Pip-ines Here We Come!

Yes that's right, I'm going to that wonderful country known for sandy beaches, rice terraces and occasional kidnappings by Islamic fundamentalists- the Philippines!

I booked my flights today, and am going for around two weeks at Christmas time; if all goes well I'll be spending Christmas Day on a beach, and New Years Eve in a club. If all goes badly...well, a ransom note will be heading someones way soon!

Joking aside, it should be a really good trip. It looks like a beautiful country that's a lot less touristy than Thailand. Plus it's really cheap! This weekend I'm visiting a friend in Nara, the number 2 cultural shiny place in Japan behind Kyoto. I gotta leave right after work tomorrow. I'm sooo tired today cos my mentally unstable neighbour decided to bang on my door at 6.30am. Hmmm, she'd better not do that again, or she'll learn the true meaning of mentally unstable...

A Pet Turtle Called Hirohito- If Only

Today I considered buying a pet turtle, then decided it wasn't a good idea. A boring story to tell, you may say. But let's have a closer look. An English teacher at work has two pet turtles, which he bought because he and his son really like them. He named them Michael (I gave him a list of English names to choose from, including Tim and Boris, but he went for this) and Yoshino. He'd bought them because his previous batch of turtles, working as a three, had somehow managed to make a run for it. Quite how turtles do this I do not know. Nonetheless, he came back from work one day and they were gone. So I decided that, being 22 and living on my own and all, it was time that I had my first pet. I'd get two turtles, and call one of them Hirohito, after the Showa Emperor. The other I'd let the English teacher name, in order to return the favour. Before I knew it I was immersed in the world of pet turtles, hearing about what tanks and heaters etc etc you can get, all for a little turtle worth a fiver (though obviously a lot more than that in immesurable love of course). I even went to www.petturtle.com, a thrilling site than I recommend to you all. But then came the realisation that a pet turtle is for life, not just for shits and giggles (although theres plenty of these when turtles are around, according to my eigo sensei- apparently if you get more than one they're more exciting, because they actually move sometimes!). While I'm staying at my friends house every other week, and while I'm away on holiday, the turtles will feel neglected and may develop some sort of psychological disorder. Plus there will be no-one to feed them. So I decided, at the end of the day, that it wasn't a good idea after all.

A day well spent.

Imitating Becks

This week we have exams at Shonan, so I have no lessons. Whilst this may sound good, it really isn't. I turn up at 8.50am, bleary eyed, sit at my desk till 4.50pm, then go home. I guess on the bright side I get to continue to attempt to try and learn a bit of Japanese. Hmmm. Today though, we recorded the listening exam, which involved me imitating a cockney David Beckham accent, a New York accent and a South African accent! I didn't say anything untoward though Dan, Simon, Tim :) I went into it boasting that my nickname was 'One Take Martin', a completely made up nickname that isnt really that good anyway. Still, it became an even worse nickname, if thats possible, when it took 12 Takes to get the David Beckham question right! One after another the 4 of us in the English department kept cracking up; and once u start its so hard to be serious! Anyway, that was the highlight of my day. That and showing all the teachers my new shiny phone!
Tomorrow is my lovely sister Josie's birthday, she's 17. In fact the other week I found out one of my favourite students at Seishi koko was also 17 tomorro! What are the chances eh. Anyway, Happy Birthday Josie!!!! xx

The Shinkansen, Baseball, and Hiroshima

Well first of all I finally got a cellphone. You can email me short 'text messages' for free to stevesayskanpai@n.vodafone.ne.jp to brighten up my days, and if for some reason you want the number u can also mail me to ask for that. I can't receive long emails though. In Japan ppl 'text' to emails, unless they are on the same network, as every cellphone has an email address. In other words I text friends who are on Vodafone to their cell numbers, but text other people to their emails. Its a bit confusing, and also a bit silly. This weekend I went to Hiroshima, which involved three new and delightful experiences, the Shinkansen, Baseball, and obviously visiting Hiroshima itself.

