What Floats in the Thick Soup

One year on

2007-09-05T16:10:00.000+09:00

When you've ignored your blog for an entire year, there's going to be a lot of back-logging to do.

Meh, who am I kidding.

I'm in London, living with Hana, Rob and new-comer Machiko. I'm qualified and waiting for calls for supply work.

A proper new start

2006-08-30T02:49:00.000+09:00

Two and a half weeks ago I would never have guess I would be here, of all places, writing this. Just when all seemed lost, and an extension of my contract at the NHS was all that stood between me and eternity, I scraped in to UEA and I even found myself a splendid room in the lovely city of Norwich.

For those of you who don't know, I've been living with my pa, and the ever-generous Lynne and Tony at The Black Horse, Lacey Green:

And now I am here:
Which I share with the very pretty Stephanie and Nathalie who is yet to move in.

And in a little over 4 weeks we'll know better whether I'll be running for the hills regretting ever considering becoming a teacher, or continue to feel blessed to have such a great opportunity fall my way. Yar.

Bye bye Murou

2005-07-27T00:28:00.000+09:00

Tomorrow I am leaving Murou village and moving to Nishinomiya City. I've said all my sayonaras and thrown out all 11 bags of rubbish and given the whole place a good clean up. All that is left to do is pack the washing which is not (and probably will not be before my train) dry. Of course I've also got to try and sleep, but that might be more difficult than it sounds. I want to mark this day in my blog, but my summaries of and homages to the last 3 years are beginning to dry out, so I will copy here the speech in English and Japanese which I gave to the entire school during my send off last week.

On Friday I shall be returning to the UK for two weeks, so I'll have plenty to blog about and share with anyone who happens to come along and read!

Good morning everyone. I thought about giving my speech in Japanese, but I realized that if I wanted to speak from my heart I would have to speak English. Even if you cannot understand my words, I hope that you can hear the sentiment.

みなさん、おはようございます。日本語でスピーチをしようと思ったのですが、自分の心からの気持ちを伝えたいと思うので英語で話そうと思います。もし私が言っていることがわからなくても、私の気持ちがみなさんに届いたらうれしいです。

Three years ago I traveled 11 hours in an aeroplane, not knowing what would meet me at the other end. I had very few preconceptions of Murou or Japan, except that my house will be big, and cold in the winter. The UK is so far from Japan that there are very few Japanese there and even fewer British who have traveled to Japan. I felt like a pioneer, trying to create a small bridge between our two countries.

三年前、飛行機で１１時間、この先どんなことに出会うかもわからないままやって来ました。室生村や日本についてほとんど予想もできず、知っていることといえばこれから住む家が大きいということと、冬は寒いということだけでした。イギリスは日本からとても離れていて、少ししか日本人がいないし、日本を旅したことのあるイギリス人も少ないです。私は二つの国の掛け橋になる開拓者のような気持ちでした。

And back then it really was an adventure! I had to try hard to cope with the different heat and humidity. I think I was jet-lagged for one whole month! Every day-to-day task was a challenge; taking the train, buying a snack at a convenience store, paying my bills. Perhaps getting used to school life was the most difficult task, but it was definitely the most rewarding of all challenges. Nothing has made me happier in Japan that knowing every day I had a warm, comfortable, happy work-place to come to.

はじめは本当に冒険のようでした。質の違う暑さや湿気に慣れなければなりませんでした。一ヶ月間も時差ボケが続きました。毎日のちょっとしたこともすべてが挑戦でした。電車に乗ったり、コンビニで何かを買ったり、料金を支払ったりすることも挑戦でした。一番難しかったのは学校の生活に慣れることでしたが、全ての挑戦の中で一番やりがいのあることでした。毎日、暖かくて心地の良いハッピーな仕事場に来られたことが何よりも幸せなことです。

For every time I miss my family, there is a teacher here with a smile and a “good morning” to make me feel better. Whenever I’m confused with Japanese there is a student trying their hardest to speak to me in English. If ever I’m frustrated with the cultural differences, someone is around to help me understand.

家族を恋しく思うたびに、笑顔で「おはよう」と言って下さる先生がいます。日本語がわからない時には、英語でがんばってしゃべりかけてくれる生徒のみなさんがいます。文化の違いで困ったときには、誰かが日本の文化を理解する手伝いをしてくれます。

When I came to Japan I left behind everything that had supported me. I would have no family, no friends, no familiarity with my surroundings. It is only thanks to people in this village and school that I have managed to cope without them. It’s not until you lose these things that you realize how special and important they are to you.

