It was one of those small coincidences in life with utterly no significance but It must have impressed me a little as I feel like blogging it! I wore my Kilt to Okinawa Honto this weekend and among other things I wore it while watching the England Paraguay football game. As a result I was feeling a little Scottish! While browsing a magazine on Okinawa I came across an article on Okinawan Spiders. It interested me a little as I have notices the large black and yellow Forest spiders (and sometimes Banana spiders). These are quite large, I have seen them up to 10cm and being Orb spiders make huge webs (diameters of 6 feet plus). In the article I saw there was a spider called the St. Andrews spider! Being the Scottish patron Saint this caught my eye. It is so named because it rests with its legs in a cross, like the St. Andrews cross (the same cross which is on our flag). Anyway I forgot about it but when I returned to my island and was walking home from the ferry port I happened to glance down to my right and lo and behold! There was a St. Andrews spider! Of course I had to stop and take a picture. The small one is the male I believe.

My garden has turned into a veritable jungle in my absence, the tomatoes in particular are obesely foliate (I just made that phrase up). The first flowers (as you can see) are opening their pretty little faces to the world so I look forward to seeing it in full bloom! I also have little baby green tomatoes.
I had an amusing little revelation during my last elementary school class. I kicked off with a song (old MacDonald) and the male kids were not being very genki about it. With some cajoling from me and the teacher they made half hearted attempts at the actions, being the 5yrs I didn’t expect much genkiness anyway (liveliness). However after the class all the boys returned and requested the song again, a tad bemused I consented and my goodness what a difference this time! There were big grins all around and they were super Genki (enthusiastic), apparently (as the teacher explained) they are only shy in the presence of girls. Funny little beggars.
Here's a quote:
Great people talk about ideas, average people talk about things, and small people talk about wine. Fran Lebowitz

So I ordered a new Kilt! One of a lighter weight material than the one I already have at home. I have been quite excited about it and it arrived yesterday! I was practicing with two students for the story contest when there was an announcement over the PA for me. I little perturbed I made my way to the teachers room and there was my package! A new Kilt and a new sporran! Yippee! I had the afternoon off so I went for a run then donned my kilt and came back for my English conversation classes. As soon as I entered the teachers room I was surrounded by all the female teachers, one even took a picture. I had to endure allot of compliments I did not quite understand but these things are to be expected when a Scotsman dons his Kilt. Actually I think the kids were less impressed with the Kilt. They had no idea what it was and I am sure were just wondering what on earth Kureigu Sensei was doing wearing a skirt! So I spent a good wack of each of my conversation classes explaining the Kilt. The kids were really late for the class, I was about to pack up and go but I am glad they came, even though it meant we stayed until 8:30pm instead of 7:30. There are some matches coming up and they are all busy with their various sports clubs I believe.

