Another chapter ends, and another one begins......only this time in English!!

Hello to one and all. To say a lot has happened since that last photo of me in the classroom with judo suit is the understatement of the century!!

Where to begin??

Well, Japan has finished. It snook up on me out of nowhere, and before I knew what was happening I was down to my last week on that wonderful island and was having going away dinners, final classes in school, going away ceremonies galore, final trips to the city to see the friends I had made there for probably the last time in most cases, and final trips out to the island for my friends whom I made there. It was an emotional rollercoaster to use an old cliche, very surreal and exciting at the same time, and having a nostalgic side to me as I do, it was a time to think back over the 2 years and reflect on all that had happened.

First off the judo guys said goodbye to me in proper fashion. I had slacked off in my training near the end as I was so busy organising stuff, but they insisted I come down once more to have a scrap with each of them and to say a goodbye. That was a nice one, of all the Japanese people I was around constantly, these guys came the closest to forgetting the fact I was foreign and treated me like just another person. This is mostly due to the fact not many of them were from the island and were from cities around Japan,, so westerners weren't as much of a novelty to them, but it was nice to be able to hang out with these guys in the evenings and be out of the spotlight. The last session was fun, normal enough for the most part but then at the end I said my thank yous and goodbyes, and each of them said them to me which was quite moving as the things they said were unexpected, and before I could leave, they said along the lines of "you've lived here for two years, you have to do do-ah-ge before you go". I had no idea what that was, but before I could say anything they had crowded around me and were in the process of hoisting me up, which they did in what was a crazy tradition of hoisting someone who is leaving aloft and roaring "whaaaaaaaaaaay" on each hoist. It was cool, and when they put me down they ran out and surrounded the car as I got in, and then chased after it as I drove off waving and saying goodbye. That sounds weird doesn't? It was, but in a good way, they are childish in some respects but its so refreshing too. It was a great goodbye, I told them I probably wouldn't be back as I want to leave Osakikamijima as a great memory, and coming back might spoil it, I would dearly love now to have a 2 hour training session with these guys now and sit around for a laugh after it though. I miss them a lot.

It was goodbye in each school as well, and they really go to town on these. In each case, the whole school piled into the gym and a formal setting was arranged where the principal would come forward and say his piece about me, and then 3 students came forward with flowers, gifts, and then a piece read out in English, and then each class presented me with hand-written pieces saying various goodbyes and tributes. It was all too much really, not in that they overdid it or anything, but more the fact that it was all so major and it all happened so close together that I couldn't really take it all in and found myself feeling numb for the most part. The ceremonies in the schools were a lot like that, very big and monumental feeling, however, the final classes were more relaxed and they were really cool as I brought my laptop in and hooked it up to the overhead in each class, and just did a class of showing my photos and telling stories and things. All the real stuff of what they thought of me at first came out as we were good enough friends at that point to not be shy and so on, and it was fun. The going away speeches were nice, a lot of tears from the teachers as compliments from foreigners (in Japanese) go a long way with them, and I said some nice things about them and talked about my first impressions and how welcome I was made feel. Nice days, I was relieved when they were over which is not to say I didn't enjoy them, but I wanted them to be perfect and to leave with good memories, and they were.

Then there was a whole slew of going away enkais or office parties. These were fun too. In Japan, enkais start out all formal and stiff with speeches here and there, and everyone sitting up and being all formal, and then they start drinking and within 25-30 minutes the whole attitude ahs changed and its easy going and fun. Each of these were the same, I had to give a small speech at each one, then the vice principal, then the principal, then they started proper. A lot of fun nights, I can barely remember each one individually as they happened over the course of a week and a lot of them were on consecutive nights, exhausting on both physically and emotionally, but worth it all. Lots of gifts, lots of stories, lots of people saying things they wanted to say but didn't have the courage in a way during normal time, lots of well wishing, lots of good stuff all round.

After all these, that was nearly it. Few trips to see some of my favourite people who were not in on the parties but who I had gotten to know well, my old boss, my judo coach and a few others, and then it was time to wrap it all up, post all my stuff home, get my apartment ready to hand over, close all my accounts, and await the final morning. On the second to last morning I wanted to see a final sunrise on the island so I got up at 4.30am and drove to the top of Mt. Kannomine on the island, and waited for it, watching the town wake up from the exact place I was two years previously on my first day. The scenery was absolutely magnificent, no camera can do it justice, and when the sun rose I performed an old Japanese tradition and roared "BBBBBAAAANNNNNZZZAAAAIIIIIII" at the top ofmy lungs for about 20 seconds until I was spent. I took my time going back, had my last day in the office, and then had my final night where I packed fully, walked around the apartment a final time and got it ready to leave, and set the alarm for 5am to go. I was awake long before that with nerves, I don't know about what, but I had an anxiety that wouldn't shift.

The final morning came, I had my bags outside from 4.45am onwards and was just waiting for Kanda to show to take Judy and myself to the ferry. When there, people starting arriving as I knew they would, conversation class students, current teachers, old teachers, current vice principals and principals, and former ones, students, and randoms. It was nice, I said even more goodbyes and these were really final ones, and then the ferry came and it was time. Walked down the ramp to the ferry, said a final final address from the steps of the ferry as they all watched on, and then boarded and went to the overlook and began the waving where they all reciprocated as the ferry pulled away, and this continued all the way until we were out of sight. I was numb again, watching these folks disappear from view along with the island was a strange moment. I was excited, it was time to leave and begin the next stage of my life, and I have so much to look forward to, but so many things happened while this was my home and I had so many truly great memories and events happen in that place that to see it like that was tough going. Kanda, myself and Judy stood on the overlook for the entire 30 minute ferry ride, and I was silent, I had nothing to say really as I was so deep in my own thoughts.

I got a huge amount of out Japan, certainly volumes more than I gave to it even though I thought I did a good job as a teacher and an ambassador for my culture and so on, but what I took from Japan has been life changing. Not material stuff, but experiences, the best fiance a man could ever ask for, memories which will last a lifetime, some wonderful friends who I had great times with, some days which I feel truly blessed to have been involved in, and an insight into a culture and people so different from those of my own that it can only be described as an experience of the highest order and one which I'll never ever forget. Its shaped the person I am now more than I thought it would, it had its down points and there were times I thought that I was finished and didn't want to be there any more, but overall, I have only positives to say of my JET experience and count it as something truly remarkable in the truest sense of the word. I miss it a lot, the excitement of being in the US with Tiffany for the short time I was there and then in Ireland for the month to see people, as well as the initial excitement of London meant I hadn't time to think about it, now things are settling down though, I often think back of going for a drive over the mountains in the sun on the empty roads, having a laugh with my old boss, messing around with the judo lads and winding them up, going jogging around the apartment and the laying out on the beach with my book. I do miss it, not enough to ever question my decisions as my life ahead is as exciting as a man's life can be, but it was a wonderful place.

Anyway, enough sappy nostalgia. After I left, (and got a free business upgrade from Narita - Washington....get in!!) I was Washington bound to see the love of my life who I hadn't seen since my trip over in April. This was the last one too, the last time I would only get to see her for a short, fixed time so it was really exciting, and this time I wasn't going back to Japan but on to Ireland, so it all felt different. Business class was nice, really nice, and I milked it for all it was worth by ordering about 5 of everything on the menu which they were only too happy to supply me with. With all the food, space a comfort I could possibly need, the 14 hours went much more quickly than usual stuck back in economy class, and before I knew it I was touching down in DC again, more refreshed than I usually feel. Tiffany was actually away on business and couldn't be there to greet me, but I called as soon as I landed and what a thrill to be in the same time zone and place again. She came the following day, and we had 3 glorious weeks together, seeing friends, organising more wedding stuff, going to dinners and parties, and just hanging out with each other. It was the quickest trip ever, it was a little longer than usual at just under 3 weeks, but it felt like I blinked and all of a sudden it was time to leave for Ireland, such was the wonderful time we had together there. As hard as it is to leave her, and it never gets any easier, we could console ourselves this time knowing that this is the last one and after this time apart the waiting is over and that we have made it. That doesn't make saying goodbye at airports any easier, but this thought has been my motivation ever since.

Well, I left and all of a sudden I was on to Ireland to see the folks for the first time in over a year. I arrived an hour early, but that was cancelled out by having to sit on the apron in the airport for almost an hour waiting for a slot to open, the biggest indicator I wasn't in Japan any more!! I was home though, back where I started two years previously when I showed up way too early and really nervous in July 2006.

Since this, Ive moved to London and after some time trying to get settled down, have begun working, studying and living here at last, and now countdown to my finest hour is fully on. I count myself as truly lucky to have ahead of me the things I have, it hasn't be an easy transition whatsoever, coming over here with an economics degree during financial mayhem was possibly the worst timing imaginable, but all has settled and things are running smoothly.

I don't know whether or not to carry on with this blog. As my predecessor in Japan found out with his, when you are in Japan, everything is noteworthy and pictures of the most trivial and mundane things are worth it, back in reality though its much harder to make things like that into stories.

I have really loved doing this (some might even say I was a "keen blogger".....inside joke), I read over it now and then when I have the time and can remember all of the events perfectly as if they happened yesterday. I always smirk when I read the entry where I first wrote "Tiffany the Texan" on the Fuji trip and think of where we are now, when I see photos of the island and the apartment for the first time and thought at how daunting it all was and by the end I could almost drive from Shosen to my front door with my eyes closed, how stiff and awkward Tabo-san was when I first met him compared to the final time I was in his house for dinner, how difficult it was to remember the formal greeting which I was to say to the office compared to how my Japanese was by the time I left the island, certainly not at any level which could be deemed proficient but good enough to be able to make all my work colleagues laugh at parties and to join in the jokes with the lads at judo. All of these and how they all changed over time have been great to be a part of, but its time to move on and get ready for my new life here.

