I guess I could write about the week Jo was out… Totally forgot about that until I went to the oknomiyaki restaurant for dinner tonight. (Okonomiyaki is like a cabbage pancake, the J-latka, or J-pizza. Funny Japanese would choose the one thing they’re least like (pizza) to make a comparison. Maybe pizza is more widely know throughout the world than pancakes or laktas.)

Anyway, Jo, Kieran and I went there when she was out and had a good meal. Kim-chee should be an optional ingredient in everything. I love that flavor! Jo was in Yaizu for 6 nights. The first night, we went to a fresh sushi house. The chef graduated from my high school (from the cooking course) decades ago, and his food (and sushi) was fantastic. Next day, Jo walked around Yaizu and I went to work. Day next she went to Fuji and we ate at a circle sushi place. After that, she came along to an iai session.

She got to see how heta (unskilled) I am and how the others bloody rock. That night was quite fortunate because it was the new year enkai! She got to come to a proper enkai and eat nabe and sushi and other good foods. I think she liked it.

Friday, we met up with the lads for a night ‘out’ in Fujieda. Dropped by the Cadillac cafe with its cool Dean Martin effect. Saturday was a yakisoba party and Carla’s and Sunday was the okonomiyaki night. From there, she went on to Kyoto for 2 days and then Tokyo for the last 3. We met up on her last night and headed to the New York Bar on the 52nd floor of the Park Hyatt in Shinjuku (the lounge in “Lost in Translation”). I had a US$20 18yr Glenfiddich and $17 avocado liquer cocktail. Each sip was like a dollar (as Jo put it so susinctly).

But good times! And now she’s off in Oz exploring the east coast. And I’m here in the freezing winter (at least with a proper heater now).

yosh’!

Just bought a brand new kero fan heater. It’s so much better now! My old one (left by the pred) was piece. It would start half of the time, and then only after belching a great cloud of black, most-certainly poisoning, vile smoke. I had to air out my place during the day while I was at school (the back door opened fully). Also, in addition to the unit being old and dirty (even after a cleaning a new carbon filter), I believe the problem was also old kerosene.

Now, with a new kero-heater, a new kero-can, new kero-fuel, and a new kero-pump, I’m ready to be kero-warm without getting kero-poisoned!

In other news, well, there’s nothing new, really. My katana finally arrived. It”s pretty cool. Otherwise, just teaching, eating, training, trying to stay warm. This Wednesday is my presentation ceremony for my grant. I’ll get to find out all the details about their expectations (which will help me figure out what to do and buy…. can’t resist the mac mini…..).

Well, there had to be some bad in all of this good right? Must keep the universe balanced… My hard disk experienced a slow and merciless physical death yesterday. A funny noise (like a fan out of balance) and then BIOS not recognizing a primary master drive.

I’m not sure how extensive the damage is. While the noise was there, the drive still worked for about a day. I’ve since removed the disk (and am now using a copy of Knoppix that Dave Lane gave to me in NZ) so maybe after a small break, it will work again.

And, a shout out to LAClinux for responding quickly. They’re sending out a new disk for me to install (still under waranty!). And, they’ll try to do some data recovery. While my music has been backed up, my pictures since Australia haven’t (save for the low-res versions in the gallery).

My first post of the new year. The gallery is fixed, so feel free to post comments on the new (or existing) pics.

Righty-o, heaps to write about. The night before I left, Suisan Koko (my high school) had its ぼんえんかい (bon-enkai) - forget the year party. Every teacher and staff worker came to a posh hotel in Yaizu (and I was moderately surprised that there was one here). A room of 100 people, very happy people. The vice principal offered the kanpai and the craziness began. Eating and drinking and talking. I sat next to an extroverted teacher whom I never met, and I struggled to chat about W in Japanese.

After people had finished eating, we played bingo. They had designed it so that everyone would eventually win, but I placed in the top 40 (Billboard here I come!). Hashimoto-sensei and Masuda-sensei took me under their wings and we went around to everyone, poured beer, and chatted. They are the party animals at the school and really friendly. I loved that night. A great way to begin a phenominal break.

Next morning, wake up and begin the trek to Narita. I took the moderately slow route (6 hours, the slowest being 8 hours) just to see. Managed to read about 1/4 of Dune during that span. Getting the tickets at the counter was simple, buying Aussie cash just as easy. Just a waiting game (and I had a great book!). Flight to Taipei just fine, a short 2.5 hours. Overnight flight to Sydney (9 hours), a quick shave, and then an internal flight to Melbourne. Rocked up to Avalon airport (near Geelong) at 4:30pm, having left at 7:30 the morning before.

Met up with Rachel and quickly began the holiday. A good noodle dinner with her sister Tracey and indie boyfriend Matt (who, interestingly and hearteningly [pardon the multitude of suffices] is in law - w00+ adbusters readers). Tried to get into the Life of Brian, but showed up too late. Walked around a bit and finally surprised the lot of swing dancers to whom I didn’t relay my plans. Went to a pub for a few drinks and worrds before migrating to Bernard.s (of the first volume of these anals) for well-needed sleep.

The rest is a blur of fun… Christmas dinner with Matt’s family, shopping, Napoleon Dynamite (friggin’ idiot!), the Blue Train reunion, Aussie Moving Image Centre, Art Gallery, amazing organic and vegan Chinese food, hajimete on yum cha. And that was just Melbourne!

