Lake Towada

Well it's 3 months since I started going out with Yuuri so I took her to Lake Towada, just outside Aomori prefecture. We rode the bus for 2hrs until we reached Mount Hakkoda. I got tickets to ride the cable car to the top. 

By now the top was already covered in snow. It's hard to believe these pictures were on the same day because of the amount of sunshine at the bottom and the amount of snow at the top. It was very beautiful. 

After that we got back on the bus for an hour until we saw the streams leading to the lake. We saw the beautiful waterfalls and rapid waters. We walked for about another hour and got the bus the rest of the way.

We stayed one night at Towada Hotel which looked out onto the lake. The view was extraorindary. We had a nice Japanese style meal and got in our Yukata's and made our way to the hotsprings. I relaxed in the sauna and bathed in hotsprings for about an hour. However they are very hot and I think an hour was all I could take.

The next morning we took a walk round the shrine in the forest. The cliffs and the tall trees made quite a sight. The shrine itself was really eeire but lovely to visit. By noon we took the ferry round the lake and took one last look at the waterfalls before heading back home on the coach.

We both had such a great time. It was the first time I got to spend some real time with Yuuri, just me and her. Next month she will be busy so I don't think we can do much, plus it's getting cold here and she can't stay with me so much. I will only see her on weekends for a few hours after work. I still haven't met her father but I hope to soon. 

Here are some videos of the trip:

Yuuri by a waterfall

This is the shrine in the forest

Dancing Yuuri in a yukata

Yuuri taking a picture in the cable car to mount Hakkoda

Hello Mum and Dad

Talking to Yuuri

You can also see my photos here

Towada

Renewed Contract

Well Aeon offered me a contract renewal for next year so I took it. So I'll be here until April 2010 if all goes well. I have yet to experience the winter yet but I'm sure I can cope.

I am currently learning Japanese. The main reason I took it up was I want to be able to talk to Yuuri's parents. I would really like to get along with her family, especially her father. I think he is a very protective person who vets boyfriends very carefully. I have the very best intentions for Yuuri and I hope he will see this. 

Yuuri and I are getting along really well. I have given her a copy of my key and she uses my apartment from time to time. She has finished her course at Aeon but she is still working towards her TOEIC. If she does well she can reach her goal of becoming a flight attendant. 

Sometimes the cultural aspects of Japan make our relationship difficult. She has a curfew and although she is older than me she still lives with her parents. This is typical of Japan and I respect that. I think there is also a distinct gender hierarchy. She seems very driven to looking after me, which is lovely but I don't want to take her for granted and I want to look after her too. Sometimes it is difficult to find her perspective on things and I her opinion seems to revolve round mine. I know she is very smart and I want her to be able to express herself fully without my permission. Her English is brilliant and she gets noticeably better each day. 

I assume my cultural differences affect her in the same way. Compared to Japanese I must seem very open and direct. I hope I'm not seen as rude but my values as to what are and are not acceptable probably make her feel uneasy. My world is so different to the one I'm in now, I worry Yuuri wont like it. 

The hospital Years

Things are not going well here in Japan. I've been in hospital for about a week and now I'm house bound for another week. The reason? Chicken Pox!

Around the time I went to Hakodate I caught chickenpox. They didn't come out until about 3 weeks ago and I started getting a high fever and my boss took me to the hospital. The Dr laughed and said it was merely flea bites and sent me on my way.

I set to work in a high fever cleaning my apartment, shopping for new bedding and throwing out my old comfy bedding. The next morning I was feeling worse and my rash was blistering so I went to another Dr who told me it was chicken pox and was quite serious. He told me to remain indoors and rest. About a week later of staying home in a high fever I was told I had to go to hospital. I was far too weak to stand so they wheel chaired me into hospital and put me on a drip.

After about 3 days I started getting better and after a week they sent me home and here I am again house bound.

This time I don't have a fever though and my rash is getting better. My girlfriend, Yuuri, brings me things each day so I have things to eat and she helps me around the house.

My main concern is the cost of staying in hospital. The room i stayed in was 10, 000Y a day until I told them I had to move to a cheaper room which was 4, 000Y a day. I also had blood tests, drips, X-rays and various tests. What's more is I don't get paid when I'm off work ill so my wage will be much lower next month.

It's also very frustrating not being able to speak to the doctors because of the language barrier. Still I'm getting treated and I'm looked after so all is well. I want to try and get back to work as soon as possible but it will probably be another week before I'm able to return.

The Story so far....

Ok so I admit its been a while, but things have been really hectic here. It's been busy just understanding what the hell it is I'm doing and managing to form some sort of social loop.

Anyway I have just had my second (out of an overall of three) week off. My first week off was in May. This was called Golden Week and for that week I headed out of town to Hirosaki, a city about 40mins away by train.



You can see pictures of it here.

