Oh Me, Oh My

Sayonara teaparty

2010-08-02T06:29:00.000-07:00

My final evening in Marugame was the most perfect I could have hoped for. Tea and cake at my favourite cafe, making memories with perfect polaroids, thoughtful friends documenting the night with their super duper camera skills,tucked away bars, presents a-plenty and late night yo-yo shows. What a lovely way to say goodbye to the little town that became my home this year.

Uzu tea and Shin made the best cake I have ever tasted; green tea cheesecake. It was heaven...

xo

This is too hard.

2010-07-30T03:13:00.000-07:00

This week has been a difficult one. I haven't been able to sleep at all, and I've been crying at every little thing. I went to close my bank account yesterday. The clerk stamped each of the remaining pages of my bank book with a 'void' stamp and it made me burst into tears. Admittedly, this was a really ridiculous thing to do and I am extraordinarily sentimental, but it makes me sad to be doing every little thing, even the most mundane tasks, for the final time.

I am heart broken at the thought of having to leave. I felt homesick for so much of my time here, and longed to be back in London, but now that it is time for me to go, I realise how much of a life I made for myself here. I don't want to turn this into a rambling, self reflective post, but I had a long think yesterday about what it is that I am going to go back to and the kind of life I aspire to have in London. I want to have a carefree time there; I want to move out, have enough money to be able to make the most of my city and take every opportunity to try new things, make new friends, meet someone lovely and have different experiences. It's easier said than done; London is a hard city to crack; it's socially closed and it is going to be difficult to make new friendships. I'm going to have to really make a big effort to achieve the experience I am craving. I'm trying hard to be optimistic and not frightened of going home. I need to remember all of the amazing things that makes me love my city so much and of all the new opportunities that are potentially waiting for me there if I try to find them.

The root of my sadness is having to leave the people I care about so much behind and utter fear at being back in a city that though I love, I know that I am going to find very overwhelming at first. I can't be sure if my additional sadness is at leaving Japan specifically, or leaving this life of living abroad. I will only know once I am not here anymore. Living here has been the most challenging thing I've done, but it has also been the biggest buzz ever. I've made memories here that I will value forever. I know I want to do something like this again, and soon.

It's my teaparty tonight and I want to have fun. I don't want to say goodbye, but I want my final night in Marugame to be a night of happiness, green tea cake, polaroid pictures, late night bicycle rides, and good times with the funny mix of people who have been a big part of my life this year.

It's hard to sum up a year in pictures - what a horrible task, but these are the ones that made me smile as soon as I flicked through the hundreds of pictures I have.

You have been a tough one, but you've been good to me, Japan.

xoxo

Penultimate Party Weekend

2010-07-26T07:39:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Vivian and I took a trip to our favourite places in Kansai, Osaka and Kyoto. It was the last trip we are going to take together (for a while at least...I'll be back to see you in Tokyo, Vivian.) so we were determined to make it a trip to remember. And we did. We really did....

We get embarrassed to arrive in the big cities in this bus. 'Sanuki Express' emblazoned across the front lets everybody know we are country folk leaving the rice fields for the weekend...

First stop - Osaka

My favourite Vivian and Isabel Osaka memories - J-boys, Osaka nightclubs, Aki and Bruce on the Dotombori, staying at the cutesy KOMO hostel, running away from a French man, bananas on escalators, day trip to Nara, trying on fluffy heels in the low budget shoe shop,encountering fellow Kagawa weekend trippers ('that's Kagawa'), Umeda station meltdowns, watching our friends jump into rubbish heaps fresh from the kitchens of McDonalds (urgh),waiting for return buses to Kagawa.

My final weekend in Osaka was amazing...as our Osaka weekends always are.

We spent ages picking up clothes shaped treasures in Namba before meeting the Mikes...

(no, this one is better;)

We ate Mexican food and mango margueritas, and then there was dancing...

(I love this picture of Vivian!)

...and finally, some karaoke...

We arrived back at our hostel very early the next morning. The hostel was in a bad part of town and wasn't a very pleasant stay. It was also not very pleasant being woken up after two hours sleep and being told we had fifteen minutes to check out.
We wandered around Namba in a sleepy daze, attempted some more shopping (it was half hearted) before giving up and hopping on the train to...

My favourite Vivian and Isabel Kyoto memories: late night green tea frappucino and cake parties down by the river, walks through Ponto cho, befriending guest catchers, combini snacks at 3am, green tea everything, KitKat photoshoots, staying up all night, the lovely 'this is the button to increment and decrement the AC' owner of our hostel, meeting Mr. and Mrs. Pomme and eating cake at their lovely cafe.

We were so exhausted by the time we got to Kyoto. Late afternoon showers and cat naps at our lovely hostel felt like heaven after the dump we had stayed at the previous night. We even got room service from Mr. Increment Decrement :-)

Later that evening, we headed out for a beautiful meal in Gion, and took pictures in the most beautiful parts of the city.

It was the perfect weekend. I don't want this to end.

xo

Weekend jaunt

2010-07-20T03:20:00.000-07:00

It seems like it has been a while since my last trip so this weekend, I went to the beautiful city of Kobe with my favourites, Vivian and Yumi.

Kobe's reputation as a 'suburb city' of Osaka is, I think, a little undeserved.Kobe has a character all of its own - it's extremely chic with lots of elegant little boutiques,Scandinavian inspired homeware shops and as Japan's biggest confectionary producer, is one of the few places in Japan where real and wholesome cake can be found....

....We indulged...

After cake time, Vivian and I found a cute little bar called the Whirlybird and had a lovely night chatting away, marvelling at Kobe grown 'new type zucchini' (multicoloured and spherical courgettes grown by the barman's brother) and after arriving back at the hotel, spent an embarrassingly long time trying to put up a sofa bed...it was such a fun night.

Fun, Kobe karaoke bar. Myself, and I'm sure Vivian, had an 'I'm in Japan' moment upon seeing this.

The sofa bed antics + a blisteringly hot hotel room + The Whirlybird bar (despite its whimsical and twee name) = one very nauseous Vivian shaped girl and another very nauseous Isabel shaped girl. We only had two drinks :-/

On Sunday, we did very little other than visit the Muji cafe, which was amazing. Lunch is my favourite meal of the day, but light lunches have been difficult to find in Japan, unless you opt to make your own. Lunch at the Muji cafe was just what I had been looking for and appealed to my grazing habits. I had a helping of curried pumpkin salad, broccoli salad and a very nice Okinawan tofu thing.

I slept all the way home on the bus back to Marugame feeling very content with my weekend :-)

Today was my final day as a teacher in Japan - quite momentous eh! I have been saying my goodbyes for weeks so did not anticipate today being too special, but it turned out to be a really lovely day. My students and colleagues put so much thought into my last day and made it very memorable for me.
In the morning, I said my goodbyes to Josei and was given beautiful flowers and a book full of messages from my students. In the afternoon, I headed over to Maruko to attend another farewell ceremony. I felt very content with my decision; I leave with a tinge of regret, as I know that I was just beginning to become a confident teacher. Yet, I am also leaving with a feeling of contentment too. (Happiness also - goodbye Japanese conservative dress standards;I will never have to wear that grey skirt which makes me feel and look like a forty year woman, ever again!)

My favourite students at Maruko threw a farewell picnic for me after school...

...complete with cookies and yoghurt cheesecake baked by cutie Yuki;

It's little moments like this that I will remember :-)

It has been a lovely couple of days and I am looking forward to my Marugametastic week ahead with my best friend.

xo

Bittersweet

2010-07-08T02:51:00.000-07:00

This week has been a stressful week for me - I've been teaching each of my classes for the final time, had a bit of scare, followed by the biggest wave of relief I have ever felt, and had to deal with the usual occurences of life in the countryside - cockroach intruders and being bitten alive by mosquitoes whilst out walking.

It only really hit me today, when I was asked to clean out my desk at school, that in three weeks time, I won't be in Marugame anymore.
I spent this afternoon working on a little guide book to Marugame that I plan on leaving behind for my successor...

As gushy as it sounds, I had to take a break from writing it, it was too difficult for me to write about all of my favourite things and places in this town, food I like to eat and people I care about here, knowing that in a few weeks time, I won't have them anymore.

It has been a challenging year for me. Both the highs and lows have been equally plentiful, and of an intense kind. Recently though, I've been feeling a strange sense of contentment. Perhaps this is the feeling that surfaces when things that have been emotionally testing come to an end. Perhaps I'm feeling such a feeling because things at school have been more relaxed now that the summer holidays are on their way; I have very few classes left to teach, I have been socialising with my colleagues more at farewell parties and the like, I've been taking long and leisurely lunches with friends,and my workplace has generally been less isolating as lots of colleagues and students are wanting to spend more time with me now that my departure is imminent.

I haven't forgotten the reasons why I want to return home; I desperately want to see my family and friends, my big fluffy cat and to reaquaint myself with all of the things I love about my life back home. I want to be able to enjoy the very simple, but satisfying things that I've missed a lot this year; I want to bake a cake, I want to get lost in a book whilst on the Tube, I want to go on long walks with my Mum and my dog, I want to go treasure hunting at my favourite London markets, I want to curl up on the sofa with my cat, I want to eat the foods that I have missed. I feel exhausted at having been away from Western culture for a comparatively long time, and I do want to be back in my home country (for how long, I don't know, but I do feel a great need to go back).Some of my friends are leaving Marugame, and by December, Vivian, Andrew and Christa will be gone too. Marugame will be a very different place to the one I know now. If I were to renew my contract further, I would be faced with the prospect of spending four very lonely months alone from December-April. So part of me feels happy that I will be leaving on a high; I have some final trips planned, a teaparty at Taupe, I have gained enough confidence in my teaching ability, so much so that I want to try it again elsewhere, I will be returning to what I hear is a very hot summer in England (and my Dad loves to barbeque!) and in spite of my 'what shall I do with my future' panics a few months back, I do in fact feel good about my future. I have no employment, financial or romantic (unfortunately not by choice! Where are you handsome stranger!) ties, and if I like, I can take off and go somewhere else whenever the mood takes me.

That said, the list of things I will miss and long for so much when I return to England is growing by the day. I made one of the deepest friendships I have ever made here. It was fate that we met again. My experience in Japan would not have been the same without you Vivian and I don't want to say goodbye.

Even though it has sometimes been frustrating living in a place where everyone knows eachothers business, nor do I really want to say goodbye to the odd little mix of foreigners that have been such a big part of my life here this year.

I have always hated saying goodbye - this goodbye seems like it will be one of the hardest kinds. My time in Japan is something that has become a part of me and my character forever. It's also been the first time that I've documented an experience so thoroughly; in true hoarding fashion, I have kept every single city map, bundles of old train and bus tickets and letters and assignments from my students. Looking at my photos,reading back through this blog, my personal diary and all of the notebooks, packed full of little observations and funny little comments from my students and co-workers will make not only vivid, but tangible memories. I'm glad I did this.

My relationship with Marugame has been an odd one; I hated it so much at first. I still have my frustrations with it, but it has become such an endearing place to me, and I really think I will remember it with nothing but fondness once I am gone. I will, without a doubt return to Japan in the future and the world is a small place now; I can see the friends I have made here, as long as I have the money, the time and am in good health. What makes me feel strange is that my goodbye to Marugame will probably be a final one. Once my friends have gone, and the students that I taught have moved away from this town in search of life in the big cities, I will have very little, if any reason to return.

I received my first leaving present from a student today. My favourite student, Shingo (more on him in a later blog post I think) bought me something I have wanted for so long. This is a cute little hiragana stamp set, which comes in this cute little wooden box. I spent the rest of the class, very red eyed and blubbery...

Living abroad has often been hard, but goodbyes are even harder. :-(

xo

Wool 100%

2010-07-07T05:21:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, I watched a film that I've been wanting to see since I came to Japan. Being able to find a subtitled copy proved to be difficult until I finally found a website that allows you to stream it.

Wool 100% (2006 dir. Mai Tomangi)is about two elderly sisters, Ume-san and Kame-san. Ume-san and Kame-san are the human equivalent of magpies; they spend their days rooting through neighbourhood rubbish to find bits and pieces that others have thrown away; old futons, toys, cutlery, televisions. The sisters carefully catalogue their finds in a book. One day, Ume-san and Kame-san come across a ball of red wool, which marks the arrival of a mysterious girl at their house....

I loved this film so much. It looks to be just another contrived,twee, indie film, but I found there to be an implicitly unsettling feel to it, which surfaced often throughout.
The director, Mai Tomangi is an animator, and this was really noticeable in Wool. Every frame was a visual feast; there was so much to look at, both in the forefront and background. Even the house itself, filled with precarious looking piles of the sisters' treasures looked very cartoonish.

The things I liked most about Wool were the odd music (listen out for the funny sheep and apple song at the beginning), the breakfast scenes, and watching all kinds of inanimate objects acquire an almost life like character; the cuckoo clock chimes wake the sisters up each morning and the futon snores and shudders as it envelopes its sleeper. The sisters have such love for the treasures, and I liked how they documented them in the big illustrated book in such a way that seemingly useless things acquired a kind of desirable appeal (well, for me anyway!)

I highly recommend Wool 100% :-) You can watch it here

xo

Cupcakes and Kimchi

2010-06-28T03:39:00.000-07:00

I finally managed to scrape enough money together to take a trip to Japan's closest neighbour, South Korea. I only have five more weeks left in Asia, so was really happy to be able to see one more Asian country before I head back to the West.

Yumi, Ed and I spent four days in South Korea's bustling capital city, 서울, Seoul. It was one of the busiest trips I had ever been on - so much to see, do (and eat!) and so little time to fit them all in. First of all, thank you so much to Vivian and Jenny. Korea would not have been as enjoyable an experience without your help;Vivian compiled an amazing list of things to see (thank you so much!) and my Korean friend Jenny was the best guide ever, taking us to all of her favourite places and telling us about Korean cuisine. One of my favourite things that Jenny told me was about age in Korea. Jenny was born in 1988, making her 22, however, in Korea, she is 23. In Korea,a person's first year is counted as year one, rather than year zero. So Jenny has two ages - an international age and a Korean age. :-)

I enjoyed the food in Korea so much. I found it to be much more satisfying than Japanese food. Everything is very spicy with lots more vegetables than Japanese food. It was nice to eat spicy food again after so long.

I forget the name of it, but one of my favourite dishes was cold spicy noodles (it even had ice cubes in it to keep it extra cold). I liked adding loads of kimchi (spicy vegetables) to make it even spicier. Scissors are a staple item in Korean dining. They are used to cut everything from lettuce leaves to noodles into more manageable sizes - cute eh?

I loved jijimi; a Korean style pancake. It's traditionally made from the leftover scraps of vegetables. It was divine.

Seoul is a huge metropolis. I loved riding the subway and changing trains all the time - it really made me feel nostalgic for the hustle and bustle of London (not long now!) There are an abundance of things to do in Seoul and everything is available. For the most part I liked this - I enjoyed being able to have nice smoothies, good coffee and interesting salads whenever and wherever I pleased, and I took full advantage of the cheap cosmetics shops that seemed to appear on every corner.

That said, the Americanisation of everything was something I hadn't anticipated. In many ways, Seoul seemed far more advanced than even Tokyo; everything Western is embraced. Japan is definitely more perseverant in retaining its own idiosyncrasies and I do believe that there are merits and disadvantages to each approach. I think however, that if I hadn't stuck to eating largely Korean food and didn't have Jenny with me, Seoul is the kind of place where one can have a 'city' experience, rather than an authentically Korean one. It's an international, cosmpolitan kind of place and authentic culture can be overshadowed by modernism. I guess it's the same for every major world city though - authentic culture is often hard to define now.

I love the Korean script so much. I like all the little signs that look like 'o's. I think it is much less ferocious looking than Japanese writing hehe.

The Leeum Museum was a really beautifully designed art museum in the neighbourhood of Itaewon, filled to the brim with interesting pieces.

We spent ages there and even longer outside with these spider sculptures.

I am always on the quest for a good piece of cake and Vivian recommended a small cake shop located just by the Leeum which I successfully found. It was the cutest little shop and my green tea cupcake was delectable.

High on my list of things to see was the heavily populated student area of Hongdae. Hongdae is the best - it's full of these tiny little shops, selling pretty things and bars and restaurants a-plenty.

We rested our feet in this really cute restaurant/bar hidden away in the back streets. Dining outside is not so common in Japan and Seoul is no where near as humid, so it was really lovely to be outside, chatting away into the early hours.

Hongdae is just as buzzing during the day. On Saturday, Jenny took us to a little restaurant where we had the amazing spicy cold noodles for lunch, again, with lots of kimchi.

After a spot of rain and an impromptu co-ordinated umbrella party....

...we went to Hongdae Saturday Flea Market. I loved it so much; it was full of young artists and designers selling their produce, with live music and lots of places to sit down and relax in the sunshine.

After we had stocked up on treasures, we took a walk down to Cheonggyecheon, a newly developed area of the city....

...before trying another traditional Korean dish for dinner. Galbi is grilled meat (usually pork or beef) eaten in a lettuce leaf, with a variety of side dishes, kimchi and grilled vegetables. I didn't really like this too much, I don't eat much meat and it was a little too heavy for me. I snacked on kimchi, the lettuce leaves and the lovely sides instead.

That evening, we headed to the Central Plaza area of the city to watch the South Korea v. Uruguay football match. It was so much fun to be in Seoul at this time and despite the fact that it poured with rain for the entirety of the match, the area was teeming with people.

Jenny and Gin, the red devils.

We stayed out all night on Saturday, so spent Sunday, our final day, mooching about in coffee shops, stocking up on face products and taking it easy (yet still managed to almost miss our flight!). Our final taste of Korean food was this bibimbap; a bowl of sauteed and seasoned vegetables (and often meat)and chilli pepper paste that is mixed with rice. Mmmhmm.

