Changes in the work situation

Hey there,

How are you all?  I hear the summer rains have hit and you are all now living in the tropics! 

Over here the weather has warmed up - and for once I'm not happy about it!!  Kate turned out to be the weather fairy, with good weather showing up everytime she makes plans (bar yesterday, although it was an exceptionally warm 4 degrees!).  Unfortunately, this means no snow in Jinseki while Kate is here.  Tonight is her last night with us, so unless it cools down in a hurry today, she won't see white flakes for Christmas.  As I'm sitting here in only longjohns and a cotton sweatshirt (my improvised PJs), I'm not picking that we will see snow anytime soon...

This week Kate has hung out with me in Jinseki, doing local things.  In fact, we realised that the whole time she has stayed with us, we haven't cooked her dinner once!  The first night we took her out for ramen, then once we brought her back here after her two weeks of work, we have been fed Monday night by Luc (the other JET/ALT in the area), Tuesday night by the Yamamoto's and the rest of the English group Jeff helps out at and tonight Nishikawa-san will be feeding us.  We were supposed to have our pretend Christmas tonight; Kate and I were going to try to make chicken and potatoes without an oven.  However, when Nishikawa-san heard she wouldn't get a chance to feed us, she looked so pained that Kate agreed to pass up her night in Kyoto to stay in Jinseki and have another mean feed (honestly, Kate and I have eaten so much I don't fit my jeans!  Which is an issue when we go on holiday to Taiwan a couple of days after Kate leaves!  Maybe it's a stale bread and water diet between Kate leaving and us going to Taiwan, so I can do my pants up on the plane, lol).

Anyway, when Jeff heard, he was a bit concerned about Kate sacrificing her night in Kyoto for one dinner, so he had the great idea of Christmas breakfast instead of lunch/dinner.  Our attempt at Christmas dinner was always destined to fail, so when Jeff suggested pancakes with ice cream as a Christmas brekkie, we immediately saw the excellence in his plan (any plan that involves ice cream for breakfast has got to be good!!).  So tomorrow morning Jeff will make pancakes, Kate will make a mushroom, sweetcorn and chicken thing to go on pancakes with cheese, and I will...  serve the ice cream I bought at the supermarket!  Life's hard!!  We will then open some of the presents from home that Kate brought in her pack (her 20kg pack had 9kg of her clothes, then 11kg of stuff for us!!!), before taking Kate down to Fukuyama for her shinkansen (bullet train).

For actual Christmas day, Jeff and I are thinking of going traditional Japanese style - eating at a restaurant, then going to see the 'illumination' display at Shobara park.  Japanese illuminations are like when people at home put a lit-up santa in their garden, only they have huge multicoloured creations.  In Hiroshima they had a massive illumination display and we took ages walking up and down the street while Kate took photos of every single one.  I can't decide which was my favourite - I'm torn between the griffin and the pirate ship!  Keep an eye on Kate's facebook in the next month or two for the multitude of pictures! 

As referenced in the title, my work situation looks to be changing.  My boss contacted me yesterday to say that their contract to teach one of the factories has ended and they have a fair few students quitting, so he can't keep me working the same hours I do currently.  What he has offered instead is that I work one week a month (rather than four days a week), without paying rent or utilities.  I can't see how the logistics work, as it doesn't seem practical, so I think he is basically just making up work for me to keep me around, so he still has a trained person on hand when any other staff leave (because both the other guys are nearing the end of their visas).  In all honesty, I was getting sick of the commute and paying all the tolls anyway, so was starting to think about other options (translation: I had spent the last three weeks talking about quitting).  So this is timely news.  I will have an opportunity to see what else I can do with my time and whether it is feasible to be self-employed around here.  When I first came I really struggled with culture shock and my job really helped, but now I feel settled enough that I think I can make a routine with practising my Japanese, teaching English and trying to write.  So although traditionally 'we are cutting your hours from 16 days a month to 5 days a month' is bad news, in this case I'm pretty happy about it. 

I hope you are all well and that noone else has been told work is cutting their hours to one week a month!!  As I may not write again in 2010, have a great Christmas - eat lots of potato and cake for me! - and make the most of the rest of the year.  Enjoy the break - you deserve it!!

Sloooowwwww typing... hands coooollllddd

Hey everyone,

Sorry I've been totally slack about updating here.  Things have been busy with Kate visiting - we took her out to Karashiki (no, I don't know how to spell it!) in the weekend and we will go to Hiroshima this weekend.  This means I've only been popping home once a week, which also means only getting on the internet once a week.  By which time I have such a backlog of emails and bits and bobs to organise (eg. booking hotels - anything to avoid trying to speak on the phone to the Japanese!), that I haven't had time for this.  I guess I should follow that by warning you that when Kate leaves, we have a few days of downtime, then we leave for ten days in Taiwan.  Should be total awesomeness, but it means I will continue to be slack about updating my blog. 

Ok, so what have I been up to?  We have been trying to show Kate around as much as possible.  In the morning before work we have been doing things like catching the ferry to Onomichi and looking around (including getting free omiyagi because the lady was flattered Kate wanted to take pics of her store!  Totally the best thing about living in an area that doesn't get Western tourists - the Japanese are so damn happy to interact with you!  Hence the 'gaijin discount'.  Mean :D ), going for wanders to check out the houses, having dinner with my factory students (super lovely bunch, even if they couldn't understand a word Kate was saying!  In her defence, she was sitting next to the one with the best English, so was tailoring her conversation to that.  However, the others were listening and shooting me confused looks!) and on Friday, going to an onsen!  I'm really excited about that one because I haven't been yet and can't go on my own when I don't know the protocol.  So Kate and I are going to hang out with my workmate, Rie, naked in a hot pool.  Sounds so gooooood....

Hmm... if you're sitting there in your tshirt in your warm office/bedroom thinking it just sounds weird, please understand that it's snowing outside and the cold is affecting my fingers enough that I'm avoiding texting cos it's too damn slow without proper circulation!  I should get out my gloves, but I'm about to make lunch and, in my experience, cooking and fluffy gloves are not a good combination.  So anything hot sounds awesome right now.  In fact, walking on hot coals or being burnt at the stake sound increasingly attractive. 

Having talked about onsen, I'm very tempted to run a super hot bath and soak, but I still need to pay for my car, fill the kerosene canister and go to the supermarket before Jeff gets back.  Guess a hot shower will have to do.  I love my Wednesdays - they are my Get Stuff Done day, but they are also always very busy, especially when I haven't been home in the weekend and therefore my entire wardrobe needs washing.  This time, I have all my clothes and all Kate's clothes to wash.  She was debating what to send home with me and said she would keep a certain merino singlet, as she could just wear it three days in a row.  I insisted that no, I had a perfectly good washing machine and was NOT ok with her just wearing the same clothes for three days, just for the hell of it!  I think her week of South Island hiking must have affected her more than she realises - it's all good and well to be a smelly tramper, but noone likes a smelly teacher! 

This weekend we will be going to Hiroshima to show Kate around and hit up the bomb museums.  Jeff and I have only briefly walked through the peace park, so I'm looking forward to having some time to show Hiroshima the respect it deserves. 

The following week, on Tuesday, we have dinner with the English Conversation group Jeff helps out with.  They try so hard to practice their English without any native speaker to aid them, so I'm so happy Jeff goes when he can make it.  This time Kate and I will go along too, so they declared they would have a party.  I'm looking forward to introducing Kate to the really cute old bloke with massive glasses and sticky-out teeth.  He always brings us the most amazing fruit, usually from his farm, and I just want to take him home and keep him as a pet. 

The next day, Wednesday, we will have a pretend Christmas, with Kate as the family representative.  We will have potato and chicken, although we still haven't figured out how to cook chicken without an oven...  Anyway, we will have wine (including some NZ wine Kate brought us... yum yum!!), sake, little Christmas cakes and chestnuts.  Also, I daresay we will have mame-mochi - mochi (pounded rice) with red bean paste inside.  Since Kate tried it she has become hooked, eating it every day, so it is a safe bet that we will also eat some at Christmas! 

Yes, Japanese food has been a hit with Kate.  I've got her into cold soba noodles (so more-ish!), she eats mochi like it's her lifeblood, okinomiyaki went down a treat, she thoroughly approves of the tempura and ate the prawn tail like a good Japanese, enjoyed the eel at Sushimaru (conveyor belt sushi) and managed to spend 4000 yen ($60) on bento boxes in one go (Japanese lunch boxes, an average cost of 300 yen each).  So to all Kate's loved ones, if Kate doesn't come home, I'm sorry you have lost her to the Japanese food!  Due to NZ not allowing her to bring red beans into the country, she may yet choose to stay here eating mochi and drinking green tea lattes...

