I Don't Think We're In Kanto Anymore*

Just to let you all know, I arrived safely. There were a few issues at the airport with luggage allowance and safety checks, but the flight went smoothly. I've been here a day which is not enough time to make a balanced opinion. However, I can give a first impression: it's very different, which needs explaining, but not tonight.

Generally, I like it, but I'm not sure how much. Everyone told me not to compare it to Tokyo, but why not? If I'm going to be living in Asia for the time being, why not choose the better place to live.

Let battle commence.

I have one more day off before work, so I will update tomorrow, but now is bed time.

*Kanto being the region Tokyo is in - well I thought it was clever enough.

日本から香港まで

My flight leaves tomorrow afternoon. I need to finish a few things at work and then go out on the town tonight, so I'm not sure when or if I'll have time to post anything before I leave. My place has internet ready and set up so I'll be online straight away. My flight lands at 10:30PM.

I still have a lot of adventures in Japan to write about, so for the next month or so, there will be a strange crossover of old and new; I hope this isn't too confusing.

Packing, with a limit of 20 kilos, has been really difficult. Luckily, Keiko will bring some stuff with her when she visits mid-October, but even still I'm a little peeved that my company hasn't helped with relocation costs. I think that's a little unreasonable.

Well, that may be it from Japan for now, but it's definitely not over, as I hope to be back here for X-mas and New Year.

Take care, and I'll write in a few days x

Where's Michael Moore When You Need Him?

Last night I watched Sicko. It was, of course, the usual OTT extravaganza that these documentaries always are, but still it was hard to ignore the facts that clearly presented themselves.

I may be going overboard on reporting about Nova but a) I have friends here that still haven't been paid, b) new recruits are still coming over, which is really disgusting and, c) it's my blog. I wish I had been one step ahead of the game and had made my very own documentary about the English school's downfall.

It made TV last night in New Zealand. Hopefully, something will crop up in England.

The big announcement, whatever it may or may not be, is set to happen tomorrow. Fingers crossed, except I'm not sure which way I'm hopng things turn out anymore.

Image Of The Week #61B

Say what you see:

(The water was incredible)

Profondo Rosso

Yesterday, we returned to the sleepy town of Hidaka (with the goldfish) to see the world-famous 1,000,000 manjushage flowers (cluster-amaryllis, I have been told). Half of Japan turned up, and the pouring rain didn't help, but the flowers were beautiful. And strange, with really weird twisting petals.





There were also a very few white ones scattered around.

Saturday Night TV

The videos speak for themselves. Except the last one. I have no idea what's going on.

Image Of The Week #61

Who's that hiding behind the rock?...

(taken in Omoshiroyama - 16th September, 2007)

Dance, Sushi Wonderland

Nakameguro is the next station up the river (and past the swimming pool) from Gotanda. This is where I would run to when I had plans to tackle the half-marathon. Back in the beginning of August, I heard there would be a small parade so we went down on the Saturday night to check it out. I'm so glad we did because it turned out to be one of the best I've seen.

Saturday saw 20 or so groups performing traditional dances from Tokushima prefecture, famous for kabuki play style with shamisen (old guitars). They entertained audiences along one street, back along a parallel road, short stop for a drink, and then back around; when their song finishes, they start again. This lasted for 3 hours!






Originally, these dances were performed as part of a competition but now it is just for fun.

It was so much fun that we went back on Sunday for the Yosakoi Matsuri type of dances. These were much more upbeat, and I couldn't imagine the stamina or determination to keep going from 6PM to 9PM.



My favourite was a group of about 100 high-school kids who dressed up for prom and did a song rather wonderfully telling you to "take the cheese - it's delicious". I'm not sure what it could mean in a metaphorical sense, but in a literal sense, I'm right there with them. Grab all the cheese you can. Why? Why not.

Have I Lived A Sheltered Life?

Slot hand-dryers. Do these exist back home?

Also, in the same shopping mall, a rather masculine mannequin:

A Cracking Movie

Yes, you were right indeed. The movie that is no more was the fantastic Lost In Translation.

I guess it's one less thing to cram into my measly 20 kilo allowance on the plane. Oh yes, packing. I really should start...

Image Of The Week #60

This is what happens when you try and drive under a low bridge in a high vehicle.

(taken in Gotanda - 12th September, 2007)

The vehicle itself was unscathed but the cargo, which happened to be another vehicle, was torn apart. Isn't it ironic, don't you think?! Oh, and the driver looked frantic, to say the least.

