Blogs from Nagano, Japan, Asia
May 21st 2012
Well I managed to drag myself out of bed half an hour early to allow enough time to see the eclipse. It started about 6.30 am, with the sky taking on an eerie twilight. As the eclipse progressed, shadows began to take on a weird, hazy double effect. It was a cloudy day, so there was a worry the clouds would obscure the eclipse from view, but luckily this didn't happen. I had to leave for school by 7.45 at the latest, so I sat in my car eagerly awaiting the full eclipse moment, my special glasses at the ready. At dead on 7.30am the moon moved right in front of the sun, blotting it out apart from a ring of blazing light round the edges - very beautiful. By the time I got to school ... read more
May 20th 2012
This has been a bad week! On Monday after school I drove over to Matsukawa, a neighbouring town about 40 minutes north of Takagi. I needed to drop some photos off with my block leader Marion, who is an assistant English teacher in that town. She lives in a block of teacher flats, and when I got there I was struggling to park in a small area near to the entrance. I was in the process of reversing to give myself more room when someone drove behind me and I clipped the back of the car as I went back. It turned out to be one of Marion's JTEs (Japanese English Teacher), who I also know from karate class. She came over to me once I was parked and asked if I was ok. I apologised ... read more
April 4th 2012
I'm somewhat disappointed in myself that after seven months, my level of Japanese is still very basic. I know I could study harder than I do, and when I get into frustrating situations I desperately wish I had! I definitely understand a lot more than when I arrived last August, and I try to comfort myself with that. For example, today I managed to ask the new school principal (who although very sweet, speaks very little English), permisson to pop out to the bank at lunchtime. Silly, but it took me a good few minutes of building up courage to attempt it and then it was a relief (and a bit of a surprise) when I was fully understood and told it was ok. The language barrier can be pretty isolating, none more so than at ... read more
March 31st 2012
The month of March is Hina-matsuri, or Japanese doll festival. Since January I'd noticed these creepy looking ( but very expensive) dolls appearing in the shops. On 3 March people celebrate "girl's day", where families with daughters wish for their happiness and healthy growth. Traditionally, families with girls will collect a set of these ornamental dolls for the child for display. The elaborate display represents the Emperor, Empress, attendants, and musicians in traditional court of the Heian period (about a thousand years ago). The old belief was the dolls possessed the power to contain bad spirits. Last Saturday my friend Sumiko invited me to her village of Achi, which every year has a Hina-matsuri display at locations throughout the village. Unfortunately the weather was atrocious - it was blowing a gale and tipping it down with ... read more
March 27th 2012
I've just got back from a very short (but much needed) visit home to the UK. I'd been feeling homesick since Christmas, and decided even if I only went back for a week it would hopefully cheer me up and refresh me for the coming summer months before my contract ends in July. It was great to get home and see all my friends and family, eat roast dinners and fish and chips, even though by the time I'd beat the jet lag it was time to hop back on the plane and endure the 12 hour flight back. School broke up on 16 March and so it is currently the spring break, so I have no classes but still go into school. The day after I left for the UK the teachers in my school ... read more
March 17th 2012
So just when I thought life couldn’t get much better it has!! On Wednesday after yet another big day of powder plus it was my first day with my new board I bought for $AUD168 delivered from a Japanese website (not bad), we decided to stay out on the mountain and watch the sunset (great idea). So to do this we had to duck away in the no ski zone before the chairlifts stop and ski patrol buzzes around getting everyone off the mountain. Ohh and not to forget to take enough beer to last the sunset. At 3:30pm Matt, Tim and I took the top chair lift and dived under the no ski fence and headed along a peak to find a perfect spot for the sunset view. After snapping a few a few photos ... read more
![P1010974-1 [800x600]](http://photos.travelblog.org/Photos/232078/697653/s/6805525-P1010974-1-800x600-0.jpg "P1010974-1 [800x600]")
March 8th 2012
Couple of days has passed since my last entry and soooo much has happen… I’m starting to wonder how I’m going to survive the rest of my trip….. From the last entry, after watching the cricket I went out and caught up with Hiroyuki and Mika at the Foot Bar on the main drag in town. Few of the boys from my hostel come down as well so we ended up having a decent size crew. Meet some new people and had some random conversations as well which is always a bit of a laugh. Hiroyuki and Mika were blow away by all the foreigners and how much English was getting thrown around. We found out Hiroyuki teaches English to some Japanese for work, no wonder we were able to have so many conversations. Funny thing ... read more
March 6th 2012
Well it’s day 2 in Nozawa Onsen Japan and I’m differently feeling my age!! Snowboarding uses some muscles you never knew you had… Yesterday was a great day, even though my 3am arrival meant I only got about 3 hours sleep in a proper bed. 7am breakfast was on with bacon and eggs plus more toast with Vegemite which every table had one jar sitting on it (can’t half tell an Aussie owns this place haha). After breaky it was off to get kitted up with a board at the rental shop, which is where Mark the owner of the of the hostel was. Had a bit of a catch up plus gave him the big jar of Vegemite I promised I’ve bring up for him, he was stoked… Off to the slopes for the first ... read more
![P1010791 [800x600]](http://photos.travelblog.org/Photos/232078/694332/s/6785400-P1010791-800x600-0.jpg "P1010791 [800x600]")
February 16th 2012
With two weeks to go until I run the Tokyo marathon, disaster struck last Tuesday......I started feeling grotty in the evening and woke up Wednesday with what I thought was the beginning of flu. There have been several outbreaks at school and the last time I went to elementary school the place was like a plague zone, with everyone - teachers and kids wearing masks! So, feeling tired, achy and a sudden hacking cough I thought my best bet would be to get to a doctor asap and see if I could get some anti-virals. After school I headed to where I thought the village surgery was located. Turns out the first place I went to was in fact a dentist (The drilling noises should have given it away), but they pointed me in the right ... read more
February 3rd 2012
Today marked the festival of Setsubun in Japan. For weeks I'd been intrigued by the displays of demon masks alongside packets of monkey nuts and roasted soybeans, and today it all became clear. Setsubun is a bean throwing ceremony, that heralds the beginning of spring (although you wouldn't know it here by the temperature!). The spring festival was previously thought of as a new year's eve and involved a special ritual to cleanse away all the evil of the former year and drive away disease-bringing evil spirits for the year to come. The bean throwing, or "mamemaki", dates back to the eighth century. The custom was for the male head of the household to throw beans out of the front door, or at another member of the family wearing an "oni" (devil/demon) mask, whilst shouting "Oni ... read more