Hope you are all loving the sunshine.  Keep your fingers crossed we get some decent snow so we get a white Christmas :D

Charly

And you can all breath again...

Just a quick one to say my JET application has successfully reached NZ and been accepted.  I had a brief moment of panic when they emailled me to say they had received my application, but that I needed to send my JP signed copy of my degree to conclude my application.  My degree is packed away SOMEWHERE in my room in NZ, God know where, and as a compromise I ordered (and paid for!) a letter of completion from uni, hoping it would be enough.  So the idea of then either having Mum have to go through EVERY box and bag in my room looking for it, or of having my application fail when I couldn't procure it, was very depressing.  Luckily he emailled back saying that was ok and that I can bring any additional paperwork to my interview, assuming I get one.  Phew, close call!! 

Is no news good news?

Well, I have yet to hear from the Japanese embassy in NZ re. my application.  I'm trying to tell myself that it's because they are swamped by applications at the moment, but last time they were very prompt in letting me know my application had arrived...  Ah well, until I get an email saying it was in too late, I will continue to hope.  And then after I get that email I will send begging, pleading, crying emails :)

At least I have an AWESOME distraction from worrying about whether it made it - because Kate arrives on Saturday!  Jeff and I are going to spend the day checking out Okayama, then Kate turns up at the bus stop at 11:10pm and we have a loooong drive back to Jinseki.  Not sure how long, but we will be home in the wee hours.  It's going to be so much fun having my little sis here - although perhaps I should have expected it, as when I lived in America she came to Kentucky, when I lived in London she visited me enroute to France and now I live in Japan, she is going to visit me here, too! 

I'm trying to keep this brief as I want to go for a walk in the sunshine and get some vitamin D, but Jeff and I had a great time in Osaka over Sunday-Monday.  We got picked up at 7:30am for the "4 hour" drive there.  We got in at 11:15am after a long breakfast stop and dropping Jeff at the hotel, thanks to my boss driving at 130kph!  Eek! 

Jeff headed out to go shopping while the rest of us went to the teaching English conference.  Matt (my boss) and the two Japanese teachers shot into a presentation while Tristan, Robert and I (those who teach because they want to live in Japan), stood around going 'hmm... what now then?'  I had a bit of a look at the different textbook stands, so if my boss asked I could give him my opinion, then we went out to get food.  We returned to attend a talk on using flashcards - and were lucky to have the others attend the same talk, so we didn't have the awkwardness of trying to persuade them we did attend some of the conference!  After we took off to meet up with Jeff and have lunch. 

Normally Jeff and I poo-pooh cities and thoroughly dislike crowds.  However, I guess we've been rural too long, because we both felt invigorated by Osaka.  I think the difference is a) the number of shops aimed at tourists and therefore applicable to us and b) the number of white faces (not many, but way more than on our home turf!).  I bought a couple of Murakami books translated to English (I'm on a mission to read all his writing) and some Body Shop stuff (it's the only place in this country I can buy products and know what I'm buying, so I stock up when I find it.  God bless English labelling).  We tried fugu (blowfish) for lunch - we were told it is the THING to eat in Osaka. 

At 6pm we headed back to the hotel to meet everyone, then headed out for dinner.  We started with Subway, because Matt said the bar we were going to to eat had such small dishes that it cost him a fortune to fill himself up.  Subway was as tasty as ever - not something I had been craving, but I had forgotten how much I enjoy it.  I steered clear of the chicken options though, as chicken in Japan tends to be much fattier than in NZ.  After our traditional Japanese meal of Subway, at the request of Rie, one of the Japanese teachers, we went to a... umm... an English pub!  We all had Guinness and fish and chips (oh, how I missed you, battered fish!).  My cute-as little half-pint Guinness glass may or may not have fallen into my handbag...

We then finally hit up the Japanese bar, where we had a few beers and I spent most of my time watching the fish tank at Jeff's back, where a small shark was swimming in circles eyeing him up.  After we got bored of that place, we found a place where you ordered a small dish of food for 280 yen (just under $5) and for another 280 yen you could drink as much as you liked for half an hour.  Admittedly they served us pretty slow, but I still managed four drinks in my half hour :D  I liked half an hour as a 'drink fast' period, because half an hour's drinking doesn't do any serious damage to your tomorrow. 

Well, I speak for myself there, actually.  Poor Narumi, one of the Japanese teachers, had been trying to match us big foreigners with the drinking and she felt TERRIBLE the next day.  She threw up every time she drank water, so was still looking haggard when teaching that evening!  Tristan and Robert had gone back out when the rest of us got home that evening so they were also not looking great.  Jeff swore he was fine, but I kept reminding him that was AFTER he had taken painkillers for his head!  I think Matt and Rie were ok, but it was telling that Jeff and I were the only ones who made it down for the free breakfast (rice and green tea toast... yum!). 

So it was a fleeting visit, but we had a great time and are now really keen to go back when we can afford.  Which won't be any time soon, what with all the other travel we have coming up, but Osaka won't go anywhere in the meantime, so we can go explore sometime next year. 

Hope you are all well,

Charly

Fingers crossed!!

Well, I got my JET application away.  It's cutting it fine because I posted it on Monday, it takes 'about a week' to get to NZ and applications close on the 30th.  So if it takes any longer than a week, I'm quite likely screwed.  Which would be gutting because I've spent a lot of money getting this application together, paying for academic records, certificates of graduation and a whopping $50 just to get an NZ JP to do a signed photocopy of my passport!  Also I've had a number of people running round trying to get my stuff together in time - big ups to Holly, Rod @ Waikato and David @ Massey.  But in the end everything only came together on Saturday - when the post office is closed - so Monday was it.  If there is a God, can you please remember that I always go to Camp Quality and help out the kiddies, so I deserve to have my letter turn up on time...

Other than that, on Saturday we went to Taishaku Gorge with Jeff's workmates and another local Japanese woman, to go leaf viewing.  We were a bit late - most of the leaves have fallen already - but it was a beautiful sunny day and it was great to socialise with some Japanese!!  After we had gone for a wander in the sunshine and had a look at the caves where early Japanese lived 10,000 years ago, we went back to Nishikawa-san's place (also known as J-mom).  Since her own daughters moved out - one to Osaka and one to Paris, then London - Nishikawa has been on a mission to adopt as many internationals as she can.  She likes to have them over for a feed and beer in her kitchen.  We christened her kitchen the Nishikawa International Centre.  I promised that when both Kate and my parents visit, we would bring them round so she can feed them and chat to them.  It was altogether a lovely evening, except for my sore tummy from eating WAY too much!! 

Monday was a day of work and yesterday was a holiday.  Jeff and I went to Fukuyama to a) look for second-hand snowboards and b) buy Vegemite.  I have been craving Indian since we got here, as Japanese food has no spice (if you want a laugh, ask a Japanese person if they like spicy food and watch their facial expression!).  In the three days between Jeff leaving NZ and me following I had two excellent Indian meals, so to hit Japan and have no spiciness at all was hard going.  So yesterday Jeff remembered we were passing not too far from a good Indian restaurant, so he took me as a treat (mainly a treat because we had almost no cash left and ATMs aren't open on the weekend!  Japan is an entirely cash society so our cards wouldn't get us anywhere).  I had a yummy yummy chicken and vegetable curry with the largest garlic naan in the whole wide world.  They have a spice scale and, knowing how Japanese don't like spice, Jeff and I went for 8.  The woman was a little concerned after that it might have been too spicey, but it was BEAUTIFUL.  So good...  For hours later I didn't eat or drink anything, just savouring the spicy tingle in my mouth.  Such a wonderful feeling... 

Then, as if that wasn't enough good food for a day, we went to dinner with the group of adults Jeff helps out with English.  They were having dinner at the Yamamoto's place (the husband is a Hiroshima bomb survivor!).  We were running seven minutes late (anyone who knows me will be impressed I was only that late!) when I receieved a phone call from Yamamoto-san asking where we were, because they were waiting for us!  Yikes!!  When we turned up they were all sitting round the dinner table, ready to eat skiyaki - a dish that involves chucking in all kinds of meat, tofu, mushrooms and greens while you eat, so you have a continual supply of freshly cooked foods, done in some special skiyaki sauce.  Very nutritious and very very tasty!!  So, once again, we ate WAY too much.  My poor little car struggled to get us home over the hills!  I swear we must have been 10kg heavier than on the way in! 