日本に来たとき、それまで私を支えてくれたものは全て置いてきました。家族もなく、友達もなく、環境にも親しみがありませんでした。学校と村の人たちのおかげで、順応することができました。なくなって初めてその大切さに気づくものです。

One of the most important things I’ve learned since coming to Japan is the significance of language and understanding. When you learn English you probably think of it as a list of words and some confusing grammar that you need to learn for a test. But the goal of learning English isn’t the score on the test. If you can understand and say a few words in English you will be able to express yourself to millions of people. I’ve learnt that perfection is not needed when speaking another language; you just have to want to express yourself. If you desire to tell someone else how you feel or think then you will be able to do it, no matter what words you use.

日本に来て学んだことで一番大切なことは、言葉と相互理解の大切さです。英語を勉強していると、みなさんは単語のリストだとか、難しい文法だとかテストに必要なものばかりを考えるかもしれません。でも、英語の勉強の目標はテストの結果ではありません。もし英語のいくつかの単語がわかったり言ったりできれば、何百万人もの人たちに自分の気持ちを表すことができます。私は外国語を話すときに、完璧を求める必要はないということを学びました。何かを伝えようと思うその気持ちだけが必要なのです。自分がどう感じ、何を考えているかを他の誰かに伝えたいと思えば、どんな言葉を使ったとしても伝えることができます。

Knowing this has helped me to make relationships with people in Japan that will be difficult to leave. Even though we do not share a language, we’re able to make incredibly strong connections. I will never forget you, the students and teachers of Murou, because being among you has changed my life.

このことを知ったことで、たくさんの人たちと素晴らしい人間関係を築くことができました。同じ言葉を話さなくても、驚くほど強い絆をもつことができます。室生中の生徒のみなさんや先生方のことを一生忘れません。私の生活はみなさんとの出会うことで変わったからです。

This opportunity I have had to live and work in a foreign country is rare and special. However I didn’t get here because I was lucky or special. I got this opportunity because I wanted it and I tried hard to get it. You can do it too. I really hope that some of you will find the chance to do something as wonderful and exciting as this some time in your lives. I’m certain that any one of you can achieve it if you really want it. If I can do it, you can too.

外国で住み、働くという機会はめったに得ることができない特別なことです。しかし、私は運だけでここに来たのではありません。強く望み、ここに来られるようにがんばったから、このチャンスを手に入れられたのです。あなたたちもチャンスを手にすることはできます。生涯で、素敵な、わくわくするようなことをするチャンスを見つけてください。誰もが本当に心からしたいと思えばそれを実現できると思っています。私ができるのですから、みなさんにもできるはずです。

To the students, for being genki; the principle, vice principle and teachers for being so generous and thoughtful; the English teachers for helping me and guiding me to be a better teacher; thank you all so much. I wish all of you best of luck in the future and hope our paths cross again. Take care of yourselves and each other.

生徒のみなさんが元気でいてくれたこと、校長先生や教頭先生、他の先生方の寛大で親切にしてくれたこと、英語の先生方にはいい先生になれるように手助けをしてもらったこと、みなさんに感謝したいと思います。みなさんお元気で。またいつか会えることを願っています。本当にありがとうございました。

Now, the Future

2005-04-26T09:32:00.000+09:00

I don't really have an excuse for not putting up anything here recently, except that I've had nothing worth broadcasting (not even blog-worthy). However, I've managed to compile a few items of interesting and good news suitable for adding to the Thick Soup.

Firstly I'll say that I got back safely from India without so much as a hiccup and pictures should now be available in the previous posts.

Secondly, I have been accepted into Edinburgh University to study M.Ed.(TESOL) starting in 2006. I was only slightly worried that I wouldn't get in, but to all those in the UK wanting to know when I'll be back, it should at least be sometime before I start studying.

Third, I am almost definatley staying in Japan after I finish my contract in July. An Australian friend of mine studying at Kobe University and I have arranged to live together and he has found an appartment which not only is mostly furnished and has low deposit, also is convenient for Osaka and Kobe. I have already partially signed up with an agency in Osaka which will mostly likely be able to find me work (and will sponsor my visa yay). I hope to work in Japan for at least another 6 months, until I save up enough money to go travelling or find another short term exciting teaching opportunity somewhere in the world. There is always the proficiency test to re-sit in December too :(.

Finally I'd like to say to anyone reading that I hope you are well and enjoying (or at least able to bear) whatever challenges life has for you. I would love to hear from you, even a quick hello (hit the reply button!). Until next time.