I had such a wonderful time in Seoul. Despite its proximity to Japan, it boasts a flavour and feel that bears no relation at all to the culture I am experiencing here in Nihon. It amazed me that two neighbouring countries could have such different taste buds! Seoul was such an exiting, fun loving and vibrant city to visit and if I was in Asia for longer, I would not hesitate about returning.

Hearts for Seoul!
xo

Genichiro Inokuma

2010-06-20T00:21:00.000-07:00

Last week, my friend Shin ( maker of cakes, server of ginger tea, owner of La Taupe, the most wonderful cafe in Marugame) gave me a ticket to see the current exhibition at the Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art. All of my friends are having lazy Sundays, so after an equally lazy Sunday morning in bed, I decided to have a look.

The MIMOCA is such a little treasure in this town. It's the first thing you see upon leaving the train station and was purposefully designed as a 'station-front' museum, both for convenience and to promote and encourage art and culture. I like its design a lot - it looks very striking in the context of the older buildings surrounding it. The interior is really beautiful too; airy and spacious, with lots of natural light.
I've been to the MIMOCA once before, on my very first day in Marugame. I had no bicycle and stumbled upon the MIMOCA after a bewildered walk around, trying to find the city center. I remember looking at about two pieces of work before bursting into tears and thinking how ridiculous I was for deciding to come and live in a tiny little place in the middle of the countryside where I knew nobody and where the 'city centre' consisted of a quaint little train station and some rocks that glow in the dark at night time. How far I have come this year; I quite like my city centre with its orange haired youths hanging about and being obnoxious to the cute little Marugame police men (I think they are the countryside equivalent of delinquents - I love watching them so much), its little train station with friendly ticket inspector Percy, and I have even warmed to the glow in the dark rocks. :-) I also like the city centre because I associate it with my cherished weekend escapes from Marugame when countryside living gets a little too intolerable...

The MIMOCA is named after Genichiro Inokuma (1902-1993), an artist born here in Marugame.
He was also a former student at Maruko, one of the schools I teach at.

Inokuma-san's work is mostly abstract; he liked birds, cats and horses very much. Funny little bird, cat and horse like figures are prominent features in his work. He also enjoyed painting faces, and imagined 2D aerial views of cities in bright, vivid colours.

His work was really fun and engaging to look at and it made me wonder; What was the Marugame that Inokuma grew up in like? What did he take inspiration from? Where were his favourite haunts and places? And an after thought, did he enjoy his English lessons at Maruko?

This week I am poor, but it's ok because I am going to Seoul on Thursday, hurrah!
I finally feel content with my decision to leave Japan in August. I'm trying hard not to worry about my return to London and to enjoy my final weeks here with my best friends and my blue bicycle. I'm also really excited to revisit my favourite places in Kansai again to say a final goodbye (for now at least...)

xo

P.S Happy Father's Day, Dad! I posted a card and gift to you on Wednesday, so both should arrive soon!

The Host Boys of Japan

2010-06-15T01:52:00.000-07:00

Host/hostess clubs are one of the most lucrative aspects of Japan's multi-faceted sex and night time entertainment industry. Host bars are thriving in the Tokyo neighbourhood of Kabukicho, and the Umeda and Namba districts of Osaka.

Osaka is one of my favourite cities and whenever I visit, I continue to be fascinated, enamoured and intrigued by the droves of host boys on the Dotonbori Bridge (a popular meeting spot, where everybody gathers before being scattered by the winds to Osaka's labyrinth of seemingly infinite bars and clubs). A host is typically in his late teens to mid twenties, whose job it is to entertain female clients with his charming, engaging demeanour, physical attractiveness, and light conversation. Often he will sport a special talent; he may be a burgeoning magician, the perfect karaoke companion, or if all else fails, will be able to win a girl's heart with his perfectly coiffed hair and snappy suit.The basic wage of a host boy is pitiful and high earnings are derived through commission, so being on the constant look out for potential customers is a vital part of the job. Host boys usually venture out in the early evening (known as 'The Twighlight Shift') to look for women who look like they have money to spend. A woman with a designer handbag or a healthy looking haircut could be a potential client. A woman with money means the possibility of more expensive drinks, which means higher earnings for the host boys. Vivian and I have been befriended by two sets of host boys on the Dotonbori, though Aki and Bruce were somewhat lacking in the charm factor (they asked for my bank book and passport straight away....perhaps they're apprentices....)

Appearance is everything for a host boy. Most host bars have picture menus, from which female customers can select the boy they would like to spend time with. Once again, it comes down to cash - the more attractive the host, the more attention and money he will get. The Osaka host boys are immaculately groomed with their pedantically styled hair (often in dubious shades of orange...), suits, well polished shoes and good skin. This is an advert for an Osaka club that I snapped on my very first visit;

A few weeks ago, I watched a very insightful documentary about the host industry of Osaka. The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief (dir. Jake Clennel) follows the life of twenty four year old Issei, the successful owner of a host bar called Rakkyo Club. Issei makes numerous references to his line of work throughout the documentary, describing his job as 'selling dreams and happiness' in the form of romantic attention. The Great Happiness Space was fascinating to watch and I particularly liked it for its objective stance and lack of moral judgement.

What I found to be the most poignant thing about the documentary was the rather sad underbelly of the seemingly glamorous, hedonistic and care free exterior of the industry. The hosts at Rakkyo work to the point of exhaustion, drinking heavily in order to get through the long night of entertainment. On the Dotonbori, the host boys exude charm, happiness and youthfulness, but the documentary showed lots of very tired and disillusioned young men. One host described himself as 'a product' for girls, which I thought was kind of sad.
What's more,many of the female customers at Rakkyo are hostesses and prostitutes. The money they make from entertaining men is spent on acquiring what they believe to be more genuine attention and affection from the host boys, which makes for quite a pitiful vicious circle.

I am still so intrigued to visit a host club, but seeing the documentary did make me think a bit. Out on the street, the host boys are so much fun. Though they are witty, charming and seem to personify lightheartedness and often vacuousness, they are no doubt just as complex as you and I.

xo

Thank you!

2010-06-09T06:12:00.001-07:00

In two weeks time, I will be able to take my trip to Seoul after all. Thank you so much Nana! :-)

xoxoxoxo

No foreigners allowed.

2010-06-07T05:36:00.000-07:00

I travelled so much in May that I have exhausted all my yennies. The month of June will be spent having fun on a budget which I think will prove to be quite easy. It's warm, I have lots of good books to read, and lots of friends to picnic and play badminton with in the best back garden in the world - Marugame castle and its grounds.

This past weekend was spent doing all of these things and it was so relaxing. I hadn't realised how exhausted my travels had made me, so it was lovely to lie in and mooch down to the castle to sit in the sunshine.

I really don't like to write about my more negative experiences on this blog. It should be a place for happy things only, but the following account is something that has lodged itself very firmly in my mind.
On Saturday evening, myself and four of my newest friends here decided to go to a bar for a few drinks and some karaoke. After a lovely meal, we ambled down to said bar, only to find that it was closed. Not wanting to head home, we decided to go to the bar a couple of floors below, so three of us hopped into the lift with another man following close behind us. I felt immediately uncomfortable; the man had a particularly unpleasant face and for the duration of our time in the lift, he kept on glaring at me.

The 'no foreigners allowed' policy, although not prevalent, does still exist in Japan, but I have been fortunate enough to have never experienced it. This time however, within about two minutes of being in the bar, the unpleasant man (who, it turns out, was the owner)came storming over to our table. He looked furious and I instinctively sidled up to my very tall,gentle giant friend Andrew. The next thing I knew, the man had grabbed hold of my arm very tightly, to the point that it felt quite painful, and began screaming at me, telling me to get out, that I was a dirty foreigner and that I should go home.

I felt extremely intimidated and we left immediately. Luckily I was in the company of four of the most laid back, fun loving and care free people I have met so far here , so I was able to forget about it and enjoy the rest of my night at a bar where we were welcome.

The next day however, Saturday night's episode really played on my mind. I felt extremely aware of my foreigner status and the position I occupy in this little town. I know it was probably an isolated event and that this man was one of the few very narrow minded people who reside here. I also know that people of his kind can be found in cities, towns and villages the world over, but I couldn't help but keep thinking about this individual's quite frightening behaviour towards us.

I found myself being very very careful in my choice of clothing on Sunday. It was another beautiful hot and sunny day but I didn't want to stand out by wearing a sun dress, instead opting for something that would cover me up. I was reluctant to go into the supermarket. I've finally learned to ignore the stares (mostly of curiosity, but stares that make me feel uncomfortable all the same) when I go food shopping, but I knew that I would feel them this time. I decided to forgo the lovely mango I had intended on buying at the supermarket and made lunch at home. Similarly, when I was waiting to cross the road, it felt like every passenger in every car that passed by was looking at me.

That Sunday, I was so grateful that my friends were at the castle. I went and joined them, feeling glad to spend the day living in a foreigner bubble and forgetting that I was in Japan for a while.

Saturday night left a really bad and lingering taste in my mouth. I have found small town life to be extremely difficult and I still have days where I feel so claustrophic here. I hate feeling like an outsider so much. Saturday night made me feel even more of one. The experiences I've had with Japanese people here have been wonderful - I have been shown so much kindness and warmth by my friends, students, colleagues and even strangers. It was a shame that something like this had to happen, so close to my departure from Japan.

On a funnier note, I have a friend called Hiroki who is so eager to learn English. He tries so hard, but his English is still at a very comedic level. Next month, Hiroki is having a barbeque and he made a facebook invite for the event.
I am not mocking Hiroki's English in any way, in fact, wouldn't it be just lovely if everyone used English that was as endearing as Hiroki's is?

Here is Hiroki's invitation;

'Let's do the barbecue all together.
It plays volleyball in the coast.
It bathes in the sea.
It eats meat.
Fireworks!

Please invite the friend by all means.'

xo

Green tea and apples

2010-05-24T04:54:00.000-07:00

At the weekend, lovely Vivian persuaded me to take an impulse trip to Kyoto to join her, Maman Morelli and Maman Morelli's friend. I was so happy to be back in Kyoto for a third time; it is such a beautiful, elegant, sophisticated city, and somewhere that I would love to live for a while.

This is apparently the most beautiful street in Asia...

This was my third time to visit Kyoto, so I was happy to potter around and revisit my favourite spots. Kyoto is a very peaceful city and good for walking. Vivian and I took a walk along the Path of Philosophy and stumbled across this beautiful little cafe, Cafe Pomme, owned by the most endearing husband and wife. Mrs. Pomme is the baker (who sells all sorts of baked goodness from a little booth), whilst Mr. Pomme is the waiter; they make the cutest team! Mrs. Pomme hails from Takamatsu, which Mr. Pomme got very excited by....this meant free cake for Vivian and I...

The Pommes!

Later that evening,we met our fellow Kagawa resident, Danny...

...walked down Pontocho, which was lined with these beautiful bird lanterns...

...before having an impromptu sweets party (courtesy of Starbucks) down by the river.

Kyoto's neighbouring city, Osaka definitely claims the crown for nightlife in the Kansai area, but we were pleasantly surprised by Kyoto's small but lively hub night time activity. Vivian and I with our J boys!

We stayed out late, eating things we weren't hungry for, running away from persistent strangers, swooning at the preppy Kyoto boys and watching the taxis with the hearts go by.

After catching only a few zzzzs, we awoke to a rainy Kyoto Sunday, and spent the afternoon stocking up on green tea sweet supplies and having impromptu photo shoots with all of our edible treasures. (country bumpkins are easily entertained)

In Kyoto, the green tea flavoured treats are more abundant, the people more refined, the trees greener and more plentiful. Kyoto captures and magnifies everything I love about Japan. I love impulse trips and I love Kyoto.

xo

Night Duty

2010-05-18T10:40:00.000-07:00

Seasons here in Japan do not roll gently into one another. Here in Japan, one does not have to tentatively remove their coat and warm wintery gloves, hats and scarves to let the spring's soft sunrays dance on their skin. One does not experience the swapping of jeans and cute little tops (a staple of Spring time back home) for even cuter sun dresses. Seasonal change in Japan is sudden. Seasonal change in Japan is abrupt and summer seems to already be here in Kagawa, bringing with it the onslaught of bugs, creepy crawlies, and all manner of things that make the life of an English girl living in rural Japan, somewhat more complicated...

One morning last week,I encountered my first unwanted visitor of the summer; an enormous Japanese cockroach, as gruesome, enormous and vile as I had anticipated, brazenly sitting on the kitchen wall of my apartment. A cockroach was one of the things that I had been fearing most about summer time in Japan. Japanese cockroaches are not only unusually big, but they can fly.Being unable to pluck up the courage to run past it,not only was I very late for work, but I ended up doing my hair and applying make up (in an attempt to eliminate the very white palor my face had assumed through the fear inducing events of the morning)in the toilet of the supermarket - a fine moment! My get-ridder-of-all-scary-things friend, Ciaran came over after work that day to remove the beast but alas, we couldn't find him. We optimistically decided that he had finished in my apartment, having moved on to explore another...

*PAUSE* jaunt to Tokyo, having such lovely times that all thoughts of cockroach intruders disappeared from my thoughts....

...until last night, when he returned to the very same spot on the kitchen wall. Still feeling exhausted from the night bus, I didn't pay much attention and was able to get some sleep (albeit, with all the lights in the house turned on in a desperate attempt to deter him). He is here again tonight. This time, my friend Daniel attempted to catch him whilst I stood outside on my balcony squealing. It was a fail for Daniel too; cockroaches are fast, and he half scuttled/half flew away to find another dark corner in which to lie in wait.

Daniel has gone. All of my friends here in Marugame are asleep in their lovely, cosy, cockroach-free abodes. I am on my own and my cockroach (he seems to be here to stay, so why not refer to him affectionately...) keeps tormenting me by crawling in and out of my room. I hate the way they move.
I have tried several times to poison him with my magic, get rid of cockroaches spray, but this one is a toughie and my failed attempts have left me feeling dizzy from the not so magic as I had anticipated poisonous spray fumes. I have thus resorted to night duty. I am so tired but cannot sleep knowing that he is here.

It is 3.30am. I am sitting here in my room, listening to the rain pouring down outside and wishing that I was brave enough to only close my eyes and fall asleep. Soon I will 'get up' and have breakfast, by which time, perhaps the cockroach will have finished his all night party in my kitchen.

Rural life is not for a girl like me. London, I miss you and your comparatively endearing house spiders.

xo

Design Festa Vol. 31 - TKO

2010-05-16T20:16:00.001-07:00

This weekend, Ed and I took a fleeting trip to Tokyo for Design Festa. Design Festa is the biggest art and design event in Asia, and I had been dreaming about going to it ever since I decided to move to Japan. Anyone and everyone can contribute and participate in the Festa; the venue was teeming with arty, crafty stalls, booths, installations and live performance, showcasing art and design not only from Asia, but from all over the world. The event was so much fun, and I was in crafty heaven, to the point that on arriving at the venue, the row upon row of little stalls, oozing with colour,handmade treasures and all kinds of funny, interesting things, truly took my breath away. The artists and designers were so friendly and willing to talk about and have their work photographed. My future back in London is still so uncertain and has been the point of such anxiety for me recently. I found the event to be very inspiring and it has really motivated me to pursue and hatch more plans for little projects, which up until this point, I had only really envisioned as silly, trivial things.

I collected so many little cards over the course of the day, and have spent this morning trying to match them them up to my photographs. I will link wherever possible if you want to take a looky :-)

These colourful vintage fabric, cute little 'lady purses' were made by an equally cute elderly lady called Kitsch Mama. I bought one for my pens and pencils. I love Kitsch Mama!

Friends and loved ones, expect lots of post in the coming weeks - beautiful postcards were my number one purchase of the day.

Having seen this stall, I am determined to make my own kaleidoscopes. They were mesmerising. The picture below is what I saw when I looked inside the big purple one - nice eh? :-)

I bought postcards a-plenty from the cute little chicken man.

This cardboard city was so beautiful. There were even parts of it that moved - amazing.

funnies

This was a really endearing piece of work about the different prefectures of Japan. The Kagawa (my home) character even has udon (Kagawa's famous dish) hair eee! I actually felt an unexpected pang of pride for my home prefecture. Udon this week Vivian?

The photograph is not so clear, but one of my favourite booths of the day was manned by a lovely husband and wife, who took very funny mugshot pictures of their very smiley cat. It made me laugh so much. Please have a look at the website, it's so much fun. I wonder if I could get my Alfie to do something similar...

Some booths sold very little in the way of handicrafts, but were entertaining all the same....

I loved this mother and son duo. They held the event's monopoly on paper chain making...

the paper girls.

cosy little woodland hideaway.

It was a long day for this boy.

I had the best time ever at Design Festa and saw so many interesting things. I want to come back to Japan for it next year, perhaps even having a stall of my own... I wonder if London Design Week this October will be as impressive.

Having treated our eyes to all of the treasures at the Festa, Ed and I headed to Koenji (the cutest little part of Tokyo) where my friend Nathalie lives. Nathalie and I both went to university in Leeds and share a few friends in common. In our third year, one of my good friends, Simon, lived in the same house as Nathalie, just two roads back from the one I lived in. Despite this, our first time to meet was not in lovely Yorkshire, where we had walked the same cobbled streets, studied in the same libraries and danced in the same clubs, but on the other side of the world in Tokyo. We had a hearty okonomiyaki dinner and headed to Shibuya, where Nathalie took us to this amazing labyrinth of very narrow streets, lined with cosy little bars that fit about eight people in at most. Drinking in these streets would make for a fun game of surprise (and a test of courage too perhaps!); it was funny to reach the top of the staircase, before finding yourself squeezed into a very tiny room with six strangers. Apparently, these were the popular Shibuya drinking dens of post-war Japan.

This bar was at the top of a very narrow staircase. It was cosy, cosy, and there were cat things everywhere; I was a happy girl.

