The sun sets on Japan (for me anyway)

Sorry couldn't decide which picture I liked the best.

I apologise for the lack of posting. I am back in Scotland now (and it has been very good to be home) however I leave TODAY for Glasgow. I am taking the bus down today and meeting Kelly tomorrow at 8.30am at Glasgow airport. Assuming no delays etc of course. So, now to bring you up to date, my last two weeks in Okinawa were a manic, crazy blur to say the least. Every night there was some sort of welcome or farewell party, not one evening passed without at least a little alcohol passing my lips. My exit from the island was equally dramatic. My flight to Tokyo was on the Saturday. My final farewell party was on the Friday. I however had to go in to Nago (on the main Island) to cancel my cell phone and appoint my Tax representative. So I took the first ferry in and the last ferry back to Izena. I arrive back in Izena at 4.30pm to find my supervisor in a frantic mood. Obviously panicking he tells us the ferry will be cancelled tomorrow (due to bad weather) and that we had to take the 5pm (special ferry) back to the mainland! Great! 30min to cancel my bank account and get all my bags on the ferry. Luckily I was mostly packed and what was left I threw in a plastic bag. I made it. Saturday had yet more drama in store for me. A VERY heavy monsoon hit, water was shooting up several feet from drains and were the road dipped water was so deep when one drove threw it water flowed over the windshield. I had to pick up my bike from Yasmine's house, so I instructed my supervisor to get off the expressway in order to do that. He was pretty angry about that for some reason even though he had agreed to do that days before. Anyway we get it and he is raging because now we will arrive later at the airport. It turned out to be a good thing as about 30min after we left the expressway to get the bike the expressway was closed does to the water and cars were bumper-to-bumper trying to get off. We may very likely have not made it in time if we had stayed on the expressway. Well, we got there in time, my very much excessive baggage was accepted without a batted eye lid (much to my relief) and I was relieved to be on the plane. I am sad I missed my final party, but at that point getting home was number one priority! The last hurdle was getting my bags on the BA flight in Tokyo. I was one check in over the limit (not to mention the weight) and two carry ons over the limit (not to mention the sizes). First she told me I had to pay 120 pounds for the extra check in and there was no way I could have the extra two carry ons. I was a little worried as I only had 1000 yen in my wallet (about a fiver). In the end I bull sh*tted and told her I had checked the BA website and it had said one could have one carry on bag, one suit bag and one laptop bag. To be fair these were the rules when I flew BA to Japan two years ago! Anyway she apparently bought it with the caveat that she could not guarantee I could take all those bags on my connecting UK flight, as I got all my boarding passes in Tokyo and didn’t have to go through check in again I happily agreed! After that everything went well and the flight was quite enjoyable. I have been walking the dog twice a day, helping my dad put insulation in the kitchen wall and doing a little running and unpacking since I have been back. I shall try and at least post some pictures of my travels as I go, so please check my blog every so often!

Craig

I have had two farewell parties so far, not including the ALT party which rocked socks btw (until 6.30 am in the morning and involving much nudity and bared bums – brilliant!). The first was with my Junior High School teachers in the evening of the day of my leaving ceremony there. I hadn’t actually prepared a speech as I was not sure what to say, I had written some things down but then decided to wing it. I never felt particularly affectionate of my JHS teachers to be perfectly honest (except two both of whom left this May – boohoo!). Yes that is right all the sh*t comes out now that I am leaving! I devoted myself and my time to the pupils but when it came to the teachers I would forgo their parties and meetings and the like or at least leave at the first possible opportunity. I preferred to involve myself in island life, in which my teachers were often not involved. That and my incurable habit of taking days off I perhaps (or definitely) should not have, so I didn’t want to get to close to them incase they started asking questions. Yes, yes, I was far from a model employee but like I said I was there for the pupils not the teachers. Anyway the party rolled around and I was awfully surprised by what the teachers said about me. The English teacher and the teacher I taught the special needs kids with both praised me on always having good lessons plans and innovative ideas for games etc. Other teachers also came to thank me for making English fun for the kids etc. It was all very nice but I was never going to cry because I had done that already and that was for the kids not the teachers. It was however nice to know the kids like the way I taught English, on their thank you cards to me the messages I like best were along the lines of ‘your lessons always interesting, I like English now, I can speak English, Thank you Kureigu Teacha,’ although my favourite was from Kodai, the brother of my favourite student last year who said simply ‘we are friends forever.’ Ok enough of the horrid self congratulatory stuff it is making me queasy. In my speech I ended up just talking about how I had changed in Japan and what Japan has given me. It is true I didn’t like children before coming to Japan, now I do. It is true I wasn’t into endurance sports before Japan (weights only please!), not I do. Also I appreciate healthy food now, I was fond of fry ups back home. Other things which I did not know how to say in Japanese are that I have an appreciation of the importance/benefits of (local) community. Something we are loosing in the West, maybe. Also I have discovered internal motivation (mostly by training for the triathlon and then studying by myself for the grad diploma I am doing), before I think most of my motivation came from external sources; deadlines, the need to pass exams etc. I had the habit of doing just enough to pass or get the grade I wanted in exams and no more. Was I afraid of trying my best and therefore revealing my limitations? Well to be fair in my final year of Uni I went all out. My 21st birthday was only 2 days before an exam (a dam important exam) so I locked myself in my room and studied, not even accepted visitors. Yeah….
Anyway back to the party, I gave my speech and then was presented with a traditional Okinawan piece of clothing the name of which has escaped my mind which bore the kanji for ‘Umin chu’ meaning ‘sea person’. It is a fairly ubiquitous brand of tourist apparel in Okinawa. I was very happy with it though! After the party was karaoke with the younger male teachers and boy did we rock out! It was all high energy stuff; much enthusiastic kampai-ing (cheers-ing), jumping on the chairs and screaming out hearts out. My voice was instantly croak as the previous night has seen a pretty heavy karaoke sesh too. We stopped when a couple of teachers passed out, one of whom we had to carry home. Good times.
At the moment I am working (in the loosest sense of the word) at the Board of Education. The guys here are a bit old and self important but nice chaps. I saved their bacon by finding out that the new ALT is not arriving on the 8th as they though but on the 1st of August. So me agreeing to stay later was rather in vain but that is ok, another week in Okinawa is no bad thing.
That is by the by though. Time to talk about my character flaw(s)! Last night was the primary (elementary) school end of term / goodbye party. Now I should mention that most, or probably all of the ALTs seem to be getting presents from their schools when they leave, maybe, actually maybe I am just assuming that, but a certain person I know is getting HEAPs of presents. So I was (greedily?) expecting something from this party. You see unlike the JHS teachers I have always got on well with the elementary school teachers, they have been nice to me and I have been nice to them. Also unlike the JHS where I don’t think I ever felt I got a lesson down perfectly (except for my English conversation club but the aim of the game there was fun rather than serious English learning) I felt most weeks that I hit the nail on the head. I have a sneaky suspicion you could do almost anything at the elementary school, make faces at the kid for 45 minutes, and they would love it! But I felt my lessons were good.
So.. where was I, ah yes! Well the party (actually a barbeque) was perfect. The perfect Okinawan party, at the beach; lovely weather, beautiful sunset, great food and cold beer (Orion of course). And children playing in the water to complete the scene. Later we had speeches and played some party games which were great fun. It couldn’t have been a better night, kocho sensei said nice things about me in his closing speech and then it was time to pack up and go home. And I react (internally only! I didn’t let it show!) like a horrible spoilt child. To my shame today I was quite upset about not getting a present which is horrible and materialistic and know. My only consolation is that I didn’t let it show. Like I said we (I and the teachers) have always got on great, they would always come to speak to me and give me candy (way to anyones heart). They invited me to their field trips, parties, barbeques and to dinner parties at their houses. The Vice-principle has his endearing habit of giving me fresh laid eggs from the school hens, on my last day they all applauded as I left and the head master gave me a hearty hug. So I had all that, which surely means more than a present, which is just a thing. So why was I such a materialistic wretch and acting like a spoilt child! Meh, well there we go. I suppose we all (I hope it is not just me) have feelings and impulses we know are wrong and we can choose not to act on them. It is something uniquely human to not act purely on the basis of our feelings? Actually I don’t think so but it is probably quite special in the animal kingdom. Here is to higher brain functions! Hip Hip!
Sorry for two such a long post in quick succession! I promise a post of just pictures next but I need to pop back to the JHS to do that. Until next time!
Until next time!

