Monkey Business

Today has been pretty cold and the drive to work was slow because of ice on the roads. I arrived at my desk 10 seconds before 8am. Being late for work is frowned upon in Japan and I have not been late in over 2 years. During my time in Japan, I have only been late for work twice (at my previous school). Once I was 10 minutes late because I was stuck behind a useless driver who didn't have the confidence to turn right at a semi-busy junction, and the other time I was 1 minute late because I overslept. I like the Japanese way of being on time - it's a cultural strong point that other countries around the world could learn from. I need to leave for work a bit earlier though as I've been really close to being late recently on a number of occasions. The mountains now have a sprinkling of snow and I am hoping the snowfall will become heavier soon. I really CAN'T WAIT to start skiing again.

I was told today that the ski pass I usually buy has changed. Over the last couple of years, the ski pass which I bought cost about ¥18,000 (about 90 quid) which gave me unlimited skiing at Daikura Ski Area (not too far from Shimogo and really close to the schools where I now work). I thought this was a pretty good deal. However, this year, the ski pass will cost the same but allow me unlimited skiing at 4 ski areas. That's fantastic news!!! In truth, I was getting a little bored of Daikura and now I have the opportunity to ski at other places for no extra cost. Excellent!

I hope to go skiing 3 or 4 times a week. I'll probably go to Daikura Ski Area every Wednesday after school. Although it will be dark by then, you are able to ski under the course floodlights. I also plan on skiing every Saturday and Sunday. In February, I'll take a half day holiday on each Friday and head to the slopes straight from school. Friday skiing is excellent as the slopes are usually deserted and conditions are often perfect. On occasions, I have been the only skier on the slopes. It's a great feeling to ski and not have to worry about colliding with other skiers.

The previous 3 years that we have lived in Shimogo has seen some pretty harsh winters with heavy snow. Unfortunately, the winter this year is expected to be relatively benign and I am worried that this will be a poor season. Last year, I went skiing over 30 times. Hopefully I can match or exceed that figure this year.

I will really miss the skiing when we move to Tokyo, but I will try and visit Minami Aizu (where we currently live) a couple of times a year for skiing. It should also be easy for me to travel to Nagano on the bullet train. I've decided that swimming will be my main hobby once we move to Tokyo.

Anyway.......monkeys. Today I really knew I was in the Japanese countryside when the school grounds were invaded by monkeys! From the staffroom, the other teachers and I saw a large pack / family / herd of monkeys making their way down the side of the mountain next to the school. One was really big and looked like a gorilla. Apparently they've started roaming around now because they're searching for food. What is the collective term for a large number of monkeys? Okay, according to this link, a group of monkeys can be called either a troop, barrel, carload (!!??!!), or tribe.

The school janitor chased the carload of monkeys away by firing several shots from the school starting pistol. He also took a wooden sword with him (as seen in The Last Samurai) which are used in Japan for practice sword fights. I stayed safely in school as I could not stop thinking about the monkeys in the film '28 Days Later'. In the film, monkeys were infected with some deadly and contagious virus which results in them attacking people. It's a good film but not a good thing to watch if you have primates living in close proximity to you.

I'm fairly busy this week (again) and I shouldn't be spending my time writing my blog as I have more urgent matters to attend to. However, if feels good to get these words down and I feel a bit of stress ebbing away. I'll try and post a short blog about my conversation class tomorrow. I am teaching about 14 students how to make shortbread in the kitchen of Tajima Town Office. It's ironic that I am teaching people to cook as all I have 'cooked' in the past were Findus Crispy pancakes and the occasional peppercorn steak at Aberdeen University. The security guards always knew when I was having steak for dinner as I would always cause the fire alarm to go off because of the smoke in the kitchen. Anyway, watch this space for an update on Kane's cooking class. Bye.