Back in Blighty

Wow!

2009-10-21T23:30:00.002+09:00

It's been such a long time since I've posted anything to this blog. Just been looking back on here and reminising about the Japan times and after. What a crazy time!

Also it's been interesting looking at everyone else's blogs. I remember part of my daily ritual in Japan was sitting down in the teacher's room and clicking on everyone else's blogs who were out in Toyama. It was a great way to hear what people had been up to, find out what experiences they were having that week that were maybe similar, or extremely different to what I'd been up to! But no one seems to be blogging anymore! Everyone used to write pages and pages of the stuff. I lapped it up!

Shame in a way. Blogs are good because you actually write down thoughts and think about them before you stick them down. Facebook and Twitter and all the other social networking sites seem so lazy. You write something that you are feeling that second, send it out into cyberspace and then move on. We've all got the attention span of a gnat!

So am I going to keep this blog going? I don't know. I don't know who reads it. But does it really matter who reads it? Probably not.

Axon...

2007-01-19T22:21:00.000+09:00

I've started my new job this week at a Heathcare Communications Company called Axon. It's situated in Richmond, which is a seriously nice part of London. Lots of cobbled streets and old shops. It's also seriously expensive, so can't see myself living around here.

Staying with a family friend just down the road in a place called Kingston. Nice place, but not as nice as Richmond.

The next thing to do is just settle in here, and find myself a permanent place to live. It could well be in Putney...which is nice.

So that's my news.

Jobs etc...

2006-12-14T19:48:00.000+09:00

Well, Christmas is hurtling towards us at rapid speed. It’s amazing how quickly the time has flown by.

I’ve been to a number of interviews up in London. I have basically decided that the job at the Western Gazette is not for me. It came down to two things:

1. Living out in the countryside is not for me at the moment - for obvious reasons. Not enough to do.
2. Money - I hate to say it, but getting paid £13,000 a year is nothing.

It’s a shame really because it’s a good job. I just got my second front page this week.

But I suppose you have to weigh up all the options.

The interviews I went for were for Public Relations companies based up in London. One was for a technology company and two were for Healthcare Companies. I’ve got another two interviews tomorrow.

Another weird thing - I seem to meet people who have been to Japan everywhere! At the newspaper, there’s one other girl here who lived in Gifu for two years. At another job interview I went to last week I meet someone who lived in Japan for two years through JET.

It’s quite cool though. It’s like an immediate bond that you have with that person. It may even help me to get the job!

But overall, things are going quite well now. Sorry about the rather downbeat last blog entry.

It's been a while

2006-11-22T18:50:00.000+09:00

Well it’s been a while since I have written anything in this blog. This has been for a number of reasons, but the main one has been because I haven’t had the time or the motivation.

It’s been a pretty crazy few months back in England, and a hell of a lot has happened which I’d rather not go into. But it’s been pretty hard. It could be a stark warning for all you guys still back in Japan who are contemplating staying or going.

It’s been bloody hard. Certainly harder than I thought.

The first month was pretty great. It was good to be back in England, hanging out with old friends and eating good ole Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.

By September the alarm bells started to ring. I had to find a job and basically I wasn’t particularly qualified to do anything. It seems that two years in Japan is a great experience, but it won’t help you that much in this competitive job market.

So from September onwards I’ve been like laser. I’ve sent off my CV to all sorts of companies and contemplated on some level doing all kinds of different jobs.

My first aim: the civil service fell, unfortunately at the first hurdle. I didn’t pass the exams.

Very quickly I began to realise that I had to have back-up plans. So I applied to a whole load of PR companies. It turns out that you need at least two years experience and no matter how much you try and big up your experience in Japan, it just won’t wash.

However, by a strange turn off events that I managed to get a job in a ‘;ace which I hadn’t even considered - the Western Gazette.

I wandered in one day just to ask some questions and get some advice, more about a job in press relations and within a week found myself sitting behind a desk reporting and writing for the paper. What makes it stranger is that not once did I produce my CV, and I didn’t have an interview.

I’ve now been almost two weeks and the paper is going to print in a couple of hours.

I’ll have at least five articles with my name on. Last week I had five.
But there’s a catch. I’m living down in Somerset, which is countryside through and through. Yeovil is pretty boring. I have found myself pining for an Asahi karaoke bar or a couple of cheeky beers down at 135’s.

Oh, what a strange life this is!

http://www.westgaz.co.uk/

I'm still alive

2006-08-26T20:44:00.000+09:00

I've been keeping myself busy, since coming back from Japan. It's been over three weeks but I've found that I've settled in well. I don't know what people are talking ab out when they talk about reverse culture shock. It's all been good. I can go into the supermarket and eat anything I like!! I can also understand everyone! But who knows the reverse culture may hit soon.
But since I've been backed I've been down to Brighton, London, Colchester, the Westcountry and Bristol. Doing the rounds, catching up with people I haven't seen in two maybe even three years. I forgot that this is the first time that I have lived in England properly since March 2003. Before coming Japan I spent three months out in Botswana.
So there are lots of funny stories to tell people. But that's all they are - funny stories. It's impossible to describe how different my life was out in Japan to how it is now back in England. Really weird. In some ways it feels like I never left, and that Japan was just a very long and strange dream.
This weekend, it's a bank holiday, which means that everyone gets the monday off work as well. So it's a great time to go and see more friends.
On Thursday night went to a club in Bristol. It was a drum and bass club, and the first club I have been to since coming back from Japan. Really weird. The whole place stank of marajuana. It was full of people of all shapes and sizes from all corners of the globe. So utterly different from Japan. There's also the possibility of a fight breaking out if you look at someone the wrong!
Oogly, boogly...

Callum's oiishi english grub

2006-08-17T08:41:00.000+09:00

Back in Brighton!

2006-08-15T08:13:00.001+09:00

I'm back!

2006-08-02T17:09:00.000+09:00

Well, I'm home. After a very emotional farewell at Tomari train station and a long flight I'm back in Brighton. It's been a pretty emtional few weeks and I don't think I could have taken anymore - drinking, burning the candle at both ends, cleaning, saying my goodbyes.

But I'm back and the next episode in my life story must begin! First thing - take a stroll into town, buy myself a phone and get in contact. Plug myself back into the matrix. It will be nice walking down the street understanding everything! All the signs, what people are saying! How strange!

Anyway, enough of that. Here is my parents address for those of you out in Japan who want to get in contact me via snail mail:

Sunnybrook Cottage,
Lyatts,
Hardington Moor,
Yeovil,
Somerset,
BA22 9NR.

It's getting near the end.

2006-07-25T10:05:00.000+09:00

Too much is happening. It's crazy.

Since getting back from the Scooter trip last Tuesday every night has been an enkai of some sort. I have now officially said goodbye to my Koto teacher, my Thursday English conversation class, my school, the town hall, all the ALT's in the prefecture, some teachers and tonight is the taiko group.

It's a pretty strange scenario. I find myself going through waves of feeling really sad about going and getting quite sentimental, and at other times emotionally empty. Very strange situation indeed. I'm sure I will come back in the future and I'm hoping that some of my Japanese friends will come and visit me in England (hint, hint!) But it's definitely the end of my Japanese country life experience. Something that, to be frank, will never happen again.

Have been having some trouble uploading. Will try and upload some enkai photos.

Scootering adventure part 4 - the fourth and final installment of the crazy world of going around Japan on a 50 cc scooter

2006-07-19T08:59:00.000+09:00

Well we did it...kind of. We managed to get as far as Awaji-shima, an island just north of Shikoku but couldn't go on. The highway bridge which connects Awaji to Shikoku being our last and ultimately unconquerable obstacle. But we had some great experiences along the way (forgetting of course the infamous Tsuruga Toilet man - see earlier posting).

So the story begins... we set off to Tsuruga by car on Friday and arrived only to find that John's scooter seat was missing and my ignition key was gone. Eh? What the hell is going on? We were surprised to find that both of our scooters was still working, so what on earth were the Tsuruga thieves thinking? Why didn't they just take the whole scooter and then they could have all the parts they needed, battery, indicator lights, spark plugs and so on. Instead they choose to nick the seat and the ignition key. Oh well. We told the local Tsuruga police, who were friendly but rather useless. Our names were taken down, our gaijin cards were inspected, as were our scooters, we were asked where we were from, laughed at, and laughed at even more when we mentioned that were heading southwards to the mystical island of Shikoku.

It was several hours before we were on our way having made friends with the Tsuruga Harley Davidson garage who fixed us up with new seat and got our scooters roadworthy for a pricely sum. We were heading over the mountains towards Lake Biwa by sunset. Pretty breath-taking. The traffic was scarce and there was a rainbow over the lake and the rice fields looked greener than green. It was a great feeling to finally be back on the scooters like crazed oba-chans.

We carried on for a good fours hours until we made it to the south of the lake to a city called Otsu which was within spitting distance of Kyoto, and then headed to an internet cafe for the night.

The next morning we were up at four and away before light to arrive in Kyoto at dawn. It was pretty breath-taking and an experience that will be difficult to forget. The streets were empty as were the temples. It was like Kanazawa times ten. We relaxed outside a few empty temples, deciding what we wanted to see and then went to see them. We rolled into Maruyama garden only to find that it was the morning of the Gion festival, one of the biggest festivals in Japan. We decided not to stay, enjoying instead the peace and quiet of the empty stalls and the morning sun.

By ten in the morning we were ready to head on. We had stayed in Kyoto for about four hours, seen everything we wanted and were itchy to get back on the road.

Kyoto - Kobe
This was the most tiring and demanding leg of the journey. We always knew it would be. We would be leaving Kyoto, going round Osaka and heading into Kobe. All were major Japanese cities and probably not the best places for a couple of country bumpkins on old scooters. The heat was also stifling. I felt compelled to keep moving because at least there would be a breeze. Stopping at traffic lights frazzled my arms and hands and by the time we rolled into Kobe five hours later I was heavily sunburnt despite applying a huge amount of cream.

The scenery itself had been hugely uninspiring. Rows and rows of pachinko parlours, supermarkets and conbinis. We could have been driving through Toyama. The only difference being the sheer volume of traffic. By the end of this stretch we had both become masters of weaving through the traffic and speeding to the front of traffic jams. We were also becoming part of a growing number of young and crazy fellow scooterers. Albeit not as fashionable.

Our stay in Kobe was brief. Brief enough to see Chinatown, look at some shops and buy a long sleeve shirt so my arms didn't catch fire from the sun. By dusk we were in the smaller port town of Akashi and getting on a ferry across to Awaji-shima. By 9 that evening we were sitting in a rotemburo (outdoor onsen) admiring the impressive Kobe night lights and the impressive suspension bridge (under which was our home for the night).

Awaji-shima
John's guidebook had said that this place was meant to be a bit industrial. What a load of shit! This place was the countryside. Sumoto City was small, and there were expanses of just rice and onion fields. From here on it was easy. The roads were small, the traffic was non-existent and there was plenty of time to swim, relax and scooter casually without the presence of a juggernaut bearing down on you. The only hitch being that we couldn't get across to Shikoku. There's no denying it was alittle disappointing, but Awaji-shima was a good place to be stuck in. So we were happy. John and I started becoming very nostalgic at this point. Patting ourselves on the back for getting this far. Just looking at the Asahi and Nyuzen town licence plates on the backs of our scooters brought it home how far we had come. It was amazing that our scooters had survived. We had ridden them for hours everyday and we had never had any trouble.

We found an empty campsite right by the beach and amonst some trees. It was pretty perfect. We spent the rest of the night drinking and talking like the tired obachans that we had become.

The next day we woke to find the weather had turned. Huge clowds loomed in the distance. So we decided to have a relaxing day of scootering around and if the weather didn't improved then we would head back to Akashi and find ourselves an internet cafe for the night. The weather didn't improve and so after feasting on one of the best steaks I have ever had (honestly this is no joke!) we were back in Akashi and looking for the final resting place for our beloved scooters.
We couldn't take them home. It was like abandoning an old friend. We stripped the licence plates and left our key in the ignition hoping that maybe some kindly passer-by would give them a new home and maybe a good retirement. We had used them, basically abused them, and then got ourselves rid of them. I can't say we were very proud of ourselves.

