Tokyo

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Many things about Tokyo are disturbing, the most obvious being the size of the place. Last night we went out for dinner on the 49th floor of some tall building near the hotel. It was impossible to see where the sky scrappers ended as infinite electric light dissapeared in to the distance. Look, I'm getting poetic already. As we were adjusting to this and attempting to eat our Japanse influenced Tapas (try eating pasta with chop sticks) we noticed that the entire building was swaying ever so slightly from side to side. It was rather like being very drunk, perhaps that would have helped.

As for the conference itself we are being gradually introduced to Japanese culture and our new jobs as Japanese Assistant Language Teachers. Although the hotel itself is very posh and exciting I am really just waiting to get on with it and discover things for myself. Although the toilets are fantastic since they are fully electronic and have buttons for purposes which I will leave you to imagine. For those of you who watched TV in the UK in the 1980s it is rather like 'Tomorrow's World' inside this entire building. I am also having fun confirming my firmly held beliefs about all the other international participants. (Americans = loud, Australians = not lacking enthusiasm etc etc). We have clapped at various terribly important members of the Japanese Ministy and learned to bow at the proper angle. Now where did I put my protractor?

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