After Golden week was over, I stopped being trained at Aeon and it was up to me. The lessons are very structured so a whole procedure has to be learnt but they are manageable. Essentially there are two kinds of adult lessons, Round up and Group. Round up is grammar based and shows the student how to use certain grammar points within a conversation. Group lessons are just conversation and focus more on pronunciation and phrases.

Most I have in a class is about eight but usually my classes hold no more than three and often just one on one. I can talk to students when they come in and get to know them and I have set up nights out drinking to help welcome students and socialise with them. These have been big hits!

Here are some pictures of one of our Karaoke nights

I am also leader of recruitment at Aeon so I am in charge of making new posters and coming up with new ideas to help get more students. This is giving me lots of new challenges and a great way to be creative.

The people I work with are very friendly and often want to socialise with me after work. I have even attended my boss's wedding which I have pictures of here

Over the road from Aeon is a British bar who is owned by a man called Rob from Leicester, I have been helping him promote his bar and set up his sound system. In turn he has let me borrow his drill to help set up my apartment.

My apartment is small but comfortable. I have a main living room which is tatami and that's where I live and sleep. I also have a separate kitchen/dining room and a balcony. I have 2MB/s internet so I have been downloading British TV, I have a 19" TV and a separate speaker system. I managed to get a DVD player that plays SD cards so I can download a film in AVI, put it on a 1GB card and put it in my DVD player.

I also have a mobile phone which can play and record live TV (but its in Japanese :| ) and I have a home phone. Still, I'd rather use skype for overall price!

The temperature here is still so hot, most days I'm out sweating in my T-shirt but at night its nice and cool. I have just returned from Hokkaido, the northern most island of Japan and it is still boiling up there. I will post pictures of it on my site.

Recently too I saw the biggest festival in Aomori called Nebuta. Naturally I got dressed up in my Yukata and danced for two days during Nebuta. During the festival they have these huge floats lit up and followed by drummers and chanters. Everyone really loves it! I took some pictures of the whole thing although a little blurry. Click here

I should also point out the Japanese girl in those pictures is now my girlfriend. We've been going out for about a week now and she is really lovely. Her name is Yuuri and she works in tourist information in Aspam (the giant triangle building in my pictures).

Well that's pretty much it up to now, I'll try and keep you all posted. To see more of my pictures you can get them directly from here

PICTURES

Leaving B an Q

B&Q might not be the dream job everyone wants. Anybody who isn't a DIY buff would probably say it would be boring. I have had no DIY knowledge prior B&Q, my technology project at high school was a disaster but after college I needed a part time job to see me through university. I applied for B&Q after my dad saw it had a vacancy and so I filled in the application form, completed the phone interview and had the one on one interview. I got the job on the Service Squad, helping customers find products. After budget cuts, this got disbanded and I worked on checkouts for about a month. I needed to move about so I wanted to be put on a department. Again I knew nothing of the building trade but B&Q gave me the position of customer advisor on the building section.

For about 3years I brushed up cement, stacked bricks and fought against the elements in the external area of B&Q. Now that's all over and I've left to become a teacher in Japan but B&Q wasn't just my first proper job, it was a community of people. Some of the nicest people I've known work or worked there. I might not miss the timber saw or the management but I will miss the people.

My cases are almost packed, I'm scraping the last bits of my room together. I can only take 20KG anything over I will be charged £23 (€60) per kg which could amount to a lot of excess.

B&Q

Thanks everyone at B&Q!

Leaving Feeling

Well this Easter it has been my birthday (23rd March) and I'm 22 now. I think now is a good time to pack it in a move on. The family said their goodbyes yesterday. Its hard to know how to react, sometimes I think I'll never see them again. Anything could happen between then and now, and when is then? I dunno when I plan to come back, or if I will. I could come back after a year, maybe less or I could be in a place I don't even know existed!

Even thinking to next month is hard. I don't know anything about living in Japan. We have all heard the stories, read the books, seen the footage but to be breathing the air and walking on the ground it's something else. To look round and see nothing familiar is a scary prospect.

Sure things could be scarier and it's pretty cushy compared to what other people go through but if you have ever been lost or stranded for 5mins and panicked then that will be pretty much how I expect to feel for the next 6 months.

I managed to take some pictures before we left for what will be the last time this year.



My sister Yvonne and her husband Mark.



My sisters kids (Lydia, Joshua and Shane) by my mum and myself.



A great family one!



And another for the extended family.



Here we have my Auntie Carol and Uncle David with their son Michael and daughter Helen with her boyfriend Chris. The two on the far left are my Uncle John, who helped me loads with my car, and Auntie Norrie. That's from my Mums side.



From my Dads side we have my Gran, Uncle David, Auntie Karen with their Daughter Vicky. They have a son, Robin, too but he had to be away with work. As you can see we were well fed and topped up with wine. Karen always makes great meals!

As for how far I am to getting to Japan, well I have my visa now! I just need to sort out my room. I hope I can sell more stuff and make some money but it's hard pushing it.