We did however try and find them a new home with the daughter of a Japanese bar owner who seemed pretty genki. But when we told her we had to strip the plates and that John was thinking of taking the seat off and giving it back to the Tsuruga Harley Davidson garage, unsurprisingly she passed on our offer. Also she wouldn't exactly have been the most stylish of individuals riding on either one of those scooters in public.

But that evening in Akashi in that small little Japanese bar was a perfect end to a perfect holiday. We were plied with free beer and food and the owner nursed John's scooter wounds like only his mother would. We stayed for hours recounting our stories and shooting the shit before heading to the haven that is a small booth in an internet cafe.

And that was it. The final installment in the scootering sage. An uneventful train ride to Tsuruga, a stop at the Harley-Davidson garage and a quick omiyage giving and then home.

My days out here are nearly over, but I feel content that I've seen as much of Japan as I can.

Scootering adventure part 3

2006-07-11T10:01:00.000+09:00

The countdown has begun. I only have eight working days left until school breaks up. EverydayI'm teaching a final lesson. I only actually have three more days of teaching. It's all going alarmingly quickly and very soon indeed I shall find myself out of Japan and somewhere else. The real world is a-knockin' at my door.

But there is one more treat in store. John and I are doing our final leg of our scooter trip. At the moment our scooters are (hopefully) sitting in a bike shed in front of Tsuruga station waiting for us. If they are there then John and I plan to scooter on down to Kyoto and beyond and fill our boots with as much scooter riding as possible. I think now it is fair to say that our original plan of scootering down to Kyushu is out of the question. It's just too far and there is too little time. Also it would mean driving through some pretty ominous tunnels alongside the Sea of Japan, that neither of us are pretty keen on.

If, in the likely event that they are not there then we have decided to just carry on down by train and maybe get a little bit of camping down in Shikoku. Make it more of a relaxing holiday.

Bento Album Release Party

2006-07-04T14:06:00.000+09:00

Bento Album Release Party
Originally uploaded by asahimaku.

Well that's it. It's all over for the Bento Boys. It started out as a little off-the-cuff drunken whim and then went from there. Last Saturday Rob and I got Bar 135's in Uozu for the night (well, up until the England game that is!) for our Album Release Party and attempted to pack the place with as many punters as possible. It was a nice way to draw a line under the whole project.

But we also had a little surprise up our sleeves - the first and last Bento Boys live performance. An idea that had only come into effect the previous night whilst round at Rob's house in Unazuki after a couple of beers and a yakisoba down at Gosaro.

It all went well on the night. Having consumed enough alcohol to not care about shouting down a mic at a crowd of people standing merely centimetres away, it went swimmingly. We also managed to sell about 50 CD's - which ain't bad.

But selling CD's of course was never the most important thing for me or Rob. We pushed ourselves to complete an album because we wanted to do something properly. Something by which we could both remember our times in Japan. A souvenir really. That was our only objective. We did it for ourselves and if other people like it, then that's a bonus.

I can honestly say that listening to any of the songs on the album conjures such strong images in my mind. Each song has so much personal meaning attached to it, most of which aren't anything to do with the lyrics. Like a familiar smell it will always take me back to the good and bad times I had in Japan, probably more so than the umpteen photographs have.

I can think back to the long and cold winter days back in February, holed up in my apartment waiting for the weekend, when we could thrash out the next Bento track over a couple bottles of wine. What a great thing making music is! During a time when I really had no idea why I was still in Japan or what I as doing, the Bento Boys was something I always looked forward to. It was not an escape as such, just something that could make light of the bad times and laugh at them. It's probably why on half of the tracks the music is quite dark and melancholy and yet the lyrics are silly. Laughter is the best medicine. And what better way, when one is feeling shit, than to have joke about it.

But I am not saying that the Bento Boys is just something that has been conceived from misery. Without trying to sound too pretentious, for me it will bring back all the emotions of the good and the bad, the rough with the smooth. Most of the photos I have are usually of happy times with friends, of excursions, famous sites, or interesting Japanese things. But the Bento Boys album for me has everything - the happy times and the crappy times. It will be the one of only a handful of things which I will make absolutely sure I don't forget when I'm getting on the plane home.

It's been a while

2006-06-29T09:32:00.000+09:00

I have been really crap at keeping this blog recently! I can't give the excuse of being really busy because I haven't been. Although this week it has been quite mad, burning Bento Boys Cd's and printing out the album cover (which has proved to be an extremely arduous task), but at least it is something to do as the kids are sweating out their exams.

Also packing up ready to leave. Still waiting to hear back from the town hall to confirm my ticket home. They seem to be leaving it a bit late. It would have made far more sense to have bought a ticket a long time ago when they were cheaper rather than waiting until the last minute. But there you go!

It's also been a time for some early goodbyes. Believe it or not the week before last was my last visit to one of my Elementary Schools - Gokasho. It's a really cool school. Completely made of wood, very old and falling down. It's also the smallest which means I got to know the kids there relatively well. I've found that the bigger elementary schools it's so difficult to remember even the kids faces (learning all the names is an absolute impossibility).

One class I was particularly sad to say 'see you' to was the 6th graders. A genki bunch of kids. The teacher is cool, the kids are amazing and I feel like I really am giving them an interesting and informative lesson over and above teaching them the usual: colours, self-introductions, animals, fruits etc. I have always really looked forward to this class. So it was fitting that it was the last class that I taught at this school. Cue violins.

New Bento Album...

2006-06-12T09:48:00.000+09:00

Niikawa's very own 'The Bento Boys' are going to release an album.

Rob and I have been working on it for quite a while now and it's finally nearing completion. It will include all the favourites - I wanna Bento (Friday night remix), Culinary Calisthenics (Live at Toyama Technodrome) and of course, Rhapsody on Route 8. In addition there will be some amazing newie's which have never been heard before by anyone!! These include Principal Values (a personal account of a Kocho-sensei's life); and Rise and Fall (a glimpse into what life would have been like if the Bento Boys had ever become famous in Japan).

The full track listing will be posted shortly. The final album will contain 8 tracks.

So if you would like to reserve yourself an advance copy of this aural masterpiece concerning all things inaka, kindly send me an email at markseymour6@gmail.com or leave a comment at the end of this blog.

CD's will only be available by advance order only! So hurry! The price will be 500 yen. Profits will go to a charity (To be decided).

Release date will be July 1st.

Hong Kong at night

2006-06-05T15:54:00.000+09:00

Hong Kong at night
Originally uploaded by asahimaku.

Hong Kong is the most modern city I have ever seen. Everywhere you look on the main island there's a skyscraper of huge proposions and of eccentric design. It's the city of the future without a doubt, and a million miles away from the rest of China. On my return to Tokyo last weekend I was amazed at how old everything looked, the buildings, the metro, even the supermodern area of Shibuya.

The second thing that suprised me about Hong Kong is the amount of shopping malls, and the number of shops in general. This is consumer capital of the world. I have never seen so many shopping malls in my life! And these aren't the cheap and tatty shopping malls you sometimes see. In Hong Kong all were home to shops I wouldn't even enter for fear of having a heart-attack when looking at the price tag. I have no idea how any of these shops make any sort of money at all!

Anyway, I spent a week in Hong Kong with me ole' Mum, seeing the few sights and generally soaking up (or rather forcibly ingesting) the atmosphere and spending money. However, the pass of life appears to be slower that Tokyo and Osaka. It seems a little bit more laidback.

Also I took in the most amazing cityscape I have ever seen - the view from Adam's Peak of Hong Kong. Absolutely breath-taking. We were lucky to see it, however, since the weather was pretty stinking every day. The clouds were low and the rain bucketed down. So the first chance that the weather cleared for a bit we made up way up the peak for the view.

We managed to fit a day trip over to Macau - the old Portuguese settlement, which like Hong Kong has now been given back to the Chinese. Unlike Hong Kong this place seems to survive on one thing, and one thing only - Gambling. The only buildings that seem to have had any sort of renovation are the hotels and gambling casinos, whilst the rest of the city seems to be sinking into dereliction. It's a shame, as the old centre of the city is realy quite beautiful. So hopefully the fact that it has recently been made a world heritage site will mean it will be looked after a bit more from now on.

Cool things to do in Hong Kong:

1. The view of the city at night is breath-taking from the top of Adam's Peak. You also take a cool little tram up to the top passing through rainforest!!
2. Temple Street Night Market - full of complete crap, but complete crap that you are actually tempted to buy. I walked away with some cool T-shirts, leather wallet and lots of omiyage.
3. Stanley - little town at the southern end of Hong Kong island. Felt a bit like being back in Dorset. Complete with little market, with more cheap stuff to buy. Ended up buying a wardrobe full of ties. Nice!
4. Macau - The Portugues architecture is pretty cool (although for Portuguese architecture you might be better off going to Portugal). But being out in Asia for two years, it's nice to get a little bit of European culture in (even though there aren't any Portuguese people living there anymore). We also made a visit to the gargantuan Sands Casino - dancing girls, shady/tired looking men and tastless decor! Yeah boyee. It also meant another stamp in my passport.
5. Harbour City, Kowloon. The biggest shopping mall I have ever seen. A rabbit warren of all things expensive and classy. A shopper's dream/nightmare. Not really sure which.

Good weather...

2006-05-22T14:32:00.000+09:00

It's amazing what a bit of nice weather can do for you. Yesterday, I could open all the windows in my apartment and for the first time in ages enjoy the Toyama weather, rather than sheltering from it like a cold and miserable hermit.

I have since come to realise two things about my apartment:

1. In winter it is probably the worst apartment in the prefecture. It's cold of course. But what makes it even colder is that it's on the third floor of an apartment block and has three outside walls which are exposed to the howling wind. At night I would go to bed wearing my ski hat and most of my ski clothes. The upside was that it meant that at weekends, all I needed to do was to jump out of bed and I was ready for skiing!

It's also very big, so a bit of a bugger to heat.
2. In summer, however, it's a different story. I think it's undoubtably one of the best apartments in the prefecture (excluding the fact that from March onwards I seem to share it with a large family of mosquitos). From one window - the sea, from another the mountains, and from another the rest of Toyama.

Yes, I am smug.

Stuff on my cat.

2006-05-15T15:57:00.000+09:00

http://www.stuffonmycat.com

This had me in stitches today.

Thanks to BushbabySoph

Mongolian Folk band in Beijing

2006-05-12T12:46:00.000+09:00

This is the Mongolian band that Sophie and I randomly saw in a nice little cafe in Beijing. Pretty amazing, especially considering that the didgeridoo sound is coming from one of the band members' mouth!

Only 8% of the world visited...

2006-05-12T10:54:00.000+09:00

China

2006-05-11T08:39:00.000+09:00

China was very different to what I had originally imagined. A place rapidly changing, I think it was a good time to go - before the quirky little streets (Hutongs) are bull-dozed for vast sterile shopping areas and China (Beijing in particular) just becomes another place where you can shop at the Gap and have a latte at Starbucks. Although, parts of Beijing already feel like Piccadilly Circus and Times Square - expanses of neon lights and designer logos.

Anyway, on with the blog...

Beijing - I really like Beijing. It is a really cool city. Lots to see and do and pretty inexpensive. We had planned to stay here for five nights total, but ended up staying here for eight! Which was no bad thing. We ended up going to the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace, the only Lama Temple outside of Tibet plus stayed in one of the coolest areas ever! The hostel was down a little alleyway, which are known as Hutongs in Chinese. But this was no ordinary alley. From the outside all the buildings looked more like grey, small army barracks (doesn't sound very appealing I know!). But as you walked along the street and peered through the windows it was a completely different story - quaint little shops selling clothes and bits and pieces, small little cafes with sofas and armchairs, or cool restaurants with little beer gardens tucked away. To add to this the beer and food was really cheap - 20 yen for a large bottle of beer anyone?

