60th Birthday

The main reason for my trip to Scotland was for Joep's 60th birthday celebration. I arrived in Inverness at about 9pm on the 27th December - just in time for the big event. Of course, the weather at that time was not great and I could easily have been delayed at some point in the journey. However, the journey went smoothly and I was even lucky enough to receive an upgrade on the flight between Tokyo and London. Just as I was about to get on the plane from Narita Airport, a British Airways staff member pulled me aside and said she had a message for me. Interesting........the next thing I knew, I was holding a new boarding pass for my new seat. Lucky me! This was the second time in a row I have received an upgrade from British Airways - I wonder what the secret is?

The rest of the journey to Scotland was uneventful and I arrived in Aberdeen on schedule. Meeting me at Aberdeen Airport was my brother, Mark, and a surprise guest at Joep's 60th birthday party. The surprise guest was one of Joep's old friends called Jenze. Via the powers of the internet, it was easy to track Jenze down (he was in Benin in Africa!!) and he turned out to be the star guest at the party. Joep was really pleased to see Jenze and I suspect that they will meet up again soon in Holland to renew their shared interest of yachting. After arriving at the house, I had a quick shower and then Mark and I went out for a few pints....the boys don't change.

In total, there were about 35 people at the birthday party. Despite the numbers, the house had plenty of space to accommodate all the guests and there was a mountain of food and a lake of alcohol left over at the end of the night. The EU would have been proud!

One point of interest at the party was the chanchanko jacket (and matching bonnet) which is traditionally given in Japan when someone turns 60. The present was kindly given by Tomo, the local doctor in Shimogo Town. I have tried to google chanchanko, but there seems to be little background information on the internet. I would be interested to know how this tradition originated but have not had much luck so far. UPDATE: Shaney has kindly provided a link for information regarding the chanchanko.

It was a great party which managed to reunite people with a common background - the Isle of Skye. Most people at the party still live there, or have done so at one point or the other. I managed to speak to the majority of people, although I do regret not being able to speak to all those who were in attendance. Perhaps I will be able to achieve a clean sweep at Mum's 60th birthday...

A great start to my holiday and there were plenty more adventures to come. Happy 60th Birthday, Joep!!!

7th Birthday Party

Yes folks, it's true! Clara turned 7 years old on the 22nd December. To celebrate, we held a small birthday party for her with family and a few friends in attendance.

The big present of the day came from her Japanese grandparents. They gave Clara a Nintendo DS whilst her uncle gave her Tamagotchi software. It looks like I'm going to get a lot more peace and quiet over the next few weeks. I'm trying not to get too interested in her new toy as I can see myself becoming addicted as well. I am the king of procrastination, so the DS seems right up my street.

Another present that proved popular was Twister, the all time party favourite. The kids seemed to enjoy it and the adults had the extra challenge of not breaking any of the children's limbs. The adults were also faced with the considerable challenge of drinking all the alcohol in the house. We got through 6 bottles of wine and about 20 cans of beers.A very enjoyable evening and we all still had Christmas to look forward to!!

P.S. Sorry but blogger seems to be experiencing a few problems at the moment and it is proving difficult to post some photos and links. Hopefully the gremlins will be ironed out soon....

Goodbye Parties

Hello all. I'm sorry that it has been a long time since I have updated the blog. It took a long time to arrange our internet connection in Tokyo. A very frustrating experience, especially when you consider we are now living in the world's largest city where many things are cutting edge and super efficient.

Here are a couple of pictures from a couple of the goodbye parties in Shimogo. I went to quite a few parties in my final 2 weeks but only took the camera to a couple of them.

Many people went out of their way to make our last few weeks in Shimogo memorable. A great way to end our stay in Shimogo and say goodbye to all the people who have become good friends. Happy memories. Things ended on a high as I realised that I wasn't saying my final farewells. I am certain to visit Shimogo many times in the future for skiing, cycling, and partying.

1st Anniversary

It is now exactly 1 year since I started my blog recording the trials and tribulations of living in the Japanese countryside. I've enjoyed writing the blog and it's nice for me to be able to look back at the events of the past year. Thanks to all those who have read the blog and to those who have left messages in the comments section.