After that, we danced until the morning. Here we are on our way home, Sunday morning :-)

I have fallen in love with Koenji; it reminded me somewhat of East London with its abundance of arty little cafes and twee shops. This is a cutesy little Koenji cafe called Hattifnatt, the interior of which has been made to look like a treehouse. Unfortunately, there was a long queue, so I have added it to the top of my list for my return jaunt.

Lovely Nathalie was the best guide to Tokyo ever (thank you, thank you, and check your posty post soon!). We headed to another cute area called Shimokitazawa in the afternoon, where we picked up some vintage treasures, and visited what have fast become one of my favourite idiosyncrasies of Japan's burgeoning cafe culture - the cat cafe! This one was called Maneki Neko. The cats were so beautiful, healthy and clean looking. I miss my Alfie so much.

My favourite one; Nathalie observed that he looks like Bill Bailey - can you see the resemblance?

This cat leads the perfect life - he lives in Shimokitazawa, has loads of adoring cat lovers cooing at him, gets to wear a strawberry hat and sleep in a bowl every day!

With a couple of hours to spare before the dreaded eleven hour night bus journey (which incidentally,was horrific) we went to a Thai Festival in Yoyogi Park, stopping to see the Elvis' on the way;

It was then back to Shibuya for one last look at the surge of human activity at Shibuya crossing and a sushi dinner, before taking the bus back to sleepy little Kagawa.

I had the best weekend; Tokyo endeared itself a lot more to me on my second visit, both because of Design Festa and my super guide, who was not only the best fun, but showed me a side to Tokyo that I had been looking for. I will be back for a final vist in August :-)
The night bus was hellish;I spent the entire night having to endure my body coiled into the foetal position, my face crushed against the window and fish fumes seeping into my pores - many thanks to the man sitting next to me and his super sized bag of dried squid. Today, I am relaxing and recovering by drinking jasmine tea, listening to new music,finding space in my room for all of my new treasures and making a nice salad lunch;an extortionately priced, miniscule can (oh, the paradox!) of mixed pulses was my personal reward for the completion of the bus journey...yes, it really was that bad!

It's funny, but even though I am nine months into my time here in Japan, I continue to experience these strange moments that creep up on me unexpectedly; when I'm out walking in the evenings, when I am teaching a class, just before I go to sleep. They cannot be described other than moments of disbelief and a curious sense of pride - I'm here in Japan. Actually here. The shakey days are still a permenant fixture of my life here and what I am gaining or hope to gain from this experience remains unclear to me. But I did it. I did this all by myself. I hope that is something that I can take with me when I return to London to begin figuring out what to do next...

xo

Golden Week

2010-05-04T17:22:00.000-07:00

Golden Week is a collection of national holidays here in Japan. For an extended time, all of Japan is on the move as people travel abroad or to other parts of the country to visit friends/family. I was very intrigued to experience such a rarity in Japan - a holiday that lasts for more than one day!

I decided to take a trip back to Osaka to join my friends Vivian, Ciaran and Reese. I love Osaka. It is grimy, seedy, hedonistic and laid back. I enjoyed the style in Osaka as it reminded me of my London - with the exception of the straw boater hats, which every female under the age of 25 was wearing, anything goes in Osaka and it wasn't so contrived as I find Tokyo sometimes can be.

Being back in a big city after a several weeks in the countryside felt wonderful. I enjoy so many things about life in Marugame but this trip really confirmed that I need to take the opportunity to travel as much as possible in these last few months. I fall into the comfort trap here in Marugame - life is easy and uncomplicated....but can also become very monotonous and frustrating. I still hate being so conspicuous in this little town. In Osaka, I felt a little more anonymous and it made me feel relaxed. I loved seeing new things for my eyes to be inspired by, to have those moments of frustration where I could not find a way out of Namba station (with it's 539575478574853 exits), to ride a busy subway like I did every day back in London town, to spend 40 minutes walking from one end of the shopping area to the other, being swept along in a sea of people.

I stayed in a really cute little hostel with equally cute staff in Namba. It was clean, lovely and I didn't feel the urge to get up and get out as soon as I woke up (as I have felt in other hostels I've stayed in). I wish I could be friends with the gesturing man and the girl with the bowl haircut.

I did lots of lovely things with my time in Osaka - drank by the Dotombori canal, went to the most amazing Mexican restaurant I have ever been to, met up with fellow Londoner Roland who took me to a cutesy Vietnamese cafe with colourful sweets and lovely art on the walls, ate Kansai okonomiyaki, satisfied my retail deprivation;I think my summer wardrobe is leaning towards red and stripes this year, stocked up on my Japanese fashion magazines (the spreads are so beautiful) went clubbing (which was fantastic - it was the first time I felt feminine and attractive here in Japan. Guys came up and chatted to us and it felt great, even if I couldn't understand!),ate green tea KitKat Chunkies, my new confectionary obsession, met some of Vivian's lovely Tokushima friends, who I would love to see again, and just enjoyed being in a bustling, noisy, dirty, inspiring place.

(These are the host boys we met. Note the claw hand on my bag after just having been asked about my passport and bank card by said hosts!)

Yesterday, Vivian and I took a trip to Nara 奈良市. Mine and Vivian's schedules here are quite different so it was lovely to spend time together. Our morning began with combini breakfasts, dropping bananas on escalators and a nice little train ride. We walked around in the sunshine, ate bento, saw a giant Buddha (apparently the biggest in the world), petted the deer and partook in the very Japanese custom of buying omiyage (souvenirs) for every single person we know back in Marugame - we are IMMERSED in Japanese culture Vivian! I was happy to see some deer again - I think I preferred the Nara deer to their Miyajima counterparts; they were prettier; more doe eyed and lovely.

(deer and girl with white, pasty legs ach :-/)

Last night, tired footed Vivian and I took the bus back to Osaka laden with our new purchases and a selection of dubious looking combini snacks to console ourselves. It was a fun bus journey home and both of us agreed that we were glad for the company.

Osaka is a different world, an entirely different Japan from the one I have become familiar with over the past eight months of day to day life here in Marugame. I felt flat coming back on the bus but after stepping off the little local train at Marugame, smelling the earthy smell of the rice fields, being greeted by the smiley ticket collector man (we don't need ticket barriers here in the countryside), cycling back home in the early summer warmth, and meeting my besty at the supermarket in ten minutes (we don't have ten billion train exits - you can be with your friends within seconds!) I realised that perhaps I am a lucky girl to be able to experience both sides of Japan.....perhaps.

My heart belongs in the city. Hearts for Osaka; see you soon <3

xo

Fashion show

2010-04-22T05:15:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I took part in a fashion show for Ichirou, a friend of mine who cuts my hair for free, a woo! Surprisingly, it was actually a very interesting cultural experience; around fifty or so girls modelled at the event, with myself and Tamara being the only Western girls.

The Japanese models were styled in a very demure kind of way; pastel shades, soft curls, ethereal looking dresses, whilst Tamara and I looked the complete opposite of the cutesies. My makeup was very bold and smokey (and incidentally, not really the right kind for my skin tone. Days later, my poor skin is still suffering, as a result of the make up being piled on like polyfiller gah!), my hair tightly pulled back with lots of back combing, and my clothes would have been almost provocative had it not been for my big feet which unintentionally saved me! None of the high heels would fit me so embarrassingly, I had to make do with a pair of MC Hammer style mens' shoes.

Lots of my students were there and it took them a little while to realise that it was me beneath the mask and witchy hair. Post realisation = the usual shrieking ensued.
I had a good time and it was really fun to have somebody as laid back as Tamara with me. I also had a really amusing experience afterwards when I popped into my local supermarket with said runway hair and makeup. The poor little cashier was mortified when he saw the witchy looking foreign girl with the MC Hammer trainers.

Things have been a bit shakey again lately, but a Wednesday night tea session and just a few minutes ago, being enthusiastically accosted by my rowdy Josei students in the supermarket and then seeing them being told off by the security guard for being too noisy (to whom they took no notice of whatsoever - I truly love that school) have cheered me up no end. Tomorrow, I will have dinner at a nice cafe here called Bubucane and pretend that I am dining at a chic city cafe for a couple of hours hehe. Oh countryside living...

xo

xo

Bicycle a-go-go.

2010-04-13T03:03:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, Ed, Yumi and I did a 70 kilometre bicycle ride across the Shimanami Kaido. The Shimanami Kaido is a bridge that begins in Imabari (on my little island of Shikoku) and stretches all the way to quaint little Onomichi city on Hiroshima prefecture over on Honshu, the mainland.

It was a beautiful day with lots of sunshine...

fun company....

...good food....

...and plenty of these.

I would really love to do it again before I leave Japan.

xo

xo

Vietnam

2010-04-07T06:16:00.000-07:00

Last week, I took a trip to Vietnam. It was a memorable trip as not only was it my first time in South East Asia, but I was doing it alone. It turned out to be unexpectedly nice travelling alone and I enjoyed having the freedom to be in the company of others (I met really lovely people - hello Nancy and Kendra!) and be alone when the mood took me.

Unfortunately, my camera was stolen on my very first night in Hanoi which was such a disappointment. I bought a couple of instant cameras and I think it will be kind of nice to see the pictures as they will all be surprises. I'm sorry that it might be a bit of a boring read without pictures :-(

There were loads of things I enjoyed about Vietnam:

- enjoying food is so important to me when visiting somewhere new and I ate so well in Vietnam, largely because of all the wonderful salads I ate. I realised how much I have missed a good salad since I've come to Japan. Mangoes are my favourite fruit and they were sold in abundance on the street for just a few pennies, which I took full advantage of. Every morning for breakfast, I ate a fruit salad full of fruits I had never tasted before, with natural yoghurt and honey, accompanied by a glass of Hanoi's celebrated thick, chocolatey iced coffee.
One of the best restaurants I visited was KOTO. KOTO began on the streets of Hanoi back in the 90s as a development project aimed at breaking the cycle of poverty amongst street and disadvantaged youth in Vietnam. All the waiters, waitresses and chefs are young people from the streets who complete a three year apprenticeship at KOTO. The food was beautiful and my bill was being channelled into a great cause (which made me feel good, especially given the incessant and often exhausting culture of bartering in Vietnam, which always made me feel uncomfortable)

I took a trip to Halong Bay, which is a UNESCO world heritage site about four hours outside of Hanoi. It was beautiful and eerie. The thing that intrigued me most were the floating villages. Our guide told us that there are even floating village schools!

I loved the museums in Hanoi so much and with a couple of rainy days, I managed to see them all. The fine art museum was a little devoid of creativity, as all work had to be party approved...

I saw Ho Chi Minh's embalmed body at the Mausoleum! It was one of the most morbidly interesting experiences I have ever had. He lies in a huge glass case surrounded by guards in white uniform. I queued for ages and had to be completely covered up before I was able to file past his body. It was especially fascinating to see the reaction of Vietnamese visitors; utmost reverence.

Hanoi's heart and soul is based in the Old Quarter; a district of about fifty narrow, winding streets. Each of the streets possess a unique character which is reflected in their names; Silk Street, Herb Street, Shoe Street etc. Fruit Shake Street (I suspect this is a contemporary addition) and Herb Street smelt so beautiful. It was fun to wander around the Old Quarter; it was full of cafes, curious little shops and people eating on the famous blue plastic chairs that spilled out onto the road. I also loved the tube houses that made up the Old Quarter; in the past shopkeepers were taxed according to the width of their shop front, so built houses that are very narrow in width but lengthwise, seem to go on forever.

The Old Quarter did get a bit hectic after a while; the fifty streets look so homogenous, the names looked and sounded extremely similar and I am an awful map reader...I spent a lot of time being lost. I had given up on the Old Quarter by my last two days in favour of sitting down by the lake with my book...

There were some cultural quirks that I noticed ;

Loads of men had uncomfortably long thumb nails. Generally men who drove taxis or worked as shop assistants in some of the nicer shops. I found out that it indicates wealth and status. These men are financially comfortable enough not have to resort to a life of manual labour. I kept staring at the long thumb nails for my entire trip.

The offerings that people leave at shrines. It was really bizarre to see Buddha surrounded by packets of crisps and cheap supermarket cakes. I just couldn't fathom it... Ed did the 88 Temple Walk here in Japan this Spring Holiday and said that the same happens here....

The first thing I saw upon arriving at Hanoi airport was a man defecating in the street. I saw it a couple of times....I can't be sure if it was cultural thing or if I just happened to come across several individuals who were just desperate to relieve themselves...

The culture of bartering also made me feel somewhat uncomfortable and was not something I could do. To me, the thought of bartering something down from a measly two dollars to an even measlier one, just because I was in South East Asia was kind of immoral.

I arrived back in Japan in perfect time for the cherry blossoms and had a lovely first day back with my friends under the cherry trees.

Ciaran being couth...

Shikoku chic - the man in the picture was one of Shikoku's finest; orange hair, awful tracksuit. He deserves to be featured!

This weekend, I'm cycling across the bridge with Yumi and Ed, in celebration of Yumi's 24th birthday. This morning, Ed, Yumi and I impulsively booked tickets to go to Seoul for four days in June :-)

xo

Weekend in March

2010-03-22T04:16:00.000-07:00

Despite the fact that I did not venture very far this weekend, lots of things happened; I went cafe hopping and treasure hunting at the vintage shops with Ayako, I made marmalade, I went to an art market with Kentarou,I sat in a tree house at the art market, I ate lots of good food, I attended a premature Hanami party, my cold hands joined lots of others trying to get some warmth, I fell asleep at the kotatsu, I did a book swap,I went for a long bike ride to the beach, I played frisbee,I cried so much I wanted to go home, I laughed until my sides hurt, I hope you had a lovely weekend.

Ken and I at the art market.

Ken's friends made takoyaki (octopus dumplings). I had tried them once before in Osaka and didn't like them much. This time, they were amazing. Maybe even as good as okonomiyaki (my favourite Japanese food).

Isn't it beautiful?

xo

Goodbye lovelies :-)

2010-03-18T03:12:00.000-07:00

The school year in Japan runs from April to March, and this week is the final week of the academic year. At Josei, with the exception of a second year Conversational English class, I only teach the first year. This week, I had my final classes with my six first year classes. My friends both here in Japan and back home know that at times, I have found this job difficult and it seems that when I think about all the classes I've taught since September, the unsuccessful/so-so classes far outnumber the ones that have been a success. It was therefore only when it came to saying goodbye to my students that I realised just how fond of them I have become.

When I look at these photos, I can name every single student. Not only that, I can recall a funny quirk or endearing little thing about each one of them. I am really sad to have to say goodbye to them. (You can click on these photos to make them bigger, they are just a sea of faces when they're little)

(some funny faces)

These two photographs are of class 1-3 (they are split into two for team teaching classes). Class 1-3 are my absolute favourite class. Their enthusiasm and happiness is infectious. I love their seasonal confusion syndrome; despite the fact that it is now March, the four boys to my right in the top photo, Ryosuke, Junta, Naohira and Sone continue to greet me with 'Happy New Year!' I will miss 1-3 so much.

This is my favourite student, Sachiko.

I love these two sweeties from 1-3 too. I will remember them most from the class we did on 'What do you want to be in future?' After a stream of the usual responses, I was really amused when these two chimed in with 'The only thing we want is to be rich girls.'

This is my smartest class, class 1-1. We always get through the material in each class really quickly so our classes were more conversational than team teaching ones. This was really nice as I got to know lots about them all. 1-1 were my final first year class today. I cried so much at the end. This set off not only all the girls but Shingo, the little guy directly above me too. Shingo is a magician and aspiring doctor who gives chocolates to girls (me!) for White Day :-)

I will never forget my first year students.

xo

Cycling a go-go

2010-03-15T04:32:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, I visited the island of Shodoshima (小豆島)with Yumi, Ed and Sean. It was such a beautiful day, so we rented some bicycles and set off on the biggest bicycle ride I have ever been on. We cycled over thirty kilometres and a lot of it was uphill. It was all worth it for the not so gruelling return journey where we whizzed down hills without having to peddle at all. Cycling is the simplest of pleasures, I love it.

Shodoshima smelt beautiful.I couldn't quite pinpoint the smell but olives are grown there, so perhaps it was that. Whatever it was, it was lovely.

Little olive house, big olive trees

We cycled to Kankakei Ropeway where we took the cable car through the gorge. Ahh, it was lovely. My favourite part was when one of the elderly passengers in the cable car spotted a deer on the mountain. Within seconds, news of the deer had spread throughout the small cable car. Cameras were a-clicking and there were shrieks of excitment, with everyone clambering to the windows of the car. I never knew deer were so popular here...

Here we are at the top of the gorge.

The bicycle ride back to the port in the early evening sunshine was so beautiful. I liked feeling the wind blowing through my hair! We stopped off at the beach, missed the curfew for returning our bicycles (the owner of the shop was not so impressed but we said a quick sayonara and made a quick getaway before he could fine us) and fell asleep on the boat ride back to Takamatsu.

My name in hiragana, by Yumi.

It was such a lovely day. In April, we plan to cycle the Shimanami Kaido bridge - a forty kilometre bridge that connects Shikoku to Hiroshima.

I'm feeling both apprehensive and wildly excited about my solo jaunt to Vietnam in a couple of weeks time. I also feel a deep sense of relief after having made the decision to finish up here in Japan in August. I am enjoying myself, but I feel curious to see more of the world. Recently, I have been devoting less time to worrying about my classes, in favour of planning the next part of my adventure; my head has been stuck in various Lonely Planets for the past couple of weeks. Last week, I read loads about Angkor and the Khmer Empire in medieval Cambodia. Researchers have concluded that Angkor was the largest preindustrial city in the world. Its decline is both mysterious and fascinating - I want to go there so much.

Five months is not a lot of time, but it will force me to squeeze in all of the things left on my list that I want to see and do before I leave.

xo

Tired eyes

2010-02-28T05:19:00.000-08:00

This week has been a week of uncertainty as I wait to find out whether my contract will be renewed. My eyes are tired so here are some photographs of the nice things I have enjoyed this week.