Well. My friends started their long flight across Russia today, seriously how big does one country have to be? It has been an intense past couple of weeks, in a good way but with a dose of sadness. It was great having two friends from home to spend some of my last weeks on the island with. Going out kayaking or exploring uninhabited islands would not be the same alone. Also as one would expect with my return to the UK drawing close there has been much in the way of goodbyes and such like. First up was the elementary school, two weeks ago. On my final day I had the 4,5,6th grade classes and in a similar vein to the previous week when I had the final 1,2,3rd grade classes I went all out for an action packed lesson. There was much running, screaming, sweating and a little crying – that is to say Craig’s lessons at their best. The classes went well and each class presented me with a card (as they had done last week) but it was all a little too much for Richard and Gav and they had to retire at lunch time. I had promised the 1,2,3rd grades that I would play with them during their lunch break should they desire. About 30 or so of them turned up so it was pretty intense, there also being no teacher there to help me. We played the Nemo game and then when it all broke down into chaos towards the end I threw and swung kids with all my might, several times I was brought down to my knees by the sheer weight of kids climbing on me. Seriously, who needs weights when you throw around kids for a living? By the end I could not have lifted the lightest child if my life had depended on it. A couple of kids brought me gifts they had made themselves which was quite touching, most were in the form of paper cranes, one girl gave me a whole bag stuffed with them! Happily I had another lesson with my kindergarten kids the next week so I didn’t have to say goodbye to them just yet. Now if I remember correctly the following weekend a typhoon hit, it was the first real typhoon I had experienced as none of the typhoons last year hit Okinawa directly. It was actually quite fun, I and my guests stocked up on food (and beer) and bunkered down for the storm. Just FWI typhoon plus cape plus snorkel plus video camera equals FUN! My final yochien lesson the following week went well too, it turned into a marathon one hour lesson when then kids started requesting games we had done ages ago, I wasn’t going to deny them on our final lesson! Then they had a little goodbye ‘party’ for me and gave me some cute gifts they had made and finally we had a group picture. The kids were terrible during the photo taking; prodding and pinching me and even biting my fingernails!! Where they mad I was leaving? Anyway I made my escape (it felt like escape at that point) and then I, Richard and Gav had a fisherman give us a ride to Gushikawa jima (an uninhabited island). I have been there before and knew what to expect, and what to expect is pretty awesome. In one patch between Gushiwaya and the neighbouring island of Iheya the sea is the most amazing colours (due to strangly stable, winding banks of brilliant white sand just below the surface). After snorkeling and the like I left the boys to attempt an exploration of the interior, it was pretty intense due to there being giant orb spiders (some at least 15cm across with their legs bent naturally – NO exaggeration) everywhere, there webs can me as big as 1.5 to 2 metres across. I found the best technique to be to wave two sticks in front of me as I pushed and ducked through the trees. Even so I had some close calls! There was a surprising amount of open space inside and for a tiny island a fair variety of environments; from dry conifer forest to stifling jungle to areas covered in bamboo or elephant grass. I came across piles of stones I assume are the remains of the houses of the now absent inhabitants and I also found some archeological sites. Last year I met some archeologists who told me they were going to gushikawa to poke around in some 3000 odd year old remains. I assume anyway that it was they who left the blue tarps covering random areas, mostly at the bottom of cliffs. I must admit after almost an hour inside I was getting a little claustrophobic and jumpy! It was a relief to make it out! That night we drank with Yoshiaki san and friends and introduced them to the delights of (quarter cask) lauphraugh (a rather potent Islay malt), the previous night be had introduced Kamiyama san to it. To our pleasant surprise they liked it, we found out that after the war for ten years or so whisky was the drink of choice in Okinawa, so many men today grew up drinking it, it was only in the late 50’s that awamori became prominent. The following day was my final day at school. My final lessons went well and I still didn’t feel emotional, so far so good I thought. I wrote my speech and had my JTE check it. Every night of the previous week I had meant to write it but I never had a moments rest to do it. We had the whole closing ceremony and then it was the say goodbye to Kureigu ceremony, OK feeling a flutter of emotion now. I sit on a chair on the stage while first the headmaster and then a pupil give a speech about me, then I am presented with flowers and cards by the kids. Next up is yours truly and my speech. I start off strongly, in fact I do the whole thing in a pretty good voice but a definate tremor appears towards the end. I then exit to the sounds of pinkity plonkity music while the students clap. There is some amusement, for which I am grateful, when I completely don’t get which way I am supposed to walk out. By the time I make it back to the teacher’s room tears are flowing, as is my noise quite embarrassingly. I would like you to note it was manly crying, that is to say no noise just liquid excretions. A favourite studens comes to talk to me in the staff room but I am not up to much conversation, I soldier through my last school lunch (the very Japanese meal of a … burger!) before gathering my things and making an exit.
Once on the road I immediately feel better as I was on my way to go kayaking with two of my oldest friends, Richard and Gavin! At that moment life was good! I must admit that picking up my final paycheck along the way helped too ;). It did definitely help having my buddies there, going home to an empty house would perhaps have been quite depressing.
I feel this post is quite long enough, there followed after that my teachers party and the finally big JET party on the main island both of which were splendid fun and of course bittersweet as it was the last time I would see many of the fantastic folks I have had the much appreciated opportunity to meet here. I also haven’t writing about the music festivals we went to either! Expect another blog shortly, this time with pictures!
OK back to trying to get my affairs in order before I leave this country!

Well that's school over. I have just had the closing ceremony and my farewell ceremony. I would be lying if I said I wasn't sad. I didn't expect to be so affected but there we go, they were a good bunch of kids I will miss them.

I am alive and well and sometimes kicking. I am aware I have not posted for a wee while but I have to large and active Scots to look after, that and the typhoon have taken up my time. I will post about our misadventures and misdemeanour's and misnomers all in good time. For now rest in the comforting knowledge that we not only survived the typhoon that struck us this weekend just past but actually had a jolly good time doing so! I have never been so glad I own a cape until the typhoon struck. I will likely post next week. Oh it is my last weekend of classes this week, I had my last day at the primary school last week, it was an epic day of the like I will likely never see again. More later...skater.

