Sunday, July 24, 2011
Weird experience
Last night, riding home from the movies, we were accosted by a drunk Japanese guy who called after us "Jewish, Jewish, Jewish, why are you in Japan". I was a) surprised to encounter anti-Semitism in Japan, and b) fail to see what made him think we were Jewish anyway, but I guess this just shows that pathetic people like that exist in every part of the world. I wouldn't be surprised if in his world anti-Semitism, and anti-foreigner are the same thing...
Air-con unit has arrived
Our air-con unit finally arrived today and has been successfully installed. Despite being the smallest, cheapest unit we could find, and rated to handle only one very small (6-tatami mat) room, it seems to be more than up to the task of cooling both our bedroom and living area, exactly double the space it is rated for. I must say, that when we turned it on, I was very much convinced that it was a good investment. No more sweating profusely while sitting at home!
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Harry Potter!
We just got back from watching the last Harry Potter movie, fortunately, they haven't yet had time to dub it. I have mixed feelings. I really enjoyed the movie (no doubt aided by the fact that my memory of the book's plot line is rather vague, as I read the whole book the day it came out, and haven't re-read it since). Poor Hunter is probably feeling though, as I was clutching his arm through most of it. However, I am feeling very depressed that this is the last time I get to go and see a Harry Potter movie for the first time. The books are finished, and the movies are finished. This makes me sad.
At the moment, I really really really want to re-read the last book, or maybe start at book one and re-read the whole set. Why oh why are my books in another country?
At the moment, I really really really want to re-read the last book, or maybe start at book one and re-read the whole set. Why oh why are my books in another country?
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Finished teaching!
Today was our last day of teaching this side of the Summer Holidays. Yay! Now we have 5 days of training to go, and then freedom!
Day at the beach
Yes, they do have beaches in Japan!
On Saturday, Adam took us took us to experience one for ourselves. Getting there was fun. Adam decided that we needed to leave at 4am in order to get a park at his beach of choice. Fortunately, I was able to sleep a good part of the way there, and so wasn't too grumpy when we got there.
The beach itself was pretty good, nice sand, although with some rocky patches. However, the beach did end rather suddenly at a tsunami wall. Because of limited parking, it wasn't very busy (especially not at 6am, for some reason).
The water was very calm, as it was sheltered by a couple of islands. This could have been a bit of a downer, but we had lots of floating toys, so instead of playing in the waves, I bobbed around in a ring (or on whale), wearing my lampshade hat. Also, the islands were pretty to look at.
We alternated floating about in the water to cool down, with cooking food over a portable coal BBQ, and then consuming said food. There was quite a bit of it. We had what would have been 3 decent lunches, with the first at about 8am (we'd had an early start!).
Along with us Aussies, there was Adam's girlfriend Chiharu, and a few of her friends. Japanese girls are very sun conscious, because pale skin is fashionable, but when the Japanese guys started spraying on the tanning lotion, I nearly died. The Japanese sun is very hot. I guess that's why Japanese people have skin that darkens easily. Easy tan or not, these guys were very very dark brown-red by the end of the day, and something tells me they didn't sleep too well.
Overall, it was definitely an effective way to cool down, but at a surprising cost. $40 each. While this included a fantastic amount of food, most of it was to cover parking ($20 a car), fuel, and the tolls. To me, this just isn't right, but I guess we're in Japan.
On Saturday, Adam took us took us to experience one for ourselves. Getting there was fun. Adam decided that we needed to leave at 4am in order to get a park at his beach of choice. Fortunately, I was able to sleep a good part of the way there, and so wasn't too grumpy when we got there.
The beach itself was pretty good, nice sand, although with some rocky patches. However, the beach did end rather suddenly at a tsunami wall. Because of limited parking, it wasn't very busy (especially not at 6am, for some reason).
 |
| Beach at high tide, there was more beach exposed later in the day |
The water was very calm, as it was sheltered by a couple of islands. This could have been a bit of a downer, but we had lots of floating toys, so instead of playing in the waves, I bobbed around in a ring (or on whale), wearing my lampshade hat. Also, the islands were pretty to look at.
We alternated floating about in the water to cool down, with cooking food over a portable coal BBQ, and then consuming said food. There was quite a bit of it. We had what would have been 3 decent lunches, with the first at about 8am (we'd had an early start!).
Along with us Aussies, there was Adam's girlfriend Chiharu, and a few of her friends. Japanese girls are very sun conscious, because pale skin is fashionable, but when the Japanese guys started spraying on the tanning lotion, I nearly died. The Japanese sun is very hot. I guess that's why Japanese people have skin that darkens easily. Easy tan or not, these guys were very very dark brown-red by the end of the day, and something tells me they didn't sleep too well.