Thank you all for reading it, sorry for the long gaps between them where I was too busy/lazy to spend the time to write it. What really made it special was that the emails I wrote to tell people I had posted it often resulted in back and forth chats, and those were fantastic and just what I needed sometimes when the island felt quite lonely.

To finish here are some photos which I could never fit into any blogs but thought should be included as they were very much part of my time there.

Funny story to this photo, one of my schools got a random call one day from Asahi Newspaper (one of Japan's daily nationals) from a journalist who had read the town newsletter, and they wanted to do a quick story about the foreigner who got a black belt in Japan. This was the photo they used, and the journalist came out to the school and asked me a bunch of questions, and a month later it was in the newspaper with a story beside it. The newspaper itself is at home and Ill put it in when I get my hands on it.




This one was quite a random photo. The woman in the photo is Akko, without whom every JET in the history of JET to come to the island would be lost and would probably end up going home after a week. She sorts out just about everything for us, and also works as a maths teacher in one of the schools. Always thought this one was funny, can't even remember why this was taken, there was a camera in one of the classrooms one day and this was the result!!




Nothing too special, this was a combination of two of my favourite classes in a photo from my final day of teaching. Great kids.


This was also one of my favourite students. Asumi, she found my face hilarious, its peculiar, she could not take me seriously and this was me on the last day trying to explain something to her, and I thought the gravitas of the situation would make her take it seriously. I began to speak, and as usual, this was the reaction.



Finally, this was from that wonderful wonderful trip to Hokkaido from a long time back. Always like this photos, just us having the famous Genghis Khan dinner from the local place. I think we have a similar photo somewhere back, but this one was always one I wanted to include.
Thanks to everyone for reading and emailing,
God bless,
Graham

The Judo Kid......get in!!

Not much to say really. Back in December, after 5 weeks of almost daily training in a freezing cold dojo with one other person for the demonstration, the time had finally come to take the black belt test. I already had 12 points and 13 are needed, so on the morning of it, had to fight one more competition where I got more points than I needed, and finally Junpei and I were ready for the demo. Went great, we were right in front of the 7th, 8th and 9th dan judges and they were impressed from what I heard, and a couple of weeks later I got a call from the club telling me I had passed and that they would have a belt with my name embroidered on it as well as an official framed certificate from the judo head office in Tokyo soon.

This is the belt obviously with Gu-ra-mu written in katakana, the Japanese phonetic alphabet for foreign words and names, and here is the certificate which will be framed and put on my wall as soon as I'm settled in a new place. The photo at the top was when I wore the whole thing into school to show the kids, good day, they can't get their head around the fact that judo is so popular around the world, so seeing me wearing what is essentially samurai warfare attire never ceases to amaze them.

In the final run up to finishing in Japan now, about 10 weeks to go and then my time here will be over. Gonna do a final few posts soon before I leave, stay tuned for them.

Hope everyone is well,

Graham

Christmas USA!!

Shortly after Tiff went back to the US to get started on the work side of things, we decided that Christmas and New Years would be a perfect time for me to make a trip over as it would cover several things we needed. First it would give us a chance to go and see the Church and reception venue for the wedding in Washington DC, and as well as that we could finalise a few other things that needed to be addressed with regard to the wedding as well as make a trip to New York for the four days around Christmas. With my tickets bought and all things in place, I set off at 5.30am one cold December morning and made it to the ferry on time to begin the long long trek from the remote island of Osakikamijima to the east coast of the USA. A long journey, everything ran on time and there were no hitches but it was still a tough one as the flight from Tokyo was 13 and a half hours, but waiting on the other side of the doors was my fiancee whom Id been dying to see since the day she went back a couple of months earlier!! It was only 11am Washington time though and Id been awake for over 24 hours already by that point so it was a tough day to get through, but I was so glad to be there and to have all the waiting over at last.

Washington DC is a cool place, lots and lots of history and things to see and do, so for our first day we set off to do some sightseeing around the US capital. There were so many that its hard to remember which building was which and what we were looking at, but I remember distinctly the US supreme court, the capitol hill buildings, the WW2 memorial, the Lincoln Memorial and what we called the Forrest Gump lake outside it, as well as the White House. First stop was here where we got to meet some surprisingly friendly security guards as well as some of the midwest's craziest tourists who were over on the east for a sightseeing trip. The place had a really nice feel to it as there were massive Christmas trees everywhere and people in generally cheerful mood, save for the always grumpy looking metro workers (more on them later!!!). In DC all of these sights are very close together and are connected by very long and scenic roads and lawns, and in winter time they were very nice to wander around. The roads are flanked by the famous musems like the Smithsonian and the natural history museum with others like the aviation museum and a few others that I cant think of right now. Huge, impeccably kept buildings with no entry fee and are open all the time for tourists, impressive. Anyway, we wandered around all of these sights for most of the day, my favourite being the WW2 memorial which leads to the pond up to the Lincoln Memorial, shown in so many films and things that it was like walking around a film set. As a true sign of the times, when I saw big Abe sitting in his chair overlooking the lake, the first thing I thought of was Lisa Simpson appealing to him for help with her moral dilemma in an episode of The Simpsons, not something to be proud of, but there ya go!! The speeches inside the memorial are cool to read, everyone has heard the opening lines of them but for me it was a first chance to read them in full and think about the motivations behind what he was saying and how masterful a man of words Lincoln was. Not only a place of great spectacle, but also quite a thoughtful place to walk around. The WW2 memorial has a lot of info on the people who died during the US' involvement in it, and then later on the Vietnam War Memorial is a tough one to walk through as it literally has every name of every US soldier who died during that time, and its not even that long ago as it only ended in the mid 70's. Whether or not you agree with the war or not, or war in general, it occured to me as I walked through it and saw all the names of these folks that if I listed the names of every person I knew or considered a friend, it would only take up a tiny fraction of the wall as it stretched for quite a distance, a thoughtful time to see it. I didnt take any photos of it as I thought that a bit tactless, considering as there were people there who were looking at the names of loved ones who had been lost in it, but it was a reflective moment. Finally we saw the White House which is actually the most underwhelming of them all, as you can only see it from quite a distance unless you want to stand in a mile long queue to take a tour (ehmm, no!!) of one of the wings of it, but it was a great day of walking and sightseeing. We finished that evening with a trip to see the Church we are to be married in, and then for dinner in the wedding reception venue. Both were actually beyond our wildest dreams in terms of how perfectly they suited our envisioned goal for the wedding, but I am gonna save the pictures for the added effect for everyone coming over. Its worth it, utterly spectacular.

Only a couple of days after getting there we began another exciting trip, this time a four day excursion to New York City. What is there to say about NYC, one of the most famous places in the world and 4 days including Christmas Eve and Day was an event Id been looking forward to for months. We got a bus from DC all the way up there and the first glimpse of it from the bus window made me start to feel excited as its something Ive seen so many times in postcards and on tv, but its quite a spectacle. They really weren't joking when they said it was fast paced, standing down off the bus in downtown Manhattan with a suitcase and now idea where we were going was one daunting experience, fast crowds and pouring rain with these huge buildings on either side of every street, and its hard to know how to get your barings as stopping in the street is enough to get you trampled on in those crowds. We got to our hotel and took a rest, and than began to think about what we were gonna do for the few days we were there. We had some activities planned like a Christmas Day broadway show, but other than that it was a blank canvas in terms of what to do with our time. We decided, we aren't locals so there was no point pretending to be, so instead of trying not to look like tourists and all that, why not get the tourist bus and go from there, which we did. A great idea it turned out to be too. Opened topped tour bus was our mode of transport, the first of which started right in the middle of Time Square and went all the way around Manhattan and down to the Battery Park area where you can catch a gimpse of the Statue of Liberty. It was cold, really cold as the North East gets a brutal winter, but we were both so excited at seeing all the sights of it. As many times as you see it on tv, it really is something to see the high rise buildings everywhere and have so many places from films pointed out to you and so on. The bus was full of tourists in various states of discomfort at the cold, I wasn't too bothered and Tiff was well wrapped up, however the tour guide kept making fun of the poor Venezuelans and Floridians who looked like they were having the worst time of their lives. The bus tour operated on several loops, and we got the downtown ones as well as uptown and Brooklyn, the only disappointing one being uptown which was kinda boring as it mainly consisted of "an apartment in this building costs 3 million dollars, Alec Baldwin lives over there, Bruce Willis lives here" and so on, but the downtown ones and especially around Central Park and the like, were great. Brooklyn was cool too as it offers great views from the bridge and from the other side of the island, and it itself is an interesting place to drive around, although they day we did that was especially cold and my face was literally numb at the end of that one. Speaking of central park, on Christmas Day we had a very typical NY Christmas as we went for lunch in a Malaysian restaurant, and then went to Central Park where we got a horse and carriage ride around. Really nice, the guy guiding the horse was Armenian and really seemed to like us (to the annoyance of the folks in the queue who thought we had been unfairly taken without having to wait 2 hours like some others did!!) and was full of chat as we went around, even taking these photos for us. Thats a really nice part of NY, down amongst the high end hotels and central park, really nice place to be, especially on Christmas Day with the sun shining and the park full of people out wandering. Later that day, after the carriage ride and the park walk, we went to Radio City to see the show which Tiffany's Mum had gotten us tickets for for Christmas, the Christmas Spectacular with the Rockettes. Wow, I know Ive been using similar expressions but there really isnt much else to say about this show, it really is something. Its a collection of dancing, singing, acting, and acrobatics, with the Nativity Story in there too for good measure. Cameras are frowned upon so only a couple of shots, and then afterwards to little Italy for a meal the likes of which I hadn't had in a long long time, rounding off a perfect day. A wonderful 4 days.