Ok, all this talking about food is making me feel hungry (even though I should probably have a three day famine after the amount I ate yesterday!), so I'm off to make lunch.

Hope you are all doing well.  This weekend Jeff and I are going to Osaka with my work for a conferencey thing (I don't really know, I just heard 'free trip to Osaka'), so I'll be away from the net for another full week.  Apologies for the infrequency of these updates...  Btw, check Jeff's facebook page for a video of our house.  Pretty cute, huh?? 

Miss you guys, take care!!

Charly

Okinawa? Oops, no, Taiwan!

Ok, last one for a week, I promise!

Just wanted to mention last night, because it was crazy.  Jeff and I had been planning a trip to Okinawa over Christmas, but had been unable to book our flights at the time of the research.  We then kept not getting around to booking the flights (as you do) and weren't too worried, as it was still a month and a half out.  However, when we went to book last night, the dates we wanted were taken and the dates we could manage were suddenly very expensive! 

We had a little bit of indecision, with Jeff trying to research other places and finding everything was almost as expensive as flying from NZ (which was why we had decided to go to Okinawa).  Finally I had a brainwave and just checked where Jet Star flew from Osaka.  The answer was Singapore and Taiwan, so we are off to Taiwan!  After what happened with Okinawa, I didn't want to miss out again, so I booked Taiwan right then, about half an hour after I had suggested it.  Now we just have to find out what it's like and what we will do there, lol.  Research schmesearch!

Charly

Yay for med forms!!

Three cheers for Dr. Shine!  I have my med forms and am now just waiting on a reference and my uni paperwork...

Heated table = awesome

When I first got here they explained to me the heated table in winter concept.  I thought it seemed odd.  But now I understand the joy of toasty warm legs, even if the rest of the house is an ice box.  The problem is, it's like a warm bath that is really hard to get out of.  Except at least if you wait long enough the bath will stop being warm and you will want to get out.  The heated table doesn't have that!  Still toasty, with a lovely big blanket over it to keep your lap warm and trap the heat underneath. 

At the moment things are just ticking along with work while I look forward to Kate's visit and try not to stress unduly about whether I will get my application together on time (and yes, you will all be aware that telling me not to stress is like telling a fish not to swim... it's not gonna happen!).  So far I have received one reference, so I'm still waiting on one reference, a medical form and two bits of paper from uni.  Plus I just found out I have to post my passport to Tokyo to get a JP signed copy.  I spent an hour walking and driving round yesterday looking for a post office on Mukaishima, to no avail.  So I need to go post it today.  It has to be 'registered post', which is great... if the Japanese-speaking post office workers know the meaning of 'registered'!  Because I sure don't know 'registered' in Japanese!! 

Ok, I really really should get up and do something.  The longer I sit here the colder my fingers get and I have stuff like laundry and supermarket shopping to get done.  Jeff is coming down to Onomichi over the weekend so I won't be home, so I have to pack my bags and try to be on top of the laundry today.  Otherwise I'll come home after a week away and have NO clean clothes.  And for once, I don't think I would be exadgerating.  Sure, I would have some summer tshirts clean, but that's not really beneficial when the temperature is nudging zero... 

So you won't hear from me for at least a week.  Hopefully over the weekend Jeff and I will do some exploring and will give me something interesting to report back on.  But we might just chill out appreciating the relative warmth :) 

Charly

Your weekly weather update

Hellohowareyou?Finethankshowareyou.  Oops, sorry, got carried away there - standard Japanese child's phrase... Hello.  Stop there...

Hmm... Jeff took a look at my blog and commented that I always seem to be telling you about the weather.  Well, I could tell you it's because I'm trying to fit in here - the weather is the first thing any Japanese talks about.  But I guess it's mainly because it really shows the passing of time here.  I mean, in Hamilton you had a fluctuation of maybe 25 degrees over the year.  Here we have had more fluctuation than that in the space of a month!  Yes, on Wednesday I went for a run and there was FROST.  I know winter will be really cold, but I was enjoying autumn and don't want it to race away and get cold too fast!  (I say this sitting under a blanket, wearing a longsleeved merino and big sweatshirt while contemplating getting gloves...)  Last night on the drive home is was 2 degrees at about 11pm, so I'm sure it would have his zero again last night.  At least the sun is out now and it's a beautiful day, so I should go sit outside and soak up some vitamin D (that's the right one, isn't it?).

Umm... in other news...  Oh yes, Kate is coming to visit me!  My boss is going to take a holiday so Kate is going to come and cover for him!  I'm so excited to show her round my little patch of Japan!  I only wish Jeff and I could afford to travel with her, but we are going to Okinawa for Christmas and have my parents visiting in March, so we can't afford to do EVERYTHING.  Not when we are effectively running on one salary.  I feel a little... not worried for her, but maybe anxious for her, trying to travel without us or even a rudimentary knowledge of Japanese or how Japan works.  But I keep reminding myself that her experience will be very different from ours.  We live in an area where a Japanese woman came up to us at the supermarket, asking if we were 'Diane's friends' - she assumed that as we were white we must be friends with her neighbour Diane.  And of course, although not 'friends', we knew of this Diane.  So when English-speaking people are so few in our area, it's no wonder there is not much English spoken.  Whereas we will be sending Kate off to big tourist mecca's, where there will be English signage and English-speakers in information centres.  She will probably leave Japan wondering what we've been complaining about! 

Other than that, things are looking good for getting my JET application together.  My referees have been awesomely fast and have my references in the mail as I write.  The only big thing is I need a JP signed copy of my passport - and of course they don't have 'JP's as such in Japan.  So I asked about who I could get to sign it instead - thinking a principal or someone at Jeff's Board of Education might be able to do it.  And apparently the NZ Embassy in Tokyo can do it.  Holy damn, that's not convenient!!!  I just hope I can post it, because Tokyo is not exactly local - taking a plane trip just to get some paperwork signed is fairly extreme!!  The other option is finding an NZ lawyer in Japan, but as discussed in the previous paragraph, English-speakers are pretty thin on the ground in our parts, so I don't like my chances of finding an NZ lawyer in the local vege store or rice paddy! 

So all please keep your fingers crossed for me that I can get this paperwork done WITHOUT flying to Tokyo!!  Hope you are all doing well and getting some sun.

Charly

Bah, paperwork

Yikes...  Jeff and I are talking about having me reapply for JET in the hopes of getting me a job closer by BUT the application is due end of November and I only just realised how much paperwork is involved - eek!!  I had blocked out the painful memories of getting the excess of paperwork done last time we applied, so am having a wee freakout about getting it done in time now!!  Am trying to rope in anyone I can to move things along faster - having my little sis fill out forms in NZ to save postage, emailling medical stuff and hoping my referees kept my letter on file!!  Please all keep your fingers crossed for me that I can get all this stuff together and shipped back to NZ in time to try to apply again. 
After that you can all cross them for me that a job close by comes free and that the Board of Education's description of who they want matches ME.  So yes, there is a lot of luck involved in this!! 

A nervous Charly

Yikes, it's COLD.

Hey,

I don't mean to moan about the temperature AGAIN - I've only just stopped complaining about the heat.  BUT last night on my drive home it was 4 degrees!!  I mean, it's 4 degrees in October and it was still hitting 30 in late September!  No wonder it is a massive shock to the system!!  I'm sitting on the couch in my PJs and have spent the last two hours urging myself to go do a few weights.  However, that involves changing out of my PJ pants into shorts, so so far no go!!  (If I work out in my PJs, ok, my merino long johns, then I won't have their warmness to wear to bed tonight, so yes I do have to change)  Instead the only time I've got off the couch has been to make more tea... 

Had an interesting conversation with my boss the other day which ended up with the decision that one of my sisters would fly over for a couple of weeks to cover for him while he takes a holiday.  Currently Beth and Kate are fighting it out to decide who should come.  It sounds like Beth has the time but Kate has the money.  We will see what happens... 

But no wonder I didn't feel like leaving NZ was a big deal - within six months we will have had Kate or Beth, Sandra and Geoff, Trudi, my parents and possibly Laura all visit us!!  We moved to Japan and the rest of NZ is following us!! 

