nate in japan.

goodbye japan.

2007-07-31T12:17:00.000+09:00

This will be the last post I make in Japan.
I can't believe one year is over already, it really has flew past.
The memories I've made in Japan will last me forever.
living here has been a once in a lifetime experience, and I loved every second.

I'd always dreamed of living in Japan one day.
And a dream fufilled is the loss of that dream.

Now what?

lookinf forward to the unfolding of new dreams.

finale.

2007-06-28T17:23:00.000+09:00

tiny update.
I was featured in a national newpaper again, for my photography being in that gallery.
So that makes it 4 national newspapers, and one weekend TV coverage.
(not bad huh?)

but, the mood changed today when at work I got handed my final work schedule.
It's starting to hit that I go home soon.
real soon.

hang on tight.

dance dance [snippet]

2007-06-22T16:22:00.000+09:00

these are some of the photos from the dance competition last weekend. I'm still waiting to get some back. I wanted to take a tonne more, but was too busy dancing to.

the whole team.

had to go and ruin the photo.

stop being so damn tall nate.

after a couple of performances.

everyone was exhausted.

our whole team took up an entire subway car.

sweet.

"every-one"

don't swear at me tsunagawa-kun.
or however it is you spell your name.

walk it out some more.

ignore the tired faces, and sweaty hair.
and we are some rude boy dancers.

she fell asleep on my shoulder on the bus home while listening to my iPod, thanks.

team photo, with NO-ONE looking.

he was famous, everyone took their picture with him.....

she was the girl who interviewed me a tonne of times, we were friends by the end of the weekend, first name terms, haha.

I haven't got a CLUE what is with the cameraguys face.

Sayumi, Yui, Nanami, Nate.
We'll rip you to shreds.

sporty.

2007-06-22T15:46:00.000+09:00

pushy mums.

rina.

hide go seek.

found you.

huh?

wating for the end.

haha.

chillin with the homeboyz.

pump it.

lolzzzzzzzz.

start.

peace up.

janken.

I'm with the band.

favourite.
for so many reasons.

who ate little red riding hood?

2007-06-22T15:37:00.000+09:00

the perfect recipie;

take a handful of kids,

some amazing weather,

a good few buckets of bubble mixture,

combine mixture together in a massive park,

and you'll have the perfect summers day.

world record?

look out.

nice.

i wanted her camera.

lucky.

initiative.

favourite.

I got it!

2007-06-19T18:41:00.000+09:00

They gave it the go ahead.
I'm getting a showing of my photographs at the gallery.

They selected 15 of my photographs, each showing a different aspect of life in Japan.
The photos are being sent off to get printed now, and hopefully, the opening will be in the next few weeks.

over the moon much?

and here's one of the photo's they selected,
would you have given me a showing?

click here, watch this!

2007-06-18T00:00:00.000+09:00

Here's some highlights from my dance team that was featured on Japanese TV over last weekend. I made the video for my team , but will probably re-do when i get the actually footage off the TV station, since this is low-quality stuff. I'll be posting a lot of stuff from the dance festival and even my LIVE Japanese TV interview. But later, I'm far too tired now.

yokoso ottosan!

2007-06-17T23:47:00.000+09:00

why the face?

why all the people?

why the party?

my dad's here thats why!

afterparty.

cheese.

he even met my favourite kids.

and went to the old shrine.

i like this photo a lot.

tour.

"family portrait"

nice.

nate needs to stop ruining self-timer photos.

moi kai kuru ne?

glamourous sky.

2007-06-17T23:35:00.000+09:00

marina, yuko, nates room.

noriko, taiki.

wine, cake and conversation.

good luck.

ciao.

now walk it out.

2007-06-17T23:08:00.000+09:00

favourite kidssssssss.

annual 'hike'

'sup taimu-kun?

luckyy.

yellow hat.

peace.

peace.

and more peace.

crossing.

thirrrrsty.

aladdin and his magic carpet.

"what are you doing?"

"oh! You're taking a photo!"

chill with it kids.

quit being so cute pls? k, thanks.

rofl.

take one.

take two.

new favourite picture.

yeah, thats actually a kids lunch that her mum made.

shove it in.

hahaha.

if you didn't get the memo, i love my job.

forever blowing bubbles.

2007-06-17T23:02:00.000+09:00

rina-chan.

my neighbour.

we sit and chill.

almost every other day.

thanks rina, and probably see you tommorow.

aren't you done yet?

2007-06-17T22:53:00.000+09:00

start.

tick tick.

circle.

step up on it.

rest.