Arrival in Rishikesh

2005-03-31T12:15:00.000+09:00

My journey to Rishikesh was quite simple and hassle free. Delhi seems a much less stressful city than Mumbai and despite the crazy hustle and bustle of the train station, making it to my train on time was a breeze. The train ride was only 4 hours long and reasonably comfortable, though I was sat next to the noisest family ever. On arrivale though I befriended a group of 4 Brits heading to the same place as me, so we shared a taxi to Swarg Ashram in Reshikesh.

I also met a lovely little german girl in the restaurant of my hotel, she was interested in the book I was reading because she had read it in German once. My room is simple but clean and so far mosquito free. The restaurant has good food, but the service isn't exactly wonderful. The nights are wonderfully cool but the afternoons still warm.

This morning I have been for a walk alongside the Ganges. Being surrounded by green hills and the busy alleyways filled with Indians and non-Indians is a wonderful feeling. I'm looking forward to trying some yoga here, the sessions are two hours long each and very cheap. I'm sure I'll find plenty of things to do for the next 4 days and I'll definately have the chance to meet some very interesting people.

(Rafting on the Ganges, highlight of the days that followed)

Humanity: tick

2005-03-29T10:27:00.000+09:00

I write this just about an hour after saying goodbye to the rest of the team beside the Gate of India in Mumbai. It's been an amazing 10 days, which I'll try to describe as I wait for my flight to Delhi later.

Getting to our destination this time was much easier than 2 years ago. There was of course no SARS epidemic in Hong Kong this time, so we were not delayed overnight in Tokyo or Mumbai. So after leaving Kansai airport on Saturday in the early afternoon on Saturday we arrive in Hyderabad (after 16 hours of airplane) in the wee hours of Sunday morning. I was very surprised that Nalini, the GV Team coordinator for India was there to meet us and escort us to the affiliate (a further 6 hours away by train), but also that the affiliate president, Mr Rajsaheker, was also there to travel with us along with Mr Solomon, the worksite supervisor. On Sunday as we travelled to Bapatla we learned very quickly that these people who would manage all aspects of our week were also three very kind, friendly and warm people who would seem to bend over backwards to make sure we had a wonderful experience.

(Left to right: Mr Rajsaheker, Nick, Lucas, Hannah, Karen, Nalini, Solomon)

As with my previous habitat trip, the welcome we received by the affiliate board members was warm and humbling not to mention the ceremony held by the village elders and home-owners the next day. The village was larger and wealther than the last one in Trichy two years ago, but the need for housing is very strong. 300+ houses were destroyed 4 years ago by fire and as we arrive the first batch of 5 were beginning to be completed.

Over the course of our stay, due to Easter holidays, we only worked on the site for 4 days. 2 days were spent pouring concrete on the rooves of houses, and two days were spend white-washing the inside of one house and helping mix and carry the mortar to plaster the walls of another house. Actually after the first day of rooving, Lucas and I both became suddenly rather sick, and despite putting it down to airport flu and heatstroke, Mr Rajsahekar insisted that we go to visit his doctor friend... which led to our spending the night in hospital! Oops! After a day's rest though, we were both back at work and helping the rest of the team.

As before we spent our mornings at the worksite, and the afternoons at the orphanage which Mr Rajsahekar owns. There we played with the children, taught them songs and games, and were equally sung to and shown games they play. One night they also put on a show where they sang and danced (very well) to their favourite hymns or pop songs. At the end of this show we were embarrasingly asked to sing ourselves, so we did Row Row Row Your Boat in rounds and taught everyone how to do If You're Happy And You Know It.

(Nick and Lucas heave-hoing)

(Suzi painting like it were afternoon tea)

On our day off on Good Friday we went to visit some trade workers in nearby towns, then on Saturday we went to a larger town perhaps 2.5hrs drive away to do some shopping and also visit a very old set of oringally Budhist now half-Hindu caves.

(Carvings)

Sunday was spent inaugerating the first finished house in the village and taking part in the farewell ceremony, followed by the farewell dinner.

(Sunset over the village)

Due to the awkward plane and train time tables, we had to leave very very early on Monday morning to go back to Hyderabad, and our flight to Mumbai was very very early this morning, so in the past 2 days I've only slept about 7 hours, most of which was broken by vehicle noises and overactive airconditioning.

(Sayonara at the Gateway to India)

Now I sit, barely able to stay lucid and paranoid that now I'm alone I'm suddenly going to get sick or scammed!