Making chocolate glitter hearts for birthdays.

Little flowers in teacups.

Lovely tulips.

I had a day off on Tuesday; the weather was perfect.

My castle in the sunshine.

Letter writing

Strawberry eating.

Petals by my feet.

A snappy poster for a festival at the castle in May

Last night, a bunch of us went out for some karaoke fun times in a little bar in Marugame. I had such a good time.

Today, I climbed a big mountain (the mountain in the strawberry photograph!)

Home.

Mountain cat in the evening sunshine. Hello little one.

My castle at sunset.

I found some really cheap flights to Vietnam, so I'm going to Hanoi!

xo

Spring time is coming.

2010-02-22T02:59:00.000-08:00

This weekend, I went to Okayama to see the Hadaka Matsuri; the Naked Man Festival, which was held in a town called Saidaiji, just outside Okayama city. I'm really glad that I saw this; hundreds of loincloth clad man, running around a temple and crushing together to dispel their misfortunes, in the cold, bitter Japanese February is something that I am unlikely to get the opportunity to see again.

The festival began with hundreds of men dressed in fundoshi, running through the little paths of Saidaiji shouting 'Washoi! Washoi!', which apparently means 'enhance yourself' (manly) and ending up at the temple.
Once at the temple, they did a bit more running around and some more 'Washois!', with a nice little dip in the water. I suspect that this part might have been a window of time in which the men mustered up the courage for what they were about to endure next...

The most exciting part of the evening was when the clock struck ten. By this point, all of the men had gathered inside the temple. I have never seen so many scantily clad men in such a small space in my entire life. Look at them!

At ten o'clock, all the lighting in the area was turned off apart from the lights inside the main temple, which looked eerily beautiful. Pieces of wood called shingi were then dropped from inside the temple. Those who catch the shingi are said to have a year of good luck. When the shingi are dropped, all I could see was an ocean of flailing arms and a crush of men falling over eachother and down the temple steps. I was quite a way back from the main temple, so the sight of falling men actually looked quite graceful and beautiful - like a set of lovely man dominoes.

By the end of the night, my feet felt less like feet and more like little lumps of ice encased in boots but I had such a fun time watching the Naked Man festivities. I also loved all of the little food stalls, bedecked with lights that lined the streets. If I had had more time, I would like to have tried some of the sweeties that were being sold - there should always be time for sweets.

On Sunday, after a green tea/white chocolate muffin and coffee breakfast, Iain and I spent the afternoon pottering around Okayama. I love Okayama, it's a real city and somewhere I should really take some future jaunts to, especially given that it is only a forty minute train ride across the bridge. It's a really contained and attractive little city, with a beautiful river walk and gardens. It also has clothes shop aplenty....wonderful clothes shops. The kind that make my eyes light up. The pleasurable quest for spring and summer clothes is about to ensue and I bought a beautiful crisp white broderie anglais top, I love it.

The plum blossoms were out on the trees at Korakuen Park...soon the cherry blossoms will be on their way...Sunday was the first day that I was able to walk around without my coat on. I am so happy to say goodbye to winter for another year, I feel a little jaded by it.

School has been up and down lately. I've had days of true happiness at Josei with my classes of sweet natured students. I really look forward to seeing my classes there, and I feel like I am actually doing my job;an average job of it mind, but nonetheless,I leave each class knowing that at the very least,I have taught them a set of new phrases on a given theme and have enjoyed being in their company. I haven't been enjoying my classes at Maruko at all lately; I've had a string of disastrous lessons complete with scrutinising teachers and obnoxious seventeen year olds, but exams are coming up this week, so I shall attempt to erase those disasters from my thoughts.

I feel excited about the next couple of months. The weekend after next, I want to go back to Osaka and one weekend later is the beginning of my two week Spring holiday. Iain and I are going to Okinawa. I'm looking forward to dipping my feet into the sea and trying Okinawan food. Okinawan cuisine is said to be very different from the food on the mainland in that it has some Taiwanese influences. I especially want to try the kinugoshi tofu; it has a really soft, almost silky texture with a nutty flavour, yum yum. On my return from Okinawa, I have another five days in which to do something fun. It looks like whatever I do will be on my own, which is unfortunate as I would much prefer to have company. Any suggestions as to what I should do? Here are my thoughts, please help me to decide. I want to go somewhere where I can have an enjoyable time, despite being alone.

* more exploring here in Japan (though it will be really expensive, and I want to save for Golden Week)
* take a jaunt to Seoul
* go to Hong Kong

I need to decide where to go in Golden Week too. I want to go to Vietnam more than anything, but the flights are either very expensive or all sold out, boo. Perhaps Thailand...

Tomorrow, I have a day off school. I'm going to go to my favourite cafe here in my little metropolis, catch up on some letter writing and do some reading. I've been doing lots of reading these past few weeks. Because I don't feel a great deal of job satisfaction here, I often get pangs of fear that my brain will turn into a vacuous lump of jelly so I am trying to read as much as I can. Any recommendations (or offerings!) would be lovingly welcomed :-)

I've been reading loads about the Kowloon Walled City recently. It's one of the strangest, most fascinating human settlements I have ever come across. Apparently, because buildings were so high and densely packed together, sunlight did not reach the floor, which made for a haven of deviant activity. I want to find out more.

Here's Vivian and I - on our matching bicycles, outside the lovely ginger tea cafe. I love my little town and my lovely friends here so much. <3

Ohh, and something very nice happened today...I have a mandolin! Maruko has a music festival coming up in three weeks time and I am going to play with one of my classes, so I have been leant a mandolin. I have wanted to play the mandolin for so long. I am so happy, I love it :-)

xo

Home

2010-02-05T05:57:00.000-08:00

Oh London, my heart misses you so much this week :-(

I miss Sundays in Brick Lane, rummaging around for the treasures.
I miss the jaunts Alex and I made to The Ten Bells.
I miss the Tate Modern, even though my eyes saw the same things week after week; art in a power station is a nice thing.
I miss existing in a workplace where I can understand everything that is being said to me.
I miss lunch at the Fig and Olive with Mum.
I miss the Sadlers Wells.
I miss my cat.
I miss reading a good book on the Tube and catching eyes with the stranger sitting opposite me.
I miss the shop that I wish was my wardrobe.
I miss brunch on the Southbank with Matthew.
I will even go so far as to say that I miss the 4am nightbus.

I miss it all. Please be the same when I return.

This picture is by Miroslav Sasek. I love his 'This Is...' series - the pictures are so wonderful.

xo

It's nice that.

2010-01-30T23:49:00.001-08:00

On Saturday, Iain and I took a jaunt to Naoshima, the arty island I visited back in September. I love Naoshima so much; it's dotted with little cafes run by twittering old ladies, arty spaces and good routes for a bicycle ride. Seeing inspiring things makes my head feel funny, I like it. Iain has a lovely new camera, so I've nabbed all of his pictures. For once, I can show you photographs that don't look like I am living in the 70s ee!

It was a sunny day so we rented some bicycles. Look at my purple one,isn't she lovely? Eee :-)

Bath house

We visited the Chichu Art Museum, which is an underground art gallery. The gallery assistants were dressed in such a way that they looked kind of robotic and sterile. It was kind of clinical, but in a curiously amusing way. I saw the most incredible installation by an artist called James Turrell. Ahh, it was truly amazing. James Turrell appropriates light and illusory methods in his work. This particular installation was really nice; Turrell had cut into the wall and flooded the space with a hazy, blue light in such a clever way that at first, I mistook the light for a blue wall. It turned out that you can actually enter the space/'wall'. When I turned around and saw Iain climb out of the hazy blue space and back down the steps, it looked like he was stepping into a picture. Ahh, it was so bizarre. Hmm, that was an awful (and needless?) ramble, but I thought it was so intriguing and intelligent. Ohh I want to know more about James Turrell.

Take a looky:

The other thing that I had been looking forward to seeing were the Art House Projects; six old village houses that have been converted into creative spaces. I saw lots of really nice work here too; photograph floors, bamboo flowers, neon numbers in water, having my senses unsettled in the dark room.

One of the houses had a giant statue of Liberty inside - gaudily beautiful eh?

I love the little tree.

Me, perusing woollen boy

Mm, I love this picture. I loved the cat too. :-)

We took a nice bicycle ride back to the ferry in the evening sunshine and had just enough time for more pictures and a visit to the Kusuma pumpkin. :-)

Hello :-)

On the way home...

Goodbye Sun.

Hello Moon.

Later on, we went to a club here in my Marugame. Lots of people were there and there was dancing!

English ones!

At Axis, I bumped into a guy called Ichiro who I had met a few months back. He is a hairdresser and spent six years living in Bethnal Green. We talked about Brick Lane and The Ten Bells. It made me think of home and all the things I love about London.

Yes,it was a perfect weekend.

Mmm, I don't quite know why the text and pictures are positioned in an odd way...

Other thoughts:
<3 running shoes have finally been purchased, and despite making me recoil every time I put them on, I have gone for a run three times this week. I especially like listening to The Magnetic Fields when I run.
<3 The things that Mitsuru Katsumoto makes are so nice.
<3 I know 100 Kanji now. I have decided to be be ambitious and take the level three (rather than the level below, as I had been intending) Japanese Language Proficiency Test in December.
<3 I want to go to South Korea and Vietnam so much.
<3I sat on the air con remote control and now my room is cold, owh.

bye bye

xo

All that is lovely

2010-01-26T02:23:00.000-08:00

I want to share the work of London based photographer Tim Walker with you. I love the pictures he makes oh so very much. He does a lot of of fashion photography but I like his other work more. Tim Walker makes my eyes light up.

This is my favourite one. I never tire of looking at it. I think there is an unusual kind of clarity in its oddness, as with all of the work he makes. Ohh, if only dresses could grow on trees...

This evening, I received the most amazing lesson plan I have ever seen. It read as follows: Theme: Sounds
Isabel: Make some sounds.
JTE: help students understand the sounds Isabel makes.

I don't quite know what to do next. So I suppose I will go to the lesson tomorrow and erm, make some sounds...

xo

Can the weekends please stop going so fast?

2010-01-24T14:40:00.000-08:00

Given my penchant for letters, I was so happy to read that something like this exists. Mysterious Letters is a collaboration between two artists, Lenka Clayton and Michael Crowe. Last year, they sent a personal, handwritten letter to each of the four hundred and sixty seven households in the small Irish seaside town of Cushendall. No two letters were the same, the only commonality they shared was that they were positive in spirit. The artists hoped that such letters would encourage neighbourly discussion, which in turn would lead to community curiosity. This is the first chapter in an ongoing project; the artists eventual aim is to write a personal handwritten letter to every household in the world.

Letters are my pleasure treasure. I like so many things about them; I like the friendliness of letters. I think that there is something quite beautiful about seeing one's handwriting for the first time. It feels quite intimate these days to be able to recognize somebody's handwriting. Yes, I like this project so much. <3 You can have a peek at the rest of the letters here
It even made the national news. Lookie
Some peoples' reactions did sadden me a bit though. Surely there is nothing more lovely than a letter in the post? I think I would feel more intrigued than frightened.

xo

Home, I am home.

2010-01-06T02:29:00.000-08:00

I am back in Marugame after having had the best Christmas with my family. I have such lovely memories of our time together; meeting in Hiroshima station,Christmas Day on Miyajima, green tea icecream,the useless taxi drivers of Tokyo, green lycra wearing 'sexy beasts' in Yoyogi Park, taking hours to find a way out of Tokyo subway stations,coffee,more coffee,getting lost, laughing until my stomach hurt,long train journies,teasing Dad,lots of good food,being together. I love you so much Mum, Dad and Oliver! You mean everything to me! I will write about our travels and put up some pictures very soon but for now, look at our family portrait aaahhhh!

I was a little apprehensive about returning to Marugame after travelling so much during the Christmas holiday. I find such happiness through travelling and I can't wait to do more with the people I care about here in Kagawa. After spending a couple of days on my own in Tokyo after my family went home, I felt a strange kind of feeling that really confirmed that I am beginning to feel at home here; I wanted to go back to Marugame. To see my little blue bicycle,my tiny apartment, and my friends here in my town. I cut my Tokyo jaunt a little short and took the nicest journey home on the Shinkansen. I listened to an album called World of Echo by Arthur Russell (which is full of amazing sounds) and stared out of the window for the whole time as the train passed by rugged coastlines, little towns and large mountains covered with snow, and beautiful forests.I want to do it again sometime. With somebody else. I wanted to talk to someone about what I was seeing but alas, there were no English speakers anywhere in sight and the man sitting beside me seemed to be more taken by the games on his phone rather than what was outside...incidentally, he did not lift his eyes from the phone for the entire five hour train journey. What a shame.

I am so happy to be back. My heart belongs to the city but I am probably never going to have the opportunity to live in such a community as this again.I have turned over a new leaf and I am going to learn to love my little town and its accompanying community. When I first came here, I made the mistake of comparing my life here to the life I lived back in London. I realise that I can find happiness (albeit different kinds) in both. The first thing I did on my return was go on a long bike ride and take a walk to the top of the castle. Later I met some of my friends for ramen and we talked about dinner parties,cycle rides to sweet shops and having all night parties across the bridge in Okayama. I feel so content to be here now and excited about all the happy memories I will make this year.

I saw lots of art in Tokyo when I did the Harajuku art walk. This man's life and work intrigues me; there was an exhibition of his work at the Tokyo Museum of Modern Art. Kiyoshi Yamashita 山下清 was famous for being both an artist and a wanderer. He used the "chigiri-e" method of sticking torn pieces of coloured paper together to depict scenery he saw on his travels, both in Japan and Europe . I like his work; it is warm and clear. I want to know more about Kiyoshi Yamashita and Japanese art and design.

Sakurajima

Nagaoka no hanabi

Fishing at Kanamachi

Other things; I have become quite taken with the idea of eggs for breakfast. Eggs for breakfast with jasmine tea.
I like the click, click, clicking of knitting with bamboo needles.
I have been reunited with my shoes of joy(or rather shoe, the left got separated from the right somewhere between London and Asia four very long months ago). I am looking forward to wearing them in the summer time - they are silly and lovely.

Other stuffs:
<3I have been listening to lots of music by a Japanese folky group from the 1970s called Happy End, Glaciers, and having a Magnetic Fields epiphany.
<3 I can't stop reading the Lonely Planet Japan...

Happy New Year :-)

xo

Hello Holidays

2009-12-22T06:41:00.000-08:00

Today was my last day of 2009 at Maruko. I played the Mariah Carey Christmas song for the 10000th and final time...I never want to hear that song again. Ohmiya-sensei was only too happy to take said CD home with him for the Christmas season; in our classes, not only did he insist on repeating the song five times for the 'fill in the blanks activity' (no one needs to listen to Mariah five times) but he would press the play button at sporadic points in the lesson, including the parts at which I was trying to explain things to the students...

Here are my favourite students from class 2-3;

They made me Christmas cards with the loveliest, sweetest, most heartfelt messages inside.

And so begins the task of making ones in return. I'll drop them off on my way to Josei on Thursday morning.

Today's thoughts and happenings; I really want to start exercising in the New Year. I'm going to pluck up the courage to buy aesthetically ugly 'sporty' clothes and go running or join the gym.
I want to become a better teacher.
I missed someone;we made lovely January plans. I received a really lovely message from a friend.
I really like persimmons but I think I eat too many of them. Is it bad to eat five a day?
Sushi is possibly one of my favourite things to eat.
Why do I stay up late into the midnight hours despite the fact that I am always tired in the mornings?
I am bursting with happiness at the thought of having a new girl friend in Marugame.
I am craving new reading material.
I can't wait to see my family.

xo

Why I should stay...

2009-12-18T04:47:00.000-08:00

Winter is here in my little town; I love wrapping up warm in lovely winter clothes. My morning cycles have become increasingly quicker as I pedal twice as hard against the sharp winds to get into the warmth. I am becoming quite accustomed to the purplish/red colour my cold hands assume in the mornings due to being gloveless on my bike - ah,I am missing those beautifully chic gloves adorned with little red buttons to match my coat (what a pity these gloves only exist in my mind...)

I haven't written in a long time. Things have changed...wonderfully so. So wonderfully in fact, that I have had a complete change of heart about the future. I think that I want to stay here for longer. I have a funny feeling in my heart telling me that to leave in March is just too soon.

I can't put into words this feeling I have so I am going to talk about the things that have made me blissfully happy lately...

Here I am with my colleagues from Josei; Matsamura-sensei, Suzuki-sensei and Kishikawa-sensei. (I think I look a bit manic in this photograph, it makes me laugh)A few weeks ago, they invited me for a girly night out. Only Suzuki-sensei can speak English so I left my apartment with a Japanese/English dictionary and a fresh pad of paper so that I could try to express myself with silly doodles, I had the loveliest night; I was silly and girly and had a fun time.I felt like I was out with my girl friends. It was the nicest feeling.

Last Saturday morning, I taught an unusual class at Maruko

Apologies for the slightly crumpled looking poster!

I taught a baking class, in English, to a group of thirty students and a handful of colleagues. If someone suggested this to me three months ago, I would never have thought it within my capabilities. I am still a little awkward and bumbling in my lessons but I am becoming more and more confident as I get to know my students better each day. I was so proud of myself that Saturday; we baked some beautiful things and spending time outside of a classroom context, with a small cross section of this tiny community I live in made me glow with happiness. I have so much love for my students and colleagues. I will never ever forget this day.

I turned 23 on Monday and was made a real fuss of at school. I was given a plant from my colleagues at Maruko (which I am determined to care for well, though its beauty is somewhat questionable...) and all kinds of trinkets and treasures from the students; handmade cards, CDs, photographs, sweets. Incidentally, lots of fruit from various students' grandmothers' - persimmons are always welcome :-)

One of my students, Yuki made me this card to tell me about her favourite band, Arashii. Look at how much thought has gone into it. I couldn't get a clear photograph of it, but some of the descriptions of the band memebers are very funny, my favourite being the description of Matsumoto Jun; "Matsumoto Jun - Isabel, you must know, he is sobriety itself!"

