I am in Japan!!! A long way from Adelaide, Australia, but here I am in Shizuoka for a year teaching at an English Kindergarten while seeing and experiencing as much of this crazy, mixed up, amazing country as I can! A road trip and a Diva Ok, this is a bit of an embarassing story and Im sure you’ll all get a good laugh, but that’s what Im here for right! Marissa and I thought it would be really cool to go to a concert in Japan, we found out Mariah Carey was coming and Marissa loves her so we got our tickets in July for her concert at Saitama Super Arena just out of Tokyo in October, Good, done, easy, sounds great. Well it would have been great. BUT. As the weekend drew closer we ... read more

I am in Japan!!! A long way from Adelaide, Australia, but here I am in Shizuoka for a year teaching at an English Kindergarten while seeing and experiencing as much of this crazy, mixed up, amazing country as I can! Alrighty then, here we go for another action packed Long Weekend!!! Mum and Dad and Gran arrived on Thursday night (more about our adventures in Shizuoka in another blog) and for our weekends entertainment I had booked a hire car and an Inn at the base of Mt Fuji and prepared for a look at the Hakone-Fuji Five Lakes-Izu National Park. Saturday We bussed it in to the city to pick up our super cool, GPS equipped, hot pink Cadillac (ok so in the photos the car looks like a silver Mazda, but trust me!) and ... read more

I am in Japan!!! A long way from Adelaide, Australia, but here I am in Shizuoka for a year teaching at an English Kindergarten while seeing and experiencing as much of this crazy, mixed up, amazing country as I can! Woohoooo!!! One of my favourite things in Japan and right here in my street!! We had heard about this festival before, but didnt know when it was or anything. To our utter delight we arrived home from kindy on Wednesday afternoon to find vendors setting up stalls and preparations being made for walking on hot coals!!!! Yes you heard right- the very thing that Nigel Smart did that could have cost him his football career! And Marissa and I did it without one blister!! We are now assured to have good luck for a year! The ... read more

I am in Japan!!! A long way from Adelaide, Australia, but here I am in Shizuoka for a year teaching at an English Kindergarten while seeing and experiencing as much of this crazy, mixed up, amazing country as I can! When Marissas parents were here we went back to Kyoto for 2 nights. These are my highlights from the trip!!................... 1. Sanjusangendo- the 1001 wooden statues of Kannon with 42 arms each! 2. Weird girl on the bus screwing up her nose, sticking her tongue out and making funny faces at her boyfriend and continuing to do so even after she saw us giggling uncontrollably at her! 3. Kiyomizudera- "Pure Water Temple" Our ryokan was right near here, so we walked up. Not just another temple!!!! 4. Cormorant Fishing at Arashiyama- Not as great as I ... read more