So as you can imagine having been living in Asahi through the winter of discontent, my senses were on overload somewhat. Great, great food, drink and atmosphere. One night as Sophie and I were having a beer in one of these small little cafes, a Mongolian folk band arrived and started playing. The lead singer looked very similar to the Mongolian Sumo wrestler Asashoryu, and to his right there was a man who could make the freakiest sound with his voice. It was kind of a low and high wail/drone. It was the weirdest thing! He was singing low and high simultaneously!!! I imagine back in ze good 'ole days it was the equivalent of human beatboxing.

The only problem were the crowds. Unlike Japan, Golden Week in China really is a week. Everyone works on the Saturday and Sunday before and then has the following seven days off. When I say everyone, I mean everyone!! Luckily we had managed to see the Great Wall and the Forbidden City the week before, but on our return to Beijing for the second time everywhere was packed. I don't know if this is true or not, but I assume that for many it might have been the first time they had been on holiday. China is changing so fast, and more and more people are getting rich by the day, so tourism seems to be really taking off. It won't be long until the Chinese holiday-maker will be as prevalent as the Japanese holiday-maker in countries around the world.

The train from Beijing - Xi'an
Train journeys are usually not worth mentioning, but this one was different. Our tickets arrived the day before we travelled, and it turned out that we had bought a 'soft-sleeper deluxe' carriage. It was more than a 12 hour overnight train ride, so we needed a bed. But we were not expecting this:

It was the most luxurious train journey I have ever been on! As you can see we had a sofa, ensuite bathroom and TV making it the most pimped-up carriage ever. But we did feel alittle guilty having a stroll along the train and seeing loads of people just sleeping in the corridors, or leaning against the walls.

Xi'an

Xi'an was not at all what I expected. The guidebooks had me imagining an ancient capital full of impressive old buildings, contained within an ancient city wall. The city wall did exist, but it encircled a modern Xi'an full of posh shops like Gucci and Christian Dior. Surprisingly, it seemed that Xi'an had already 'modernised', whilst Beijing whilst still in the process.

It was also extremely touristy. The Army of the Terracotta being the sole reason for the hordes of sight-seeing tourists. We had decided to go on a one day tour of Xi'an to maximise on the sight-seeing. So were whisked around, taking in an old Pagoda (Big Goose Pagoda), a garden (can't remember why it was there but think it was where an Emperor went to hang out with his concubines and take a bath), a terracotta army factory, and the terracotta army itself. But have to say that the best thing had been the lunch. It was a mass of Chinese food of all sorts and was just what was needed after trawling around in a tour bus.

Like in Japan, it seems that a lot of the tourist areas are being seriously renovated. Going around the garden in Xi'an was like going round a theme park - immaculate paved concrete, huge fountains, shops and long queues for the cultural sights. Not what I had been expecting at all.

Back to Beijing

Sophie and I were both quite happy to be going back to Beijing and spending more time there. The one regret though was that I didn't manage to see the pickled remains of Chairman Mao housed in his very own Mausoleum in the centre of Tianamen Square. I did try, going along relatively early in the morning to be confronted with the longest line of people I have seen, queueing to pay their respects to the man. Maybe next time.

Already planning my next trip back there next month. Hong Kong this time.

Small or far away...?

2006-05-09T14:56:00.000+09:00

Beijing...

2006-04-28T20:03:00.000+09:00

Am in Beijing at the moment and this place is pretty crazy. So much to see and do and totally different from Japan. We've done all the touristy things so far - Forbidden City and Great Wall and tomorrow off to Xi'an.

The first thing that really strikes me about Bejijng though is how forward and abrupt everyone is. At the Peking Duck restaurant yesterday we were hustled in and out; coming back from the Great Wall we decided to take a local bus and found ourselves booted out by the side of the road somewhere in the Beijing suburbs. We ended up walking along the side of the nearest train tracks until we reached a station! This would never happen in Japan.

Staying down a cute little sidestreet called a Hutong in the centre. But you would never know it. It's so quiet!

Unfortunately can't upload any photos. Shame.

Asahi Sakura Festival

2006-04-21T09:43:00.000+09:00

Asahi Sakura Festival
Originally uploaded by asahimaku.

I have 98 days left until my contract ends. Yikes! Quite amazing really. When I first came to Japan I thought a year was such a long time, and now here I am half way through a second year. A little crazy!

Last weekend I played taiko at the Asahi Cheery Blossom festival. It was a good little gig, although a little colder than last year's.

What always makes things more interesting is the obligatory interview with the gaijins in attendance. Usually it's John and I who get hauled back on stage to give good interview with the announcer (always a rather excitable Japanese lady with a limited grasp of English and a penchant for asking difficult and rather pointless questions).

This time however I carried out the interview with Adam - a beginner to this post-taiko ritual and therefore unaware of the joys that awaited him.

The interview started well. Both of us managed to get our names out, and both of us managed to confirm that we were in fact both teachers from Uozu and Asahi respectively. No problems there.

It was almost too easy. I was first up. The questions probed no further than 'Do you enjoy playing taiko' or 'How long have you been playing taiko'. I had it easy. Not exactly newsnight.

The announcer then approached Adam and asked (in Japanese of course) 'What do you like about taiko'.

The usual answers - 'it's fun' or 'it's interesting' don't really cut it in this instance. This is a heavy weight question and one that requires a heavy-weight answer. You have to qualify your answer with an explanation - 'It's fun because...'

Even in English this is a difficult question to ask, but in Japanese faced with a sea of obachans drinking sake, it takes on a whole new dimension.

Most souls would have blurted out something quick and easy to get the interview over. 'It's interesting'. Done. Thankyou very much, you've been a wonderful audience, goodnight.

Adam, however gave the question the time and attention it deserved, pondering for what seemed like an hour (but was probably closer to a minute). He was going to give this question the type of answer it deserved.

So what was his incisive and articulate answer? 'The backbeat, it's wicked'. In English.

The funny thing, is absolutely nobody except myself, Adam and Justice would have had any idea of what the hell he was talking about.

Acting as the translator in this situation I choose to translate the aforementioned nugget of wisdom into some semblance of Japanese. But how can you give justice to an answer like this?

After another long pause, as the announcer's face turned to confusion and panic, I gave the two-worded answer -
'oto omoshiroi' - 'interesting sound'.

It was enough. It had been understood. The silence had been broken and we were allowed to get the hell off the stage. The interview was finished.

But no doubt it won't be the last.

2006-04-18T08:56:00.000+09:00

The internet...bringing people together!

The Seymours, Easter Monday 2006.

A new school year

2006-04-12T11:57:00.000+09:00

Another week rattles along, and it's another week of doing very little. I finally got my teaching schedule today so I know which classes I am teaching and when.

But even though it is now a brand new year, little seems to have changed (except that we now have a teacher who shouts a lot at students, and struts around the teacher's room looking for trouble). After the initial strangeness everything has settled back down to normal. The first years are cheeky, the second years are still grasping to their cheekiness and the third years have lost their cheekiness save for a few cheeky chappies.

Entertaining the elderly

2006-04-03T09:18:00.000+09:00

Well it`s been quite a while since I have posted anything. The reason? I tend to find that the less I have to do the less I want to do. When you have a whole day ahead of you and you have absolutely no idea how on earth you are going to fill it motivation levels tend to slip below zero.

This morning I managed to make cleaning my desk take an hour, despite the fact that I had already cleaned it last week. Filling up time is developing into a bit of an art form!

Anyway enough of that, onto the amusing anecdote...

Last week my friend in Asahi - Koji, asked me if I wouldn`t mind going along to the old people`s home for an hour on Thursday. I had been once before and had met this terminally ill man who had lived in America for 18 years. His English was perfect! I had assumed that my return visit would be centred around talking to him, which would be a pleasure.

That morning Koji had rang and told me that he couldn`t come with me. No problem so far. So I drove to the home and was greeted by two nurses who seemed rather taken aback that I was by myself. Not to worry. I walked with the two ladies and chatted in my stilted Japanese about the weather. Alarms bells didn`t start ringing until we were in the lift. Hang on!! Why are we going up in a lift? I`m sure the last time I stayed on the ground floor.

My suspicions that something was a foot were confirmed when the lift doors opened and I was greeted with a sea of elderly faces. There must have been about sixty of them and the numbers grew as more and more seemed to be coming out of various doors and taking a seat.

I knew what fate awaited me - an hour of entertaining the elderly!!

Now, I have since found that entertaining the elderly is very different to entertaining kids. Firstly the elderly lack the type of `genki` energy that you get from Elementary school kids. There are a vast arsenal of games which can be used efficiently and effectively with little children that you can`t use with granny. Secondly, an elderly crowd have seen it all. They`ve lived a long time and they can sense fear. They want a high-quality introduction. They know where England is, they`ve seen a foreigner before, maybe some have even visited a foreign country. This type of crowd want facts not silly faces. With an elementary crowd you can get away with saying something silly and acting like a clown, but the elderly crowd want some hard info. They want to know how big England is, what cultural sites are there, the history, socio-political anecdotes...not just how old you are and whether you have a girlfriend.

I bombed. My comedy repertoire which usually worked a dream at elementary school went down a lead balloon with this crowd. Every word, every gesture was sucked from me; the less reaction I got, the harder I tried - flailing arms and shouting, laughing hysterically. I must have looked like a complete goon.

Of course the cameras were rolling. Like with every visit I do there is always a sly camera snapping away recording the ensuing madness. No doubt footage with be leaked to the local media - my insane grin captured in a photograph within the local newspaper.

15 minutes into my hour-long stand-up routine and even the staff were squirming and quickly stepped in to do some damage limitation. This involved passing a balloon around and throwing hoops. It proved far more popular than my previous efforts.

But unlike the comedy clubs found in England where a dying comedian is met with derisive laughter and abusive heckles, I was passed off with polite applause and niceties. My limited Japanese ability was even complimented on.

Thought for the day - The elderly are a daunting but forgiving crowd.

Marking...

2006-03-16T09:46:00.000+09:00

A phone conversation between two people. A phones B -

A: Hello, this is A. Can I speak to B?
B: Speaking. How are you A?
A: I'm not fine thankyou. And you?
B: I'm fine!! What's the matter?
A: I'm injured.
B: Why?
A: I had a traffic accident.
B: Oh really? Silly!!
A: Don't say such a thing!!
B: I'm sorry. By the way, are you free tomorrow?
A: Definitely not!
B: I'm sorry!! Take care. Nice talking to you.
A: Nice talking to you too.
B: Thank you for calling.
A: See you soon.

Taken from one of my 1st graders' papers.

Graduation and enkai...

2006-03-16T08:50:00.000+09:00

Yesterday was my 3rd graders graduation day. There were tears, long speeches, lots of waiting, more tears, more long speeches and the obligatory 'bansai' after anything particularly official.

It was a good day, the lunchtime food was amazing, the gym wasn't as cold as it normally is and generally everyone was in high spirits. Times like these are always good times to be teaching at a high school. The teachers and students seem more relaxed and the general vibe around the place is one of relief - we got through another school year and another long Toyama winter is drawing to a close.

But it is sad to think that in one day a whole section of the school goes from being students to alumni in a matter of hours. Looking across the courtyard now I can see the empty classrooms of the 3rd grade.

The enkai afterwards was held just up the road at Tenbokaku, the local hotel/onsen facility where Koji and I often go for a quick onsen on the 6th floor. It was one of the best enkais I've been to. The teachers got rat-faced and even the ones who don't usually go in for the odd spot of karaoke were rocking the mic with vigour.

It was a riot. The Asahi Geishas were in attendence (famous all over Toyama don't cha know!) dancing the traditional owara dance along to such Japanese classics as 'Bridge over troubled water' and 'Top of the world'.