On Wednesday, the girls at Josei threw me a belated birthday party...I have eaten so much cake this week.

Thank you to everyone from back home, Ireland and America who sent me gifts and birthday wishes - thank you cards coming soon <3

This evening, I went to Maruko's Bonenkai. A bonenkai is a special party that takes place at the end of the year to forget about (the bad things that have happened in) the year and to welcome in a new year. Here I am with Kishishita-sensei, Taoka-sensei and O-Hira-sensei. Everyone at the party got presents; I wanted O-Hira-sensei's present so that I can make lovely warm comfort food for the winter time but I had to make do with something uselessly ridiculous!

I've been teaching Christmas lessons at school for the past couple of weeks. One of the activities we do is to listen to Christmas songs and do a 'fill in the blanks' game. I am too sentimental; the first Christmas lesson I taught made me get tears in my eyes. Seeing forty studious kids, most wearing the facemasks (that I find oh so sinister),bobbing their heads,tapping their feet and mouthing the words was the most endearing thing ever to see.

Even though I mentioned the beginnings of my happiness a few entries ago, I truly feel myself now. I feel like I am living here rather than simply existing. I have friends here; I can pick up my phone, drop someone an e-mail and a cycle ride/train ride later, be in company over a cup of coffee or a cosy dinner. I love my students; I know names and personalities, I have a favourite class. I am so lucky to have such wonderful and caring colleagues; they are my Japan parents as well as people I work with. I feel that there is so much yet to see, do and experience that to leave in March would really be cutting it short. I wish I could put into words exactly what I experienced in my first few months of being here. As dramatic as it seems, I felt like I was losing part of myself; like I was living in some kind of bubble. I felt tentative, unsettled,kind of empty and aimless. I feel that though it has been a painfully slow process,I have come a long way since August.

I am going to turn over a new leaf next year. Now that I am settled, I want to start my adventure anew;
<3 I am going to apply myself to studying Japanese with more enthusiasm. Being unable to speak Japanese is a source of frustration every day. It makes me feel powerless. I have started learning ten Kanji each day; Kanji is a logographic writing system - Kanji are symbols that represent words and I find them both beautiful and fascinating. The Kanji for bengoshi (lawyer) is an interesting one;it is made up of three Kanji; eloquence, protection and expert. Nice eh?
<3 I want to read more; I miss the comforting feeling of curling up with a good book. I haven't read much since I arrived which has made me kind of sad as back home, I devoured books.
<3 I am going to eat more healthily; I will put more thought into cooking. I will buy nice cooking things.
<3 Take more pictures
<3 Be more adventurous
<3 Make more friends
<3 I am going to make my apartment a home.
<3 I am going to make more things.
<3 I am going to explore Marugame more.

Oh, a really strange thing has happened which is too strange to go unmentioned. When Nicolas lived in Montreal, he had two friends called Aaron and Vivian who I met when I visited him. Vivian is now living here in Marugame, teaching English too! It's such a small world. I am so happy for a girly friend here in this town. I can't wait for cafe and cake trips :-)

xo

Let's enjoy Osaka!

2009-11-16T03:55:00.000-08:00

At the weekend I went to Osaka with Ed and Sean. I'm really glad that I managed to see Kyoto and Osaka on two consecutive weekends; the contrasts between the two cities were even more apparent to me. I think that Osaka lacks the sophistication of Kyoto yet more than makes up for this in other ways. One of the first things that struck me about Osaka was how friendly the people were. If I could choose a word to describe my brief encounter with Osakans, it would perhaps be 'earthy'. Yes, earthy is the word I am looking for. So many people were not only willing, but eager to help me out with directions and the like. It was a strange but heart warming feeling to be approached like that.

Lots of Osakans...

We went to see a Kabuki play in Osaka. Kabuki is one of the oldest traditional Japanese theatre forms. I'm glad that I went to see one but after about two hours, I wanted to leave the theatre. I kept thinking about all the art and interesting areas to explore. I spent the rest of the time nodding off and impatiently waiting for the protagonist to commit seppuku (a horrible Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment). Oh dear, how uncultured I sound...

After the play had finished, I wandered around Amerika-mura which is said to be Osaka's equivalent to Tokyo's Harajuku. It was the incredible. I have (sadly) become quite accustomed to clothes shops that cater for the over ninety fives in my town, so they made my heart glow.

some satisfactory America-mura shop assistants.

Ed and I found another thing which made me nostalgic for London. Oh, how I wish to ride the tube again!

That evening, we met up with some ALTs who live in Osaka, three of whom are Londoners.Here are some lovely British people; Roland and Dave. I want to make friends in every place as I visit;experiences are always more fulfilling when you know people in far flung places.

Ohh I must tell you about the hostel I stayed in. I left hostel booking to the very last minute and consequently, had very little choice left by Thursday evening. I ended up finding a really cheap place, just two stops away from Namba (where all the interesting things happen). Hotel Mikado was awful. My room smelt like the door hadn't been opened in thirty years and there were suspicious looking stains everywhere. There seemed to be a string of similar looking hotels along the road - I dare you to try one of them! How about Hotel Sweet? It's right next door to Mikado! Here is a picture of my luxurious Osakan abode...bleak...

Despite the uninviting atmosphere, I met a lovely man from Syria called Aladdin (ace!) who is travelling the world. He told me that I looked like a cabin crew member in my hat and coat. I have been compared to several things whilst wearing my hat and coat; Paddington bear and Madaleine. What do you think?

The next day, I woke up really early due to the pervasive desire to get out of the hostel. I went to see Osaka castle first, which was very beautiful, but I parted company with Ed and Sean to heaad back to America-mura. It was here that I met these three lovely ladies. They work for a street fashion magazine and asked if they could take some pictures of me for it. When this happens in London,a camera is thrust in your face, usually at the people crushing bend by Topshop (though I hear that the recently constructed Shibuya style crossing will dispel this, hooray!) and it makes for an unpleasant experience. Not in Osaka....the girls took me to a small studio, tucked at the very top of a building along America-mura and snapped away, it was lovely :-)

It just so happened that on the floor below the studio was Neko no Jikan; the cat cafe. I was so happy. I had planned on visiting the cafe but the directions I had were so vague that I didn't think I would ever find it. Ahh, I had the best time! I paid a very modest amount of money for one hour cat time, tea and cake. It was amazing and quelled the pangs of sadness I have been having at being without my Alfie. There were lots of couples there on romantic dates so at the end of my hour's cat time, I did feel very much like a spinster...amplified by the fact that I was covered in cat hair, and probably smelt a bit catty too. Owh, I hope this is not a sign of what awaits me later in life!

feeding time...

In Japan, each prefecture/city has a regional delicacy and I have made it my aim to try the culinary delight of each place I visit. Osaka is famous for takoyaki. Takoyaki is a dumpling made of batter,diced baby octopus, tempura scraps, pickled ginger and green onion. Osakans love food and are not precious about it, so there were lots of stalls dotted around selling takoyaki. I found it disappointing,it made me feel a bit sick. :-(

On the other hand, I have discovered what I think is my new favourite fruit; persimmons. They are only in season for a very brief window so I am making the most of them by eating several every day. I adore them. If you can try one, please do; they are truly sweets of nature! I am also enjoying pumpkin too. It seems that I like orange fruits and vegetables.

.

Recently, my colleagues have been asking me to spend time with them at the weekends which makes me feel happy. In a few weekends' time, Williams-sensei has invited me to her home for dinner and in the first weekend of December,I am going to go to a tea ceremony festival with Taoka-sensei and eat lots of Japanese sweets. I want to have deeper friendships with my colleagues, but I want to travel so much; it is through travel that I feel I can find the most happiness.

It is only four days until I go on my next trip to Beppu. Beppu is on Kyushu, the most southerly of the four main islands and is famous for its hot springs. I am going with eleven other people. I know a couple of people, Lorianne and Iain who I would like to spend more time with, but I only know Ciaran well so I am looking forward to making some new friends :-)

xo

Bad Week

2009-11-12T03:37:00.000-08:00

I am really looking forward to this weekend as this week has been one of the most stressful I have had since coming to Japan.

On Monday, a strange thing happened to me. I was in my apartment writing some letters when someone rang the doorbell. I turned on the intercom to see a man with a scarf pulled up over his face. I didn't open the door but he persisted for forty minutes; ringing the doorbell and lurking around outside. He then went around to the back of my apartment and began throwing stones at the back window. At this point, I felt really frightened, so reluctantly, had to play the helpless female and call my friend Ciaran.

The man then came back to my front door again and once more, started to ring the bell. I turned the intercom on again to see that this time, he had taken the scarf away from his face; I knew who it was. It was Fujii, one of my third year students (who I have mentioned on this blog before). All the students in school have to wear a name badge on their blazer and Fujii began holding his up in front of the intercom saying 'Isabel, it's me Fujii. Please open the door, I want to tell you that I love you. I have a gift for you.' This is comedic in hindsight; next, he took out his electronic dictionary and began tapping away, presumably to find some more persuasive language.

It's against the rules for me to open the door to my students, rumours could spread quickly (illustrative by the fact that I've had some students asking me if I had enjoyed the persimmons they saw me buying at the supermarket...) so I just stayed silent. Fujii wouldn't give up, he kept calling through the door and holding up a big floral bag. At this point, Ciaran turned up and explained to Fujii that he shouldn't really be visiting me outside of school. Reluctantly, Fujii cycled away but returned about an hour after Ciaran had left to drop a note through my door which said 'Isabel, I love you very (spelt 'bery')much, is tall man your boyfriend?'

The next morning, I opened my door to find the floral bag sitting outside, inside which were the most ornately wrapped Japanese sweets, a love note and a hastily written note shoved at the bottom of the bag saying 'I am sorry for my careless behaviour, I will never see or speak to you again.'

I had to go and tell the school and I felt awful. Fujii and I talk all the time; he's a really great guy and I didn't want to get him into trouble. To make things worse, I had to teach his class in the first lesson. He usually sits right at the front; this time, he was right at the very back with his head down. I had to approach his group to help them out with a question and when I looked at him, his eyes were all puffy; he had obviously been told off and had been crying. This set me off too and I had to pretend to go and photocopy something.

Sometimes I find my job difficult. I am so close in age to my 18,19 year old students and they can often misinterpret my friendliness as something else. I was supposed to meet with Fujii and his form teacher that afternoon but Fujii didn't show up. He said he was too embarrassed to see me and didn't want to see me again. I've been thinking about the incident ever since. I feel such a bitch for snitching on Fujii but I was very frightened when I saw him with the scarf over his face. All I could think of were the horrible things that have happened to some female teachers over here. I feel upset that he probably won't come and talk to me again; we used to talk about music all the time, he is such a sweetie.

I took a day off on Wednesday as I felt unwell and exhausted. I went in today but when the teachers heard me cough, there was pandemonium. Before I could even sit down, I was whisked off to the hospital where I had to pay ten pounds for the doctor to tell me that I didn't have swine flu. My school is so neurotic. I wasn't allowed back to school incase I 'infected' the students so today was a duvet day. I have a lesson on debating tomorrow which I am not looking forward to. Japanese people are not confrontational, I am not confrontational so I cannot forsee an abundance of debating sparks flying...

I'm totemo tired.

sweet dreams

xo

EDIT - Friday - today marked the turnaround of the so-so week I have had. The debating lesson went brilliantly because of my discerning choice of topics for the students to debate. What 18 year olds don't enjoy talking about romance? We debated the fun (albeit superficial perhaps?!) topics of 'is love more important than money?', 'Is it better to have a partner who is beautiful or a partner who has a good personality' and finally 'You have fallen in love with your best friend's girlfriend/boyfriend. What should you do?' I didn't have a very moral bunch. Lots of the boys especially said 'go for the girl! No regret please!'

What put my mind most at rest was that I spoke with Fujii and Naoi-sensei. Fujii said sorry to me and then asked Naoi-sensei to ask me if it was alright for Fujii to give me a 'sorry hug', ha. He clasped his arms around me for a long time which made both Naoi-sensei and I laugh. I'm so glad we are able to talk again.

Kyoto

2009-11-12T02:34:00.000-08:00

Last week, I got paid so I decided to take a trip to Kyoto. Kyoto was the capital of Japan for over a thousand years so it's the place to go if you want to be overwhelmed by shrines, temples and traditional culture. I had to go on my own as my ALT co-workers have either been here in Japan for a long time already and have seen Kyoto or, plan to stay in Japan for a long time so don't feel the urgency that I do to squeeze as much travel in as possible. I was a little nervous about going alone. In short, I can't read maps. To me, reading a map is as difficult as learning Japanese. I got mildly good at map reading when I temped in London ie. I reached the point where I only had to ask for clarification of directions once at the tube station, rather than return about three times to ask the station men to set me on my way again. Fortunately, Kyoto is one of the most tourist friendly cities I have ever been to and I didn't get lost once, I was proud of myself!

Here is a visual tour of the route I did by bus, train and on foot last weekend:

I caught a 5am bus from Takamatsu and arrived in Kyoto at 9am. My first stop was Fushimiinari Shrine, one of the most famous shrines in Japan. I think it appears in a film...nice bit of information for you there! Fushimiinari is dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice, and foxes are thought to be his messengers. There were so many torii gates, they looked beautiful and it was so peaceful to walk through them at such an early time in the morning.

My beautiful new coat which will see me through the Japanese winter :-) It was a good weekend to visit; the sun was shining for the whole weekend but the air felt nice and crisp.

I like the photograph above; very Japanese eh?

the fox messengers...I think these looked nicer than the mean looking stone fox statues dotted about.

On the way back from Fushimiinari, I met this lady at the train station. Hanako told me that she is a singer and gave me four tickets to see her show in December; happy Christmas family! Back at JR Kyoto station, she made me pose for several pictures with her much to the amusement of the ticket inspectors...I like that she was wearing red lippy (I don't really see Japanese ladies wear a lot of makeup).

Next step was Kiyomizudera temple (the temple of pure water) It's in the hills of eastern Kyoto and is supposed to be one of the best places in Japan to view the turning of the leaves.

Just behind Kiyomizudera's main hall is a place where you can drink some spring water which is said to have special powers. If you drink the water on the right hand side, it is said to bring beauty, the water in the center is said to bring wisdom and drinking the water on the left hand side brings good health. I drank the water for wisdom. Look at the girl on the right hand side (our left), she is eager to become beautiful!

Next I went to Gion which is Kyoto's most famous geisha district. I went in the early evening so it wasn't very exciting. I was a little disappointed actually, probably due to my naive expectations of geisha running (yes, they have to be running. Everyone runs in Japan) around everywhere but there were none to be found. I decided to return after dark and in the meantime found lots of zakka shops (see last entry) full of winding staircases and shop assistants with asymmetric fringes and peg leg trousers to keep me amused for a while. When I headed back to Gion, I saw a geisha leading a salary man back to her teahouse! I spent too long rummaging in my bag to find my camera so no picture I'm afraid....

In the evening, I found the most beautiful vegetarian cafe (the first I have found here) and I had the best meal I've had since coming to Japan.I had vegetable gyoza and a mushroom ramen - lovely. My favourite part was the dessert; a Japanese herb style muffin with plump black bleans, mugwort dough, organic soy bean paste and mochie. Mmmm, t'was delicious.

The staff in the cafe were so lovely too and gave me cake for the journey home. I had to wait for a bus for ages and watched a group of about fifty university students play the biggest game of paper, rock, scissors I have ever seen. * Rock, paper, scissors is called 'janken' here. All my students play it in my lessons to decide who will speak first. I now have to leave aside some time in my lesson plans for 'janken time' since it is a reoccuring part of the lesson...they are lightening fast at it!*

Before tumbling into bed, I went to the twelfth floor of Kyoto train station to see the city lights by night. On the way up, I passed this beautiful Christmas tree. There were lots of couples sitting on the steps around it, they looked happy. I got a bit teary. I miss being around people I love so much. Mum, Dad, Oliver, I can't wait for you to be here with me this Christmas time. <3

The next day, I hung out with a lovely Dutch girl called Lucienne who I met in the hostel I stayed at. We went to a food market called Nishiki in the morning. Ahh, I can't wait to take Mum, Dad and Oliver here. Some of the things were truly works of art. I couldn't capture how colourful it was - I am such a poor photographer, forgive me.

Look, biscuits with flowers on them!

A snappy little machine that made pancakes :-)

Here is Kinkakuji; the Golden Temple. At the moment,I am reading a book by a Japanese author called Yukio Mishima about Kinkakuji so I was excited to see it. It fulfilled all expectations - it was really beautiful.

Lucienne and I...I think I look a bit creepy...

Lucienne and I parted company after Kinkakuji as she was catching the Shinkansen to Osaka. I really like chance meetings. It is unlikely that I will see Lucienne again but it was the most lovely thing to spend time with a complete stranger who turned out to be such great company :-) I only had a couple of hours to spare after Lucienne left so I went to visit Ginkakuji (the Silver Temple) but it was being renovated so it wasn't that great - I'll go back at Christmas time.

I forgot to book a bus ticket home so had to take the Shinkansen (bullet train) instead. If you ever get the chance to take the Shinkansen to or from Kyoto, you should listen to the album The Lemon of Pink by The Books. It was the most perfect thing to listen to on the journey home. I really enjoyed Kyoto, despite being alone. It is such a beautiful city with so much to see that I didn't get lonely (apart from when I saw the Christmas tree!).

This weekend, I am going to Osaka with Ed and his friend Sean. Osaka stands in stark contrast to the beauty and traditionalism of Kyoto. It is Japan's party city and Osakans are supposed to be very earthy and laid back kind of people. Being very commerce minded, legend has it that rather than Konnichiwa, Osakans greet eachother with the phrase 'Mookarimakka?'; are you making money? I am excited to see Osaka :-)

xo

Zakka tour

2009-11-03T05:16:00.000-08:00

For the past week or so, I have felt so happy, the reason being that I finally feel at home here. I shall do my best to explain.

