Happy Holidays

Well, I missed Christmas and Boxing Day (which I'm learning to enjoy), and New Year's isn't till next week; but here's a little mid-Holiday-week post about what's been going on.

Had a long six-day work week ending on Christmas, but things went well and I'm now hanging out on vacation till January 5th.

Spent Christmas Eve in Konan, about 25 minutes' ride north of Nagoya, at a restaurant about a three-hour's walk from the station. It may or may not have been in Nagano. Fortunately, it was worth the walk: we ended up sat in a kasbah-like room complete with canopy, noshing on teriyaki chicken pizza and pasta carbonara with a great group of friends from literally all over (above, from left: Iain, Elaine, Francis, Glenn, Wong, Lisa, Louise, Sian, me, Jo, Fi, and Rob). The staff spoke pretty decent English and was half-way mad, which worked out as we ended up supplying the other half. "I just wish I could remember the name of the place," is becoming a recurring theme in my life.

Ended up back at Konan station in plenty of time for the last train, which left Iain and I with just enough time to annoy the crew with some song. (Guitars just seem to appear here; it's weird.) Sang a little Belle & Sebastian and Green Day to an "appreciating" crowd of friends and fellow passengers.

Had an early shift on Monday/Christmas, which turned out to be pretty painless: no more than two students to a class and a "Special Voice" class for lower-level students that was attended by only high-level students. Oh well; one of the students is a writer, so we started out talking about her books. It's nice to know that wherever you go, you can always find a struggling artist to relate to. Moved the conversation on to Christmas carols and definitions of words in the carols. (Is there a standard list for the twelve days of Christmas? I know there are lords a-leaping, but I can't remember how many and when. Reports conflict.)

Came home straight after work to help Rob prepare for dinner. Rob did a fantastic job of cleaning out the flat, which I can take no credit for; with Francis moved out, we opened up Rob's old bedroom as a bigger living room, which just about doubles the size of the place. Took the doors off my room as well to make it even bigger. Haven't seen an apartment this big since the ghetto-house solarium/parlour/second livingroom at Gusty's in NMpls. Anyway, dinner: Rob had picked up not only the three chickens we had planned on, but half a turkey as well (oh turkey!). Jo made enough mashed potatoes to feed a small army and brought some mince pies. Francis also brought some mince pies, jello, and more potatoes "just to be safe". With all the meats, vegetables, stuffing, desserts, and drinks, we didn't need to be safe - we needed new belts and spots to lie down on! Good times with good friends: Francis brought his "bride-to-be" Ayaka and her friend Akiko, Jo brought her flatmate Junko, Rob brought his coworker Sam, and Fi left dinner early to pick up her friend Lisa from the airport (luckily, they returned to help us dent the mashed potatoes). Too much food was consumed, but at least we got to share the Christmas message with our Japanese friends: gorge yourself until you can't move.


People scampered off around midnight to catch last trains, as we started to try to clean up - this has been a good left-over week. Fell asleep watching "A Prairie Home Companion" on DVD that I got from my Grandma in Minnesota, who knows how much I like Garrison Keillor. Also got a Lonely Planet British phrase book from Jo, so now I know how to talk when I get to England. Cheeky girl. :)

Had a lazy Boxing Day lie-in ("British" for "sleep in"), then up for the first-of-many leftovers and the last-of-many Christmas music, then out with Iain, et al. for drinks at the Hub and a friendly debate over the nature of certain "non-PC" words (is it okay for social groups to use derogatory terms for themselves within the context of their own group, and how, if these words are merely contextual, can this arguing be even remotely constructive to anything important?), followed by crimes against music at karaoke, till about 1. Still. Karaoke is definitely going to be one of the things I'm going to miss about Japan: the cramped, sweaty rooms with bad lighting and weird selections of songs(i.e. everything ever thought about by The Carpenters, but nothing by Johnny Cash); it holds a piece of my heart.