Evening all...Mr. Crab the crabby crab.

Hello Mr.Grasshopper pretending to be a leaf! It is cunning
Me with my story contest kid and another student and a couple of ex-students.
The happy recipients of Juhi yum dinner.
A mud slug! I found a bunch of these slugs living along side the hermit crabs and mud skippers in the mangrove mud. What a GREAT animal!

What an awesome sky ne! I like clouds in general.
A lizard.
A startled Frog.
A little grasshopper pretending to be a piece of moss, what a life!
Jumping in to water! Enormous fun!

Living as a foreigner in Japan, is for me at least, characterized by constantly swinging from I love living here to I can’t stand it! The past week has been an ‘I love it here’ week. All my classes went well, people where nice to me etc. etc. It is often little things. For example when I went into the lunchroom on Monday a teacher told me ‘go and sit beside kochosensei’ which I did. Then I noticed that I, Kocho and Kyoto sensei (that is the head and vice head) were the only ones with Zansai (which I really like) as desert. Awww I thought how nice! It turned out it was just a shortage of bowls and when more where found everyone got some but still, it was nice. My English conversation class was good. My shodou class was good, I have agreed to cook them cottage pie when my friends come here. I had an amusing glass fight with some elementary kids when I was out running. On the way home from said grass fight I saw some of my junior highschool kids with some kittens. I stopped to chat and while doing so was motioned over by a group men who were drinking in the yard. As far as I can tell, a typical day for an Izena fisher man is as such: wake up early and out to see by 6am to 7am; fish until around 5pm with a bento break for lunch; then gather together in groups of 5 to ten and immediately start drinking; drink until it is time for sleep, rinse and repeat (the rinsing is optional). They do not take weekends off. Before you make a judgment I want to point out that there are many who would think being able to drink every night with ones buddies as the greatest thing. Anyway I joined them but told them I had to go soon as I had a teacher party that night, which was true. I decided that just one beer would be fine and then I would be on my way but as I finished said beer a glass of awamori magically appeared in front of me and so I decided to extend the deadline to after the glass of awamori. Those of you familiar with Japanese drink pouring etiquette will know that an empty glass is a rare thing indeed. My fate was sealed when after noticed some large saizai shells in lying on the ground I asked about them (how deep they could be found etc.) a few minutes later the wife of the host presented me with a cleaned and polished one. I was delighted! I had noticed these giant sazais in restaurants as decoration and secretly coveted them. I was duly thankful and decided that out of politeness I should stay longer, I was already late for the teacher party anyway. So that was my first acquisition of the night. You remember the kittens? Well the host kept offering me one and I cheerfully refused. However by the time came that I decided to leave my judgment may have been impaired. I stood up to leave and make my excuses but make the mistake of looking down. There was a kitten at my feet looking up at me, reason left me and I asked if I could, after all, take it. As I walked home I started to regret that decision not least because I then remembered I am allergic to cats. I was not leaving at this point to go the teacher’s party (long finished) but to meet a friend of mine to get my keyboard back so that I could perhaps sell it at the ALT leaving party that weekend. So sneezing merrily away I got home, deposited the cat in my little front room with some water and shellfish and set out to meet my friend. I walked the long way round to the yagai stage where I thought I was meeting him so as not to walk past the same party but turns out to have been a bad move as that wasn’t the place I was supposed to have met him. The place I was supposed to meet him was at the community centre just a few doors down from the party I had just left, so I trudged back up there. When I got there everyone from the pervious party was now there! Sigh... Well I drank more but didn’t get my keyboard as it was at a local izekaiya which had long closed (it has been used there by some of my students who had made a band). I got even more drunk before making it home, thankfully somebody gave me a lift. I don’t remember anything else that night. As I woke up on Friday morning I became aware of a meowing it took me a few puzzled moments before I remembered the cat. ‘Oh dear’ I though. I gave it more water and food and managed to get ready for school while petting the cat. It was a very friendly little cat! I was still sneezing and my right eye had swollen up a little bit, yes! I was still regretting taking it! It hadn’t pooped yet so I left the outside door open a little so that it would hopefully go out to do its business. It wasn’t a tiny kitten, it was just about the size of its mother but not filled out yet, however still a little lanky and definitely kitten like. So I thought that it would be able to handle itself going outside, especially as it had seemed to be an outdoor cat at its previous home. After school I came back and to my relief the cat was still there, boy was it happy to see me. I had trouble getting ready to catch the ferry as it kept jumping in bag or in my clothes drawers when I was trying to find matching socks and even trying to climb up my t-shirt! I eventually got ready, left it more food and water and snuck out the back door so it wouldn’t follow me. Now I started writing this post ages ago(last week), I think that weekend was the ‘official’ farewell party for the leaving JETs and it was pretty fun. Mainly due to the determined efforts by the 2^nd and 3^rd (and older) year JETs to lower the tone. A job successfully done I feel. I also visited a steller little water fall and pool in the jungle with a big ol’rope swing. Much fun and I was also a happy little muggle snapping pics of the bugs, lizards and amphibians I and Kelly spotted on the trail down to the pool.

Well anyway when I got back to Izena my cat (named Poopee by my Kids) was gone! I felt pretty bad for the following days, I left my door open and would wonder around calling Poopee Poopee, probably to the consternation of my neighbours. It turned out fine as one of the kids of a neighbouring house had taken it in so that made me feel better. I went and petted it to make sure it was Poopee and then left, they will hopefully take better care of it than me! While I was feeling bad I realized that being an atheist robs me off an easy way to assuage my guilt. I had done a thoughtless, callous thing and there was no way to rectify it. If I believed in a God I could repent and pray/beg for forgiveness and hope I get it. At least the repenting to a higher power would ease my conscience. And if I believed in Karma then receiving the bad Karma that would result from my bad deed would sort of balance out the bad deed. At least that is how I see it, the resulting bad Karma is like punishment, so when you have received the punishment you have a moral clean slate again, otherwise what is the point in the punishment? Anyway I was happy that it was taken in. The cat had followed the little girl to school (where I saw it) and the mother came to collect in and took it off in a box. So I think they are a nice family.

So anyway since then I have had another good night on Izena with my rugby loving friend Chuu. We watched New Zealand vs. South Africa and Scotland vs. France. After I told them about my future plans they talked amongst themselves and I was interested to here they thought it a little odd that us westerners go and get education for ourselves. As in we see it as something advantageous for us to get (I think that is what they meant). I think in Japan they just get the minimum education needed to get their desired job. This would make sense in a country were promotions and career advancement is mainly down to seniority and not talent or qualifications. I think anyway. It can’t be the case for all of them?!

I am excited to go see some rugby in Murrayfield (Scottish national stadium), hopefully I can catch the Scotland vs. South Africa game there with Kelly this August! I am a little worried about the future of Scottish rugby, I think the current team has potential but there are only two professional teams in Scotland now and the public support is just not there. It is all those horrible football (soccer) fans corrupting our youth!

