Hello!!!

 

I'm sooooooooooooo sorry about the lack of action here on the msn space. The truth is I was taken hostage by the Yakuza (Japanese Mafia) and I've only just managed to escape their evil clutches. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it!)

 

Things in Japan haven't changed too much since my last post, except it is now full on summer and bloody hot! Also those crazy Nth Koreans have been launching missiles into Japanese waters but it's all good. If they invade I'll pretend to be a Russian fisherman. There are millions of them around here. I have an interesting story about a couple of Russian girls I met at a bar in Hamada - they were with an old Japanese guy. Sooooooooo dangerous!! I'll tell you later.

 

Life is good - except July/August is the time to say good bye to some of the JETs - this is the change over time for them. So we've been having a few going away parties etc. In August we'll be having the "welcome to Hamada" parties so it's all good. It's pretty hard to say goodbye to mates though. Nina left on Saturday, and it's been really quiet without her. Hard to get used to... never mind, with the internet it's easy to keep in touch.

 

Went out for a Nomihodai/Tabehodai on Tuesday night (all you can drink and eat) and all it cost was 1000 yen!!!($12NZD) Got a little messy, but it was great to see all the Japanese staff (it was a work-do for Youme Town mall) get absolutely munted. I wasn't too much better myself -  I felt it was my duty to drink to the best of my abilities.

 

I'm afraid to say my Japanese language abilty hasn't improved too much - there are a lot of Japanese people who speak pretty good English, even in Hamada, so I haven't really needed to learn the lingo. I want to make an effort now though, for various reasons. I really need lessons - with the Jets leaving I may be able to find a teacher - most Japanese teachers are very busy.

 

I met a very interesting Japanese fella the other day - a mate of a mate. He is fairly random, but a great guy. We went fishing the other day - me, him and Yutaka. Afterwards we went to his place, where we drank sake and green tea and listened to Japanese trance music from the 1980's (I was a little scared)

His house is a pigsty (worse than Picton Ave for those who knew it) but he has one room where he has a shrine. This room is absolutely spotless. In it he has a statue of Buddah, a whole lot of other Buddist things, heaps of religious books and tributes to his ancestors. It was really impressive, I wanted to take a picture, but Buddah would have none of it! Three times I tried to take a picture of the shrine but each time my camera would run out of batteries. It's true, and after that the camera was fine.... very weird.....I kid you not....

This guy's Grandfather was a Kamikaze glider pilot during WW2 (was in training when the war ended) so i've finally found a Japanese person who wants to talk about the war. (It's a difficult subject to bring up - I always wait for the Japanese person to bring up the subject) I told him my Poppa was in the Pacific and he was quite impressed, and also about Grandad in the European side of things. He is a Uni student - I'm surprised he's not in the millitary. He has promised to take me out to "airsoft" which is like paint ball, only more hard-core. Hopefully he doesn't flip out during the airsoft game!!!!

 

I've been eating more random Japanese food - like sparrow!!! Sparrow is how you'd expect - pretty good - apart fropm the beak,brain and feet!!!!! Someone forgot to tell the Japanese to take out those things. The brain is actually liquid, so when you bite into the skull all the delicious sparrow brain juice runs into your mouth. Lucky i'd had a couple of beers by the time I atempted this dish!! I still have to try the raw horse meat - I'll let you know how that goes!

 

Better keep moving, it's past my bedtime!

 

See ya,

 

Edo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey!

 

Been a while since I last put an entry into my space, so thought I'd better check back in.

 

Things have been going well here for me, work is fun (most of the time) and I've managed to get out and try a few new things.

 

Last week or so I got the opportunity to go to an onsen (Japanese hot spring) with Ayumi and her friend, Yutaka. Everyone says you have to try an onsen at least once in Japan so I was keen to give it a go. The only draw back to onsens - well from my point of view anyway - is that you have to go in NAKED! No clothes, nothing at all! Luckily when I went it was quiet, so there were only a few other guys there, as well as me and Ayumi's friend Yutaka, who "showed me the ropes". I tried to preserve my modesty by wearing my towel into the onsen, it was my intention to take it off just before I got in. It was a good plan, but not according to Yutaka. He said something to me in Japanese, and before I knew what was happening he grabbed my towel, whipped it off and dissappeared with it. Luckily I had my flannel still, which I used instead to cover up my gear.... Once we got into the onsen it was a bit better, because it was inside and their was a lot of steam etc, so visability was down. Once I got into the water it was actually really relaxing and I forgot about being naked. It was actually quite cool. I only lasted 10 minutes though, it was so hot, and my head felt kind of funny. When I stood up I felt a little dizzy, so obviously needed some fluids to replace the stuff I'd lost in the onsen. Me and Yutaka had some Calpis (pronounced "Cow Piss") while we waited for Ayumi and talked as best we could, him with a little English and me with no Japanese - it was interesting! After Ayumi came out I was informed that we were going to an izakaya - which was good, because I still had fluids that needed replacing. From years of study I've discovered that beer is the quickest way to replace lost fluids, and has the added bonus of tasting good. So off we went to the izakaya, where we were quickly presented with a couple of pints and the usual array of delicious Japanese food. I have a few new foods to add to my list of "random Japanese food I've tried here": baby squid (boiled) which were nice, suprisingly, as well as fish liver, which was really really awful - i even tried a second bite to see if I was just imagining the taste, but it wasn't happening. All in all it was a great night! But not so good the next morning when I had to go to work!