Photos of Trains, What Everyone Wants To See

At the risk of making this blog look like a trainspotters website, here are some photos of the Shinkansen. Taking the escalator of dreams up to the platform was like being transported up to the gates of heaven. It was amazing! I was literally leaping around with excitement. There are three types of Shinkansen, with the Nozomi being the fastest and stopping at the fewest stops. This is the white one you can see - the third pic is the one we got. The other, silver one, looks even cooler I think. As it entered the station it was like some mythical beast appearing on the horizon. Inside it was pretty similar to a normal train, but once we got going we went sooo fast. In part the Shinkansen is so quick because the route is an 'as the crow flies' route- as such the track goes through several hills and mountains- I get the feeling the planners just got a map of Japan, and drew more or less straight lines from place to place, ignoring everything that was in the way. But it really does fly along- at 300 kph. Just 40 mins later we were in Hiroshima; Hiroshima is further from Okayama west than Kobe is east, and would have taken about 2hrs40mins to get to without Shinkansen Power.


Baseball, The New Football? Maybe Not

The game started about 1.30pm, with the Hiroshima Carps playing a team from near Tokyo. I won't try to explain the entire rules of baseball here, but as they were new to me it took a while to get into it. There are 9 innings in baseball, and you get a point for each home run you score. If all of the bases of 'loaded' (theres a player at each base), and you hit a home run, you get 4 points. Other than that the key was watching for whether the pitcher pitched 'balls' (no good) or strikes (good). The trouble was, the best way of telling whether a pitch was good or not was by watching the lights on the scoreboard; I guess unless ur up close then either this or watching the ref is the only way of telling. We won 4-2; hurray! The first inning was good, then the next four or five had no points for either team, so it got a bit slow. After the seventh innings you have whats called '7th-inning stretch', which is a longer break. For Hiroshima Carps fans this means blowing up balloons that, let's face it, look like sperm, and releasing them all into the air for 'good luck'. It was so surreal! The game finished at about half 4; it was a great experience, and the ground has a great atmosphere, but it lacked the intensity and excitement of football. Plus although the Carps' fans were good, they were nothing compared to the nutters we'd seen at Kobe!

A Trip To Hiroshima- What A Blast

Dark humour aside, visiting the A-Bomb Dome was a surreal moment. The first atomic bomb 'in the history of mankind', as the plaque declared, was detonated a few hundred metres above what used to be the Hiroshima Industrial Promotion Hall. I thought the experience would be very morbid, and lead to me writing some sort of monologue on the tragedy of the moment and its after-effects. That it was tragic is undeniable, but what was so fantastic about the experience was that, though it was sombre, Hiroshima is now a lively, vibrant city. There was beauty and life all around the wonderful area of Hiroshima near the dome, with Japanese buskers playing below the bridge, and a large sunlit park between the two rivers where buildings had stood before 6 August 1945. It is further to the credit of Hiroshima citizens, and Japan in general, that the tragedy has been transformed into a general cry for peace and nuclear disarmament, rather than a (some might say very justified) attack on the US for dropping the bombs over sixty years ago. The Peace Memorial Museum, near to the Dome, was absolutely outstanding; interactive, interesting, comprehensive and unbiased. It reminded me of the really good Berlin Wall Museum- a really good job. Hiroshima was a great place to visit, and we'll all certainly go back as theres a lot we didn't see, including one of Japan's official 'three best views' on a island nearby. It was a bit unnerving, however, to see so many gaijin (foreigners) everywhere- I didn't like it! Maybe this is a bad sign for when I eventually return to the West!

Respect The Aged

Nice Pic from Shodo Shima

As I sit here writing this the winds are picking up and rain is on its way. A large typhoon, which has already hit Kyushu, is due to make its way inland and reach Okayama by tuesday morning. I'm hoping for something spectacular- though I could be dissapointed. Two 'typhoons' have already hit, though 'a bit windy' would be a better way to have described them. Mind you, one did almost kill me- I was cycling back from work, holding an umbrella, and listening to music while it was raining like hell and really windy. Suffice to say I almost hit several cars before deciding to just give up, get soaked, and live a little longer!

