This place is so much fun!

I love Japan, you know. It is quirky, and frequently infuriating, but insanely interesting and also aesthetically beautiful once you get out of the (to be honest) pretty ugly cities.

This weekend was fantastic fun. On Sunday I hung out with my co-workers and watched "Office Space," which I really enjoyed. It was hilarious in fact. I recommend it highly.

Yesterday I slept for a while, finished up some songs I've been writing then went out to what turned out to be a birthday party for my local landlord. He gave us lots of free drinks.

And today was the best of all. I fought off my hangover to take a train 70 mins north into the mountains to Gero. I sometimes forget just how beautiful the area of Japan in which I live is. The trasin journey was worth the ticket price itself, winding past rivers and tree-covered mountains, bamboo forests and past waterfalls. And my destination? the hot spring town of Gero.

Gero is a quiet and unassuming place, but if you stick a stick into the ground ten mineral-rich hot water comes out, meaning that the banks of the river are littered with little spas where naked Japanese folk lounge around. I went to a slightly more private (but still outdoor) onsen (spring) and spent half an hour or so taking in the scenery while going getting more and more light headed. I am not sure of my opinion onm onsen. They are so very very hot, but they definitely alter your state of consciousness and relax you (and I feel cleaner than ever before).

If you get a chance to sit in a hot pool with numerous naked Japanese guys in a mountainous onsen town, I think you should go for it.

Another week down (almost)

Yes...I know I am counting too much but I can't help it. This week my girlfriend and I booked a couple of breaks for the month when I get back, seeing as she will start her new job in September and it promises to provide her with a very busy schedule. As a result, it will be nice to spend a couple of nights in Paris at the start of August, and a couple of days up at the Edinburgh Festival in mid-August, before I start to put some serious effort in to finding a job somewhere in the UK.

It will be nice to have a break from work. Although I get good holidays by most people's standards (particularly here in Japan), this year has been my first in full time employment, and the holidays don't really compare to those of a student.

This wek has been fun. I had a couple of nights out- one relatively quiet night at a friends flat, and then Friday night at a Korean Bibimba restaurant (which was delicious), before taking in couple of bars with about 15 or so other people (some old friends and some new).

In 7 more hours it will be my weekend, and I will only have 5 more Sunday's to teach (although 6 more wed-sats).

Another weekend down

It was a pretty boring weekend.

I ate an all you can eat curry, tried to find (and failed to find) the Chinese Embassy (I didn't look very hard) and read 'The Da Vinci Code' in an impressive 2 afternoons. I also drank too much coffee. Good book though- have you heard of it?

Sleepy

Well, Thursday night was cool.　the game was entertaining (Barcelona v Arsenal), even if the team I wanted to win did lose. The drinking party afterwards was fun, and work the day after was not.

The weather didn't hold out on Friday, so there was no beergarden, but today the sun is splitting the trees and it's lovely and warm. Shame I'm at work, really. Never mind- 2 days of starting tomorrow.

Last night was fun. I went to 2 bars in Gifu that I have never been to before, and both of which were suitably quirky (the first offers that authentic mosquto net-clad atmosphere of Africa, only inside a building, and the second was a typical western style bar with darts to boot.) All in all, enough to give me a bit of a hangover this morning. Ho hum...6 hours until the weekend when I intend to...sleep.

Fatigued

I am feeling very tired today. I seem to have realised that in a couple of months I will be back in England, probably missing my life here in Japan. As a result, I have started to take every available opportunity to get out of the house and do all of the things that Isoon will be unable too, such as the Karaoke and Nagoya curry trips at the weekend. This week I have been out every nigh, mostly to see my work friends (in true Japanese style), but tonight is a little different.

In true "Likely Lads" style, my friends and I have managed to so far avoid the result of the Champions League final in Paris. As a result, a re-run of the match will be played in the bar tonight, so we can watch it as if it were live. This should be a lot of fun, as the game promises (or promised) much. Roll on 8pm.

Tomorrow I have been invited to an all you can drink and eat beergarden in my hometown, which sounds great- as long as the weather holds out. Fingers crossed.

8 weeks to go...

This weekend was a lot of fun. Expensive...but a lot of fun.

On Sunday night I met with my work-mates and had a traditional night of drinking, card games and, ultimately, karaoke. I think I will miss the options of late night entertainment when I get back to the UK. It was nearly 3am when we decided that a sing-song was in order, and cycled the 5 mins down the road to the all-night karaoke box. It was fun, too.

On Saturday night I went to a student's house, where 4 student's and my former Japanese manager were having a wee party to say goodbye to one of the students. We had a few drinks and watched the FA Cup Final (which was highly entertaining), then went home.

Monday was also fun. The 3 native teachers at my school met for lunch one of our former Japanese staff, as well as the same manager from the Saturday party. An ex-student also came along (she willl soon leave for Canada), and we went for Pasta (which came with free pizza- what a deal!).　That evening 　was spent in Nagoya for drinks and curry, before returning back to Gifu, where I was　booked for 2 guitar lessons, which I did on Tuesday. And today? Back to work. 8 weeks to go...

Nearly one week of my remaining 2 months down (well...over half way through it anyway.) I shouldn't count down quite so much but I can't wait! I have itchy feet and I want to get on with trying (and more than likely failing) to be a musician. The sooner I start the sooner I get it out of my system and look for a real job.

On the subject of jobs...my girlfriend just got the best job it is possible to get if you want to do the work that she wants to do so...well done. I am very proud of you (if that's th right phrase). You deserve it.