The rest of the time we spent getting things in place for the wedding, but as I said Im gonna save these photos cos it really would spoil the surprise. I got to meet a lot of Tiffany's friends for the first time which was really good, finally good to put voices to photos.

A wonderful trip, over much too quickly for my liking but we packed so much into the two weeks that I was satisfied it was worth all the planning. It was great to see my wonderful fiancee again for a couple of weeks and get to meet all her friends and her housemates and so on, and to be among western culture again with nice food and spoken English and the like was a welcome change from Japan.

Check back in soon for some more nice news,
Graham

.........and finally!!

If you've read my previous updates you'll have seen that I had but two days left on my trip home and still had one monumental thing left to do.

The trip home covered many things, introducing Tiffany to my family, my friends, to Ireland itself, and to introduce each of these to her, and to see my big sis get married. However, those in themselves would have been plenty in the normal run of things, but several months ago I made the easiest decision of my life in regard to where I wanted to go from this point onwards, but also with whom I wanted to spend my time with from here onwards. I thought, and prayed, and thought.....and prayed, and one evening in May, just after we returned from Borneo decided that while we were in Ireland, I would take a knee on O'Connell bridge and ask for Tiffany's hand. The day would be exactly one year to the day since we climbed Mt. Fuji together, and I also wanted to have introduced her to all my family and friends before proposing so that they had all met her beforehand. I decided to do it, and embarked on planning everything to work out perfectly for that night.

I began engagement ring shopping, which, is tough, very tough. After a couple of aborted attempts in Hiroshima City, I decided on a highly recommended and reputed online diamond seller, and with the aid of an "as you shop" skype call which they offer for advise and expert knowledge, chose the diamond, then the setting, and then the band, and they set about building it for me after I settled up for it. I decided to have it delivered to Ireland for the day after we arrived there for the trip, highly risky as I would have to get it into the house undetected and hide it somewhere where nobody would stumble across it, but nothing worthwhile is ever easy!! I kept the whole thing a secret from everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, and this in itself was tough as I was dying to tell eveyone my plans but knew it would spoil the moment if I did. Despite some close calls (like the diamond company phoning me literally 20 seconds after I left Tiff's apartment one sunday night to give me an update on the ring building process, dont want to think how I could have explained that one away had I still been inside!!) the whole thing remained a secret, and we left for Ireland with me knowing I had a task ahead of me to make this run smoothly.

The day after we arrived, I saw a van pull up and a delivery man get out with a decent sized box. I knew it must be the ring, ran to the door, signed for it, ran upstairs and hid the whole thing in the back of my wardrobe with loads of clothes over it. When asked who it was I told a fib and said it was just books from amazon for the flight home (ahem!!). That night, I got up in the middle of the night and opened it as quietly as possible, unwrapped the fifty million layers of bubble wrap, and finally got to the shiny box with ring inside. It took me back for a second or two, and the realisation then hit that this was real.

In put it out of my mind to avoid nerves until the day when I had planned. That night, we were to meet friends from college for dinner. First hitch came when I realised that the box it came in was not easy to conceal at all, and after a couple of shot down attempts to wear a jacket, had to go with a pair of slightly too casual looking baggy combat trousers to hide it in. I was worried it was showiung through the cargo pocket, but it was well enough concealed so nobody could see it. Anyway, dinner was great with the college folks, and we decided on a drink in Temple Bar afterwards. The nerves began rising as I knew the moment was drawing near, so I excused myself and went outside to ring the US to ask Tiffany's mum Carleen for her consent. After several long rings I almost panicked as the answer was not forthcoming and it was a problem I hadnt forseen, but she answered and I nervously said my piece. She was in shock, and after almost giving me a heartattack by jokingly saying "no, absolutely not", gave her consent and wished me well. I returned and tried to rejoin the conversation innocently, and then it was time to go. I suggested going for a walk to see the city at night, even though the suggestion was strange as it wasn't a great night as it was cold and a little drizzly. We walked, at all of a sudden we were on the boardwalk coming up to O'Connell Bridge. On the bridge however there was a whole host of what we Dubliners call "drunk young fellaz" and I didnt want to do this in front of them for a number of reasons, and realised that where we stood, on the boardwalk just in front of the bridge was absolutely perfect as Dublin looked wonderful from there, so as we stood gazing at the bridge and the river at night, I took a deep breath and took a knee, said my piece without choking..........and she said yes!! Absolutely wonderful, so surreal looking back on it as I was lightheaded with the amount of emotions running through me, but it was a truly once in a lifetime feeling of absolute ecstasy. Wonderful、Im remembering the feeling now again as I write this, and it hasnt diminished in the slightest. We drove from town to tell my parents and all the people they were out with as they knew nothing of my plans beforehand, and even though it was after 12 at night I then stood out to phone all my friends and tell them the news, possibly the best calls Ive ever made as each of them said some of the nicest things to me about us. Great great night, one we'll remember forever, August 30th, 2007.

Since then we've had a wonderful time as Tiffany's Japanese contract finished on Septmeber 1st and for the month of September she moved to the island to stay with me until returning home to the US on November 2nd to begin her new job. A great month. The locals were so happy to hear our news that they threw an engagement party for us where they dressed us up in ancient traditional Japanese kimonos, the real deal stuff with all the layers and proper ties and knots and all that. A real honour, these items are sacred to these folks and are part of their family's heritage, so to let a couple of "gaijin" wear them was a real compliment. They take ages to put on and embarrassingly enough you need someone to literally dress you to wear them, but it was worth it for the experience.

Thats almost it, Tiff left for home from Osaka about a month ago and since that Ive already organised my Christmas and New Years trip to visit until I move there after Im finished here.

While in Ireland we got great news that my home church Lucan Presbyterian should be able to help get me set up to begin my theology career in the US which suits our plans absolutely perfectly, so all this great news has given us a future which we are immensely excited about.

Thanks for reading this far if you have, hope the new format of smaller posts has made it more enjoyable, and please email me with any news or for a catch up,
Graham

(grahamruddle@gmail.com)

Trip to Ireland.

Just after Judy arrived and got settled, I had to leave with Tiffany to return to Ireland for my sister's wedding and also to introduce my family and friends to my wonderful girlfriend who I met here. We had been planning this for months at it felt at times like the departure date would never arrive as the heat in Hiroshima was literally unbearable at the time, so the thought of an Irish summer was a welcome one!! The day arrived and we set off early that morning, although we also had another disaster as at the check-in they looked up from checking Tiffany passport and said "where is your visa or letter of invitation to enter China?". I felt the dread rise instantly at the remembrance of the Malaysian nightmare we had, and was ready to go off on one, but they realised almost immediately that we were only stopping over in Shanghai so it was no problem. Unfortunately we were booked in on China Eastern Airways, which meant the chairs were all made for 5'7 and slim Chinese people, and I don't fit that description, so the 14 hours from Shanghai to London was, well, lets just say it wasn't all that comfortable. In Heathrow airport we waited at the AerLingus terminal for our flight to Dublin and it was so strange to be surrounded by local Dubs again, just listening to the accents and stories felt so strange. Tiff thought they sounded great for the parts she could understand, so for any bus drivers from Finglas reading this, you are now stars in the eyes of one Texan!! The Heathrow Dublin flight was pretty uneventful except for the lovely attendant who chose to literally shove me to wake me up as we were coming in to land with a very eloquent "we're landing soon, you have to wake up, put that arm rest down" to accompany it. I felt at home instantly, Japanese politeness and manners have their charms, but there's no place like home. After about 24 hours of travelling we emerged through the doors into arrivals and for the first time in ages I saw my parents and finally got a chance to introduce them to Tiff. Lovely moment, although overshadowed by the realisation that although I knew Ireland's weather is by and large awful, I thought the final weeks of August would be nice, but was wrong, and we were freezing walking out of the airport into the blustery outdoors which felt like a cold Hiroshima winter's night. Back to the house to meet everyone and see my old place, as well as to give Lana and Adrian their wedding present of an authentic Japanese tea set, crazy feeling with Tiff sitting in my old living room having tea with the folks!!

The trip home was fantastic, and we packed it pretty full with meeting my friends from school and college, as well as a trip out to the west to see to Cliffs of Moher and meet up with Rob and Trish who lived in Hiroshima during last year. Great trip, the road trip to get there was an event in itself as we got to see the beautiful scenery of the west, and as I didn't want Tiff to just see Dublin, it gave her a chance to see what the majority of Ireland looks like with the rural setting.

Back in Dublin we set about seeing the city. I don't actually know all that much about Dublin City in the historical sense, so like every Dubliner I have a smattering of knowledge here and there without much worthwhile. To combat this, we took the Dublin Bus Tour, which was absolutely brilliant!! Really was, such a surprise. Informative, fun, and gives a great view point of the places you visit. We got on at Lower O'Connell street and it went up D'Olier Street, around College Green up Nassau Street, around Merrion Square and then out toward Kilmainham past Guinnesses (where we also made a visit, Tiff seen here balancing a pint in the squashed lift surrounded by Norwegians!!) and back in through the Phoenix Park and then past Parkgate Street up the quays back to O'Connell street before rounding Parnell Square back to where we started. The driver was also the narrator so he was full of songs and chatter the whole time, although only myself and the Germans for some reason knew the words to the songs he was singing. I was shamelessly gorging on western food at home as I do miss it out here, so we were frequenting all my favourite places in the city on my insistence, mostly the epicurean food hall though for the very Irish "Taco-Taco" lunch!! We got an amazing day for all this city touring, uncharacteristically hot and sunny, and in this climate Dublin looked wonderful, so the walk all around Grafton Street and Trinity was pretty stunning. During the evening we made trips to the old local to meet my lifelong friends, some of which I hadn't seen in a couple of years, and those were some of my favourite nights of all. It was good to catch up with them as as I said I hadn't seen some of them in a long time, and exchanging stories from our travelling lives and also stories from the past made for a night Ill remember for a long time. Great craic, they all loved Tiff as I knew they would, and all in all I couldn't have asked for more as everything worked out perfectly.