The karaoke bar was one of those stage affairs where you feel like a pop idol wannabe. But, in this instance rather than everyone sitting around the tables as fellow colleagues warble along to their favourite song, everyone was standing around the stage clapping and cheering along. I never realised that 'Bridge over troubled water' could have so much energy and 'oomph' until I heard the rhythm provided by the English and Maths departments. They clapped furiously along as though we were singing some type of Austrian 'oom-pa-pa' drinking song. Simon and Garfunkel would have been proud to hear such a rousing, 'fall-to-the-floor' rendition of such a depressing dirge.

Weekend (Part 2) - A scootering whim

2006-03-13T13:34:00.000+09:00

As John and I were heading up on a ski lift on Saturday morning we made a spontaneous decision to ski until lunchtime and then, on a whim, head down to Kanazawa, get our scooters, and pick up where we left off on the...Great Scooter Adventure.

So at about 12 we left seaside, went to our respective apartments, packed and then drove to Kanazawa arriving at 4pm. By 4.30pm we were heading out of Kanazawa on our trusty scooters speeding towards Fukui.

Unfortunately the weather was clouding up and it was getting windy, making it a relatively demanding journey. Wanting to reach Fukui no-matter-what, we pressed on in the dark, which turned out to be extremely difficult. It was cold and the lights from the in-coming cars were pretty dazzling, so much so that it was virtually impossible to see anything through the helmet's visor. We made it and after about three hours since leaving Kanawazawa we were heading into the bright lights of Fukui in time for a yaki-niku supper.

We hadn't planned on sleeping in Fukui, so we headed out and ended up pitching our tent in a park in a town called Sabae. Unfortunately, it was a summer tent, which meant that it was little more than a mosquito net covered with a bit of tarpalin. I froze! By 4am, I could lie there no more freezing to death. So I decided to go and enjoy the night life that Sabae has to offer. Namely, the many conbinis. I thought that killing about 2 and a half hours before the sun came up was going to be difficult, but it proved surprisingly easy due to the existence of a 24 internet cafe called 'Freaks'. I had been told about these sorts of places before, but had never ventured into one. Basically for 500 yen I got a small cubicle with a sofa, a widescreen TV and internet access. I could watch a range of Hollywood blockbusters sitting in comfort. It was perfect.

By about 8am, having had an onsen, we set off for Tsuruga. The weather was awful. It was cold and it was raining and we were driving through one of the most difficult sections of Route 8 that we had yet experienced. You would have thought that early on a Sunday morning there would be no cars on the road, but you would be sadly mistaken. We were constantly being hounded down by huge lorries. Due to the mountainous terrain we were going through numerous tunnels, and numerous times you would look in your wing-mirror to see the lights of a juggernaut bearing down on you.

Those tunnels are pretty fearsome. Not only do you get strong headwinds, and they are dark, but the noise that an on-coming lorry emits is quite terrifying.

We got to Tsuruga by 10 am and were expecting something quite idillic from the guidebook's description - something about the place being a nice little seaside town. It wasn't. It was, as one would expect from a town that is also a major railway junction, very industrial. It was also a strange place. Whilst eating lunch we noticed at least three different people who seemed a little crackers. One in particular stood out. I shall call him - 'The Toilet Man'.

Crazy scootering story no 1 - 'The Toilet Man cometh':
This guy was like something from a Hitchcock movie. He looked perfectly normal from a distance. He was quite young and was wearing normal clothes. Nothing from his appearance would give any indication of his mental state. However, when he spoke that is when you knew you were dealing with a loon.
He first approached John as he was scanning the supermarket aisles for a bento. After a brief round of questions - where are you from etc, he then cut straight to the chase: 'Let's go to the toilet together'. John, understandably, got out of that situation as fast as possible.

Encounter 2 was very similar to encounter 1, except this time he was dealing with two foreigners and his line of questioning was reduced to the single question: Do you need the toilet?
We told him numerous times that we didn't and tried to shrug him off by generally ignoring him and pretending that we were engrossed in something else.

But Toilet Man knows his prey. He knows that it is just a waiting game, and that sooner or later one of us will crack and have to go to his lair - the toilet.

John was the first to crack, but wisely, rather than using the men's facility opted for the disabled, single occupancy toilet. I was not so wise. Having scoped the area and noticing the absence of Toilet Man I mada a bee-line for the mens and did my business, all the time aware that Toilet Man could be anywhere...

Feeling that I my nightmare was nearing an end and that soon I would be in the safe company of my scooter colleague, I walked over to the wash basin and began washing my hands. An uneasy sensation came over me. The only sound being the running water hitting my hands. I looked up at the mirror -

There was Toilet Man looking back at me with a crazed grin.

I was in his territory.

I leaped in the air and before I knew it was making quick with my legs out of the toilet and back to John. Toilet Man approached once again, and once again proposed that we recline to the nearest toilet facility. We declined and waited until Toilet man was a safe distance away and not looking when we made our escape to another section of the shopping department. But no sooner had we left, that we noticed he was following us. We jumped on the nearest escalator. He was there right behind us. We got off on the second floor. So did he. We pretended to look at the selection of shoes. He made no such pretence.

However, we were in luck. A moment that Toilet Man's gaze lingered on something else about the store, was long enough for us to jump once again back onto the escalator and be whisked to the third floor.

We made haste to the electrical section. We were safe. Or so we thought. We were in unfamiliar territory, in a strange town in a foreign land. Toilet Man knew the terrain. This was his environment, and using whatever stalker intelligence he had developed over the years it wasn't long until he had located us buying a notebook.

Like the Terminator he moved slowly towards us, never picking up his pace. Getting nearer and nearer. In a panic we got back on the escalator and headed up another floor to the car park. We made a dash for a lift, pressing the button frantically. It arrived and we rushed in. Within seconds we were out of the building and heading off to our scooters.

We were lucky. We had escaped the clutches of...

...the Toilet Man!

Weekend (part 1) - Ski madness

2006-03-13T12:42:00.000+09:00

Headed off to Seaside for a morning's worth of

snow madness on Saturday. The snow conditions weren't good, but we made up for it with some ski park buffoonary. Here's some pictures of what ensued:

John

Omi

Matt

The great scooter adventure...(the beginning)

2006-03-06T10:38:00.000+09:00

John and I had been talking for some time about doing a epic scooter trip sometime over the next few months, after the snow has melted and the weather is a little warmer. We were playing around with the idea of scootering as far as southwards as possible, with a final target of being as far away from Toyama as possible. Whether this turns out to be Fukui or Fukuoka is another matter.

However, rather than doing this in one go (which would not only be extremely time-consuming and knackering, but would probably kill our little scooters) we have decided to do it in little bursts - a weekend here, a weekend there.

Yesterday, we started this adventure, getting as far as Kanazawa by 2.30pm from Asahi, taking the good ole' Route 8. We made amazing time, stopping only en route at Plant 3 for a pizza and some engine oil.

Kanazawa on a scooter is pretty cool, and quite strange. Firstly, it's strange driving around Kanazawa on your little scooter, and secondly, you can see everything in half the time with half the hassle!! Imagine what it will be like if we ever get to Kyoto!! No subway, no bus, just jump on and go!! Kinkakuji and then 15 minutes later Ginkakuji.

Kanazawa is built for scooters, what with all the little alleyways and cute little sidestreets. I'd read about a Geisha area in Kanazawa but had never got round to seeing it. But within minutes on our trusty 50 cc beasts we had found Higashi Chaya and were winding our way through the cobble streets, whizzing by temples and tea shops and scooting up hills over-looking the city. We were seeing things that we would never had bothered to see if we had been walking, or even been able to get to in a car. Traffic is always bad in Kanazawa, particularly on a weekend, but on a scooter it's no problem, weaving amongst the cars and buses and parking wherever you want to.

So for all of you who have scooters, this is the big one. Join us!

Charmant

2006-03-06T10:36:00.000+09:00

Charmant
Originally uploaded by asahimaku.

Saturday was an absolute beauty of a day at Charmant. The place was also completely empty.

In the words of Bob Marley -

'The sun is shining, the weather is sweet, makes you wanna move ya dancing' feet!'

Rawk and Rooooollllll!

2006-02-27T10:04:00.000+09:00

Soul Power - This place is cool, the bands are amazing, the atmosphere was great, and it had absolutely everything you could wish for in a night of Rawk and Roolllll - epic guitar solos, long hair, pouting, strutting, screaming, punching the air, kicking, screaming, and sweaty drummers - all carried out with flawless efficiency; and all this despite the audience consisting of a few gaijin at the front, some hardcore friends/fans and a handful of sour-faces coming from the seats surrounding the mosh-pit. The bands all played their hearts out, as if they were playing to a packed out venue, and some (especially the Spinal Tap-esque 'Axbomber') as if they were playing Wembley Stadium in front of thousands and millions via satellite around the world.

I can't recommend this place highly enough and can't believe that the place was almost empty. Great night!

Shinto Wedding...

2006-02-27T09:34:00.000+09:00

Had a taiko concert on Saturday morning at the Flower Festival in Asahi - which was nice. Then hopped straight on the train, suited and booted to attend the wedding of one of my eikaiwa student's sons. But this was no ordinary wedding - it was a Shinto Wedding!

Tucked behind the urban hum and drum of Nishicho - Toyama's shopping area, is the rather lovely Hie Shrine. The ceremony was only an hour, but it was a pretty amazing thing to have seen.

It's completely different from any Western wedding. They exchange rings, but there is no 'you may kiss the bride' or cheery organ-playing, instead they have a little house band who play hits from the middle ages armed with a little instrument resembling a piccolo and a shaku-hachi (Japanese flute).

As you can probably imagine it is extremely formal. From the pouring of the sake, the dancing shinto girls, to the guests entering the shrine everything is carried out in a organised and efficent manner.

The vibe is similar to what I imagine a pagan ceremony would be like. The music was folky, mysterious and rather sombre and reminded me of the soundtrack to that cult pagan movie - the Wicker Man. It is very spiritual, but rather than having a focal point, such as the cross or alter in Christian church, the spirits are everywhere in Shinto like in pagan rituals, and intermittent hand-clapping serves to dispel omnipresent evil spirits.

What surprised me is that most Japanese people found the whole experience as alien as I did! Western weddings are the thing now in Japan, and nowadays most people like to get married in a building resembling a Christian church. So in hindsight it was not surprising that the people sitting next to me were giggling at the rather funny hats that the Shinto priests were wearing. The bride's hat was the most amazing, as you can see from the picture.

We are the Bento Boys

2006-02-22T09:53:00.000+09:00

The Bento Boys have released their fourth single 'We are the Bento Boys (Part I: The Rise and Fall of the Bento Boys)', featuring guest vocals from Limp Wristed.

The Boys have returned to a more flam-pop-y formula with sprinklings of bad-boy, following the hardcore sonic ghetto-fabulous excursions of late, but assure fans that they aren't selling out to the man. 'We had to try this sort of shit out, since boy band members are people too, y'know' mumbled someone related to the band yesterday.

They are currently in the studio dreaming up their follow-up single - 'We are the Bento Boys (Part II - The Fall of the Bento Boys)', which according to sources close to the band has a much darker edge (and may not be suitable for people with a sensitive disposition).

To listen to the new track please go to the Bento Boys website:

http://www.myspace.com/thebentoboys

Wearing the glasses to my classes

2006-02-13T13:42:00.000+09:00

Another weekend has come and gone... and it's been another weekend missing out on skiing. The first time it was because Rob and I had been too lazy to get up early, drove within half an hour of the Seaside and then turned back because it didn't seem worth skiing for only a few hours. This time it was because of my eye.

I was on the way to Seaside (ski resort) last Saturday when my right eye started watering uncontrollably. It felt like an eyelash so I carried on. By the time Rob and I got to Seaside it wasn't any better and I was finding it difficult to see (because of all the water!). I ended up sitting in the car whilst Rob skied.