I entered a English language story contest with one of my students this Saturday and then afterwards Juhi cooked I and the other story contest ALTs a wunderbar Indian dinner and after that settled in our appreciative stomachs we went off to burn off our calories by singing out little hearts out. Ah Karaoke I shall miss you!

My friends Richard and Gavin arrive in Okinawa this Wednesday and I shall go to meet them on Thursday (I don’t want to miss my 2^nd last day at the Elementary school you see). I am looking forward to a couple of weeks of good natured Scottish fun! Scottish fun is always well intentioned, unfortunately something also inevitable always goes wrong, such if life! You have been warned!

Food! We all eat it!I have meant to post pics of the school lunches (給食, the same work kyuushoku, can also mean 'leave of absence' and 'job hunting' but with different kanji, apparently...) because I eat them 5 out of 7 days a week and I really like them. This is a picture of yesterdays lunch and it consisted of: rice with red beans, miso soup with veggies and mushrooms etc, fried tofu, pork, seaweed (kombu) and a rolled up pancake for desert.

On the ball with the food theme I cooked cottage pie with my English club last night (the pic is of me with my 1st year class). It worked well and the kids had fun and more importantly like the food. I only ate a tiny bit but it was great to taste British food again. I can't wait for my mum's roasts! The first year class is mostly girls and it went smoothly all the kids paying attention as I told them the various new cooking vocab as they cooked. The next class (2nd and 3rd years) was a constant battle. They are mostly boys and while they wanted to eat they did not want to cook let alone do the dishes. But I wasn't having the few girls do all the work so I had to bodily drag them over the the sink and use various means to cajole them into cooking and cleaning. When they discovered a bottle of awamori (local firewater) in the cupboard that added a twist to the class. After that class I treated myself to a cold beer from the fridge, I deserved it.

The next type of Japanese meal I shall showcase is Bento. This is a boxed lunch as you can see.
This example of a bento is the one you can buy on my island. Many of the labourers and fisher men eat them as they are cheap and convenient and pretty tasty. The one on my island is pretty basic, one gets allot more variety on the mainland. I get the impression it is also a pretty important skill for Japanese mums to be able to make really cute bentos for their kids (for school picnics etc.) with vegetables cut into animals shapes and things like that. I think the contents of this one are fairly obvious. Note the pickled plum (umeboshi) in the middle of the rice to look like the Japanese flag, cute.....or not. The green stuff in the top right corner is goya, a bitter gourd, which is a very okinawan veg. but has gained popularity throughout Japan. It is very bitter but very good none the less! I plan to take some seeds back with me ;).
And now it is time for todays kyuushoku! Yeah!

Cherio!

Evening all. I hope you are all well fed and feeling perky.

I don’t have an awful lot to write, this will just be a quick update. Biggest news, I am a licensed submariner now. Yes that’s right I, Kelly, Yas and Alice all successfully completed the padi openwater scuba diving course under the watchful eye of Diving Dave. It was pretty good fun, quite a relaxing activity even, well relaxing in as much as anything can be relaxing when you are constantly coming in close proximity with colourful and weirdly formed creature which may or may not be deadly and of course the fact that your life depends on some evidently much used scuba gear rented from some slightly unhinged looking Japanese chaps. Luckily the one of the pipes (on one of the girls scuba units) exploded when we were on land not under the ocean. At the time it didn’t unduly perturb us but in hindsight, THAT’S KINDA WORRYING! Anyway, the main thing is we survived. Kelly was the star of the day, persevering with a set of ears which were determined not to equalize. She had to abandon our second dive of the day after a long but unsuccessful battle to equalize her ears. If perhaps you don’t know, if you descend just a few meters your ears with get very, very painful due to the water pressure on them. To counter this one must blow through ones sinuses to apply equal air pressure from the inside of your ear, this is equalizing. Sometimes for a raft of reasons it may not work. Well, the story ended happily as Kelly bravely sallied forth again and this time got the better of her uncooperative lugs. The wealth of the underwater environment in Okinawa never ceases to amaze me, it is just jam packed with weird and wonderful life. In fact the ocean in general is. It is still true we know more about the surface of the moon and even Mars than the ocean floor. The discovery of black smokers is one example of how life under the ocean is more diverse and exotic than we thought life could possibly be! The black smokers support an ecosystem entirely independent of the sun btw (based on chemosynthesis instead) and at temperatures of around 400 degrees Celsius and pH as low as 2.8 to boot! We are all mostly aware of the biological diversity and importance or shallow water coral (ie. what we see scuba diving and the great barrier reef for instance) but the majority of corals are found in deep cold water. It seems these are at least just as biologically diverse and important however due to the expense and limited equipment available to study these ecosystems we know little about them. What is worse is they are being destroyed at a sickening pace by the prevalence of commercial bottom trawling. Huge weighted nets are dragged over the sea floor obliterating any coral or sponge growth in their path. To make things worse it appears that these corals and sponges grow and repair themselves very slowly, perhaps living for centuries. Progress does seem to be being made though, although international water are almost entirely without protection.

http://www.mcbi.org/what/dscstatement.htm

http://www.oceana.org/north-america/what-we-do/stop-destructive-trawling/deep-sea-corals/

In a related matter the recent capture of an intact and complete colossal (as opposed to giant) squid was not as a result of intrepid scientists who had finally obtained one of these elusive animals but rather a sign of how commercial fishing is plundering new ecosystems (having exhausted shallower ones) deeper and deeper in the ocean.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6385071.stm

How that I no longer have to study I have been reading for pleasure again. I have just finished ‘the loved ones’ by Evelyn Waugh and ‘the crow road’ by Iain Banks (Scottish author whom I highly recommend, he also write brilliantly imaginative science fiction under the name Iain M Banks). What an unlikely looking couple! Andy was in town hence the jump suit.
My better shoudou offerings from this wednesday.
The top one means water and the lower one means heaven/air/sky.
One is a frigid bird.........the other is a penguin - HAH!

This last picture is a poster I saw in a train station in Tokyo. Miss Diaze (however it's spelt) is pretty big in Japan as of now, with several TV adverts and at least one HUGE (side of a building covering) poster in Akihabara. Apologies for the lame tag line, and 'bird' is the British-slang meaning which is a woman (like Americans would say chick).

The Indians have come! Or rather came and left again.
I have put the pictures up in the wrong order sorry but I cannae be bo'ered deining it again.
So here are the Indians in Nakijin resplendent in their full regalia.
The deadly sword fighters face off, these fellows were fan-taby-dosy!
One of the 4 (?) classic dances of India, this being the Mulipur one.
I with my lower lever english conversation club, just a random pic.
The drummers performing their high energy routine at Izena primary school.
The sword fighters in action!

What an unexpectedly eventful week on Izena! First the Kobe homestayers and then a troupe of Indians, both of which my Junoir High was completely unaware of and uninvolved in. I had planned to write about Cameron Diaze, the industrious nature of the Japanese and my anarchistic world view. However the Indians came.

I am going to give as objective an account of the events as I can manage so don’t be too harsh on the Okinawans. Remember this place, Okinawa, and especially Izena are amongst the most remote and rural in all of Japan. The are some such places in the USA and UK that I would be disinclined to send the Indians to for fear they may face something considerably worse than mere non-malicious cultural blunders.