Some time last week, something just clicked and everything seemed to fall into place. I think perhaps the feeling of hostility towards a new culture or environment that culture shock is said to often bring has passed and in theoretical speak, I am at stage three - 'acceptance and embrace'. Oh dear, I sound like a self help book, forgive me.

Since arriving in Japan in August, I've had some happy times here and there but for the most part, have felt utter bewilderment. Feeling bewildered can assume many guises and mine made me feel even more sensitive than usual;I feel I can be honest now and admit openly (where better than here eh?)that there have been many tears since August. I worried about everything. I felt tired and fatigued all the time. I found it difficult to recall my reasons for wanting to come to Japan. The thing that upset me most of all was that I felt I had lost my curiosity. What's more, all the other Westerners I know here seemed to be throwing themselves into life and really assimilating well. I felt so tentative and hesitant about trying to embrace things.

I have been having the best time ever lately, namely because I am filling my time with fun things. I have started Japanese classes and look forward to seeing Hanh and Hoi, my two Vietnamese friends there each week. They always cycle me home and we speak in broken Japanese all the way. My lessons at school have been going so well. I feel such an attachment to and genuine fondness for my students now. Instead of seeing a sea of forty blank faces, I can pick out names, faces and personalities from each class. I still have a few difficult classes - Japan is the land of the silent child, but I am learning to coax them into participating.

This is Yumi. I met Yumi at a party a couple of weeks back. Yumi likes arty little shops, making things, cake eating and stamp collecting. Today, we went on a zakka tour. Zakka is the Japanese word for very small and cute things and ya is the Japanese word for shop. Yumi is oozing with enthusiasm and she is the prettiest stamp collector I know.

I went to a Halloween party in Takamatsu last week. My camera ran out of batteries so I only got a few snaps. Here is Yumi, Ed and I.

Cat, an Obaasan (Japanese grandma) and witch

This weekend, I am going to Kyoto, so a more picture filled entry is on its way soon. Ahh, I feel so happy to be here! I am beginning to find some beauty in Marugame; I must take a picture of the trees by the castle. The leaves have turned the most beautiful shades of red and golden. I am so excited about all the trips I have coming up; Kyoto this weekend, Osaka the weekend after (I'm going to stay in a capsule hotel - google it!) and a trip to Fukuoka in Kyuushu in the next national holiday we have coming up. I'm not sure if seven months is long enough for my lovely new friendships to blossom and to see and do all the things I have planned :-)

xo

Autumn

2009-10-30T06:27:00.000-07:00

Autumn has well and truly arrived here in Japan. I wake up in the mornings with a cold nose, the morning air is crisp and the leaves are turning beautiful shades of golden and red. My students have been telling me lots about the turning of the leaves so I thought it fitting to take a trip to Kyoto to see the Autumn leaves in all their splendour. This trip to Kyoto will be the first time that I have travelled alone in Japan. I am looking forward to it; I have a list full of temples, shrines, galleries and arty cafesthat I plan on visiting. I can wander, amble and root where I want and as I wish, it will be liberating!

My students have been helping me to plan my trip. They took their school trip to Kyoto and have been giving me lots of recommendations. Some useful:

"Dear Isabel. When you go to the Kyoto, please be careful. In front of the Kyoto station, there is sometimes a man who is disguised as a woman. Sometimes he appears there. Please be careful."

Some not so useful:

"Dear Isabel, please go to Kiyomizudera. There you can have pictures with womans. I love womans. I love you."

"Dear Isabel. Let's go the Kyoto hot spring together. It will make our skin smooth to the touch"

Some brimming with enthusiasm:

"Isabel, LET'S GO TO THE KYOTO! You can enjoy the Kyoto!"

This evening, I went to my welcome party. It was the best meal I have ever had in my life at a traditional Japanese restaurant in the town across from Marugame. The evening consisted of dish after dish of perfectly crafted delights. Every dish was a work of art, truly. The colours were incredible and never again will I call Japanese food bland. Every flavour was so perfect. My favourite things were the mushroom and chestnut soup and the seabass and sumomo (Japanese plum) dish. Some were so beautiful that I had to be reminded to eat them; first by a gentle nudge from Ohmiya-sensei, which ended up as hearty whacks on the back as he became more intoxicated.

My teachers made some speeches, as is always the way at Japanese parties and said some lovely things about me. There is one class I visit every couple of weeks and I have always wondered what the tally chart on the right hand side of the black board is for. Naoi sensei told me that this is a tally chart that the boy students in 3-6 keep to count down how many days it is until my next visit. It nearly made me cry... again! Ono, Fijii and Manami, my favourite students are in 3-6 so it's always my favourite class to visit. When I go there, it feels like I am visiting friends more than students. My teachers also bought me some beautiful flowers, I love my teachers at Maruko so much.

Here is a picture of me and my happy family. Ohmiya-sensei is the little man to my right.

xo

Telephone

2009-10-19T06:37:00.000-07:00

If I could describe today, October 19th 2009, the one word I would choose would be 'phone'. It has been a long long day. Though my head is full of words,my eyelids feel heavy and I am looking forward to drifting to sleep tonight.

Today started with a missed alarm. When my Japanese phone runs out of battery, it won't sound a previously set alarm. This happened last night and this morning, I woke up at the horribly late time of 8.00am....I have to be at school for 8.15am. I arrived at school with some hastily applied mascara and the biggest bed head hair known to the Japanese population. The first thing Ohmiya-sensei said to me when I reached school was 'Oh Isabel, you look very different today' ha!

After school, I went to my ukulele class in a small town just outside Takamatsu city. I have to take a bus along a big highway, which drops me off at a shopping mall. From there, it is a very long walk to the school. It was dark and cold tonight so I decided to jump in a taxi. My ukulele class was lovely; there are eight Japanese people, myself and the teacher Jeremy, who is from Hawaii.Jeremy has lived in Japan for a long time and as everybody in the class apart from me is Japanese, he speaks in Japanese for the whole class. I can pick out some words, but for the most part, the Japanese washes over me. It is nice however to be constantly hearing it and tonight I learnt the Japanese words for 'chord', 'strum' and 'chorus' We played sweet ukulele music and some people sang - it was so cute :-)

When the class had ended and I was fishing around in my bag for my phone, I could not find it. I had left it in the taxi. Disaster. I got that dreaded knot of fear in my stomach. Apples are expensive here, I felt nauseous at the thought of how much a lost phone would cost to replace. By this point, Jeremy had left and I was in the company of two ladies, both of whom had very little English. I managed to tell them what had happened. They were so sweet and kind, called up the taxi company and within minutes, my phone was returned to me. I have never felt such relief and also amazement at how super efficient the 'getting phone back' operation turned out to be. The two ladies then drove me all the way back to the station so that I could catch my train back to Marugame. We could barely understand eachother, yet they showed such genuine kindness that I cried in the car (surprise surprise, I seem to be even more sentimental than usual since moving to Japan). They kept laughing and saying 'ahh, soft heart lady, soft heart lady!' I love made up Japanese English. When one learns a language, or has very little knowledge of a language, it is difficult/impossible to use linguistic subtlety. As a result, I think that things are said with a simplicity and honesty that I find to be very beautiful.

* MORE SCATTERBRAINED MISHAPS* 1. Once on the train, I realised that in my lost phone panic, I had left my Japanese study books and diary at the ukulele class. I shall think about this tomorrow...

2. Back at my apartment, I was making some tea and smelt an awful burning smell....the teatowel had caught fire. Gah, I need to go to bed!

I had a proper conversation with two of my boy students at school today.
Ono and Fujii are third graders so they are eighteen years old. The last time I saw them was at a lesson in which we talked about our favourite songs. I played an Arcade Fire song. Arcade Fire are Ono's favourite band and I could see his face light up when I played the cd. I love that music is such a universal language.I experienced that both in my ukulele class and with Ono. We sat with our iPods for ages, telling eachother about different bands. On Friday, we are going to swap mix cds :-) Fujii hopes to go to Kobe University to study English and Chinese. He told me about Tor Road in Kobe. It's an area full of delicious bakeries and shops full of handmade treasures. I am going to go back to Kobe as soon as I can. Although at times, it is difficult to teach older kids, (they are not so fickle,and a handful think that they are too cool, so it takes some time to gain their trust and respect.) one of the things I do like is that I am so close in age to the third graders that it is possible to make friendships with them. I have a little book (well, I did before I left it at the ukulele class) full of recommendations from my students; good shops to go to in Takamatsu, bands to listen to, books and magazines to read. I really like going to school at Maruko.

I'm not sure what my plans for this weekend are, but the Autumnal hibernation that my camera is curently enjoying, deep in the depths of my bag, will come to an end as I take some pictures. It has been a while.

Oyasumi nasai.

xo

Okayama

2009-10-13T07:23:00.000-07:00

Last week, whilst almost spitting the entire contents of his bento box over me, Ohmiya-sensei told me to take a look at the work of a Japanese artist called Akira Yamaguchi. He said he had a feeling that I would like it or rather, "I think you can enjoy it". This phrase, along with 'Let's/Please enjoy it" has become one of my favourite Japanese English phrases. My students say it all the time; I like its simplicity and I feel happy when someone says it.

Akira Yamaguchi is an artist who appropriates the style of old Japanese paintings and infuses them with modern inflections, in a very humorous and often ironic way. For example, he will paint a picture of a man grooming a horse that has motorcycle wheels instead of legs. I like his paintings of Edo style villages in which he uses the Katakana alphabet (this is the Japanese alphabet used for Western or borrowed terms) instead of the Kanji alphabet. I think you can enjoy Akira Yamaguchi's work!

Last weekend, I crossed the Seto Ohashi bridge to visit my friends in Okayama city. Ahh, Okayama is amazing; I had such a happy time there.I went to a really beautiful little cafe for lunch before heading to Okayama Castle. Okayama Castle is often nicknamed 'the crow'... for its dark and ominous appearance.

It seems that Saturday was my lucky day as right next to the castle, there was a small petting pen full of rabbits, guinea pigs, ducks and chicks. This made my weekend, really and truly.
I really wish I had a pet here. There is a cat for sale here in Marugame. He is a beautiful tabby cat called Tomoko and has been sitting in a basket, adorned with flowers and streamers down at the shopping arcade for the past couple of days. I want him.

Autumn is arriving in Japan. It is such a welcome change from the Japanese summer time (the hottest temperatures I have ever had to endure, and I only caught the tail end of it). I love the hazy sunshine and the crisp, gentle breeze. I think that Japanese parks and gardens are best enjoyed in the Autumn. Korakuen Park is supposedly one of the three most beautiful landscape gardens in this country. At the park, we met a lady called Keiko and her friend. Keiko was the most infectiously happy person you could meet, I'm going to write to her :-)

On Saturday evening, I met up with some more of my friends from training. It was so great to see them.

On Sunday morning, after a lovely breakfast, I took a trip to Kurashiki. Kurashiki is a small city beside Okayama city. It's name can roughly be translated as 'town of storehouses' which refers to Kurashiki's important role as a rice distribution center back in the Edo period. These pictures don't really capture the beauty of Kurashiki due to my incompetency with cameras - forgive me!

Kurashiki was so beautiful; the canal area was lined with interesting shops and restaurants. It made me long for a girl friend; I felt bad dragging the boys into wooden toy shops and the like. I hope to visit again soon, especially after Taoka-sensei told me yesterday that there is a famous tofu restaurant in Kurashiki in which they even make their desserts from tofu, eee!

I felt flat and upset on the train home from Okayama on Sunday evening. I miss city life so much, more than I had ever imagined I would. I spoiled what could have been a really lovely conversation with my Mum (I'm sorry) and went to bed in a foul mood. When I returned back to school on Monday however, my mood lifted. When I am at school, I don't think of Marugame in an aesthetic context. It is impossible to think badly or negatively of Marugame when I work with some of its nicest, sweetest and thoughtful inhabitants. My colleagues and students at Maruko are the best I could ever ask for.

On Monday, I got some post in the in house post box; one girl had written me two copies of the same letter - one copy in English and one copy in Japanese so that I could use it to study from. Another girl made me a coconut cake, and I spent time after school talking with some of my other students. My colleagues are just as thoughtful. I told Ohmiya sensei that I was thinking of visiting my friend Rachel next weekend in Kasaoka (over on the mainland). Before I had even finished the sentence, he ran (or rather stomped) off to get various ferry, train and bus timetables and even suggested driving me there. In a couple of Fridays time, I am attending a Welcome Party that my colleagues have organised for me. They made invitations for it in purple, my favourite colour.

Marugame isn't the experience I was expecting, which gives me an even greater curiosity to explore parts of Japan in which I can find inspiration. Perhaps a blessing in disguise? When I think of the kindness that people have shown towards me however; from little gifts to much needed motherly like text messages from my colleagues, it makes me feel that I have perhaps been placed here for a reason. It is very comforting to know that even though I am very far away from home, and essentially alone here, there are people close by who are always looking out for me. That is a wonderful thing.

xoxo

"I will protect from 'tayfoon' for Isabel"

2009-10-08T02:51:00.000-07:00

It seems that my nonchalant attitude to the typhoon season tempted fate....last night,Japan experienced a strong typhoon. School finished early yesterday afternoon and everybody was under strict instruction to go straight home, and stay inside until the typhoon had passed. After hearing that I was worried about the typhoon, a really kind hearted student came to the teachers room and said "I will protect from 'tayfoon' for Isabel". What a sweetie.

I took the typhoon warning very seriously (I am from mild British climes and did not know what to expect!) and promptly cycled to the supermarket to stock up on food before whizzing straight home to the safety of my apartment.
Whilst cycling down Route 11 (the highway that leads from school to the supermarket)however, I saw a sizeable population of Marugame Josei Senior High School students looking carefree and happy in the games arcade. A precious and temporary release from the clasps of the Japanese education system, why go home!

The typhoon came and went without causing any damage in Marugame. I woke this morning to an incredibly still day outside. The sun was hazy and it felt strangely tranquil as I cycled to school. The only signs of the typhoon were the five enormous frogs I saw enjoying the puddles. I have an irrational fear of frogs. They make my skin crawl. Japanese frogs are monstrous! I had to prepare myself and close my eyes each time I cycled past one...I was seen doing this by several of my students, who found the sight of a tall western girl in a floral rain coat, squealing as she rode past frogs, hilarious.

The deputy headmaster at Josei high school is very friendly and each time I come to school, he is always interested to know about what I've been doing at the weekend. I hadn't seen him for a while so told him about my trip to Naoshima. Apparently there is a Bond 007 museum on Naoshima...he then told me that I looked as beautiful as a Bond Girl. It made me laugh, what a tenuous conversational link! Come to work in Japanese high schools if you want an ego boost!

Last weekend, I felt a little homesick. All is well now after doing three things.

1. On Tuesday, I didn't have to go to school so I downloaded some new music for my ears, hopped on my bike and cycled for hours,finally stopping to rest in a little cafe. Recently, I think I have been experiencing stage two of culture shock: hostility. I have been getting very upset and frustrated that I am unable to sit in a cafe or go to the supermarket without a thousand eyes being on me (and the contents of my basket or plate). This time, I decided I would stay in the cafe and what is more, try to communicate with the starers. It worked! Two very old ladies ended up squeezing in beside me, twittering away to me in Japanese. They kept on asking me to stand up so that they could see how tall I was. They bought me a green tea cake. It felt so nice to be acknowledged in a positive way.

2. That very same day, I decided to take a visit to the pet shop. It made me feel so much better. Animals are the same the world over: I could make the same cooing sounds as I do to Alfie and Josie back home and their Japanese counterparts would respond in just the same way. It was very comforting to know that some things are the same here.

3. This evening, I went to get my hair cut. I had attempted to get it cut last night. I shall tell you the reason for hair cut postponement; I popped into a very inconspicious but cosy looking hair dresser's just by school. There was only one hairdresser in there and no customers. I told her (in good Japanese, as I had been told exactly what to say by my colleague Suzuki-sensei) what I would like done. Despite the shop being empty,she told me that she was busy. I think she felt nervous about cutting a foreigner's hair/spending time alone with a foreigner....I was a little hurt by this response but tried again today. This time, at an amazing hair dresser's - this is where the young creatives in Marugame dwell! I have found them, finally! My hair dresser was so beautiful and looked like she had come straight from the arty neighbourhoods of one of the more cosmopolitan Japanese cities. It made me forget all about yesterday's disastrous trip. She rushed to the pile full of artfully arranged magazines and plucked the one from the top, pointed to it, then back to me, whilst nodding her head excitedly. I gather that she thought I looked like Nicole Richie....somehow I think our only resemblance lies in our disparity from the entire female population of Japan; we don't have dark hair.

I also had an experience, similar to the one I had in the pet shop. The beautiful hairdresser asked me all of the usual questions one is asked in a hairdresser's; 'Have you got any plans for the weekend?' 'Have you got a boyfriend?' and all the small talk that accompanies. Hairdressers are a universal phenomenon too.... :-)

xo

Hello October

2009-10-02T07:38:00.000-07:00

October has arrived and has brought with it the rain and a gusty wind. News has it that a typhoon is heading to South East Asia. Shikoku is situated in a cosy little spot down south, protected by the main island of Honshu and the calm Inland Sea. Apart from a few more bicycle falls as more people than usual haphazardly attempt to cycle with one hand whilst holding an umbrella in the other, Shikoku folk will be safe.

Last weekend was spent in Takamatsu visiting another British girl here, Gemma. Naoshima is an island in the Inland Sea which can be reached by ferry from Takamatsu. Naoshima is truly a treasure. It is an island devoted entirely to creativity. The island has many contemporary art galleries, and sculptures and installations are dotted all over the place. I didn't get to see all of the things that I wanted to see so I plan to go back. It was so beautiful and so inspiring.

