Well, maybe that's a little too dramatic of a title, but I certainly did get a reminder of my impending departure from Miyoshi. My successor's name. And only her name. They won't tell me anything else yet. Which is kind of ok with me. I just had a lovely weekend, and I'm not ready to gush details of my town to someone else quite yet. :)
Joe came round Friday night, and we cooked a superb pasta dish. I think it could have used more sauce, but it was yummy all the same. Then we watched The Crow, and I got a big natsukashii feeling in my tummy, and remembered how into all that Gothic crap I was. Before Gothic became cool. Good film. Glad I'm not 16 anymore. Who'd be that age? Seriously....
On Saturday, I bought Mika lunch then waded shin deep in the most glorious mud ever in order to plant a few, erm, plants? of rice. What does one call that? A sheaf of rice? A bunch of rice? I have no idea. Whatever. I planted a few, in bare feet, back all bent. The mud was the best feeling I've ever had between my toes. Hope that Japanese B Encephalytis vaccine still has some punch, though I suspect not... Then I went to an Awa Odori meeting, and didn't follow most of what was going on, but I have been neglecting the ren, I feel, so it was good I went. Things are just stupid crazy at the minute, and it's hard for me to get to all the practices.
Then I came home, and watched Bad Santa (so funny!), and Nate came knocking at my door needing a place to stay, so we chatted about our trip next week, and watched the film.
On Sunday, we got up at 11.30 (great sleep), and then I spent the day watching The Notebook (and cried unashamedly at it), and sleeping some more, and walking a bit, and watching it get dark from my balcony with a cold beer in my hand. It was a nice weekend spent in town, being quiet and not getting crazy. The next load of weekend will be far from that!
Monday, May 29, 2006
Thursday, May 25, 2006
A Year on AJET
It's DONE. I am through, more or less. My life is pretty much my own again. A love you, AJETters of 2005-2006. What a crew. I can't sum them up in words (I've been trying for the last three days, and there's too much I could say. So I shall simply let my pictures (actually a lot of them are Christian's) do the talking. You guys rock my socks, I love you all!
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Typhoon Numer 1 and Other Stories
So yeah, Typhoon Chanchu is currently showing the poor people of China the back of its hand. Down here on Shikoku, we were caught in the fingers of the storm, and had a lot of rain all day long yesterday. We're still rather cloudy today, but it looks like it's going to blow itself out before it hits us. I sort of like typhoons. I hope I get a big mother of one before I leave here to give me a lasting impression...
In other news, I got beaten up by a three year old boy on Tuesday. But he was cute as a bean, so I resited the urge to hit him back. Yuuki has started at Higashiyama's nursery school. He has a gammy leg, so he walks and runs with a limp. He's a a tyke, though. He ran towards where I was sitting on the floor the other day with a big slavery smile on his face, and squealing "Errriiiii!", and when he got to me, gave me a cuff round the jaw. It was pretty sore, but he giggled so much, as did everyone else, so I just poked him in the belly, which made him laugh all the more. Bless.
I had one of those lovely walks the other day, between my house and the Daimaru, where practically every car that passed me had someone in it I knew, and who waved to me. I had the 'Cheers' theme tune running through my head.
Neto-kun and I are off camping in two weeks time. We're going to hike and camp Mount Ishizuchi, the tallest mountain on Shikoku, and the tallest in Western Japan. I am so looking forward to it, but I think it'll be hard. On Nate's advice, I have started running everyday, just a short way to begin with. It feels good, and I am fitter than I thought I was, which is encouraging. I am looking forward to getting up into the mountains, it SO LONG since I topped out! I only hope with weather will be fine.
But this weekend is the biggie in Tokyo: my last AJET meeting. And I won't pretend I'm not looking forward to handing all this over. When this is done, it'll allow me to concentrate on packing up, CV writing, looking for a job, and all that sort of crap. But I'll miss the crew tremendously. There are so many good people on the AJET council, and I have had a lot of fun with them, particularly at the Tokyo Orientations.
Speaking of AJET, it's time to finally bid goodbye to my baby, the Team Taught Pizza. I am now well into the process of handing the beast over to its next nuturer, a person who goes by the name PJ. He sounds well up for his challenge (I certainly hope he is), and I think he'll do a grand job. He has much more experience than I did when I took over, so I have no worries at all.
The Japanese have just passed a law that will make it compulsory for all foreigners to be finger printed on entering the country. They're worried about a threat from terrorists. Well... in my memory, Japan has only been attacked by terrorists once in recent years... and that was by one of their own kind! But no. The gaijin (how I hate that word) must be watched. We are dangerous, dontcha know? I sort of like being dangerous. Sometimes I get eyed up in the street, like I might pounce any minute, and kidnap the next cute little chibi-chan that walks past me. Other times, I know these people are just curious about me. What a mental country this is.
I want to eat pizza. I wonder if there's a Pizza Hut in Kabuki-cho. Maybe slotted between the pachinko parlour and the Russian-staffed soapland. Yummy.
In other news, I got beaten up by a three year old boy on Tuesday. But he was cute as a bean, so I resited the urge to hit him back. Yuuki has started at Higashiyama's nursery school. He has a gammy leg, so he walks and runs with a limp. He's a a tyke, though. He ran towards where I was sitting on the floor the other day with a big slavery smile on his face, and squealing "Errriiiii!", and when he got to me, gave me a cuff round the jaw. It was pretty sore, but he giggled so much, as did everyone else, so I just poked him in the belly, which made him laugh all the more. Bless.
I had one of those lovely walks the other day, between my house and the Daimaru, where practically every car that passed me had someone in it I knew, and who waved to me. I had the 'Cheers' theme tune running through my head.
Neto-kun and I are off camping in two weeks time. We're going to hike and camp Mount Ishizuchi, the tallest mountain on Shikoku, and the tallest in Western Japan. I am so looking forward to it, but I think it'll be hard. On Nate's advice, I have started running everyday, just a short way to begin with. It feels good, and I am fitter than I thought I was, which is encouraging. I am looking forward to getting up into the mountains, it SO LONG since I topped out! I only hope with weather will be fine.
But this weekend is the biggie in Tokyo: my last AJET meeting. And I won't pretend I'm not looking forward to handing all this over. When this is done, it'll allow me to concentrate on packing up, CV writing, looking for a job, and all that sort of crap. But I'll miss the crew tremendously. There are so many good people on the AJET council, and I have had a lot of fun with them, particularly at the Tokyo Orientations.
Speaking of AJET, it's time to finally bid goodbye to my baby, the Team Taught Pizza. I am now well into the process of handing the beast over to its next nuturer, a person who goes by the name PJ. He sounds well up for his challenge (I certainly hope he is), and I think he'll do a grand job. He has much more experience than I did when I took over, so I have no worries at all.
The Japanese have just passed a law that will make it compulsory for all foreigners to be finger printed on entering the country. They're worried about a threat from terrorists. Well... in my memory, Japan has only been attacked by terrorists once in recent years... and that was by one of their own kind! But no. The gaijin (how I hate that word) must be watched. We are dangerous, dontcha know? I sort of like being dangerous. Sometimes I get eyed up in the street, like I might pounce any minute, and kidnap the next cute little chibi-chan that walks past me. Other times, I know these people are just curious about me. What a mental country this is.
I want to eat pizza. I wonder if there's a Pizza Hut in Kabuki-cho. Maybe slotted between the pachinko parlour and the Russian-staffed soapland. Yummy.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
A Very Mixed Bag
I have been in this country for the best part of three years now. It's had it's ups and down, and I generally have a healthy love-hate relationship with the place. More often than not, it's hate, but I think that's more for my job than actual society and culture.
Yesterday I had one of the saddest moments I've ever experienced here. I have started teaching regularly at nearby Hiruma elementary school. This is the largest school in the town, yet they never got regular ALT classes until this April. As such, a lot of the kids don't know me. I was sitting in the staff room yesterday waiting for my class to begin, and girl came in. She would be in the third or fourth grade, so she wasn't a total baby. She saw me and stopped dead. I said 'hello' as I usually do to all kids who stare at me. She jumped a MILE into the air, said, in Japanese, that I was really scary, and ran out of the room. Well. That went well. Most kids in town, whether I teach them or not, have seen me. Most would say hello, or konnichiwa back to me. This girl didn't know where to look. That's the first time that's ever happened to me. It would have been fun if this girl had smiled, or given some hint that she had seen me before, or had some sort of twinkle in her eye. But she didn't. Ugh.
Things like yesterday make me want to take the collective Japanese population and shake some sense into them. The level of their insularity in this day and age is staggering and frustrating. I think I have given up on trying to internationalise them. The task has become tedious and repetitive. I remember my friends who were going home last summer felt this way as well. I am worn out in this job, bored to tears. I don't regret for a second staying three years. But it's time. And it's time that is causing me problems.
I am stuck between a rock and a hard place these days... I have so many things planned that I am looking forward to (frisbee, camping, visiting Kochi, rafting etc...), and yet they are all in the future. The faster they come, the faster going home comes as well. I am so ready to be finished this damn job, and be out of this damn country for a while. I am not ready to say goodbye to all these people. I guess that's why I'm coming back. I am such an odd mix of feelings these days. I am happy to be finishing, but so unhappy to be leaving. I keep meeting all these wonderful people, and I know that I would love to spend a significant amount of time with all of them. But time is pretty much up. I don't know how to balance myself out. I feel like I'm bobbing along with little control over my life. Which is nonsense, I have total control. I am dying for something to change, but afraid because I know what form that change will take. I need some sleep.