Oh, yay, the sun has come out.  Hopefully that will warm the house a little.  This cold is a particuarly big shock because we spent the weekend at my apartment on Mukaishima, which is always several degrees warmer than Jinseki (last night it was 7 degrees there. Once it was 9 in Jinseki and 18 in Onomichi.  Sucks to have an uninsulated house in Jinseki!).  Jeff stayed down for the weekend, so we could go explore the island where I stay.  We drove round the edge, past lots of little ports and old fishing boats and peered at houses that were built with no reference to the fact they were on the sea.  While in NZ houses in that situation would be all decks and big sliding doors, here they would abhore the idea of indoor-outdoor flow (outside dirt coming inside... ugh!!) and everything is very shut off, with only a small balcony that you can hang your futon over to air them. 

Geography note:  I probably haven't explained this previously, but I use Onomichi, Mukaishima and Innoshima fairly interchangeably.  In actual fact, Innoshima is where the main school that I work is, Mukaishima is a smaller school that I stay above and occasionally teach in and Onomichi is the main city that I drive through to get to the islands.  'Shima' means island. 

Saturday night in Mukaishima was fun.  Jeff was supposed to meet a friend in Fukuyama, but it was going to be a really late night and would rely on me being sober driver and driving home pretty late.  Here you cannot even have one drink and drive, BUT (or perhaps because of this) non-alcoholic drinks are almost the same price as a beer when you buy them at a bar.  None of this 'free drinks for the sober driver' stuff!!  So we postponed that plan for a different night and Jeff and I were free to do our own thing.  Conveniently my flat in Mukaishima is within walking distance of two supermarkets, a mall of sorts and a number of restaurants (starting with the okinomiyaki place next door - yum!).  In fact, not just walking distance, but walking in heels distance.  That close.  So in celebration I put on my heels (first time I've worn heels in Japan, so it was a big deal!!!) and we walked around the corner to a ramen place.  There we had yummy ramen and a pork dish that the guy whipped us up and didn't charge us for - little pieces of pork cooked to perfection with a blow torch.  Yum!  We even had beer with dinner - BOTH of us!!  It was so nice being able to have a beer together at a restaurant - another first for Japan.  We then went for a little walk down the street before retiring to my apartment to watch a movie on my laptop and share a bottle of red wine.  Yay!  So it was a really chilled but enjoyable evening. 

That's about all to report, I think.  We are trying to figure out the details for our Christmas holiday - and trying to save our pennies so we can afford it.  Jeff has been kept busy with speech competitions and helping out with an older people's group for English language practise.  The school speeches are funny because the winner of the school speech competition then has the ALT (i.e. Jeff or Luc) write their speech for the regional competion.  I wrote a couple of the Jinseki ones this year.  So Jeff and I were laughing that it will be my speeches taking on his!  (Luc will write some too, but Jinseki or one of Jeff's schools always wins, so it is really just Jeff vs. me!!)  Maybe we should bet a massage on it...  Hmm... too cold for massages, maybe bet a nice homecooked meal on it :)

Ok, now I REALLY need to lift some weights before getting out of the PJs and going to the supermarket.  Hope you are all doing well.

Charly

Japanese horses

I'm supposed to be leaving the house in 23 mins and I still need to shower and dress for work, so this is only a quick catchup note. 

On Saturday I went horseriding with Emma, an American JET who lives in the next town over.  She managed to chance upon a riding stable of sorts - three horses, one of which is pretty chilled to the extent that it is used for riding demonstrations while the rider fires a traditional bow and arrow, one of which is young and green and one which is a little pony.  Emma has been riding the green horse a couple of times a week, training it up, so I rode the chilled one.  After wandering round the arena for a while as Emma trained up her one, the Japanese bloke who owns them came out, bareback, on the little pony and we were told we were going for a trail ride.  He took us on a little ride past a little lake/dam above his rice paddies, past a random little cemetary hidden in the bushes, along a little ridgeline and back down to the stable.  It was a short but super cute trail ride!  Especially because I was on a ploddy chilled horse following this spry older Japanese man saddle-less on his little pony.  I thought my family would have approved!

Sunday we went down to Fukuyama to pick up a couple of things (important things like real coffee and Vegemite!).  We got a little bit of Christmas shopping done (trying to be organised early because it's hard to get stuff here that a) you can't get in NZ, b) isn't lots more expensive than NZ and c) is postage-friendly) then headed home in time to catch the vege shop before it closed.  The highlight of the day (other than the cute hat I bought!) was dinner - I had been craving something spicey so I made an Indian curry (Japanese do not do spicey, none of their food is hot :(  ).  The curry was really tasty and we ate far too much of it.  But it was so good, and wasn't an expensive meal.  I forsee me making it very often!! 

Ok, shower time.  13 mins, eek!!  Gosh, I'm terrible with time!!!! 

Hope you are all well,
Charly

Festivals and sponge cake

Hello there, 

Time for your next update... a little overdue really... 

Last weekend was a three day weekend.  Jeff and I had initially had plans to go away, but we have realised that, as good as Jeff's salary is, all this travel is burning through it pretty fast and we need to save up for our Christmas trip and our travels with our visitors in March/April (we have Geoff & Sandra, Trudi and my parents all visiting within two months!  Awesome, but our bank account won't love us for it!).  Then we were inundated by invitations to festivals, so we decided to stick local. 

On Saturday we had been invited to a festival at the school next door.  I was picturing something like an NZ gala day, with stalls to buy things and kids projects to admire.  We had a lazy morning, watching Outrageous Fortune and eating Korean pancakes for lunch (yum, thanks Jeff!), then headed over about 2pm, knowing it finished at 3pm.  The school was silent, and when I poked my head into the gym, there were heaps and heaps of people in there, sitting in the dark.  We started to beat a hasty retreat, but the maths teacher came out and ushered us in.  They told us to sit down at the back - as if we could see anything in the complete darkness.  They finally navigated us to a couple of chairs, the curtains on stage opened and a play started/continued (no idea which - we don't have enough Japanese to understand what was happening at all!).  I, at least, knew the kids, so could watch with the knowledge that I would later be able to tell them how well they did (although, for the record, when you don't speak the language, it's really hard to tell good acting from bad.  I mean, the fake laughing was pretty fake, but maybe it was supposed to be like that...??).  Jeff, on the other hand, just realised he had an hour of watching a play with kids he didn't know speaking a language he didn't understand, so he scooted out, mumbling something about not feeling well.  So that 'festival' wasn't really what we had in mind!  Clearly it was more like a school performance. 

Sunday we had been told about the Yuki festival.  Jeff works in two different schools in Yuki, so felt he should check it out, but then we were fearful it would be the Yuki version of what we had experienced on Saturday in Jinseki.  For that reason, we went after lunch, figuring that way we weren't stuck for too long if it wasn't enjoyable.  However, this was a totally different experience.  We had to follow a track down into the woods to a beautiful little shrine tucked away in the forest.  There, the straight road/path to the shrine was lined with cymbol-like drums being beaten by guys in ceremonial jackets.  The road itself had taiko drums and drummers filling it.  There were four drummers to a drum and they wore amazing costumes - huge elaborate feathered headdresses, crazy orange and yellow jackets and lime green sashes holding everything in place.  They beat the drums with something that looked like a small hand weight had sex with a cheerleader's pompom.  There was dancing and chanting and drumming.  At each end of the drummers was a black two-man dragon, swirling and posing in time to the beat.  A man in a blonde wig and mask like a red, angry Pinnochio strode/danced up and down between the drummers. I couldn't help pondering if that was what we (read 'I') looked like to them - some blonde haired, red faced devil, a reference to other cultures trying to invade.  I don't know if that's the origin of the costume, but it sure looked like that to me. 

We hadn't been there too long when we got asked to come around the back, where they had small shrines, made to be carried by four to eight people.  Initially we were dressed in the ceremonial jackets and made to help carrying the childrens one (WAY more difficult than it should have been - trying to carry something while NOT standing on the three year old or the loop of rope he was trailing right in front of my feet).  We relinquished that one when it went up for it's ceremonial blessing, feeling like right gits carrying the kiddies shrine.  However, one of the men's groups, when they saw Jeff was free, grabbed him to help carry their shrine - assumably feeling a big tall foreigner would find it easy to carry their shrine.  However, Jeff was so much taller than the bloke in front of him that the guy was struggling to even look like he was taking any weight.  Jeff had the option of taking far more than his 1/8 of the (very heavy!) shrine, or walking with a part squat.  In the event, he alternated.  I ran alongside taking lots of photos and videos (they should hit facebook soon!) when they carried the shrine from the main building, along the driveway to a little park area where more ceremonial stuff happened (some little girls danced, some old guys in priestly clothes said some stuff in Japanese, there was lots more drumming... by this point I was so hungry my concentration span had totally gone!), then getting Jeff food when he was waiting on taking the shrine back to the other end (yes, I was much better once I had eaten!!). 