My grand weekend plans were sadly shelved, for a number of interconnected reasons. Still, I had a nice weekend as it was, and I'm getting the shinkansen next weekend, and going to Kyoto a couple of weeks after, so its all good. On Friday evening I went to an outdoor performance of Kyogen theatre in Soja. It was a really nice evening, even though I didn't understand most of what was going on! Kyogen is a bit like the more famous Noh Theatre, except that the players don't wear masks, and its intended to be more entertaining- i.e. funny jokes and silliness rather than death and honour stuff. The best performance (there were three short plays) was by some local 12-year olds, who performed one of the more classic Kyogen stories. It was really well done, and they obviously enjoyed the acting. My school secretary took me there, and we went back to her friends house after and had some food- they had 4 cats!!

On Saturday I went shopping, buying lots of CDs, fancy stationary (pointless, but its so shiny!) and Japanese tack. I'm getting into J-pop, and I'd recommend the band Puffy, who go by the name Puffy AmiYumi in the west. Doubtless all those reading this will go racing to their nearest record shop and order it right now! On the subject of music I'd also, obviously, have to recommend Bob Dylan's new album, Modern Times. I also got another Murakami- 'Underground', about the Tokyo Subway attack of 1995, which has topical significance as the ringleader Shoko Asahara was today sentenced to hang. I've already read about 1/2 of it- it's very different from other Murakami, but to my mind further confirms how amazingly talented he is. He writes little in this book, but organises and presents the stories of people who experienced the attack incredibly well, turning what could be a repetitive and boring catalogue of personal experience into an engrossing look at both the attack itself, and the idea of ordinary people being caught up in extraordinary events. Finally its a really good look at Japanese culture- particularly of the life of the 'salarymen'. I want to get through it quickly so I can concentrate on the two dense novels I'm also reading- Crime and Punishment (my third attempt!) and 'I Am A Cat' by Soseki Natsume, which is a commentary on mankind and Meiji Japan from the perspective of a pet cat with no name. It's really funny and well written and I'd definately recommend it, although so far it's not as engrossing as Kokoro, Soseki's 'masterpiece'.

On Sunday I went to Kurashiki City, took it easy, and did some touristy stuff. I visited a nice shrine on top of a hill to the east of the centre, and went to a famous art gallery in the old quarter, which had some famous names as well as a really interesting modern art gallery.

On Monday it was Respect The Aged Day, so I had a day off- hurrah! I went to Ushimado, a lovely seaside town to the east of Okayama. It was a really sunny day, and it was nice to stroll around temples, and chill out with great views of the Inland Sea. The last two photos are from Ushimado, and I'm really pleased with them.

Top of the League!

Well I had to post a...errr...post, cos my two football teams are both top of their respective leagues! A 2-0 win for the Blues last night left us two points clear at the top of the Championship, whilst this evening Vissel drew 2-2, whilse Reysol lost 1-0 toYokohama meaning Vissel go top of the J-League 2 on goal difference. Back of the net!

This week has been the first week of real teaching, after all the (endless) self-introductions at Shonon and Seishi of the past two weeks. Although its only been two weeks since I started, it's amazing how much I've already learnt about the teaching. The stress has disappeared, and its been replaced by genuine enjoyment at taking lessons- before I was basking in the glory of only having one and a half hours to teach every day (3 hours on weds)- now I wish I had more! Today I did some 'guest-teaching' at a local kindergarten, which I'll do once everyone month, and it was so much fun!!! The kids were so kawai (cute), we sang songs about bears, kangaroos, snakes and wombats, and then we gave out stickers. I'm teaching at the kindergarten with five 20-year old girls who can't speak any english. It's very different from High School, and I wouldn't want to be doing it all the time (imagine teaching kindergarten hungover!), but it was so much fun...

This weekend I have very exciting plans- first, I'm getting the shinkansen (eek!) which is very exciting for anyone with a nerd-like obsession with super-fast trains....ahem....second, I'm getting it to Kyoto, a city that, as I may have said before, has more World Heritage sites than sense- anyway it's meant to be one of the big highlights of Japan, and I'm staying with a friend- Hannah- so hopefully I can do it on the cheap! (Having said that the shinkansen costs about £30 one way!)

Anyway....top of the league!!!! : )

Young Power A Go-Go!

Going to football matches has been one of the few things I've really missed in Japan, and listening to games on the internet or on the radio just isn't the same. So it was with great excitement that me and Phil set out to our first ever J-League game, our newly adopted team Kobe Vissel against those cheeky northerners of Consadole Sapporo.

