It's Been Too Long

Damn, I haven't posted since early January.

Well, it's now almost the end of another school year and I will be saying goodbye to all my favourite 3rd years, which I have to say is a lot of them. The last couple of months has flown by. I had my Iaido grading on the 13th of January and passed my Shodan grading. (Yah me) You can read more about it on my martial arts blog.


A couple of weeks ago, we had our first real snow day here in Konan. We don't get a lot of snow here but for a boy from Queensland, It is still pretty amazing. The photo is from the balcony of our apartment.

An Interesting Breakfast

I took Mel out for breakfast yesterday to a cafe that we have visited before (but not for breakfast)

Our breakfast set comprised of

• 1 croissant
  
• a small salad of primarily shredded cabbage
• a drink
• and a cup of ice cream
  

I think the title of this blog said it all. (^_^)

Time for an Update - Summer Vacation

I have to admit, my rate of posting on Blogger lately certainly leaves a lot to be desired. So now it's time for me to start letting everybody know what has been happening in my world.

Summer holidays
- unfortunately I didn't make it to the Sumo in Nagoya this year but we did get an invite to eat Chanko Nabe at a local Sumo stable - it was great.
- the trip to Vietnam and Cambodia was great but "bloody" tiring. We were lucky to travel with some wonderful people in both countries and I must admit it was great to talk to some native English speakers other than Mel.
- when we got back from out trip we went to a small Bon Odori (Bon dance) in Inuyama. It was a good night and I have been invited to do some taiko (Japanese drumming) training for the Bon Odori next year.
- we also went with friends to the Gujo Hachiman Bon odori. The Gujo Bon Odori is one of the biggest traditional dance festivals in Japan.
- other than that I put a bit of time into my fitness blog.
- so all in all it was a huge summer vacation.

That will do for now, and I will be uploading some photos soon.

Summer Vacation Countdown

I have to admit I have been slack about posting for the last few weeks. It is coming up to summer vacation here in Japan which means for me - 7 weeks off from school.

Many of the students however, when asked about what they are doing over the break answer - study very hard. At the school Mel works they actually have summer classes. Luckily for us, Mel doesn't have to teach so it's off to Vietnam in less than two weeks. (^_^)

Vaccination Fun

During summer holidays, Mel and I are going to Vietnam and Cambodia for a few weeks. As part of the preparation process, I needed to get my Hep A and tetanus booster.

In Brisbane, this would entail going to a travel medicine clinic. In Japan, it is a little different. The first step was finding out where I could actually get the vaccinations done – not an easy task. Luckily one of the teachers I work with helped me out, went online and tracked down a hospital in Nagoya where I could get it done.

The next step was to work out when I could go. The vaccination clinic (which services all vaccinations including childhood) was only open for 2 two-three hour sessions Monday to Friday and only during office hours and a short session Saturday morning.

I took advantage of a free afternoon and went on my adventure – braving the limitations of my Japanese, not knowing exactly where I was going and the long waits between each of the many steps of the process while I was at the hospital.

I survived and now have an appointment set up for the follow up Hep A shot. (^_^)

A Trip to the Zoo

My wife is involved with the Camera Club at her school, and on Saturday they went on an excursion to the zoo at Higashiyama Koen in Nagoya. I went along for the outing.

The day started well when a Japanese women (thank you again) came up to me while we were waiting to buy tickets and gave me two free entry vouchers.

The zoo itself was enjoyable - it has a good layout and a good variety of animals from around the globe. Unfortunately the space limitations placed on the animals in some of the enclosures is a little sad.

My Barber

I went to my barber today - great service as always - and just as I was about to pay he asked me to wait. He took some change out of the til and raced across the road to the drink vending machine.

I guess his wife was not around to pick up drinks for me while I was having my hair cut.

Just another snippet of my life in Japan. (^_^)

Japanese Mounted Archery

On Thursday, I went to Kyoto for the day with a good friend of mine. He was competing in a kendo competition and intended to make a day of it.