 

That was a week or so ago, and last night about 5pm I was doing a few odd jobs around the house when my doorbell rang. Not expecting anyone I went down to see Yutaka standing there smiling - time for our first lesson! He came in for a coffee and had a look at my photos etc., and asked if I was keen to go round to his place and meet his wife and daughter! I was keen, as he he told me his wife had lived in ChCh for a while and worked in the city at one of the tourist shops. So we hopped into his car (sports car) and off we sped through the narrow streets of Hamada to his house. His wife is really nice, and speaks pretty good English, so it was good to talk with her and look at her photos from her trip around New Zealand - saw a few familiar shots of NZ which was nice. During this time me and Yutaka were sitting at the table drinking beer while his wife cooked us up a feed - pure class!! After she finished cooking she came and sat with us though, and even had a beer with us. I'm not sure if this is the case for all Japanese girls, but man can they chop beer - they put most guys I know to shame! Their daughter was asleep for most of the time I was there, but she woke up and started crying as soon as she saw me!!!!  She was really balling her eyes out, and pointing at me - I felt kind of bad for her - if I was 10 months old, Japanese, and had some random white guy in my house, I think I'd be scared too. After having a snack and a couple of beers me and Yutaka headed off to his mate's izakaya for a few quiets - it was a good night, I learnt a few new Japanese words and phrases, and I'm slowly starting to improve in my Japanese ability!

 

In other news, I'm heading off to Shikoku to see Vercs next month, which will be MADDNESS. For those of you who don't know Vercs, he is that random guy who often used to come around to home in Blenheim, steal our cheese slices and generally cause trouble. In later years he forced me to drink alcohol with him, and is directly responsible for me failing uni in 2000. (Just kidding - it was also partly my fault)

 

Also got a call from Vercs today telling me that the Basketball World Champs are being held in Japan, this August! The pool that NZ is in is based in Hiroshima, 2 hours by bus away from me, and also involves Japan! So on the 23rd of August NZ are playing Japan, and I plan to be there! Hopefuly there'll be a big contingent of NZers there to support the boys.

 

Oh well, I'll carry on, work on tomorrow so will have an early night. Also, here is a link to a BBC video which features the local aquarium - pretty small world! Couldn't believe it when I stumbled across a video featuring Hamada on the BBC! The diver in the water is one of my students at NOVA, she's really cool, and lessons with her are always interesting!

 

 

 

 

Hey everybody!

 

Hope you are all well, and keeping out of trouble!

 

Went to Izumo last Wednesday with the rest of the NOVA Hamada crew. We had a great time, and saw heaps of interesting things. We went to an old shrine first, it was massive, and Japanese priests etc still live there. I think it was a sort of love shrine, so you went there to pray for finding love, or thanking the Gods for love, or something like that. It was really old - I think from around the 15th century - and had a nice atmosphere. We all took turns at throwing coins up into the rope bells. (see the pics) If you could get your coin up into the bell, and get it to stick there, it meant you would have good luck. You had to get it in within three throws though, luckily I got my coin in on the third throw, so I will have good luck! Jen took about twenty throws to get her coin in, much to the amusement of a bus-load of Japanese tourists who were watching us!

 

After the shrine we went and had some lunch at a local soba restuarant. The soba noodles were delicious, and really filling. I am slowly getting used to eating noodles etc with chop sticks, but I still use a fork at home! Junko demonstrated the correct way to eat hot soba noodles, which is to slurp them up noisily!

 

After having a good feed we went off to see the tallest lighthouse in Japan (well, if it wasn't, it definitely felt like it climbing up the thing) It was really impressive to see, and we got to go up to the observation platform. Junko assured me there was an elevator, but when we got there all there was was a steep spiral staircase leading up the middle of the lighthouse. To make matters worse we had to take off our shoes and wear Japanese slippers which were too small! We made it in the end though, and it was worth it, because the view was fantastic. I couldn't see any North Korean warships out in the Sea of Japan, which I was quite disappointed about. The walk back down was much easier!