Flew to New Castle afterward with Rachel, Tracy, and Matt. A day at the beach, walking and eating good Thai food. Next day was the train to Sydney. w00+! Ashish (the brother of one of Rachel’s friends) picked us up at the station and we began another round of blurred fun. To the CBD (Darling Harbour) for NYE - saw the fireworks, did some swing dancing, and took a 3 hour train back (that should’ve been 45 mins).

One of Ashish’s friends was kind enough to take us around (via Ashish’s skilled driving), so we saw Bondi, the Gap, the Rocks, the Chinese Gardens, the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge. Quite a breathtaking day.

Took the ferry to Manly Beach for the bay experience. Also went out to the Blue Mountains for sights of rocks and water. Into some cool caves (Jenolan) and some ‘do we have enuf gas’ worries.

But the material benefit of the trip was entirely different, and quite enexpected for me: food! Australia has incredibly diverse foods, and they’re very fresh. Went to a market a few times for fresh fruit (half of which went into a juicer). Made wild food - pasta salad, trad pasta, killer BBQ, omelettes, everything really.

It went to fast, but I had to return. Rachel and Ashish saw me off and I was en route to Taipei. Air China is quite nice - the Boeing 747 had touch-sensitive LCD screens with about 60 CDs to choose from (and you make play lists!). Good foreign films, so I was set for the long day flights. That’s right - no over-nighters. And I was a little worried about the one night in Taipei (as my connecting Tokyo flight was the next morning). But, the airline took care of me (and the other travellers in the same situation): we were put up in a country club hotel. Private rooms (I had a double queen room with a large bath - true CC stylings) and a hot breakfast. Free transport, too!

So back in Tokyo, I wasn’t ready to go back fully, and needed something to distract me from the company I had left. I went swing dancing! There was a dance on that night, luckily enough. Just hung around Ueno park for a while (and drew a portrait of an art student for his project) and then checked into a capsule hotel (pictures up soon) because the dance didn’t finish till 11pm (and although the trains were still running, they weren’t in a combination that would leave me in Yaizu).

The dance was fun, and better than the one in December. It was a shame that I left my camera in the capsule. But, there were more dancers, and good DJs, and friendly folks. A guy named Amore introduced himself, and I met a Kiwi bloke as well.

On the way back to the capsule, I heard music, good music. A small underground (I think - they were playing busker style, but with power) punk band was playing. They only had mini discs for sale, but I bought one anyway. Aroop has and MD player, so I’ll just record onto my computer.

Slept very well in my Matrix style acommodation. Woke up, returned and did the washing. Finished in time to go out with Aroop, Nick, and Peter. Two izakayas, but 10 hours out (8 till 6am)! It was the night before the Coming of Age holiday. Crudely, this is a Japan-wide 20th birthday party (and 20 is the legal age for drinking and smoking in Japan). Imagine if every 20 year old in a town (let a lone a country) picked a night to go out! The streets were packed in the usually desolate Fujieda.

A nice drunk guy came over to out table, kissed us all, shook all of our hands, chatted for a whille before going back to his large group. Later, another cool cat came up and Peter started talking with him in J (I hadn’t quite switched back yet). The first guy came back and the second pushed him away (thinking the he would annoy us). Skirmish began, but never got beyond hair pulling. After a about an hour, we moved on to a more emply place (and we got to pick the music!) and ended up talking with a cool chef. In May, he’ll be opening his own restaurant, so mayhaps we’ll check it out.

Went home, slept for a bit and then Dice called. He was on his way over from Kanagawa! Sweet! I hadn’t seen him for at least a year. We met in Shizuoka and sat at a cafe for hours and talked. He even had patience to talk in Japanese with me for over an hour! It was hard, but fun. We came back to my place, made some great yaki-udon and watched Inu Yasha.

Oh yeah! Inu Yasha - this is an anime series that Rachel got me hooked on. She saw it on the Cartoon Network, bought the DVD’s and we spent many a late night watching (or, maybe just me - she slept). I was talking to Dice about Australia, mentioned Inu Yasha and he said it was on! I turned on the TV and there was my new favorite character.

This morning, Dice came to two of my classes and talked with the students. I think he was surprised both at my area (and how empty it is compared to his city) and the school (and the students’ lack of motivation for English).

Other good news! On my desk when I walked in this morning was a large letter from the Suruga Institute. I’ve been awarded my grant! The group is giving me US$4000 to make a documentary on green tea and the tea ceremony in Shizuoka (and how it relates to other traditional customs like kendo, or judo, or iaido [w00+]). I’ll be going to other places in Japan to interview people about Shizuoka’s green tea and Japanese culture in general. Then, I’ll be going over to China to illicit their opions and reactions to the half-made film. After that, it’s polish and make!

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting to get it. I spent less than 3 hours on the application (and that includes writing the essay). I wasn’t too into it at the time, but now I’m much more excited. I’m also quite nervous about it: never made a video, don’t know how well a video will come out made on a Linux bpXXen, don’t know where to look for information about what my doco is about, basically underprepared and ill-equipped in every way. I sense a large growth splurt coming on.

Cool.