The experience was great, being both similar to a regular football match and a uniquely Japanese experience. Firstly we have great slogans like 'Higher Than Yesterday', 'Young Power A Go-Go', 'We Swear, "Keep Challenging"', and the absolutely wonderful banner you can see below, 'Vissel Expects Than Everyman Will Do His Duty!!' The best thing about Vissel though is that we seem to have picked a team to support that has a whole stand full of nutters! If you enlarge the crowd photos below, ull see a bit of what I mean. The result itself was dissapointing; a clanger by the Consadole goalie left an easy finish for Kurihara in the 76th minute, but just sixty seconds later Consadole's (what I can only assume is the incredible) 'Hulk' scored a sweet goal from the edge of the penalty area to make it 1-1 on the night. We're second in the league- and we could have gone top if we'd got a result last night. On Wednesday 1st plays 3rd, in a crucial game. We need to finish in the top two, or we'll end up playing a playoff against the 17th team in J1 to see who gets promoted/remains in the top division.

At the end of the game, the team came round and bowed to each stand; I was lucky enough to shake new player Gabriel's hand- although he seemed a bit puzzled to see us gaijin (foreigners) in the crowd! Having Kobe shirts meant that there was a bit of banter with Nihonjin fans after the game, although we were in the boring stand compared to the nutter stand opposite us- which we'll go in from now on! We also struggled to translate 'close him down' and 'get into them' accurately, and failed to think of a song that included the line 'your mother is a snowman', although that's probably just as well. To be fair, Consadole deserved the point- I'd feel sorry for the fans coming all the way down from (and especially going all the way back to) the grim northern wastelands of Hokkaido otherwise. We could drink beer in our seats which was cool- although the 'Vissel dog' I ate before the game was pretty rubbish! After the final whistle we frantically dashed to get to the subway to get the last train back to Okayama; it takes 2 hrs to get back if you don't get the Shinkansen (which, of course, only takes 30 mins). Next up in the sports world is a first visit to my newly adopted baseball team, Hiroshima Carps. Thats right, they're named after an ugly fish. As for Vissel, its a couple of months till we have a string of games we can go to- the crunch matches of November will make or break our season- until then its back to following football via the internet!

Team Teaching and Tasty Octopus

Since the Monkey Island trip I've began teaching at both Shonan and Seishi kokos, started Japanese language classes and visited the wonderful island of Shikoku. I've also suffered through hangover pain today, after drinking till 5am last night and not having enough money with me to buy any food this afternoon! Still I had a taco-feast (see below) once I got home.


Jidohanbaiki (Japanese Vending Machines)









My first week was at Shonan koko (high school), and the lessons there went really well. I had a class of 30 on Monday, and my first lesson certainly avoided the 'car-crash' scenario that I had feared. The next lesson on Tuesday was about 22/23 students, and went better, as expected. For the rest of the week I had much smaller classes, which allowed me to get to know the students better and teach more informally. The English-language ability of the students is pretty low; the activities we do are fairly basic, and its more about making sure the students enjoy themselves than teaching for any sort of entrance-exam / national qualification. The teachers have different styles of teaching too- this dramatically alters how lessons go depending on whether they want me to chip in and follow thier lead, or basically run the class myself while they stand and watch. It certainly varies. On Wednesday we had a school open day; Miyoshi sensei had ambled into the staffroom the previous day with a cool bag filled with five dead octopuses! He told me someone was going to make bento's for us. So the next day we had taco-bentos (octopus lunchboxes) which were actually really nice- since then I've bought tentacles from the supermarket and cooked them up at home! The Open Day didn't affect me much, though I had a class where only 1 student turned up! Fate decided that this was the lesson the
kocho-sensei and kyoto-sensei would come and watch, so there were 5 teachers in the room (Manabe sensei had dropped in as well) and only 1 student! Ridiculous...

On the weekend I went to Carrie's for her b'day celebration, then headed to Takamatsu on Shikoku on saturday. Takamatsu is a really beautiful city- modern, clean, and full of lush, green parks set against a backdrop of hills and mountains. It was a lovely day of exploring. I took it really easy, whiling away a LOT of time just wandering through the parks, then decided to put in some effort and climbed Yoshina, a steep (very steep) hill nearby that had panoramic views of the Insland Sea! Utsukushi desu ne! Sunday I went shopping, then Monday I was back at Shonan koko for a lesson with Manabe.