Anyway, turns out that I have been wearing my lenses too often and the eye is slightly infected. In fact I have worn my lenses so often that my students have never seen me wearing glasses before at school and think that I've only just been given them.

I've never liked wearing glasses. They are just so bloody annoying. I always loose sunglasses when I have them, and normal glass feel like barrier between me and the outside world. But perhaps I should be a little less vain and learn my lesson.

Out of control...

2006-02-09T10:02:00.000+09:00

Last night a group of us hit Colare in Kurobe for a little bit of Shamisen craziness from the famous (and I actually mean that, they have a website, have done tours and everything) Yoshida Brothers.

I have to say that I have never been a big fan of the shamisen. It's a cute little instrument but have never liked the sound of it too much.

But last night, I have to say, the performance was pretty sensational. It kicked arse (there was a very high auric density). They played fast, furious, and not a note was out of tune. They were like the 'Jimi Hendrixes' of shamisen. I never thought I would say this about a traditional Japanese instrument - but it was really exciting. It was a musical paradox - they played in a typical controlled manner, but the music was out of control. Great!

In the same way, I played a koto concert last sunday. It was actually a New Year's party whereby all the koto musicians in Asahi get together round someone's house and rock the jams in their own Japanese style (in Koto terms this means play the pieces which they have been practicing ofr the last few months). I love the koto, I love the sound, but at times am not too keen on some of the songs. They are slow, controlled and lacking a form of (for want of a better word) 'oomph'. I like songs with 'oomph' and traditional forms of Japanese music such as enka are not famous for their 'oomph'.

However, in the same way that the Yoshida Brothers proved me wrong about shamisen playing (and by God they had stacks of 'oomph'), the last song played at my koto New Years party had 'oomph' by the bag load.

It just goes to show, that just when you think you have figured out Japan, you are thrown a curveball and are pleasantly surprised. Traditional Japanese instruments are not only alive and well, but packing a considerable punch in modern contemporary music.

http://www.yoshidabrothers.com/

Exit planet Japan...

2006-02-06T13:38:00.000+09:00

It's been a funny old week. I've spent most of it getting home and then working myself up to try and leave the apartment again after getting warmed up.

However, with each day that goes by, it's one day closer to the day that I leave Japan. I can't help but end up thinking about things like how many more enkais I will go to, how many ski trips before the snow melts and so on. Since handing in my notice my head has been in a different place as I formulate some sort of exit plan.

At the moment the list is as follows:

Get some sort of internment at the British Embassy in Tokyo for August
Live in a small apartment, which will quickly turn into a den of iniquity as Rob will be my fellow flat mate.
Return to the UK using any means of travel other than air. Whilst I'm here, might as well head back at a leisurely pace and see some things!
Enrol to do a masters in International Relations/get a job. It's got to be one or the other. Don't want to get back to the UK and find myself doing the same thing that I did before I came to Japan (namely working in a call centre).

So that's what's on my mind at the moment. If you see me looking alittle lost in thought, stressed or being generally difficult to get a long with, then it's becuase I'm thinking about one (or all) of the things above.

It's a beauty!!!

2006-01-31T09:06:00.000+09:00

Last sunday was one of the nicest days that I have ever seen in Japan. Rob and I took a stroll around Asahi. Take a look for yourselves:

And in celebration of such a beautiful day it was decided to have a good ole' traditional English 'greasy spoon' fry-up. Tasty!!!

The boys are back in town...

2006-01-27T09:23:00.000+09:00

Fresh from their critically-acclaimed tour of the Outer Hebrides, The Bento Boys are back once again.

To commemorate this special occasion, the Boys have released one of their tour favourites - 'Culinary Calisthenics' recorded live at their spectacular home-coming at the Toyama Technodrome. You can listen to it at the Bento Boys' Official website:

http://www.myspace.com/thebentoboys

Many thanks to Makoto 'the Big Mac' Sato' for his help...

...

2006-01-26T18:41:00.000+09:00

Found a really cool little music site the other day. It basically suggests new music based on the music that you like, and it's usually music that you've never heard of (well I haven't anyway).

Here's the link - www.pandora.com.

The 78 Ratio...

2006-01-24T13:54:00.000+09:00

Before I came to Japan, I lived in Brighton. A nice little seaside city south of London. Definitely a place I would recommend to those wishing to go to England sometime.

Anyway, enough of that...

In my interim period after finishing University and before going to Botswana and then Japan, Callum (my friend currently living in Wakayama ken) and I would spend hours upon hours making and recording music in our bedrooms. Despite the crappy jobs that we both had, it was a good time and we managed to get quite a lot done.

Anyway, here is the link to a little website that Callum has set up so you can see what sort of thing we did, a sort of taster if you like:

http://www.myspace.com/78ratio

Please enjoy...

My little bubble...

2006-01-23T12:38:00.000+09:00

Living in Japan does make it difficult to keep abreast of what is going on back home. I'm talking specifically about local events, gossip and general bits of chitter-chatter that you pick up everyday when you are back home.

My own knowledge of my own native pop culture is dwindling. I didn't know that a whale had been found going up the Thames passed the Houses of Parliament until my girlfriend told me on the phone last night. If the BBC news doesn't report it, it's highly likely that I won't hear about it. I don't know who has died in Eastenders, or who was the winner of the newest reality TV show. All the crap that usually fills my head on a day-to-day basis is not there.

Additionally, I am completely out of the loop as to what is going on in Japanese culture (other than the little bits I see on TV and gather from some of my students). I know, for example, that Yon-sama is a guy that lots of women like (or liked at some point) and Hard-Gay is 'so hot right now'. That's about it. It is by no means extensive.

However, sitting in the staff room of Asahi Junior High, I realise that I know absolutely nothing about most of my teachers save for a little bit of information gathered from some pleasantries. If I was in England I would at least know what most of my work colleagues had done over the weekend, who they liked and didn't like in office, and maybe a secret or two.

I can only imagine what is going on back home based on the news reports and my friends. England feels like the strange and exotic land that many of my students imagine it to be. It's a funny old life - it doesn't really feel like being part of any culture.

But it's not necessarily a bad thing. It's quite nice feeling free of any gossip in the teacher's room, not having heard the crazy frog number no.1 single in England and not feeling compelled to turn on a TV to watch the latest Japanese soap. I can read what I like and watch, or download what I like. I don't listen to the radio so I am not exposed to the usual ramblings, adverts and general crap. I don't hear the same songs playing over and over again. I'm sure it also applies to Japanese radio and TV, but the refreshing thing is: I don't understand it.

I am leaving Japan in the summer. I'm sure I will miss this...

Top 5 of everything

2006-01-20T11:50:00.000+09:00

Okay it seems that everyone is doing it so here's a top 5 of thing about Sri Lanka (in no particular order):

1. The Wunderbar - cool little hotel and bar/restuarant, 1 minutes walk from the beach inhabited by Sri Lanka hippies (including one who claimed to be a roadie for Radiohead! Which prompted a grilling from Callum and I on a few occasions to check the validity of this). The rooms were big, the bar pumped out reggae morning, noon and night, and the clientele were random (a mixture of old and young germans, and horny russians!) It allowed us to slip into Sri Lanka (although I imagine rather distorted veriosn of it) quite easily.
In a nutshell: A million miles away from Japan. Nothing that happened over the few days Callum and I spent at the wunderbar could be compared to Japan.

2. Elephant shower - Sitting on the back of an elephant and then being sprayed by the water coming from its trunk was exhilarating. I would recommend to anyone and everyone (particularly as an early morning wake-up, hang-over cure or depression). It cures all (particularly car drive fatigue). The place was called the Millenium Sanctuary - a private sanctuary where elephants are looked after. They do seem to have a whale of a time, as they are always being bathed in the nearby pond.

3. Train journey and tea factory, Nuwara Eliya - Doesn't sound very interesting, but was a definite highlight. The tatty old train didn't move much faster than my scooter and the gentle waff from the lavatory was not particularly savoury, but the view of the rolling hills covered in tea plantations was amongst the most beautiful I have ever seen. Stunning. I spent almost the entire journey learning out one of the open doors attempting to, but ultimately failing to capture it all on my digital camera.
The tea factory was fascinating, particularly the old machines they still use to refine the tea!

4. Kandy tooth temple - Within the temple, within a small box lies Buddha's tooth, one of the only intact relics of the man. We went there on New Year's day (after a percularly dry New Year's Eve), glimpsed the box and left. The temple itself felt more like palace.

5. Sigiriya - The World Heritage playboy's palace/fortress on the top of a huge rock. It had stunning fews from the top, no crowds, and the added bonus of our driver/guide telling us what everything was. A daunting-looking climb, it turned out to be relatively easy. The ancient king who had built it had managed to include a large array of swimming pools. A nice touch.

...and this is what I came back to

2006-01-16T14:51:00.000+09:00

I'm back...

2006-01-16T14:13:00.000+09:00

Well, have finally managed to get round to writing a blog entry having put it off for a week. Don't know why but just haven't really felt like writing anything.

So what's been happening in the exciting life of Mark 'I like my jam with toast' Seymour?

Went to Sri Lanka and just about did everything! I mean everything. We saw the temples, the beaches, a tea factory, more temples, dawn safari, elephant riding and bathing, some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen, a rock fortress and much, much more. We did this by driving around most of the central and western parts of the island.
I can't even begin to say just how beautiful Sri Lanka is. Driving on any of the roads you can't help but stare out of the window in case you miss anything. In a lot of ways I imagine its how Japan once looked long before the concrete started creeping across the landscape. This is amplified by the lack of tourists that were there, mainly down to the tsunami and fears about the escalation of Tamil Tiger terrorist activity.

The other thing that I really liked about Sri Lanka was that when people looked at you they smiled!! Sounds a bit stupid, but really miss that. I like it when you can look at a stranger and smile, rather than looking away and feeling awkward.

Pictures: (from top - The Buddha at Dambulla; me mum and dad on the beach at Bentota (Japanese kawaii hand signals included); fun with Champagne, a pineapple and coconut monkeys with Sophie and Callum; Brits abroad; Bentota sunset; Sophie on the train to Nuwara Eliya)

tihs is pertty azinmag...

2005-12-21T14:46:00.000+09:00

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

Guest appearances from Santa

2005-12-21T11:46:00.000+09:00

The last week and a half I have been parading around as Santa to all the local nursery schools. It's been tiring and at times alittle tedious. But I'm overall glad that it's done. Some of the kids recognised that it was me, but in the many that thought I was the 'real' Santa, the expressions on their faces was pretty priceless. Along with the many difficult and unusual questions that I got asked. My favourites being:

'Who does Santa sleep with at night?'
'Why does Santa have a big white beard?'
'Why did Santa arrive in a car?'

Tomorrow, off to Wakayama, and then Sri Lanka(!) on Friday. Have decided that since the trains are running so erraticaly recently due to the snow situation, it is probably best not to cut it too fine and arrive at the airport with only an hour or two to spare. Hence tomorrow night will be spent in the capable hands of me old mate Callum.

Since, this is probably going to be my last blog entry for a while I thought that I would write down some of my highlights of 2005:

Hiroshima; cherry blossom and hanami outside Himeji Castle; drinking watermelon shakes on Koh Phan-Ngan, Thailand; playing as the Bento Boys at the Halloween party; Hokkaido; rehearsing with the Bad Santas; general silliness (drunken or otherwise); 'Takk... '- new album by Sigur Ros; dressing up in cool kimono for koto concert;

In fact far too much has happened this year. So that's really the only ones that jump out at me at this time.

Merry Xmas.

2005-12-19T11:30:00.000+09:00

So as you may or not have gathered from this blog and the various other blogs from people in Japan - it is pretty cold. Definitely colder than last year, and according to locals, colder than quite a few winters' past. It feels a million miles away from the heat of the summer.
Here's a picture of Rob getting ready to attempt some sleep in my tatami room:

Here I am outside of the traditional toilet stop after a day's skiing up at Hakuba. It was snowing like crazy. As we drove back we saw countless trucks either stuck in the snow, or just stopped in the middle of the road! Pretty crazy and not a driving experience that I want to repeat!