I'll keep you posted about how my packing goes and I have my leaving do still to go on the 28th so it's not over yet.

Back from Egypt

I've just come back from Hurghada, Egypt and I've picked up a rather nice tan. It was a birthday present from my parents before I leave for Japan.
I would recommend it to anyone though, it's a very hot part of Egypt on the edge of the Sahara off the coast of the Red Sea. I got to snorkel in the salty waters and drive quad bikes along the desert. The hotel had five pools, one with a wave machine and six restaurants. I had a double bed and a single bed all to myself and the best thing yet is it was all inclusive so the beer flowed.

I managed to get a nice Canon G7 camera cheap so I got a lot of the holiday captured.



Fortunately we could drink through the shows they were so bad. I did manage to get away from the city and the hotel and snorkel with my mum off this island. Although it was very salty, lots of fish were in the waters and the island was beautiful.



As you can see here the water is absolutely clear. It was lovely and warm too although the day we went was pretty breezy.
At night in the hotel I usually went down to the disco/club where I met a couple of great young English girls, Kirstie and Caroline who I spent a lot of time with. I also met a trio of English ladies who looked after me when Kirstie and Caroline weren't about. Most people didn't speak English, many of the tourists were Russian so it was nice to have someone to converse with. On the last night my parents decided they would join in and I have the video evidence to prove it.





Ah you're on holiday once!!!
This is another reason why I decided to smoke a Hookah or hubble bubble pipe with my dad. It was an experience in itself!



I have photos which I have linked onto my website if you check it out I have a few albums on there now. Here are the holiday ones for now though

Egypt Hurghada 2008

Regarding my progress to Japan I got my certificate of eligibility just before I left for Egypt and once I came back I went to London on the Monday 18th March and visited the Embassy. Right now I'm waiting until Tuesday 25th March to receive my passport and my visa.

I took some pictures London whilst I was there. I thought I could show people in Japan just what it's like back home.

London

I'm going to see if I can go back and take some more. I will also be taking some of Liverpool and Birkenhead since it's where I call home :) I'll be sure to post them next time.

I hope you have enjoyed this multimedia show!

Sold 1 car

Nearly there now!

I've sold most of my bits and pieces. I have a mic and stand, TOMTOM, steering lock and my record player left to sell. I got rid of the car which was a big one and sold a load of stuff at the car boot last week.

Some of you may know I was in a car crash outside work. I skidded on the dual carriageway and came off onto the grass which I think bent my wheel, then I slid into a chevron sign and knocked that down. Anyway I repaired the steering and sold the car for £400 which is £100 more than I paid for it when I first got it :)

But I will have to give my 'used car sales career' a miss cause I still have to pack up the rest of my music.

Boy for Sale

The past few days I've been clearing out my room. I've sold my xbox 360 and 6 games for £250 (52,198Y) and my desktop recording studio for £63 (13,000Y). I never played much on the Xbox but I did love the racing games and I used it for DVD's. Now I'm using some cheap Toshiba player and it's just annoying. I will have to sell my HD TV soon and go back to old CRT's.

I've decided to keep my electro-acoustic guitar but leave it behind, like so many broken hearts. Still, it will still be mine when I get back. Once I get to Japan I will purchase a smaller acoustic just to soothe me when times are hard and lonely.

My car must go though, insurance is £189 (39,716Y) a month. But before that goes I will car boot the rest of my odds and ends. Whilst I have the car I have to anyway. I'll pile it all into my boot, take a table and some chairs and sit at Tranmere football grounds and sell everything for a few pounds. I may even see if the car will go.

I'm keeping all my books, I'm making inventories for them and boxing them off. I'll be keeping my Cd's, SACD's, DVD's and vinyl. I'll copy them all to a portable hard drive first. I shall be keeping my Sony XA3000ES SACD player though, it set me back £700 (147,098Y) when I bought it and it's still got amazing clarity, plus the analogue 5.1 is brilliant. I'll be keeping the Yamaha RX-V2600 Amp for it too, when it was new it cost £900 (189,126Y) and I know I'd never make that back on it. I have 3 KEF-Q speakers at the front of my room which I'll be storing and 2 KEF Q Eggs at the rear which will be nice to keep. For music I'll just have what ever is on my hard drive and my Zune mp3/WMV player, got about 40GB on that and 500GB on the hard drive. I've bought a pair of Bose quiet acoustic 3 headphones for £189 (40,000Y) but it will never be the same as good speakers.

I've closed one bank account now and I'm also using the funds from sales to pay off any debts. I owe about a grand on two credit cards. But I should easily earn that through extra work and selling stuff. I'm going to visit Egypt next month with the parents so that will be nice and I'll have my birthday later next month so hopefully it will be fun before I go!

I received a lovely card from the school in Aomori and I've been emailing the teacher who will be joining me as well as the teacher who is leaving and I'm getting very positive feedback about the school. Well i'll keep you posted on how the car booting goes and everything.

Thanks for the comments!