When they were finally able to take the shrine back, Jeff and I returned our jackets (sadly - I was really hoping to keep mine!!) and wandered home with the crowds - stopping only to buy a banana and chocolate crepe - YUM.  All in all it was a really great day.  And the bruise on Jeff's shoulder has almost disappeared now...

Monday, being the holiday, we had been invited to a taiko drum festival in Shobara, our closest town and closest proper supermarket.  Zac, one of the other JETs was involved in the performance, so we were picking up Emma (another JET) and heading out there.  That one was a lot more popular than the previous two festivals - by the time we had bought tickets, paid for parking, driven miles to the carpark, found a park, then walked at least a km to the festival, we totally missed Zac's performance.  Luckily we heard it as we walked over, so we could still report that he did great.  However, when we got in we found the grounds to be so packed that there was no way we could get close enough to tell which drummer was not Japanese.  He could have been in EVERY performance and we wouldn't have been able to tell.  After the drummers there was a fireworks display that put NZ ones to shame.  It is true, the Japanese do amazing fireworks.  Also, this is dorky, but in NZ I spend fireworks displays being worried about all the horses nearby potentially freaking out.  So it was nice to not worry about any ponies, for once!  Of course, when we were driving out, about 100m down the road Emma pointed and said 'The horses I ride live just down that road'.  So much for no horses to freak out!!

Sorry if this seems a little hurried, but I have to get out the door in an hour and half for work and I still need to pack lunch and dinner, shower and pack my stuff for tomorrow.   And bring in the laundry and maybe do the dishes.  *sigh*  The joys of not being the income earner...  In all fairness Jeff does heaps round the house, but I feel guilty if he brings home the bacon AND cooks it.  And cleans up after.  If you know what I mean... 

Oh, just realised I never explained the sponge cake thing!  Yesterday I went to school at Jinseki chugakko, the school next door.  I only intended to stick round for a couple of hours, but Ken (the teacher that organised for me to attend) asked me to stay another couple of hours, as he had organised an interesting class for me.  Fearing that 'interesting' meant another two hour koto lesson (I do NOT have the patience to play the Japanese harp!!  I think you just play the same piece again and again until you remember it... boring!!), I said yes anyway.  However, it turned out he had organised for me to join in the cooking class.  They were making sponge roll - a cake that the Japanese are particuarly into and you can buy at any conveni (like a dairy).  I was really excited, thinking I was going to learn how to make a sweet treat without an oven (Japanese kitchens only have the gas stove top and a microwave).  However, it turned out that what I mistook for large microwaves were actually electric ovens.  So we made a cake that none of the kids would be able to reproduce at home...  Not so useful!  However, it turns out that the pride of taking home a piece of the baking you did at school doesn't diminish with age (or at least it doesn't if your cooking ability is as poor as mine!), so I was crazy proud of my battered, squished-looking piece of sponge roll that I took home for Jeff!

Next week doughnuts... might have to make it to school again next week!! 

Hope this finds you all well...

Charly

White water rafting Part II

Hey, so part II of our rafting adventures:

Just before lunch we successfully navigated a rapid (yay!  This was rare!) and our guide offered that we could 'surf' it if we wanted.  This involved paddling upstream until your boat was under the waterfall which would a) sometimes get you stuck there, b) get you all very wet (see the facebook photos if you doubt this...  It's the ones where most of the boat is submerged) and c) potentially - if badly managed - flip your boat. 

Ok, so being smart cookies, you can all see what is coming now, right? 

Yes, we paddled on in and the force of the water caught us, pushing the front of the boat under (where I was, incidentally.  Who needs to breath, right??).  The force of the water then pushed our boat sideways, so the left side was being pushed under by the pummelling of the water.  Our guide yelled to lean right, so we all transferred our weight to the right side of the boat.  But it was too little too late.  The force of the water flipped the whole boat over, spilling everyone into the broiling water. 

My big fear with white water rafting had always been to get tipped out and come up under the boat.  Now, though, I was strangely calm.  Perhaps it was because I had the most experience out of everyone on our boat (most were newbies.  Jeff was very rude about some of the paddling!!) or perhaps it was because of the millions of times in my childhood that I had been told how to survive a rip.  As I came up I realised I was under Alex, who had been at the front of the boat with me, and above her I felt the boat.  Instead of fighting for the surface and ending up under the boat (which a number of people did), I let the current take me further downstream until I popped up by one of the other boats, who fished me out.  I was noticeably the only one who travelled that far downstream before being put back in a boat.  Something which didn't really concern me, decked out as I was in my sexy mustard fleece, wetsuit with holes in the crotch, battered-looking helmet and 'Happy Raft' logoed lifejacket.  Come on, when you're kitted out like that you can take on the world!! 

So, by this point we had all definitively earnt our lunch break (and, more importantly, our toilet break!!) and we enjoyed the opportunity to eat chicken and salad bagels, drink warm tea and queue for the smelly portaloos! 

After lunch, we were refreshed, recharged and ready to go.  If a little more cautious-feeling than in the morning... 

The afternoon was pretty similar to the morning - you know, a river, boats, water and rocks to get stuck on.  And stuck on rocks we got.  Again and again.  Finally, we were approaching another rapid, when we took a wrong angle and glanced off a rock on the side.  This deflected us into another rock, which sent us ricochetting into a large low-lying rock in the centre of the rapid.  Time slowed down as we were stuck at the top of the rapid, the water slowly pivotting the boat until, as we faced backwards, the water pushed us free and down the rapid. 

A novel way to do the rapids...

As we fell, the front of the boat flicked up, sending Sarah and I caterpaulting out.  As Sarah went, she fell across Jeff, bending his oar across his knee.  In case you can't picture this, here is the mean action shot (if you look at this picture on facebook you will find that I am tagged in the white water to the right of the boat):



Sarah - yellow helmet - bending Jeff's paddle as she falls across him - black helmet.  I am long gone...

After bumping off a few rocks I popped up close to our boat and with a couple of swim strokes was able to hang on.  I went down a few smaller drops hanging on to the outside of the boat, with Jeff trying to haul me in and me trying to not get hauled in for fear of getting squished between an underwater rock and the boat.  I figured I was safer doing my own thing, amply protected by my lifejacket, wetsuit and helmet.  However, the guides were bellowing at Jeff to get me in, so despite my protesting, Jeff grabbed me by the lifejacket and dragged me into the boat.  Just in time to go down the last large drop on that run of rapids, with Jeff lying on the bottom of the boat and me hunkered down, spider-like over him, trying to hang onto any ropes I could reach. 

As we pulled over at the bottom, I was protesting that I was fine and that I didn't see the danger in letting me stay outside the boat until we reached a calm bit.  However, as I was explaining this, other boats were negotiating the rapids.  We heard a shout of alarm - a small Japanese girl had fallen out of her raft.  As we watched, she was rushed by the water, just ahead of the boat.  There was a few metres of clear water, then the brunt of the current pushed the river into a big rounded stone, sticking a metre or two out of the water.  We watched in open-mouthed horror as the current pushed her towards the stone, the boat only a foot or so behind her.  With centimetres to spare her guide managed to hook onto her lifejacket and pull her into the boat, only seconds before the boat would have slammed her against the rock. 

"Oh," I said.  "That's what can go wrong..."

If you are a concerned or attentive person, you may be wondering by now what happened to Sarah while my lovely husband (the only one capable of pulling people into the boat properly) was busy saving me.  When I first managed to reach the boat, Sarah had been a couple of metres behind me.  I tried to grap onto a paddle, hoping she would grab the other end, but we were both too dazed to manage that.  As the boat and I were swept further away, another boat threw a safety rope out to Sarah, so they could haul her to safety.  As she was getting towed back in, congratulating herself on remembering how to grab the safety rope correctly, she glanced upstream in time to see her oar coming straight for her, and the hard end smack straight into her forehead.  BAD LUCK!!  The good news is Sarah's lump on her forehead was the worst of the injuries and we were able to put our boat back together with everyone in one piece. 

After this, we managed to stay in the boat except for when we chose to get out to swim or leap off big rocks (ok, in my case, get pushed off big rocks because I was too wussy to jump!  I was hoping the people below wouldn't hear me ask the guide to push me, but when I climbed back into the boat Jeff was pissing himself laughing at me!!  Bugger!).  In fact, once we got all the big rapids out the way, our guide even got up the confidence to put us in some crazy positions going down the rapids. 