A winter's tale

2005-12-14T09:36:00.000+09:00

Here's a little rhyme from MC Machete of the Bento Boys:

So here's alittle rhyme for those that are cold,
I'm freezing my ass off if the truth be told,
waking up blinded by the steam from my mouth,
like an albatross flying south, i've had enough!
i'm getting on the next plane, I'm heading out,
to lie on a beach, and eat n' drink like a leach,
down near the equators,
where there ain't no playa-hataaas

at the moment, it ain't no fun,
scrapping snow off my car, no morning sun,
cos it's cloudy and its cold,
and it takes half an hour to get in the mood,
I'm dressing up like that old man Santa,
but all I'm thinkin' about is repeatin' my mantra:
'it's gettin' cold, it's chillin' my behind
it ain't long before I'll be seeing the sunshine!'

The invasion of the Santas...

2005-12-12T11:19:00.000+09:00

So The Bad Santas played their first ever gig this weekend at Colare at the International Cooking workshop. Went down really well and listening back to the mp3 of the gig we actually sounded alright. However, at the time felt alittle let down. We had done quite a lot of practicing and then on the night it just sounded alittle weird. The main reason being that on stage the only thing that I could really hear were the drums and my guitar (which was loud because I was standing right next to the amp). So as the gig progressed I kept on trying to turn the guitar down as I thought it was also deafening to the audience. Turns out it wasn't, but wasn't to know that at the time.
But looking back on it, it was a good night - thoroughly enjoyable and deserved the copious amounts of beer afterwards.
Next up - the JET fesitival thingy in February. However, don't think that that we can get away with playing Christmas songs again! Any suggestions anyone?

Here's an mp3 of God rest ye merry Gentlemen. I think it was during this one that Lee's trousers started falling down: http://s57.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0I76GVV89LGSA0OFDRAFDRYW4A

The Bad Santas...

2005-12-09T10:54:00.000+09:00

Here are some of the members of The Bad Santas cooking up some seriously funky shit at rehearsal.
(Black and White makes things look so arty!)

Am I wasting my time?

2005-12-09T10:43:00.000+09:00

You should learn Mandarin

You should learn Mandarin. You are very practical, and enjoy setting goals for yourself. You feel very rewarded when you accomplish something big.

http://www.quizgalaxy.com/result_images/lang-learn-bg.jpg); background-repeat: no-repeat;'>

Take'>http://www.quizgalaxy.com/quiz.php?id=64">Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

Well, I never thought I was one for languages. May be I should quit learning Japanese and get myself on the Mandarin!!
Thanks Chris for the link.

2005-12-08T12:24:00.000+09:00

Yesterday something happened which was a mixture of comedy and cuteness rolled into one. It was my English teacher singing along to Band Aid 20's Christmas song 'Do they know it's Christmas time'. It went to no 1 in England last Christmas and is the single that inspired Geldof to go on and do Live Aid (20 years ago) and Live 8 this year.

The icing on the cake was when my teacher started to try and sing the Dizzee Rascal part. If you don't know it goes alittle something like this:

You ain't gotta feel guilt just selfless
Give a little help to the helpless

It's sung very fast and with a very strong London accent. It was hilarious. My teacher then repeated it over and over again to try and memorise it while I was carrying out the lesson.

It was one of those moments when you really feel like you are in a foreign country!

From the English to the Japanese countryside.

2005-12-07T10:31:00.000+09:00

Every month I write a little article for the local Asahi newspaper. It's a really good way to explain more about 'real English life' and dispel some of the stereotypes that some people have (eg people all drink tea and walk around with umbrellas under their arm!) Here's this month's entry:

I have been in Japan for nearly 18 months now. However, even now, I encounter many things which are different from England – whether it is something at school, the supermarket or a restaurant. There are so many things that are different from Japan that it is impossible to mention them all here!

However, here is a list of 5 things that I miss about England (excluding friends and family):

Roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding: This is a traditional English dish consisting of a nice big piece of roasted beef, vegetables and a special pancake (Yorkshire pudding). It is cooked in a big oven for about 4 hours and then covered in gravy. We usually eat it on Sundays. Oishiii!!!!!

Understanding what everyone is saying!! It is a very humbling experience when you cannot understand what people are saying to you, and cannot articulate your thoughts accurately when having a conversation with someone. In England, I am no longer the foreigner and everyone speaks my language.

English countryside: My parents live in the Southwest of England. Down there nearly all the fields are full of sheep and cows. A walk out in the open on a Sunday afternoon is one of the most refreshing things. It’s beautiful! If you ever come to England please go there.

Eating European style: In Europe we enjoy eating outside, especially when the weather is fine. There is nothing like eating and drinking on a cool summers’ evening down by the sea.

Shopping in Brighton: For the first 8-9 months I had a great difficulty in understanding what anything was! I can now read hiragana and katakana completely and I have learnt over two hundred kanji characters. However I still have difficulty reading what a product is. Sometimes I just have to guess! So I miss the ‘hassle-free’ element of shopping back home.

But this winter holiday I am not going back to England, as there is still so much more of the world which I would like to see. Instead, I am going to Sri Lanka to met up with my family and girlfriend who are traveling from England. More next month…

Bad Santas and Japanese tests...

2005-12-05T11:15:00.000+09:00

Well the Japanese test is finally over and to be honest have absolutely no expectation to pass at all. But nevermind. Felt a little bit out of my league!

But on to brighter things...The Bad Santas will be playing their first ever (and hopefully not their last!) gig at the International Festival in Colare this Friday. We're currently putting the finishing touches to our set which will include some Christmas favorites (excluding Mariah Carey's 'All I want for Xmas is you', or that dreadful Wham! one - 'Last Christmas'). But it will include some very irreverant interpretations of some classics.

I have an mp3 of one of our rehearsals, but like opening pressies before Xmas day, I don't want to spoil the surprise - so it's not going to be posted.

Beginning to feel it...

2005-11-25T11:31:00.000+09:00

I'm beginning to get the feeling that I need to get out of Japan for a few weeks, or at least out of Toyama. The past few months have been really great, some of the best times that I have had in Japan.

However, I realised today that my genkiness levels are definitely low. For two reasons: 1)teaching my first-graders is usually good fun, but today it was a little draining; 2) it's Friday and all I feel like doing is going to bed this evening, when usually I'm itching to have a drink or two.

Time is ticking by...

2005-11-22T13:57:00.000+09:00

Yes it is!!! My god time is going fast! Having done one year in Japan, I have found that this second year is already flying by at alarming rate. Having a quick look back at past entries in this blog has made my realise how quickly everything has happened since this second year stint in Japan started at the beginning of August.

Currently stressing about my Japanese test! Have been extremely chilled about it until recently; but since last night that has all changed since the realisation of the greatness of the task ahead and the shortness of time dawned on me.

So as a result, like this hibernating door mouse (kindly see picture opposite) I have decided to shun the outside world and only be seen out in day or moonlight on extremely rare occasions (tomorrow's thanksgiving dinner being one) or when disturbed by passing ramblers.

Unlike this door mouse, however, my aim will be to keep my eyes open for some of the time.

Rhapsody on Route 8

2005-11-16T08:45:00.000+09:00

The Bento boys are straight out of the studio with their phat new track - 'Rhapsody on Route 8'; a homage to life in Japan as an ALT with attitude.

The Bento Boys have confided that they feel that they've have grown mentally, physically and musically since the last track 'I wanna Bento', adding that this new track is some of the 'funkiest shit we have ever done. We just hope that this music might bring some peace to the world'.

It's available to download here:
http://s7.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2HHKJJ145C9S406SG7XTZZVD4U

Another weekend of craziness!

2005-11-14T11:00:00.000+09:00

It's Monday morning and in need of a bit of a rest after the weekend. Managed to do two taiko performances (one for the grand opening of a new community centre; the other for what appeared to be an old granny festival); fit in a band practice; go on the kurobe railway; finish off the recording and editing of the new Bento track; and get a little bit tipsy at a nomihodai.

All-in-all a very good weekend!

The Band: Niikawa now has its very own gaijin rock band, who are currently in the process of rehearsing for the international dinner at Colare (in Kurobe) in December. We'll be playing well-known traditional Christmas songs in a not-so well-known style. The line-up is as follows:

Lee 'holler' Randall - Lead vocals, guitar
Mark 'strummer' Seymour - Lead guitar, backing vocals?
John 'finger-pickin good' Penewit - bass, backing vocals?
Rob 'syncopation' Szeliga - keyboards, backing vocals?
Adam 'animal' Matthews - Drums, handclaps, backing vocals?

We are currently rehearsing in a Christian (!) church in Nyuzen.

Kurobe railway: Managed to fit a visit up the Kurobe gorge to have a 'butcher's' (trans: look at, investigate) at the koyo (trans: autumn leaves). Very impressive. It is the perfect time to go up there, as the snow is appearing on the mountains and the leaves are at their most colourful. It is really is absolutely breath-taking, and a million miles away from the urban sprawl of Toyama.

Bento update: The new bento track is nearly ready for release, just a little bit of final mixing and fiddling around and it should be up on this site by the end of the week.

Taiko: Two concerts in one weekend! A new record!

Nomihodai: Friday night was spent eating and drinking at a really cool restaurant in Funami. The food was amazing and we were even treated to a little shamisen performance by one of the waiters! Yosh!

It's getting cold!!

2005-11-10T08:54:00.000+09:00

I turned my heater on for the first time this week and rather than being happy about the fact that the ski season is drawing closer, I actually felt a little sad that autumn has finished and winter is now upon us.

Last year I went back to England for Christmas and I will never forget the first night back in my apartment in Japan. It was absolutely freezing!! I spent the night dressed in my ski clothes (including hat and gloves) wondering what the hell was going! It is a night that keeps flashing back whenever I feel the slightest chill. It's happened a few times this week!

Another week goes by...

2005-11-07T13:38:00.000+09:00

Another week has flown by. Have absolutely no idea where the time goes at all!

So here's a list of things that I've been up to the last week or so:

1. Working on the new Bento Brothers track. As soon as it is ready for release it will no doubt be posted on this blog for your listening pleasure. The Bento Brothers are being particularly secretive about this one and have refused to comment on it at all, other than mention that it does 'rock the jams'.

2. 'Robot fest'. The lunatics took over the asylum down near Toyama airport as all sorts of robots (and not so-robots) were packed into a big hall.
Incidently, a good game to play is 'real or robot' - an enthralling game where contestants have to decide if the object in front of them is a real person or a robot. This game proves particularly difficult when driving along the expressway and deciding whether the 'wavey-hand men' are real or robot. Please try it- it really passes the time on long car journeys. (Sunday)
3. School: Ticking by nicely, although the timetable keeps on getting changed and sometimes it's difficult to keep track of what lessons I have and haven't taught!

4. Elementary school concert: My elementary school had a concert to thank all the people who came and worked there (including your humble blog-writer). I had absolutely no idea until I found myself in a room of suited Japanese being briefed on what was coming up, and then walking into a hall full of people applauding. I was the only one not wearing a suit, having decided that morning to go casual - black and rather tatty leather jacket and all! Whoops! But all went well despite said cock-up! (Saturday)5. TV interview: Yes another one! This is getting ridiculous! But this time I had to talk about my school in England, which people are absolutely fascinated about in Japan as it looks very similar to Hogwarts from Harry Potter. They also told me that from now on they want me to do an interview every month about something else about English life! Yikes! So next month, ladies and gentlemen - the drinking culture in England! (Friday)

6. Noticing how quickly the weather is changing...winter approaching!

Weekend musical bonanza...

2005-11-01T08:38:00.001+09:00

From the Monday with the Terauchi concert all the way to my koto debut on Sunday - this week has been extremely musical.

Slightly tired after the previous night's Queen concert, Friday night saw the Bento Boys and others playing Bananas for the JET Halloween party. Really good night, lots of drinking and dancing - exactly what a good night should have!