I'm not able to go into as much detail as the last week deserves, and I wish I could portray more the feelings I have from the week we spent in Bapatla. Awe and wonder at the endurance and strength of the people in the village who strive every day for their comparitively simple lifestyles. Incredible respect for Nalini, Mr Rajsahekar and Mr Solomon who deal with these problems every day of their lives and sacrificed so much of their time and energy for our team. Kinship and fondness for the other team members, Lucas, Nick, Hannah, Suzi and Karen, for having stayed together from start to finish over the last 6 months. These are just minute snippets of the emotions I have felt, and I hope that in some way in the future I will be able to project them more fluently and meaningfully.

I have no idea what the next week will bring me, but if all things go as planned I will at least be in Delhi this time next tuesday with Nick, preparing for the long flight back to Japan. I will try to update this blog, for my own sake more than any other's, as often as I need and can. Stayed tuned for more Indian adventures and shennanigans.

6 Days Til India

2005-03-14T11:16:00.000+09:00

It is just 6 days now until I and 5 others from Nara will be going to Bapatla in India. Every time I think about it I get excited and nervous causing me to feel sick until I apply my mind to something else. I'm really looking forward to being in the thick of things again, like last time, and being able to try to connect with the people in India. I can't wait to be able to put myself into action in such a physical way and feel the gratification from it. I'm eager to spend 10 days with the group and get to know them better and enjoy the experience with them. All this, and I'm nervous about being the team leader. Nervous about being abroad again. Worried about the welfare of my grouop. Worried about the social dynamics of being in such in impoverished location again. Dreading anything which might reveal my insuitability for being the leader of a group of well-meaning English teachers in India.

But I don't let me seem as though I'm all about angst at the moment. I'm very adept at putting negative feelings into a box and closing the lid, so I'm certainly not overcome with anxiety. I'll be sure to post as often as I can when I'm in India, from 19th March until 5th April, so please come back and read how my demons are (hopefully) overcome.

Not unsuspected

2005-02-07T13:18:00.000+09:00

Well, it was the biggest yappari　(I told you so) of the my year so far, but today it was finally confirmed that I failed the Japanese test. However, I'm really happy with more score, because it is higher than any of the practice papers I tried. Alas I was just 9 (2.25%) points away from the pass mark.

Some interesting facts I learned about my Japanese ability today:

I have 57.75% mastery of grammar to a relatively high level
I have learned about 577.5 Kanji and 3465 words
I have ability to converse, read and write about roughly 57.75% of matters of a general nature
I've probably studied Japanese for around 346.5 hours.

I wonder if it's appropriate to write that in my CV.

Schnee brrrrrr

2005-02-02T10:29:00.000+09:00

Brrr brrrrrr brr br. No that's not morse code or the sound of an old telephone, it is the sound of my chattering teeth. Until Sunday I was happy thinking that this year's winter was a mild one. On Saturday it must have even been about 12 degrees! Today of course, it's about -5 degrees. Brrrr. It snowed most of yesterday and it has snowed constantly since about 07:30. Last night and this morning my tooth brush was frozen solid and while I made my lunch and breakfast today I had to keep the two gas stoves burning in the kitchen. Brrrrrrrr.

When Jenny visited last year at around this time I was disappointed that it was getting warmer and that she wouldn't get to see snow except for at Kouya San, in fact I remember that in Tokyo that weekend it was almost t-shirt weather. Now the snow is all over the place and I can only think, hooray! my last year in this cold cold house!

St. Valentine's Premonition

2005-01-31T09:23:00.000+09:00

Yes, one's tonge is as orange as one's shirt, and yes, it seems that when one is drunk one thinks that smiling is opening one's mouth as wide as possible.

Saturday night was the Habitat for Humanity Charity Valentine's Dance Party in Nara city and once again my initial worries of failure were proven wrong by the support of the 80+ people who came along. Despite the cold and wretched weather enough people showed up to help us raise a lot of money and take us to 90% of our required amount. Three weeks until fundraising finishes so let's see if we will be able to exceed our goal.

It's a great feeling that from now there are no more big Habitat for Humanity events to plan or execute. Of course my role as team leader is still going to be busy because we still have insurace, visas, registration and flights to book, but pushing paper is much easier than organising fund-raisers. And in 7 weeks we'll be there in India working alongside the villagers of Bapatla in helping to build new houses and better lives. Even the feeling I have now is worth every bead of sweat so far and I'm on the edge of my seat waiting to visit India. wakuwaku

So that I will be as single on the real Valentine's Day as I was on Saturday is no biggie. Honest.