Yesterday I had one of the saddest moments I've ever experienced here. I have started teaching regularly at nearby Hiruma elementary school. This is the largest school in the town, yet they never got regular ALT classes until this April. As such, a lot of the kids don't know me. I was sitting in the staff room yesterday waiting for my class to begin, and girl came in. She would be in the third or fourth grade, so she wasn't a total baby. She saw me and stopped dead. I said 'hello' as I usually do to all kids who stare at me. She jumped a MILE into the air, said, in Japanese, that I was really scary, and ran out of the room. Well. That went well. Most kids in town, whether I teach them or not, have seen me. Most would say hello, or konnichiwa back to me. This girl didn't know where to look. That's the first time that's ever happened to me. It would have been fun if this girl had smiled, or given some hint that she had seen me before, or had some sort of twinkle in her eye. But she didn't. Ugh.
Things like yesterday make me want to take the collective Japanese population and shake some sense into them. The level of their insularity in this day and age is staggering and frustrating. I think I have given up on trying to internationalise them. The task has become tedious and repetitive. I remember my friends who were going home last summer felt this way as well. I am worn out in this job, bored to tears. I don't regret for a second staying three years. But it's time. And it's time that is causing me problems.
I am stuck between a rock and a hard place these days... I have so many things planned that I am looking forward to (frisbee, camping, visiting Kochi, rafting etc...), and yet they are all in the future. The faster they come, the faster going home comes as well. I am so ready to be finished this damn job, and be out of this damn country for a while. I am not ready to say goodbye to all these people. I guess that's why I'm coming back. I am such an odd mix of feelings these days. I am happy to be finishing, but so unhappy to be leaving. I keep meeting all these wonderful people, and I know that I would love to spend a significant amount of time with all of them. But time is pretty much up. I don't know how to balance myself out. I feel like I'm bobbing along with little control over my life. Which is nonsense, I have total control. I am dying for something to change, but afraid because I know what form that change will take. I need some sleep.
Monday, May 08, 2006
The River Wild-ish
Well, Jillsty arrived on Monday night! And how! It was so wonderful to see them, and be able to show them around. They have arrived right at the start of the good weather: our temperatures now are the very highest that Scotland would see in summer.
After a couple of days kicking it around Miyoshi, we jumped in our funky-ass hire car on Thursday morning, and headed for Iya. At Oboke, we met James, who generously offered us his car and chauffeuring skills for the day (accepted!), and got on the road proper. As expected, Iya was crawling with tourists who couldn’t drive (bloody Kagawans!), but no matter. We arrived at the remote Okuiya vine bridges, and spent a happy 45 minutes playing on them and chewing the fat. After a nice lunch where James and I introduced Jillsty to some more traditional Japanese cuisine, we hopped up to Chiiori to pick someone up, and then hit the onsen. Jillsty LOVED the onsen, although being Golden Week and Iya’s Hikyonoyuu, it was pretty busy. After the onsen, we headed to Happy Raft, struck camp, had some BBQ, went for walks, and finally crashed about 2am. It was a really fun day. I learned about Australia’s political system, listened to Van Halen’s ‘Jump’, which immediately made me feel like I was 5 and dancing with Dad, and had my hiccups cured by listening to people debate abortion.
On Friday, it was time, once again, to climb into our rafts and take on the Yoshinogawa. As always, it was a total blast. Although Jill had a nasty fall while climbing up a rock she had intended to jump off. She gave herself a bad knock on the elbow, enough to send her back to base for the rest of the day. Her new name is Rockfall. The day once again reinforced my intention to do some time on the river before I find myself a ‘career’. The river wasn’t as big as I’d have hoped for, but I think that for first timers in our crew, it was quite big enough. It was a beautiful sunny day, though, and we all got the sun rather a lot.
Saturday and Sunday saw us three in Kyoto taking in the sights. This was my third time in the city, and I think I saw more this time than I have ever done before. I enjoyed myself a lot, but we were all really tired. Going to the city is a lot of fun. But when I get off the bus in Miyoshi, smell the heavy wet air, and hear all the frogs and insects, I know that I really belong in the country.
Back at school today, longing to be outside, in the mountains or on the river with friends. Jillsty heading up to Tokyo today, giving me a chance to tidy the apartment up, and gather my thoughts a little. I feel like I haven’t stopped for a week. Which is pretty accurate really.
I have pictures to post, but they aren’t ready yet.
After a couple of days kicking it around Miyoshi, we jumped in our funky-ass hire car on Thursday morning, and headed for Iya. At Oboke, we met James, who generously offered us his car and chauffeuring skills for the day (accepted!), and got on the road proper. As expected, Iya was crawling with tourists who couldn’t drive (bloody Kagawans!), but no matter. We arrived at the remote Okuiya vine bridges, and spent a happy 45 minutes playing on them and chewing the fat. After a nice lunch where James and I introduced Jillsty to some more traditional Japanese cuisine, we hopped up to Chiiori to pick someone up, and then hit the onsen. Jillsty LOVED the onsen, although being Golden Week and Iya’s Hikyonoyuu, it was pretty busy. After the onsen, we headed to Happy Raft, struck camp, had some BBQ, went for walks, and finally crashed about 2am. It was a really fun day. I learned about Australia’s political system, listened to Van Halen’s ‘Jump’, which immediately made me feel like I was 5 and dancing with Dad, and had my hiccups cured by listening to people debate abortion.
On Friday, it was time, once again, to climb into our rafts and take on the Yoshinogawa. As always, it was a total blast. Although Jill had a nasty fall while climbing up a rock she had intended to jump off. She gave herself a bad knock on the elbow, enough to send her back to base for the rest of the day. Her new name is Rockfall. The day once again reinforced my intention to do some time on the river before I find myself a ‘career’. The river wasn’t as big as I’d have hoped for, but I think that for first timers in our crew, it was quite big enough. It was a beautiful sunny day, though, and we all got the sun rather a lot.
Saturday and Sunday saw us three in Kyoto taking in the sights. This was my third time in the city, and I think I saw more this time than I have ever done before. I enjoyed myself a lot, but we were all really tired. Going to the city is a lot of fun. But when I get off the bus in Miyoshi, smell the heavy wet air, and hear all the frogs and insects, I know that I really belong in the country.
Back at school today, longing to be outside, in the mountains or on the river with friends. Jillsty heading up to Tokyo today, giving me a chance to tidy the apartment up, and gather my thoughts a little. I feel like I haven’t stopped for a week. Which is pretty accurate really.
I have pictures to post, but they aren’t ready yet.
Friday, April 28, 2006
How Green Is My Valley
Wow, barely one month ago, Mum and Dad were here. It was the height of the sakura season, but the mountains were still a very wintry, dead shade of brown. Now, 4 weeks later, and the trees have burst into life, covering the slopes with more shades of green than I can count. Bee-yoo-tee-ful! It's so fresh and full of life, and makes me feel really optimistic.
It's been a busy wee week here in Tokkers. Report writing galore has gone on. I've been emotional, Nate and I had fun falling out online, I've played more poker, I've taught classes. I am really tired, but I feel like I'm at least doing stuff. Dave was at Jordan's on Wednesday night, it's so lovely to be able to see him through the week again! He beat me at poker though...
Have been getting on really well with Noda-sensei now... I think that he is now my preferred team-teacher. I don't know, he and Tame-chan are both so different, but I feel like both me and the kids get out of the lessons I teach with Noda.
Right now, the senseis are at the annual gun teacher meeting, and I am hanging at school with Usuki-san (who just did a major operation on my crappy bike), and Hori-san. I am listening to Radio 1 from home online, not knowing any of the music they are playing, and waiting til 4pm, when I can go home, walk in the sun, and wait for the lads to come round for.... more poker. Sorry Mummy!
It's been a busy wee week here in Tokkers. Report writing galore has gone on. I've been emotional, Nate and I had fun falling out online, I've played more poker, I've taught classes. I am really tired, but I feel like I'm at least doing stuff. Dave was at Jordan's on Wednesday night, it's so lovely to be able to see him through the week again! He beat me at poker though...
Have been getting on really well with Noda-sensei now... I think that he is now my preferred team-teacher. I don't know, he and Tame-chan are both so different, but I feel like both me and the kids get out of the lessons I teach with Noda.
Right now, the senseis are at the annual gun teacher meeting, and I am hanging at school with Usuki-san (who just did a major operation on my crappy bike), and Hori-san. I am listening to Radio 1 from home online, not knowing any of the music they are playing, and waiting til 4pm, when I can go home, walk in the sun, and wait for the lads to come round for.... more poker. Sorry Mummy!
Monday, April 24, 2006
Rested
Mmmm, it's so delicious to have a weekend in sometime, all to myself. Almost all.
I started off on Friday by ordering a massive pizza (what was I THINKING?!), and then hitting the onsen with Nate and The Deer. The they came back to my house, and we played poker. The aces were LOVING me that night, and I had some great hands, much to the frustration of the boys (Nacho eventually giving in and calling me a bitch). Jordan crashed and burned after a while, I had all his money, but he insisted he wanted to watch me and Nate (play cards!). So we had some intenese one-on-one (poker!). The outcome was that all the money I took from Jordan, I gave to Nate, and lost about Y150 of my own. Not bad. If I had stopped along with The Deer, I would have been well up.