Saturday morning, still feeling surprisingly genki after last night's escapades I found myself sitting in the staff room of Asahi Junior High twiddling my thumbs and thinking about the previous night!!! Quite funny, as still think I must have been slightly tipsy since I couldn't stop tapping my foot and dancing to the imaginary beat (or the telephone ringing, the photocopier, or the Kocho-sensei MC-ing the days important notices). By the afternoon, however, was feeling slightly worse for wear as I sat through the three-hour marathon that is the Singing contest.
By evening was feeling slightly better and Rob and I ended up having a drink or two at some of Asahi's world-famous watering holes.

Sunday - fully rested after the crazy previous few days it was time to get myself calm and compsed for my koto debut. For those of you who don't know, the koto is a kind of Japanese 13 stringed-harp. It would also be my first time in a kimono, which certainly proved quite a big deal for the four oba-chans who dressed me. They were arguing and pushing me around, fussing over every little knot and detail.

Despite a number of mistakes and a slightly awkward final bow (which had the audience laughing at my confusion) the concert was a great success. It felt a million miles away from both the Queen concert on Thursday and Friday night's Halloween party - dancing like an alcohol-crazed nutter.

We will rock you...

2005-10-28T12:05:00.000+09:00

Saw Queen (with Paul Rodgers) last night at the Saitama Super Arena (which is exactly that - it's huge!). Have to say it was pretty amazing and Bryan May's guitaring is absolutely phenomenal!! V. impressed!

I wanna bento

2005-10-27T13:44:00.000+09:00

The brand new tune from Niikawa's very own - 'Bento Brothers' is now available for download free at this site:

http://d5.yousendit.com/E/1V72GSKPMOIHN25SPKX2SV0VIW/Iwannabento.mp3
The Bento Brother's tell me that the piece is all about waking up in the morning and wanting to eat a large bento (as opposed to the smaller ones), along with some jam and toast and assortment of other tasty treats. It's also about war and peace, world poverty, the universe and Halloween. Don't miss them at this year's Toyama Halloween Party. One night only!

A quick word about speech contests

2005-10-26T15:52:00.000+09:00

Last Saturday I saw two of my students participate in the Toyama Prefecture Junior High School Speech Contest - and what a strange event it was!

The competition started at 1pm and didn't finished until about 5.30pm, by which time we had all watched about sixty students talking about all sorts of things from world poverty, to how they broke their leg, or how nice their friends were, to why maps in Australia are upside down. It was a real marathon.

What was particularly interesting was the delivery of most of the speeches. Some of the students were prancing around left, right and centre, and gesticulating like their lives depended on it! I can't begin to imagine the amount of time and effort that must have gone into it all.

Unfortunately my students didn't win (it may have been the lack of gesticulation and prancing). Which was a real shame considering we had trekked out of the countryside and ventured into the city. I would have thought we should have got some credit for that - we are but country bumpkins.

Kicking out the jams at school...

2005-10-26T15:23:00.000+09:00

This Monday was a very strange day at school. Arrived slightly bleary-eyed after a hard weekend of eating, drinking, and speech contests to be told that our local Board of Education were putting on a rock concert. I couldn't believe my ears - and quickly imagined a bunch of suited-up middle-aged Japanese salarymen rocking out in front the school.

This was not to be.

Instead we were treated to a concert by Terauchi Takeshi (kindly see picture above) - a man who (according to his good self) invented the guitar! This was too good to be true. 'What the hell was going on here?' I kept on asking myself as I sat with the entire Junior and Senior High Schools of Asahi (and some of Terauchi's fans who'd obviously sneaked in). This could never happen in England.

Terauchi is apparently quite famous all over the world: especially in America, Russia and South America. But I have yet to find any Americans who has ever heard of him. But he played a pretty mean guitar, and his band were tight. Even so, it couldn't stop the scores of school kids nodding off, and one of the English teacher's from inspecting the inside of his eyelids.

Catch him at a High School near you!

Sorry...

2005-10-25T09:11:00.000+09:00

Sorry, no blog-posting recently. Have been rather busy with one thing or another, and will no doubt write all about it at a later date.

Bye-bye

Japanese country life

2005-10-17T10:15:00.000+09:00

Being a JET out in the Japanese countryside obviously has its up and downs. For some the downs seem very obvious indeed - not really a lot to do, not many other foreigners around you and so on. There is a huge difference between town and country wherever you go - but in Japan this difference is definitely more pronounced.

A JET living in Osaka or Tokyo is living a completely different life to mine. They could probably get by without very much Japanese at all, could buy Western-style food at all hours of the day and, I would imagine do a lot of similar things that they would do back in their own country (go to the cinema, pub, eat Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding!!!)

But outside of a Japanese mega-metropolis it is much more difficult to do these kind of things - a casual visit to the cinema is a major excursion!

But a look around you reveals all sorts of wonders about Japanese culture. Like most other places in the world the countryside is always going to be more conservative, and although at times this can make life a little different for the outsider, it also means that old traditions are carried on with little or no change.

So over the past year I have gone to regular classes in Japanese taiko drumming, koto and tea ceremony. With my taiko group I have been to more festivals than you can shake a large stick at - festivals that otherwise I had absolutely no idea existed. Festivals different in every way from size to attitude - from the cheery blossom festival with the dancing geishas, to the massive Fukumitsu festival with the drunken crowds, to the tiny Cosmos festival last weekend. All these Japanese festivals provide their own charm and insight into Japanese culture.

Playing the taiko, koto, and going to tea ceremony class has taught me so much about Japanese culture; and because it is in the countryside, you feel that it is as close to the traditional as you are ever going to get. Being in the Japanese countryside you can get some idea of old Japan. A Japan that has long gone, but who's general thoughts and attitudes still remain - from practicing the same taiko song over and over again to the zen-like delicacies of the tea ceremony. I have learnt more from Japan participating in these activites than I have visiting temples and shrines and my many sight-seeing trips.

Old Japan is alive and well.

When will I be famous?

2005-10-12T15:25:00.000+09:00

Last night a strange thing happened - I watched myself on Japanese TV.

My Japanese teacher invited me round to her house to watch the interview live on her TV. I was sat there nervously eating the food which she prepared with her husband, drinking a beer and waiting to hear the words 'ALT' and 'Marku-san'.

Of course - it happened and a very strange sensation came over me as I listened to the NHK studio discuss this strange foreign creature called 'Marku-san' to some length before showing a mini-documentary of the life according to a rural ALT.

I know most of us who live out here in Japan are probably used to feeling a bit different from everyone else around us; but when there is about 10 minutes set aside in a news programme discussing you it really does press the point home.

They managed to interview everyone from my taiko teacher and various other taiko players (I had no idea what they were saying about me), to my kids at one of my shogakko's! They also decided to show shots of me entering the classroom, playing the drums and poking a kid with a taiko stick!

But overall, despite being a very strange experience and having worries about not being a good celebrity (see earlier blog) I felt it turned out quite well.

Which was nice.

My favourite cities...

2005-10-11T13:17:00.000+09:00

Having just come back from Hiroshima this weekend I have decided to make a list of my favourite Japanese cities - High Fidelity style. So here's my top 5 Japanese cities (in no particular order) -

1. Hiroshima: What a cool city! Didn't really expect much before I went but was very surprised when I got there. Despite the terrible tradegy all those years ago there is a really good atmosphere in ths place. The Hiroshima museum especially was very well-done I thought, displaying what I considered to be a very accurate picture of what happened 60 years ago. Also the local speciality - Hiroshima okonomiyaki is better than Osaka's.
Nightlife: Good. Lots to do.
Site-seeing: What with the powerful symbolism of the Atomic bomb dome, coupled with the Itsukushima 'one of Japan's best sites' Torii at Miyajima - this is all you want from a city.
Down-side: Callum's hiccup episodes after a few pints.

2. Kanazawa: The high point of this place is definitely the ninja temple and Ken-roku-en gardens without a doubt: the garden being what you expect from a Japanese garden; and the temple being one of the most unusual I have ever seen.
Nightlife: Don't know. Suspect it's pretty good though.
Site-seeing: There's a lot to see. Essentially you can really get a good sense of Japanese culture (old and new) with the garden, many temples, the Samurai house and the Geisha district. Bonus point for not featuring on most people's tourist trail of Japan (being favored over Kyoto).
Down-side: A long way to walk between all the places of interest (but that really is nit-picking).

3. Nagoya: As you can probably tell from earlier entries - I really like Nagoya. It has big wide open streets and it doesn't feel really crowded like Osaka and Tokyo. However I think having a friend living there might well impair my judgement somewhat, because when it comes down to sight-seeing there really isn't much to do. Although it does have the Tokugawa museum which has loads of old samurai swords and other cool stuff from that period in Japanese history.
Nightlife: I would say as good as Tokyo or Osaka, if not better. Gets all the big world names in when they come to Japan. In fact compared to clubs I have been to in Osaka and Tokyo it definitely is better.
Sight-seeing: Not really much other than the expo (finished now), the new old-style castle and the Tokugawa musuem. There may be more, but nothing that particularly grabs the eye.
Down-side: Sight-seeing - it lacks all the things that Kanazawa boasts, namely old temples, shrines etc.

4. Kyoto: What can you say? It's definitely the best big city to visit as there is so much old stuff. More temples and shrines than you can shake a large stick at, beautiful gardens, an old castle and lots more. It's very touristy though especially at the big temples like Kiyomizudera, but a little walk off the beaten track and you find loads of other interesting but less-crowded places. Some really beautiful walks as well (Philosopher's path for example).
Nightlife: Don't know.
Sight-seeing: Everything you'd expect at the cultural capital.
Down-side: Too touristy at the main sites.

5. Nara: I like this city, but out of all of the above, I would put this at no 5 on the list. It's small, there are some beautiful walks and its probably got one of Japan's best temples -Todaiji. But all-in-all there is really not enough to do here if you stay longer than one or two days. It's a city, but feels more like a town, which of course has its good and bad points.
Night-life: No idea. But doesn't strike me as a place which would have much.
Sight-seeing: As a daytrip I think Nara would score top marks. You can have a really interesting and packed day looking around all the temples and Shrines in Nara park, deer watching, and so on. But anything more that than and I think you're going to be pushing it.
Down-side: It's just a day trip thing. But that isn't really a bad thing.

So there we are! If I could have put Sapporo in I would have done, but there's not enough space and I've only allowed myself 5!

I read the news today...oh boy!

2005-10-05T11:06:00.000+09:00

At the moment my profile in Asahi has somewhat sky-rocketed, and something tells me its only going to increase. This is due to the local cable TV interview which I did a few months ago, a monthly column which I write in the local Asahi monthly newsletter, and a few other TV interviews which will be aired in the near future.

Last week I had another interview with Mirare (the local cable channel) and last night with the big one -NHK!!!! They came to film me hitting a taiko drum (and to do an interview). Incidently, this means that not only the local folk in my area will see my ugly mug, but the whole of Toyama. Hee hee! So the strange looks and stares I get when I go to the supermarket are only going to increase!

Now the thing is I don't mind talking/performing in front of a camera (at school and University I loved performing in plays and in rock bands); but there is something very different about having a camera shoved right in your face whilst are trying to look serious/normal in any way!!! In fact it's very difficult to film anyone going about their day normally.

But most people in Japan seem very good at this. I have no idea why. In fact most of the kids at taiko last night seemed quite unfazed by the camera crew. I have spoken to some teachers at school and they can offer no explanation. It must be that most are used to these sorts of thing from a young age. For example, everyday at Junior High school a different student will stand up in front of the whole school and make an announcement - something that would have given me nightmares as a kid!

So, last night the NHK camera crew came to taiko practice to film me banging on a drum. The cameraman captured me playing from all angles - from above, the side as well as the appealing worm-eyes view! What didn't help was that each time the camera 'clicked on' my 'gaijin-in-crime' John made my laugh by pulling stupid faces off camera. So God only knows what it's going to look like. Hopefuly when they come to film me teaching (!!!!) at Elementary school this Thursday I'll be a little more used to it!