Concerned

At first it was amusing. Now it's getting serious:


Some staff still haven't been paid. Rumours milling around* include closing 200 of the 900 branches especially many kids schools, evicting teachers from Nova apartments, not covering accidents on the Nova Insurance company, and teachers leaving en masse. Above all, it looks more and more likely that bankruptcy is looming.

I feel bad for the students, who will lose their money. I feel bad for the Japanese staff who are mostly newly-graduated girls with little financial support to fall back on. I feel bad for the long-term teachers who are fully living and integrated into Japan; where will they go, especially if suddenly 7000 teachers find themselves job-hunting.

But mostly, I feel terrible for a) prospective teachers and b) new teachers. For those not yet in Japan, I think it is disgraceful that Nova will not inform them of this financial situation. I have tried through several routes to speak to management about this, but have so far not had a proper answer.

And for those that are new to Japan, they must feel angry at what they have walked in on. Bear in mind that teachers pay their flights, and many will not have the funds to buy a return ticket if worst comes to worst.

In Australia, Nova is relatively famous and it made the newspapers:

HUNDREDS of foreign English teachers in Japan were anxiously awaiting overdue wages from language school NOVA yesterday, amid speculation that the corporate giant was edging closer to collapse.

The country's foreign workers' union said it could "only hedge a guess that up to 3000" English teachers, many of whom are young Australians, went without pay last Friday and were left waiting nervously over Japan's long weekend for the money.

"But at the very least there are hundreds of them. My phone hasn't stopped," said Louis Carlet, from the National Union of General Workers. Some teachers said they were owed thousands of dollars, while others posted messages on websites over the weekend to say they were quitting in disgust.

"I've never felt so defeated in my whole life," said 24-year-old American teacher Jerry Johnston, who was considering leaving Japan after just two months but could not afford the plane ticket.

It is the second time in two months that NOVA has paid staff late. A recent slide in the company's stock price followed news of a delay in payments to some of its 2000-odd Japanese staff last month.

NOVA employs roughly 7000 foreigners — more than any other Japanese company. Australians make up the backbone of its 5000-strong teaching staff. The company has more than 400,000 students, accounting for the biggest share of Japan's multibillion-dollar private English teaching industry.

CEO Nozomu Sahashi issued a statement to staff at some branches last Friday to say it had "not been possible to complete all the necessary operations to deposit instructor salaries … Salaries will be deposited by September 19."

But Mr Carlet told The Age: "I'm getting reports that they have been cut off by their stationary suppliers, and delivery services, because they're not able to pay them. "They could be on the verge of going under at any moment. It's very serious."

Mr Johnston said: "A lot of us are nervous. Really nervous. We're looking for jobs but being told that companies aren't hiring within Japan. And we haven't even made enough money to buy a plane ticket home."

Justin Norrie, Tokyo
September 19, 2007
theage.com.au

I'd never heard of the company in Britain, and I really am concerned about how messy this could get.

*some are true, some are stretching the truth and others, who knows...

A World Class Wranker

This is the promotional poster plastered around Japan for the release of The Office DVD.

It's brilliant in so many ways.

Image Of The Week #59

The days are getting shorter, Winter's approaching, and I'm a silhouette.

(taken near Enoshima - 8th September, 2007)

It's Already Begun

A tourist from Hong Kong walks into a London Exchange Bureau with HK$500 and asks for £GBP. The teller checks the day's rate, and hands over £35. The grateful tourist says, "Thank Velly mutch! Velly kind!" and walks off to Kings Cross.

The next day, the Hong Kong guy goes back, with another HK$500 and hands it over. The teller checks the rate, and hands over £50. The Hong Kong guy is very happy, and quickly pockets the cash and disappears, chortling to himself, "This English velly bad math. Ha, ha, ha, ha."

The following day he returns, again clutching HK$500 in crumpled notes. He hands it over to the nonchalant teller, who checks the rate, and hands over £20. The Honkonese man does a double take, recounts the notes, and fixes the teller with an incredulous stare. "Hey, yesterday I come wif money, you give many many pounds - fifty! Day before, you gif firty-five. Today you give onry twenny. Why you do to me like this?"

The teller replies calmly, "Fluctuations Sir."

The apoplectic tourist screams back, "Fluck You Brits Too!"

A Bad Sign?

One of my DVDs cracked, because I forgot it was in my pocket and I was leaning on the sink when I cleaned my teeth.

It's obviously not a good thing to break a DVD, but the timing of this one seems appropriate, whether in a good way or bad way.

Can you guess the movie?

