Golden Week

Today is the first day of "Golden Week" - a week that due to a number of public holidays means travel for many Japanese, and for me a full week off.

Today was a BBQ - what a feast, good food and good company. A great way to start the week.

Computer Woes

Damn - It's been about a week since my last post.

Apart from being busy, my computer has decided to be a little idiosyncratic lately and has decided not to do what I want it to. I have been spending a lot of time trying to get it to behave.

Dell Japan, who have techs with good English, has been helpful, but unfortunately it looks like I will have to reinstall the OS - something that I am not looking forward to.

Hanami

Last week I received a text message from a Japanese friend. He wanted to know if I would like to go to a nearby river to view the cherry blossoms (sakura), this is called hanami (flower viewing).

Hanami is an important time of the year for many Japanese. The short life of the sakura is seen as a thing of wonder and beauty.

After walking along the riverside, both sides of which were covered with the stunning blossoms, I reflected on some of the differences in male society in Australia and Japan. In Japan it is perfectly natural to invite a male friend to go and look at flowers. I don't think this happens much in Australia.

Back To School

Today was my first day back at school for the new school year.

- New students to "talk to" and to teach.
- New teachers to meet - I am working with 3 new English teachers at this school alone. I also spent part of the day trying to work out which teachers had been transferred.
- A new staff room to work out of - Well, it's not actually new but it has been extended which means I now have a bigger workspace. (^_^)

All in all, a good start to the year.

Never in Australia

Although I have already blogged about how I am sent home with a take home pack of drinks when I go to my barber, I thought that my drinks today are worth mention - a bottle of water and two cans of beer. I'm not joking, I walked out of my 10 am appointment today with two cold cans of beer. (^_^)