"...like a soccer mom on crack"

Ah good God! What a busy weekend, and I am horribly underprepared for going home!

On Friday, I was supposed to be going night boarding with Nate, but it fell through cause the skijo was closed. :( So me, Nate and Joe went to dinner. Nate and Joe ate tempura garlic cloves (smelly!). Hung at Lindsay's for a wee while, then Joe and I went back to mine. Watched Buffy. Slept. Woke up, felt cold, room smelled like garlic. Went to city. Read musical script with a bunch of people.

Came back mid afternoon, met by Nate at train station, and BOARDED! What an epic. We left Miyoshi at 4.30pm totally fired up, thinking we'd arrive nice and early, eat our conbini dinner in the car, and be on the slopes promptly by 6.30pm, when the night session starts. HA!

The trouble started about halfway up the mountain, when we ran into the back of a queue of cars, all stopped for no apparent reason. We got out, and managed to pick up that the ski bus was coming down from the day session, and we had to pull off the road to let it past. Ok. We pulled off the road... and got stuck in the snow! We were in a teeny weeny k-plate car, and hadn't put chains on yet. So we needed a push to get started again.

Not 10 minutes later, we ran into ANOTHER line of stopped cars. Again, out we got, and it seemed another bus was coming down. Ok. We figured we'd put the chains on this time. We silently cursed the huge 4x4 monsters, and their smug drivers as they pulled away from us, and set about wrestling the chains onto the front wheels. Well, Nate wrestled. I held the torch. :) The bus came down the hill, and we waved to it as it passed. Probably the filthiest, most suprised looks either of us had ever received from Japanese people. Chains on, we were good to go!

Now we were second in a line of cars, ahead of us a Ford pickup, which looked like it could handle anything. Not so, it would seem. It looked like the car had no snow tyres or chains on (suicide on this crazy-ass road). Time and again, we would start to go up a bit of an incline, and time and again, we would see the back wheels of this beast spinning furiously, while the front ones refused to budge. Tsk. Back wheel drive. (Nate taught me about the difference between front and back wheel drive while we were sat waiting, so I feel quite justified to tsk) Nate finally got fed up with this, and at the next hill, got out to see what was up. When he got out, the drivers behind followed his lead, and between them, they managed to get the pickup up the hill. By this time, it was getting late, and we were getting rather impatient to still be stuck out on the road.

Yet again, though, the Ford struggled at the next hill. We watched incredulously as the driver tried and tried to gun it over an icy pothole, and failed time and again. Once again, the other drivers got out. This time it was game over. Nate reported that the concensus was that the truck should pull off and let everyone pass. They had been "voted off the island". Hee hee! Nate got in, put the car in drive... and we listened in disbelief to the unmistakable sound of tyres spinning without finding traction. Nate eased, off, tried again. Nothing. WTF?? We've got chains! We've got snow tyres! What's the deal here?! We looked at eachother, horrified at the thought that WE had become the roadhogs, holding everyone else up. We tried again, and this time I heard a different noise. The noise of a "soccer mom on crack".

Let me describe this concept to you. In the UK, we have PTA parents. You know the type. They stay in the Wimpies, they drive Rovers or Vauxhalls. Their children are named Sarah or Kevin. They like to push their kids. They help out at the school sale, or disco, or play. In the US, they have soccer moms. Moms who drive huge station wagons, whose sons are on sports teams (soccer) and who go to every game, screaming their little darlings on. They're probably on the PTA too. I bet they have names like Joyce. Or Shelley. Or Bree (Desperate Housewives, anyone?).

Well, Nate's strategy for getting his tin can of a car moving again was to scream at it like, well, a soccer mom on crack. It's ear shattering. "COME ON BABY, COME ON BABY, BABY YEAH, WOOO HOOOOO, COME ON BABY, ALLLLLRIIIIIGHT, WOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!". And you know what? It worked. The car found the bite, and we edged forward. Awww yeah! Let's hear it for the soccer mom (that's him showing off his ski wear)! We edged past the stuck truck, and I got a look at the occupants: two girls, looking far from happy. Bloody Kagawans. They should stay in Kagawa. Safely on the road again, albeit with a severe case of tinnitus, we made good progress up the mountian. We rounded a bend, and were confronted by what can only be described as a pile of snow boulders. I actually thought at this point that we had been defeated, but Nate found his inner soccer mom again, and the car shuddered sort of over and around the obstacle.