Stunning Shikoku- from top left clockwise, Takamatsu-Jo (1), View of Shikoku to the south (2), Takamatsu City from Yoshina (3), and Inland Sea (4)




Click on the photos to enlarge








The rest of this week I've been at Seishi koko, which is very different to Shonan. There are only 80 students, and over the next few months I'll teach all of them. For some reason there are also 20 teachers, which seems a bit bizarre to me but there you go. Seishi is a night school- I work there 1pm-9pm, and teach for an hour and a half between 5.40pm and 8.05pm, depending on my timetable. It's very laidback- to be honest I have an amazingly cushy job considering the workload and the pay! The students are here either because they work during the day, or failed high school the first time around. Some don't ever turn up, others turn up and don't say a word all lesson. It's certainly harder work motivating, and again it's all about getting the students to enjoy the lessons. The students are also older than at Shonan- I guess between 17 and 24. Some have family problems or physchological problems too- it's a strange place, but the
teachers are friendly and the classes have gone well so far. One student has developed a bit of an obsession with me apparently, though at least she's turning up to classes now!

I've also started Japanese classes 10am till 12 on the wednesdays and thursdays I'm at Seishi (optional getting up early- people should be very impressed!). They're run by volunteers, who are mostly Japanese old dearies. They all got very excited when I turned up, and have told me what textbooks to buy and other useful stuff.

Hmmmm...what else...I've befriended a Japanese busker who's been emailing me Japanese band names / artists to download. He's called Kato and is 22, though communication is hard as he speaks no English...anyway I'm going to see him busk again next week at a local station, Kojima JR, and I may have an opening act slot before too long! Other than that I've been invited to go golfing with the teachers at Seishi- I should have put more practice in on the ranges in Notts like Steve Brazil did! This weekend I'm off to the footie in Kobe- we're looking good for promotion to J1 at the moment, but this weekends game is a grudge match of sorts for me as its against Sapporo- the capital of that grim winter wasteland Hokkaido where my friend Pete lives. Its important to keep those cheeky northerners in their place!

So Many Monkeys!

Okayama Orientation- New Friends (Left), and Traditional Dancing (Right)

Last week was the Okayama Orientation- a succession of predictably dull days where we were told what we alreay knew....me and Phil made a friend on the streets of Okayama as you can see...on friday we went out for a 'cultural visit' to a medieval centre of traditional Japanese crafts (or something like that)...some people made 'spinning tops', others something equally exciting, whilst I took the rollercoaster ride that is dying a piece of white cloth purple. The day rose to new heights when we were given 'bento' lunches. Bento basically means lunchbox, but in Japan it seems people regard a packed lunch with fear and disgust. I can understand why...the day improved towards the end, when we were shown a traditional dance by a dancing group that have toured all over Europe...I made a short video thingy on my digital camera but I lack the technological nouse to work out how to stick it on this blog. The Orientation itself was, as I have said, fairly boring- we went over general, obvious rules regarding the 'team teaching' of english, 'learnt' about the basic things we needed to get sorted out, and joined Okayama AJET, a society type thing that organises trips on weekends. The one thing I havent decided yet is whether to get a mobile phone- they're very expensive in Japan but also super clever- you can check train times, use the internet, receive emails- and unlike in the UK these features actually work, all the time, and dont take half an hour to connect to.I was going to go to a music festival in Okayama-ken the weekend after the Orientation, but decided to stick with my buddies and go to Shodo-Shima...

Shodo-Shima : Monkey Island!