A Cut Below

2005-01-31T09:04:00.000+09:00

Let me please share with you some advice that I could have benefited from myself on Friday. For on that day not only did I have a haircut, but I also learned my lesson. Having just been to the opticians for an annual check up and to buy new contact lenses, I was feeling a little sore in the pocket, so I went in search of a cheap place to have my haircut. Your average barbers costs around 4000 Yen here (about 20 squid), so when I spied a place in Kashihara for just 1500 Yen I walked right in.

I think they were as surprised to see a foreigner walk in as I was to see the cheap price, but without further ado I asked to be trimmed up, no shampoo no shave. Boy, did I start immediately regretting my choice of salon. The cut was over so quickly I actually asked for it to be cut a bit shorter, hoping that it might encourage the barber to take his time. But no. Twice he cut my hair and twice he neglected to take the time to make the cut even or suitably tapered or even at all to my liking. And his tools! He may as well have used a blunt axe. He made more strokes hacking away with the dreaded thinning shears than a proper pair of scissors. Throughout the cut I couldn't stop thinking about how my hair must now hate me and rather than think about the traumatic circumstance I was in, I tried to think of suitable ways in which I could apologise to my poor folicles.

Needless to say, I will stop being a cheap-skate and from here on in go to a 4000 Yen salon regardless of my financial situation. In the mean time, at least it's the winter so half the time I'm wearing a hat.

Running for...

2005-01-24T14:21:00.000+09:00

I was surprised to find out on 14th January that two days later on Sunday 16th the annual Murou Lakeside Marathon would be taking place, and that I was once again expected to take part. After catching a cold in Canada I hadn't jogged since New Year's Eve and I was wrongly expecting the marathon this year to be at the end of January or beginning of February, so thought I had ample time to recuperate and train a bit. Alas, the race crept upon me so that I could neither train nor prepare an excuse, so at 9am on the next cold Sunday morning I crept up the hill to the sports centre near the dam where the race would take place.

Like last year, registration was at 9am for all runners. There would be three races in total. The first, 1500m for elementary school students grades 1-3, seniors and families, followed by 3000m for the rest of the elementary school and the junior high school girls. The final race, the race I would be in, was 5K and was for junior high school boys and others (teachers, local youth baseball teams etc).

Last year there was race, to my relief, because there had been too much snow in the preceding two or three days. I was also nursing a terrible cold at the time, so I was saved the embarrassment of having to pull out. But with a two year gap since my last run, the pressure to have improved was much higher. Although I would not have run with the student before, I would again be running alongside Imanishi sensei and Nakanishi sensei, who had both beaten me the last time. The heat was on! (Not literally of course because it was rather cold, even though, I must concede, gracefully warmer than recent days).

The whistle blew and I ran and again at the half way point I was feeling rather exhausted. When I jog alone it is usually with the aim of running for x minutes, not for distance or speed. Also with the presence of others, it is certainly a force to keep me pushing a little harder than usual. I finished with a terribly pain in my chest and a sick feeling in my stomach, gladly though to see that I was 12th, with only 9 junior high school boys ahead of me and all teachers behind me.

I waited patiently for my certificate. While we waited for the awards to be handed out I was impressed to see that the 3000k girl's winner was a junior high school girl and yet a representative of her school's baseball team. Then the lottery was drawn. All participants were awarded a towel with a lottery number after competing, and then 35 numbers would be drawn and awards of escalating value were dished out. This seems odd to me, because the chance of being pulled out first and being 1 of 200 people are lower than 1/165, yet those with the highest chances get better prizes. I only say this because I was the 4th number drawn, prize number 32, and got a hand towel, a pen, some coloring pencils and some kitchen paper. On the other hand, the tension build up was fantastic, as people were eagerly expecting to win better prizes each draw, and I'm not entirely upset that I missed out on winning the top prize toaster oven.

Then I was handed my certificate. I remember my last time was 22 minutes and 30-something seconds, and seeing this time that I had managed 22 minutes and 3 seconds I was happy. Despite my secret and guilty feeling of relief that I had improved while those to whom I compared myself hadn't, there were two other things that went through my mind as I laid the two certificates side-by-side. The first is that this year both of my names appear on the certificate. This is a result of my being able to register myself and write my full name in Japanese, but it also gives me a (perhaps imaginary) feeling that I have evolved from being a random foreigner known only as Suchuwaato, to being a person with a family and a personal name. Something small, but reassuring. The second thing I noticed was the thinner, lower quality paper used with the new certificate and indeed that it had been photocopied rather than printed in gold. I suppose it is a sign of the degradation of the local economy (all over Japan rural councils are losing money because young people are moving to the cities and there are barely any tax-paying residents left behind), and although it is a small and superficial sign, it is at least a subtle reminder that I'm living in a dying countryside.