I am a karaoke junky.


Quiet last day and a half, which has been good, and getting ready for four days in Tokyo for New Years. Not exactly sure what we'll see, but Iain is confident we'll find a pub where we can commandeer a guitar and play our second (or possibly third) "show" in Japan. Rock and roll. Found out today that old high-school friends Long Since Forgotten will be playing in the Tokyo area...about a week after I depart. Thanks guys; I'll book you a table at Yamachan.

Anyways, I hope your holidays were good ones, love was shared and food was consumed in large quantities, and that your New Year is looking bright and shiny and ready to be unwrapped. It's gonna be a good'un.

Much love,
Thom in Japan


Thanks to Jo for not making me look too baka in photos 1, 2, 6, 9, and 11.

And Then There Were Four...

Ach, tired today. Was up till around 4 this morning hanging out with Mitchell and co. Mitchell left this morning to go back to Australia. Mitchell got to Japan about a week after I did, the same time as Francis. He was in OJT with Francis and Iain, and in FUT training with me. And he's been one of the constant players in our various adventures. He's really gonna be missed...














Two weeks ago saw Darius' departure back to New Zealand; apparently there's a south hemispheric call that I'm not attuned to. Darius came out last January to help occupy Iain's flat in Inuyama (Seriously, the bum had a beautiful two-bedroom flat all to himself for seven months - for $500 a month). His first 24 hours in Japan were legend, and subsequent outings were just as wild.




















I have a feeling the next five weeks are going to be pretty tame without them here.

Back Again and News

Okay, talk about out-of-date blogs. I have indeed returned from Sendai, and there's a post 90% done waiting to be posted, after I add pictures. In fact, here's some to tide you over:

























And not only am I back from Sendai, but I'm back from Hiroshima as well: spent three days earlier this week in Hiroshima and Miyajima with Jo, before coming back to the cold, harsh reality that is work. Bah.

The first day in Hiroshima was amazing; we had great weather, and started off by visiting the stunningly autumnal Shukkei-en (park). After a couple of hours there (it was that nice) we walked around the city, saw Hiroshima Castle, the A-Bomb Dome, the Cenotaph (the record of everyone killed by the bomb and related effects), and the Peace Museum. Sobering to say the least. Not so lucky the next day; it rained almost all day, but we managed to see the Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum which was displaying works by Salvador Dali and the Bauhaus school, as well as various childrens books illustrations. Weird.






Miyajima, or Itsuku-shima as it's actually named (for some reason), is the home of the floating torii of Itsukushima-jinja. It's famous as one of the three most beautiful (read: "popular") sights in Japan. Also took the ropeway/cable car to the top of the mountain, saw the Japanese Inland Sea, and watched it get patrolled by submarine. Just like Red October.

They also have crazy rickshaw drivers who feed deer.






Ate more than our bodyweights at dinner: Hiroshima's famous hiroshima-yaki (okonomiyaki with fried noodles), basashi (horse sashimi), and a big caesar salad. Ate lots of oysters on Miyajima as well. Oh, food.

A good trip, all in all. The shinkansen trip there and back was fun; like flying, but on the ground. I was wondering why we don't have something like it in the U.S., but then remembered that it would still take two days to get across the country. Anyway, I'll write more about the trip soonish.


Other news: I suppose it had to happen; my Lonely Planet Japan is out of date. So I figure there's only two possible courses of action: buy a new edition, or choose a new country.

I went with the latter.

It's official: Jo and I have booked a flight to England for January 23rd, and I turned in my notice at Nova last week. I have about fifteen working days left, excluding a week in Tokyo around New Years and a week off at the end for paid holidays. The plan right now is to spend a couple of weeks in England with Jo, checking out the country and potential schools, then coming back to the States to work for a few months before heading back to England. Lots of travel, but lots of adventures too. Good times.


Sorry this is so disjointed; I'll write more soon, when I'm feeling less sick...