Overall, it was definitely an effective way to cool down, but at a surprising cost. $40 each. While this included a fantastic amount of food, most of it was to cover parking ($20 a car), fuel, and the tolls. To me, this just isn't right, but I guess we're in Japan.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
For your entertainment
This song is extremely popular with the ages we're working with. One of Hunter's classes yesterday tried to teach him the dance moves.
The two children singing have an average age of 6, making the group the youngest ever to reach the Top 10 charts in Japan.
Enjoy!
The two children singing have an average age of 6, making the group the youngest ever to reach the Top 10 charts in Japan.
Enjoy!
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Kyoto tower and Shosei garden
On Saturday, after a morning commitment, we went to Kyoto. Actually, we meant to go to Kyoto, but accidentally got on a train heading for Osaka. Fortunately, we were on the Rapid, not the Express, and so did not have to go all the way to Osaka before turning around
This time, as we only had half a day, our plan was to visit a couple attractions near the station: the Kyoto Tower, and also a shrine quite close to the station.
The observation deck at 100m offered a great view of the city, and we had a lot of fun trying to pick out the places we had been. While making use of the telescopes at the top of the tower, Hunter discovered an absolutely gorgeous garden, only a few hundred meters away from the tower. As the outside temperature was approaching melting point, we decided to visit this garden (Shosei-en) instead of walking to the shrine, which was much further away.
This was a great decision. The garden was stunning, and with all the water and greenery, was comparatively cool. A selection of photos is below:
This time, as we only had half a day, our plan was to visit a couple attractions near the station: the Kyoto Tower, and also a shrine quite close to the station.
The observation deck at 100m offered a great view of the city, and we had a lot of fun trying to pick out the places we had been. While making use of the telescopes at the top of the tower, Hunter discovered an absolutely gorgeous garden, only a few hundred meters away from the tower. As the outside temperature was approaching melting point, we decided to visit this garden (Shosei-en) instead of walking to the shrine, which was much further away.
This was a great decision. The garden was stunning, and with all the water and greenery, was comparatively cool. A selection of photos is below:
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Attempting to join a Martial Arts class
Coming over here, it was my intent to learn a traditional Japanese Martial Art. I had no desire to do Taekwondo, mainly because I didn't want to get into a situation where they would be teaching techniques that contradicted the way I've learnt them at Bai Rui, because I really don't want to get into relearning things again! Thus I wanted to do one of Judo, Aikido or Jiujutsu, arts that would complement rather than compete with what I already know.
When I first arrived, I made a few enquiries, but didn't get any information, and then I got busy and kind of forgot about it. Last week, I finally had a chance to talk about it to one of the teachers I work with, who used to do Judo until a recent shoulder injury. He didn't think the place where he used to train would be appropriate for me, but found me information for a place reasonably close to home (20 minutes by bike), where friends of his trained.
Today Hunter and I went to check it out. It was just drizzling as we left, and it didn't take long before it started to pour. Fortunately however, Hunter knew where to go, as it was close to a couple of his schools, so at least I didn't have to worry about getting lost.
We were invited to watch the class, so we sat down, and watched, with mounting suspicion, as child after child trotted in, seeming mostly between the ages of about 7-12. A few of them recognised Hunter and said hello... The class started, and there didn't seem to be a non-instructing adult in sight. However, it turned out that after the "main" children's lesson advertised on the website, there was an adults/senior belts class.
I managed to talk to a few of the instructors/senior belts, and we managed to communicate the necessary details about pricing, the fact that I should come to the adult class starting at 7:30 and not the kids class starting at 6:30, and that yes, I would be happy to purchase a uniform, but yes tracksuit pants and a t-shirt would be ok for the first lesson. Also, strangely enough, one of them knew exactly where I live. Turns out he knew a previous AET. Kinda freaky when someone you've just met says, "Oh, so you must live at ..., and your landlord is ...".
So anyway, I'll be there next week to give it a go. Hopefully, we'll be able to understand each other well enough for me to learn something! Hopefully, Hunter might also enjoy it.
When I first arrived, I made a few enquiries, but didn't get any information, and then I got busy and kind of forgot about it. Last week, I finally had a chance to talk about it to one of the teachers I work with, who used to do Judo until a recent shoulder injury. He didn't think the place where he used to train would be appropriate for me, but found me information for a place reasonably close to home (20 minutes by bike), where friends of his trained.
Today Hunter and I went to check it out. It was just drizzling as we left, and it didn't take long before it started to pour. Fortunately however, Hunter knew where to go, as it was close to a couple of his schools, so at least I didn't have to worry about getting lost.