The most notable of these would have been when Alex, Jeff and I were kneeling at the front, top halves hanging over the front of the boat.  My heart was in my mouth when we got caught on a rock (you never would have picked that, right??) and the boat started leaning downwards on an angle, making my head the closest thing to the water.  By that point I was cold and tired and stiff and really didn't feel up to another crazy fall.  If the boat flipped, my head would be the first thing under, so God knows how many people I would have had land on me. Luckily, we got free of the rock and rode the rapids up the right way, landing with everyone in the boat. 

We then did rapids standing up in the boat, lying sideways in the boat, and facing backwards (one of the scarier ones, as I could see the tension in our guide's face!  Note: Sorry if I told you about that one already in Part I, I left too long between these!).  Some of the other boats offloaded so their occupants could go down some rapids without the boat, but by that point the people in our raft were looking cold and exhausted.  There is only so much adrenaline you can take in one day!!

Later, sipping hot tea in dry clothes, I was chatting to one of the guys from a different boat.  He confessed to being a little jealous of us, saying his guide was so competant it made everything look easy.  They had told him the big rapid was 'nothing', but as they watched our boat approach, bouncing off rocks and getting stuck at the top of the waterfall, his guide said 'It's not nothing if you do it like that!' and winced as we slithered down, losing two occupants.  "Your boat looked more exciting!" he said.  Yes, that was a very accurate observation.  Terrifying, heart-attack-inducing, exhausting, exciting... same diff, right?

Cheers,
Charly

P.S.  Sarah says she had a good time, but I doubt she will ever go rafting again. 

Looking death in the eye, aka White Water Rafting Part I

Morning people,

Before I kick this one off (I fear I will have a LOT to say...) and forget I wanted to tell you: this morning I went for a little run (cannot overemphasise the 'little' part...) and saw a SNAKE run over on the road.  It was maybe 30cm, maybe a little more.  Flat enough that I could look at the scales, not so deaded that it was just a flat dry thing.  If I had a camera on me I would have taken a pic - because you KNOW you want to see a flat, dead snake!

Ok, so to the big one: white water rafting!!

Friday night Jeff and I headed down to Fukuyama, where we met the bus of JETs bound for Shikoku Island (I'm skipping a big bit there so I don't bore you to death.  In a few words, 1.5 hr drive to Fukuyama, met Gabrielle at supermarket so she could show us the way back to her house, drove to her place, ran from her place to closest bus stop, 20min bus to Fukuyama station, used station toilet - grossest, smelliest squat toilet with no paper, found place where JET bus was picking us up from, waited for half hour while the bus was late, THEN met the bus of JETs!).  I was a little overwhelmed at first, as the bus was already pretty full of JETs from Hiroshima, who were a) excited and b) had been drinking.  They all knew Jeff and were politely enthusiastic about meeting me (read between the lines when 'politely enthusiastic' coincides with 'drinking').  But after the bus started and everyone was made to sit down so the bus driver didn't get pulled over by the cops, I had a chance to chat to some of the people Jeff had made friends with.  That was good, being able to put faces to names. 

I know I'm probably stupid for being surprised (again and again) at this, but it always impresses me how every time Jeff says he really likes someone or really got along with someone, that I find them really cool too.  I mean, even with best friends there are inevitably SOME people you disagree on.  But Jeff's judgement seems to strongly coincide with mine (though mine are inevitably expressed much stronger, while Jeff is more willing to give someone a chance when I think they are a git).  So I enjoyed meeting the people he had hung out with at language camp. 

Anyway, that night we drove about an hour and a half, maybe two, crossing the bridge to Shikoku Island (one of the big four, kind of South-east of the main island, Honshu).  We stayed the night in a traditional hotel, a ryokan (hope I spelt that right!), where we stayed on tatami mats with futons.  There were two of us couples sharing a room, which was slightly odd, but good because we didn't have to worry about a raging party in our room (he was a fairly quiet American guy who spoke a bit of Japanese, she was a quiet Japanese girl who spoke a bit of English.  Fascinating, having a relationship where there is no language they are both fluent in.  Or maybe that's a recipe for success - at least from the guy's point of view!). 

We spent AGES that evening wandering round the streets in search of a conveni - stupidly we let a drunk guy look at the map initially.  Finally when it was clear we weren't getting anywhere useful our Japanese roommate took the map and directed us to the conveni.  Luckily it was a nice night for walking, because we had walked in a big circle to find the conveni when it was pretty much straight down the road from our accomodation!!  Stupid drunk gaijins.  After getting a couple of drinks and some midnight snacks we went back to one of the other rooms to be sociable.  About 1am I decided there were too many fart jokes and Gregg was getting more nude than I was comfortable with, so I took off back to our room and not long after the rest of our room followed.  Sleepy time!! 

6:40am we started our day with a traditional Japanese breakfast.  I hadn't had one of those before, and to be honest, I wouldn't rush to have one again.  I don't remember EVERYTHING served, but will try to list what I remember: half raw egg served in some kind of broth, a fish steak, several types of pickled vegies, some kind of sweet bean, rice, miso soup, green tea, seaweed, salad (lettuce, tomato, ham and salad dressing), and more pickled THINGS (nope, no idea what!).  I admit I am rather pedantic about breakfast, and NEED to start my day with a balanced nutritious feed - usually porridge or muesli with fruit and yoghurt, although occasionally I have toast with - you guessed it - fruit and yoghurt.  So we all felt a bit out of kilter starting the day with such an odd assortment of food.  At least I had managed to eat all mine - many others, Jeff included, couldn't stomach that food at that time of the morning and consequently were really hungry by the start of rafting. 

Yes, the rafting.  I'm getting there.  After another hour and a half bus ride we all piled off at Happy Raft.  There a Nelson boy gave us our forms and explained things, a bloke in the biggest pounamu ever got us into our wetsuits and a bloke who - according to all the Americans - looked like the Dad in Boy gave us the safety talk.  The four of us Kiwis on the trip were cracking up  - we come to Japan to go rafting and it's all Kiwis!! 

However, when we got put on our boat we got an Australian guide - they cleverly have plenty of guides, so foreigners get an English-speaking guide (well, Australian is close to English :P) and Japanese customers got a Japanese guide.  I guess for safety reasons you don't want to go down rapids unable to understand what your guide is telling you! 

There were two notable things about our boat: we had Sarah, a physically timid English woman who only came because Jeff peer-pressured her into it and she was TERRIFIED.  And for our guide we had 'Milky' - and we were his first ever boatload of customers to take down the river.  I think you could safely say he was also terrified.  So, as you can imagine, not a great combination!! 

We started our day by plunging into the water while we were waiting on the boats - we were SO hot in our wetsuits, fleeces and helmets in the hot sun!!  So we were all wet before we even got into the boats :)  Back at base everyone had been complaining about wearing wetsuits and 'do we have to wear fleeces?'  I kept telling them that I'm sure the guides knew what they were doing recommending we wear them, and that five hours on the river, wet, especially if we were in the shade, was a LONG time and they would get cold.  Sure enough, as soon as everyone plunged into the river their eyes widened with the shock of the cold water and there were no further complaints about wetsuits or the ugly mustard fleeces! 

As we set off down the river our guide taught us the basic commands - paddle forwards, paddle backwards, stop, lean left, lean right, hang on and get in.  We also had safety talks about what happens if your boat flips or if someone falls out and needs the safety rope (turns out we needed all that info!).  I was pretty laid back about the whole affair - having done the 7m waterfall in Rotorua, I expected the day to be fun, but not scary.  How wrong was I!

The morning was pretty calm most of the time, with fairly small rapids warming us into it.  There were LOADS of other boats out, so you were safe in the knowledge someone would fish you out quickly if you fell.  In fact, our company had at least six boats go out at once and apparently there are TWENTY different companies running tours on the river, with no coordination between them as to who goes when.  So before every rapid there were actually traffic jams, and we would have to pull up to the side and wait our turn! 

Perhaps the scariest bit was when our guide made us turn around, hunker down and face backwards while we went down a particular rapid.  As we went down, I could see the tension and fear on 'Milky's face - probably the scariest moment up till then!  Sitting at the front of the boat, it had never occurred to me I wasn't in confident, capable hands!! 

Then, just before lunch, it happened.

Oops, sorry, out of time!  Will have to finish this tomorrow.  Watch this space!!