Love ends and Adventure begins

2005-01-12T15:35:00.000+09:00

The amount of love by which I was surrounded during the last week in Vancouver was so great that it is now painful to speak of it. But I will say that during a trip to Victoria on Vancouver Island I was able to purchase my first ever Tilly Adventure Hat. Bring it on.

Grouse Adventure

2004-12-28T13:33:00.000+09:00

Despite napping during a late afternoon showing of Ocean's 12, yesterday's shopping paid its told on us, and even though I had some intention to go running, none of us woke up until 9am. When we did wake up though, the weather was absolutely beautiful and we could see over the city to the mountains on the other side. We decided instantly that today should be our Grouse Mountain day and after getting dressed and downloading directions, we jumped in the car.

We had to park a 15 minute walk away from the cable car and the line looked really long, but within an hour we were aboard the carriage to the top. There were many many skiers and snowboarders, and we were even told that today is the busiest day of the year. At the top though they had a reparted 121cm of snow, 12cm fallen in the last 24 hours. We had taken some lunch in the form of bagels and cheese and a danish pastry. So once we'd eaten it we got ourselves some snowshoes and went for a walk among the ski slopes. The views were abolsutely fantastic and being around so much snow was a great feeling.

We had snow fights and jumped into great drifts of snow and even tried climbing up a giant drift which went up to the tree tops. As a result we got a bit damp and cold and I only hope I don't catch a cold while I'm here.The sun went down behind Vancouver Island just as we were queueing for the cable car down, giving us a fantastic view of the city and university. Beautiful!

Froehliche Kurisumasu

2004-12-26T13:45:00.000+09:00

To everyone out there, even though the time has probably already passed, Merry Christmas! I've just has 3 days of life experience at the Dethlefsens', a wonderful household in Whiterock. We drove over there on the morning of the 23rd and after a wonderful lunch (every meal can in fact preceded by a some highly positive complimentary adjective) we went for a hike along a freight rail track between Crescent Beach and Whiterock beach. It was a little spooky with the mist from the ocean surrounding us most of the time and we didn't see many people there at all. In the evening we decorated the Christmas Tree with real candles and other decorations, and due to the past few days of busy busy exhausting stuff I dozed off whilst watching The Terminal, a terrible film.

Yesterday was the important meal for the whole family, and we spent an hour or so in the afternoon preparing the vegetable etcetera. I was really anticipating eating the brussel sprouts, but I don't think my body was all that keen; I've been releasing many a large fart since. My Christmas pudding seemed to be liked by all and I must say that I'm rather relieved. I couldn't imagine spending a whole evening tending it (with an amour waiting in the wings no less) just to have had it either taken away by customs or turned out rotten. Luckily I survived both threats and we even had some for breakfast this morning.

Last night in the evening we went to Joe's house for a little open-house thing. Most of the people there were high school friends. It was nice to see people talking about the dozens of mutual friends they have, even though I couldn't remember just one dozen names of my own school friends. There were some delicious snacks there. Joe had made a wonderful hummus (natsukashii!) and there were some deepfried jalapino-cream-cheese things. Yumalumalum!

I only slept for 6 hours before we got up for Christmas breakfast. After that we opened the presents. For the rest of the day we just seemed to be constantly eating the gingerbread cookies we had made or some other snack, so played a board game right the way through lunch without even noticing. After a final last dinner we gathered up our gifts and toothbrushes and leftovers and drove back to campus. We're exhausted from done not much more than sitting and eating for the past 48 hours, but tomorrow is crazy shopping day in downtown yip yip yoorah!

Vancouver juice

2004-12-23T10:32:00.000+09:00

It's only my second night here in Vanvouver, which I'm beginning to learn lacks the hyperactivity of even your average rural Japanese town, but there's certainly something in the air keeping me going.

I only managed to sleep for about 30 minutes of the 9 hours flight. It was cold and barely even felt tireed, despite having only had 6 hours sleep the night before and run around all day frantically to get gifts etc. My carrier was a bit disappointing, not having spare blankets and only giving Haagen Daaz to those with regular meal options (vegetarians were given a slice of frozen pineapple).

It was rather cloudy, but as we got within an hour of touchdown I could see some snowcapped mountains. Below the clouds I could see the whole of Vancouver. Downtown was easy to spotwith plenty of high rise buildings. And the airport is nicely situated only about 30 minutes from where Hana and Rob are staying. Seeing Hana and Rob again after almost 6 months was wonderful. After lots of hugs and a Starbucks, we made our way to their apartment. They have a really nice place and it's plenty warm for the winter.