A private beach for use by Naoshima hotel guests only....Gemma and I sneaked onto the beach. Getting back however proved to be difficult as the path back to the road was lined with the biggest crickets I have ever seen. There was a lot of screaming.

You can take a bus to all of the art galleries. I love Japanese transport design so much - it is so endearingly cute.

This pumpkin sculpture is a piece by Yayoi Kusama. I was utterly taken by her work and I have been reading about her a lot this week. Yayoi Kusama is an intriguing character and I think her art is incredible. She makes 'infinity rooms'; mirrored rooms filled with hanging coloured lights and polka dot shapes. I find them simultaneously comforting and unsettling. Kusama loves to wear different coloured wigs, oversized polka dot caftans and bright lipstick. I wish I had gone to see her work at the Walking Around In My Mind exhibition at the Southbank Centre back in the summer time.

On Sunday,Gemma and I continued on our quest for aesthetic satisfaction by visiting a Designers Flea Market down town. It was so beautiful and made me think of my market wanderings back home.

There have been some amusing incidents that have taken place at Maruko over the past few days. Speech contests are a really important part of school life here in Japan. Speech contests involve students memorising both famous speeches by iconic figures in history and self penned speeches. Speech contests take the form of a heat process; if a student wins the city heats,he/she will go on to the prefectural heats and from there, onto the national final. I was asked to help two students at Maruko for the prefectural contest next week.

One girl had written a speech about her father who works as a fisherman. It was a well written speech and she delivered it with such sincerity that I think she could score very highly. There is one problem...she has difficulty with the pronunciation of the word 'hook'. Her pronunciation of the word 'hook' sounds very like the word 'f**k'. Yesterday, whilst standing in front of me, with a beam on her face as she spoke about her beloved father, she uttered the dreaded sentence, the sentence I knew could end my position as a speech contest coach; 'Sometimes, my father 'f***ks' big fish'. I wanted to leave the room more than anything, I was trying so hard to quell my laughter, but I could feel an enormous laugh deep in the pit of my stomach, waiting to unleash itself. I managed to turn it into a pathetic sounding cough, then turned to my right where I saw Ohmiya-sensei guffawing, quite openly in front of the bewildered looking student.

Ohmiya-sensei is still retaining his spot as my favourite teacher. He is a particularly hearty eater and at lunch time, I can hear him express his appreciation for the contents of his bento box, each and every content, loudly and clearly. He takes a bite, chews, swallows and ends with a 'haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa' sort of contented hiss and a little chuckle. Williams-sensei hates when he does this and yesterday, turned around very abruptly, narrowed her eyes at him and told him ' I hate it when you do that. Please stop. You are ruining my lunch' Ha. Ohmiya-sensei loves food and next week, I am teaching a lesson entitled 'Dream Recipe' in which the students will have to use the new vocabulary I will teach them, to make up their dream recipe. I found some strange British recipes like bacon and egg icecream and deep fried chocolate bar. These pictures are intended to both disgust and inspire the students to create something equally as bizarre. Ohmiya-sensei on the other hand, asked me for the recipe for both...

I have to visit so many classes, so end up seeing each class only once a month. Lots of students have given me their e-mail addresses so that we can talk more but my contract states that I cannot contact the students outside of school hours. I love letters so much. Unlike an e-mail which can be rehashed and rewritten, a letter achieves permenancy straight away. I like seeing people's thoughts written in their own hand,I like seeing the crossings out and last minute addings of words, squeezed into the last available space. It is such a personal thing. I therefore suggested to the teachers that we set up an inhouse postal service whereby, the students can write me letters with questions and news and I can reply back to them. The teachers were really taken with this idea, especially Ohmiya-sensei who began yelling at the top of his voice 'mustu maku pooostuu boxxuuu' as he ran down the corridoor to the art room (unaware and probably unconcerned as to whether or not there was a class already taking place in the art room).

That reminds me; one thing that makes me laugh about life here is that Japanese people do a lot of running. When I go to the convenience store, the shop assistant will run from stacking shelves to the cash register. When I go to the post office to pick up parcels, the post sorter will sprint to the cubby hole to retrieve my post. At school, teachers run from one class to the next. I have even found myself breaking into an enthused run as I finish a lesson and head back to the teachers room. I like it.

This week, I have started reading about things to show my family when they come and visit me. I have never been so excited in my life; I can't wait to see my family <3 I took a slight diversion from researching ornate temples and shrines after I stumbled across this cafe in the Kansai Times. Neko no Jikan (Time for Cats) is a cafe in Osaka at which live eighteen cats. At this cafe, you can pay 1000 yen (about 6 pounds) for a coffee, cake and an hour of cat time. I miss my Alfie so much, I think a trip to Neko no Jikan will make me feel better!

xo

Nio Doll Festival

2009-09-21T05:02:00.000-07:00

Today I took a daytrip with my colleague Taoka-sensei.

This is a terrible picture of myself but I want to show you Taoka-sensei because she is so wonderful. I love her and Taoka-sensei loves life. She enjoys growing vegetables,going to square dancing classes and "laughing until my eyes spout tears". She sits behind me in the staff room and I can always hear her chuckling away to herself. Her e-mail address is laid.back.mama;the perfect description of the kind of lady Taoko-sensei is.

Today we took a trip to a small fishing town called Nio for the town's annual Doll Festival. Nio is apparantly the sunniest place in Japan. Hinamatsuri (The Doll Festival) is a day to pray for young girls' growth and happiness. Most families with daughters, display a set of dolls on a tiered stand in their home and decorate it with peach blossoms. Like this:

The Doll Festival is a national festival on 3rd March but the town of Nio celebrates Hinamatsuri on 21st September. Hundreds of years ago, Nio Castle was attacked and taken on the 3rd March by feudal lords from Kochi prefecture hence why the event is not celebrated on that day.

The whole town was decorated so beautifully. We walked up and down the little streets where we could see shop fronts and houses displaying dolls to show traditional Kagawa folk tales. Everybody in the town was really excited and proud of their Doll Festival, it was the nicest thing to see.

The displays were sweet but I didn't think that the dolls were that beautiful. I preferred the dolls made by children in the local primary school. They were so colourful and made me smile so much:

There were lots of signs dotted around the town saying that there was one particular shop at which there would be a mechanical, moving display of a folk tale! At 1pm, the shop was filled with chattering old women and children, waiting in anticipation for this newfangled take on a very traditional Japanese custom. It was hilarious. At 1pm sharp, from behind the curtain of the display, out rolled a stuffed toy tortoise on a pair of wheels.The wheels were stuck onto the bottom of the tortoise, making him look somewhat futuristic. I have seen this tortoise in the 100 yen store, so I suspect that the town of Nio may have had a smaller budget for this year's festival. Balanced precariously on top of the tortoise was one of the traditional clay dolls. It was the most incompatible pairing I have ever seen. So anyhow, as the tortoise reached the top of the display, the clay doll fell off onto the floor which prompted lots of 'ohhh zannen desu!' 'ehhhh?!' from the audience. Many of the old ladies looked genuinely upset. It was the funniest thing , especially given the numerous signs encouraging people to come to this wonderful event.

There was also a Japanese drumming performance which was dead good; the drummers were in perfect unison for the entire performance. The drumming was interspersed with lots of hearty yells from the drummers.

For lunch, I tried Nio's local dish; rice topped with shredded egg, seaweed, a little orange and seabream which had been made into a paste. It was delicious. I love the carrot cut into a flower shape.

One of the folk tales I learnt about today is that of Taro the Fisherman. I think it is really whimsical and beautiful.I don't want to forget it, so I am going to write it down. If you want to read the tale, please do, I would love to know what you think of Japanese fairy tales. If you are not a dreamer like me, skip the next few paragraphs!

Long ago in Japan, there lived a kind young fisherman called Taro. One day when he was walking along the seashore, he saw some boys hitting a large sea turtle with a stick. He told the boys to release the turtle back into the sea. The next day, Taro was out fishing when he heard a voice calling his name, "Taro, Taro". It was the large sea turtle who had come to tell Taro that the Sea Princess wanted to meet him to thank him for his kindness. Taro jumped on to the turtle's back. He had heard of the palace under the sea and had always wanted to visit it. The turtle took him to the deepest part of the ocean, to a magnificent palace of coral and crystal.

Taro had a wonderful time at the palace; there was fine food, dancing and singing recitals by the fish. After a few days however, Taro began to feel a great sadness in his heart. He missed his family and his village, so asked to return home. The palace people were saddened by Taro's request. The Sea Princess gave Taro a parting gift; a beautiful jewel box, tightly bound with a red cord. "Don't forget me, Taro", said the Sea Princess. "Keep this box with you and never open it. That way you will always remember me. Do not forget!" Taro bowed and thanked her repeatedly. The turtle started off, moving slowly through the water, for he did not want to say farewell to kind young Taro. Soon, the palace was out of sight and Taro was back on the beach of his village. He recognized the rocks offshore, the curve of the beach and the Ebisu shrine not too far away. But the other buildings were not the ones he knew, and many were unlike anything he had ever seen - not as wonderful as the Sea Palace, but every bit as strange. His own hut had been near the shrine, but there was nothing there now.
After a period of confusion he decided to ask an old woman who was slowly making her way down the path toward him. "Good morning, may I ask you something? I was looking for the home of Taro."
" Taro?", replied the old woman "When did I last hear the name of Taro? My grandmother told me that her grandmother told her that she had heard the story of Taro, who lived in this village 300 years ago. A kind young man, but he disappeared before he could marry. Ah, don't they all! I don't think I've seen you before. Who are you staying with? My grand-daughter could stand to meet a nice young man, but they don't come to this village often."

Taro thanked her and walked back to the beach. He had left his home for the Sea Palace three hundred years ago?! He sat on the sand and longed for his village, the village he had known, but realised that not even the fastest sea turtle could take him there. With that, he took out the jewel box; perhaps this could help him. With difficulty, he removed the tight red cord, and raised the lid. There was nothing inside but a white mist, which rose, its tendrils curling slowly in the air. He breathed it in and smelled the mat in his hut, the salty wind of storms he had escaped, the fish he had cleaned, the wine he had offered to Ebisu-- the box held the 300 years Taro had lost, and as he breathed them in, he became a very old man.

Here I am with Taro and the Sea Princess!

The Sea Princess was so beautiful :-) They gave me painted sea shells to make wishes and this bag of oiri sweets; small rice puffs flavoured with cinnamon - delicious

I really enjoyed the festival. One of the things I wanted to do in Japan was to learn as much as possible about a culture that is not my own. I learnt heaps today and I loved the folk tales so much. In the evening, Taoko-sensei drove me back to her house. Taoko-sensei lives very traditionally; The house has sliding doors and tatami mats, there are bonsai trees in the garden, and her mother and father live in the house next door and grow vegetables. All the vegetables that Taoko-sensei and her husband eat are grown by her parents. We ate watermelon and figs grown by her mother, they tasted so good. It felt great to be eating watermelon in Japan without paying over thirty pounds for it!

Taoko-sensei collects yukata and kimono and she was really keen for me to try some on. Initially, I felt a little reluctant - although I can't put my finger on the reason why, seeing foreigners dressed in the native costume of another culture always makes me feel a little uncomfortable. Taoko-sensei was so excited however, that I couldn't refuse. She spent ages picking out different ones, taking pictures and cooing "Ooooh sugoi! Kawaii!" Here I am:

My trip to Kobe, seeing lots of handmade things today and reading this blog everyday: www.wherethelovelythingsare.com are really inspiring me to do creative things again. I have been writing lots of letters, making things for my lessons and I am making a felt cake (utterly pointless, but it is nice to sit, sew, listen to music and see felt, thread and stuffing, slowly but surely, become something beautiful) Tomorrow, my friends who live in Okayama are coming to visit. I am having a great Silver Week :-)

xo

Kobe > Stolen Bike

2009-09-21T03:02:00.000-07:00

Hello loved ones :-) This week is Silver Week in Japan - it's a national holiday of five consecutive days so everybody at school was very happy at the arrival of a rare break in the Japanese education system. Today is Respect for the Aged Day - so happy Respect for the Aged Day Nana and Grandad. I love you. <3

Unfortunately, my Silver Week didn't start very well. My beautiful bike, Betsy Blue was stolen from the train station on Friday night. Without a bike, it is truly impossible to live life with ease here in Marugame; everything is spaced out by mountains and ricefields and a journey from the station to home, which is a swift ten minute cycle, takes an arduous half an hour to walk. I was so disappointed; I loved my bike so much. Having a bike like Betsy made me the happiest girl in this town. For now, I am reluctantly riding my friend's old bike. It is a vomitous orange colour, the brakes don't work,it has no light, so I am breaking the law by riding after dark, and it sounds like it has asthma. It is so noisy so I get even more stares than usual.

When I bought my bike, I paid for a security tag to be put on it, so that if it ever went missing, the police could attempt to locate it. Yesterday, I went to the police station where I was able to tell the police in Japanese (I felt proud of myself!) that my bike had been stolen on Friday night, the colour of it, the security number and the approximate time of the theft. The policeman I told this to promptly shouted to his colleagues, at which point, seven very small and slight police men bounded down the stairs and said that they would begin the search for Betsy straight away. Eight police men helping to look for one lowly bike is,I feel, deliciously indicative of the non existent crime scene in Marugame.

They then advised me that I shouldn't buy a new bike just yet. Quite often, stolen bikes turn up again....because they haven't really been stolen, they have been borrowed. Apparently, it is common here for people to 'borrow' bikes, ride them to the grocery shop and leave them there. It was very amusing but utterly bizarre to hear the local law enforcers attempt to persuade me that my bike had not in fact been stolen but had been borrowed. I don't think it would be possible to find police men in any other country in the world who would try to depict a minor criminal offence as a neighbourly, sweet and lovely thing! After having left the Koban, I almost felt that I had done a good deed by 'allowing' one of my fellow citizens to 'borrow' Betsy. I hope she turns up. Here is a picture of her. I miss her.

Here is my desperate attempt to make my temporary rusty contraption look attractive. A lady who lives just down the road from my apartment has the most beautiful garden. It is truly a pleasure to cycle past it on the way to school as it is brimming with colour and fragance. I bought some flowes from her for under a pound. It was really idyllic to cycle in the sunshine with flowers in my bicycle basket. Do you think I did a good job?

The special thing I decided to do for Silver Week was take a day trip to the city of Kobe which is in the south of Honshu, the main island. Kobe is an interesting city as it was one of the first Japanese cities to open its port for trading after Sakoku, the policy of seclusion imposed in Japan in 1633, ended in 1868. A famous Kobe quote is 'If you can't go to Paris, go to Kobe'. I have talked about my frustrations with Marugame and for a while, I was beginning to think that Marugame was typical of all of Japan. I felt disappointed that Japan was failing to enthuse me...until I visited Kobe. I had the most amazing time, it gave me a renewed sense of enthusiasm and happiness about being here. Kobe is a big city;I adore cities. I love the buzz of a city. I love seeing shiny glass windows, behind which are the most beautiful displays. I like stumbling upon cute little cafes and interesting shops. The thing I love most about cities is that because they ooze with so much life and creativity, there are exciting things going on, half of which you are unaware of until you mistakenly stumble upon them.

Kobe had all of these things; I loved the European influenced architecture and the harbour. The bakeries selling proper cakes (!) melted my heart,the narrow streets full of curious little shops made me grin inanely and the friendly people made me feel welcome (people didn't stare at me like I was a leper!)There were so many beautiful things that my eyes ached at the end of the day. The city is where I belong and Kobe is the first place I will return to once I get my October pay check. I feel so excited about taking Mum, Dad and Oliver here at Christmas time.

A typical Kobe street brimming with curious shops. The wires above look very hazardous don't they?

Down by the harbour.

In 1995, there was a huge earthquake in Kobe which killed over 6000 people. This spot down by the harbour was left untouched after the earthquake. It was eerie to see.

It was Kobe Fashion Week and here are some beautiful girls.

Look at all of the people! There were probably more people in this little courtyard than the entire population of Marugame - I was so happy!

The day trippers - happy and content after having eaten some delicious cake - we took so long choosing a cake that I almost missed my bus back to sleepy town, oops.

Ed and I found a piece of home in Kobe.

I'm going to write some more in a separate blog post as I realise I am beginning to ramble now. If you have a penchant for reading things chronologically, please read this post first, followed by the one above!

xo

Enkai!

2009-09-13T05:22:00.001-07:00

I spent this weekend at Maruko's school festival. On the Friday before the festival, all lessons were cancelled in order to devote the day to preparations and classroom decorating. I am certain that I was the happiest girl in Marugame that Friday; to spend an entire day cutting and pasting,sewing bunting, colouring in and getting covered in glitter glue and felt tip pen in the process is the closest thing to heaven for me. I helped to make this display with the Art Club:

I also helped Aya and Haruko, two of the English Club members with their room decoration. Aya and Haruko are funny little things; they spent half of the afternoon cycling to the 100 Yen Store to buy pens, pencils and fabric...these proved to be unecessary trips as they spent the other half of the afternoon cooing at pictures of Zac Efron. As a result, the room of the English Club was very poorly decorated, or rather hilariously so; at half past seven, Aya began to panic as she saw how beautiful the other rooms looked, so decided to do some research on Thailand. This choice puzzles me slightly, since the theme of our room was 'England' but she seemed quite intent on her choice. This is Aya's last minute attempt at room decoration, I love the caption underneath so much ('he is not Thai) -doesn't it portray the sheer last minute attempt so perfectly:

The festival was ace. I spent a lot of time talking with the students and I am starting to put names and personalities to faces now, which feels really nice. I took part in the Tea Ceremony, played lots of party games for Japanese snacks, made a hairslide at the Art Club,and iced some biscuits at the Home Ec club.