I spend Saturday on Shodo-Shima with Reed, Carrie, Megan and Phil. Shodo-Shima is the second largest island in the Inland Sea, and home to lots of monkeys! This, and the fact that we could get a ferry to the island, were the main reasons we decided to go...the monkeys were really cool, and we went up to the highest point on the island, from where a cable car descended deep into a gorge. I'll try and put up other cool photos as I receive them from other people

Steve Finally Feels At Home

I Fart In Your General Direction! ... a monkey takes a dislike to Reed

Shodo-Shima: View from the Top

After 'monkeying around' for a while (ha ha ha) we got a bus back to the ferry terminal, and headed back to Okayama. On the ferry we found a canned drink called 'Stevia', which I was quite excited about (photo to follow). To be honest, vending machines in Japan are absolutely everywhere. In fact, according to Wikipedia, Japan has the highest number of vending machiens per capita in the world- with a massive one machine to every 23 people! I have four just outside my apartment, which gives you an idea of how prevalent they really are. I'm not criticising however- they sell everything you could possibly want- Pocari Sweat Sports Drink, Coca Cola, Water, Coffee, Tea, Beer. It does seem odd however that a country that has a legal smoking age of 20, and strictly prohibits under-age smoking, choses to sell cigarettes from machines- where anyone can buy them. Still, Japan has many inconsistencies and I'm sure this isn't even close to the strangest.More Monkey PhotosI have loads of photos from Shodo-shima, and choosing which one's to put online was difficult- most of the ones I've kept off are more landscapes, and more monkeys doing silly things, but here are a few...

Sad, Lonely Monkey- the Morrissey of Monkeys

Lazy Monkey...could it be the Steve of Monkeys?

Those Cheeky Monkeys!

Himeji and Kobe

My first 'sightseeing' trip took in the cities of Himeji and Kobe. I was meant to meet Carrie, Megan and Phil at 10am but I overslept loads! So I ended up going on my own, as none of us have mobiles and my landline was broken! I'll try not to bore too much with my musings on what I saw, or my awe and wonder at the effeciency of the Japanese train system.

Rolling hills and fielded flatlands- a view from my local train going into Okayama City

The countryside around where I live is really beautiful- I can certainly see the draw of living in a village now! Having said that, being in a town and close to a city makes it really easy to explore the rest of Japan- especially as Okayama is a well-positioned base for exploring Hiroshima, Kyushu, Shikoku and the Kansai region. Japanese countryside seems to consist of very flat land- mostly converted into paddy fields- and steep hills, around which are dotted Japanese houses. The houses are a strange mix of modern and traditional- but on the whole a lot more attractive than the often ugly Chinese villages, towns and cities I saw last summer. Indeed Japanese countryside reminds me of Yangshuo- albeit on a less stunning scale. The land also reminded me of the Inland Sea- with swaying tall grasses and paddy fields replacing the calm waves from which the 'island' hills emerge.

Japanese Trains

...are amazing! Ok I'll try not to go on for too long as I've already been mocked greatly by Carrie for my excitement over the Japanese rail system. Having said that, its amazing!! They run exactly on time, and a 1 minute changover at Aioi station on the way to Himeji was easily enough time to swap trains, as both were precisely on time. A train being 5 minutes late in the UK is greeted with a 'well that's not that bad really is it', or maybe a resigned sigh. In Japan it'd be a national scandal! And this is not even mentioning the jewel in the crown of the Japanese rail network, the Shinkansen 'Bullet Train' , which goes at 300kph and gets you to Kyoto in an hour (normally 4 hours) or Hiroshima in half an hour (normally 3 hours)! So far we've got local trains as theyre a lot cheaper, but a 45 min trip to Kobe on Shinkansen means me and my mate Phil will be commuting to watch some of the closing games of the J League Season in the next few weeks (we were torn between supporting Kobe Vissel, who have Newcastle United-esque colours, or FC Hiroshima, who have purple shirts. The girls wanted us to go for the purple, but Kobe are fighting for promotion from J League-2 to the top division, much like the Blues!)

Himeji-Jó, 'Japan's Greatest Castle'

Ok so I guess the first thing to say is that the Japanese don't do castles like we do in the UK. Himeji-Jo is a beautiful building, but it doesn't match the scale or splendour of many of the castles in the UK and Europe. Having said this, it was still a great place to visit, although it was a reeeeally hot day! The building style is unique, and Himeji-Jo was much like Okayama-Jo, but on a bigger scale. Unlike Okayama-Jo, it's the only completely intact castle from its time- it was built in 1580 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Modernity and Tradition- A View of Modern Day Himeji from Himeji-Jó

