So much has happened but I don't have time to post right now, sorry! I promise I will post soon! Here is a sample.

My sister and her boyfriend, David, arrived in Okinawa on Friday! However it was not until Monday that we could get to Izena because of a Typhoon. We had a great time on the mainland thanks to Kelly who did a fantastic job of entertaining us, we especially enjoyed the ice skating! Once we got to Izena things got a bit crazy, I rushed them to school for my after school English conversation classes and then rushed them to a festival with no time for dinner. The festival was good, a bit of a shock for my sis and David but fun none the less. It was a little rowdy and a little violent at times. Nothing compared to my first experience of a festival last year when I had no idea of what was going on though. I won a bag of rice at sumo and managed to escape drinking with the 'bad boys' of the island. Instead I went to a snack with Teru, Nagi and a few others and we ate, drank and sang karaoke until too late. We even got my, apparently, shy sister to sing karaoke, eventually! Good times.....and there are three more festivals to go this month! Don't worry Mum and Dad I am looking after wee Sis despite determined efforts of the islanders they only drank green tea and aserola (okinawan fruit) juice all night, sorry I can't say the same for myself but I'm an islander don't cha knooow!

This weekend I trained (for the triathlon), cleaned my house (for my sister arriving this Friday) and performed Tiako (practiced tiako lots too). The training went pretty well, I even survived doing a mini triathlon during the midday heat on Monday (we had the day off) as I had the taiko later that afternoon. One is not supposed to do anything strenuous in the midday sun right now but I had no choice. Besides I had trusty aquarious (sports drink) to keep me going, although the heat was a tad bothersome during the run. My desire for more tiako practice has been satisfied, on Sunday I practiced for 5 hours straight (with the elementary school kids and then the junior high schoolers). The performance was yesterday and I dare say it went well. I and a mixture of elementary and junior high school kids performed for a group of visiting high school students from somewhere near Tokyo. It was my first tiako performace, I am hoping to do it again in the big summer King Shoen festival. The only cloud on my horizon is an incoming typhoon which may hit Naha at the time my sister is due to fly in (Friday), hoping it veers off and gives Okinawa a miss!
Please go to this link and read (including the comments at the bottom)!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/5140912.stm
Thank goodness for our sense of humour! Probably the last redeeming feature of our small island nation, nothing else springs to mind anyway.

What are the chances of this happening! It was the last game of the lesson and somehow they all managed to score 24 points. Perfect ending and I didn't cheat or anything, it was as much a surprise to me as the class.

Me at a rehearsal for the peace play.
Campfire!
This past week was a fairly busy one. On top of the usual classes I coached two girls for a English story contest and also got involved in the peace play at my shogakko (elementary school). Two of my 3rd year students wanted to take part in the English story contest so for the past month I have been practicing with them at least once a day. They did well I think but I wish they had had more time to practice. However with all their other commitments, sporting and academic it must have been hard for them. They had two tennis games to compete in, a Japanese test and all their end of term tests this week also to consider. Either way it was fun. The peace play was last Thursday, Friday was Irei no Hi (peace day) which is an Okinawan holiday commemorating the battle of Okinawa and wishing for world wide peace. The play was of surprisingly (for me) meaty stuff. It started in the present, some old ladies telling young kids about the war. It then whooshes back in time and we see a family struggling to get food during the war. The invasion then starts and the grandmother refuses to leave the house and flee to the caves, she dies as a result. Some more things happen culminating in the Okinawans sheltering in the cave only to be bullied by some mainland Japanese troops. The play ends with the death of a little girl in the cave. There was also pictures and video footage of the war shown. They certainly didn’t censor anything for the kids! I and my keyboard helped with sound effects; thunder, explosions, gunshots etc. It was a little hard keeping track and timing things (especially the explosions which ‘killed’ people) due to my lack of Japanese but I managed and it was a success. The highlight of the week was a night spent camping on a beach in Ogimi (Okinawa Honto) with Kelly. Great sunset, beautiful stars, lots of convenient wood for the campfire and of course fantastic company. Also what better way to wake up than to go straight into the sea for a swim!

It appears birthdays are a bit like London buses,

Happy Birthday Dad!
I know you will have a good time.

Happy Birthday Cindi!!
Hope you have a great 50th birthday!
All the best!