Right, well, disclaimer aside on with the tale. The first I heard of the Indians was when the Kyotosensei of the primary school told me that some Indians were coming to the school that day at 2pm. I was a little surprised. He also gave me an egg that day, from one of the school hens. However the previous week he had given me two eggs, had I only put in a one egg performance that day? Maybe I am reading too much into it, I would hate to think that up to then I had not even been achieving even one eggs worth! Either way, a country where one gets eggs randomly given to you is a good one.

So! Back to the Indians, I am not sure what I was expecting but what ensued blew me away! There were about 15 or so Indians and their performances where stupendous! First a high energy drum performance, followed by an even more high energy and blindingly fast sword kata/dance. It was two chaps with bucklers and swords against a sole fighter wielding dual swords. The strokes and parries came so incredibly fast it was almost just a blur of action, I was amazed they didn’t hurt each other. The martial art is called Malipur Thaing Ta I think. Needless to say my children were also blown away. Then an Indian woman performed a beautiful solo dance and as the grand finale all the Indians started dancing. Then they invited (grabbed) the students to join the dance and then everyone. In a few minutes everyone was dancing in a number of big circles. I think the dance was supposed to form one large circle but there were too many people and it was kind of messy for a while before it formed into 3 or 4 concentric rings, one within the other (is that what concentric means?). I was in the centre ring and it was pretty cool. Afterwards my children were quite evidently hugely impressed and were trying to emulate some of the drumming and sword fighting moves. I hung around to speak to the Indians after all the students had been herded off, of course they spoke perfect English and we chatted for a while until their bus came and they had to go.

As I was walking to the shop I was passed by Yoshiaki and a car load of Indians, “My house, party!” he shouts. Alright I think. But first I shop and go for a run so I rock up late. In fact I was relaxing in the cooling breeze of my air-con when I get a ‘haiaku kite!’ email from Yoshi, mmm they really want me to come.

When I arrive I first wonder where the Indians are for around the table in the garden are a few Japanese and a noticeable lack of Indians. I sit down and receive my awamori. I am disappointed by the apparent lack of any food, usually parties have food! I hadn’t had dinner! There is some small talk and then I ask, so…..where are the Indians. Yoshiaki makes a face, “cards,” he says and motions to his house. Ahhhh, I remember how many Indians do not drink alcohol. I mention this to Yoshiaki and he makes a pained, exasperated expression. At this point two of the Indian women appear, Yoshiaki san motions for me to call them over. I hesitate because I remember from the reading up I did for my trip to India that it is commonly not considered appropriate for a woman to talk to strange men. But I yield and call them over, they come and sit down and my fears are confirmed when the first thing she asks me is, “are you a bachelor?”

I groan inwardly and tell her no but I have a girlfriend! She then tells me “I have a baby.”

'Great' I think, but after that they don’t seem to mind talking to a strange man and are perfectly polite and nice. They call over the other Indians and soon they are all sitting outside too. Yatta (woohoo!) I think. However it is apparent there no communication going on between the Japanese and Indians, none of the Japanese present spoke much English and the Indians did not speak any Japanese. I am happily talking to the drummers when an older lady comes out and sits next to me. She is introduced as the group leader so I give her a combined bow and namashite (or rather my approximation of the Indian greeting) and we chat. She has been going on cultural exchange trips like these for a number of years, her first trip was in 1984 to germany, one year after I was born! Ah I forgot to mention, this year is a friendship year between Japan and India, hense all these shinangegens this troupe is one of many and they have been travelling Japan for a month now and have a further month to go! At this point several members of the BOE (board of education) appear including none other than the boss and vice boss. The vice boss is carrying a large box of beer on his shoulder. He gestures at it and says “Beer?!” to an Indian woman, she wrinkles her noise, he is momentarily perturbed before realizing she quite obviously disdains beer in favour of stronger alcohol, “ahhh Sake!” he proclaims with a smile. After an exchange of worried glances three of the Indian men accept beers, over the course of the night two do not open their beers and one does but does not drink from it. I ask them if it is perhaps not common to drink alcohol in India, they assure me that some people do, so I tell them EVERYONE here does. They accept this with much aahhhhhh-ing and head nodding. So I continue to chat with them as the their hosts make a few more blunders. I was quite disappointed in some aspects of their behaviour as one of the things I particularly like about Japan is the high level of courtesy. I really appreciate that people are more often than not looking out for each other so as not to inconvenience or embarrass each other here. However perhaps it only really works if they are all reading from the same page. The only effort the BOE staff made to speak to the Indians was during their speeches. Blunder number one: none other than the head of the BOE simply takes out his phone and takes a picture of the Indians without asking permission in any shape or form. He, sitting only a meter or two away, without a word, and without any attempt at communication (even a gesture or eye contact) simple aims his phone straight at the Indians and take a picture. To make it worse he takes his good time and the poor Indians just sit there rigidly, not knowing how to react. If the Okinawans had any sense of how uncomfortable this was making the Indians feel they don’t let on. Then! The head of the BOE half stands out of his seat and leans forward to get a closer picture of the Indians further away, still the camera cant be much more than a meter from their faces. Whether this is not rude in Japan, or whether he was too scared to ask permission I don’t know. He then just sits down without acknowledging the Indians and chats to the Japanese around him, still apparently completely ignoring the Indians. Not much later three more Indian women arrive, an Indian man explains that they have been making food (being vegetarians I think they found it easier to make their own food). This is translated to the Japanese who then eagerly ask “can you cook us some Indian food!”

The Indians politely agree and apologize as there won’t be very much. The Japanese graciously accept this. Soon the food is brought out and boy is it spicy! I forget what it is called but it is essentially chilly mooshed up with potato. It came as a side to some rice and Dahl. Later the Indians tell me the super spicy food was hotter than currys and something they eat when they want something extra spicy, where they getting a little revenge on the Okinawans? Next the emboldened Okinawans ask the Indians to do some performances, so we are treated to another incredible sword dance and several songs. The singer has a beautiful voice and it was pretty special. The Indians ask the favour to be returned and after a period a sanshin is produced. I get the feeling the Okinawans are a little shy and perhaps overawed, as the singing was a little lackluster and not up to their usual standard. One song is sung and then the Indians ask for “iiya sasa please!” So Yoshi starts belting out the Orion beer song. Now this is a song to dance to. The vice head of the BOE motions me to dance but I tell him no I am shy, I expect them to start dancing soon as they often do to this song. But nothing happens. I see that the Indians are literally squirming in their seats with a barely suppressed desire to dance. So I pop up and begin doing the Okinawan dance (kajashi?), all the Indians immediately join in and try to copy the dance. Still the Japanese won’t join in, so I eventually grab Kamiyama and pull him up and he in turn drags up one of the PTE members. 'Yes!' I think, 'now we are cooking!' But no, after a short while the two Okinawans retire and it is left to me and the Indians to dance out the song, which we do with verve and pip. I can’t help thinking that it is a bit funny that only the Indians guests and a resident foreigner are the only ones willing to do dance an Okinawan dance to Okinawan music. Meh. Like I said they were probably shy they usually dance. I count that as a blunder by the way. So you remember the hosts requesting the guests food? That was around 10pm and I should point out that there was not very much and none of the Indians ate. At something past 11 the leader of the troupe asks me if it is alright if they go and eat dinner? I suddenly dawns on me that we (I was guilty too) just ate their dinner and then let them sit their politely for over an hour with their stomachs undoubtedly rumbling. Naturally I told them “yes, go!” without consulting the Japanese. To help understand this you need to know that here in Japan, or at least Okinawa, it is not required to excuse oneself. People just come and go from parties or dinners, often for extended period of time. The okinawans probably just assumed if the Indians were hungry they would have gone and eaten. However I can’t help feeling it was a gross breach of hospitality. The sword fighters returned and I chatted with them for a little while longer, their English was not so great but certainly good enough to communicate. I discovered from them that not surprisingly the Indian education system closely mirrors the British and that in Malipur (the region these Indians herald from) all schooling, from kindergarten onwards, was done wholly in English! I was getting tired so I told them I was off to get some shut-eye and advised them to do the same if they were tired. Which they were unsurprisingly as they have been performing every single day of their trip so far! They immediately agreed and left with me. Goodness knows, they might have stayed up out of politeness to their Japanese hosts if I had not been rude enough to bale out of the party early. Part of the behaviour of the hosts I think can be explained by A- the low uncertainty tolerance of this culture and B- the hosts were all older prominent men of the community. Who are all haughty and very attentive to their face saving. They were probably too scared to try out their English on the Indians or engage them in any way that might lead to an unpredictable situation that might result in embarrassment or loss of face. That is my take anyway.

