I had a break from the 'routine' yesterday. My neighbour came around and told me about a music event happening in the hotel near my house. I wasn't sure if I was going to go (I may have been watching a movie at the time) but my neighbours wife emailed me telling me to come quickly so I came. It was quite good, a chap from mainland Japan (a tokyoite) played the pan pipes and a sort of bamboo recorder. I gather he had spent some time in Bolivia. He was corpulent and amusing and got suitable engrossed/animated by the music he was playing. There were also coffee and cakes supplied, how civilised ;). Mostly teachers came, and with other civilised members of Izenean society (dentists wife etc.) sat near the musician. Other Izeneans of a more countrified nature sat at the far end of the long room and proceeded to talk in above acceptable levels and most horridly laugh mid-performance at private jokes! When they decided to clap to the music (without the musicians accent) the upper table resisted their oafish attempt to make amends (they tend to clap to sanshin music -and talk loudly during it- at their own social gatherings) and they were cowed into silence by our disapproving countenance. Jolly good evening and I even managed a good conversation with the chap afterwards, he is very well travelled. E's even gone and went to Zimbabwe (country of me birth don'tchaknow)! Mainland Japanese are so much easier to talk to, being that they speak the language I am trying to learn, Japanese. Izenians speak something else. Even okinawa honto (main island okinawa) people can't understand them when they are drinking etc. Okinawa honto people are also easy to talk to. It is nice sometimes to make use of the Japanese I have learned.