One of the reasons he wanted me to go was to see Yabusame (Japanese mounted archery.) Yabusame is a religious ceremony, with the archers riding down a narrow track and firing at wooden targets.

It is quite spectacular with some of the horses at full gallop. Unfortunately I didn't get a good photo but did find this example online.

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.

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. (^_^)

Our First Year In Japan

As of the 16th, we have been in Japan for one year.

Wow - I can't believe how quickly the time has flown.

Other than my first ever hospital stay, my time here has been great. In actuality the hospital stay was fine, it was the reason for the stay that was the downer. I have had no "culture shock", no "what am I doing here?" (well actually I did have a couple of hours of it (^_^)) and no missing being in Aus.

I think I have surprised everybody but Mel with how well I seem to fit in here. I have had a couple of Japanese say that I must have lived in Japan in a previous life. I don't know about that but Japan is a great place to be.

One Year Coming Up!

It's amazing. (^_^) Mel and I have been married for almost one year, and we have been in Japan for just a little less than that. The time has flown by.

So to celebrate, this weekend we are off to Osaka. We are so looking forward to it. We have decided to travel light, but I don't know how either of us will cope without our computers.

Hopefully I will have some good stories and photos for this blog when we get back.

Getting a haircut

Although I have been to a couple of hairdressers since I arrived, I now go to a barber who is about a ten minute walk from home.

Even though he doesn't speak any English, he understands what I want and he does a great job. The session includes a shampoo and blow-dry and a neck, shoulder and head rub.

A great bonus is that when I leave I am given a takeaway pack of drinks. On my last visit I left with 3 cold sports drinks and on my visit before Xmas I walked away with 2 cold drinks and 2 cans of hot coffee.

It's hard to beat for only 2000yen.

Iaido - my first steps

When I came to Japan, one of the things that I wanted to experience, was to train in one of the Japanese martial arts. Once we were settled, I started to make some enquiries. One night I was talking to Mel's boss and I mentioned that I was interested in seeing Iaido. The next thing I know, I had an invite to watch a class at a local dojo.

Mel was especially nervous when we went because she had to do the initial introductions. The sensei was very welcoming, but he was surprised that we even knew about Iaido. After the introductions were over, we were given seats to watch the training.

We were both blown away by the grace, power and almost meditative state of the practitioners. After the session, I was asked if I wanted to train. I immediately said yes!

Ultraman in Tokyo

On a visit to Tokyo, Mel took a photo of me standing next to a life-size model of Ultraman. This is the result after adding the nightlife of Shibuya.

She has this on her monitor at work, and she tells people that she is married to Ultraman . I'm not sure which one she is talking about???

Sumo - sport of giants

I am one of those gaijin that thoroughly enjoy the spectacle, sport and religious ceremony that is Sumo. I went to my first tournament in Nagoya last year and unless we are travelling I will be going again this year.

Today was the last day of the January Tournament held in Tokyo. The phenomenal Mongolian Rikishi (Sumo) Asashoryu won his twentieth grand sumo tournament. His opponent for today's match was the popular Kotooshu from Bulgaria. Sumo is definitely not just for the Japanese as a participant or as a spectator.

If you decide to come to Japan for a holiday or to live - check out Sumo. The colour, spectacle and athleticism makes it a truly a great experience

I Love Japan

I have been living here (a gaijin in Japan) for about 10 months now and the time has flown by. I have to say "I love Japan".

Imagine, getting married and two weeks later you are living in another country, and to top it off, you don't speak the language. I was of course, a bit nervous when I arrived but I shouldn't have been. I took to the culture like a duck to water, although the language is slower going. ;-)

The people are wonderful and have been very friendly and welcoming. The food is great, although some of the school lunches I've eaten have been interesting :-) More about that in another post.

Nearly everything here is an experience slightly different to what you would get doing the same thing in your own country. Whether it is driving (people are very polite) or shopping in the supermarket, it's all slightly different.

All in all it's a great place to be.