The End Of An Era

Wow, have I been lazy!

Today is my last day at NOVA. No more stupid students, but then again no more 'pleasures to teach'. In a sentimental non-change way, I'm going to miss it, but balancing up the frustration of the company against the good points, the negatives were grossly outweighing the positives, so I am happy to be leaving.

Tonight I have the first of many parties, but tomorrow, I'll be writing up the last few weeks, and the future, while nursing my imminent hangover.

There there baby it's just textbook stuff
It's in the ABC of growing up
It's all okay by me

Image Of The Week #34

(Miyajima - 19th March, 2007)

How not to advertise!

花見 - Hanami

花 hana = flower.
見 mi = to look.


The annual event ties with Mt Fuji as the most representative symbol of Japan, according to the majority of my students.

Unfortunately, as I have mentioned, the rain fell and fell, bringing down the delicate petals with it. Still, with one sunny day coinciding with a day off, we made it to Ueno Park - where I first experienced the festival this time last year - just before the trees were bare again. We found the best tree and set up base beneath it.



It was relaxing, lying in the sun, watching all the budding photographers, eating Japanese snacks*, playing travel othello and Keiko befriending a fly.



After that, we walked around a bit, and stumbled upon a street performer. She was insane - singing opera, contorting her body and playing strange instruments. She selected me to be her assistant, which was a little embarassing but nevertheless fun. I got roped into a Phantom of the Opera style montage, dressed in a hat, and hitting a horn everytime she looked my way. Still, I got a balloon dog out of it. Unfortunately, I had my camera on me, and Keiko's phone was busted, so no pictures. You'll have to imagine me looking like an idiot.


*tako-yaki to be precise. Up to you to find out what it is if you're open to ideas.

Biohazard

UPDATE - Shoukaki is a fire extinguisher (and its contents).

Today was otherwise uneventful, except for a kid having an accident during one of my lessons.

However, upon entering my apartments, the air was noticeably cloudy, as if a lot of dust had just been unleashed. Looking down, there was pink powder everywhere. A man was standing by the opposite steps to mine trying to sweep it into a pile. His daughter was on the phone looking bothered. I asked them what it was, to which I received the reply "shougaki"* and told them good luck. The last I saw, whilst taking a sneaky photo (during which time the girl caught me but smirked at my curiosity), was the man pouring a bucket of water down the steps. The stuff was everywhere.

*No idea. One of the most frustrating parts of feeling confident to use Japanese is that I can ask the questions, but don't understand the answers.

SIDHTTWU

Pronounced "Sid-hut-woo", this new type of entry will feature past trips that I never got round to writing up. Some are short, some are long, some are interesting, some are not so. Regardless, they will all be condensed and summarised, so that nothing I've done and nowhere I've been will be ignored or forgotten.

I couldn't think of a catchy name, so this self-explanatory name will do. SIDHTTWU stands for... actually, what do you guess it's an acronym for?

SIDHTTWU #1 will follow on soon.

Image Of The Week #33

The local elections took place on Sunday, and for the few weeks beforehand, temporary boards with 18 squares, for candidates to put up their posters, lined the streets. The election had a bismal 30% turn-out, although it's said to be a lot higher for the General Election. But..

Since the election, a new board has gone up on nearly every road. This has 56 squares, and each shows the numbers in random places; never in the same sequence. Firstly, I have no idea what these are for, and can't imagine 56 candidates for a further election. Secondly, open this picture to its fullest and time yourself in how quickly you can find 1 through 56. If you're bored.

(Gotanda - 12th April, 2007)

Otaku and Proud

Besides Harajuku and Sugamo*, the other interesting dress-up area of Tokyo is in Akihabara, the electric district. This really is the home for computer geeks and nerds - otaku. CosPlay, as in costume play, is the fashion for dressing up as characters, or to fulfil the fantasies of sad and wishful onlookers. And boy, they don't get any sadder than here. Many girls dress up as anime characters or maids and show knowledge in computer terminology; the most famous runs her own blog, which gets a fair few more hits than mine.

A few were out on the streets, entertaining the masses. Men of all ages, and levels of pathetic-ness, were busy snapping photos. The post-it-note you can see the girls hand over are their autographs.



There's a famous name for girls who act all innocent for men. Bri~co. The pose says it all.


I, of course, was purely an intrigued onlooker; solely taking photos for your sake. I'm no geek.

Blog shmog.

*The retirement home version of Harajuku girls. Sexy.

Rental Pt 2

They could've asked just one person to have a look!


This 'l' 'r' problem is getting out of hand.

"Pilots of the Caribbean" - coming to a rental shop near you.

Brief Encounter

I found out some shocking news, straight out of the blue. Through a chain of people, Keiko told me that Mr Suzuki - the man who accosted me in the bar for English lessons - has died. He was pretty young, looked in good health and showed no signs of going anywhere.