Roll on July...

Back to the grindstone

Today was my first real day back. I worked Sunday, but that was only one day out of 11, so it didn't really count. I guess it is a good thing that I was able to only work one day out of 11 and still get my full pay while using only one of my holidays. It can be good to you sometimes, can this company.

Anyway. Today I had a kid take a crayon and start drawing all over his face with it, and I took it off him, which caused him to cry and blubber down his face, which I then had to mop up with a tissue. Ordinarily I would get angry, but to be honest it just made me realise how little chance I really have of actually teaching some of my students any English whatsoever. He was blubbing down his face while I tried to make him say "I washed my face." He didn't. I did. It made me laugh a little.

I just played an English language game with my adult students, which involved inserting the word "blah" where a noun should be while shopping. For example: "Excuse me. I want to buy a blah." "What do you mean?." "I need to write a letter, so I want to buy a blah." This was supposed to allow them to practice describing and guessing things in English, but unfortunately I forgot that the Japanese pronunciation of L is somewhere nearer to R, meaning that one of my student's declared that she was "trying to communicate with people in another country, so I need to buy a bra." It was hard not to laugh out loud.

So....in conclusion, work is up and down. It's nice that after 10 months it is still as unpredictable as ever, which is no surprise when your student's average age is 10.

Fly away home

I booked my ticket home yesterday- and managed to get a half-decent price for it. This price is made all the more satisfying because I will be able to spend a couple of days is China en route (Shanghai), before landing in London at 7pm on July 13th.

It's the final countdown

Wow...what a week or 2.

My dad left a week or so ago, the day after my friends arrived, and since then it's been all go. The (1st) visit to Kyoto, with my dad, was a great success. We had good weather, and were able to take in one or two of the more significant sights of Kyoto, including the Golden Temple and the Temple of 1000 Buddahs, despite the relatively short time spent there. We also discovered that Saturday in Kyoto can be a tough place to find a table for food, and we ended up sharing a table with two guys (Tako and Kazu), who have since emailed me a photo of the occasion. I got to practice some Japanese, him some English, and we all got to eat and drink, so it was a good solution all around.

The next day I met my friends at the station, before giving them a few hours to sleep and then heading out into town for an open mic night at which I was scheduled to play. I did pretty well, and we rounded the night off with some karaoke and a bowl　rice each. My friends (one in particular) got into a spot of bother on the way home, but I was able to go and sort them out with no problems.

After that, My dad went off to the station and I took my friends into Nagoya for a look around, which involved generally strolling, as well as taking in a few video game arcades (there are some amazing ones out here). Games range from rearing race horses to race right through to playing Japanese style drums. I like the latter the most. We then went to a stylish Japanese style bar (that plays reggae music) for dinner.

And then the fun really started.

By rights, we had no right to set out hoping to acheive what we set out and eventually acheived. Holidays for Japanese wiorkers are few and far between, so when a wek-long national holiday surfaces, anywhere with even a hint of a tourist attraction gets packed to the rafters.　However, on Tuesday we set off on a tour of Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, Hiroshima and Miajima without so much s a hostel booked. It shouldn't have wotked. There were a couple of times when it nearly didn't, but all in all we got away with it. We used Kyoto's impressive tourist information to book places in Kyoto and Hiroshima, while using any phone number we could get our hands on to book the rest. We nearly missed out in Osaka...but just about got away with it.

In Kyoto, we went to a few of the temples I had visited before, as well as taking a stroll around Gion and also taking a bus out to Arashiyama- a beautiful area with bamboo forests and monkeys (although the monkeyshad gone home). We also saw a geisha in full get-up, which was stunning.

From Kyoto, we headed to Osaka, where we had a hostel booked for 6 (out of 8) of us. The other 2 wanted to try out the love hotel experience, and they can't be booked, so we had to search one out when we got there. This should have been easy enough, if it wasn't for a taxi driver who conspired to miss each and every street with a hotel on it, until my friend said "is that one?", and upon turning the corner we saw about 20. With them safely checked in, I had missed the hostel curfew, so I had to kill a few hours in an internet cafe befiore returning for some much needed sleep.

The next day, my friends went to Nara. I stayed in Osaka with friends from Japan. I love Osaka- I think it is my new favourite city in Japan. We ate takoyaki (balls of octopus in dough), one of my favourite snacks, as well fighting through the busiest streets I have ever seen in Japan. Move over Shinjuku! Shibuya....nowhere near! It was as if Shinjuku station had been made half of its size with the same volume of traffic- except it was sunny and everyone was milling around outside aving fun. It was such a great atmosphere (despite queueing for everything!).

Next day....Hiroshima.

While me friends had rail passes, my Japan-based friends and I did not, so we set off on a mission through the local train system of Japan in order to save some cash. This turned out well because, despite the 4 and a half hour journey time, we spotted Himeji en route and decided to visit the renound Himeji Castle. It was well worth the detour, and I even had a kebab whilst there (even if it was a little small). Himeji in the blazing sunshine is amazing. I loved it.

And so... we arrived in Hiroshima. After eating some Hiroshima style Okanomiyaki (my favourite Japanese food) we went out to some bars to celebrate...my birthday. I am now 23, which is nice. We also did a bit of karaoke before passing out for the best sleep I have had in years.

Yesterday was spent in Hiroshima...before I started the journey home. Today, my friends are in Miyajima, and tonight they will return to Gifu, which will be the last time that i will see them until I return home in about 9 weeks. It really is the final countdown now...