The Clustr map which was added in November has been particularly interesting to watch. It shows a fairly healthy number of hits and indicates where in the world the visitors live. So far, I have had readers in over 20 countries. I've no idea who all the visitors are or how they found the blog address - feel free to tell me.

It's now nearly the end of January and the clock is ticking towards our move to Tokyo in March. January has ended on a bit of a high. The last few days have been very entertaining with a selection of work and non work related parties. On Friday I had the Hisawa JHS New Year party in a Japanese izakaya called Home Run in Tajima and on Saturday we went to a party for the girl (Shiori) who we took to Scotland. The party was to celebrate her securing a place in a good high school.

I didn't have the time or inclination to go skiing this weekend but I'm sure to go skiing again soon. Today was a relaxing day. I read my Daily Yomiuri newspaper in the morning and went for a drive around Shimogo in the afternoon. The roads are not covered in much snow so I think I'll start cycling again next weekend. I have now worked out how to add text to my photos so that will help smarten up the blog for one more year. Next week will be fairly quiet. I'm looking forward to February as I have a friend from Scotland visiting Shimogo on the 10th and 11th - perfect timing for the Shimogo and Tadami snow festivals. Yuki will finish her job next week so that we can get organised ahead of the big move. She enjoyed working over the last 2 years and I'm sure she'll get a job no problem in Tokyo.

Thanks for reading over the past year.

January

Hello to all. Sorry that I have been fairly quiet recently. January has been a pretty run-of-the-mill month to be honest. There's been a little work, a little play, and only a little snow. I haven't been skiing much at all. I've been to Daikura ski area four times but didn't really enjoy it. What snow there was, felt pretty bad to ski on. This January at Daikura has felt like the end of season skiing days of previous years i.e. deteriorating skiing conditions that take a lot of fun out of the experience and also make it a lot harder. I'm pretty bored of Daikura - familiarity breeds contempt.

However, today I went to another ski area called Takatsue because I was lucky enough to receive 5 free day passes. I enjoyed the slightly lengthy drive there and managed to see some fairly nice scenery along the way (and also a carload of monkeys). The sky was blue today which was also another plus point. Conditions were excellent and I had a great time. Despite the car park looking full, the slopes did not seem too busy, possibly because it is bigger than Daikura. The only downside of Takatsue was that there were a lot of snowboarders, the nemesis of the skier. I have 4 more free passes (with the possibility of more to come) so I'll probably head to Takatsue again next weekend.For the next 2 weeks I will be at Hisawa JHS. Wednesday will be the Hisawa JHS ski day at Daikura which means I get to spend some time out of school and on the slopes. Hopefully the conditions will be okay, although I'm not very optimistic. If conditions have improved, I may also go to Daikura again for a bit of night skiing on Wednesday.

On Friday I have another shinnenkai (New Year party) and then it will be the weekend again.

Bonnenkai - End of Year Party

It is now party season in Japan. These parties are called Bonnenkais - end of year parties. This year, I attended the Arakai JHS bonnenkai party. The food is always very traditional at these parties (mostly fish) and is made up of several small dishes, each with a different kind of food.

These parties cost about ¥15,000 (about 75 quid) and are paid for out of the teachers' club fund which each teacher pays into every month. The price includes food, alcohol, accommodation, and unlimited visits to the hotel onsen. This picture shows the standard food served at Japanese end of year parties. As you can see, there's a lot of fish.......

The Marumine Kanko Hotel is massive and is extremely busy at this time of year. It can accommodate about 800 guests and is furnished to a very high standard. ¥15,000 seems a very reasonable price to pay. I have heard from other foreigners in Japan that their work parties are terrible value. I guess I'm lucky to be in an area where the local hotels are plentiful and whose standards are high.