He was adamant about learning English, and it got me thinking. I have so many elderly students who sit in a classroom paying to get a basic education. Why don't they spend that money and go on a trip to the country they're learning about. I know it's not as clear cut as that, but it would be a lot more fulfilling, in my opinion.

Rental Pt 1

Tsutaya is the Japanese equivalent of Blockbuster. Only successful.

There's always a queue, the rentals are about half of the price compared to back home, and the shops stretch on for miles. Each is like an archive you'd find in the BBC. It's so hard to locate films, or tv programmes, that you can search on a computer and print off a map showing where to find them.


However, there are two main problems with the place. Firstly, it's very business oriented and there seems to be little interest from the staff about the movies you rent, which was always a highlight in England when the staff gave their advice or opinions. Secondly, as the country is not so Hollywood oriented, they seem to get ripped off with the amount of cheap copies. For every mainstream authentic movie, there are about five or six cheap imitations placed on the shelves around it. It makes me feel sorry for the unsuspecting customers who choose these.

Still, at the prices they come at, the variety on offer (any TV drama new or old is available), and the care of the DVD's (all polished before handed to you), it's a good alternative to their lack of movie theatres around.

Image Of The Week #32

(Tsunashima - 2nd April 2007)

Compared to the beautiful weather and lengthy cherry blossom season of last year, since most of the current sakura has bloomed it has rained nearly every day. Most of the flowers haven't even lasted a week. Still, this was snapped during a brief sunny spell, in front of my neighbour's house.

Believe Your Eyes

All will be explained...

Why Is This Blog Different From All Other Blogs?

Happy Seder to everyone around the world participating.

As you may have guessed, there isn't much in the way of unleavened bread in Japan and, unsurprisingly, the synagogue isn't doing anything.

But unleavened bread is raw-ish. So is sushi.

Does that count?

Sunshine On A Rainy Day

This is the weather forecast for today (Saturday) and the rest of the week. As always with Tokyo, a real mixed bag.

Unfortunately, the cloud has turned to a typhoon. It wouldn't bother me too much except that most the cherry blossom will be destroyed tonight. That sucks so much as the season has only just started and is meant to last for a few more weeks at least.

Bloomin' Marvellous

It's that special time of the year in Japan, where the citizens can finally enjoy the season that they boast about all year round; cherry blossom viewing (花見 - hanami).

One of the most famous places is the Meguro river, which runs from Keiko's road in Gotanda (lucky girl) all the way to Naka-Meguro. This is one of the first places for the flowers to bloom this year, but it wasn't too crowded.





After that we went to Shibuya and walked through Yoyogi Park (where the Elvis impersonators hang out on Sundays). Because it's Spring Break, lots of groups were out drinking sake under the trees. It was a really great atmosphere.

NOVA Students Say The Stupidest Things #43

In the same lesson:

Phil: And what will you eat?
Student 2: I'm going to cook myself.

NOVA Students Say The Stupidest Things #42

A cooking lesson.

Phil: So, what will you have tonight?
Student 1: I want to eat a couch potato.

What A Year

Today marks my 1st Anniversary of being in Japan. Originally, I thought it would be just a temporary thing; exploring the culture, but I never would've guessed how much more intriguing, enticing and exciting life is here.

It quickly dawned on me that Japan would mean so much more than just a one-year thing.

I'd love to be able to tell you my plans and be a bit more definitive than I am going to be, but for now all I can say is I'm not sure what the future has in store, but I hope that this country is a part of it in some way, whichever path I choose.

So many amazing things: cherry blossom, izakaya, karaoke, climbing Fuji, learning Kanji, nice students, people coming to visit, Birthday packages, Keiko, travelling, onsen, Tsunashima Bridge, nursery schools, New Year in a Japanese home, Valentine's presents, wasabeef, wasabi and sushi... to name but a few!

I can't get over how fast this year has flown by.

It really has.

Heavy Boots

Mum and Keith left this morning after their stay here. I'm a little sad but I think I'll be making a trip home soon (whether long-term or short-term I'm still not fully decided).

However, I had an absolutely amazing time, not only showing them my favourite places in and around Tokyo but going South to Kyoto and Hiroshima; both worthy of a year's blog in themselves. First, some sleep!

Hasta La Vista (よい旅行を）

Dan,

After reading your itineraries - Inca Trail, and Galapagos Islands - I'm even more jealous. Not sure I'll get the chance to speak to you again before you leave, so have a safe safe journey. Don't forget to take millions of photos, send my love to the Darwin Institute, and let us know you're safe and what you've been up to as often as you can. Maybe even include a "South Americans say the stupidest things"!

Get up to some mischief, but not enough to cause you trouble.
Drink enough to experience South American beer properly, but not enough so that you don't remember it.
And write enough so we can experience it with you, but not too much that you miss out on things by sitting in internet cafes.

But, have as much fun as you can. (No clauses on that one)

Have a blast. 羨ましい! (I'm jealous!) xxx