The Ensuite

Hey this is my wicked Bathroom!!! Ah look at the amazing 300 pound Dolce and Gabbana wallpaper. Or even better the Bath by Prada, complete with rubber shower. The goddamn plugs underneath the bath, this has blocked up twice leaving the nice odour of dog shit drifting through the house. Only when I mentioned it for the fifth time at work did something get done about it.

Didnt realise that in Japan the tub is for soaking in, you clean yourself with the shower first. Bizarre, but the Japanese families share the bath water with other members, which is more dirtier you may wander?

The Kitchen

Heres the kitchen, tried to make it look nicer than it is, notice the 4 different bags to sort your trash. Ive had so much trouble with this and maybe one of the worst things about Japan. Burnable, Paper, Harmful, Plastic and Large stuff has to be sorted. I have an old lady across my street who consistently harasses me every goddamn morning about my trash. She even called the school because I was not folding the cardboard in the correct way or writing my name on the bags. Can you believe that???

The Living room.

So heres my front room, the photo doesnt do it justice. It may look like a hole but its nice. Most of the stuff was free. This is in the west wing of the house.

Hey you asked for it!!!

Yo here are the pictures of my Dojo, aint it pretty??? Lol, I think it looks a bit like a Japanese version of a Butlins Caravan thing. Yeah if you look closely that is indeed a scrap yard behind my house, loud enough to shake the walls during the day, but I aint in usually, so its cool.

Welcome Party!!! (Enkai in Japanese)

Had my welcome party last Friday and here is the only photo I asked someone to take. It was a wicked night with a lot of Japanese food and Booze. I really like Sushi, it was nice to try the real thing. It was good to see all the English department out, there really cool people.

However you may notice from the picture that there are only two drinks that will be probably containing alcohol. Turns out it was me and my boss (seated on my left) who were drinking. Sucks but hey everyone else was driving.

Apples and Extra Lessons

Yo, hows it going??? Been a bit of a stressful week so far but hey its all good. Had a phone call tonight asking if I could cover for another English teacher who was ill. Had one hour to come up with a lesson, and then had to teach. Went okay, but its difficult to think of games for students whose English is more or less non existent, they get flustered and annoyed, and you ending up feeling like your wasting there time. But however, because I covered the guys illness, I was given the biggest apple I have ever seen!



As I said, its a pretty big apple.




This is me at English Club, having fun!!!


Check out this film on youtubes.com. This is why Burning Man is the festival that we all have to go to!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=flWST-Dnwxe

Another shameless plug is for Sons and Daughters, a Scottish band who are one of the best bands Ive heard in a while. If you can download the album Love the Cup, you wont be dissapointed. They were used in the American Tv show Weeds.

Monsoon, monsoon...and more rain, like England!!!

Ah I know now that I prob wont be home sick now. Why you ask??? Well theres one simple reason, it started raining this morning, and it hasn`t stopped. Im talking torrential monsoon style downpour. I got soaked on the 20 min cycle to my japanese lesson, and then again on the way back. How I accomplished this I do not know, I was cycling with one hand and using an umbrella in the other. I dont have a coat because it wasnt part of the 20Kg limit. And back then it was summer, but as the days pass its becoming clearer and clearer that summer is gone and autumn has arrived. I.e hot in the day freezing in the morning. I have to now upgrade my bed to a duvet!

Schools going okay but I get the feeling they think Im lazy, Im now, believe it or not, in charge of the mid term exams in English. How the hell did that happen??? I have to write the papers for the goddamn exams. I taught 4 classes today, the highest so far, which is a bit knackering. But apart from that everythings okay at work.

I have now officially started Kyudo (its not Japanese Cluedo) which is Japanese archery. My teacher bitched the whole time that I set up my shot the same way an Englishman would aim a longbow, but know this is Japanese so thus ultimate control is required. Heres a picture of the bow.



So yeah, my Japanese is coming along. Im starting to get to grips with one of the alphabets and my conversation is getting better. Ive stopped saying "Atsui desu ne!" (Its hot) and now say "Cacqui" (Cool) to everything much to the annoyance of the headmaster who thinks its vulgar to say cool. Thus I take every oppurtunity to say it to him.

The journey continues.......

Togakushi - Hangovers and Noodles.

Two weeks ago I went on a UNESCO sponsered walk in Togakushi. A former Ninja training camp now holiday camp for Japanese tourists. Really nice but I was suffering (again?) from a nightmare hangover. Got to make soba noodles from a master Sensei, it was like Karate Kid, only we were making food instead of Wax on, Wax off. Check out the cool aprons as well. Enjoy the photos!

Maruko Senior High School - Day One

Had my first day at my visit school on tuesday. Was an experience! Kids walking out of class, plenty of students talking not giving a shit, talking on phones. But hey who cares the view was pretty cool.