On Saturday, I met Jordan and Saori for lunch, before raiding the Kings Road, and then walking home from Mikamo in the pouring rain. I had my Walkman on, playing the Prodigy LOUD, and had a lovely hour to myself. Hmm, but my knee hurts like a bitch, not sure what's wrong with it. That happens when I walk a lot, I can feel things grinding, it's not good.
The films I rented this weekend were as follows:
Ocean's 12
Hitch
Closer
Before Sunset
With the exception of the first one, all of these films had to do with relationships in some way (not that I am totally in need of living vicariously through films, it just sort of happened that way). Hitch was total Hollywood fluff, and made me laugh. Good film. Closer just made me sad and unhopeful, and made me wonder why anyone would get into a relationship that could get as destructive as that. But I guess you don't know it's going to get destructive. it made me think twice about wanting a relationship, though. Then Before Sunset is sort of a bridge between the two. It's a beautiful film, I love it, it has an unsatsifying ending, that is a sort of test as to whether you're a cynic or a romantic (die-hard romantic here!), but it went some way to repairing the damage done by Closer.
I dunno... I always thought of myself as someone who is really self-reliant, I like to think that I'll always be able to make my way by myself. And I think I will. But I need people around me, and I need to be able to trust them. Closer is a representation of relationship hell. It's bleak. It's a well-made film, but it really made me sad. People say that life is never like the films. Let's hope not.
Lindsay left us on Friday morning. She was a bit messy, I hear. I will be too. Now we have Chalice. Interesting gal. She's a hit with the gunnies already. She'll fit right in. But we misses Lindsay! You hear that?! We do, y'know! Send us a postcard from Togo!
This week, I am... rested. I am busy. I am scared about returning home, it's something that I think about on a daily basis. While I am relishing the thought of a new job, I fall to pieces at the thought of the goodbyes I'll have to make. Mm. AJET is in high gear. I cannot wait to get shot of that whole thing. I have to start packing up the house. Jillsty touch down in a week. Holy crap!
Gotta go. Love to you!
I started off on Friday by ordering a massive pizza (what was I THINKING?!), and then hitting the onsen with Nate and The Deer. The they came back to my house, and we played poker. The aces were LOVING me that night, and I had some great hands, much to the frustration of the boys (Nacho eventually giving in and calling me a bitch). Jordan crashed and burned after a while, I had all his money, but he insisted he wanted to watch me and Nate (play cards!). So we had some intenese one-on-one (poker!). The outcome was that all the money I took from Jordan, I gave to Nate, and lost about Y150 of my own. Not bad. If I had stopped along with The Deer, I would have been well up.
On Saturday, I met Jordan and Saori for lunch, before raiding the Kings Road, and then walking home from Mikamo in the pouring rain. I had my Walkman on, playing the Prodigy LOUD, and had a lovely hour to myself. Hmm, but my knee hurts like a bitch, not sure what's wrong with it. That happens when I walk a lot, I can feel things grinding, it's not good.
The films I rented this weekend were as follows:
Ocean's 12
Hitch
Closer
Before Sunset
With the exception of the first one, all of these films had to do with relationships in some way (not that I am totally in need of living vicariously through films, it just sort of happened that way). Hitch was total Hollywood fluff, and made me laugh. Good film. Closer just made me sad and unhopeful, and made me wonder why anyone would get into a relationship that could get as destructive as that. But I guess you don't know it's going to get destructive. it made me think twice about wanting a relationship, though. Then Before Sunset is sort of a bridge between the two. It's a beautiful film, I love it, it has an unsatsifying ending, that is a sort of test as to whether you're a cynic or a romantic (die-hard romantic here!), but it went some way to repairing the damage done by Closer.
I dunno... I always thought of myself as someone who is really self-reliant, I like to think that I'll always be able to make my way by myself. And I think I will. But I need people around me, and I need to be able to trust them. Closer is a representation of relationship hell. It's bleak. It's a well-made film, but it really made me sad. People say that life is never like the films. Let's hope not.
Lindsay left us on Friday morning. She was a bit messy, I hear. I will be too. Now we have Chalice. Interesting gal. She's a hit with the gunnies already. She'll fit right in. But we misses Lindsay! You hear that?! We do, y'know! Send us a postcard from Togo!
This week, I am... rested. I am busy. I am scared about returning home, it's something that I think about on a daily basis. While I am relishing the thought of a new job, I fall to pieces at the thought of the goodbyes I'll have to make. Mm. AJET is in high gear. I cannot wait to get shot of that whole thing. I have to start packing up the house. Jillsty touch down in a week. Holy crap!
Gotta go. Love to you!
Monday, April 17, 2006
One out of ten ain't bad!
Another full weekend of sports, and I am wiped out. Next weekend is my first unplanned weekend since... February. I intend to vegetate and do some serious sleeping.
BUT, all the tiredness is worth it! This weekend was the third annual AJET Games Touch Rugby Tournament here in Tokushima, and it was the biggest yet! Over 200 people from all over the southern half of Japan came out for it, and I think they all had a blast. I do hope so! The weather certainly could have been kinder, it was somewhat cold and rather windy (windburn abounds on the faces of all ALTs this morning!), but I think that spirits were high enough to negate the less than ideal weather.
My own team, Touch n' Go, pretty much sucked at the game. Most of the team had never played before the weekend, and our inexperience was quickly picked up on by our first opponents, the Gaijin Ninja, from Hyogo. It was something of a baptism of fire, though, the Ninja are probably the best amateur touch team in southern Japan. Nevermind. We finished the first day having won not one single match on our pool. Damn!
Saturday night saw me on duty as BBQ organiser, and I am so grateful for all the help I got. I had never been in charge of something as huge as this, so I was really worried that people would get pissed because of lack of organisation, lack of food or whatever. But Ron (who organised and bought all the food, as well as planned the actual process) was on hand to help out, and the people I had recruited to help me out (namely the Gaijin Ninja, Okayama's Grapes of Wrath, and of course Touch n' Go) were absolutely wonderful at just getting on with it. I'm especially grateful to the Ninja: so laid back, nothing was a problem, they just did it, even though they were paying guests.
AJET babes Froilan and Jessie came from Kumamoto and Kyoto respectively to help and hang out, and it was great to see them. Also got to know a lovely Kochi bloke by the name of James a bit better. He was part of the Kochi frisbee crew last weekend, and then came to play rugger this weekend. Actually, a few of the frisbee people were here for rugby, it was great to see all of them again. Also met up with a girl from Shimane (whose name escapes me!) who had lived in Scotland for a long while. We met last year, and chatted a bit, and did the same this year.
Play finished mid afternoon on Sunday. Touch n Go surprised ourselves by actually winning a match, and having to play an extra match on Sunday. We damn near won that as well, but lost on handicap points (points awarded for tries scored by girls). We had fun on Sunday: we'd picked up the game, and knew much better what to do with the ball when we got it. I don't think the kids want to play regularly, though, which is a shame, but I guess it's not a sport for everyone.
After a spot of dinner and an onsen last night, I finally got home. Sadly, the mayor's election headquarters are behind my house (he's running for prefectural governement) and it was results night or something, so the place was packed with shouting and cheering supporters til nearer midnight. Meh.
Back to school this week: some classes to teach, but mostly the timetable is still out of sorts, as it is for the most part of this term. Am now organising a rafting trip with Happy Raft in Golden week, and hoping it will be something of a block event. Jill and Kirsty will be here then, and Dave will be guiding by that time, so it should be a good time of it.
Ok... am going to go and work out how to get my ass to Australia now. Yee haa!
BUT, all the tiredness is worth it! This weekend was the third annual AJET Games Touch Rugby Tournament here in Tokushima, and it was the biggest yet! Over 200 people from all over the southern half of Japan came out for it, and I think they all had a blast. I do hope so! The weather certainly could have been kinder, it was somewhat cold and rather windy (windburn abounds on the faces of all ALTs this morning!), but I think that spirits were high enough to negate the less than ideal weather.
My own team, Touch n' Go, pretty much sucked at the game. Most of the team had never played before the weekend, and our inexperience was quickly picked up on by our first opponents, the Gaijin Ninja, from Hyogo. It was something of a baptism of fire, though, the Ninja are probably the best amateur touch team in southern Japan. Nevermind. We finished the first day having won not one single match on our pool. Damn!
Saturday night saw me on duty as BBQ organiser, and I am so grateful for all the help I got. I had never been in charge of something as huge as this, so I was really worried that people would get pissed because of lack of organisation, lack of food or whatever. But Ron (who organised and bought all the food, as well as planned the actual process) was on hand to help out, and the people I had recruited to help me out (namely the Gaijin Ninja, Okayama's Grapes of Wrath, and of course Touch n' Go) were absolutely wonderful at just getting on with it. I'm especially grateful to the Ninja: so laid back, nothing was a problem, they just did it, even though they were paying guests.
AJET babes Froilan and Jessie came from Kumamoto and Kyoto respectively to help and hang out, and it was great to see them. Also got to know a lovely Kochi bloke by the name of James a bit better. He was part of the Kochi frisbee crew last weekend, and then came to play rugger this weekend. Actually, a few of the frisbee people were here for rugby, it was great to see all of them again. Also met up with a girl from Shimane (whose name escapes me!) who had lived in Scotland for a long while. We met last year, and chatted a bit, and did the same this year.