The main reason for being home however was that my older sister Lana was getting married to her fiance Adrian. They had been together for several years and had recently decided to move to Ireland to settle down. The wedding day went off very well, again with a very lucky sunny day which is a gamble at all times in Ireland!! The setting for the hotel was in a beautiful hotel in Leixlip, just outside Dublin in Co. Kildare, and on the day the whole setting looked wonderful as the wedding guests enjoyed the ceremony and reception which followed. Celebrations went long into the night with both contingents getting on famously, no hitches whatsoever and I can now boast a brother-in-law!!

The rest of the trip was spent relaxing and visiting friends. For me mass consumption of home food was the order of the day and for Tiff a hair appointment with an English speaker was a luxury not afforded in Japan, so she took full advantage!! As I expected would happen, it was over all too quickly, and all of a sudden it was down to our last couple of days. I still had one massive thing to do which I had been planning meticulously for months, and for that I'm going to need a separate entry, so read the next one for that news!!

A JET arrives, and another goes home!!

As the island is so slow paced, any news is big news. When the new stock of food hits the supermarkets, when one of the kids in school wins a sporting event, when the English teacher gets a haircut, any of these is almost cause for celebration. So, with the end of our first year approaching fast, we began asking Tabo about the new English teacher who was to be Dave's replacement. He was very coy about answering and in proper Japanese fashion gave away very little, but then over time we wore him down with constant questions until he let on who it was to be and where from and all that. Seems kinda petty looking back, but thats what being here does to ya!! Anyway, we learned it was to be Judy Kroo (seen above beside Tiff in my boss' family restaurant), originally Hungarian but a resident of New York City who was to arrive on August 2nd a year after I arrived as she is a group A JET like me. With Dave holidaying in Thailand, Tabo came by my house early one hot and humid August morning and picked me up, and we set off for the airport to collect our new island resident. Again in proper Japanese fashion, Tabo rocked up to my apartment jubilant at the thought of a road trip with the westerner, so dictionary and flask of tea in hand, we set off way too early which meant we stopped off to look at the temples in Takehara, then went for ramen and more tea, and then a stop off at the single most beautiful house Ive ever been in to visit Tabo's brother in law and his wife for coffee and a chat. Lovely folks, my Japanese was getting the workout of a lifetime but its one of those things which improves without you realising it so I was able to chat away pretty well and got most things across, referring now and again to the my mobile phone's dictionary. We stayed there for a couple of hours with the old couple taking a great interest in me point out places Ive been to on their huge world map, and then we left to meet Judy's flight. (A couple of weeks later, we were in this house again with Judy so these photos are from that visit, not the original one when ti was just myself and Tabo. The old couple got two westerners to chat with that day, probably for the first time ever.) The day we met Judy though was hugely nostalgic for me as it was a year to the day since I was on the other side of the waiting screen, and standing there holding the welcome sign surrounded by all the folks I arrived with doing the same for their incoming JETs, was a poignant moment. Judy arrived, had a formal intro with Tabo, and I began my task of translator for the next couple of weeks which was filled with welcome parties and trips to the city to organise driving permits and the like. A tiring time but worth it as the whole time was a reminder how tough it was for me at the start. Shortly after, Dave was to leave the island to return to Canada, and on another hot summer morning we brought him and his bags to the ferry port and then onto the airport to wave goodbye. Another weird feeling, made me imagine my departure next August, and it was like a changing of the guard as now Dave was gone and Judy was beginning her time here.

All the best Dave, good luck in England.

Next blog entry will cover my trip home, check back for that in a few days.

Graham

Judo

Judo has been going extremely well, so much so that I am now only 1 point away from getting an authentic Japanese black belt. It started with my second points tournament which was in the same place as the first one, the difference being that this time I wasn't suffering from a throat infection and subsequently didn't have a temperature of over 100!! Same format as well, 4 matches, although this time the quality of opposition was higher and the time between matches was longer. First match was over quickly as I did a lame hiza-guruma which got him down but not for a full win but I got on top for the hold down. Second guy was a bit of a nightmare as although it was an easy enough win, it was one of the nastiest points of my competition lifetime. I got him down the same as the first guy, but this time I couldn't get into position for a hold down. However, I did get him into a side arm lock (or ju-ji-gatame in Japanese) and secured that, thinking I had it on and he would tap out. He didn't though, and in the heat of the comp I cranked it hard and in doing so, really hurt the poor guy who then tapped out. Think it was a dislocation which is quite common in judo if someone refuses to tap out from it, wasn't a nice feeling though. Third and fourth matches were much better, higher level opponents but I was well prepared this time and I won with good throws, a tomoe-nage seen here on the right in which you can see the Professor laughing in the background and also a sumi-gaeshi seen here on the left. Both of these throws are called "sacrifice throws" in that you have to roll onto your own back and throw your opponent over your head, risky but spectacular when they work. Great day overall, brought the tally to 8-0 meaning at this point I only needed 5 more wins in these grading competitions to get an authentic Japanese black belt or shodan as its called in Japanese. Again, Tiff was there to take all these photos and to keep me from getting agitated during all the waiting.

Training has also been going very well and recently my predecessor Ben came back to the island to attend his friend Mori's wedding. While here, he came to training on my request to take some photos so I could show people how I spend every weekday between 5 and 7. Unfortunately my recently embroidered judo uniform was in the cleaners which was a shame as it has グラム　(gu-ra-mu which is the closest the Japanese language can get to saying my name!!) and アイルランド　or ai-ru-ra-n-do embroidered on the back in competition style. The really high end guys weren't there which was lucky for me as most of the photos would have been on me getting slammed, but these photos were very good, showing the drills we do first and then the open practice later.

These two gems came from the open practice. Poor Junpei felt the wrath of my Euro style o-soto-gari, get down......

.....and stay down.

Next was Junichiro getting the sumi-gaeshi Id been practicing for months and used in the competition.

Been having endless success with this one the last while. As I'm right handed and left footed, I can do these kinda reversed with a right hand drip and left foot action. Works well.

Finally, the group. Only about half were there the night Ben came along with the camera, but still a great photo. Great bunch of guys, having this every night during the Winter keeps me from going crazy with boredom down here!!

Just last weekend after Tiff went back I had another tournament and won that one too, bringing the tally to 12-0 and just needing one more win to get the black belt. The black belt competition is on December 16th so I have to practice this...

Nage-no-kata or なげのかた　

to pass the final exam after one more tournament win.

Thanks for reading, check back soon for the story of Dave's departure and the new JET's arrival!!

Graham

Mass updates coming soon.

Hello again to everyone who has been interested in this page.

Just a quick note to let you know that I haven't forgotten about it and that there will be a whole host of updates coming soon with all sorts of news and events. I will also be using a slightly different format so instead of one long post with everything thrown in, Im gonna try and break it down and have a different post for each event so it shouldn't be as long and drawn out to read.

Will email soon when Ive completed them,
Graham

Borneo, baseball, Japanese sports day, peculiar boardgames and finally a judo tournament!!