Luckily I have the luxury of not giving two hoots about my face and quite enjoying unpredictable circumstances. Ah yes, the wife of the PTE head did come and try to talk to the Indians and between my Japanese and her English we managed quite well. The Indians, I think, appreciated her efforts.

So the scene was set for stage two. The Indians told me they were going to be performing in Nakijin the following day so as I would be going to Okinawa Honto too I was quite keen to see them again, especially as they would be doing their full show as opposed to the half show they did on Izena. Actually I must admit I was also keep to cycle down to Okinawa city which would have meant missing the show but Kelly was also keen to see them so I was persuaded to cycle around up north (near nakijin) and meet Kelly up there. Good call Kelly!

I shared the same ferry ride with the Indians to the big island. When they first saw me in my lycra cycling get up I think they were a big shocked, these was definitely some hard, verging on staring, looking but they soon relaxed. They were very cute and wanted lots of pics with me. I must admit here I am rather fold of the way Indians use English, one of my favourites from the ferry ride was;

“I vant to snap with you.” To which I readily replied “OK! Lets Snap!”

He of course mean; “I want to take a picture with you,” in bog standard boring old plain English.

My Bike ride was quite pleasant and I and Kelly picked up some pineapples and flowers as a gift for the Indians. Kelly (being attentive -unlike me- to that sort of thing) remembered how when we arrived in India there were lots and lots of flowers involved in our welcome ceremony. This whole episode brought back many memories of India, I am not still sure if I enjoyed myself there….but it was a wonderful experience if that makes sense. When asked by the Indians how I liked India I found I could not lie and just told them it was intense, that it had been wonderful but also the poor people made me sad - they seemed to accept this. I also realized that I didn’t really get to know let alone befriend any Indians on the trip so it was very nice, to say the least, to meet this group of Indians and to find them all charming and most agreeable. I have had Indian friends back home, but I always felt, perhaps unfairly, that they were different as they lived in a western country.

Well, as usual my blog entry is getting horrendously long, I appear to be unable to write with brevity and I apologize. If you have made it this far you are near the end! Promise! The performance at Nakijin was splendid with much fancier costumes and a few new acts including one of the 4(?) classic dances of India. It was quite neat to have Juhi (an Indian ALT) there to explain it all. After the Indians performed there were a number of Okinawan performances which apart from the eisa seemed somewhat….of course this is highly subjective - but they didn’t press any of my buttons. Perhaps my buttons were suffering from being overly pressed during the Indian music and dance? Two of the sword fighters came out and sat in the audience and I joined them, I think they felt the same about the music as when the eisa performers came out one commented “ah, this is more interesting.” The finale was the group dance and when the dancers came down from the stage to engage the audience they came straight to me, I felt honoured. Unfortunately my dancing skins were lacking and I had to be bumped down to number two in the line so the lead lady could lead the dance. Now here is the final event by which I was disappointed by the Okinawan conduct. Upto this point the audience had been very appreciative, apauding and cheering with wild abandon! (Kind-of). But when confronted with this group dance many of them baulked, in fact most of them did. Many sat with stony faces and tried to either ignore the dance (or perhaps they were just not impressed by it)? Well regardless, between the Indians and the ALTs and the Eisa dancers (who did eagerly join in – kids are always the best) there were enough dancers. After the dance one of the sword fighters embraced me and told me meeting me made him happy, I told him “me too,” and I meant it. Oh I forgot after the Indian dance we had one more blast of okinawan dancing. I and Kelly had time to present the flowers and pineapples to the group leader before they were ushered on stage for a group photo. Not being a fan of protracted goodbyes and assuming the najikin people would have organized some sort of party (with alcohol no doubt) I make my exit. I waved to the Indians on the stage and to my delight they all waved back, I gave a combined bow and namashite and off I went. It was good to say goodbye on high note I think and I have the leaders business card should I ever find myself in Malipur.

Well….I am done my exams. Now I feel I have mountains of free time! It is great, although it won’t last and I will be looking for something to do with myself. I think though spending more time at school and with my kids would be a good call. The week in Tokyo was fun, it is a great city. It’s huge that is for certain, around about 24-7 million people (I cant be bothered looking it up but something like that). But surprisingly, I being something of a country boy and big city hater, I liked it! It has a certain…tranquility or maybe harmony is a better word. It is always busy, the pavements are packed with people going to and fro, the roads are busy and the subway and rail systems are ALWAYS busy. So many people going about their business what can they all be doing! But it works like a well oiled machine and once you get into the groove, standing on the left of escalators if you are content just to stand on it, using the up or down stairs as appropriate to you directional needs or taking up as little space as possible on the train it is quite pleasant. I could definitely live in Tokyo, not that I will, at least I don’t think so. I stayed in a hostel in the quite area of Asakusu, I recommend it for those on a budget trip btw. There were lots of interesting traveling types there but of course I was nerding it out and didn’t have time to socialize. I did have a couple of interesting chats, one in particular with an Israeli chap. Must be quite an experience living in a country were such a large proportion of the population are liable to be called up for military service and in fact have seen action. I spent my time hopping from café to café around Tokyo, studying but being distracted by the wonderful people watching. I would study for an hour in a café and then give myself 30minutes to find the next café, in this manner I covered most of the city. My favourite places to people watch were Harijuku (crazy gothic type people) and Ginza (respectable classy type people). Each area of Tokyo has a really different feel and often the people’s appearance is very different too.