Play finished mid afternoon on Sunday. Touch n Go surprised ourselves by actually winning a match, and having to play an extra match on Sunday. We damn near won that as well, but lost on handicap points (points awarded for tries scored by girls). We had fun on Sunday: we'd picked up the game, and knew much better what to do with the ball when we got it. I don't think the kids want to play regularly, though, which is a shame, but I guess it's not a sport for everyone.
After a spot of dinner and an onsen last night, I finally got home. Sadly, the mayor's election headquarters are behind my house (he's running for prefectural governement) and it was results night or something, so the place was packed with shouting and cheering supporters til nearer midnight. Meh.
Back to school this week: some classes to teach, but mostly the timetable is still out of sorts, as it is for the most part of this term. Am now organising a rafting trip with Happy Raft in Golden week, and hoping it will be something of a block event. Jill and Kirsty will be here then, and Dave will be guiding by that time, so it should be a good time of it.
Ok... am going to go and work out how to get my ass to Australia now. Yee haa!
Monday, April 10, 2006
Big, Fat, Purple Lip
There are few things I like better than getting together with friends in good weather and spending the day outdoors playing sports of some sort. This week I have had the opportunity to do that twice. Yee haa!
On Tuesday, Mum, Dad, Mika and I made the drive from Miyoshi to Otoyo-cho, just over the border in Kochi-ken. There we met up with Dave and his brother Michael, along with Happy Raft owner Mark, and off we went on a quick trip down the river. I had been a little worried about how the parents would like the relatively extreme sport of rafting, but they seemed to have a great time, especially Dad. The water was a bit low, so the normally huge waves seemed a little small to me, although for the first timers in the boat, I suspect they were more than large enough! I also got swept out the raft a quite early on in the day, which was unexpected, but I guess that’s rafting for you.
Mum and Dad left Tokushima for home on Wednesday. Unfortunately, something went wrong with their flights, and they were stranded in Amsterdam for 24 hours. I suppose there are worse cities to be stuck in, but when you’re trying to get home from a two week trip to the Far East, unscheduled stops in Europe are the last things you want. Although their visit tired me out completely, and although I was looking forward to having my room to myself again, it’s always sad to wave goodbye to them. I think now they understand why I have stayed in this crazy country for so long, and that was an important outcome of their trip for me. So while it’s good to be able to walk around naked again, and listen to whatever music I like, there’s a lot to be said for having someone there when you come home half-cut from an enkai, wanting to talk about saving the world. Yup.
No real rest for the wicked, however. After a couple of days at school catching up on work (and playing Uno with a cool kid called Haruki, the seven-year-old son of one of the new teachers), it was Friday afternoon all over again, and I was hauling ass back to Ikeda for Lindsay’s farewell hanami party. She couldn’t have asked for a better night, really. It was warm and clear, and the trees were simply beautiful. Check out the picture of the gang giving me their best peace signs. I wish I could have stayed longer, but I was subject to what Nate was doing, since I was crashing at his house that night. So about 7.30pm, we bid the party goodbye, and made our way home to Nate’s. Soon after we got there, we were joined by Anya and Kelly, and proceeded to spend the night playing some Dance Dance Revolution (I have never, ever witnessed anything like what Nate was doing that night), talking about the theory of teaching, sex, and functional penises. Oh, and of course the obligatory snuggling.
Saturday saw us on the road to neighbouring Kochi-ken bright and early. My second chance to be outdoors this week came in the shape of the first All-Shikoku Ultimate Frisbee tournament in Sakawa-cho. We had an awesome time! It wasn’t a hugely attended event, but the small number (I think about 30-35) meant that we could actually have proper conversations with people, and make some cool new friends. Chris, the organizer (I guess you could call me the promoter, as I was able to publicise it island-wide through AJET) is a hardcore Ultimate player, and we listened in disbelief as he casually announced a schedule of hour-long games. Yikes! Play we did, however, and I am happy to say that I was in the winning team of the morning. The afternoon saw the format change slightly, but it was just as good fun and exhausting. During the day, I took not one, but two frisbees to the face. The first one, I ran straight into, and have a bit of a red mark where the disk caught me on the jaw. The second one was much more painful: it caught me right on the upper lip and I had to sub off to get an ice pack, and spill the tears that the blow had brought to my eyes. Damn, it hurt! Today, then, I am sporting a slightly swollen purple upper lip. Nice.
There was a BBQ on Saturday at a mountaintop clutch of bungalows Chris had managed to secure. It was a prime location, and the mood was right for really having some good chat, but I was so shattered from the day’s play and the late night on Friday that I hit the sack not long after 10pm.
On Sunday, we were supposed to have a second day of frisbee, and I think I might have actually managed to play, but the others were adamant that there was no way they were up for a second day. So that was that. Maybe just as well, I was, and still am, pretty sore, and we did have a ways to drive home. No matter. Plans are afoot for a second tournament sometime later in the summer, perhaps in Tokushima.
Two of my favourite smells in the summer, and two that I got to smell during the course of events in this entry: the smell of wet neoprene, and the smell of my skin after a day in the sun playing frisbee or rugby- sort of dirt and sweat mixed in with sun lotion. I love the smell of wet neoprene because it reminds me of days spent on the beach or on the river with good mates. Mark loves it too. I like the smell of my skin, because it reminds me of good exercise that doesn’t feel like exercise because you are having such an awesome, sociable time doing it.
The sports aren’t over yet: this coming weekend sees the third annual All-Japan Touch Rugby Tournament in nearby Mima-cho. 250 people from all over the country coming to our wee ken! It’ll be a lot of hard work, but I’m really looking forward to it.
So much to do. So little time left. Life’s good, yo.
On Tuesday, Mum, Dad, Mika and I made the drive from Miyoshi to Otoyo-cho, just over the border in Kochi-ken. There we met up with Dave and his brother Michael, along with Happy Raft owner Mark, and off we went on a quick trip down the river. I had been a little worried about how the parents would like the relatively extreme sport of rafting, but they seemed to have a great time, especially Dad. The water was a bit low, so the normally huge waves seemed a little small to me, although for the first timers in the boat, I suspect they were more than large enough! I also got swept out the raft a quite early on in the day, which was unexpected, but I guess that’s rafting for you.
Mum and Dad left Tokushima for home on Wednesday. Unfortunately, something went wrong with their flights, and they were stranded in Amsterdam for 24 hours. I suppose there are worse cities to be stuck in, but when you’re trying to get home from a two week trip to the Far East, unscheduled stops in Europe are the last things you want. Although their visit tired me out completely, and although I was looking forward to having my room to myself again, it’s always sad to wave goodbye to them. I think now they understand why I have stayed in this crazy country for so long, and that was an important outcome of their trip for me. So while it’s good to be able to walk around naked again, and listen to whatever music I like, there’s a lot to be said for having someone there when you come home half-cut from an enkai, wanting to talk about saving the world. Yup.
No real rest for the wicked, however. After a couple of days at school catching up on work (and playing Uno with a cool kid called Haruki, the seven-year-old son of one of the new teachers), it was Friday afternoon all over again, and I was hauling ass back to Ikeda for Lindsay’s farewell hanami party. She couldn’t have asked for a better night, really. It was warm and clear, and the trees were simply beautiful. Check out the picture of the gang giving me their best peace signs. I wish I could have stayed longer, but I was subject to what Nate was doing, since I was crashing at his house that night. So about 7.30pm, we bid the party goodbye, and made our way home to Nate’s. Soon after we got there, we were joined by Anya and Kelly, and proceeded to spend the night playing some Dance Dance Revolution (I have never, ever witnessed anything like what Nate was doing that night), talking about the theory of teaching, sex, and functional penises. Oh, and of course the obligatory snuggling.
Saturday saw us on the road to neighbouring Kochi-ken bright and early. My second chance to be outdoors this week came in the shape of the first All-Shikoku Ultimate Frisbee tournament in Sakawa-cho. We had an awesome time! It wasn’t a hugely attended event, but the small number (I think about 30-35) meant that we could actually have proper conversations with people, and make some cool new friends. Chris, the organizer (I guess you could call me the promoter, as I was able to publicise it island-wide through AJET) is a hardcore Ultimate player, and we listened in disbelief as he casually announced a schedule of hour-long games. Yikes! Play we did, however, and I am happy to say that I was in the winning team of the morning. The afternoon saw the format change slightly, but it was just as good fun and exhausting. During the day, I took not one, but two frisbees to the face. The first one, I ran straight into, and have a bit of a red mark where the disk caught me on the jaw. The second one was much more painful: it caught me right on the upper lip and I had to sub off to get an ice pack, and spill the tears that the blow had brought to my eyes. Damn, it hurt! Today, then, I am sporting a slightly swollen purple upper lip. Nice.
There was a BBQ on Saturday at a mountaintop clutch of bungalows Chris had managed to secure. It was a prime location, and the mood was right for really having some good chat, but I was so shattered from the day’s play and the late night on Friday that I hit the sack not long after 10pm.
On Sunday, we were supposed to have a second day of frisbee, and I think I might have actually managed to play, but the others were adamant that there was no way they were up for a second day. So that was that. Maybe just as well, I was, and still am, pretty sore, and we did have a ways to drive home. No matter. Plans are afoot for a second tournament sometime later in the summer, perhaps in Tokushima.
Two of my favourite smells in the summer, and two that I got to smell during the course of events in this entry: the smell of wet neoprene, and the smell of my skin after a day in the sun playing frisbee or rugby- sort of dirt and sweat mixed in with sun lotion. I love the smell of wet neoprene because it reminds me of days spent on the beach or on the river with good mates. Mark loves it too. I like the smell of my skin, because it reminds me of good exercise that doesn’t feel like exercise because you are having such an awesome, sociable time doing it.