Contrasting modernity and tradition is a favourite pasttime of 90% of authors of books on Japanese travel and culture. Yet it is also impossible to do to some extent- how could it be in a country that contains both Shinto temples and neon tack, ancient cultural sites (Kyoto alone has more world heritage sites than sense) and Shinkansen bullet trains. There is a clear dualism that is unique to Japanese culture and historical development, in particular the rapid yet lopsided economic modernisation that accompanied the late Meiji period. The decades either side of the turn of the century are fascinating times in Japanese history, and a great novel set in the period is Kokoro by Natsume Soseki, one of Japan's literary greats. Ok I'll stop there, before I launch into a rehashing of my dissertation! Suffice to say the dichotomy is summed up in two icons of Japan- the kimono-clad Geisha and the work-obsessed, suit-clad Salaryman. This photo is a poor attempt at showing the modern and the traditional- I'm sure better examples can be found!


Kobe

From Himeji I caught an ever-efficient JR train to Kobe, passing the Akashi Kaikyó Suspension Bridge on the way, the longest suspension bridge in the world. In 1995 Kobe was the scene of Japan's largest earthquake disaster since the famous Kanto Earthquake that struck Tokyo in 1923, resulting in the death of over 6,000 people. Yet in the decade since it has not only recovered but thrived, and is now an increadibly pleasant, modern city to stroll around- plus its got my new adopted footie team! I took the Cable Car up into the hills behind Kobe, and had a couple of well deserved beers at the top. After this there was just time to get stuck into some Kobe beef, which was really, really good, and cooked perfectly. Plus it was cheap at Y1,500!

After a fun day of exploring the coast east of Okayama-ken, I got back to Kojima just in time to listen to the Blues beat Crystal Palace 2-1 after a last minute winner- a great way to end the day!

Okayama-ken

Well I've been at work a few days now, and I have to say its pretty boring as the kids don't arrive till September. I'm teaching at two schools- Shonan High, my base school, which is 10-15mins cycle from my apartment, and Seishi High, which is about an hour on the train! I teach one week at each, alternating, though when I'm at Seishi I may end up staying at a friends house in Kurashiki proper (I'm technically in Kurashiki City, but on the outskirts by the coast in a place called Kojima). On the plus side, the teachers at Shonan are fantastic- crazy happy Miyoshi-sensei, who really is a loon, quiet and sweet Ueoka-sensei, who sits opposite me, giving daily words of advice and constantly praising my limited Japanese, and Yoden-sensei, who has turned up to work hungover three days in a row (Japanese equivalent of Dan I think!) I've also been helped a great deal by Mori-san, the secretary at the school who has taken me shopping, taught me a couple of recipes, and is one of the few teachers in at the moment who speaks good english. The English teachers are really cool too- Minobe-sensei is 24 and she's really nice- we have a lot in common and it's good to know a sensei around my age. As already mentioned, Ono-sensei is also great- we have very similar music tastes. At the moment its the (O)Bon Festival, during which spirits return to the graveyard. This means that most of the teachers are away on holiday, including all the Eigo-sensei (English teachers). Above is Koraku-en, lit up at night for O-Bon (good photo taken by me this time!)

Spare time has been rapidly filled up- I explored Kurashiki on Sunday with Megan and Carrie (Carrie's ridiculously camera shy, as you can see), and I went out for a Chinese with Megan and her supervisors family on Sunday night. It was my first time in a proper Japanese-style restaurant, and sitting with crossed legs for an hour turned out to be pretty uncomfortable! But the family were really nice- they've already 'adopted' Megan and seem to have adopted me now as well! I was meant to meet Yumiko but sadly I was out of my apartment all day- a bit of a 'judas' on my part I guess. On Monday I went back to Koraku-en, with Megan and her supervisor. As you can see the garden was lit up, and this time I could really appreciate the beauty of it- it was like being transported back in time, with no bright, modern lights and most of the Japanese women wearing amazing yukata, traditional Japanese kimono. On Wednesday I met Yumiko, who is really cool- we're gonna go out again next week, and she's invited me to cycle across the famous bridge from Hiroshima to Shikoku Island with her friends in a month or so! It's a five-hour cycle, but will be good training as I'm hoping to do the Hachi-ju-hachi (88) Temple Pilgrimage on Shikoku by bike at the end of the year.