We went out for lunch in a great vegetarian restaurant called Naam, after which Hana and I went to get our hair cut. I knew the salon was a hit as soon as they offered us complimentary Christmas wine hoorah. We both got good cuts and then went back. In the evening a couple of Hana's high school friends came over and we headed out to a live jazz/soul bar, Bar None. The music inside was awesome and after figuring out how to tip properly I was getting plenty of drinks. Joe from Mie was there too, so it was almost a complete Ishigaki Fat Camp Reunion.

We danced almost all the way through until 2am when the bar closed. By the time we got back and showered and chatted some, it was 4am when we all went to bed. I had been awake, with just one short nap on the plane and another on the sofa before dinner, for more than 36 hours.

Alas, we had only 6 hours sleep before getting up and eating a wonderful H.Dethlefsen breakfast and then going into town to do a little shopping. While shopping I spotted a black squirrel running across the road. A black squirrel? Huh!? Who knew, eh? Ahhh, full of surprises, this blarney country.

More later...

Christmases are like buses...

2004-12-16T09:02:00.000+09:00

You wait all year for one, and then a bajillion all come at once. Yesterday was "Christmas - The Cakes' Revenge".

Part I

In the morning I was invited to be the guy who dresses up as Santa and hands out presents to petrified toddlers. Part of the deal was also cooking lunch and decorating rice-cooker Christmas cakes with the mothers. Unsurprised was I when I noticed that all of the food (except the cake) had meat in it - even the vegetable soup, go figure.

The santa gig was quite fun, and this year not as many of the children cried as last year. The best thing about the deal was that I could sleep late and have a long lunch break before going back to school.

Part II

From 5pm there was a mini school Christmas Party for the Community Classroom. I'm not sure what the CC is exactly, but during term time two or three of the teachers go to community centres in different part of the village and help the kids with their work if they need it. This year's Christmas Party involved 15 teachers and 13 kids, and after playing a Christmas Challenge game (modelled on my very own Christmas Box and Bear Music Game) the students then decorated some more Christmas cakes. As usual I was a magent for hospitality and was offered several pieces of cake, but just ate one and took one home.

Part III

No sooner had a got home from the Christmas Party and drunk a cup of tea did I have to go to my last Community English Class of the year. I just played games with my beginners, but in my intermediate group I gave them a description of the nativity and asked them to make a script. It was actually a really fun activity and beforehand none of them really knew the story so at least they learnt something about Christmas that didn't revolve around Christmas trees, presents and cake.

bakin' and a'sellin

2004-12-12T16:09:00.000+09:00

Yesterday before the Tenri Christmas Candle Concert (another Christmas festival for kindergarten and elementary school kids) a bunch of the Habitat for Humanity guys got together in Tawaramoto to do some mass baking in the new community centre there. The building was amazing, and the kitchen was kitted out with super electric ovens and oodles of room to move around in. And even though it took us a couple of rounds of flat-as-a-pancake cookies to figure out what the temperement of the ovens, we managed to bake a hell of a lot of stuff again.

So today a few of us met up at 8am to sell the stuff and some other things at the flea market...

I'm sad to say that it wasn't as successful as our stall at the Murou Harvest Festival in October, but we still managed to sell a lot, even without the help of the Murou Friendly Club. Again, most people were quite shocked to see foreigners there, and even more surprised when we yelled "irasshaimase" to get their attention. I'm exhausted, but only 9 more days til I go to Vancouver...

Don't diconnect or dooooo

2004-12-09T22:49:00.000+09:00

And so it has come to be. I now have the cutest iPod in the world. Say hello to Gir.

For a quick howto on how to change your iPod graphics visit Engadget.com.

Language deficiency?

2004-12-05T22:29:00.000+09:00

Today was the day of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test and what a relief it is to finally have it over an done with. I made a deal in May with a friend to take the test together, despite our knowing that it would be a huge challenge to learn all we needed in time, and since then I've been pouring over grammar books, kanji books and preperatory texts in most of my free time at work, and I even lugged my books through Thailand and Vietnam in the summer. All for what, I ask myself.

I don't intend on teaching Japanese, studying at Japanese university or working in a Japanese company, so why did I decide to take this test? I mean I would study Japanese anyway, because it's important that I learn Japanese to improve the relationships I have with Japanese friends and also because it helps me to function better in most aspects of my life here. I suppose I liked the idea that after all the time spent staring at pages of Chinese characters I would be able to say that I had an actual qualification and certificate to show for it; that I could boast of being able to read X number of kanji and have the equivalent Japanese ability of blahblahblah. Important? Maybe.