What a time we had in Borneo, a trip ranging from near disastrous admin screw-ups to wonderful days of rafting, exotic beaches, night time turtle watching, and a host of new acquaintances. First off though, the nightmare airport story to beat all nightmare airport stories. We were to fly out from Osaka airport at 0900 on the Thursday morning and as the Shinkansen or bullet train costs about €200, we deicded to take the night bus from Hiroshima to Osaka which cost considerably less and left at 2315 on Wednesday. Not as bad as we were expecting it to be, the coach was designed to be a nightbus so the seats almost fully recline and each person has enough leg room, as well as all the lights being off and the curtains being drawn, although the old man behind us did cause me to utter a few choice words with his incessant snoring and growling in his sleep. Got to Osaka at about 0515 and then another coach got us to the airport in plenty of time to have breakfast before checking in. Well, what we thought would be a formality turned into one of the most stressful 30 minutes of my life. Tiffany hands in her passport, gets the bag weighed and tagged and all that, no bother, then mine. She takes a look at my passport, types some stuff in and then says to me "where is your visa or letter of invitation". "Ehmm.........what?" I replied incredulously as Tiffany made double sure when booking that neither of us needed visas for Malaysia. She said again "you (me) need a visa or letter from Malaysian government for to enter Malaysia". We told her that Irish people didnt need a visa according to our travel agent and that there must be some mistake. However, Japanese-ness overtook her thought process and she lifted all our stuff to once side and called over her supervisor, a woman who almost made me lose my temper. She came over, had a long and extremely fast conversation with the check-in girl which I could only catch a couple of words of before picking up our tickets and passports and walking further down the desk without a word. We followed and already the panic began to sit into my stomach as I thought we were on the brink of a disaster. She flatly said to me, just as the check-in girl, "where is your visa or letter for to enter Malaysia". Again, both Tiff and I, probably in unison, said we were told we didnt need one and that both the US and Ireland we not the countries that required one. Wordlessly she turns away and is on the phone with both of us sure there must be something wrong as its too big a blunder for a travel agent to make and Tiff was so sure to check that as SE Asia is a maze of complicated visa countries and non-visa countries and all that. Im getting nervous standing there as our flight was boarding at the time all this was taking place and she seemed in no rush to get anything done. She comes back to us and says, "Malaysian Embassy is closed and there is a national holiday in Malaysia today so we cannot contact them". Seriously getting stressed now as the "last call for flight XXXX" announcements weren't far away and we were getting nowhere. In Japan, they have a really bad habit of doing nothing of their own accord without direction so you have to constantly prompt them on what to do in situations like these. We then said why not ring the travel agent and ask, which she did but not without giving us a look that said we were pretty much annoying her at this stage. On the phone about a minute before telling us that they don't open for another hour. "So what should we do?" we asked her but she said, as patronisingly as possible, that we would not be on our original flight and that we could take another flight to Hong Kong (our stop over point) and try and see would they let us into Malaysia. The infuriating part was that we knew with 100% certainty that someone had screwed up somewhere as it was just too big an issue for nobody to have noticed it during booking. I said, loudly with my temper starting to go, "Im from Ireland, Republic of Ireland, not Northern Ireland, not Iceland (they sound kinda similar in Japanese), Ireland". Again the patronising grin and kept saying "I cant do anything, its the policy" and then handed us a sheet which said "Countries requiring visas or letters of invitation to Malaysia" which had the war torn countries of Africa and the Middle East with no mention of Ireland. At this point she ran the risk of me injuring her as she said, "Ok, Ive spent enough time, here are your tickets and passports, its up to you what you do now, you can try and get a refund from your travel agent but I dont think it will work, Ive done everything I can" at which point she thrust the stuff back at us with the telephone number of the Malaysian Embassy and turned to deal with someone else. Against our heated protests and appeals to go higher and check our documents again she grinned and blanked us saying "you can do what you want now, I cant do anymore, go away" and turned her back on us. We were stranded, the last call announcements were in full flow, queues bustling past us, and the mental image of getting the bus back to Hiroshima with our unused suitcases to go and try and get a refund for our holiday from the travel agent who would have just said sorry and pointed to there policy of "Its up to the individual to organise visas and HIS Travel cannot be held accountable for any loss based on that" were starting to become a horrible reality. We would have had a good case but as it was their screw-up they probably would have given us flight vouchers or something. Tiff remembered though that HIS have a stand at the airport and decided as a last ditch effort to go over while I stayed and made sure the manager didnt try and leg it on us. She came back with an angry looking HIS rep with the list of countries letter in hand and went straight to the manager and this time I could understand most of it. She said, I think, "This man is from Ireland and there is no visa needed, what is the problem?" (paraphrase, thats the gist, not sure of the exact), to which the manager replied "Eirurando" which is obviously Japanese for Ireland and slowly with a look of horror took my passport again and looked at it as if she was reading her own death sentence when she read the cover. She went so white and her head sank for a second, then the HIS rep and her had a fast and furious coversation that I could only catch bits of but I heard enough to know that the manager had screwed up good and proper and was getting ripped badly by the rep as she had her head bowed and nodding in agreement as Japanese people do when they are getting scolded for a mistake. I said to the manager, angrily buy I couldnt help myself, "what was the problem, did you think it was Iceland? What? What was it? What was all this for?". She did another Japanese trait of trying to giggle the attention away and smile and faun over us to appease us but we werent letting it go at all, and then to my questions she said "I make a big mistake, big mitake, I prefer not to say". Her English got noticably worse when pressed about what had caused me nearly to have a rage attack, but then after us pressing and pressing as our bags were getting put through, she finally and begrudgingly said, "I thought your passport was Israel". Israel!!!!! I was so taken aback that all I could do was laugh at the ridiculousness, obviously the original check in girl (who was suddenly nowhere to be seen) had made a mistake and got Eirurando and Isureiru confused and thought I was an Israeli by misreading my passport (for anyone that hasnt seen the connection, Israel is a Jewish State and Malaysia is a Muslim country, hence Israelis arent too welcome there!!) and then, due to our stressed out condition and the realisation of the potential repercussions of the whole fiasco, the manager whispers to us "is business class ok?". The relief was tinged with annoyance at what was literally a misread passport and what made it worse was the 6 or so times I explicitly said "Ireland" and "Eirurando" in Japanese to her which went to show she wasnt really paying any attention to what we were saying and all our protests were effectively ignored. From there she rushed us through all the queues and checkpoints but not before they had the gall to try and stop Tiff taking some of her toiletries on board in the carry-on, but a proper good outburst from our southerner consisting of "Im serious, you've already mistaken my boyfriend for being an Israeli and and caused us serious stress, you've already caused us to almost miss our holiday, you need to find a way to get my stuff on board and get this sorted out........now!!" sorted that one out so much so that no more questions were asked, and finally, soaking with sweat from nerves, stress and almost running to get on board, there were are in first class having champaigne and OJ handed around as well as "Mr. Ruddle and Ms. Caroffino, welcome to first class, we will be taking off shortly". When we had settled down we actually laughed about it, but that was one seriously rough episode the likes of which I never want to go through again, and as cool as first class was, it wasnt worth that drama. However, first class is the way to travel. Id never got a chance to travel up there before so it was a new experience. We had the prawn salad with garlic bread and lobster pasta as well as a fine assortment of cheeses and crackers for the appetiser before the maincourse of a fillet steak with nicely cooked roasted spuds and veg, and then Hagen-Dazs ice cream for desert. I was totally going for it as I thought it right to do so for all the trouble it took to get there, so on the drinks menu there was a few mocktails (cocktails with no alcohol) which were delicious and as such I was ordering one every 4 or 5 minuites. Im guessing they are tough to make as they are made there and then, and at one stage they gave me a massive glass to hopefully keep me from ordering any more, but that one got downed in one go and I ordered another immediately!! Come desert time I ordered so many different types of coffee and icecream that I could tell they knew I was a total chancer and had no real place being there, what did I care though, it was that airlines fault we were there so why not? The chair you get is enormous with massive leg space and it almost fully reclines, the tv works for once and has a massive choice of films and tv shows from all over the world, the service is almost instant and each of the stewards seem genuinely happy to get you more stuff. Tiff was getting embarrassed at how much stuff I was getting but it didnt stop me. The only drawback was that it was only a 3 and a half hour flight so it flew by (no pun intended) and was over before we knew it. Its not worth the extra money as it tends to be 3 times the price of economy class, but was a nice treat to see it. The rest of the trip to get to Malaysia was pretty uneventful, flew to Hong Kong, waited around there with the usual wandering around duty free and finally flew to Kota Kinabalu in Malaysian Borneo exhausted but glad we were finally there. We got to Kota Kinabalu and straight off the bat stayed at the same hostel our friends Nikki and Patrick (also JETs from Hiroshima) were to stay at as they were to be picked up from the airport by the hostel owner Malcolm. Thankfully that hostel had extra room for us so thankfully we didnt have to venture out into the town that late at night to find another place, and to get better acquainted Malcolm took us out to his bar for the evening which was closeby. Good night all round, but so exhausted by the time I lay down that I was out almost instantly. (also, Tiffany thinks I look too stupid in this final photo to include it but I disagree, think it suited the mood perfectly!! I thought she looked lovely as ever in the plane photos, but due to the stress she didnt think she looked her best so I cant include her's!!)

After searching for the hostel district and finding a decent place to stay (after some truly dodgy attempts to find one in the very centre of Kota Kinabalu, email for details!!) we started to organise things we wanted to do while we were there. High on the list was a day trip to go to Sepilok to see the famous Orang-Utangs, a trip to the famous Turtle Island (which lies off the other side of the island near Sandakan) to watch the turtles lay their eggs at night, white water rafting and also some island hopping to get some sun and see some nice beaches. The first activity apart from wandering around the city and sightseeing was to do some island hopping. However, as it turned out, we didnt actually do any hopping but instead got a boat out to just the nicest of the islands off Kota Kinabalu to spent the day. Here, for about the zillionth time in my life, I learned the painful lesson that Im not as resilient to the sun as I thought I was. I do go a very dark brown colour eventually, but eventually is the key word here, not one day in the sun, but I wasnt to be told this so despite Tiff's better advise I headed off onto the beach thinking that Ive been in much hotter sun before and not burned, this should be no problem. It honestly didnt feel that hot, there was a good stiff breeze and at no point did I feel any tell-tale signs of burning or anything like that. We had a great few hours lazing around the beach and going swimming and snorkling and all that, lovely deserted island feeling from the place and we were just ready to go back when the guy came to pick us up at around 6pm. Boat back had some incredible sights, Im not too good on boats usually but once they go quickly and dont rock around all over the place with the waves Im fine, and this one got us back to the shore in no time. That night we had dinner again in a wonderful restaurant we found in which you pick out your food from the raw fare on offer and then they season and barbeque it to perfection, the result of which is one of the nicest meals Ive ever had. Freshly caught stingray (the main feature on the plate, delicious!!) swordfish, tiger prawns, red snapper, as well as other favourites like scewered satay, barbequed corn and barbequed chicken wings. Delicious. However, during a bathroom visit I glanced in the mirror, and Graham Ruddle was not staring back at me, a giant red-spray painted walking lobster was staring back. So red was my skin that I dared not touch it, but when I did there was a big surprise, nothing!! No pain. We took loads of photos as it actually looked really funny, but then, as expected, the pain came a couple of days later and for about the 15th time in my life I was sunburnt and in pain. Aftersun every two hours and walking life frankenstein followed, not fun, but self inflicted so I wont give out too much.