Here is the concise version of my trip to Kobe and subsequent travels. The recontracting conference itself lasted 3 days and was in the main allot of fun (of the wizz bang variety). It was good too see some familiar faces I had not seen in quite a long time. As for the conference itself, there were actually a number of very useful workshops or at least somewhat inspiring ones. I am of course not making the most of all the free time I have on my island. A particular highlight was meeting Marshal and Alicia again, two mainland JETs who went to India with us. It was on Marshall’s suggestion that we went to see Hase Dera and although the peonies (it is famous for these flowers) were not in bloom it was one of the nicest temples we saw. After the conference was over I and Kelly went on a relaxed tour of Kansai. We did not have a great desire to see Kyoto again or a big city like Osaka (Tokyo was enough big city for a long time) so we headed to Nara. That turned out to be an inspired choice. I really enjoyed our time in Nara, it is a nice, quiet little city which can be easily seen on foot. It helped we stayed in a pleasant Ryokan (Japanese style Inn) which was right next to Nara Park where most of the sightseeing sites are located. I won’t bore you with details of the trip, it is broadly covered by the pictures in the previous post. However one thing that I’d like to mention is how helpful the people were in Kobe and Nara, if we ever looked confused or lost of one moment, paused and looked around at signs or the guidebook, then someone would immediately try and help us (in English). It was really nice and we didn’t experience anything of the sort in Tokyo or Kyoto. It is common hearsay in Okinawa that mainland Japanese are not as friendly but the experience we had does not corroborate that at all. I suppose it was taken to an extreme by the elderly gentleman (72 year old retired Junior High school head master) who not only personally showed us to our Ryokan from the train station but appointed himself our tour guide for the rest of the day. He wanted to practice his English (which was pretty good) as he planned a trip to the UK later that year. He even wanted to meet us the following morning and show us around again but we had to make our excuses. The rest of the trip went very nicely indeed thank you very much! A quick excursion from Nara to see Horyu ji (Japans oldest wooden temple); a day in the inaka (countryside) where we saw Hase Dera and Yoshino; a night and half a day in Osaka (surprised by a beautiful wild flower garden in the midst of the urban ugliness); Himeji jo (awesome castle) and finally a night back in Kobe (finally getting a good view of the semi-famous Kobe nightscape). Upon returning to Okinawa honto I went to a Hospital to get my finger checked out. My first experience of a Japanese hospital and I must say that the whole thing was very efficient and cheap! I registered as a new patient, saw two doctors, had an x-ray and got the splint for my finger and was checked out in about two and a half hours! It also only cost 3000 yen (15 quid) for everything! Although if I had not had the insurance it would have been more like 10000yen or 50 quid, still surprisingly cheap. So the upshot of all that is I have a metal splint on my finger and will continue to do so for 6 weeks. That has a 40% chance of fixing it and if it fails I will need surgery which has a 98% chance of success. Not bad odds I think, the specialist (who had great English) told me it was a common injury for surgeons, he himself had the very same injury on his ring finger (which encouragingly looked perfectly normal now).

An old tree in Nara Park
koi carp (Nara Koen)
guaranteeing myself enlightenment in Daibutsu temple (home of Japan's biggest Buddha)
Kelly looking very pretty at Horyu-ji, Japan's oldest wooden temple (about 1300 yrs old)
Graves of priests at Hase Dera
The hills around Hase Dera (it was about 2 hours train ride outside of Nara)
A wildflower garden in front of the 'Sky Tower', Osaka's tallest biulding
Himeji-jo, the best preserved castle in all of Japan

A view of the hills surrounding Himiji-jo.

Thanks for a perfect weekend. Anata wa watashi no jima ni itte ureshii deshita.

I hope that Japanese is correct.

MALLET FINGER! Yes that is what I have apparently! According to my quick internet search anyway. So if you remember (and if you don't you only need to scroll down and look at my post on the topic) I cut my finger while bashing a shellfish out of a rock about a month ago. I thought it was just a cut and naturally didn't want to be a big baby about it and a band aid and a bit of iodine splashed on was all the treatment I gave it. In fact if Kelly had not been there I doubt it would have even got that treatment! It was a little crooked at the time but I didn't think much of it and assumed it was because of the swelling at the top my finger, around the cut. But one month later the swelling had much reduced but the crick was much more pronounced. It was also still slightly sore so when it was suggested to me that perhaps I should see a doctor I did so fearing perhaps there was infection. It turns out I severed the extensor tendon of that finger! The tendon is cut almost exactly at the end joint of my finger so only the tip is crooked, if the cut had been higher up the situation would have been much more serious. It may be fixable; I gather from my limited research, that if left for a long time the tendon my cause bleeding and scarring further up and along the tendon sheath making it unusable in which case it won't be very fixable. Also it was not cut with the knife but on the slightly rougher edge of the shell. It is not a bit deal, I can live with it! The finger is still functional as the flexor tendon is still intact so I can exert downward force with no pain but in case of further complications I do want to have it checked out. Luckily the Ryukyu university hospital here in Okinawa is renowned for hand surgery according to my island doctor so I will go there. Enjoy the pics! The other picture if of Teru and company working on a new Izekaiya on Izena which will be opening tonite! Exiting!