By this time, it was past 7pm, so the order of the day was "Screw the food, find a toilet, and get on the slopes!". Which we did. I had an excellent first board of the season, and for a near-first timer, Nate is a fantastic boarder. We had one unfortunate incident, where my board got wedged where the sun don't shine (that would be Nate's, not mine), while his board decided to beat my elbow up, but apart from that, we were beautiful. I even managed to do a wee jump, which felt good. Haven't really hung out with Nate for a while, so it was nice to chat away with him while having tonnes of fun.

Tired, somewhat sore, but very happy, we called it a night just before 10pm. Sadly, the mountain hadn't finished with us, and not five minutes after we took the chains off, we had a bit of a bump. Nothing serious: I have a wonderful purple knee today, and the headlight casing of the car got smashed, but we were otherwise fine. Except that the car was a lender whilst Nate's own car was being fixed after a crash earlier this week. Eek.

It was snowing heavily even down in town. On the drive home, I saw a lady walking in the snow, lit by the sodium yellow glow of a streetlight. I was reminded of one night years ago. I think it was Christmas Eve. Me, mum and dad were still up, late into the night, and we had switched off all the lights apart from the Christmas treee lights. We had opened the window blinds, and were watching a blizzard outside. I remember seeing a family from down the street, bundled up against the weather, on their way home from the church watch night service. I just have this one image of their forms, and the only light being the street lamp they were walking under, and I remember feeling so safe and warm and happy inside, sitting beside Dad, watching the crazy weather. I'm going home on Thursday. :)

White stuff baby!

Awww yeah! I'm going boarding tonight! Woo hoo! I am so psyched about this!

Heading up with young Nate (other Nate, not AJET Nate for obvious reasons) after school, and, providing we can get his wee lender car up the mountain (had a crash the other week, the Suzuki is in the shop), we'll be whizzing down the hill by 6.30pm or so. Bring it on!

I have to go to elementary school like now, but I am reluctant to leave, as it is snowing something chronic outside. Here is a picture, but you really can't see how hard the snow is coming down. This is my sports ground at school. Normally the mountains are right there, but you can't see them today. Chilly!

See ya!

AJET Superstars!

Four days in Tokyo really takes it out of you! But I had a good time, seeing all the AJET crew, some of whom I haven't seen since May. So much happened during the weekend, here are bullet form highlights, cause this entry would be ridiculously long otherwise:

- Waking up on Saturday morning to a view of the Tokyo skyscrapers, edged with trees still in beautiful autumnal colours was awesome.

- We found a great place for dinner on Saturday, Y2100 for tabe/nomihoudai (10 pounds all you can eat/drink). We could pour our own beer too! Tip: never let a Jamaican named Kevin pour you a beer: you'll end with with more head on it than if a Japaese person had poured it!

- Spent the later part of Saturday night fooling around in Nate and Michael's room. Nate is such a star, I wish he stayed closer to me! At one point, I took off my bra (under my jumper!), as the wire was digging in. Poor Michael didn't know where to look! Then Nate wrote PEN15 on my arm... I wanted to be cool, but I didn't realise til it was too late.... Oh well! It was Nate who wrote, and Nate is inherently cool, and he's my darling on the council, so it was ok. :)

-Spent much of Sunday asking various people where my bra was, which was amusing.

-Threw a fit on Sunday night over stupid accommodation arrangements, so we trooped across town to where Steve and Yih had stayed before. Not fun.

- Had to change accommodation AGAIN on Monday night, but at least this place had free porn, so me, Susan and Jamie spent a productive hour evaluating various performances.

-Christian decided to grace me with his presence on Monday night, the result being that I got NO sleep, as he snores like a mofo, and that the entire night was an exercise in balance, as Christian spread himself over the entire bed, granting me only a small space at the edge. Christian is a big bloke, kicking him to get him to move feels like, and has the result of, kicking a brick wall. The result being that I woke up feeling like I'd never even gone to bed.