Craig

Miscellaneous post; Japanese TV, soccer and mold. I feel like a whimsical post. A few weeks ago I had dinner with a neighbor of mine and (husband and wife) and during dinner we watched TV. Every so often out of boredom I flip on the TV and try and make sense of what is going on. The programs we watched that evening were fairly typical; a nature documentary, a period drama (samurai and the like) and a program about health. They are very obsessed with health here in Japan. It is no wonder they live so long, most Japanese employees have a yearly health check which if they fail for three time in a row (I think) they have to go to a hospital for more checks and probably dietary advice and such. This is quite incredible I think, I don’t know what the penalties (if any) are for serial offenders but it seems something of an intrusion. I will eat and live as a darn well please thank you very much! As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted by my own rant, we were watching TV. I have found the period dramas mildly entertaining but mostly boring but my hosts were riveted and reacted to everything very strongly, when the Shogun was ranting away at a poor subject they were quite cowed and I heard murmured ‘Kowai’ (scary!). Next up was the health program, I am not sure what it was exactly about, there were examples of unhealthy (looked fine to me) people and their terrible diets (a lot better than most western diets) which drew much tut tutting and distain from my hosts. There was some doctor type talking about an obscure health indicator, this it was all getting a bit too much for my house wife host, perhaps feeling guilty for having fried the chicken (all that fat!) she suddenly got up rummaged in the freezer and produced some soybeans. So we all munched on those and felt much better for it (even though we were stuffed from the dinner). I have never seen the influence of TV working for quickly. Next topic is soccer. It’s the world cup don’t you know! If you don’t I would be mighty impressed. So although I am rooting for England, watching the games while I can and reading about them on the BBC website when I can’t, I still have my misgivings about this sport. Why are soccer players so unsporting and when it comes down to it, so un-manly? And why then has such a sport roused the passions of the worlds people like no other?! My major gripe is with diving. This is when a football player will throw himself at the grown at the slightest touch (or something excessive proximity only) and writhe there in agony until something is done about it. At which point he will pop up, hop for a few yard and then energetically enter back into play seemingly no worse for wear despite his recent agonizing injury. Sometimes the team better at faking fouls (diving) will win a game. This varies from place to place and English football for instance tends to allow much harder tackles but that doesn’t help them when they face teams of a much more tender constitution (in fact it is almost a disadvantage). When this is coupled with the rather more sporting habit of kicking the ball out of play when a player is injured to allow recovery/treatment time it is even worse. For example during the Australia Japan game a Japanese player went down to a fair tackle by an Aussie (the ref. didn’t blow his whistle) as the Aussies started to break back the Japanese team stood still virtually boycotting play. The Australians then kicked the ball out of bounds. The ‘injured’ player then received treatment went off the pitch but came straight back on! Thus the Australian counter attack was reduced to nothing. Case number two (the evidence mounts up). While watching the Portugal Iran game I was even more disgusted, Iran were one nil down, Portugal were slightly running amuck. Cristiano Ronaldo was making a run down the left wing; he slips the ball past the Iranian captain Golmohammadi who without looking at the ball (even less turning and chasing it) he runs shoulder first straight into Ronaldo’s chest. Ronaldo of course is knocked down however Golmohammadi also falls, suddenly clutching his shoulder, apparently in real pain (Ronaldo merely suffers a bemused expression). Golmohammadi was in so much pain he had to hobble off the field, Portugal got a free kick. It was also Golmohammadi whose needless foul on Figo gave Portugal their second goal (penalty kick). I should say that in both these cases Iran did not benefit due to good refereeing. Perhaps because I am more of a Rugby fan where players have finished games with broken bones (cut and bruises are run of the mill) this seems rather undignified. I wish they would have a video referee (as in rugby and cricket) so that more dives would be caught and punished but this doesn’t seem like happening soon. I think part of the allure of soccer is dodgy refereeing. If you win, all good, if you loose it was the ref’s fault and your team are innocent victims. That and the fact football can be played on any patch of open space with anything even resembling a ball. Despite all this complaining I will be keeping my fingers and toes crossed for England and eagerly following their progress. The post is too long so I will only briefly mention mold, it is everywhere! Well not quite but as a result of the rainy season a number of ALTs have been discovering mold in their houses! I myself found some on my leather belts so I have been running the aircon 24/7 to dry out my house. Also my running shirt has mould spots that are still their after numerous washings, a little unpleasant, I will try beach next.
PS. Had a good Taiko (Japanese drumming) practice yesterday, I have numerous blisters on my hands, as Yoshiaki-san said, NICE!

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!