The sports aren’t over yet: this coming weekend sees the third annual All-Japan Touch Rugby Tournament in nearby Mima-cho. 250 people from all over the country coming to our wee ken! It’ll be a lot of hard work, but I’m really looking forward to it.
So much to do. So little time left. Life’s good, yo.
Monday, April 03, 2006
On Being a Parent
Well, not really, you understand. But these last couple of weeks, I feel like I have actually had a couple of knowledge-thirsty kids trailing along in my wake, since Mum and Dad touched down on Japan's shores in late March!
Not that I grudge all the questions at all. It's been an interesting role reversal, me having to explain a different way of life to them, having to read restaurant menus to them, having to teach them how to enter a house properly, how to draw money out of the bank... I've loved having them here, and I'm glad they've been able to meet all the people who are so important to me out here, and see all the places that I hold dear to my heart. We still have one big day of action left in us, we're rafting tomorrow with Dave and his brother Michael, which I am psyched about, and then it'll be time to wave them goodbye on Wednesday afternoon. The holiday has gone at breakneck pace, and I feel like another holiday, but it's been a grand way to spend my last sakura season in Japan. I think they have enjoyes themselves too, but I rather doubt they'll be dabbling in Japanese cookery when they get back home... not quite to their taste!
I also have my parent's blessing to pursue further studies in Australia after my Japan dream comes to an end. It's not like I HAD to have them give me the ok, but their being happy with what I do with my life is important to me, so I'm glad that they are comfortable with some of the decisions I have made since I last saw them at Christmas.
I haven't time for much else at the moment. I have a lot to say, though, so I may write a longer more in-depth post in a few days. For now, I have an enkai to go to tonight, and then hitting up the river tomorrow! Yee haa!
Kirsty, thanks for the comment, sweetie, love ya loads!
Not that I grudge all the questions at all. It's been an interesting role reversal, me having to explain a different way of life to them, having to read restaurant menus to them, having to teach them how to enter a house properly, how to draw money out of the bank... I've loved having them here, and I'm glad they've been able to meet all the people who are so important to me out here, and see all the places that I hold dear to my heart. We still have one big day of action left in us, we're rafting tomorrow with Dave and his brother Michael, which I am psyched about, and then it'll be time to wave them goodbye on Wednesday afternoon. The holiday has gone at breakneck pace, and I feel like another holiday, but it's been a grand way to spend my last sakura season in Japan. I think they have enjoyes themselves too, but I rather doubt they'll be dabbling in Japanese cookery when they get back home... not quite to their taste!
I also have my parent's blessing to pursue further studies in Australia after my Japan dream comes to an end. It's not like I HAD to have them give me the ok, but their being happy with what I do with my life is important to me, so I'm glad that they are comfortable with some of the decisions I have made since I last saw them at Christmas.
I haven't time for much else at the moment. I have a lot to say, though, so I may write a longer more in-depth post in a few days. For now, I have an enkai to go to tonight, and then hitting up the river tomorrow! Yee haa!
Kirsty, thanks for the comment, sweetie, love ya loads!
Monday, March 20, 2006
That's a Wrap!
The 2006 AJET Tokushima Musical finally finished its five-show run on Saturday night in Wakimachi.
Tradtionally, the last show is always in Wakimachi at an old Kabuki theatre called the Odeonza. It's a beautiful theatre, all wood, no seats, just zabuton cushions to sit on. It's very small, and the audience is really close to the stage, so it's quite an intimate venue. The show on Saturday was absolutely PACKED, and the audience were great. They laughed at all the right places, and at the end, donated an amazing amount of money for next year's effort. We had a great time, and they seemed to aswell. JET Programme sceptics would do well to get themselves along to a JET musical performance. You really see what an ALT means to their community at these events. One ALT named Evan had a quite a few people in the audience, and you could see how proud and excited they were that their ALT was up there in lights. I don't care what people say: someone who can touch their community in this way is worth every yennie.
After the party, the cast and crew retired to a mountaintop clutch of bungalows to have a well-earned party. We didn't start til nearer midnight, as it took a good while to get packed up, and drive out to the bunglows. We chatted and laughed til the wee small hours, did a good amount of snuggling, and a good amount of body-slamming. The tech crew, namely me, Hannah and Nick, also gave out awards to the entire cast, and those seemed to go down well.
My parents arrive on Friday. My house is still only half clean. Man. I really need some time to do nothing but sit and vegetate. This term has felt, since day one, like a sprint-to-finish. It's been a lot of fun, for sure, but I need a holiday! I am really looking forward to the olds coming though. It'll be great for them to meet all the people I've been raving about for 2.5 years, for them to see my town, where I work, and hopefully understand why I couldn't have left after only a year or two.
The party on Saturday night reminded me, cliched as this is, how important my friends are to me. Two of my closest friends weren't there, snowboarding in Hokkaido, and getting chased by police in Kobe, as they were, but there were people there on Saturday that are very close to me, and I realised that very soon, we'll be saying goodbye. I mean, who is going to replace Joe, Joe who likes sleeping in closets, Joe who only says "fuck" when he's drunk, Joe who is the most honest, unpretentious person I've ever met?
Last week was a crazy week in terms of learning about the people I hold dear to me in this country. No matter how close you feel to someone, they will always have the ability to surprise you, to shock and upset you, to make you angry beyond belief, and to make you fall in love with them all over again. All of that happened with me last week, and I was left reeling for it, feeling like I knew these people, yet didn't know them, all at the same time. I felt close to them, and felt far away from them. And this both confused me and made me smile. There's a lot to be said for "what you see is what you get" people. But there's something addictive and endearing about people who keep you guessing. I wonder if these are the people who have the ability to hurt you most, and to be hurt the most.
Unlike a friend at the moment who is feeling homesick for people at home, I am struggling to accept the fact that I am going home. I have changed so much. I found a letter I wrote to Katja in the autumn of my first year, but never sent, and freaked myself right out when I read it. Is the girl who wrote that letter really me? It speaks of a worry that time is too short for me to do all I want to do, it speaks of a longing for the womb-like confines of academia, and there is a definite thread of homesickess all the way through. Now, I realise that I will not be able to do it all. I don't want to. I don't want to spend my life with my head in books. I know who I am, I know where I want to be, what I want to do, and who I want to do it with. I have gained perspective. What I wonder about now is do I have the guts to chase after it?
Tradtionally, the last show is always in Wakimachi at an old Kabuki theatre called the Odeonza. It's a beautiful theatre, all wood, no seats, just zabuton cushions to sit on. It's very small, and the audience is really close to the stage, so it's quite an intimate venue. The show on Saturday was absolutely PACKED, and the audience were great. They laughed at all the right places, and at the end, donated an amazing amount of money for next year's effort. We had a great time, and they seemed to aswell. JET Programme sceptics would do well to get themselves along to a JET musical performance. You really see what an ALT means to their community at these events. One ALT named Evan had a quite a few people in the audience, and you could see how proud and excited they were that their ALT was up there in lights. I don't care what people say: someone who can touch their community in this way is worth every yennie.
After the party, the cast and crew retired to a mountaintop clutch of bungalows to have a well-earned party. We didn't start til nearer midnight, as it took a good while to get packed up, and drive out to the bunglows. We chatted and laughed til the wee small hours, did a good amount of snuggling, and a good amount of body-slamming. The tech crew, namely me, Hannah and Nick, also gave out awards to the entire cast, and those seemed to go down well.
My parents arrive on Friday. My house is still only half clean. Man. I really need some time to do nothing but sit and vegetate. This term has felt, since day one, like a sprint-to-finish. It's been a lot of fun, for sure, but I need a holiday! I am really looking forward to the olds coming though. It'll be great for them to meet all the people I've been raving about for 2.5 years, for them to see my town, where I work, and hopefully understand why I couldn't have left after only a year or two.
The party on Saturday night reminded me, cliched as this is, how important my friends are to me. Two of my closest friends weren't there, snowboarding in Hokkaido, and getting chased by police in Kobe, as they were, but there were people there on Saturday that are very close to me, and I realised that very soon, we'll be saying goodbye. I mean, who is going to replace Joe, Joe who likes sleeping in closets, Joe who only says "fuck" when he's drunk, Joe who is the most honest, unpretentious person I've ever met?
Last week was a crazy week in terms of learning about the people I hold dear to me in this country. No matter how close you feel to someone, they will always have the ability to surprise you, to shock and upset you, to make you angry beyond belief, and to make you fall in love with them all over again. All of that happened with me last week, and I was left reeling for it, feeling like I knew these people, yet didn't know them, all at the same time. I felt close to them, and felt far away from them. And this both confused me and made me smile. There's a lot to be said for "what you see is what you get" people. But there's something addictive and endearing about people who keep you guessing. I wonder if these are the people who have the ability to hurt you most, and to be hurt the most.
Unlike a friend at the moment who is feeling homesick for people at home, I am struggling to accept the fact that I am going home. I have changed so much. I found a letter I wrote to Katja in the autumn of my first year, but never sent, and freaked myself right out when I read it. Is the girl who wrote that letter really me? It speaks of a worry that time is too short for me to do all I want to do, it speaks of a longing for the womb-like confines of academia, and there is a definite thread of homesickess all the way through. Now, I realise that I will not be able to do it all. I don't want to. I don't want to spend my life with my head in books. I know who I am, I know where I want to be, what I want to do, and who I want to do it with. I have gained perspective. What I wonder about now is do I have the guts to chase after it?