- Gave good presentations for the CLAIR/MEXT folk, went out drinking with them afterwards, made lots of inroads, felt sad that so many JETs think CLAIR does dick for them. Simply isn't true! Some of the nicest, most hard-working people I've met in this country!

-Home last night to freezing temperatures and steady snowfall. Woke this morning missing my AJET buds, but looking forward to my trip home. And it's a snow day: no classes!

Pictures: Some of our crew, in no real order: Nate on the far left, Jamie, Froilan, me, Jessie, Mia, Kevin and Alex in the corner. Then Yih and Jamie strike some poses for us. Then there is a view from one of the windows on the 19th floor of Shinkasumigaseki, the buliding that houses CLAIR. You can JUST make out Fuji-san in the background. It's a very rare event indeed these days to see Fuji from smog-clogged Tokyo.

Muppet Weekend

Ah, tough life this! I'm off to Tokyo tomorrow for an AJET/CLAIR/MEXT meeting. The Tokyo bit in itself is not the best: Tokyo's great, but it does begin to, well, grate after a while. But I AM pumped about seeing my fellow AJET Muppets. Specially those I spent the two crazy weeks with in Tokyo this summer. Good kids. Muppets cause a) I love them like you love the Muppets and b) cause we are in the middle of a big screw-up, and one might hold us responsible like you might hold Miss Piggy responsible for squishing Kermit. But it'll get sorted. I'm hoping to get in a game of poker with them over the weekend.

I've just been reading the Xanga blog of a friend who left this summer. I didn't know Joe very well, he came over the same time as me, but we always moved in different circles. But whenever I met him, he was such a nice guy, genuinley interested in what you had to say, and was just a really top bloke. Isn't it funny who you miss? He seems to be doing well at home. In fact, all the people I am in touch with who left last summer seem to be doing well! Heather landed a great job, and seems so happy and content, Sarah has a plan of action, Jane is working (and worrying) her socks off as per usual, Dubs has got a job relevant to Japan, and all the other people who left Japan are equally well-engaged, it seems. It's encouraging! There's hope yet!

Closer to home, we are still stuck in some autumn-winter black hole. It's cold as hell, it's been snowing, and yet the leaves are not leaving the trees (you can almost hear them sing "We shall not be moved"). Odd, but in a nice way. It's quite a beautiful transition.

Current music: An album by Ozo Matli, a Latin - Hip-hop fusion outfit. They are cool, and my favourite rapper, Tuna Fish from J5, does vocals. Think I'll copy this one for Tim, the sort of stuff he likes, I think. :)

Decking the Halls

We took ourselves up to Higashiiya on Thursday night, to Nate’s house. On Friday, we were going on our annual Miyoshi-gun Junior High School Christmas Carol Tour, starting as ever with the furthest-flung school (H.Iya). Thursday night, however, was a night for relaxing and catching up with some people that I haven’t seen for a long time.

Nate’s had a lovely cosy atmosphere. He has just bought two lamps from Sean, an American lamp-maker who lives locally. The lamps are beautiful, to me they’re quite maternal in theme, and the light they gave off was somewhat womb-like. Anyway, ten of us crowded into the only heated room in Nate’s house, and chatted, had some drinks, sang some songs, and generally chilled out. It was a really nice night, and if I hadn’t received the last ever email from Stu just before we got there, I would have had a lovely time. Said email arrived, however, and I spent much of the night swallowing lumps in my throat, and blinking back tears from my eyes. But I’m not going to write about that anymore, because now it’s over. However sad that is, and it is, it’s time again put him in a part of my mind that’s warm and safe, but seldom visited. (Really, how can someone who was in my life for such a short time have such a de-stabilising effect on me?)

On Friday, we were up not-so-bright, but very early, and after an excellent breakfast of eggs with peppers and onion, and Danish toast (Nate’s a wonderful host), we were on our way, decked out variously in reindeer antlers, Santa suits and ‘capelets’, and tinsel. My tinsel lasted til the third school, Yamashiro, before some girls decided it was the coolest thing ever, and relieved me of it. Oh well!

