Cherry Blossom Time (again)

It's cherry blossom time again - another sign of the relentless passing of the years in Japan. Cherry blossoms fill me with equal amounts of pleasure and sadness. Pleasure at the fantastic beauty of it all and sadness at how fleeting the appearance of the blossom is. A metaphor for life itself for many Japanese people (and the long term expat community).

I'm glad I have managed to sample a brief moment of the cherry blossom mania that grips Japan each year. Yesterday Yuki, Clara and I went to Koganei Park, a short journey from our house, to have our own little hanami (Japanese for cherry blossom viewing party). We bought some snacks and a couple of beers and lazed around in the park for an hour or so along with thousands of other people. Yuki told me that there are about 1,700 cherry in Koganei Park so it is obviously a good place to visit around cherry blossom time. There were various stalls selling food and games for the masses. A local pizza company even had the ingenuity to walk among the crowds taking orders - good idea but how on earth they would manage to deliver the correct pizzas to the right group has been vexing me for the past day. Must have been chaotic.After sitting on our mat, we took a stroll and then Clara and I played tennis for a bit. Sora (our little mutt) was very popular and got a lot of attention.

After we returned home, we had dinner together and then I went into Shibuya to meet an old colleague and some former students from the Japan Bank of International Development (JBIC). We had a good time chatting and had a few beers at TGI Fridays. After that we went to karaoke for an hour and then there was a mad rush to the station to catch the train home.  With work and family responsibilities, I rarely venture into town and am a bit of a hermit these days. Quite a change from my life back in Britain, and not a positive change in my opinion. I really should make an effort to socialise more......

Today there was the local Kumegawa cherry blossom carnival. We are really lucky that our balcony overlooks the street where the mini Rio-esque style parade takes place. Great to just stand there and watch the scantily clad ladies jiggle by. 

And now work beckons once more. Last week was really busy and I have a pile of work waiting on my desk for me to get stuck in to. 

Hope all is well with the readers, if indeed there are readers. Will post another blog soon.

JBIC

After a great deal of delay and deliberation, I have finally accepted another teaching job. When we moved from Fukushima to Tokyo, my aim was to secure another investment bank job in a similar vein to my previous jobs at Citibank and Deutsche Bank. However, my next investment bank position has proved elusive and so I realised I would have to continue with teaching for the time being.

It appears that I have found a very good compromise. I am now working in the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) in Tokyo, close to the Imperial Palace. The job suits me down to the ground at the moment. I am teaching business English about 30 students who are recent graduates from the best universities in Japan. Some of the courses I am teaching include Finance and Market News, Negotiation Skills, and Business Case Studies.

The job so far has proved fascinating. Not only do I get to meet a group of highly intelligent people, but I am also able to learn a lot about JBIC and its role on the world stage. JBIC is involved in a number of projects in developing countries such as Nepal, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, and the Philippines to name a few. I have been very interested to hear about the current projects in these countries and to have been involved in some frank discussions on how beneficial OCAs (Overseas Credit Agencies) are to developing nations.

So for the time being, I have found a job which is giving me a bit of satisfaction. Since our move to Tokyo, I have turned down a number of JHS and SHS jobs as I really was looking for a new challenge. I was beginning to wonder if something suitable would comes along, but my patience has been rewarded. The classes at JBIC can be extremely demanding and tiring, but they have proved rewarding.

The biggest issue I have at the moment is the commute from my apartment in Kumegawa to the bank in Takebashi. It takes about 1 hour door to door and involves me changing to the underground (Tozai Line) mid way through my journey. I had steeled myself for the commute, but I was still alarmed at the number of people who manage to squeeze into a railway carriage. It's truly an awful experience and is absolute torture to do on a daily basis. My guestimate is that about 500 people squeeze onto my carriage every morning. It is possible that the number is higher. Manners do not exist at rush hour in Tokyo. Everyone pushes and fights for the slightest bit of space. One middle aged woman elbowed me in the stomach as she tried to jostle me out of my position and away from my bag resting on a luggage rack. I was pretty shocked and taken aback at the time and ceded position. Next time it happens I have decided to push back and fight my corner. No quarter is asked for and none will be given. I can't imagine what the carriage will feel like when the temperatures rise into the 30s.