It got CHILLY

Hi people,

Sorry I've been slack about updating this! 

On the temperature front (do you notice a theme to my updates??), yesterday we passed a sign that said it was 14 degrees.  Jeff pointed out this meant the temperature has dropped 10 degrees in a week!  No wonder we are feeling the difference!  While it is now a LOVELY temperature during the day - tshirts and long pants type weather - the nights are not so ideal. 

When it was really hot we bought 'summer sheets' - like a really light single duvet, so you have one each.  They provide a little more warmth than a couple of sheets and are easy to throw off or pull on as the temperature changes.  They are pretty small, so Jeff's feet hang out the end - not that this is an issue in 30 degree heat.  However, now that things have cooled down SUDDENLY we need something a little warmer.  We tried to cuddle to warm up, but that just mean one person's blanket would fall off them entirely, so you would wake to a slice of cold air down your shoulder...  But tomorrow we can go shopping, so we will pick up a 'normal' duvet (to go with our 'normal' bed!).  So only one more night and we will be PERFECT. 

In other news... on my way home to Jinseki on Wednesday night Jeff contacted me to warm me to drive carefully because of the bear warning!

I didn't pick this as ideal bear territory...

Apparently he was shown the Bear Poster by his supervisor at work.  The language gap was too great for them to explain much, but they were able to tell him that a bear had been seen in Jinseki (our little town) and another one in Yuki (where Jeff teaches at a couple of schools).  He wanted to know how careful we had to be - is it a bad idea to walk around our little village at night?  Are we safe to take the rubbish down to the shed? - but they didn't understand, and one bloke just started doing his best snarling bear imitation at Jeff.  Ok, helpful... 

Ah, this looks more like where we will find the bears...

Other than that, not too much going down over here.  We had a big weekend last weekend, as Monday was a public holiday, so we went North to Matsue.  A quick itinerary:

Saturday - Went to Izumo taika, to the second most important shrine in Japan, the shrine of marriage.  Wandered around, took some pics, were completely swamped by all the Japanese and didn't really know what anything was.  Highlight was the frogs in the pond. 

Looking for frogs

Jeff's wildlife photography

               - Headed out to a lighthouse, where we were able to go for a a walk on the rocks and look at the sea.  Made us miss home a little bit, especially after the chaos at the shrine.  I noticed my conversation was veering dangerously close to what was wrong with Japan and what was great about NZ.  So not our BEST day. 

Charly sitting on rocks by lighthouse.  Yes that bloke is taking my picture.  Odd...

               - Got out to Matuse that night.  We intended to have a quiet evening, but there was some kind of festival on at Matsue Castle (an ancient samurai castle), so the lovely people running our accommodation took us out there (actually, they TOLD us we were going and pretty much put us forcibly in the car lol.  Obviously they felt it would be unforgivable if we missed it!).  The castle and grounds were all lit by large paper lanterns, giving an other-worldly glow.  It was insanely beautiful, sitting up at the edge of the grounds looking down on the lower gardens lit by lanterns, the city lights beyond and all over, the moat and canals reflecting all these lights.  Totally the highlight of my trip.  Probably one of those experiences I will remember Japan for in ten or twenty years time.

Castle grounds lit by paper lanterns

View from the top of the castle

Sunday - We thought we would spend the morning wandering round the shops before going on the canal boat and hitting the other big tourist spots in the afternoon.  Unfortunately we thought we were going the right way, judging by the road signs, and didn't bother checking the map (ok, three maps!!) in my backpack.  Turns out we were wrong.  Several hours in the sun later, we finally found the shopping mall in time to grab some sushi, let the sweat dry and head back to our accomodation.
           - Back in our room Jeff fell asleep while I read a little.  I finally woke him, concerned we would miss the boat if we left any later, and we headed back out.  Refreshed after our downtime in the air con, we went on a supercute little canal boat, going under some bridges so low we all had to lie on the flat floor of the boat while the awning was lowered.  There were lots of giggle from the Japanese women watching Jeff try to squash down enough! 

Squashing down in the teeniest tunnel!!

           - After our boat ride, we had a look at a traditional samurai residence (I learnt the true reason Jeff learnt Japanese and came to Japan: he loooooves samurai stuff!).  Jeff was delighted to see that the room for the 'Master of the House' was much bigger than the room for his wife - and pointed out to me that he should therefore get a bigger room than me.  He loves that I can't argue this, because my Foreigners ID actually says 'Master of the House: Jeffrey Wigg' on it.  When we go to England and he can only stay because of MY passport I'll make him pay!! 
           - We then went back through the castle grounds because Jeff wanted to see them by day AND night (ok, I'll be honest, I wasn't complaining.  That castle was seriously cool!).  After taking onehundredmillion photos we headed off for dinner. 

Jeff with his castle

Sunday - We headed out of town, stopping at Cafe Rosso, recommended by a friend.  There Jeff had the most amazing coffee ever.  No idea what it tasted like, but I wouldn't let him drink it until he had taken photos of it!! 



Jeff's amazing coffee!

             - Next was Saioogobasogeuwr (yes, it has a real name, I just never remeember it!).  It is a manga-themed town, with a street lined with statues of manga (Japanese cartoon characters) and every store selling some type of manga product.  Unfortunately every other person in Japan also considered the public holiday a good time to visit, so we shot out of there fairly quickly (well, ok, not until I had time to eat an eyeball - one of the manga characters). 



Eating an eyeball... yeah :)

             - We had lunch and hit up the Body Shop (yay!  Products that I know what they are, and don't contain bleach!!!) in Yonago, then headed down to the Adachi Museum.  This place is famous for having been voted Japan's no. 1 garden for seven or eight years now.  We thought a beautiful garden would be just the antidote to all the crowds, people and heat of the last few days (yes, those of you who are knowledgeable about Japanese culture will be laughing at us know!).  Oh, how taken aback we were to discover the garden is kept so beautiful by only letting people view it from behind glass!!  We felt very very stupid! 

Photo taken through glass...

Fenced off from the garden...

After trying to decipher the Japanese signs, we managed to find one area where we could at least hop from stone to stone, admiring the pond and getting some fresh air.  For the three metres the path lasted.  They were right, it is a truly beautiful garden.  But I think in future we would trade a little beauty for the chance to wander round in it.  Although maybe we just have to wait for the next country for that!!

Hope you are all doing well...

Cheers Charly

P.S. Yeah, managed to add pictures!!  Will try to keep this blog interesting by adding pics when appropriate.

Excerpt from an email

This is just a wee excerpt from an email I am writing Mum, because it is VERY important and you should all know about it!

'Good news on the temperature front - it has finally cooled down!  Yay!!  Yesterday I was sitting on the couch in shorts and a sports bra, having done a few exercises before brekkie (I didn't bring any workout tops and only one pair of workout shorts so I try to exercise inside so I can do it in my underwear!  Next time I go into town guess what I'm buying!  Yes, men's workout tops!).  Anyway, I had been sitting there for a an hour or so answering emails when I felt this strange uncomfortable, unfamiliar feeling.  I had to think about it for a while, then I remembered it...  yes, I was cold!  I would have danced a jig in happiness but that would have warmed me up, so I just went off to have a (warm!) shower and get dressed.'

 

I fully understand if you feel the need to crack open a bottle of bubbly right now at your work desk in celebration of this - we thought we would never make it, but the coolness was only a fortnight after they PROMISED us it would cool down!!! 

 

Jeff even said we need to go buy a proper blanket - we have been sleeping under 'summer sheets' (like really light duvets, a good size for kids or sweaty adults who just push them off).  But if Jeff pulls his up his toes stick out, so they are no good for when he actually wants to warm up.  Of course we could cuddle to warm up, but after a month and a half of waking with heat exhaustion if our limbs accidentally touch, it's hard to break the habit of sleeping as far away from each other as possible. 

 

When I talk about 'warming up', it's probably still mid 20's or something, but we have got used to it being SO hot that any drop in temperature seems extreme!

 

Now that you have heard this tremendous news, I will leave you to celebrate. 

Kim chi and rice with emotional blackmail for dessert...