Evening all. I would like to use this post to tell you how undeniably great otters are. That's right you heard me, OTTERS! So after getting home at about 9pm from my English conversation class I threw together some victuals (literally) and feeling too tired and brain dead to even read I turning on the goggle box. The program was about otters. First of all I was entranced at how cute and friendly they were. Running around in their group/extended family; playing in the water and rolling around together in sand bands. Then we see their hunting prowess, flashing around underwater in hot pursuit of elusive aquatic prey which when caught they would share with the other member of their romp (yes that is what a group of otters is very appropriately called). Now for the best bit! A large African crocodile slides into the water; the otters suddenly get agitated craning their long necks to spot where the now submerged crocodile has gone. I prayed that the romp (I like that word) would escape with all fingers and toes intact. I couldn't have been more wrong. The delightfully rascally and audacious otters (not to mention brave!) took the crocodile head on! First I though why aren't they swimming away, why are they getting so close to that rather large and toothy reptilian? Then they started attacking it! Even nipping in to bite the croc around its jaws. The best bit was when after the croc had retired to a sand bank a particularly cheeky otter snuck up and bit the tip of its tail! Bear in mind this is a 4 metre African crocodile and the otters can only have been a couple of feet long. Anyway, there you have it, otters rock and don't you dare say otherwise.

I have returned from my trip to mainland Japan! And now I will relate it to you!



The first thing that struck me about Tokyo was the people or more precisely the number of people. They were everywhere! Vast hoards of them all rushing about in immaculate designer clothes and more than likely clutching a Loui Vouton bag (they seem to be all the rage in Japan right now). It could not be more different from my small rustic island! The above picture is of the busiest intersection in the world at Shibuya, one can probably see more people in this picture than live on my whole island...perhaps.

The first Shrine we visited was Meiji-Jingu in Harijuku. We had the good fortune of being shown around by a group of Japanese university students who wanted to practice their English. Among other things they showed us how to properly purify ourselves with the spring water found at the entrance of all Temples and Shrines in Japan. This served as well as we visited many, many Temples and Shrines throughout the course of our trip. Meiji-Jingu boasts the largest wooden Tori gate in the world and a building especially dedicated to people want to bless and purify their cars.

Many unusually dressed individuals inhabit Harijuku, amung my favourites where a group who dress in black leather and danced energetically to rock and roll music. The picture shows one member of the troupe taking a rest. While watching the performance I was kindly informed by an elderly Japanese gentleman that rock and roll music came from America.

Most of the 'crazies' as I affectionately refer to them do not dance or perform but just sit and be admired by the crowds. They will also pose for photographs if you ask them nicely. I do wonder why they do it.

Our first Temple was Senso-ji. As a side note a Temple is a place of Buddhist worship while a Shrine in a place of Shinto (native Japanese faith) worship. It was a very lively place compared to Meiji-jingu (everywhere the sound of chanting and smell of burning incense). There was also a cute little garden in the complex, We found that the Shrines and Temples made for a good way to escape the noise and bustle of the city around them. Afterwards we took a boat ride down to Ginza and had a wander around a park which had been in previous times the duck hunting ground of the Shogunate. From there we went to the Imperial Palace.

At the Imperial Palace! Very expansive and impressive but one cannot get inside to have a closer look. Understandable as the Emperor and his family do still live there. It is like everything else in Tokyo mostly a reconstruction. The city was quite comprehensively flattened during the war.

A pleasant view of one of the gaurd towers which punctuated the outer wall of the Palace. I found Tokyo to be a very exciting city, lots of hussle and bustle, something grabbing your attention all the time. We managed to see every major district of Tokyo even if it was only for an hour or two. Each one had it's own distinct feel and often as not it's own particular type of crazy. Shibuya for example plays host to the tanned and bleach blonde variety.