There are many school parties throughout the year in Japan. If I don't want to attend, I make some kind of excuse and feel no guilt about non attendance. However, I feel sorry for many of the Japanese teachers. I'm sure some of them would prefer to spend time with their friends or family. It seems impossible for many teachers to spend any time at home as they are often in school from 8am to 8pm. Most usually go to school on Saturdays as well. I also feel sorry for single teachers. If must be impossible for them to have a social life or find a spouse (outside of the world of teaching). I don't really understand why Japanese teachers are so willing to sacrifice their family life for their work life. Teachers in Japan seem to spend most of their time looking after other peoples children, instead of looking after their own.

After the first party, we went to the second party in a room reserved for karaoke. I was coerced into singing a couple of songs and had a fairly good time. At this party there was whisky and another Japanese spirit called shochu. As I'm not a drinker of spirits, I went to the bar and ordered a couple of bottles of beer. My individual decision to order beer probably caused a few teachers to have a sharp intake of breath, as being in Japan, decisions should be made as a group and not as an individual. However, I weighed up my options and decided to go it alone and order beer. It was either that or sitting in the karaoke room for 2 hours drinking oolong tea and listening to some bad karaoke.

After eating some noodles in the hotel noodle shop, we had a third party back in my hotel room on the 7th floor. Here the food was more suited to my tastes : pot noodles, crisps, nuts, beef jerky, and chocolate.

Next week should be fairly quiet at school although we do have a visit from the Governor of Fukushima. The Governor of Fukushima is Japan's equivalent of Jack McConnell. More about this later in the week.

Birthday Party

I had a joint birthday party on Saturday the 29th of July. My birthday was on July 23rd while Nari (beside me in the back row) celebrated his birthday on the day of the party itself. The party was held at the usual local restaurant called Wakatsuki which is always good quality. The food was very nice (including venison) and there was plenty of beer and wine to drink.

My only problem is that I get drunk too easily these days. I think I need to drink at a slower pace and make an effort to fill my stomach with sufficient quantities of food. I was lucky enough to receive some equipment for my camera and a nice hand fan (useful in the Japanese summers) as birthday presents. Thanks to the Sato family for organising the party.

I've been fairly busy today (Monday). I went to the Board of Education to receive a certificate of thanks from the Shimogo Mayor and I also received envelopes of money from my colleagues. Giving envelopes containing money when someone leaves a job seems to be the tradition in Japan. When a person receives money from colleagues, it becomes their responsibility to return a gift as thanks (at about half the cost of the money received). I'll be busy looking for suitable gifts to buy. I have to say that during my 3 years at Shimogo BoE, I've always been treated very well.

I will travel to Tokyo on Wednesday morning and probably spend a few hours doing some shopping in Shinjuku. I would like to buy some books and a few others things before I fly to the Philippines on Thursday night (August 3rd).

I think my next blog update will be on August 11th or 12th and will give you all my stories about my trip to the Philippines. Bye for now.

2 Weeks

I have not updated my blog for 2 weeks so I thought it would be a good idea to briefly tell you what I've been doing.

SUNDAY 20th MARCH
Surprise birthday party for Molly Elgin in Hadakaya (a restaurant / karaoke box) in the next town called Tajima.

Tajima no longer exists due to a nuclear exchange with Shimogo Town. I'm joking of course. Tajima does not exist any longer because it has merged with several other towns in the area. I think these mergers are a common feature of recent Japanese rural life and are a reaction to declining population. Perhaps these towns are no longer looked upon as sustainable and have been grouped together to make them more viable.

MONDAY 21st MARCH
Japanese national holiday (Vernal Equinox) - hangover.

WEDNESDAY 22nd MARCH
Work day at Shimogo JHS. I only had two classes (2-1 & 2-2) and the school was very quiet because the 3rd grade students have graduated. Sob sob.

THURSDAY 23rd MARCH
Last day of term at Shimogo JHS.

FRIDAY 24th MARCH
Half day in the BoE (Board of Education) followed by a visit to Daikurayama for some skiing. I did not stay long at the ski area because the snow was wet and very sticky. Not a good day for skiing.

SATURDAY 25th and SUNDAY 26th MARCH
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MONDAY 27th MARCH
Sitting in the BoE being bored of education. I wrote the next article for the town magazine called COHO. My next article is about the pleasures of reading.