It was a cold day, and just before our lunch stop, the heavens opened. After lunch, we went to a school in nearby Hashikura, which is for kids with physical and mental disabilities. It was the first time ALTs had gone there to sing carols, and I’m really glad we did. The kids seemed to really enjoy the spectacle, and I think the teachers were happy we’d gone too. Not long after, it was the Miyoshi kids’ turn for some fun. Everyone probably thinks that their own students were the genkiest and cutest, and most charming, but I am proud to say that my ones were for sure up there in the top two or three schools for welcoming us, and getting right into the mood. In my opinion. But I think lots of people would agree with me!

I was worried, because we were told to sing inside as a result of the rain, and I thought it might dull the mood. The whole school came down to the assembly area, and we got up on the wee podium in front. Lots of my 3rd grade girls were shouting for me, and waving at me. I shouted good afternoon, and then asked That Question: “How are you doing today?”, and the ENTIRE SCHOOL, all 250 or so students, yelled back “I’M FINE THANK YOU, AND YOU?” . All at the same time, perfect unison. It was a beautiful moment, and all I could do was just grin madly and stick my thumbs up at them (cheesy!). My babies. We then proceeded to rock the house, and the best part was when a rendition of ‘Deck the Halls’ turned into ‘1000 Miles’ by The Proclaimers. We sang the ‘last’ song, and started to leave. Then the first whispers of ‘encor-u’ (encore in Katakana English) began. I pretended to not here them, and cupped my hand to my ear in an effort to better understand them. Soon the entire student body was screaming “ENCOR-U!”, and I finally said “Oh, right, I get it!”. And we went again. Before we headed off to the next school, my lovely Kocho-sensei showed us into his office where we were served hot chocolate and crisps, and then we were off. I love my students! It was the best atmosphere we’ve ever had at Miyoshi, and I needn’t have worried about a dull mood!

After we had finished the tour, we were all done in, but I was in an ‘all back to mine’ sort of mood, so that is indeed what we did. Had a good game of poker, ate some yummy pizza, and huddled under my kotatsu. I was pretty tired, however, and felt fairly snappy, which I felt bad about.

On Sunday I went to sit a Japanese test. But the less said about that the better. The me and Joe and Lindsay came back to mine, swathed ourselves in blankets, watched the excellent 'Labyrinth' and ate (more) pizza. And it snowed, so it was COLD.

I am very much looking forward to bidding 2005 farewell. It’s had some incredible highs, and some horrific lows, and it has made me feel tired and old. I actually think I have some bona-fide wrinkles now! Anyway, the New Year will herald a new… well, year. A new start. Time to get focused, get the last bit of childishness out of me and be happy. Looking forward to it.

If you love something....

...give it away.

What they don't tell you, is the second part of this little life-tip. "After you've given it away, your heart will feel like it's been ripped from it's chest, because now you are without the thought that nursed you to sleep at night, and woke you up with it's possibilites the next morning".

If you walk away I walk away
first tell me which road you will take
I don't want to risk our paths crossing somday
so you walk that way I'll walk this way

We made love on the living room floor
with the noise in the background from a televised war
And in the deafening pleasure I thought I heard someone say
"If we walk away,they’ll walk away"

BRIGHT EYES

珍しいのクタス

This is my new cactus. It's a rare (or mezurashii) cactus, apparently. Because it has yellow flowers. His name (yes, it's a he) is Hans. He came from Kagawa. His seller is a lovely older German bloke, who speaks wonderful Japanese, and a smattering of English. Each year this gent comes around our schools to sell the plants he grows. I didn't buy any last year, because I had no cash on me at the time. But this year, I wanted to buy a plant because plants are good for the soul, and because this German is such a nice man. He said that soon he would return to Germany to see his 93 year old mother, because he wanted to look into her eyes. I also decided on a slightly more expensive cactus because to sell a plant to me is usually a death sentence for the plant, and I want this one to have a fighting chance. It only needs watered once a week. I think my sunflower from ren-cho lasted all of two days. I shally try harder, with Hans, my German cactus.