The Sweaty Oyabaka

I realise that I have been a bit quiet of late in the Blogosphere. I have been keeping my head down and and getting on with work. Over the last week or so, the temperatures have ranged between 35C and 40C. Too hot to do anything! I have discovered that I have ISBS (Instantaneous Sweaty Back Syndrome). As soon as I step from my home, place of work, or the train, valves in my back automatically open up and release a constant stream of sweat that tickles as it trickles down my back. Although I cannot be classed as obese, over the last week or so, I have noticed a definite contraction in my waistline - a result of sweating buckets of sweat every day and probably my regular visits to the swimming pool.

Anyway, the main purpose of this posting is to boast about Clara (again). I am often concerned that Clara will fall behind her peers in Scotland in terms of English ability. I often think her exposure to English is too limited as I am the only person she talks to in English on a regular basis. Therefore, to help her keep up, we try and buy her English DVDs eg. The Tweenies, Dora the Explorer, Tiny Planets etc. Yesterday, I decided it was time to sit down with her and coerce her into reading to me. I chose the Wizard of Oz but thought it was far too ambitious (43 pages with some challenging words) and I envisioned her trying to tackle the first couple of pages needing a great deal of help from Dad. Yuki and I were both amazed when she picked up the book and read it from cover to cover with a limited number of mistakes. Not bad for a 6 year old who has spent most of her childhood in Japan with a limited exposure to English! I hope I do not seem like I am boasting too much, but we were amazed that Clara could read so well. I'm not totally sure how she could do it but I guess it must be the result of frequent bedtime stories and her supply of DVDs which often encourage children to read the words on the screen. It goes to show that if parents spend just a small amount of time with their kids, these kids are able to take what is taught and then use this information to independently learn more. Clara was given the foundation and she has built on it. This experience has made me realise just how important it is to provide education to your own kids. If kids are taught at home, school can be a place for revision and reinforcement.

I will be asking my parents to bring some books with them when they visit Japan in October. Oyabaka in Japanese means a parent who boasts or talks up their childrens' achievements. Guilty as charged.

Bo Jangles and Budvar

Sorry for the delay in posting an update. As previously mentioned, it has been a busy period in Tokyo and free time has been at a premium. However, my schedule will become a lot clearer over the next couple of weeks so hopefully I will have more time to update the blog on a more regular basis.

Yesterday and today have been hot and humid and sleep is hard to come by at the moment. We're leaving the air conditioner switched on tonight so that should make the night a bit more bearable.Today was 35C! Temperatures should hover around the 30C level until the middle of September.I had a good day yesterday which means I have a hangover today. I bumped into a couple of Aizu JETs (Sean and Emily) in Shinjuku (Tokyo) yesterday by sheer chance which was a nice surprise. It turns out that Sean has finished work and returning to the USA for good. It was nice to have the unexpected chance to say goodbye. It was a big coincidence as the Tokyo agglomeration has a population of about 35,000,000 people (according to the United Nations website I have just looked at). This was not the biggest coincidental meeting I have had in Tokyo, however. A couple of years ago when I was at the famous Asakusa shrine in Tokyo, I bumped into an old friend called Ed Campbell who used to sit next to me in my geology class at Aberdeen University. That was freaky!!

Last night I went to my regular watering hole called Bo Jangles. The heat had driven me there and forced me to consume a quantity of cold beer. It was a slightly sad night as it was the last time I would be able to drink Budvar, my favourite lager. Budvar is no longer imported into Japan which means I need to select another brew from next week. As you can see from the beer menu, Bo Jangles has a good selection of world beer (with about 6 chosen by myself).

The picture above shows Akinori, the bar owner, and another customer whose name I do not know. The customer is a total piss head and spends most of his time asleep with his head on the counter. He occasionally tries to communicate with me but anything he utters is total gibberish. I can communicate fairly well in Japanese or English with the other customers, but have had no success deciphering what he is trying to say. I think most of the other customers have the same problem.

Anyway, that's all the updates I'm giving you for now. We've all joined the local gym so I may do a small blog on that in the near future. Cheers.