TUESDAY 28th MARCH
BoE.

WEDNESDAY 29th MARCH
Spent the day with the other Minami Aizu ALTs making videos which we can show to the students in our classes. We acted out the situations in the school textbooks (New Horizon 1,2, and 3) and we hope these will freshen up our classes.

THURSDAY 30th MARCH
My Mum's birthday. I called my mother in the evening to wish her a happy birthday. Clara sang 'Happy Birthday' to her. During the day, I sat in the BoE and also washed a couple of cars which will be used to transport 2 retirees home on Friday from the BoE.

FRIDAY 31st MARCH
Friday was the last day of the Japanese business year. Next week many people will be transferred between schools and offices. April is a time of great change in Japan and I don't like it. I like the idea of office workers being given fresh jobs, but I don't like teachers constantly having to move between schools. This constant change prevents teachers from knowing the students and their families, allows bad teachers to hide, weakens the local community, creates a lot of extra work, and I feel is hard on family life for the teachers. Some teachers have to stay in rented accommodation during the week and only travel home on weekends. I don't like this process at all!!!!!

I went to Daikurayana for a spot of skiing but I did not stay long. The conditions were not great and visibility was poor due to the strong wind. I had a fall and twisted my knee. Ouch!! I decided to leave the mountain and drive to Shimogo for a much needed haircut.

SATURDAY 1st APRIL
I went skiing with a couple of people from the Shimogo Town Office. We went to a ski area called Hatoriko. The 2 people I went with are both members of the Shimogo Ski Club and were very willing ( perhaps too willing) to point out the deficiencies in my skiing technique. I learnt a lot and hopefully I'll make some more improvements during the next skiing season. In the evening, I went to Wakatski restaurant for some beers. Good fun.

SUNDAY 2nd APRIL
Today. I had a long sleep and then went cycling to a lake called Kannonnuma (about 30km in total). The cycling today was very nice and I made good time. In the afternoon, we tidied up the house and threw away a lot of Clara's old toys. It feels good to have some extra space in the house again.

THE WEEK AHEAD
I will be in the BoE on Monday and Tuesday. On Tuesday evening, Clara and I are going to Tokyo on the train. My parents will arrive in Tokyo on Wednesday for a holiday and I will meet them at Narita Airport. Thursday will be spent sightseeing in Tokyo. Friday to Shimogo.

Retirement Party

Unfortunately I have had a pretty bad week for a number of reasons. I will not go into any detail but I hope to forget the previous week as quickly as possible, after I attend to some unfinished business.............

Friday night was the perfect chance to unwind after several frustrating incidents during the week. On Friday, there was a retirement party for 2 long serving members of the local Board of Education. Both retirees had worked in the local town office for 40 years each.

The BoE members all stayed at a very nice hotel called Marumine in a hot spring area called Ashinomaki. The picture shows the Director of the BoE flanked by the two retirees. This picture shows the typical style of a Japanese work celebration. The food is very traditional with lots of fish and other oddities. On the table are several flasks of sake (Japanese rice wine) and the men are sitting on legless seats called zaiisu. By the end of the night, it was not only the chairs that were legless.

After the food (most of which I didn't eat), most members did their best to finish the supply of alcohol which the hotel had supplied for the party. I was then encouraged /coerced into singing a few songs in front of my colleagues. For the record, I sang 'Country Roads' by John Denver and 'Hey Jude' by The Beatles.

After the first party, it was time for the second party. I remember getting some ramen with the other members and then everyone going to the room I was staying in and basically chatting and drinking as much as possible. I am unsure what time I went to sleep.

Today I went for another long cycle up a nearby mountain road. Despite wearing my ski jacket and ski gloves, I felt I was about to pass out with the cold and my bike became caked with snow. Maybe I should wait for better weather. Next week should be fairly quiet. Shimogo JHS is winding down in preparation for the Spring Holidays and there is also a national holiday on Tuesday. I guess I'll either ski or cycle on Tuesday - I've been quite diligent recently in improving my diet and I'm trying to exercise more.

Well, that's all my recent news. Hopefully I'll have something else to say soon. Bye for now.