やった！

I can wipe the sweat of my brow. The vote is over and it's a resounding yes. I'm pleasantly surprised by the number of you that voted (I didn't even think 14 people read this*) so thank you!

I can start blogging again.

*I didn't vote myself, which makes a nice round 15

Looks Like I Made It

This is, believe it or not, my 500th post!

I'm so pleased and proud that this blog has captured so much of my adventure and, honestly, I can't quite believe that I kept up with it. It's been fun, and a little frustrating, but I love it. Sometimes I wish I had been more honest about some things, but I hope that this has been a near-accurate reflection of my time since Entry 1 on 27th February, 2006.

So what better way to celebrate than to look back at some of the milestones along the way:

Entry 20 - My first post in Japan and, "so far, I like what I've seen".
Entry 28 - My first big trip, to Hakone (eggs, cable cars, lakes, Fuji)
Entry 101 - The beginning of my love affair with Odaiba
Entry 154 - A brief hop over to Thailand for my Birthday
Entry 196 - The emotional, physical and mental peak for me, quite literally at the top of Fuji.
Entry 250 - Halfway there, and it's Halloween
Entry 251 - Keiko's first appearance
Entry 303 - New Year in Sendai, watching the sunrise
Entry 318 - The early bird catches the... fish
Entry 372 - My last day of Nova, a great year but more than enough
Entry 375 - Giant penises, a cemetery, and a man in the river
Entry 493 - The beginning of the end...

Or the end of the beginning?

And to you, my fine readers. I never set-up a page-counter so I'm not sure how many times this blog has been looked at. Anyway, I'm not sure it's so useful as it doesn't show how many actual readers there have been. However, I have made some statistical observations about the comments:

Out of 500 posts, 206 (41.2%) of them had comments
In total, 696 comments were left, an average of 1.4 per entry

Which entries spurred the most comments?
Here are your Top 5, in reverse order:

5. A philosophical dilemma in April 06 questioned who is on the "other side of the world" (8 comments)
4. My all-night rave-up, and the value of DJs in June 06 (9 comments)
3. In Nov 06 a sad discussion on suicide provoked some strong responses (10 comments)
2. Just before I left for Japan back in March 06, suggestions for what I should take (11 comments)
1. And in 1st place, Feb 07, who could forget the thrilling game of "guess the jam flavour"?! (12 comments)

A new feature to celebrate this occassion. Please scroll up and to the right and, if you have time, cast a vote on the interactive poll.

So there it is. I've come so far, both in and out of the blog, and I can't wait to see what lies ahead. Thank you for still reading, and I hope you enjoy the next part of "one boy's adventure on the other side of the world, just a little closer."

I'll finish here with the words I used to start my blog:

Who knows where this may lead, or what I'll learn, or what my life will become
All I know is that this blog will let you experience it right beside me
x p

Image Of The Week #58

Tokyo Summerland is the capital's indoor wave-machine pool. This reflects the insane congestion in the hottest summer on record (max temp of 40.9 degrees).

And yes, that is water underneath them.

(taken in Tokyo Summerland - Summer, 2007)

A Lucky Escape?

I signed up for the Tokyo 2008 Marathon, to be held in February. I was only going to run the half-Marathon, because the full one would've killed me, but I won't be here so now I'll never know.

I doubt Hong Kong has one since the Island seems to be the size of Bournemouth.

Image Of The Week #57

A special shout-out to my camera, who broke a few weeks ago. Something about the CCD chip. He's at Sony being fixed now, and should be back today. Without him, this blog wouldn't have been possible. I hope he comes back better.

Go Out With A Bang

The Tokyo Bay fireworks were on 11th August. After the last fireworks fiasco, we bravely headed to Odaiba to try our luck. As Odaiba is the bestest place in the entire world, it couldnt be bad, could it?

The promenade was closed off - such a waste - and you couldn't see the sand on the beach for all the blankets laid down, but we found a great spot just in front of the Statue of Liberty, and secured it for an hour or so before the start. As the fireworks were on the Tokyo side, they were a little far away. Still, the view was fantastic.

Can you make out the characters in the photos below? A couple of smiley faces and a cat.

This Is A Local Town, For Local People

Releasing goldfish into a river was a sign something was quite right in Hidaka. Last week, they continued with their water themed games.


I think the podium is possibly a step too far.

I Haven't Gone Yet

Just to clarify, I'm leaving on 29th September.

My flight leaves at 6:45PM and arrives 10:20PM (local time).
Hong Kong is one hour behind Tokyo, so 7 or 8 hours ahead of England.