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Bye Bye Babies
After a couple of snowy days at the beginning of this week, I am hoping that we have truly seen the last of the winter weather. The sakura are scheduled to bloom in this part of the country on March 26th, which is Sunday week. Come on, warm weather! Show us some love!
Luckily, the warm weather did indeed make an appearance last Saturday, which meant my kiddies could graduate under a blazing blue sky. As I have said, this particular graduation was special to me: these kids are the ones who have been with me since the beginning, and while I was not relishing the thought of waving goodbye, I was happy that I was able to be there for such a milestone in their young lives. Tears spilled, yearbooks signed, many pictures taken. It was a bittersweet day, I feel like now I have truly started the long list of goodbyes I'll need to say before I leave this country. Check out the pictures: me and the girls basketball team, who were some of the brightest and friendliest kids in the year, and me with Akiko, who is a girl who always spoke to me.
As is tradition, I spent the evening of the graduation in a smoky room with about 50 drunk parents, and 20 drunk-ish teachers. Good food, good chat, lots of beer and sake. Yeah, I had a blast! I even made it along to Awa Odori practice afterwards! But then I wound my way home to my empty apartment, and wished there was someone there to talk to. And then did my usual rounds of terrorising special people with daft emails and phonecalls.
Sunday was another musical day, and it was a lot of fun. Some of my friends and students came out to see the show, and I'm told that they really enjoyed it, so that makes it all worthwhile. Only one more show left to go!
I spent Monday lying on my couch under a pile of blankets watching a movie called 'Bandits' (Nate D: it's ok, good ending), and FINALLY after ALL THESE MONTHS I completed my 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' odyssey. Phew!
It's all go this week, what with preparing for the impending arrival of my parents , trying to start the handover of National AJET business, preparing for the BBQ I need to organise at the upcoming Touch Rugby tournament, and trying to get the frisbee tournament underway. But today, while I am planning on doing something on all those little projects, I am also planning to show my co-workers some TLC, and bake them some shortbread this afternoon.
I need a haircut, new make-up and about 24 hours of sleep.
Monday, March 06, 2006
Peter Pan: 2 down, 3 to go.
I am pretty beat today. It has been a busy and very fun weekend. This week, I have not one single class at the JHS, but I'm hoping I have a full quota of three elementary classes to keep me from going totally mad.
I had been pestering people to do something on Friday night, and it looked like some of us would be in for more karaoke, but it was not to be. So I left school Friday afternoon with the prosepect of spending the evening alone, which I HATE doing on a Friday. Found myself in the freezer section of the local (tiny) supermarket, seeing nothing I wanted to eat worthy of a Friday night, and felt sooo depressed. Not a major depression just a "aww man, it's FRIDAY, why the freak doesn't Nate want to go boarding? Why is Julie sick? Why does this supermarket not stock pizza?!". Wound my way home, tidied the hovel a bit, and ate my frozen ebi-gratin type thing.
Was watching the superb "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrells" when Dave called to say he'd be round in an hour. Yeah! Company! Spent the latter part of the evening drinking cheap wine, talking on the phone with our friend Linda, and generally having a good Friday night.
Saturday and Sunday saw me out in eastern part of Tokushima prefecture for the first two shows of the AJET musical. This year, we had chosen to perform 'Peter Pan', tweaking the story slightly so that it was relevant in some way to Japan. For example, the crocodile was replaced by a giant mukade (poisonous centipede). The shows themselves seemed to go really well, with minimal screw-ups (though we did have two people falling off the stage on Sunday!). It's a gruelling three weeks of perfomances. I will be missing next week's Saturday show, due to my school's graduation, which I'm sad about, but this is a special graduation.
I spent Saturday night at Amber's house, along with Bessie, Julia and Nikki, a friend of Amber's from Kobe. We had a relaxing night eating pizza (steer clear of Pizza Hut's Salmon Grande, or whatever it's called. Yuk!), drinking some drinks, and chilling out. I love hanging out with Bessie. She's totally laid back, and I always feel like it's summer when she's around... I have no idea why, I think it has something to do with her habit of wearing a sarong and sandals in winter, and with the reggae-type beats that are always blasting from her car! :)
So today, I am sitting chatting to various people online, digesting and re-living some nice events of the weekend in my head, and planning (always planning) the Holiday of the Parents. Feeling a bit sleepy too.... busy time of it!
I had been pestering people to do something on Friday night, and it looked like some of us would be in for more karaoke, but it was not to be. So I left school Friday afternoon with the prosepect of spending the evening alone, which I HATE doing on a Friday. Found myself in the freezer section of the local (tiny) supermarket, seeing nothing I wanted to eat worthy of a Friday night, and felt sooo depressed. Not a major depression just a "aww man, it's FRIDAY, why the freak doesn't Nate want to go boarding? Why is Julie sick? Why does this supermarket not stock pizza?!". Wound my way home, tidied the hovel a bit, and ate my frozen ebi-gratin type thing.
Was watching the superb "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrells" when Dave called to say he'd be round in an hour. Yeah! Company! Spent the latter part of the evening drinking cheap wine, talking on the phone with our friend Linda, and generally having a good Friday night.
Saturday and Sunday saw me out in eastern part of Tokushima prefecture for the first two shows of the AJET musical. This year, we had chosen to perform 'Peter Pan', tweaking the story slightly so that it was relevant in some way to Japan. For example, the crocodile was replaced by a giant mukade (poisonous centipede). The shows themselves seemed to go really well, with minimal screw-ups (though we did have two people falling off the stage on Sunday!). It's a gruelling three weeks of perfomances. I will be missing next week's Saturday show, due to my school's graduation, which I'm sad about, but this is a special graduation.
I spent Saturday night at Amber's house, along with Bessie, Julia and Nikki, a friend of Amber's from Kobe. We had a relaxing night eating pizza (steer clear of Pizza Hut's Salmon Grande, or whatever it's called. Yuk!), drinking some drinks, and chilling out. I love hanging out with Bessie. She's totally laid back, and I always feel like it's summer when she's around... I have no idea why, I think it has something to do with her habit of wearing a sarong and sandals in winter, and with the reggae-type beats that are always blasting from her car! :)
So today, I am sitting chatting to various people online, digesting and re-living some nice events of the weekend in my head, and planning (always planning) the Holiday of the Parents. Feeling a bit sleepy too.... busy time of it!
Friday, March 03, 2006
Cleaner Extraordinaire!
Ok, so my predictions in my post yesterday? BS! I went home. Felt bored. Slept. Felt cold. Ate udon. The went mad cleaning! Here's what I blitzed:
-The hall cupboard- ususally never opened except to wrestle the hoover from it, and to shake my head at what might be in there.
- The hall in general
- The shower room
-The bathroom floor
-The hob
Wow. What an effort. And on a school night too!
-The hall cupboard- ususally never opened except to wrestle the hoover from it, and to shake my head at what might be in there.
- The hall in general
- The shower room
-The bathroom floor
-The hob
Wow. What an effort. And on a school night too!
Thursday, March 02, 2006
三寒四温
This is a Japanese proverb to describe the schizophrenic weather that always accompanies the month of March. It reads 'san kan shi on' meaning 'three days cold, four days warm'. And that's more or less what you get in March.
At the end of February, the uninitiated could be forgiven for thinking that winter was all over bar the shouting. It was getting milder. Breath inside the house wasn't quiten as visible as it had been. The fridge was actually clicking on. And then today, we wake up to... snow. At least on the mountains. I gather from the mountain men that Mother Nature did indeed crap more of the fluffy stuff all over them last night. Seeing as how this is my third winter over here, I am accustomed to suck fickle behaviour. It'll be over soon. Then... HANAMI!
I feel like I am a resevoir of untapped energy today. I am feeling... pent up. I am feeling... ready for action. Ready for a change. Something new. A new country. New challenges. I am sitting at my desk, and I feel like I am stagnating. I am so over being an ALT. I am not over living in this town, or living with these people. But I am over this country. I can't explain this in any eloquent way.
I want to do something. I want to interact with people face-to-face. I have become a web chat monkey. And it's fun. It passes the time. But I yearn for something a bit more than that! Web chat is evil. It is addictive. It's easier to be honest when you are hiding behind a computer screen. That's no way for human civilisation to be.
I wonder why it is that people need alcohol, or a computer screen before they feel comfortable being honest. Maybe that's too much of a sweeping statement. I know people who are perfectly relaxed with revealing thoughts and feelings without either of these aides. Personally, it depends on who I am with. If I see someone else ill at ease with revelations, then I don't go in for it. If someone opens up to me easily, then I guess I do too. I am rambling. I think this is probably the same for most people. See, this is what I am now. I have thoughts that turn out to be nothing new, nothing original. I am becoming stale. My mind is not sharp enough. Aaaargh. I hate to be bored. And I know that I have the resources right here to not be bored. But idleness breeds idleness. I want to go home tonight and clean my house. In reality, I will go home, wash the dishes, perhaps make an attempt to organise a cupboard, and then I will sit and watch some mindless DVD, or something. Not because I am lazy. But because I am exhausted from doing nothing.