We took the shinkansen to Kyoto, a journeyof 8hours by regular train but only two and a half with the Nozomi super express. The Nozomi super express is the fastest of the skinkansen train services and the trains reach speeds of 300 km.hr! The Shinkansen typify Japanese attention to detail and desire for perfection, there have been zero fatalities in the 42 years of service (despite one derailing due to an earthquake) and during 2003 the average lateness was only 12 seconds . Boarding the train is also a very precise operation, one must wait at the designated stop on the station platform according to your car and seat number and when the train stops the door you need to enter via is exactly in front of you. The above picture is of Kiyomizu Dera in Kyoto, one of the two temples we saw there. Kyoto has many, many temples but we had a tight schedule and lots of see and do!This picture is slightly out of chronological order. We went to see kabuki in Tokyo (at the Kabuki za theatre in Ginza). It was interesting and visually alluring but not gripping, the English language headphones did help immensely, I would have had no idea what was going on without them. What was unusual was the cat calls (kakegoe) from the audience. The cries are of encouragement or appreciation and there seem to be particular points during the performance when these calls are acceptable.

We took a day trip north of Kyoto to a Holy mountain and town which share the name Kurama. It was easily the most pleasant day of the whole trip. A gentle hike took us to the top of the mountain, along the way we passed many beautiful temples and shrines before we got to the main temple at the top which was bathed in sunlight (after the shade of the wooded mountainside) and surrounded by Cherry blossoms (sakura) which were in glorious bloom. Unlike in Tokyo and Kyoto there were very few westerners about and the place felt less 'touristy'. This photograph was taken near the bottom; I was attracted to the sunlight on the red of a Japanese maple tree.

Sorry, another out of order photograph. This one of a pretty little street in Kyoto, such a contrast to the towering glass and steel of Tokyo!

Taking a photo break during the accent of Mt.Kurama. One my favourite things about Japanese gardens and landscaping are the elegant bridges. I think they have a very natural shape to them.

At the top! This was my first experience of Japanese Sakura, the okinawan variety is somewhat different and I am sorry to say not quite as pretty. The Japanese Sakura manage to be both more delicate and more richly opulent.

Nestled at the foot of Mt.Kurama is the village bearing the same name. The buildings were all wooden and very traditional and the main road (only road) had a stream running along it. Kurama has a natural spring and therefore an Onsen (Japanese hot spring bath). I have wanted to visit an Onsen since visiting Japan and I wasn't disappointed. Lying naked in the hot spring water surrounded by the beautiful mountain scenery, what could be better to sooth a footsore and tired soul. I think on future trips to the mainland of Japan I will give the big cities a miss and seek out places such as Kurama.

The final picture shows a 700 series Shinkansen, the type we used to and from Kyoto. After Kyoto we returned to Tokyo and pulled an all-nighter before returning to Okinawa. This was not planned but our digs in Kyoto turned out to be a bit pants so we decided to be adventurous. Okinawa did seem like another (poorer) country upon returning from mainland Japan but it did feel good to be back to nice friendly relaxed Okinawa.