Next was the trip to Sepilok to see the famous Malaysian orang-utans and have a bit of a jungle hike. We had to go to Sandakan to do this which turned out to be a less than fortunate result as Sandakan is the worst of the cities in Borneo that we stayed at. Run down, hardly any foreigners (not that that in itself is a bad thing but in such a tourist driven country no foreigners isnt a good sign), locals who look at you like you're their worst enemy, basically a place we had little or no desire to stay in other than to use it as a midpoint for days out. Looking at the pictures, you can see what we mean!! We got a taxi out to Sandakan (never ceases to amaze me how cheap taxis are in some countries, barely €6 for a 45 minutes trek!!) and then took the tour around the park and finally to the feeding zone where the monkeys climb in and feed for all the spectators. Great craic, felt like a little kid at the zoo again watching them climb the ropes and mess around with each other. Loads of photos and all worthwhile. My sunburn was on the decline as Id blasted my skin with so much aftersun that I was starting to look like an albino, and even the bugs in the jungle stayed away so we could have a good time. As we said, Sandakan was not nice but it did help us meet a couple who were on a world ticket and has stories that made our previous trips seem like a channel crossing. Kate and Dave, both from England but a long way from home having travelled so many obscure regions of South America and Africa. Some of their stories were amazing and their great humanitarian efforts were wonderful to hear about. We met them by chance one night as we were at a restaurant and decided to go for a drink and a chat. About the only upside of Sandakan, dont mean to go on and on about the place but if you ever swing by there you'll be the first to agree.

Sandakan also acted as a midpoint to go to the famous Turtle Island and watch the turtles lay their eggs at night. This was another great trip, most notably for the actual trip to get out there and back. We were picked up by a small minivan at the meeting point at 0800 and in our van was myself and Tiff, some random Finnish guy named Hans, the driver, and then the tour guide, the single most verbose woman in the history of humanity. Seriously!! She never stopped talking. Its not nice to say anything bad about her as she was a lovely woman and loved her job, but she just went on and on and on and over explained/repeated every single thing to be the point of ridiculousness. Anyway, after about 70 mins in the van with her we get out in what I imagine the Florida everglades look like, and cram onto this small boat. Lifejackets on, and we're off through the winding, narrow river which is banked on both sides by high and lush vegetation and made for an incredibly fun and scenic ride. Great photos here, and a beautiful sight as the narrow section ended and we sped out onto the open sea. I think our tour guide had been talking the whole time but the sound of the engine and the swash of the water covered her out. This was a great great boat ride, one of the few I ever enjoyed. The views on all sides were incredible, and before long we pulled into a tiny island set up for us to have lunch, watch a video about turtles laying egss (zzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!) and wander around to meet the indigenous folks. Truly the back of beyond, we were told not be feel weird about walking around these people's houses and gardens and that they were really friendly to the visitors, but it still felt weird at first. Beautiful little island, like a miniature Aruba with way less development, no industry whatsover bar visitors to Turtle Beach stopping by for the lunch/video combo. After wandering around (covering up in the sun this time!!) we got back on board the boat and headed off for Turtle Island itself. Same sort of scenery as before, and before long we pulled in to a bigger island with visible houses and a main centre. Fair number of people there, and some beautiful scenery. With an afternoon lazing around the beach and swimming (and Tiffany getting harrassed by the drunk New Zealanders who then seemingly congratulated me on being Irish!!) we then got ready for dinner but not before noticing one of the most perfect sunsets Ive ever seen. Our favourite photo comes from there, look at this just to the right, one for the scrapbook. This was early in the evening after being given free reign of the island in the meantime. We sat out for hours in that exact spot chilling out until it got dark, and then at last it was "Turtle Time". After much specualting and sitting around, in front of all of us in the dark of night at about 11pm a turtle, a humongous one at that, walks up in front of everyone and starts digging oblivious to our collective presence. This continues for about 35 minutes until she stops, and casually goes back the way she came, leaving us wondering what just happened and the tour guides angry at us for making too much noise and scaring her off. About an hour later when everyone is passing out asleep waiting, our lovely tour guide comes flying out of nowhere shouting "turtle time, group A" and off we trecked across the cold white sand with the moon acting as the light source (which was almost surreal it looked so perfect!!) to watch a turtle dig a massive hole in the sand and lay about 40 eggs. After that, they were brought back and they showed us how they incubate them to assure survival. Sadly no photos made it as the light was too bad to see anything properly, but it was a nice sight to watch them first with the turtle laying eggs and then later watching then release the ones who are ready into the water to have a go at it. Only a small number survive but it was nice to see them all released. We went to bed exhausted but happy with the experience.

Finally it was back to Kota Kinabalu and one thing which the thoughts of made me nervous. As Ive said in other posts, Im not into rollercoasters, rocking boats, anything that messes with the inner balance as my inner ear is destroyed from childhood ear infections, so the thoughts of "White Water Rafting" didnt fully fill me with enthusiasm. After a truly crazy train ride out to the place where we literally had to do an Indiana Jones impression to get onto the carriage (accompanied by a great couple from Peninsular Malaysia), we were dropped off in the middle of nowhere. We then had to collect a helmet and life jacket, listen to a safety lecture which made the experience sound suicidal, and finally walk down to the river and prepare to begin. These pictures are golden, really like em, they take them from the sides and then you can buy them from the later. It was actually really fun, but the first rapid (which they tell you after is the most extreme!!) put to rest any notions that they were having us on when they said lots and lots of people fall out and have to be rescued by the solo canoists. The calm part of the river is nice, fast flow and you feel secure enough in the raft even though there is NOTHING physically attaching you to the boat. Then the pace picks up a little and you round the corner to a scary sight, huge and erratic waves going in every direction and the boat goes right into the middle of them. You get launched up about 10 feet off the water level, the water opens up beneath you and you drop and good 20 feet down while a gigantic wave develops overhead and it then crashes into the boat when you rise out of the dip. I was actually launched out of the boat before Tiff pulled me back in by the life jacket. Repeat this pattern about 4 times and thats the first rapid over. We all let a huge roar of relief go when we looked around and realised we got through and everyone was still aboard. Then you paddle over to the side and watch all the other teams negotiate it. Its hilarious to watch, it looks equally as scary from the safe side. One Japanese team going flying up to it, all roaring in unison and going 150% with the paddles as you'd expect from them, then they disappear under the first wave, and as they come out there are only 4 of 10 left in the boat with the rest swimming to the side or waiting to get picked up. 8 rapids in total if I remember right, the rest a bit of an anticlimax after the first one but great fun. If you're wondering why myself and the Malaysian guy (the guy from the couple we travelled with!!) are the only ones padding like mad in the photos while the rest calmly watch on (even mockingly in one of the photos where the guy behind me is looking at me going nuts with the paddle like Im a moron!!), the front corner guys are the guys who basically steer the boat, the others are just for support and the ones in the middle are for holding the rowers in when they are about to get pitched out, so we (myself and Ernie the Malaysian) look like posers in all these photos but trust me, we were absolutely not posing, more concentrating on not getting flung out and keeping the boat going straight.

Our remaining days were spent in Kota Kinabalu taking it easy eating at our favourite restaurant and finishing the holiday on a quiet note. Nice days of wandering around in the sun and then listening to the holiday band at night. Perfect way to finish. We did discover later in the holiday when it was too late that the bargain "hotel" we had stayed at a few nights was a hotel but had a sinister side to it if you know what I mean?? Lets just saying the strange sounds that kept waking us up during the night was not a film in another apartment like we though. The City Inn, beware if you ever venture towards Kota Kinabalu.

That brings us back to Japan. Since getting back nothing too much has happened. We went to see a baseball game with Hiroshima's local team the "Hiroshima Carps" which was a nice day out although i) baseball is seriously boring to watch and ii) the Hiroshima Carps are awful exponents of it. Nice to see all the folks though and have a day together.

