Yeah! so I got to do taiko last night. I was passing the taiko stage after having worked out and got grabbed and taiko sticks thrust into my hands. So I tried to play along with the rest of them and I think I did pretty well for having no explanation or practice, it was pretty fun too. I am looking forward to seeing the taiko group perform at the festival tomorrow and hopefully they will keep up the practice afterwards so I can learn. Oh also I finally got a bank account today so I finally have everything I need to get a Keiti (Japanese mobile phone), definitely looking forward to that, they are amazingly advanced. Check up on the blog after the weekend for pictures of the festivals, I plan to take lots. The picture is of me with a taiko drum.

So today I did the two things I most enjoy in Japan, somoguri and karaoke. Somoguri is what they call diving to get fish and shellfish. This time I went with a champion fisher, well that’s what they called him. It was a bit more serious than last time, wetsuits and spear-guns and various other bits and bobs. I didn’t use a spear gun, I thought he was asking me if I had used one before so I said no, but in hindsight I think he was offering it to me to use. Perhaps a good thing as it looked pretty lethal but also fun, so next time I shall say yes, gonna shoot me some fishes! So anyways I look a bag and knife and went on a shellfish hunt while he (Nakada-san) shot fishes. I did a bit better than last time got quite a few shell fish, ten sazae, which are the best ones, although they are surprisingly hard to spot even when Nakada-san pointed a couple out it took me a while to see them. I can’t wait until I get my own snorkeling/somoguri kit, I wish that darned shop would be open sometime! Well and then we of course ate what we had caught, Nakada-sans wife cooked it all very nicely and we even had enough to invite about 5/6 people over. In case you didn’t know the gender roles are rather traditional here, so the men sit, eat and drink while the women cook and serve. And then on the way back (around 1am, so much for getting an early night as I had planned) we randomly did karaoke. I am pleased to announce there is a karaoke establishment about 30 seconds walk from my house, quite pleased about that! So we ate more and drank more, lots of eating and drinking here, and sang! Oh what fun! I loooove karaoke, they were all very good and sang sounds really nicely while as I made up for lack of singing talent with volume and enthusiasm. I think that counts for something….maybe. I did Bruce Springsteen’s’ Born in the USA, kinda forgot about the ‘sent to kill the yellow man’ but I think it passed un-noticed. I am sorry about the lack of picture but things happen randomly, I usually find out I am doing something when some Japanese person excitedly beckons me into their car or something. Anyway I took a pic of the selection of shells I collected. I should carry it around the whole time I guess, it is small enough. I plan to lie low until the weekend now, if that’s possible, and avoid drinking until the festivals this weekend; we will see how that goes.
Peace

So I have worked my first full week! It wasn't to bad at all. There hasn't been much activity in the sea due to a typhoon. It pretty much missed Izena but it has still been windy from about Tuesday to Saturday so the sea was quite rough. I keep trying to go and buy my own snorkel etc. but the fishing shop never seems to be open, maybe fourth time lucky. Apparently Nick had the same problem. It has become apparent that people drink quite allot here, they seem to take some pride in drinking more than main land Japanese. This is compounded for me by pretty much everyone wanting to drink with me, for example I drink after work with the board of education. Five minutes to going home time they suddenly decide to drink, then and there at work, so we did for several hours. Well so as I was saying I drink with the board of education one night and then the following night I am drinking with their sons who are at high school on the main island, it is quite interesting meeting father and then son. Last night I went to a funeral, although I think it was actually more like a wake. I expected a sombre affair but it was quite jovial, lots of people and drinking! It is a bit at odds with me trying to be fit and active, but it is a very good way to bond with the people here as it were. People in Japan are often quite shy to use their English under normal circumstances, so a more relaxed environment does help ;). Having said this I feel I should stress they don’t have a drinking problem like I think the UK does, this isn't binge drinking, it's good ol'social drinking, what we have been doing for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. Another thing I have noticed, which I like, is that this is a very relaxed island in terms of authority, in some ways at least. For example seat belts are mandatory and drink driving is a big nono in Japan, zero limit and severe punishments. However both these laws are more relaxed on Izena, well in fact they don't exist. Well I feel I have written quite enough, oh wait one more thing I would like to mention. I am going to be giving English lessons to the nicest/coolest older lady ever. Her name is Keiko-sensei and she is an artist from mainland Japan recently moved to Izena. She is keen to improve her English as she in involved in an artistic exchange with some Australian artists. She is a flower artist, she doesn’t paint flowers or do classical flower arranging...mmm perhaps I could post some examples of her work if that ok with her. So I initially refused payment for the lesson, although she seemed determined to pay, but anyway so instead she offered to show me how to do some of her art, or at least the techniques. So I am really looking forward to that, recently she made some jewellery from things found at the beach, its really very nice. Ok time out! Take care y'all, Cheerio! Ah yes, the picture of the tomb is of a traditinal Okinawan tomb, they are scattered all over Okinawa, people leave offerings of food in them and have 'parties' to celebrate/pay their repects to their ancestors in front of them. The other pictures shows a wall, of which Izena village is full of, you may notice it is not made from stone but coral. Semi-interesting :)/