The sunset on saturday night

Me with a student in front of all the rubbish that was collected

Time to relay my weekends various goings on to those of you who read my blog. It was a pretty decent weekend as far as these things go nothing to really write home about but on the other hand nothing to complain about either. On Friday I and the other junior high school teachers all ate and drank at the headmasters house. It was most enjoyable, the new headmaster is quite bonhomie, although I was flagging due to tiredness more than anything else toward the end of the evening. It amused me greatly to watch the male teachers struggle to prepare food before the female teachers arrived, we were literally eating frozen shell fish, but when the teachers of the fairer sex did arrive, oh boy! Plate of scrumptious food did follow plate of scrumptious food. The following day I took part in a beach clean up. As worthy a cause as cleaning up beaches are, and it’s a little tragic to see Izena’s stunning beaches littered with rubbish, my main cause for excitement was the chance to be a sea ranger for the day. Alas it was not to be! Due to a mix up, Kaichi thought the costumes were in his car when they were in-fact stowed away in the car of some unknown other person, I did not get to for fill my dream and be a sea ranger. Maybe next time! Regardless the day was pleasant and what a lot of rubbish we collected! The operation was fairly large scale and involved all the ‘important’ people on Izena (the Mayor, assorted village office staff, Board of Education members, teachers etc.) and I think we cleaned all the major beaches on Izena. After a short break during which I took a much needed shower and mourned my loss of Japanese study time (not really but I am going to struggle to complete this months test, I’ve been too busy!). I don’t find I pick up Japanese just by spending time with/attempting to speak to Japanese people, I really don’t. Which is unfortunate because I have more than ample opportunity for that, I need to sit down and study to learn, so we come across the odd situation that my spending time with Japanese friends is hampering my Japanese language studies. Back to the course of events. After the shower I was picked up by Teru and we went down to the beach to prepare for the obligatory otskaresama party or nomikai or whatever it was called. In grand Izena tradition it involved sitting on blue tarpaulin, consuming moderate amounts of food, imbibing copious amounts of awamori (local booze) and having a generally merry time. The food was good; onigiri, tempura and those little spherical cake things and I did proceed to stuff my face. I got a little bored later on but some elementary school pupils decided it was playtime, so after giving them an impromptu English test (they did very well and impressed the head of the BOE who was sitting next to me and I am sure scored me good browning points) I got down to being as immature as possible. I had a jolly old time with them and probably got a bit of a workout too (all that lifting, spinning and swinging)! Afterwards I watched a movie with Teru and then gratefully slipped into the land of nod. I realize my post is getting quite long now but I have more to say….. Oh the dilemma. Well ok briefly then, the snake I saw (the small brown one) was probably Hemihabu according to Teru and I don’t doubt him! That would be Trimeresurus okinavensis for those particular for scientific names. It is poisonous and a Habu, so I am not sure how they can claim Izena has no Habu, however they didn’t seem surprised or incredulous when I said I had seen one. Oh well. I also now know that a hermit crab can survive without food and water for at least 20 days! Pretty impressive for a species whose subphylum (sorry to be pedantic) have only VERY recently began to attempt to make the transition from sea to land. I also know (from previous lab work) that spider crabs (marine) can survive with no oxygen for about nine hours! Truly hardy creatures. I didn’t learn this out of cruelty or negligence I feel I should stress (ok well the latter was derived by deliberately cruel means but all in the name of science!). The last time I went snorkelling was 20 days ago and I found yesterday at the bottom of my snorkelling bag a hermit crab. I naturally assumed it was dead but after a highly scientific prod with my finger I noticed slight movement! A quick does of H2O and it was right as rain! It is now my new pet; called spiky (it has a rather nifty spiky shell). I have just finished a volleyball tournament between teachers and pupils, quite fun, this year school is much more fun than last year (pre April and teacher change over year). That is all for now!

One of my little nipppers!

My Garden in its (glorious) entirety.

Like a proud father I feel compelled to post pictures of my little 'garden'. It is currently the warm and nurturing home to cherry tomatos, carrots and cosmos seedlings (all on the right hand side as you see it in the photograph). Today I added to my angiosperm family sunflowers in the rear left and in front of them white chrysanthemums and some coreopsis. To be honest I don't have much clue what I am doing in terms of gardening but so far it's been working. I guess I picked up a few things helping my Granddad in the garden back home in Scotland. Although growing anything remotely exotic in Scotland means growing plants in a greenhouse until they are big and strong and then only putting them outside for the approximately two weeks of nice weather we get a year.

I saw a snake today! Well in-fact I saw a snake 2 weeks ago too but that one was of the deceased variety. Having had an unfortunate run in with a car its profile had been severely diminished. The dead snake I have identified with some certainty as 'Akamata' to give it its Japanese name. Its scientific name is Dinodon semicarinatus. Upon describing it to a co-worker he also thought it was 'Akamata'. The second snake is a little more of a mystery. I didn't get a picture of this was as I was on a run but I did get to observe it up close (a few feet) for a couple of minutes. It was also on the road so not obscured by vegetation however judging by the size (about one foot) I think it was a juvenile and therefore possibly not fully displaying its adult characteristics. It is possible it was a Habu (The term Habu is actually a blanket term for three species of Viper). This would be interesting as it is claimed Izena has no Habu. Its colouration suggested Habu (probably Trimeresurus flavoviridis) but it definitely did not have the arrow shaped head typical of Vipers (to contain their heat sensing pits). Perhaps Vipers do not develop the characteristic head shape until later in life but I shall have to look into it. Stay tuned to discover if Izena is being infiltrated by the deadly Habu!