 

Then we went to the Shimane Winery to taste a few wines. I was really looking forward to tasting a few Japanese wines, but I'm afraid to say that they weren't all that flash. (Not that I'm biased) They had a lot of dessert wines which tasted like medicine, and a few other wines which were... interesting. I really liked the grape juice they made, it was delicious, so I bought a big bottle of that, and a smaller bottle of red wine which was ok.

 

Then, the moment we had all been waiting for... the onsen! We drove off to go to the hotsprings, feeling relaxed after sampling a few wines. When we got there though we discovered that it was closed! Not sure what the story was, but we went to a few other hotsprings around the place and found that all of them were closed too! So, we had to drive back to Hamada without having experienced the joys of bathing naked in a hotspring - I was a little relieved in a way! I'm not much of an exhibitionist.

 

So that was our day, pretty exciting, and a good way to get to know everybody a little better!

 

I was pretty tired, and crashed as soon as I got home. Luckily it was my day off on Thursday, so I just mucked around and did a few odd jobs around the place. Went out for a walk and saw the storm barriers in one of the bays - doesn't fill me with much confidence, looks like an anti-invasion device more than a storm barrier!

On Friday I went off for training in Hiroshima, and learned how to deal with kids lessons. Seems pretty straight forward, but I was disappointed to learn we weren't allowed to beat the children. Oh well, I'll have to find other ways to keep them in control! On Saturday I went round to Nina and Jen's place for a sushi party, organised by our Japanese friends. It was a great night, and I ate heaps! Seems pretty easy to make this kind of sushi too, it's more like a sandwich then anything else.

 

Catch you all later!

 Hi everyone!

 

Still going well up here in the Land of the Rising Sun. Work is great, all of our students are very friendly, and I am learning more and more about Japan and its culture.

 

Had a very interesting experience on Saturday night, Jennifer, Me, and a Japanese friend, Nao, went to a local Izakaya. An Izakaya is a small Japanese bar where you can also get traditional Japanese food. The atmosphere is really welcoming and friendly - probably helped by the fact that everyone is getting into the sake, beer etc! As with everywhere in Japan you are met by shouts of welcome from all the staff as you enter the place, quite cool! This Izakaya is a family-run affair (most probably are) and the Dad is the chef. He stands behind a food bar, and cooks and prepares food in front of you. This is where it got interesting! I can't remember the names of most of the things I ate, but I can describe them. First of all we had a kind of fish luncheon sausage that had been crumbed and deep-fried. It was suprisingly good! Next, if I remember correctly, we had a seaweed salad, which wasn't as good as it sounds. It was extremely salty and very strong tasting - not my favourite. It felt like I was eating a piece of rubber. I tried a couple of bites, but decided that would be enough for me. My favourite dishes came next. We had tempura fish bites, which were like NZ battered fish, but much nicer, and an asparagus dish which seemed to have been lightly fried, then covered with some sort of fish flakes - tasty! Then we got into some random stuff - frog legs!! They were really delicious actually, and (wouldn't you know it) tasted a bit like chicken! There was one other dish that I think you'll find interesting - octopus sashimi. That's right, raw octopus! This was as fresh as you could get, too, because the octopus was sitting in a tank, just in front of me, shortly before his demise. So, I was just sitting there, minding my own business, drinking my beer, when all of a sudden the chef grabs the octopus out of the tank, places him on the chopping board and proceeds to chop off all his legs!! Then, after removing the apendages, puts him back in the water, still alive! I felt quite sorry for him. He didn't seem to mind that much though, which was suprising. Possibly he was in shock, I don't know. The worst part was, when the octopus sashimi was served up to us, the legs still moved around when you touched them with your chopsticks! So it looked as though they were still alive! Jen is a lot braver than me, and she got stuck in first, with a delicious piece of leg. She didn't seem to mind it, and I didn't want to look like I was soft, so I selected a (slightly smaller) piece and drowned it in soy sauce and ate it! I chewed it hard as soon as it got in my mouth, and quickly swallowed it. It wasn't too bad actually, but I felt sorry for the octopus, especially as he was watching me eat his leg. I'm not kidding! He was watching me!!

Check out the photos!

 

So, as you can see, I had a great weekend. This week on Wednesday the mall where I work is closed, so the NOVA staff - me, Jen, Nina, Ayumi and Junko are going sight-seeing together, should be fun! We're going up north, as far as I can tell, and we're going to see a few temples, historical sights etc. We are also going to an onsen - a Japanese hotspring which I think is similar to Hanmer - except you can't wear togs! Unfortunately I have to go to a separate hotspring to the girls, which is a shame! Fair enough though, I suppose.

 

Oh well, better keep moving. I'll update after the trip up north on Wednesday!

 

Hey!