This weekend I'm off to Himeji-jo, officially 'Japan's best castle', and on to Kobe in the evening. I might stay in Kobe till sunday and meet a friend in Kyoto, but it would also be nice to have a rest on Sunday- the next two weeks are really busy! Next week I formally 'meet' all the sensei at Shonan High, then have the JET Orientation in Okayama. The week after I start teaching at Shonan, and have to give speeches in front of all the students at both Shonan and Seishi. I have to admit I'm not used to all this activity- I've
been drinking lots of coffee, plus a crazy
Japanese energy drink that comes in glass
medicine bottles and is way stronger than Red
Bull. I'm on Skype now, so that's a completely
free way to contact me! Also come on you
Blues! Looking good with 7 out of 9 pts!

Settling In Stuff

So, today I did lots of settling in stuff- I met most of my neighbours, and gave them igirisu o-miyage (souvenirs)- consisting of a pencil saying 'england' and a postcard of birmingham each. Surprisingly they were delighted with these gifts, and extremely grateful. I've been told one of the neighbours has been in and out of mental hospital, and has a tendency to bang on peoples doors at random and charge into their apartments- a bit worrying! Still, she's a fairly old women so I'll hopefully be able to fend her off with a stick if things get tough...

I also got the JR (railway) to Okayama City. The symbol of Okayama is the peach, which in turn is related to the legend of Momotaro, a tiny Peach Boy who emerged from the stone of..you guessed it...a peach. Backed up by a motley crew of a monkey, a pheasant and a dog, Momotaro managed to defeat a three-eyed, three-toed, people-eating demon! Good work...

Okayama is a modern city, with lots of shopping malls, plus a 'castle' of sorts and one of Japan's 'big three' gardens, Kóraku-en. It's a large garden with lots of flat lawns, and is really nice to relax in- more so than the crowded, if possibly more attractive Chinese gardens I saw in Suzhou, near Shanghai, last summer.

The most beautiful place I've been so far however is Washuzan, a seaside town where you can look out (from the hilltop hotel nearby) at Seto-óhashi Bridge, the longest bridge in Japan, which spans the Inland Sea. The Inland Sea is absolutely stunning- there are loads of islands dotted about it, and you can see Shikoku (one of the four main islands of Japan) in the distance. It's the sort of view that you could not find anywhere else in the world- uniquely Japanese. It really is amazing- I found this photo on google which is exactly the same view as from the hotel (I didn't have my camera with me when I went). As you can see from my slightly less impressive photo below, the bridge is lit up at night...

The food so far has been fantastic- I've been cooking stir fry's, although my knowledge of vegetables is very limited and I've confused cooking oil with rice wine on more than one occasion. The fish is great- I've tried all sorts, and supermarkets have such a huge selection of really cheap, fresh fish. Fish with soy, rice wine, ginger and random veg, bamboo shoots and noodles is so easy to make, but so nice. The local delicacy is octopus, which I had with Miyoshi-sensei at the hotel in Washuzan...so yes, fishy feasts are more than possible here- you'll have to come out and try them Dad! I had some great sushi for lunch today, so I decided to go for steak tonight- a bit more expensive, but luckily my wages this year mean I can splurge on tasty food!

The main problem so far has been language- I can hardly speak any Japanese, and the only real questions I can ask are 'Where is this?' and 'What is this?'. Having said that, I even get these mixed up and ended up asking my deputy headteacher ('kóchó-sensei' in Japanese) 'what is a toilet'! In Japan ppl often end sentences with 'desu ne', meaning 'isn't it', or 'desu ka', meaning 'is that right?'- I only know one adjective, 'atsui', so I've repeated the same comment, atsui desu ne, meaning 'isn't it hot', to virtually everyone I've met! I'm sure this will change though- I've got plenty of time when I'm at school but not teaching to learn Japanese.

Photos From Tokyo

Me in Hibiya Park, Tokyo- the first set of photos are pretty crap, as I was either too tired or too drunk to take photos at optimum photo-taking times










Pete-san, enjoying the Tokyo sunshine








My living room- apartment also has spare room, bedroom (original Japanese with tatami mats and futon), and bathroom....the kitchen is in the same room as the living room.

Now you can imagine where I'm living mum! :)




My Unmade Bedroom- six tatami mats, and a
futon which is- in EVERY way- worse than a bed!