At the end of February, the uninitiated could be forgiven for thinking that winter was all over bar the shouting. It was getting milder. Breath inside the house wasn't quiten as visible as it had been. The fridge was actually clicking on. And then today, we wake up to... snow. At least on the mountains. I gather from the mountain men that Mother Nature did indeed crap more of the fluffy stuff all over them last night. Seeing as how this is my third winter over here, I am accustomed to suck fickle behaviour. It'll be over soon. Then... HANAMI!
I feel like I am a resevoir of untapped energy today. I am feeling... pent up. I am feeling... ready for action. Ready for a change. Something new. A new country. New challenges. I am sitting at my desk, and I feel like I am stagnating. I am so over being an ALT. I am not over living in this town, or living with these people. But I am over this country. I can't explain this in any eloquent way.
I want to do something. I want to interact with people face-to-face. I have become a web chat monkey. And it's fun. It passes the time. But I yearn for something a bit more than that! Web chat is evil. It is addictive. It's easier to be honest when you are hiding behind a computer screen. That's no way for human civilisation to be.
I wonder why it is that people need alcohol, or a computer screen before they feel comfortable being honest. Maybe that's too much of a sweeping statement. I know people who are perfectly relaxed with revealing thoughts and feelings without either of these aides. Personally, it depends on who I am with. If I see someone else ill at ease with revelations, then I don't go in for it. If someone opens up to me easily, then I guess I do too. I am rambling. I think this is probably the same for most people. See, this is what I am now. I have thoughts that turn out to be nothing new, nothing original. I am becoming stale. My mind is not sharp enough. Aaaargh. I hate to be bored. And I know that I have the resources right here to not be bored. But idleness breeds idleness. I want to go home tonight and clean my house. In reality, I will go home, wash the dishes, perhaps make an attempt to organise a cupboard, and then I will sit and watch some mindless DVD, or something. Not because I am lazy. But because I am exhausted from doing nothing.
Monday, February 27, 2006
直島
On Friday night, I had what may have been one of the best karaoke sessions ever! We'd gone to the Miyoshi-gun English teacher's enkai, which in itself was a blast. When that finished, the ALTs decided to head to local karaoke house, Chantez, for some crooning. Oh my, we had such a laugh. We went mad, and by the end of it, my voice had really gone. Check out Tamezane-sensei's face in the corner of the picture of Nate and me (we're singing 'Perfect Drug' by Nine Inch Nails, a song I wouldn't recommend for karaoke!)
Saturday was a musical rehearsal, and it's good to see it all being pulled together like this! It was a long day, though, lots of standing around waiting for things to happen. That night Noam came back to mine to crash. We had a blast, drinking a LOT and talking a LOT. The musical is great in that way, because it allows you to meet a lot of people who you might not otherwise see so often, as they live miles from you. Noam is a great guy, and if we lived closer together, I'm sure we'd hang out a lot. But he lives in the south, me in the west. Such is life.
However, I somewhat regretted the late night (actually, early morning 2.30am), when at 6am my alarm went off! I was picked up at 7am by my friends Hanna and Kunihiro, as we were taking a day trip to Naoshima. Naoshima is an island off the northern coast of Shikoku, and takes about an hour to get to on the ferry from Takamatsu city. I tried to keep my eyes open, but I simply couldn't and ended up fast asleep on the ferry. Guilty feelings for the lovely people I was supposed to be bright eyed and bushy tailed for. However, on arriving at our destination, I soon perked up.
Naoshima is famous for its art galleries. It has three of them, and we were heading to two on Sunday. The first was called Bennesse House, and it is a contemporary art museum, with exhibitions that change every so often. I was excited to be in an art gallery again, it feels like a long time! Some of the exhibits totally blew me away. I won't even try to describe them, I won't do them justice, and taking pictures was a big no-no. But suffice to say that I was very content indeed to be wandering around in such a great space, appreciating all that I saw.
The second gallery of the day has a name that I forget. I was a bit reluctant to head here, as it had an admission charge of Y2000 (about £10), which I thought a bit steep. Well... I have never been as retrospectively happy to part with a tenner. This place was unreal. I think it might be one of the best galleries I have ever been to. Again, some of it is simply inexplicable. But there was the Monet room that I'll tell you about.
You leave your shoes outside, and step into an unlit, white room. The floor is laid with unpolished marble cubes, with rounded corners. It's a beautiful floor, and I just wanted to lie on it and float away. On the walls are three Monet originals, all coming from his work at Giverny. The thing with this room is that it is lit only with natural light from above, so that you can appreciate the paintings in something like the sort of light that Monet painted them in in the first place. The soft white of the room, the floor, these amazing pictures, the quiet... I felt an ambience in the atmosphere that made me never want to leave. What an experience.
We caught the ferry back to Takamatsu about 2.30pm (and this time we all dozed, tired bunnies we were). On the way home, we stopped off at the Shinto shrine where Hanna and Kuni got married. I'll admit, I was less than eager to do this. It had been a long day, communicating in broken English and Japanese, and I was more than ready to call time, and head home. But once again, I was really glad we stopped.
神谷神社 (Kamidani Shrine) is the oldest Shinto shrine on record in Japan. It's a beautifully serene place, set back from the road, surrounded by forest. The priest is a personal friend of Hanna and Kuni's, and so gave us a guided tour of the place. It was really interesting, and I felt honoured to have been given such treatment. I also found out the answer to a question that has been on my brain for some time now: the little pebbles that people throw on top of torii gates at Shinto shrines mean NOTHING. There is no religious significance in doing this whatsoever. What a stupid practice, then. Cause it's damn near impossible to get them up there, and you can spend hours trying.
So that was the weekend. And it was good. I have very good friends, I am a lucky person.
This week is one full of changes. Firstly, yesterday I had my last lesson with my third-graders. These are the special kids: the ones who have been with me since the beginning of my time in Japan. They gave me a lovely send off that had me bubbling at the front of class. I am going to miss these kids something chronic.
Also, yesterday was Miyoshi-cho's last day on Earth. Today, we merged with Mikamo-cho across the river to become Higashi-Miyoshi-Cho. What a mouthful! Changes indeed.
Monday, February 20, 2006
Sake and Naked Men
Yosh! What a crazy, almost-brilliant weekend that was.
Friday: Joe, Amber and Teralynn came over to my place for some pizza, films and serious snuggling. Just take a look at the snuggling! Piles and piles of futons and blankets… aaaah! Hard to believe, but Amber and Teralynn had never seen The Goonies before, so we gave them something of an education, as well as watching a crazy-fun looking snowboard race on the Olympics, and apparently annoying my neighbour with lots of noise. Oh dear.
Saturday: Up at the very respectable hour of 10am, and then off to Ikeda for the annual sake festival. For the humble sum of Y1000, you get to go around all the breweries in Ikeda, and sample all the sake they have on offer. For the sake-lover, it’s a treat. For someone like me who likes the stuff, but not enough to drink it regularly, it’s a good chance to go and get very sociable with the locals, who are all drunk, and think you are wonderful. I came away with a small bottle of what they called ‘champagne sake’, which is a young sake, slightly sparkly, and nice and sweet. Something happened to my bottle over the rest of the weekend, though, and I think that most of the fizz may have gone out of it. Hmm.
After the sake festival, a bunch of us jumped on a train to go to Okayama’s annual Naked Man festival. It’s an ancient festival, to do with machoism, masochism (takes place in mid-February, in the middle of the night, and involves cold water, and pain) and virility. For the girls and wimpier guys, it’s an excuse to appreciate the true value of clothes, and their cold-repelling properties. Actually, we just stand around watching the guys run around nearly-naked, getting progressively colder, until midnight, when there’s a brief tussle for a couple of sacred sticks thrown into the crowd by the temple priests, and then it’s all over. It’s a pretty violent affair: two thousand men scrabbling over two little sticks of wood, and not surprisingly, there are some quite serious injuries that occur every year. Thankfully, our boys returned to us more or less in tact, if somewhat dazed and amazed at what they had just put themselves through. Nate flopped down beside me on the bus after the festival, looking drunk and tired, and declared it had been the most harrowing experience he’d ever been through, and that his life had flashed before his eyes. He’s going to get quoted in Ehime’s ‘Mikan’ newspaper for that!
After the nakedness, we trooped back to Okayama proper for the after-party thrown by Okayama AJET. And I ran smack into Stu. Someone had told him I was in town, and we met up at the party. It was… interesting. I had actually been hoping to see him, but it made me a bit sad, really. We didn’t get to talk properly, the place was mobbed and noisy. But he looks great, and still makes me laugh. Man. Trying not to dwell, but it actually put a dampener on the whole weekend… Not cause it was BAD to see him, you understand. Just cause.
Sunday was spent in a couple of cafes, eating great bagels, drinking buckets of coffee, and just shooting the crap for a while. Back in Miyoshi by 3pm. There was a house fire here yesterday, and a man died, so that was a pretty sobering end to the weekend.
Mind is pretty busy now, digesting and thinking about a lot of things. Also reading a book called ‘Naked Economics’. It’s a very interesting read, and really puts the world into perspective. Currently listening to a bunch of new music procured from the likes of Amber and Nate. Highlights include Neutral Milk Hotel, Loop and ‘Fevers and Mirrors’ by Bright Eyes.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Ouch!
I had my first glimpse of the upcoming AJET Musical (Peter Pan) on Saturday there. It looks great! For all the stressing he's done over it, Joe is really bringing this thing together. it's mosr of a true musical than in previous years, with the actors actually bursting into song on occasion. I'm involved as the props manager, so it's important for me to get along to a few rehearsals to see how it's all fitting together. Nice work, crew!