On Monday I attended my first Nyu-gakko party, celebrating a child starting elementary school. The most notable thing about this particular Nyu-gakkoIwai was that the only food on offer was goat and duck sashimi, yes that's right raw goat! It was a fun night though and apparently I do like goat sashimi. There is very little I will not eat. The following day I was invited back to finish the job and this time all the teachers came and there was an even bigger feast! In addition to the raw goat there was goat meat soup and regular fish sashimi as well as vegetable and tofu dishes. I think I ate for 3 hours solid and still had room at the end for cake. I was very tired and left at around 9ish. Lame I know! But in my defence I haven’t had a proper nights sleep for about 2 weeks what with having guests on my island and what not. I had hoped to get to sleep early that night but no! I was called up for a farewell nomikai for Nagi, she will be leaving today (wed), I suppose the date must have slipped my mind! I had to leave that early too, at about 11.30, but I really, really needed sleep. I had a class with my new ichinensei first period so energy was required, that and I am an old man. A very young old man, but an old man none the less. Although I enjoy the busy times in Izena I am also beginning to appreciate the quiet times more and more. It's a shame I have no control over when and where they happen. Oh and apparently they wanted me to join in with their sea ranger thing during Golden week but unfortunately I will be in Tokyo/Kyoto during that time. It is a balancing act trying to give time to my island and do other things; I'll get it down eventually, perhaps.
Ah yes! In other news! My plants are growing! The Cosmos, carrots and tomatoes have all germinated and are little baby plants now! I will plant some more plants in the other half of my plot soon, I weeded it yesterday. Although perhaps I should save some space for transplanting the carrots when I thin them out. Oh the simple joys of gardening! I reckon my minigarden will be the horticultural gem in the crown of Izena Junoir High ;). Yeah right!

Sunny left yesterday to continue her epic journey and I am back at school now. I have two classes today including one with the new ichinensei (1st yrs) so I am looking forward to that. Sunny's visit ended with a fun trip to Okinawa honto. We left a teachers dinner/party early on Friday in order to be able to make the 1st ferry on Saturday and it was definitely worth it. After a lunch in Chatan Kelly joined us and took us on a tour of her castle (by that I mean Kitanakagusaku-jo) were we had the singular pleasure of watching some Japanese posing in full samurai get-up and samurai swords. Later in Shuri castle we were joined by Chris. After a quick sorte to Kokusaidori (International street in Naha) we made our way back up to Chatan for Elvira’s birthday party and on the way managed to pick up a bottle of tequila and a lemon (limes were nai!). After joining Elvira and company in the bowling alley we undertook some deliberations it was decided our only course of action was to drink the tequila then and there. A kindly bar maid cut our lemon and supplied glasses while a trip to Makudonaludo bestowed us with salt. Much fun ensued. There was dancing and shenanigans, the usual heady Okinawa JET fun packed night out! I very almost did not make it back to my island on Sunday, as I arrived at the ferry port the gangway was detached and the ferry about to leave. Luckily a sailor spotted my predicament and alerting me with a piercing whistle indicated I should board by the car ramp. I did so and they began winching it up as soon as I had passed inside, by the time I made it to the upper deck we were already underway, a close call indeed! I intended to laminate some flashcards at the school and then have an early bed but no. I was summoned to a barby at the beach for a friend who was recently married, Naomi (of the Japan Forum) married a Turkish man in January and this was there first visit together to Izena. Naomi lives in Tokyo and is 50% of the Japan Forum team who organised the visit to Izena of 7 international and 7 Japanese students way back in November last year. The Izena connection comes from when Sunichi (then attending Izena Junior high school) was one of their first Japanese students on the program. He is sort of their 'showcase member'. After that I went to the school and finished the flashcards, it's a hard life ;).

My friend Sunny from australia is visiting me right now. She came to the teachers welcome ceremony on tuesday and the party afterwards and all the teachers loved her. We have also done some snorkling (you get used to the cold pretty quick) and saw some fun fish and wierd things. She also accompanied me on a run (riding a bike) and snapped this pic of me getting mobbed by shogakksei while getting a drink. More soon!