Here I am studying at the British Council, a quiet study friendly haven in the midst of the Hussle and Bustle of Tokyo.
But this picture better sums up how I spent my time in Tokyo, namely studying in Cafes, this was my favourite cafe in Ginza.
ON my first night I went out on and innocent stroll to find dinner and got caught up in a crowd taking part in a festival! It was ages before I managed to escape, it was quite the adventure!
A view of Senso-ji temple in asakusa during the festival.
Curse my slow camera reflexes, my pictures do not do justice to the weird and wonderful people I saw, but you can get an idea by what you can see of this girl.
Some dodgy looking Japanese boys trying to chat up some school girls, tut tut!
Here is what a cool Japanese couple look like, note the man is as dressed up as the girl and the high waist of the dress, very now in Japan. Their tans mark them out as shibuya peeps or just wanna be shibuya peeps I think.

I sat the exams at the British council, there were two other people sitting my first exam and only one other sitting my second exam. The British Council is an interesting place. It seems to be a veritable little British propaganda outfit. The lobby area is filled with colourful, funky seats and countless pamflits and booklets promoting the UK in different ways, mostly aimed at attracting people to study in the UK and attracting recent graduates to come and work in the UK. There were also racks of British magazines on British culture, music, fashion, you name it they had it! They even had a listening station where one could listen to a decent selection of current British music and even some audio books for children. Oh yes and there were plasma screens everywhere constantly showing the BBC world news. Anyway this aside they were very helpful and didn’t mind me studying there at all, they even offered to get me a private room to study in but I was fine in the lobby area, on top of that they had laptops available to anyone who desired to use them. If you want to know the BC is 2/3 minutes walk from Iidabashi station (sobu line) and it is a nice leafy area with a small river. The one thing that struck me about the area was A- a lot of British folks (not surprising) but also B- ALOT of mixed race (Japanese and white).

Another thing about Tokyo I liked was how much more adept at English they were and what especially pleased me was they would speak baby Japanese to me. So if they said something in polite Japanese and I gave a blank look they would repeat it in more basic Japanese, I LIKED that, I wish people would do that more here in Okinawa.

Mr Vuitton is clearly a fan of the school of though which believes pears to be THE panacea. The pears were all real btw.Here is what Ginza people look like, rather respectable and inoffensive desu ne. Just so you don't think all Tokyoites dress all crazy.
I wasn't the only people watcher!
French maid anyone? The picture below is of the enterance to a cos-play cafe. Where Japanese girls dress up as cute maid or even anime characters for the pleasure of the customer (mostly suit wearing Japanese men it seemed). I didn't go in as they had lots of signs prohibiting photographs but I got this sneaky one from the elevator, its not very good but you can see her frilly maid outfit! It is in Akihabara if you are interested...

I mostly resisted shopping in Tokyo, trying to save as I am but I did break towards the end of my trip. While in Ginza (still the shopping area with the greatest snob value but not the most shops by any means) I made the mistake of wandering through a big department store on a study break. Now let me explain, I have been giving some small thought to what I want to take from Japan with me. My list had been refined and distilled down to the following; a nice teapot, shodou equipment and a yokutta. Please don’t laugh but I have the following vision in my head: when I am missing Japan I will don my yokutta and set about making some tea, once it is brewing I will sit seiza (politely) and wait for it to be ready. Then adroitly and with impressive speed I will pour a cup, first savour its smell and hot vapours before indulging (I also like to put my face near a hot bowl of Nabe and inhale). I may close my eyes while savouring it. Then once fully relaxed and at peace I will unroll the little bamboo mat thingy that keeps my shodou brushes and felt mat and then set out my ink and paper in front of me carefully and then shodou away to my hearts delight.

I told you! Don’t laugh!

Anyway I have seen the ceramic pots in Okinawa but I had taken a fancy to the Japanese iron teapots (tetsubin). The have an alluring mix of the delicate and the rustic. Long story short I found some in the store, after asking the lady about them and having her show me lots and with different stands I settled on one and waited while she went off and did her wrapping magic. They are so good at wrapping things, and being Ginza she wrapped my pot AMAZINGLY! After I unwrapped it I couldn't put it back, there were too many precise little folds at funny angles. Also on the same floor there were some beaten bronze teapots, guess how much they cost? The largest one was just over 32man! $3200! The chap who made them was there, making them, so I presume one would have asked him what particular detail of the pot justified the price? There were also some smaller pots which were a snip at 5man ($500). My teapot did not cost anything like that, a mere 5000 odd yen. My second splurge was on Shodou stuff. Here is my tale. I was sure that Tokyo would have amazing little specialist shodou shops hiding around, I was positive they existed, trouble was I had no idea how to find them and I had to study all the time. I did find a few shodou things in a department store near my hostel but it didn’t have a great choice and I think we have the same chain in Okinawa. I was loosing hope a little by the time Thursday rolled around, Friday would be spent doing my final exam and early on Saturday I would fly back to Okinawa. As I made my way back to the hostel after my days study on the town (I would continue on my hostel bunk) I consigned myself to buying the brushes, mats and felt I needed from the department store. At asakusabashi one has to walk outside briefly to change from the JR line to the underground line and as I was feeling a little peckish I decided I may as well eat here. So wondered forlornly down the street eyeing up possible eateries. Out of the corned of my eye I saw a display of fans, I continued walking a few metres when I suddenly thought, mmm they looked handmade, and it struck my that maybe just maybe such a place might also stock shodou thingie-migums!! I backtracked and sure enough down a set of stairs tucked away out of sight was row upon row upon row of shodou brushes! As if in a trance I blissfully wondered into the store, the propiator greeted me, “ Ah, Mr Craig we were worried you might not find us, welcome!”

I smiled my appreciation being at a loss for suitable words and began to browse. The choice was impossible. Perhaps I should explain. I like brushes. I really like brushes. I paint watercolours but I think I like the paint and brushes (and their interaction of course) more than I do the actual paintings that result. If I have one pet hate, on thing that gets to me, and I might remind you am a very easy going chap, it is people who don’t look after brushes! Please do not mishandle or otherwise abuse a brush in front of me! There is a chance I value that brush more highly than you! (You better hope that was a joke!) So I delayed the problem by asking for the simple things I needed, the bamboo rolling mat and the felt mat (for under the paper). I didn’t know the words but I described them suitably and just what I need was swiftly produced. I returned to the brushes and finally selected one. I reverently picked it up and carefully carried it in both hands to the shop-keep. He, also being a man who loves brushes took it equally reverently in both hands and carefully packed my purchases after which I paid and left happy and at peace with the world. So much so that when I was eating in Macdonalds (all I could justify after all my expenses that day…..that and I couldn’t resists the tamago (egg) double mac with bacon!) I left my drink and fries unfinished to give my seat to a couple who would have been otherwise seatless. Boy! Some of that shodou stuff was expensive though, a wee block of ink for 2man ($200)! My brush was not at the top of the range by any-means but still cost me 5000 yen ($50), there were ones that went up to 1man ($100) and there were also large ones hanging unpriced in a glass cabinet, I didn’t ask my much they cost!

Back in Okinawa:
What could be a better welcome back to Izena than some fresh hot sazai!
The Kobe students dancing to samisen music.