Then I just liked the idea of The Challenge - to see how far I really could go if I put my mind to it. Could I learn 500 kanji in 6 months? Well, no, as it turns out. But I guess I had fun trying.

Hundreds of people were at Kyoto University today for the same reason, and thousands more at other test sites around the country, not to mention the world. I guess it isn't too suprising that most of the examinees were East or South Asian, but the sheer number of people there shocked me. The systems for checking attendence (matching our faces to our registration cards before the start of each of the three sections) and handing out/collecting the answer sheets and question books were slow, and each exam had an extra 10-15 minutes tapped onto the beginning and end. But we were finished at 14:45. I'm not too anxious about the test results, issued in February, as I'm quite confident I failed and I don't need the result for anything important.

I came home this evening and looked over at the Japanese version of Harry Potter I have. This time I didn't consider it a sum of kanji and kana and confusing grammar that I would have to learn, but as something I could try to read (though far from perfectly), just to enjoy it and relax. For the time being at least I'll be able to return to focussing on Japanese that I want to learn to improve my living and conversation skills in Japanese, and examine myself on the success of my understanding and practical use of such Japanese rather than whether I understand 60% of what someone has deemed the product of 600 hours of study.

Drag and Flop?

2004-11-28T09:30:00.000+09:00

I've finally done it. But will I ever be the same again? Only time will tell, I suppose...

Yesterday was a JETNet Christmas event for elementary school kids held in Kashihara. What do you get when you put 100 kids in a room with 35 JETs and a bunch of tacky Christmas decorations? Well, I can tell you that we did not have peace, order nor quiet, and neither was there a jot of Christmas spirit. But there was a guy in a dress.

At most JETNet events the UK group usually has very few members because there are just too darn few of us in Nara. But for yesterday's we managed a good number, 6 out of 7. Two weeks ago we began discussing by email what we should do for our country presentation in order to teach the kid's about What Christmas Is in the UK. Someone suggested talking about pudding, crackers etc, and then somone suggested a small play and then a pantomime in which we could show some of the distinctly British customs... then before anyone could say "Er hang on, is any one of us at all talented?" Laura had written a script and assigned us all roles. The play involved two incredibly short acts, one with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert having the first Christmas Tree and the other with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip pulling crackers, getting presents and giving the Queen's speech. Chris was Santa, little Hannah was Rudolf, Suzi was a maid, Robin was Prince Albert/Phillip and who would be the Queens? Why, of course it had to be me! So with a white afro, a tiara, a long black skirt, a rolled up scarf for boobs and a dash of red face paint for lips, I was transformed into Erizabesu-jou.

Two years ago I would never have dared anything so crazy, to stand up in front of 200 kids and adults in a wig and skirt and deliver bad pun after bad pun in a rediculous falsetto voice. Now it seems just like any ordinary day.

Other hi-lights of the day include a never ending game of break-the-unbreakable-pinada, invent-your-own-relay-game-because-no-one-gave-us-instructions, and the touch-the-foreigners-in-inappropriate-places game (I think when these kids grow up to be salary people there will have to be special carriages on trains just for foreigners so they can avoid being groped by crazy guys in suits screaming random English words).

Oh, the things we do to have a Merry Christmas.

Another Autumn in Murou

2004-11-21T18:30:00.000+09:00

Early this morning I went to Murou-ji for the first time since last winter during the snow. To be honest I wasn't in momijigari-mode until the bus ride, which was a continuous hum of isn't it prettys courtesy of the other riders. Fully primed by the time I got there, I was ready for some serious leaf viewing. Needless to say, the beauty of the temple area speckled with leaves of red, yellow, green and every imaginable shade in between was astounding. Even with so many people around it was easy to relax and find some kind of peace of mind there. And those 700-or-so steps to the top don't seem so difficult at all any more. I guess it's easy when compared to the 1300 double height steps at the temple in Krabi Thailand, but I'll never forget the first time I went to Murou-ji with Imanishi-san in the middle of summer, both of us exhausted and sweating only half-way up the main staircase. I had previously thought it odd that the main temple is only 50 or so steps from the entrance and the hall at the top of the giant meandering staircase is barely worth visiting. Now I see it a little differently and climbing to the top isn't about seeing a temple but simple doing it. Even though the main goal is easy to reach, you can see a point far beyond it and feeling sufficiently charged and motivated to get there you just seem to continue climbing naturally. And almost everyone will climb on, the old, young, unfit, crooked and otherwise.

As for me, I just wanted to feel like I deserved the shimeshidon and yomogimochi afterward. Yum.