Incidentally, I noticed an interesting cultural difference at the Talent Show;there were so many groups of boys who did dance routines to pop songs and what is more, by no means were the routines half hearted or sardonic. This was something that would never happen in the UK and it did make me wonder about gender constructs in different parts of the world. In the public sphere, women tend to be somewhat subservient to men here in Japan, so by implication, does that mean that men exert their masculinity? Perhaps so, but my encounters with my male colleagues and students seems to disprove this. I find men and boys here to be as kind hearted and gentle as the females. It seems also that compared to the UK, 'macho' culture is not so pervasive in high school culture here; my male students are just as enthusiastic as the female ones about activities involving glitter glue and making things and groups of 18 year old boys were (shamelessly) crying with joy when they won the Talent Show on the merits of their dancing this afternoon. Hmm, I am beginning to ramble a little and lose track of the point I am trying to make, but I hope you understand!

Anyhow, back to Maruko School Festival...

Tonight was also my first experience of the staff party (enkai). I was so intrigued to attend an enkai as some of my fellow ALTs have had interesting experiences at theirs. Our enkai was at a famous chicken restaurant in Marugame called Ikkaku. My vegetarian comrades, forgive me, I am now a meat eater. I found my diet of tofu and a poor selection of vegetables to be insufficient for long days of teaching and biking around everywhere. Ikkaku is a very traditional Japanese eating place with low tables and tatami mats. The evening began very formally with speeches, lots of toasts and bowing but as the beer flowed, it turned into a real party...

...it was hilarious.

I sat with my favourite teacher, Ohmiya-sensei who got progressively drunk as the evening went on. Williams-sensei had warned me earlier, with her sharp tongue and rolling eyes, that Ohmiya-sensei gets drunk after about two beers and his personality becomes magnified x 10. This was indeed true and by the end of the night, he had bitten my arm, suggested that I take a trip to Thailand next weekend with him and his wife and told me that because I am here on my own in Japan, he wants to be a father figure to me (he said this with such sincerity that it made me want to cry).

At the enkai, I sat opposite another English teacher called Yamaguchi-sensei, who yesterday invited me to share a meal with his family at his home next week. Yamaguchi-sensei spent some time studying in Birmingham and empathised with me when I told him that I often felt frustrated at my inability to express myself in Japanese. He told me that his solution to this when he was in Birmingham was to go to the pub, get drunk and talk to people. Alcohol = confidence in language. He then shouted really loudly 'Yes, and when I left Birmingham, my friends bought me a pint glass with 'Pisshead' printed on it. I lovu biiru!!'.

After being at work for seven consecutive days, I am so exhausted, but I have had such a happy time this weekend. .

xo

'What do you think of Tada-sensei's face?'

2009-09-07T03:39:00.000-07:00

Today was the beginning of my second week of 'teaching' here in Marugame. I teach at two high schools which differ hugely from one another. One school is a very academic school and most of the students do a study abroad term in their final year. The other school is an industrial school; most of the students are the sons and daughters of rice farmers, so most will follow in the footsteps of their parents, with just a handful going onto university. As the two schools are so different, there has been great disparity with regard to how my lessons have been received.

I found the first week of my new job to be the most unsettling and overwhelming experience. It seems also that my responsibilities somewhat belie my job description (that of an Assistant Language Teacher). Rather than assisting the Japanese teacher of English, it is my job to plan, prepare and lead all the lessons. Having had just five days of training, I feel terribly underqualified. What makes the situation more difficult is that the Japanese teachers seem to think that I am a teacher when in fact, I am just a few years older than most of the students at school.

Most of the lessons in week one have involved some sort of self introduction to my classes. I have only been at school for six days, yet I have given the self introduction lesson more than ten times. I know it inside out and now seem to be able to reel it off whilst my mind wanders elsewhere...

My first few classes were a disaster. My self introduction was met with no response at all. Most of the students sat with glazed looks on their faces and many put their heads down on the desk and fell asleep for the duration of the lesson. It was so disheartening to have put so much thought into the lesson, only for it to fail miserably. I am sure you can therefore imagine the painfully awkward'question and answer' session that followed my presentation....whenever I attempted to get one of the students to answer a question at the industrial school they would either a) look straight through me or b) look directly at me with frightened eyes and quivering lips.

There is a proverb here in Japan: ' The nail that sticks up, gets hammered down'. In other words, individuality is not encouraged. The students are all very reluctant to speak up so I have had to change my approach drastically. Every time I plan a lesson, I make sure that each and every activity is goup based. All quizzes, questions and presentations are done in teams. It is the only way that I can get any kind of response. Comedic competition seems to work well too. In my past three classes, we have done little other than draw funny pictures; I'm not sure that this is so good with regard to language acquisition and cultural exchange but the kids seem more at ease and the Japanese teachers spend most of the lesson nodding their heads in enthusiasm, so perhaps things are just fine for now.

Slowly but surely, the students at the academic high school are beginning to warm to me a little; there have been smiles and genuine laughter in the classroom and it makes me so happy to see. As I walk down the school corridoors, lots of the girls peep their heads out of classrooms and shout 'Kawaii desu!' (you're cute!). The boys on the other hand are very funny; the only topics that will make them communicate with me is my marital status and love life. Here are some of the questions that I have been asked by the boys:

'What are you doing on Saturday? It's date time with me!'

A response to my question 'What is fun to do in Marugame?' 'It is fun to come to my house and see me'

'Why are you so beautiful?'

After telling the students that my favourite man was Jonny Depp, one boy piped up 'Oh, Isabel-sensei, my father said that I look like Jonny Depp!'

Progress at the other school is painfully slow,,,

This weekend, I am going to the school festival at Marugame High School (the academic school). School festivals in Japan are enormous events and there is so much preparation taking place at school. When I take a cycle at around 8 or 9pm, so many students are still at school working on huge bamboo structures, playing instruments, singing, dancing and making bunting.

One of the things I am most excited to experience at the school festival is the tea ceremony. I have done Japanese tea ceremony once already since my arrival in Japan and it really is the most beautiful thing. Every single movement is so perfectly rehearsed and has such significance.

Here is a picture of Kayo and I doing tea ceremony at Ritsurin Koen. My knees were gone by this point and it was hard for me to ignore the pain, hence the grimace on my face.

Here is some green tea and a chestnut sweet. Both were so good and complimented each other perfectly.

I am beginning to develop a fondness for Japanese confectionary and an accompanying appreciation for its subtle tastes. These sweets are called sakura dango. They are cherry flavoured rice balls, eaten with red bean paste - delicious. :-)
Here I am looking very pleased with my Saturday treat at the park.

As for the teachers at my school...there are certainly some characters. My two favourites work at Marugame High School. In the staff room, I sit next to a teacher called Williams-sensei. She is married to an English man and perhaps because of this, she does not come across as very Japanese in her ways. First of all, she wears perfume, something that Japanese women don't tend to wear. Williams-sensei loves perfume and this has encouraged me to wear mine with renewed gusto! Today I applyed it on three separate occassions which was great, given my previous habit of very small and tentative sprays in the morning. Williams-sensei is the first Japanese person I have met who is skilled in the art of sarcasm. She rolls her eyes a lot at Ohmiya-sensei....

....who is my other favourite teacher. I get the impression that Ohmiya-sensei irritates a lot of the other teachers at school. I find him hilarious. He is the tiniest man but it is possible to hear him from all the way down the corridoor. Most of the teachers in the staffroom are very reserved....not Ohmiya-sensei. He bounds in yelling 'Today, I am going to teach the students about amusement parks woooooooooo!' When I gave the teachers my gift of Earl Gray tea and shortbread biscuits, he wouldn't stop shouting 'Earu Gurayu is laaaavely!' He is forever approaching me with his Japanese/English dictionary, (which is probably bigger than his head) asking me questions with a very quizzical facial expression. Today he asked me 'Isabel-sensei, what is the difference between a lot of traffic, and a traffic jam?'. I'm uncertain as to why Ohmiya-sensei would ever need to use those phrases in his daily vocabulary; there is never any traffic in Marugame.

The teachers at the other school are much quieter...and they all wear tracksuits. At first I thought that the school had a lot of P.E teachers but then found myself in a classroom with the Japanese teacher of English who was wearing tracksuits bottoms, a t-shirt and sandals with socks...

Another oddity I have noticed at school is that many people wear masks that cover their mouths due to their fear of influenza. I have yet to see what the headteacher at Marugame High School looks like as he has been wearing a mask since the day I started.

As for life here, I am finding it very difficult to balance lesson planning, making new friends, studying Japanese and trying to figure out how to live life. Consequently, I've experienced some days where I have wanted to just give up and come home to the familiar. Sometimes I feel uneasy at being so conspicious in my town. People stare all the time. I feel irritated and frustrated that I can't understand anything. It takes me so long to go food shopping for example, because I can't read anything. My mind feels so overwhelmed by all of these new things that the things I enjoyed doing back home seem to have been left by the wayside. I haven't sat down and read a book, written a long letter or made something silly for ages. I worry that I will lose all the creativity I possess. Perhaps there will be time to get back into my books and silly crafty things again when I have established more of a routine here.

The weekend before last, I met up with three other ALTs here; fellow Londoner Ed, Jared (from Chicago) and Sean (from New Jersey). We drove to the most beautiful waterfall up in the mountains and had fun swimming there, though we later discovered that the waterfall is a sacred Shinto place and people are not supposed to swim there. This explains the bemused looks we had been getting from passers by, oh dear. Here is a picture of the Shinto trespassers:

We then took a trip to the beach to take a look at this huge coin made of sand; it's over four hundred years old. It was incredible...

This evening, as I was cycling home from school, I noticed that there is a new arrival in the rice field opposite my apartment. I like that despite this scarecrow's frightening looking face, he still looks cute in his beribboned bonnet (there is always room for some cuteness in Japan)

Finally, here is a picture of Ed, a couple of other guys from training, two sweet Japanese girls and myself at a super cute photo booth station in Hiroshima. This is Japan...

xo

Ohayoo World

2009-08-28T04:59:00.000-07:00

Oh my, where to begin? My first twelve days in Japan have been unlike anything else I have ever experienced before. I have felt so many feelings, in such intensity over so few days.

I spent five days in Hiroshima as part of my Assistant Language Teacher training. Hiroshima made me feel strange; for a city that has witnessed such sadness and tragedy, it exudes so much peace. The Peace Memorial Museum and Park took my breath away. I went to see the A-Bomb dome one night and it was lit up so beautifully. There is a really curious paradox in the dome; it looks so fragile yet it is a symbol of such strength.

The majority of time spent in Hiroshima was taken up with training. I enjoyed training to an extent; I think I am going to enjoy using my mind in a different way through teaching. At many points throughout the week however,I felt so doubtful of my capabilities. I am not an extrovert by any means and I am so frightened that my quieter nature will be mistaken by both my students and colleagues as aloofness. I want to do the best job that I can, I really do.

Here are some snaps of my training group, they were nights I will remember forever.

So now, here I am in my new home. Marugame city is a teeny tiny city in the north east of a prefecture called Kagawa (the smallest prefecture in Japan) on Shikoku, the smallest of Japan's four main islands. Marugame's status as a city is somewhat deceptive; on my first day, I followed the signs to Marugame City Center which led me to a small train station and a handful of shops. Feeling puzzled, I cycled a little further in the hope of stumbling upon the neon lights of Marugame city. No neon lights appeared. It was later confirmed to me that the train station is the city centre...

For the first few days, I felt so alone. It was a feeling I have never experienced before and it was not a pleasant one. Here I was in a tiny city nestled in the mountain. The little proficiency I thought I had in Japanese had been drowned by the feeling of complete and utter helplessness and I missed home and longed for the familiar so terribly. To make it worse, there was a problem with the internet connection at my apartment so I was spending a lot of money visiting the local internet cafe. Incidentally, the internet cafe in Marugame is called 'Funky Time' so I'm sure the Marugame folk were amused by the new foreigner in town bumbling around asking 'Funky Time doko desu ka?' From one comedic incident to the next....I was cycling around town a few days ago when I was stopped by a very wizened old Japanese man. People here are very quiet and reserved; I get a lot of curious looks here and so I was really happy that someone wanted to talk to me. We managed a few sentences (I need to study more) at which point, the man produced a camera and asked if he could take a picture of me whilst yelling to his friends 'Kate Mossu! Kate Mossu!' I didn't know what to do other than grin inanely...he seemed pleased with that. I wish I could have taken a picture of him too, he had a cheeky glint in his eye.

I also had an experience which really did warm my heart; I made a phonecall from a payphone on Tuesday and when I got back to my apartment, realised that I had left my notebook behind and it was too dark for me to make my way back to the phonebox. The next afternoon, I located the phonebox and there was my notebook in the same place with the book mark placed on the exact page I had been reading from. :-)

Since then, life is getting easier for me, mostly thanks to my wonderful mentor Kayo Minami. Kayo has helped me with getting a phone, setting up a bank account and getting my alien registration card. She has been so patient with me; every time we go to register for something, I usually forget one document or another. Kayo just chuckles,drives me back to the apartment and we start over again. Every day since I've arrived, she has insisted on buying me lunch and she explains things about her culture so clearly and well; I've learnt so much this week. Kayo is married but has no children and the other night, she said that to her, I was now like family. It brought tears to my eyes. We are supposed to have our mentors for just one week so yesterday should have been the last day. I truly think I have found a friend in Kayo however; tomorrow she is taking me to Ritsurin Koen which is a beautiful landscaped garden in Takamatsu city (the largest city in Kagawa) and next week, we are going to go to the hot springs together. Kayo is wonderful. <3

I've also been really lucky and have met some other ALTs living here in Marugame. It feels nice to have company already. One of the things that I've realised since moving to Japan is just how little I know about life. On the first day, Kayo took me to a 100 yen store. 100 yen stores are amazing - they sell everything imaginable and most items are 100 yen. That's the equivalent of about 60p. I love them. Anyhow, rather than stocking up on cleaning things for my home, I spent most of my time looking at rabbit shaped teapots and pretty stationary. Kayo had to eventually give me a gentle nudge in the direction of the kitchen cleaning products.

I start teaching on Tuesday. I will be teaching at two high schools here in Marugame. I am so excited to meet my students but incredibly anxious. I hope that I can do a good job and I hope that they like me.

My departure from the schools really made me laugh. It took me about fifteen minutes after saying goodbye to actually leave the building. Everyone was bowing,over and over again. Every step backwards was followed by a bow and a 'yoroshiku onegai shimasu!' Japanese people are extraordinarily polite. When I bought my phone today, the shop assistant walked Kayo and I to the car, opened the car door for me and waited until I had fastened my seat belt before handing me the bag. Even the waiters and waitresses in the restaurants appear so happy to serve you, they say hello with such gusto...well actually,it is more like giddy yelling but I like it.

All this typing is making me tired so I'll finish up for now with some more pictures The picture below is the view from the Seto Ohashi bridge; it is the bridge that connects Honshu island to Shikoku island. It was so beautiful to see so many little islands peppering the Inland Sea. I am looking forward to taking that train ride again soon.

This is a shrine about two minutes walk from my house. It was so peaceful there. A man took my camera from me and took a picture before bowing and handing it back, hence my slightly bemused expression.

Finally, this is the view as I come out of my apartment. I love the city but there is nothing more peaceful than having my iPod on and cycling on my lovely sky blue bike past rice paddies and mountains like this. :-) This mountain is a famous mountain in Marugame; the locals call it Sanuki Fuji.

lovelove

xo

Hello Japan

2009-08-17T07:57:00.001-07:00

I have arrived, and what is more, with my luggage intact. I felt such enormous relief when I saw my big beribboned bag at baggage collection; I really don't know what I would have done had it gone missing so it truly warmed my heart to be reunited with it!

I find time difference such a bizarre thing and subsequently, it feels as though I set off from London about two weeks ago, when in fact, it was just yesterday. I was very tearful on my London to Hong Kong flight. At Heathrow, I felt really relaxed but when Mum started to cry, it really threw me. When I see others who I care for crying, I instantly do the same, it really is an instinctive thing. So my legs felt like jelly and I had a lump in my throat for at least half of the flight, made worse by the fact that I decided to watch Is Anyone There? It's such a beautiful film and combined with my recent goodbyes, I was somewhat conspicious with my puffy eyes and red nose!

The tiredness didn't really begin to hit me until I had to take the Shinkansen (bullet train) from Osaka to Hiroshima. I managed to keep my eyes open long enough to see Osaka to Okayama; Japan is unlike anywhere I have ever been to. For miles and miles, all I could see from the window were concrete jungles. Houses and apartments are squeezed into the tiniest nooks and crannies and as a result, many are very oddly shaped. Once I glanced away from the concrete however, all I could see were the lush, green, beautiful mountains that almost seem to encircle the human life existing within the concrete puzzle. It is a curious contrast. Jetlag caught up with me after Okayama so I am almost certain that I spent the rest of the journey in my unsightly,embarrassing sleeping position: mouth wide open with a few body jolts when I wake up suddenly, gah. Why can't I sleep like an angel?

I've just been out for a sushi dinner with a few of the other assistant language teachers who I will be training with this week in Hiroshima. They seem like a nice bunch though at the moment, I am well and truly outnumbered by the Americans. I am yearning for some dry British wit. Isn't it funny how when in very alien/overwhelming situations, we crave to be around those who we share common bonds with.

I feel such a curious mix of emotions at the moment. Today, I experienced relief at having finally made it here (and getting my beloved bag), terrible sadness at having to say goodbye to my family and an enormous sense of anticipation. At several points, I have thought to myself 'what the hell am I doing here?'. A lot of people who participate in these kind of schemes are really into Japan. I suppose because Japanese culture is so idiosyncratic, it attracts the obsessives. My reason for choosing Japan is simply that it's very far away from home, I wanted a challenge so enormously huge and I wanted to experience a culture and language that are starkly different from my own. Sometimes, I wonder if that is enough. Who knows...

Training begins tomorrow so I am going to get some shut eye.

Toodle-oo

xo