The Routine

1. Firstly, I should apologise for not updating more often; I have no other excuse than that I’ve been distracted — more on that in a moment.

2. Some three months have passed, and I am as settled as I am likely to be until I learn an awful lot more Japanese — which is to say I am about as comfortable as I could be considering I still can’t speak a word of the local language. Well, not totally true. I know the odd word here and there, but not actually enough words to string a basic sentence together. It’s a little sad really, but at least I can pick out the words I know when I hear it used in conversation. That’s gonna help me later, right?

3. Right?

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Aussie Aussie Aussie!

1. Guus Guus Guus!

2. Ok everybody, sing along: “three one, three one, three one, three one…”

3. I’ll have photos and more to write in a few days, but watching Australia play Japan, in Japan, surrounded by Japanese supporters and have Australia score three goals in 8 minutes was just amazing! Am I copping dirty looks at work or what!

My First Earthquake

1. In what has to be the very worst way to wake up (with possible exception to waking up inside a burning building), at roughly 5.30am this morning I experienced my first earthquake. Things were shaking, windows were rattling, pens fell off my desk — though the only danger I was actually in was the possibility I might stain my futon. It lasted maybe 30 seconds, maybe a minute, but it was a helluva way to start your day….

Two Months

1. Has it been two months already? It doesn’t feel like it, but then I guess it rarely does. Technically there are only 10 months of my contract left, and no doubt those ten months will fly by the same as the last two have.

2. After a multitude of adjustments, both major and minor, here are a few things I’ve noticed since I’ve been here:

  1. I get excited when I use a big word in normal conversation these days. The last big word I used was “transliteration”.

  2. I’m not an alcoholic, seriously! But, aside from the usual things you could do (museums, art galleries and so forth) there isn’t a whole lot to do besides drinking in Hiroshima. Not speaking Japanese doesn’t help either. So I get a bit of reading and writing done.

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Like, err, sand through the…

1. I find my weeks go by really, really quickly, which is a bit of a mixed blessing: on one hand the weekend comes by quicker (and weekends are when fun things happen), but on the other hand I feel like time is slipping out of my hands and I should have more done to show for it. Is it strange (and perhaps slightly neurotic) for someone so young to be so worried about time passing by?

2. My week starts on Tuesday, which isn’t a busy day but can be hectic because I’m planning lessons for the week. Then it’s Wednesday, a busy day for me with six classes, plus I have to plan the first two Thursday classes. Thursday is a very light day, which gives me a lot of time to plan the next week’s classes and catch up my paperwork. Friday is also pretty quiet, so sometimes I go do my grocery shopping between classes (earning me the nickname of “The Housewife”.) Saturday is my busiest day, but since all my classes have been planned by now it’s a stress free day. And then it’s the weekend!

3. Saturday night is usually a big night, as in the early morning kind, followed by a slow Sunday afternoon nursing a usually nasty hangover. (Sunday morning doesn’t seem to exist here in Japan, or at least I’ve yet to see it.) Sunday night is karaoke night, sometimes, which is usually accompanied by all you can drink. A dangerous combination, to be sure. Monday rolls by Sunday-like, and if I have a few things I haven’t done for the week I’ll pop into work for a few hours, though those hours are usually spent chatting to students (funny stories from the weekend are funnier when it’s translated on the fly.) And then, alas, it’s Tuesday, and the circle of commerce begins again.

4. Geography is irrelevant; nothing really changes.

I am in pain.

1. Those who know me know I don’t often excercise. I think excercising is a great idea, but for other people. I look fit enough, I can walk all day with my camera gear, I can run for the train if I have to… good enough for me. But then, I occasionally dabble in silly activities like sport, requiring I push my body beyond what it is currently capable of. Things like playing mud volleyball.

2. Yes, Mud Volleyball is everything you think it is. There’s a rice paddy filled with mud, and we play volleyball on it. It’s damn good fun, and it raises money for the local Elementary school baseball team. It’s a structured competition, so there’s a fair bit of waiting time in between games, so it leaves plenty of time for drinking and eating and playing the occasional game of soccer on the school’s baseball field. I think it was the soccer that killed me, I’m sore from my neck down; even getting out of bed is a struggle. And, oh, the stairs…

3. I also discovered the, err, joy that is “All You Can Drink”. Simple deal, all you can eat and drink for two hours, 3000 yen per person. The good thing is you only stay for two hours, so you can’t drink that much. The downside is, well, you try. It’s deadly fun.

4. After Mud Volleyball we went to an Onsen, a hot spring bath house. Aside from the chance to wash the excess mud off (there was a river at the venue where you could wash most of the mud off), it was a nice way to end the day, boiling yourself into soup. It’s a bit confronting if you’re not ready for it, all you get is a small modesty towel (size of a hand towel) and you’re expected to tote around in your birthday suit, and sitting in a pool with a bunch of guys. Buck naked in the jacuzzi, as it were. But you get used to it soon enough, though the water is really, really hot, and that takes quite a bit getting used to.

5. I’ll post some pics of Mud Volleyball as soon as I sort through them. I got a few action shots, but sadly none of us, since we were all playing. Though the local newspaper photographer was there and took a bunch of shots of us covered in mud. I still have mud coming out of my ears.

Miyajima Photos, Part 2

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Miyajima Photos, Part 1

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Hiroshima Flower Festival, Part 5

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(Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here) (more…)

Hiroshima Flower Festival, Part 4

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(Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 5 here) (more…)