as a referendum on the postal reform (and therefore also future reforms), and is also a chance to weed out the rebels in his party by putting celebrities and political novices up against elder members of the LDP in some areas. These include a former Miss Tokyo University, a one-time news anchorman and an internet entrepreneur. This will make it easier for him to push through reforms, which before had been rejected by the rebels.

So it appears that his gamble has paid off, with a landside victory and a record turnout to the polls. It will be interesting to see how (if at all) this will change Japan in the long-run, now that Koizumi has the support of the people and the party.

Sports day

Well sports day has now come and gone. It seems that my school's sports day is earlier then every other school because the following weekend there is the ALL JAPAN BEACH VOLLEY CHAMPIONSHIP!!! This is because Asahi is famous for the fact that it actually invented this game - beach volley (not beach volleyball - it basically involves hitting a beachball over the net in much the same way as ordinary volleyball). So if anyone want to see some of the stars of this sport come to Asahi next weekend and you be sure to see some of the big names of beach volley!?

Anyway, sports day went very well. Lots of processing, screaming and shouting, along with the mix of crazy games. Very enjoyable.

Apart that is from the teachers' race which was a bit of an embarressment for me. As I was sprinting along the track up against some of the students, I lost my footing and fell. I fell onto my front onto a gravel pitch and ended up getting a little mangled.

To be quite blunt there's a patch on my stomach which looks like yakiniku. The gravel on the skin is like sand paper so without being too graphic, it reminded me of some pizza after a quick sanding down. Hee hee. It hurt, but to honest with you I think my pride was more damaged than anything else.

Sports day is coming!

It`s a Saturday morning and I`m sitting here at work! Tomorrow (weather permitting) is sports day, one of the strangest days in the Japanese school year and one which gives a very good indication of Japanese life in all its glory.

The whole thing is organised and rehearsed within inches of its life. All summer the brass band have been practicing such marching greats as `Copa Cobana` and the olde English hymn `Thine be the glory` (one that brings flashbacks to my days at the school church services trying to keep my eyes open).

Even the games themselves are rehearsed and what games they are! We are not talking about the 100m or the long jump, but the human bicycle (students scrabble round a course rolling a bicycle wheel), the tug-o-war and the wheelbarrow-with-footballs-in-it obstacle course (speaks for itself).

But the most impressive thing about the event is that it is pretty much entirely organised by the students. Myself and most of the other teachers find ourselves observing from the side-line watching the events unfold - it is only me who is slightly bemused by the whole event.

For me disorganisation was almost an integral part of my school`s sports day. Nothing was rehearsed very much and at times it really showed. There were teachers` races, parents` races, younger brother races (which I won once I am proud to say!) and so on.

It feels like the only similarity between a typical English sports day and the Japanese sports day is the comedic element. The big difference is how they manifest themselves. For the English sports day this was achieved through its disorganisation, and for the Japanese one this is achieved through the silly nature of the events.