Well, I've completed my first week of work and everything went as planned. I'm still getting used to the food here, but luckily chicken is relatively inexpensive, so I've been eating a lot of that. Also, we work in a mall, and McDonalds is right below us, so.... I gave into temptation....twice. But I promise I won't eat too much of it, I'll be good!

 

Training was a little stressful in Hiroshima, they really threw us in the deep end, but it was good in a way because we learnt fast! Didn't have a lot of spare time, but was able to go and see the peace park, and check out a few shops - mainly music and food. Also spent a lot of time and money at the local starbucks near my hotel - man that was good coffee!

 

Work is fairly laid back in our branch, and every student I've met has been really nice. We don't get a lot of time for planning, but every day I'm there I get more and more comfortable with how things work, etc. I work with Nina and Jennifer, who are the other instructors in my branch. They've made me feel really at home, and have invited me out heaps, which has been great. I'm lucky to be working in the Hamada branch, I think!

 

So, what have I been up to? Quite a lot, when I think about it. The first night I arrived we went out to meet up with some of the JETS who live in Hamada, and had a couple of beers with them. Was a little tired after the trip so didn't stay out late. The second day my major goal was to buy a guitar, and register at City Hall. (all foreigners must register, and receive an alien registration card) I was directed to a music store not far from where I live by Nina and Jennifer. Lonely Planet Phrase book in hand I entered the store...what an experience! It was fun, they spoke no English, me no Japanese, but somehow I ended up with a nice new Yamaha, similar to my one back home. They even chucked in a case, tuner, new strings, guitar polish, a few picks, and some random device that looks like a ...something. I'm sure it serves some useful purpose. Friday nights are movie nights for us NOVA instructors. We work early Saturday morning, so have a fairly quiet one. I manage to steal a few beers out of the Canadians fridge though, to keep me going. This week they're coming to my place, so I suppose I better go and buy some more beer, as well as the obligatory popcorn and chocolate. In the way of Japanese food, I've had okonomiyaki (Japanese pizza made with cabbage, eggs, lettuce, pork etc. covered in some sort of sauce and mayonaise) which was pretty tasty! Tonight we went out and had sushi, wasn't my favourite meal, but on the whole not too bad. They had a revolving belt, so you could chose the dishes you wanted. This Saturday we are having a nabe party around at the Canadians house. I think nabe is like a pot of boiling stock (beef etc) that you dip food (meat, veges) into to cook, then eat - sounds like my kind of food! I've also been to a flower arranging class with Jennifer, where I produced one of the greatest flower arranging efforts I think I've ever put in. Man, did it look good, (compared to the small children's efforts.) I am taking a Japanese class as well now, as hardly anyone here speaks English. I don't think I will be able to speak Japanese fluently by the end of this year,by any stretch of the imagination, but I hope to have a basic knowledge of the language. Would help a lot at the supermarket too - all the labels are in Japanese, and I can't work out what anything is.

 

Not too much else to report, I'll try and keep up the blogs fairly regularly from now on, and chuck on a few more photos.

 

Catch you later!

 

ps check out this pizza label (R18) The editors missed the spelling mistake!

Well, after a little bit of uncertainty over whether I would have my visa sorted out in time, I made it to Japan! It was quite a mission, involving a lot of travelling and taking well over 30 hours all up. Luckily I was able to snatch bits and pieces of sleep during the trip and don't feel too bad at the moment. I have visited the local Nova branch where I will be working, and it looks pretty flash. Can't wait to get to work! My apartment is ok, seems a little worse for wear, but will suit me fine.

 

I'm off to Fukuoka (I think that's how you spell it) on Monday for my NOVA orientation. So I've got 4 days off! Magic! I'll probably get everything sorted out around the apartment, and buy a few essentials: ie. a guitar

 

Will try and put a few photos on tomorrow for everyone to have a look at. Catch you all later, I'm off out for a few celebratory drinks!

Well, I thought it was about time I wrote my first blog - I've been meaning to do it for a while now, but never seem to get the time.

 

I've spent the last couple of months working for Wither Hills - a winery here in Marlborough. A good way to earn money, especially when you live at home and only pay $50 a week board! The work has been difficult, and hard on the body, but I've met some really great people, from all walks of life. Working in a vineyard in Marlborough also allows you to meet people from all over the world. In the past two months I've worked with people from Germany, France, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Zimbabwe, Denmark, Australia, USA, Canada, South Africa and about a million from the UK (they seem to be everywhere).

 

At the moment we're on the countdown to Christmas and New Years! Can't wait for New Years, me and a couple of mates are heading down to Queenstown to see Sri Lanka take on the mighty Black Caps in a one-dayer. Should be maddness. Vercs has given us a list of objectives (kind of like a treasure hunt) which I cannot share with you on a public forum, but I'll post the photos, and let them do the talking!

 

Catch you later and Merry Christmas!