Hey people,

Well, as you can tell by the title of this post, I just had kim chi (even though it's Korean!) with rice and tuna for lunch YUM. 
Shortly after eating, while sitting nursing my cup of tea, I got a call from Ken (my Japanese teacher).  As my phone is stupid and has the 'reject' button immediately below the name of who is calling and immediately above the call button I, as per usual, hit the wrong button and rejected his call (I do it almost every time.  It has actually become a habit now that I don't know how to break!). 
I called back straight away and was met by the confusion of the classroom and a little Japanese girl telling me, "No, not sensei.  I'm Aoi."  Aoi sits next to me in class and her English is some of the best in the class.  I'm not sure what's chicken and what is egg there, but the two are linked...  But her English is better than most of her classmates and her English teacher - my Japanese teacher - knows it.
I couldn't possibly explain the confusion of that message with me trying to work out whether they had just knicked his phone to play a prank or if it had been an accident that he called me or what, while she ummed and ahhed - or rather 'Ee toouuuu'ed. 
I had a sudden brainwave, remembering one of Jeff's class experiences (he had said 'hello' as he walked in the class, so five minutes later when he started his self-introduction he started off with 'how are you?'  The students all looked at him in silent confusion until one little boy tentatively answered, 'hello, how are you?').  I took the conversation back to stock standard phrases, asking 'hello, how are you?' to get us back on familiar ground.
From here the conversation was more what Aoi had been expecting and she hesitantly relayed her message; 'We need you.  Come back to school at any time.'
I was confused, wondering if it was because they had English class after lunch or needed help with their speeches.  I tried to ask if they needed me for English class but she didn't understand.  I tried asking her to repeat her message, both in English and in Japanese, but she just made confused noises again, said 'bye' then hung up. 
On one hand, I could go 'aww, the kids must have missed me and asked Ken if they could contact me to ask me back!' but the fact is that when I told the students I was leaving (I wrote it down because they understand written English much easier than spoken) I didn't get much reaction at all.  A smile and a nod of understanding was about it.  I don't expect them to cry and throw me a goodbye party after my eight days in school, but I thought they would be a little disappointed.  Little girls in NZ would make a big deal about being sad their pet foreign adult was leaving!  I kept asking if they understood, because I expected at least Aoi to look disappointed, but nothing. 
So I cannot regard that phone call with anything other than suspicion.  Call me a cynic, but I believe I can safely assume that Ken taught her that phrase then handed her his phone to make the call!  Emotional blackmail, much?

Ok, just spoke to Jeff and he, being far less judgemental or quick to jump to conclusions (I call it irrationally idealistic!), has pointed out that a lot gets lost in translation and that it was probably supposed to be a message to let me know that I am welcome back to the school at any time.  I guess it is true that while Ken's English is good, it is far from perfect and the strength and intimation of the word 'need' may have been lost on him. 

I don't know... I'm feeling bad enough about disappointing Ken by leaving school and disappointing Jeff by leaving him on his own in Jinseki during the week... the LAST thing I need is little kids putting the guilts on me!! 

Job, I think...

Hey people,

Things aren't totally confirmed, as in I haven't been given a contract to sign and Jeff hasn't crunched the numbers to make sure I will win financially on this one, but it looks like I have a JOB.  Yay!

It's in Onomichi, well, actually on an island out from Onomichi, so will take about 1 hr 45 to get to from our little place in Jinseki.  My plan is to drive down, work the day, stay the night in the staff accomodation, work the next day, then drive back to Jinseki.  I intend to work four days a week, so that way I would drive in one direction each working day, spending two nights a week down on my little island.  It's not ideal being that far from home so often, but it will stop me going certifiably insane at home (school isn't a lot better.  I understand so little and I'm not picking new stuff up fast.  Think I'm just too beginner to improve from just listening). 

Also it will mean we have our little city/island pad, so when we want to go drinking in the city with friends, we can bus home after.  Last time we went out 'drinking' with our friends I was sober driver, so when we left the city I had a 1.5 hr drive home on dark, windy roads (windy? windey?  I think windy but I mean they winds round, not that there it is windy as in blowing a gale... Sometimes English is sucky!).  In Japan you can't even have one alcoholic drink and drive, so it wasn't the awesomeness that it could have been...

So Jeff is going to number crunch tonight, to make sure that me working four days a week will get enough money to cover my Onomichi rent, my fuel and other car costs (the bridge to the island is a toll bridge) and still have me earning.  So watch this space!

I gave my Japanese teacher, Ken, the bad news today.  I was expecting to do this big speil explaining how Jeff and I wanted the extra money to travel with and how much I had appreciated the opportunity and everything, but it ended up being a 30 second conversation.  He kinda just went 'ok' and took off - always a bad sign! 

Further, I'm not sure if I've made things better or worse by telling him I would like to come in on some of my days off.  I wanted to say that because a) it is a good opportunity for me to practise my Japanese on the students, b) most importantly, I felt that it would show Ken and the other teachers that I appreciated what they had done for me and still wanted to hang out with them when I could, and c) I thought Ken would take it better if I weaned myself off the school slowly, rather than spurning it totally. 

However, later in class Ken told me, in front of the students, that they were doing a play and performing it in front of their parents.  I said, "Cool", which meant, "I hope you're only telling me this because you are intending to invite me to watch..."  He then said, "And you are part of it, you will be in it because you are one of us." 

So as well-meaning as my comment about coming in every now and then on my day off was, maybe I gave him false home about how much I would be round.  I told him I would be working four days a week, but maybe he thinks I will be working some weekends (which I won't be)...?  I'm now wondering if I should have shut up about coming in on my days off.  It just seemed easier, to only come in every now and then, rather than trying to tie up all my loose ends in one go - collecting my drawings from art class, paying for all my school lunches that I haven't been billed for yet, giving a thank-you speech to the teachers, etc.  To slowly fade from the school just seemed an easier option.  Even so I will have to get a small thankyou gift for the teachers and a larger one for Ken (they are really big on gift-giving in Japan). 

Oh - just heard lots of noise and rustling in the neighbour's garden.  Thought it was my neighbour.  It wasn't, it was a crow!  Those things are MASSIVE!

So that's where things are at atm in the life of Charly.

Off to cook dinner so it's on the table when Jeff gets home - what a good little wife!  Trying to make up for the fact I will soon be ditching Jeff to cook for himself four out of five weeknights!!  (The 'early' shift finishes at 8pm, so I wouldn't be back to Jinseki until around 10pm)

Hope you are all well,
Charly

To work or not to work, that is the question...

Hey people,

Just a quick note because I'm supposed to be working on my Mighty River Power editing that I took the day off school to do...

On Saturday I'm heading down to Onomichi, 1.5 hours away, to check out a job.  It's as an English conversation teacher, is well paid, is 1/2 to 3/4 time hours, includes a fairly cheap staff flat and is in what sounds a beautiful part of the world - on the waterfront where I have to cross two islands to get there from the mainland!  It is also close to supermarkets, martial arts classes and places where I can get a feed - those things my current location is not exactly littered with.

I'm trying not to jump the gun because there are any number of things that could stop me taking the job, from work hours to driving distance to disliking the place.  However, I have got really excited about the possibility of independence - working and bringing some money into our wee family.  Don't tell Jeff, but I FULLY intend to go buy stuff with my new money!  Jokes, I actually can't buy anything - I don't fit the clothes, can't wear makeup in this heat and it's stupid to buy books that I then have to pay to post home.  So there will not be much of the buying.  But if I'm earning it will still stop me feeling bad when I do have to buy a new top/moisturiser/notebook. 

Having said all this, being a student at the local school is still an awesome way to learn the lingo and if this job doesn't happen for whatever reason, I will continue to go to Jinseki school - although maybe only part time, to allow myself to try to write 'the novel' and get boring things like laundry and hoovering done (amazing how much more enjoyable they are when you have something to procrastinate though...). 

Speaking of procrastination, that is EXACTLY what I'm doing here, so I should get back to it...

Oh, pretend you all care about my shopping: I bought some sunscreen from strawberrynet.com today... LOVING that store!!  I heard from more than one source that all the sunscreen over here has bleach in it (which I totally believe because everything with English labels says 'whitening' - that's the last thing I need!!) and it is called 'milk' as opposed to 'cream' - meaning that trying to apply it involves getting more on your clothing than you exposed body parts.  So I bought normal sunscreen - free international shipping AND free lippie for being a new customer!  New favourite website!!!

Hope you are all doing good.... I will update you after my job-scope session on Saturday.

Charly

P.S. Wow, I use ... way too often.  Just had a look through this before I hit Publish Post and almost every paragraph ended with them.  Oops!!  Sorry if I'm over punctuating you all!

P.P.S. When I have a chance (read: when I've finished my MRP work and Jeff has the internet working) I will try to load some photos on here.  In the meantime, please check Jeff's facebook page as he has been pretty good about loading up pictures.