Been a bit lazy with regard to updates lately- to be honest, I haven't really visited this beautiful place that is the internet cafe in quite some time. Plenty of other stuff has been happening though.

I think I might thump the guy next to me if he doesn't stop talking on his phone and blowing smoke seemingly intentionally into my face....and the coffee here tastes like crap. It's a pretty vile place to be honest. I think the keyboard that I am using has rabies. Oh well...I may head in to town and get a decent drink later.

This weekend was good fun. Myself, Dan (a teacher from Gifu city) Andrea (my new American co-worker), 2 students and my former manager headed up into the mountains to visit a national park called Kami Koji (or something like that) which was stunning. We hiked along a river which was really cool.

The music in this internet cafe is dire. Somebody just started playing a gmbling machine and the guy is still talking on his phone at the top of his voice. I realise why I din't come here for so long. SHUT UP!!!

Oh well...quick summery of what else happened. I went to Tokyo a cvouple of days after my last post, had a brilliant 3 nights as well as takinbg in Tokyo Disneyland, which isn't something I would usually find myself doing, but it was fantastic fun. I wore Mickey Mouse Ears. That's pretty much all there is to it.

It was a great weekend. I like Tokyo.Since then I have been getting on with life, allowing the odd evening for drunken karaoke here and there (such as last night), while settling down to Gifu life.

And relax...

It's pretty quiet on the Eastern front at the minute. Work today was quite good fun- it included a 30 minute interview with a potential new student, who had studied at Manchester University- so plenty of common ground to cover. I think she could well sign up- time will tell.

The last few days have been quiet by my standards. I watched the England game last Saturday, which was entertaining if only for the result. Over the weekend, I took in a number of familiar Gifu bars, as well as taking a trip to Sakae- Nagoya's entertainment area. It was ok, I guess, but I visited during the day and just had a coffee and watched the people go by (and go buy) while I read my book and drank copious amounts of coffee. It was fun.

A friend called me to tell me that Junichiro Koizumi (the Japanese premier, no less) was gracing little old Gifu with his presence. I hopped on a train back to my adopted hometown in time to see him rounding off a seemingly well received. He definitely has the effortless appearence of power- a good thing for someone who has been at the helm for some time, and who is expected to win the September 11th poll.

All in all, a genuinely pleasant evening. This weekend promises to be a little more hectic, starting with a night out tomorrow to celebrate the birthday of my Scottish co-worker. This will be repeated on Saturday, with a few more faces in tow, and then Sunday night I shinkansen over to Tokyo, which should be the most fun of all.