Saturday night saw the first Minoda-ren practice of the new season. Predictably, hardly anyone showed up, but I really enjoyed myself. It feels like it's been ages since I last danced, and watching Dave at the kaikan last week (which was great!) really gave me a shot of enthusiasm to get stuck into it again. I hope Mum and Dad get to see a show when they come, though I'm not sure we'll be performing that early in the year...
On Sunday, me, Dave, and fellow Brit Nick all piled into Teralynn's car to make the drive to Ehime's Ishizuchi-san ski slope. It was an early rise, we were anticipating about 2.5 hours on the road, but it ended up being much quicker than that. Ishizuchi is Shikoku's highest mountain, but the ski gelende is still pretty short. Granted, it's bigger than the local slope at Kainayama, but still, but the end of the day, I felt like a yo-yo. That's not to say I didn't have a good time! On the contrary. The snow was in nice condition, the weather was pretty damn good, and the slopes, although short, were steep and fast, and of sufficient difficulty to make me think that I may have improved just a little when the day was over. And since I hadn't really seen Dave properly in a few weeks, it was nice to have a good chat. At one point, Dave got a bit over-excited about getting up the slope as quickly as possible, and took on the characteristics of a dog chasing a car as he tried to catch a ride on the chairlift. Nuff said, you had to be there!
Home in the early evening, with a splitting headache due to hitting my head on a fall. Didn't feel much like dinner , or moving, or breathing (it was that sore), so I curled up on my bed. Nate came by briefly to drop off some stuff I'd left at his, and tell me about what sounded like a great weekend at Daisen, and then I had a shower, and went to bed by 9pm. Slept like a log. And hurt all over today. Sure sign of good times!
Want to write more, but have a class to prepare (a Monday class, people!!). Will write more later in the week. Oh, check out the Lost Kids in rehearsal, and Dave on the slopes.
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Winter's not over yet....
No indeed. After a week of unseasonably warm weather, we have been thrust back into the snowy depths of winter proper. Chitter. But it feels better somehow. Warm weather in winter is a bit strange. I prefer snow and snuggling.
I had a really nice weekend. It didn't involve as much sleep as I'd hoped, but who needs sleep when you have good company?
-Friday: top day at work. Clever kids, happy teachers, good atmosphere in staffroom (not always the case). Got home. Put on some music very loud, and danced around my room. Nate came and picked me up, drove to Kitamjima singing a song about broccoli. Played poker. Bad cards. Counted out before I lost too much. Sit and watch the others play, feeling pretty choked with the cold. Down to Amber's to crash. Love Actually. Massages. Cool music. Tracy and Brittany. Scary looking humanoid rabbits (or rabbitoid humans?). 4am bed.
-Saturday: haircut. Love Keiji! Caught the eye of his Beautiful Assistant, and thought about asking his name, but chickened out. He has a nice smile, and hair to make you weep. Walked for an hour in search of Cafe Bugaku. Walked passed it. Twice. Finally arrived. Nate studied. I read the Economist. Mango latte, huge doorstop piece of cheesecake. Up to Dave's Taco Stand. Actually had a taco. Back in car. Drive back west. Snow falling. Want to drink wine. Feel crap with the cold. Pop into Minoda-ren enkai, make my apologies, chat to Shige. Up to Higashiiya. Scary roads, drove slowly. Had wine.
-Sunday: took Sean and Aki to Ikeda station (Sean's jaw is getting unscrewed today in a Tokushima Hospital). Breakfast at Autobahn. Bad hot beverages and music, but nice staff, and free ocha. Home. Shower. Hoover. Buffy. Sleep. Kick-ass dinner of salmon, hijiki, and fried peppers, leeks and mushies. Feel a bit better. More Buffy. More sleep.
Sean is an artist living and working with his girlfriend in Higashiiya. He is a very gifted lampmaker, and his work is amazing. He just finished a piece that Nate commissioned from him, and I'm thinking of asking him to do one for me, as it's a wonderful thing to be able to take home. Mum would love these lamps, I think. A couple of the lamps that Nate has are pictured. The tall rectangular one is the commissioned piece.
This week looks set to be busy. Dinner tonight with Hanna and Kuni. Eikawia tomorrow. Possible free night on Wednesday, but could possibly see some mates. Off to the city on Thursday to watch Dave dance at the Awa Odori Kaikan (museum). He's dancing as one of the leaders, so I want to see him do his thing. In April, he's moving back west to become a rafting guide for Happy Raft. No more JET. No more Tensui-ren. He'll still be a ways away from me, and it'll probably be even harder to see him at weekends, given that's when he'll have most work to do. But I am psyched that he's coming back. He seems to be too, and that's the most important thing. :)
AJET also has cranked into high gear, what with meetings, reports and elections. Nate (that's local Nate) has decided to run for my job, along with a couple of others from other prefectures, while our very own Christian is going for Chair. GO CHRISTIAN! I hope he gets it. He'd make a great chair, he'll just charm everyone to get what he wants. ;)
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Who Needs Torino?
A weekend of fun in the snow! I have just come back from an awesome three-day weekend, the sort of weekend that makes me wonder if I shouldn't do a fourth year out here (chill, Family, it won't happen).
On Saturday, I was picked up by shiny, happy Teralynn in her kocho-sensei car, and headed for the slopes of Kainayama for a spot of boarding. We had a grand old time, chatting away, comparing snow stories, shooting down the tiny gelendes, and marvelling at how warm it was. At about 4pm, we called it a day, and prepared to embark on the long drive to Higashiiya, where we were spending the night before the frolicks of Sunday. Saturday night was a good time: about 11 people eventually turned up at Nate's, and we chatted until the wee small hours, making ourselves a team flag, and generally chilling out proper.
Team flag? That's right, Sunday was the Yukigassen, which you may recall I wrote about a couple of weeks back. The All-Shikoku Snowball Fight Tournament was a total ball. We did much better than we thought we would, and were knocked out only after a desperate tie-break. We went down in a blaze of glory. If I write about all the details of the tourny, it'll be boring, so I'll just say that I haven't had that much good clean fun for a long time. We were a team, we did our best, we didn't quite conquer, but we had a damn good try. After the tourny, we ate, onsenned, drove down to Mikamo, ate some more. Then Nate came back to mine, we had a beer, watched a Buffy, then became unconscious as the fatigue of the day caught up with us. Nate especially: he was our team captain, and it had been a very physical and mental day for him. I think 'happily frazzled' is how I'd describe his demenour at 11pm on Sunday.
We both had the day off on Monday, and had decided to use it to go boarding. Being so drained, it was late morning before we finally got on the road. The snow was pretty rubbish, and the weather left a lot to be desired as well. Nevertheless, we had a lot of fun hanging out. We called it a day about 3pm, heading back to mine to sleep some more, before Nate headed to Ikeda to meet a friend for dinner, and I got down to some laundry and lesson planning.
The weekend relaxed me so much, and I had such a lot of fun. I wish this was life, but it isn't. My one low point was when some people were talking about what they'd do about "next year's tournament", and I had one of those horrible little lurches in my stomach because I know I won't be here.
AJET mad season is upon us. I have an inbox full of correspondence, and a forum full of new posts to digest. I love all this craziness. It feels like I'm doing something, and I'm part of something. Life's pretty damn good.
On Saturday, I was picked up by shiny, happy Teralynn in her kocho-sensei car, and headed for the slopes of Kainayama for a spot of boarding. We had a grand old time, chatting away, comparing snow stories, shooting down the tiny gelendes, and marvelling at how warm it was. At about 4pm, we called it a day, and prepared to embark on the long drive to Higashiiya, where we were spending the night before the frolicks of Sunday. Saturday night was a good time: about 11 people eventually turned up at Nate's, and we chatted until the wee small hours, making ourselves a team flag, and generally chilling out proper.
Team flag? That's right, Sunday was the Yukigassen, which you may recall I wrote about a couple of weeks back. The All-Shikoku Snowball Fight Tournament was a total ball. We did much better than we thought we would, and were knocked out only after a desperate tie-break. We went down in a blaze of glory. If I write about all the details of the tourny, it'll be boring, so I'll just say that I haven't had that much good clean fun for a long time. We were a team, we did our best, we didn't quite conquer, but we had a damn good try. After the tourny, we ate, onsenned, drove down to Mikamo, ate some more. Then Nate came back to mine, we had a beer, watched a Buffy, then became unconscious as the fatigue of the day caught up with us. Nate especially: he was our team captain, and it had been a very physical and mental day for him. I think 'happily frazzled' is how I'd describe his demenour at 11pm on Sunday.
We both had the day off on Monday, and had decided to use it to go boarding. Being so drained, it was late morning before we finally got on the road. The snow was pretty rubbish, and the weather left a lot to be desired as well. Nevertheless, we had a lot of fun hanging out. We called it a day about 3pm, heading back to mine to sleep some more, before Nate headed to Ikeda to meet a friend for dinner, and I got down to some laundry and lesson planning.
The weekend relaxed me so much, and I had such a lot of fun. I wish this was life, but it isn't. My one low point was when some people were talking about what they'd do about "next year's tournament", and I had one of those horrible little lurches in my stomach because I know I won't be here.
AJET mad season is upon us. I have an inbox full of correspondence, and a forum full of new posts to digest. I love all this craziness. It feels like I'm doing something, and I'm part of something. Life's pretty damn good.
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