Sunday June 10th, the whole island had a community sports day in which all school pupils, teachers, workers and parents of students get together for a day of sport. Not much of it is competition but mostly demonstrations with crazy music going on the whole time. Took these photos the week beforehand as classes were cancelled for the entire week just have practice for this stuff. Weird!! Feats of balance and endurance, funny races with props, weird alright but good fun to watch them as they are so enthusiastic it looks brilliant. I didnt attend however. Ive been promising some judo photos for a while and finally I have some. After having my blackbelt grading cancelled twice as the university professor could not come with me to sign me in, I was beginning to lose hope if they were having me on about letting me compete. They said again, "Joonuh Tensuh, Sssahnday, juuuudo coh-peh-tih-shoh". I said Id do it months ago thinking they would probably cancel, but then friday came and no cancellation as of yet so I packed my bag and set off for the city, planning to go to Kure on Sunday morning and compete to get points towards my black belt or "shodan". However, all day Friday I feel desperately bad, so much so that they sent me home early cos they were only practicing for the sports day and I looked so rough. Sore throat, headache, dodgy stomach. Saturday at Tiff's and it getting worse, I know I have a high fever as Im sweating like mad one minute and then shivering 15 minutes later. All day feel so rough. Missed Irish JET compatriot Trish's birthday bash on saturday night to try and sleep it off, but sunday morning I still felt desperate, even worse than when I went to bed. I hadnt eaten in over a day, had aching joints, almost no energy and sore eyes. I knew I had a throat infection, Ive had about 50 of them in my lifetime with all the trouble I had with tonsils, and here it was again with the worst possible timing. Decided I had to go though. They cancelled twice and may have thought I was being a prat if I cancelled the morning of. So we set off at 0640 on sunday morning to go to Kure. Cant eat, cant drink, dizzy when I stand up and weak and sore joints when I move. Find the place at last and every eye is on us as we enter. The judogi or judo uniform looks weird on a foreigner to them, and they stared in shock at me. Another dude from the club, Junpei, shows up (really really good player, did not want to get paired off against him as its usually a stalemate as size can frustrate his brilliant technique a lot of the time but it takes a lot of energy to fight him) and we stand (barely!!) through the usual Japanese, drawn out opening ceremony. 3 hours of waiting watching the kids chuck each other around and Im feeling no better, at this stage just banking on an adrenaline burst getting me through. Finally its our turn and I get ready to go on by doing some warm ups which nearly make me pass out. For any judo guys reading this, look how perfect Junpei's entry to the uchi-mata is during our warm up here on the left, great to watch. The first guy is small and looks scared to death. Instinctly do my equivalent of a boxers jab (de-ashi-harai) which is my set up for all my best throws and he is flat out with a huge bang for an ippon after about 5 seconds. With his right foot off the mat I pull down hard on my right hand and sweep his left foot out from under him. Huge applause and Im in kind of a shock. Walk of thinking at least I won one, about 15 seconds later Im on again against another scared to death looking guy who pulls a weak effort of a sasae-tsurikomi ashi, and I get on top and hold him down. The 25 seconds of the hold-down took forever, but I knew his arm was folded across himself which is so uncomfortable and he was about to pass out at the buzzer so escaping was not an option for him. 2 wins and Im thinking something is wrong here!! 3rd guy races across and goes for a morote-seoinage which he never had the grip for and I get a deep choke in which makes him submit, 3 wins. Im laughing at this stage, I still dont feel right but they are just so nervous that they try and get it over with too quickly and as a result they make huge mistakes. All the other white belts crowd around me at the side of the mat asking me my height and weight and how old I am and start putting their foot beside mine, and at every revelation there is a huge shrieking "whhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" of amazement from them. The one who had been asking the most (the one Im looking at in the photo just left) suddenly turns, runs around the competition square and stands ready to begin. The Professor says to me "this is match final for tournament today, one win more and you winner. GAMBATTE KUDASAI (Japanese for "do your best please!!)". I hadnt even realised it was a tournament, thought you just had 4 random matches, and then he shoves me out onto the mat and the guy Ive just been talking to is my opponent!! Big guy, and hes won his matches easily too so hes fresh. Im winded though, and all my symptoms come back as we're waiting to start, really didnt feel good cos he was raring to go. He rushes and we grip hard, shove each other around for about 8 or 9 seconds trying to get the dominant grip and he goes in for a big ko-soto-gari. He hooks on for a second but he hasnt made me lose balance at all and so he is way out of position, and then I counter with my favourite left handed uchi-mata (shown here, my old coach in Ireland would be so proud!!) and slam him for the win to a massive applause. 4-0, 9 more wins and Im a black belt once I do a kata or technique demonstration, but such a great feeling and thank the Lord my symptoms pretty much held off once I got on and was in the spotlight. They are such good sports though, they all came over and shook hands with me and offered me all sorts of compliments in Japanese, most of which I understood, and then they were almost queueing up to take photos of myself and Tiff. Tiff took all these photos and deserves enormous credit for keeping me from quitting once we were there and keeping my motivation up throughout all the waiting cos there were several times I was thinking of pulling out, such was the miserable condition I was in.

However, getting back to the city was a tough experience as my symptoms came back in a bad bad way once I came down off the high of the event, and the rest of sunday was spent taking medicine for my crazy high fever and ringing Ireland to get advise on what antibiotics to take. I should be an expert by now as Ive had this exact condition so many times, but Mam back home always knows best!! Came home yesterday and have been a wreck ever since, called in sick and will most likely be sick for a few days, just enough time to do this between bouts of fever!!

Now, if you've read this far, you're probably wondering what the opening picture is. I found it in the back stores in one of the schools, and its a post war board game trying to show kids that the Americans were Japan's allies now and that they should work together. I cant read any of the Japanese to understand what it says, but its all about promoting Japanese/US relations. Thought it was an interesting thing to find.

Thats it for now. Ill update this next week when I get a chance to get to the Kodak Centre and get my photos put on a cd.

Working solidly now until my trip home in August for Lana's wedding, so will be in Ireland from August 18th-31st to attend the wedding and also to introduce everyone to Tiffany at last.

Hope everyone is well and please, as always, feel free to leave a comment or email me at grahamruddle@gmail.com.

God bless,
Graham

Finally...........

Looks like Im back on track at last. First off the hard drive broke but thankfully I had inadvertently backed up a lot of the photos on my new mp3 player so that turned out to be not such a disaster after all, even though I lost some photos which I really wanted to keep from Hokkaido and a couple of other places. As such, a lot of the photos in this post have been "claimed" from other folk's photo sites, sorry!! Also, google's policy of trying to make things easier by making them much more difficult meant that when I upgraded to the new version of blogger, everything changed into Japanese, which wasnt fun at all. Wont give out too much though, their helpdesk were actually really good about helping me out. Finally, for reasons I wont bother explaining, the name of this site has been permanently changed to

- grahamdavidruddle.blogspot.com

, so trying to access the old one will just bring up a blank page (or a page saying I am guilty of distribution violations as I found out earlier!!). Sorry for all the confusion and more importantly, the delay!!

Right, where to begin?? Just after I got back from Ireland in December I immediately had a brand new adventure to look forward to, a trip to the very northern island of Japan called Hokkaido to see the famous "yuki matsuri" or snow festival. This is just as it sounds, a celebration of snow in the only place in Japan guaranteed snow and cold every winter. Myself, Tiffany, Dave the other JET on the island from Canada and Hannah the very very very English JET from Saijo in Hiroshima headed off early one wintry morning for the airport, set on experiencing some freezing cold city life and watching them make the ice sculptures and giant snow houses and all that. The train from the airport to Sapporo City had some of the nicest scenery Id ever seen, it looked like a real winter wonderland with deep snow blanket covering everything. We got out in Sapporo and walked to the hotel. Its an amazing place, really nice atmosphere, none of us could really put our finger on what it was but it really did feel festive even though Christmas was long over. The ice-covered paths didnt actually claim any major wipeouts which was a surprise, and then after a quick change in the hotel, headed back out to find some famous Hokkaido food. Of course, some snow fights were had along the way (dont ask where my head has seemed to disappear to in this photo, good throw from Dave on the right here!!), and lots of stopping to just look at the surroundings before we reached a tiny Ramen Bar which had the famous Miso Ramen. Heavenly, Ive had them from the local supermarket before but it was so much better when you go to the source. Check it out, pure deliciousness in a bowl. Hokkaido boasts some of the most beautifully laid out main streets also, and when it gets dark and the snow is still falling it becomes even more special looking than during the day. In sub-zero temperatures the four of us were choosing to take the scenic routes to get to places just to see everything, thats how nice it was to wander around in the silent and snow clad streets under the fog lights. Getting a bit nostalgic thinking about it, this is the one thing Tiff and I said we are definitely going back to do next year.

As for the yuki matsuri itself, its a little weird. The main street of Sapporo gets turned into a snow house and ice sculpture display which are built by both the army (of all people!!) and private artists who want to show their work. We were there just as they were being built as it was less than half the price and they werent as crowded, and it was cool to watch them work on them. They are impressive, giant snow moulds of cartoon and anime characters, ice sculpture of charicature faces and animals as well as some smarmy companies throwing their company logos in there to take away from the artwork (boooo!!), and also some gigantic snow houses which they fill with multi-coloured lights, making for a chameleon-esque house as they change the colours of them. Great night, the cold didnt bother any of us I dont think as we were well preprared for it (although I did have to buy snow shoes there, they wont be included in the photos though) but even if it did get chilly we could just stop in anywhere and watch the scenery from any of the nearby bars or restaurants which overlooked the place. Cool first night.

2nd day was much of the same but that in no way was a bad thing. A late morning was had first off and then brunch was more Hokkaido Ramen followed by coffee and then a trek out to see the famous seafront Otaru where they have huge Hokkaido crabs on display. These things are freaky big, and Ive seen enough cartoons to know not to get close enough to let them snap which the locals though was hilarious. Im thinking of making a competition from this photo here, just below to the right. None of us can remember it being taken, or what is going on in it, but Im thinking of sending someone a bottle of yakiniku sauce (delicious dipping sauce for BBQ`ed meat) if they can come up with a witty caption!! Answer in the comment section please. This was when we got sidetracked and wound up in what looks like a docking area for industrial ships or something, no idea. Lots more wandering around looking at the Swiss-esque surrounding here before stopping in to a German brewery to relax for a while. The photos here are of the Otaru Canal which is known locally as the "Japanese Venice". I think they let their imagination get the better of them there but its a lovely walk. Along here I had my snowball throwing rights removed as, earlier, whilst walking along having a snowball fight, I let the competition get to me and re-enacted a scene from Dumb & Dumber and nailed Tiff square in the face with an ice ball I had been moulding for several minutes. Doghouse for me. Not bad enough, then, along the Japanese Venice when I had been restricted to throwing underarm, I still managed to absolutely smack poor Hannah right in the ear with one, firmly placing me in the humble position of "target with no reply allowed". I wouldnt have been so annoyed but I had been trying to smack Dave in the head with one since we got there and missed every time, then without trying both girls suffered a massive iceball to the head unintentionally, and now throwing rights removed. Not good. That night we went for the famous "Genghis Khan" dinner which is thin strips of lamb cooked on a grill in the shape of the Mongol's war helmets. All you can eat of this was right up my street, absolutely delicious except that the smell from the cooked meat ingrains itself in your clothes and hair so you have to put jackets and things in a bag under the table. Great fun all round, everyone was in a great mood from the day and my hurrendous aim with the snowball throwing had been forgiven by then. Like my trip home, it was all over all too quickly, but not before sampling the famous Hokkaido crab and having crab nabbe for our final meal. Nabbe is like a giant soup bowl served with plates of raw veg and raw seafood, and you cook the raw ingredients in the soup until they are done. Im not usually a seafood fan, but this stuff is so fresh and of such high quality that it was impossible not to find it delicious. Fantastic few days, and definintely pencilled in for next year already.