We were invited to watch the class, so we sat down, and watched, with mounting suspicion, as child after child trotted in, seeming mostly between the ages of about 7-12. A few of them recognised Hunter and said hello... The class started, and there didn't seem to be a non-instructing adult in sight. However, it turned out that after the "main" children's lesson advertised on the website, there was an adults/senior belts class.
I managed to talk to a few of the instructors/senior belts, and we managed to communicate the necessary details about pricing, the fact that I should come to the adult class starting at 7:30 and not the kids class starting at 6:30, and that yes, I would be happy to purchase a uniform, but yes tracksuit pants and a t-shirt would be ok for the first lesson. Also, strangely enough, one of them knew exactly where I live. Turns out he knew a previous AET. Kinda freaky when someone you've just met says, "Oh, so you must live at ..., and your landlord is ...".
So anyway, I'll be there next week to give it a go. Hopefully, we'll be able to understand each other well enough for me to learn something! Hopefully, Hunter might also enjoy it.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
4th of July - Fireworks
Having come to Japan, it's obvious that we should celebrate the 4th of July. Well, it's not, but Dave is American, and he invited us to a 4th of July BBQ. As well as the usual gang, there were some representatives from the Junior High School AETs, a motley group of mixed nationalities (with a few Americans in there), who work on a completely different contract to us.
As rainy season is now officially over, the predictable happened. It rained. Not pouring, but continuous moderately heavy rain. Fortunately, we had a shelter, so we got damp, but not too wet (at least, not until we biked it home).
The highlight of the night was definitely the fireworks. In Japan, they're easy to buy once you know which stores stock them. We were all asked to bring some, but as it turned out, only Hunter and I brought any. Presented with shelves worth of fireworks/firecrackers, with labels that we couldn't read, Hunter and I dealt with the choice in the only logical way. We went for size, because bigger must be better! We spent about $7 on a single multiple in one firework (to put that in perspective, you could get dozens of small firecrackers for about $30), and another 3-pack of single fireworks for a similar price. The results were worth it. We'd been told that despite being legal in Japan, they were more firecrackers than fireworks. However, these ones certainly shot a satisfactory distance up into the air, and exploded beautifully in the wet night air. Will definitely give it another go in the near future, although next time we may go for quantity over quality.
As rainy season is now officially over, the predictable happened. It rained. Not pouring, but continuous moderately heavy rain. Fortunately, we had a shelter, so we got damp, but not too wet (at least, not until we biked it home).
The highlight of the night was definitely the fireworks. In Japan, they're easy to buy once you know which stores stock them. We were all asked to bring some, but as it turned out, only Hunter and I brought any. Presented with shelves worth of fireworks/firecrackers, with labels that we couldn't read, Hunter and I dealt with the choice in the only logical way. We went for size, because bigger must be better! We spent about $7 on a single multiple in one firework (to put that in perspective, you could get dozens of small firecrackers for about $30), and another 3-pack of single fireworks for a similar price. The results were worth it. We'd been told that despite being legal in Japan, they were more firecrackers than fireworks. However, these ones certainly shot a satisfactory distance up into the air, and exploded beautifully in the wet night air. Will definitely give it another go in the near future, although next time we may go for quantity over quality.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Air-Con
When we moved into this apartment (while it was still cold), we were told that the air-con unit in here could cool, but that the heating aspect no longer worked. A few days ago, as the heat was reaching significantly unpleasant heights, even in the evenings, we decided to give the air-con unit a go. After hitting any number of combination of buttons, all we had managed to get out of it was a weak wheeze of un-cooled air. We got Adam (who has much better Japanese) to take a look at it. He managed to strengthen the wheeze slightly, but still less effective than having the door open. Some further investigations and questionings told us that the unit was 17 years old, and it wasn't surprising that it no longer worked.
So today we went air-con shopping. Me being the penny pinching scrooge that I am, I wasn't entirely convinced that it was worth buying an air-conditioning unit. Hunter, however, was pretty keen for it, and Adam repeatedly reminded me that a) it was going to get a lot hotter and b) we could on-sell it to the next AET, and if the next AET wasn't prepared to pay for it, he would help us sell it privately.
So now we have an air-con unit, sort of... We've paid for it, but because of the heat, everyone wants one, so ours won't arrive until the 23rd.
So today we went air-con shopping. Me being the penny pinching scrooge that I am, I wasn't entirely convinced that it was worth buying an air-conditioning unit. Hunter, however, was pretty keen for it, and Adam repeatedly reminded me that a) it was going to get a lot hotter and b) we could on-sell it to the next AET, and if the next AET wasn't prepared to pay for it, he would help us sell it privately.
So now we have an air-con unit, sort of... We've paid for it, but because of the heat, everyone wants one, so ours won't arrive until the 23rd.
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