So today I got to take part in a Okinawan Oban ceremony. I and all the other teachers went to king Shoens (famous ryukan king from Izena) and there joined all the other prominent members of team Izena for the ceremony. I as I reached the top of the steps leading to the tomb/shrine I noticed on the left people sitting on tatami type matting and people standing on the right, a member of the BOE motioned me to the left so I joined the sitting people. I think this was something of an honour as all the other teachers stood to the right, and among the other seated people was the mayor if Izena and descendant of king Shoen. It is also possible I misread her direction and just waltzed in all gung hoe like. I was dressed in bright red running trousers and a blue t-shirt while everyone else was in a black suit, c'est la vie. I did sit seiza (legs under you while sitting on feet) for the whole thing though, causing some small pain and stood and bowed and sat and bowed (repeated several times) when everyone else did. Afterwards we all ate typical Japanese food; omochi, some seaweed I don't know, tofu and other things I don't know, all washed down with ocha of course. It was all very nice and I got to meet some of the new shogakko teachers (elementary school), one of which speaks good English, subarashi ne!
In other news I now have my own little garden. I bought some seeds a while back and planned to plant them in the garden of my own house, but then I decided it might be better to do it at the school. They grow allot of plants and have all the bits and bobs one needs. So I asked and they said how many? and I said oh just one! So now I have a smallish raised bed to play with. Today I weeded and dug half of it and planted; tomatoes, carrots and some flowers (Cosmos Versailes).

Kelly visited my island this weekend and I certainly had a rip roaring good time! I think she enjoyed herself too! Definitely took my mind of the impending departure of my Izenian friends. On Saturday we went out to collect shellfish (at low tide on the exposed coral rock) with Teru and Yoshiaki-san and I saw my first Octopus being caught. I helped a little but who am I kidding, it was Teru who did all the work. The little eight armed beastie as very tenacious and took a lot of getting out of the little hole he had wedged himself in. But we finally succeeded and it would later prove a tasty addition to our barbeque later that night. There were also a lot of shakugau about (a kind of clam) and we collected quite a few. I am proud to have found the largest one by some measure but then proceeded to gash my finger while getting it out, woops. I had planned some sea kayaking but the weather took a turn for the worse on Sunday and that plan had to be abandoned. I am still determined to kayak out to the uninhabited island which lies perhaps a few Kilometres North West of Izena Beach. It will just take the right combination of time, weather and company. The islanders thought I was crazy when I mentioned it a while back.

This weekend I played in a 7’s rugby tournament at Nago Senior High school. One of my teachers (who is leaving) is a member of a men’s rugby club in Nago and invited me to come and play for them. So I did and it was lots of fun, despite raining constantly and heavily throughout the morning and afternoon. My team got to the semi-finals which was pretty good I reckon. The final ended up being between Nago HS A and B teams; they are the number one or two school for rugby in Okinawa I think. For some unknown reason the tournament took place on a pitch which was not covered in grass but instead was sand! Not fine soft sand either, hard gritty stuff! It was about the most abrasive playing surface I could imagine, everyone had big grazes on their legs and arms by the time we were done. My left knee is going to have a quite impressive scab! Anyway it was fun. Got some bad news today, Teru (my best buddy on Izena) won’t have a job after the end of this week and will probably have to go to Okinawa honto to try and find a job. Jobs are few and far between on Izena it seems, he also said they were pretty scarce on Okinawa honto too. I hope he magically finds one on Izena! To make things worse Koshin has also gone to stay with family on Okinawa honto (for personal reasons) and Nagi also will also have to go to Okinawa honto to try and find a job. So that’s my three best friends on Izena gone or going! Bummer, and all this after they managed to convince the BOE to let a particular female teacher they liked to stay another year. My predecessor did say people came and went on Izena but still, I will miss them, although I am still hoping they will find some job on Izena. There have also been budget cuts to the education system here in Okinawa and some teachers are loosing their jobs, it seems not all is well with Okinawa/Japan plc.