We also had a day trip to Miyajima to see the famous Red Arch and get some oysters at the Kaki Matsuri or Oyster Festival. Really hot out and to be honest there wasnt much to the "festival" other than queueing for 45 minutes for 2 oysters (although they were tasty!!) and then wandering around Miyajima which could be done any other time without the crowds. There was an option to climb the local mountain and hang around with the orang-utangs, didnt sound all that great though. We did get to get the stereotypical tourist photos in front of the famous Red Arch which is out in the middle of the shore, and before you ask which Im wearing the rugby jersey, Ireland were playing England that night and we were going to go straight there. It is a scenic place though, and there was a full Japanese wedding procession in full flow while we were there which was nice to witness first hand. Then to the rugby. What a night, what a night. Poor England got taken apart and I saw it from the best pub atmosphere Ive been in in years. All these photos are from our local Irish Bar called Molly Malone's which I mentioned in another post. The Japanese guy wearing the Offaly jersey is Mia who's the chef from Molly's. He goes out with an Offaly girl and learned all his English from her and from trips to Offaly, and as such has the single strangest accent Ive ever encountered. His English is phenomenal, dont get me wrong, so good that I tend to forget hes Japanese sometimes as his grasp of Irish slang is second to none, its just weird when the first time you meet someone and they "hows she cuttin" in a half Offaly/half Fukuoka accent when you were expecting hajimemashite or something like that. Molly's was also the scene for Tiffany's 23rd birthday which was at the beginning of March. In the beginning we had planned to turn our favourite Italian restaurant into the party venue as the chef Angelo likes us a lot and thought hed be able to pull some strings for us, but despite his best efforts and my endless phonecalls to the restaurant owner (an old and non-English speaking Japanese man) it just wasnt gonna happen, so we decieded on Molly's instead. It worked out fantastically well though, loads of people showed up and the space we had reserved was just right. During the day I made a trip to a big department store to buy the birthday cake (which unfortunately I then had to carry in its giant pink box all the way down to where Molly's is, in the rain I might add!!) which was to be dropped off to Mia who'd look after putting the candles on and all that. A touch humiliating as all the staff who know me in there came out of the kitchen to take the piss when they saw the giant pink box and ribbons and all that, including the owner Mark who also decided it a good idea to play the CD I gave him of the usual birthday jingle Id downloaded (played on a cheesy accordion, Irish style) on the loudspeakers in Molly's during the deathly silent early afternoon when there was nobody but staff there. Rough. After all the laughing died down they assured me that all was set and they'd dim the lights and bring it out at the right time and all that. Worked out perfectly, just when everyone was there and had just finished dinner it took everyone totally unaware when the lights went off and they brought it out, and the birthday girl didnt suspect a thing which made the surprise aspect work, glad it all went perfectly and there were no hitches along the way. Later that night was Ireland/Scotland which wasnt a great game but we won so it rounded off a really fun night.


I also had my first St. Patrick's Day here and it was celebrated in fine style as an Irish couple who are both JETs here held a party at their apartment (Rob and Trish, thanks again for the invite!!). It had a great mix of western folks and also Japanese friends who did the side proud and showed up decked out in green to support the night. Great craic, and good photos too as I did my impression of an angry flat capped farmer with the local folks!!

Another noteworthy event was the end of the Japanese academic year. They run a beginning of April -> end of March academic year, so all the kids were either going up a grade or moving on to Senior High School which they do at the age of 15. Its the same in a way in Ireland except they have separate schools for juniors and seniors whereas all ours are together. Well, my favourite class and the ones which I had a guaranteed 50 minutes of side splitting laughter everytime I met them, were moving on to Senior High, and it was actually sad to see them off. They made an absolute tonne of progress in terms of both written and spoken English and this was almost 100% down to enthusiasm and just trying all the time to speak. Everytime I met them in the corridor they had a full chat, every lunchtime and any other time I saw them they were trying all the time to speak, and the difference by the end of my time with them was really noticable. All these photos are from out last day of class where they did a really nice thing and during the song they were practicing they changed all the words into a "thank you Guramu-sensei" song which they had apparently been practicing while I wasnt there. The whole class was fun for that day, and then a few days later they had the graduation ceremony which in itself was also a nice event as they really do it in style. There is the usual walking up to the stage to receive your certificate and all that, but the teachers who organised the whole show also had a really well edited DVD of footage from every year these kids had been in Junior High, right from their first day to the present and how they've changed along the way. All the teachers were crying their eyes out (as were the rest of the lower year students which is something that I could never see happening in Ireland!!) and then for the final hurrah they go to their classroom for the last time where all their parents are waiting for them as well as all the teachers who taught them. In this part the kids run the show and they sat in a circle and one teacher at a time had to sit in the middle of them while they played a video they'd made of individualised messgaes from each of them to the teacher sitting in the middle. The hard as nails looking music teacher was a mess of tears and laughing after a few mins, as was the English teacher, I remained dignified when it was my turn (just!!) but they were really nice and genuinely moving. They group clap all around you whilst they're encircling you when the tape is finished, and then you have to stand up and give a few words to them. I wanted to say some nice things which my Japanese is nowhere near good enough to support so the JTE translated for me. I told them they were genuinely my favourite class and the one which game me the most laughs and made me the most welcome, and then recounted a couple of stories from early on which everyone found amusing. They were the most enthusiatic class, and that had some ludicrously funny side-effects as they often tried to say stuff beyond their level which resulted in "The Famous Three". These were the 3 most ludicrous sentences which made no sense, a competition which I started early on. In 3rd place was, and I quote young Izumi Keita for this one "PL fireworks to see very people". I think he was trying to say the fireworks display was witnessed by many, good result. The 2nd place went to Watanabe Takayuki who embodied Japanese-ness perfectly with this eloquent verse of the philosophy of bravery. I quote "Think a lot of because of I now how badly off think But has flown the battle of life feel like is think. Working is High School, flown the battle of life is highschool". Stunning. William Wallace's cry of "they'll never take our freedom" fades away in comparison to this. Flown the battle of life!! After much translation we worked out that he was trying to say he will work harder in High School and pass his exams, but when I read this at first it was too funny, even the JTE couldnt keep a straight face for that one. The champion's effort, young Sugimoto Keiji, was not actually that impressive when looking back on it but at the time it was priceless. This guy is 15 and the same height as me with the "Lurch" effect from the Addam's Family going on. No English at all, and each recitation contest used to produce hilarity as he came out with golden moments of EngRish and at one stage actually sounded like he was speaking French it got so bad, hence I started the "no French" club who got "NO FRENCH" shoued at them in jest whenever they wandered off the English path and dabbled in the French. Anyway, during one recitation, I asked him what he was doing later, and he replied "Shall I bring.............five o'clock..............no French", which had me drop the book I was holding and almost had to sit down I was laughing so hard. Golden, I think Fridays at Kinoe will be boring now without these folks. They made this for me and it now takes pride of place on my bookshelf. Takayuki did the plane cos of the legendary "flown the battle of life" fiasco. Great fun to teach.

Not much else unfortunately, it would have been longer but I lost a lot of photos with the hard drive packing in, so about 2 months worth of photos were gone. One of these events was Tiffany's birthday present for me which was a trip to see a concert. A brilliant selection of Strauss II pieces and then one of my favourites, Beethoven's 5th Piano Concerto "Emperor" which I have never heard live. Female pianist and all, really rare to see a female Beethoven player, especially something as demanding on the hands as that. We had no idea what the line up was going to be until we got there and opened the programme. I had loads of nice photos of us all dressed up and then the inside of the venue which was pretty spectacular, and of the riverside dinner later that night which was picturesque to say the least, sadly all will have to be left to the imagination as my misfortune with technology claimed them all.

The last 2 weeks were spent in the board of education with no work to do as all the kids were on holidays, so we had to show in from 0830 - 1615 and just be at our desks for the allotted time, not the most fun, although again my boss Tabo and his assistant Kanda offered plenty of unintentional Japanese humour here and there. Also took up badminton (dont laugh!!) which we do with our boss every wednesday, although going straight from judo to badminton on wednesdays is not fun as I can hardly hold the steering wheel of the car after judo. Good sport actually, really enjoying it, although my competitive side comes out here and there and Ive been a touch aggressive at times whilst playing the poor OAPs!! Ah well.

Back in school at last and have the normal routine resumed. Not for long though as myself and Tiff are heading to Borneo for a nice holiday in a couple of weeks. Ive said to folks that its slightly ironic that we are paying to go on a holiday to the sun now and we'll probably be fed up of Hiroshima's stifling heat by late August!! Its meant to be a fantastic place, Im gonna bring the camera and hope to be able to give a good representation of the place when I get back.

Thats all for now, hope no more disasters befall this page!!

Hope all are well,
Graham

Another minor disaster.

Just when I had salvaged most of the photos by a major stroke of good fortune via my mp3 player, blogspot has now gone and changed format and whereas the homepage used to be in English, its now tries to be smart and select the language it thinks you want, so mine is now stuck in Japanese as part of the "upgraded" new version. As such, its a nightmare to use (even this small post is taking ages, adding photos is nigh impossible!!) and Im trying to work out how to change it back, so until then Im still not able to produce the long promised next post.

Anyone who knows a lot about blogger, by all means get onto me!!

Graham