The NHK interview will be shown next Thursday 13th October @ 6.10pm. The cable interview will be on every (!!!!) day starting from this Friday 7th October and will run for a week. Maybe Newsnight or Parkinson might be interested!

Note to self: I would make a terrible celebrity!

Hoo hum...

2005-10-03T10:52:00.000+09:00

Feeling alittle bit under the weather this morning after my house party on Saturday night. Drank rather too much after a completely dry week. Not a good thing this binge drinking. Must drink in moderation!!

But the house party went well. Apparently we could be heard all the way down the street! Luckily the police weren't called! If they had they would have found a flat full of drunks and someone taking off his clothes in my living room! Ha ha!

The weird and wonderful...

2005-09-30T09:22:00.000+09:00

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

2005-09-27T14:15:00.000+09:00

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!

2005-09-26T12:07:00.000+09:00

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...

2005-09-20T10:47:00.000+09:00

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...

2005-09-14T10:00:00.000+09:00

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

2005-09-12T10:40:00.000+09:00

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

2005-09-07T08:57:00.000+09:00

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!

2005-09-03T09:14:00.000+09:00

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.

Hokkaido Happiness...

2005-08-30T19:55:00.000+09:00

Last week went to Hokkaido and was very suprised. Why? Because it is not at all like Honshu. Hardly anyone lives there and there are virtually no rice paddies!

We took the 16 hour Niigata - Otaru ferry and arrived in Hokkaido early in the morning. Having taken a very long detour we drove to Asahikawa - Hokkaido's second biggest city. But don't be fooled, this is nothing like Tokyo or Osaka - more like a Northern Toyama but without the Russians on bicycles!

Asahikawa is really close to the Daisetsusan nature reserve which has some stunning mountains, gorges and waterfalls. It is beautiful, but not a patch on the two lakes - Shikotsuko and Toyako, which are situated surprising close to Chitose, Hokkaido's no1 airport. When you think of the number of Japanese people who have visited Hokkaido on holiday, it`s amazing that this place has not been developed more!

We stayed two nights at Lake Shikotsuko camping/sleeping in the back of my car. It was virtually empty. Everything closed at 6pm including the gate to the campsite. We then spent the next couples of days visiting the many onsens and volcanos and taking in the sulphuric/eggy smells of the Jigokudani (which remind me of the geesers and hot water pools at Yellowstone park).

Our final stop - Sapporo was a blast. It`s a great city with a great nightlife and lots to do. It reminds me a lot of an American city, wide streets and fairly easy to navigate. Suskino is also one of the liveliest places I`ve seen in Japan.

Overall, I would thoroughly recommend going to Hokkaido. Even during the peak holiday season there aren`t the crowds you would expect. However, without a car I think you`re wasting your time. There`s too much to see which wouldn`t be accessible by train and who wants to go on a tour bus?

I like Nagoya!!

2005-08-19T11:14:00.000+09:00

Spent the week down in Nagoya. I really like Nagoya!

My new baby...

2005-08-11T15:43:00.000+09:00

Dear readers,

sorry to be a complete geek, but my new iriver 40 GB mp3 player arrived in the post today. It's one of the best things I have ever bought!! It's great!

For the past three to four months I have been umming and arghhing about what sort of thing to get. It basically came down to either an ipod or an iriver. I choose the iriver. In the end it was a complete spare of the moment decision.

I love it!! It's all mine! HA HA HA!!!!

Nursery School

2005-08-10T11:49:00.000+09:00

The past few weeks I have been making regular visits to Nursery schools, round and about in Asahi. There are ten in total and over the course of two weeks, I will have visited all of them. They are all different sizes - some have only 10 students, whilst others are nearly 150; but the kids are exactly the same in all of them! Crazy!

What is so funny is that kids at this age are the same all over the world - there are the cheeky ones, the shy ones, the big ones, the small ones and the rather smelly ones. The only difference from, for example, the children I met in Botswana, is that there is a lot of ceremony before a lesson gets started. One of the things which also cracks me up, is a group of kids bowing simultaneously at the beginning and end of my "English" lessons (in actually fact, my classes are just an excuse to go crazy with the kids for about an hour). It's unbelieveably kawaiiiiiii and extremely funny. I wonder where else in the world this happens?

Here we are having a game of 'What time is it?' It's exactly the same as 'What's the time Mr. Wolf'. Always goes down well. Note Zander and Gail's monster impersonations.

Essential checklist

2005-08-09T09:05:00.000+09:00

My brother and sister-in-law were down visiting last week, for only a week. Somehow we managed to do pretty much everything we wanted to do.
Here's my checklist of things to do in Japan if you only have six days!

1. Karaoke (bar and booth)
2. Temple
3. Japanese garden
4. Print club
5. Meet members of the town council (this is entirely optional, but always makes for a good photo! Hee hee)

6. Take an onsen (indoor and outdoor)
7. Meet local friends, get drunk with local friends and sing karaoke with local friends.
8. Shinkansen (what more can you say)
9. Go into a Pachinko parlour (but for God's sake don't play it! You might like it...maybe not)
10. Eat natto/umeboshi/anything else that looks like a monster from an old sci-fi film.

Rules for rules sake...

2005-07-25T19:48:00.000+09:00

If there is one thing that really annoys me it's rule-following to the absolute letter.

Rules are generally a good thing - but I don't believe in absolutes.

Why am I saying this? Well, today I spent the whole morning sitting in a staff room in Japan doing nothing. There was nothing for me to do. No teaching. No lesson planning. Nothing. But I had to be there, and I have to be there for the rest of the summer holidays.

The strange thing is that usually I get a real sense of excitement for summer - as the weather gets hotter and the nights get longer. This year, for the first time, I don't have that same excitement. The endless summer does not appeal.

Why am I moaning? I'm getting paid a good wage to sit on my arse and do nothing. Isn't that what everyone dreams of? Well, that is true to some extent. But why then do so many people in my situation get so pissed off with this? If this was so great, then why do some many English teachers complain about having nothing to do.

I think it boils down to one thing - the following of rules for the sake of following rules. Blooded-mindedness. What really annoys me, is not that I have abolutely nothing to do, (I actually quite enjoy that) but rather my contract says that I have to go to school everyday in the summer holiday. This is what I have to do, whether it is useful or not. There are no 'ifs' or 'buts'. No exceptions. My requests for absence are rejected with the following phase: 'This is not the Japanese way'.

I am not going to say that this is a particularly serious situation. It pisses me off, but in no way is it life threatening. It's a small problem. However, the social trait of following rules without exception is extremely dangerous and life-threatening. This is how wars get started. If people had stood up against the little things which seemed to contravene their own common sense, then maybe the great tyrants of history would never have caused the damage that they did.

Perhaps the greatest thing I had ever learnt at school was to question. Thinking back, this was not something which came easily to me. It took years to learn - years and years of essay writing. I learnt to question and then to give my own point of view. If I had written in any of my finals an answer which went along the lines of - 'Unfortunately, I cannot comment, as this is the British way of doing things' - I would have failed my degree (and by extension not be living and working in Japan right now).

It is so important to think carefully about what you believe in, and not just take the easy road. The people I admire the most (Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, Mother Theresa...), are those who took the rocky path and followed what they believed was right within the confines of the law. The ability to question and to reason is what makes human beings so unique and wonderful. It's just a shame when we don't fulfill this potential.

The London bombs

2005-07-20T08:50:00.000+09:00

This is taken from a monthly column which I am writing for the local newspaper in Asahi, Japan:

This month there was a terrorist bomb back in my homeland in England; a bomb which killed more than fifty people and injured many more. Many believe it was a retaliation against the western occupation of Iraq by England, America and other countries (including Japan), and that it was carried out by Islamic extremists.

People in England were warned that a terrorist attack would happen and it did. We were not surprised, and the week after the attacks people were back to work as normal. We cannot let this sort of incident affect our daily lives.

However, the bombers did not come from Iraq, Iran or Afghanistan – they were English, and had lived in England all their lives. They had gone to English schools and universities and been a part of English society. One of them was a teacher. The kind of person I have probably sat opposite on the bus to work everyday or lived next door to. In Japan, people notice the foreigner on the train or walking through town. But in England, everyone looks different. The terrorist could be anyone.

These bombers wanted to kill anyone and everyone, regardless of age, race or religion. They were Islamic extremists yet they killed and injured fellow Muslims. They were English, yet they killed and injured English people. I believe that people are generally good - whatever religious denomination. It is only a small number of deviants who tarnish a whole religion and a race.

But, we must face the truth. Hatred is within human nature and we must never be arrogant enough to think it is a sentiment foreign to each one of us at one level or another. We cannot blame Muslims. Instead, we need to address the reasons that people feel the need to inflict pain and suffering on others and stop the spread of hate.

Please help...

2005-07-19T14:01:00.000+09:00

Dear whoever is bored enough to be reading this blog,

I am writing to you in these dark and hard times for your help. It will only take a few minutes of your time, but it will make one little creature extremely happy.

Her name is Alice.

By clicking on this link below and voting for her as the cutest kitten you will be helping Alice and her close family lead a fulfilled and happy life in the knowledge that she is in fact a cute kitten. You know it, I know it, but it seems that the average visitor to this website (www.kittenwar.com) does not - she is cute and she is only small.

However, Alice is currently losing her kitten wars against the other kittens (some of which aren't actually kittens and therefore are cheating, but nevermind). This must stop!

Here is the link: http://kittenwar.com/kittens/23905/

Help Alice. This is your chance...Thank you.

ps. while you're at it why don't you also vote for baby gizmo. She also needs your help. She was rescued back in Botswana from a bad home, and we found her a better one. Give her what she deserves, the final icing on the cake - a better ranking in kitten wars. http://kittenwar.com/kittens/20661/
Thank you.

The Fuji Climb...

2005-07-19T11:47:00.000+09:00

Well, it turns out that I have actually managed to get a second entry out of this blog - which is actually quite an achievement!
Anyway, this weekend climbed Mt Fuji, which was pretty crazy and a hell of a lot more tiring and strenous than I was expecting. Climbing for over six hours is tiring enough, but it was the crowds that really made it an endurance test. We set of from the fifth station - Kawaguchiko in Yamanashi prefecture at around 6pm in the evening. We carried on climbing until about ten that same evening, by which time were at the eighth station, and feeling extremely confident that we would make it to the top by sunset. This was not to be the case. By the time we were off again just before 2am (having slept in one of the mountain cabins) we realised that everyone else on the mountain had exactly the same idea. The sheer volume of people was so overwhelming I wouldn't have been surprised if the mountain had erupted! There were hundreds, maybe even thousands - it was too difficult to tell. It was like the queues for the toilets at the Glastonbury Festival. What should have been a relatively short hike to the top (taking two hours max), ended up being a four hour struggle, through the wind, rain and cold. As you can imagine morale was low.

The view from the top was breath-taking. We looked over Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures, some of the least developed parts of Japan that I have yet seen. It was beautiful.

The top was crowded and very cold and it wasn't long before we all started heading down in dribs and drabs, skidding down the scree slope at five times the speed of our ascent! We arrived back down at the base camp around 9am.

Tired and emotional I managed to pass out pretty quickly in the baking sun only to be woken up with bouts of bad news about one ALT walking down the wrong path and ending up in the wrong prefecture and bad sunburn! Hee hee. Amanda, the poor ALT in the wrong ken, ended up having to get the train back and we headed off on the 8 hour journey back through the mountains.
A crazy two days. I think I'll put it down to an experience, which I'm glad that I've done, but a repeat performance is unlikely any time soon!

2005-06-10T08:41:00.000+09:00

Well this is the start of my blog - which to be honest is something I've never thought about doing until I got into work this morning and realised that there is very little for me to do today! So I'm really not sure how long it's going to last!