So that was Tokyo, on Saturday I came back to Okinawa and the humidity hit my like a hot wet dishcloth to the face but I was happy to be back! Saturday night was BIG Bens birthday party and much fun was had. On Sunday when I returned to Izena there were a whole school of Kobe Junoir highschool kids on the ferry with me. They were going to Izena for a homestay, for one night! They would leave the next day. That night I was invited to join the welcome party for a group of 5 of them who were staying with a friend of mine. They knew several Okinawan songs and would sing them perfectly! Okinawan music really is popular! Much fun was had although the Izena children were very, very shy when confronted by these bubbly Kobe kids. Ah well, they are country kids I suppose and don’t get to meet many children they haven’t grown up with! Also the Kobe kids English was pretty darn good, ah well, I will keep trying my best to teach them here! Speaking of which, my English conversation club has got a good turnout this year, 15 for the beginner level and 19 for the advanced. I am happy.

There will be no post until after next week! I am in severe study mode right now, on sunday I fly to Tokyo to sit an exam on tuesday and one on friday. I have no idea how well prepaired I am, it is a new subject, a different kind of exam than I am used to and I had to study by myself. Argh! Whatever, all experience is good experience right?

Somebody asked for more pictures, dangerous request from a fellow who just baught himself a new 2 gig SD card...


OK, here we go!

Me being taught to foxtrot by my lovely Cuz who happens to be an amazing dancer! I sucked btw.And they are married! (These pics ain't in any particular order).
The rumbustious Aussies, full of mirth and ..... other stuff.
Ah-hah! My shodou! Here is where I started the lesson. This Character is DO and has an earthy meaning it seems to me.

And here is where I got to! Two hours later! I was pretty pleased with my efforts. I wonder if to the western eye it will seem much different?
Ah, back to the wedding, the couples first dance.
My uncle and the piper. Who knew there was a bag piping society in Albuqerque!
I and my mother, shortly before the wedding ceremony I think.
The beautiful wedded couple and some random in the middle.
The mountains over Telluride glowing pink as the sun sets.

So it appears I have been back in Okinawa for about a week now. Of course it now seems like I never went on my little holiday, brain seamlessly stitching the pre America timeline to the post America timeline. Why is it always like that with holidays? And while in America it did not feel like I had not seen my Mum for almost two years, maybe we expect something to have changed and when there isn't a change our grey matter just assumes it cant really have been that long? It was a fantastic trip, a few days spent before the wedding in Albuqerque which has a cute little old town, all adobe pueblo style buildings and a fairly old church built by the Spanish. We also took the works longest tramway up to the top of the Sandia mountains which look over Albuquerque. Initially I must admit America kind of depressed me. I am not sure why because no-one can claim the buildings and such in Okinawa are anything less than hideous but everything seems very ugly to me. I generally find modern buildings ugly, they are creations determined by economy and function. Gone are the days when near every building was a work of art. We are very lucky in Britain to have beautiful Victorian buildings with carved stone relief work and such like. Although modern buildings are much easier to live in of course. There are many stunning modern buildings but they tend to be the exceptions. I am aware it is my personal taste and probably a fairly european one to find old beautiful but there ya go! So it offended me when I went to a run to find asphalt roads with rough edges (not neatly finished) going to ugly little houses each with two or three huge gleaming and no-doupt polluting motor vehicles parked outside. Anyway. The wedding was perfect, really perfect. It was beautiful and moving and most importantly everyone has a really good time, much helped by a group of rumbustious, gregorian Aussies who has come across for the wedding. If you don't know my dear cousin (Amerikan-jin) has married an Australian chap who is in my humble opinion a fine fellow indeed! But I cannot go into great detail otherwise I will never finish this post and it will be hugely long (I have to leave space for any possible rants).
Directly after the wedding I attended the Aussies last HURRAH on the mean street of Albuqeruque. It was some thing going on, apperently called 'spring crawl', one of the two nights a year Albuqerque is happening. I have never seen so many police at one time! Mounted police too! Entire side-street packed with police vans and cars! What did they think was going to happen? People can't go out and have a good time without a massive police presence? The bouncer of the bar we wound up in cheerfully told us someone has been shot in front of the bar last night.....maybe the police are needed?
After the wedding we drive upto my America family's home in the little (but growing) mountain town of Durango, Colorado. Almost immediately I was reminded of why I do really like America, the nature/wilderness! It is fantastic! As we drove out of the city along the Rio Grande there were beautiful adobe house set amongst elegant riverwood and cottonwood trees with their lively green spring leaves. From there on it got better and better. I love the crazy rock colours and formations that fill New Mexico. As we hit Colorado (I guess we were too busy looking at the scenery to see it coming!) thing immediately got greener and we could see towering snow topped mountains brooding in the distance wreathed in a mantle of raging storm clouds and lighting.
We stayed in Durango for a day or two, it is a lovely town, and although it has grown it maintians it charm. The centre is easily navigated on foot and much to my relief and pleasure they buildings were pleasant on the eye. The town has a very western feel which I like, the two old hotels on Main street (the General Palmer and the Strater) have fantastic Saloon bars. One can also buy John Wayne toilet paper in the gift shops printed with the slogan 'it's rough and it's tough and it doesnt take shit off anyone.' Please excuse me for the language. Durango is at about 6000 feet and early one morning I took it upon myself to go for a run. BAD IDEA. I ran straight up a hill that took about 20 minutes to crest. WORSE IDEA! I managed to run for another ten minutes after the hill before I had to sit down. My lungs were really burning, it was verging in painful. My lungs never approached feeling this bad during a whole marathon at sea level. Altitude training, man that must work!
Then we drove to an even higher town of Telluride which a drop of at John Waynes fav. cafe in the town of Ridgeway and cresting Molas pass (10910 feet). Molas pass is famous as the spot where I succumbed to the lovely, fresh, packable, shiny, white snow and hit my mum with a snowball at a good 15-20 metres distance! And caught it on video ;)). Telluride is also a great little town although quite a bit more up-market that Durango. It was hearted to find that the orgional local community is still going strong and fighting to save their valley floor from being developed by an evil defence company owning San Diegan. The mountains were stunning and the place had a very Alpine feel, really a great place to live. I can't wait to see Austria!
Since I have been back in Okinawa it has mostly been study study. It is cram time now. I did find time to do to a spa kind of place with Kelly. I think you call it a spa at least. It has lots of various types of pools of salt water with various water jets and bubbles going on, pretty fun. I couldn't work out the system in the changing room and didn't bring my towel into the shower room and had to walk back all wet to my locker leaving puddles everywhere but meh, these things happen. On Sunday I and Kelly went to a play put on by Izena people on the mainland. This is the play I mentioned a while back, the one I had to turn down a part in due to nerdy study reasons. I almost regretted it then! The play was marvellous! Very polished and professional looking and in a snazzy new theatre that was only completed this year. They poor souls did three back to back performances on the sunday and every one was packed to the rafters. Admittedly allot of Izenians went (Izena must have been empty) and I am guessing all their relatives who live on the main island went too but still it was a good show. They were selling t-shirts and cds and books on the play, it was quite the commercial operation! They also had a pamphlet showing Izena's various produce and stalls outside selling it. Pretty good marketing operation I thought! Ok I must go study now, boy I can't wait until these exams are over.

PS. I finally made a Shodo class and it was great! I learned most in those 2 hours than I have for weeks from the book I baught. It is not something one can really learn from a book I feel.