10 minute break.

don't spill any miki.

omedetto.

fin.

feeling good.

2007-06-14T18:26:00.000+09:00

feeling good, nina simone.

sums up exactly how I feel right now.
things are good.
very good.

everyone should listen to this song.
can't help but be in a good mood.

busy like who?

2007-06-13T22:03:00.000+09:00

I haven't written here for ages.
I'm getting tired of starting all my blogs like that.
BUT this weekend a MASSIVE update will be coming.

I have been way too busy, but here are some tiny updates.

had the massive dance competition in sapporo.
went on LIVE Japanese TV.
Got featured loads last weekend.
My team didn't win, but out of the 350 teams that entered, my team got an 'honorary mention' that only 5 teams recieve. So am on a real high from that.
I might also be getting a exhibition of my photography soon, I'm in the middle of putting together a portfolio for the director to see and judge, so wish me luck. If he likes it, I'll have me first gallery showing, [fingers crossed]

So, hopefully you can see why I've been so busy.
I'm sorry this site has been so quite recently.
But this weekend, expect big things.

ciao.

layzee.

2007-05-26T21:13:00.000+09:00

I haven't updated here in forever.
I'll get round to it soon, but I've been kinda busy, and it's only gonna get busier.
I'll try posting more photos soon, if I ever get the time. haha.

anyways,
mini-snippet update of things past, and things to come.

1.Past.

Ran a 10KM marathon in 50 minutes.
Pa' came to visit!
I designed my dance troupes parade thing for dance competition next month.
Started again with my Advanced Adults Class.
Played Kickball with my kids class and loved it.
Wondered when it would stop storming outside, isn't it supposed to be spring?
Went on a "mini" hike with nursery kids.
Developed a new love for Green Tea.

2. To come.

Starting a class next week with fifty children, needs some seeeeeeerious planning.
A tonne of "late" spring parties.
Teaching a one-off cooking class!
Dance competition in Sapporo!
Junior-High Sports day (running the 100m?!?!)
Me getting this blog back up and running everyday.

I can hardly get to sleep recently, for the sound of wind and rain against my window.
someone turn it off?
thanks.

beaches and bbq's

2007-05-14T10:49:00.000+09:00

biking it

hell fo a BBQ.

sea and surfers.

chefing it.

in my stomach.

feast is up.

cutecutecute.

skimming stones.

pose.

dogsssss.

byebyeBBQ.

hahahahahhaha.

kite flying.

mine was the highest out of anybodys.
nice.

i love summer.

2007-04-29T20:39:00.000+09:00

how I wake up most mornings.

BBQ!

summer kids.

asahi.

chillin with the kidsssss.

in my stomach please.

i love summer.

put some more on the fire please sir.

cool kid.

stay off the beer.

frying.

I like this one.

and this one.

smokin'

my shoes! my meat!

he let me play on his Wii, I lost.

oysters at a BBQ? kthanks.

chilled out relaxers.

whats with the wierd face?

kid in the yellow was way cute.

random memory from tokyo!

back to culture.

2007-04-23T22:06:00.000+09:00

two of my favourite high school students. too funny for their own good.

welcomed new students the other day. most of them fell asleep.

got to try tea ceremony.

with one of the best instructors in the whole of japan.

quite an honor.

and real special.

especially since this was the last "winter" ceremony.

next few not taken by me, I'm in them!

I was served by my friend namiko!

was hard to keep a straight face.

me! but when you drink, there are a million things to remember. like where to place your hands, how many times to sip.....

apparently I didn't do to bad.

instructor said I was good.

and that my japanese was good too.

o-sukare-sama-deshita!

photography update.

2007-04-15T12:21:00.000+09:00

so I've updated the galleries.

now there will be two seperate ones.

One of the galleries will be for my photography, while the other gallery will be for my daily blog photos. You can use the two links on the sidebar to help you find each one.

Hope you enjoy them.

revamp x3.

2007-04-12T21:04:00.000+09:00

changed this page again.
pretty similar.
just a bit different.

I'm changing photo galleries around, should be back up again tommorow.
go on and say hi all you strangers who visit my page!
the comment box is calling you.

Rest in peace lindsay hawker.

2007-04-11T21:51:00.000+09:00

I just want to say a quick word about lindsay hawker, the n.o.v.a teacher who was killed in Japan about a week ago. She was a girl who went to same school as me, and I knew her, and we'd talked, shared jokes. When I heard the news I couldn't believe it.

I don't want to write too much.

But just want to say my thoughts go out to lindsay hawker and her family at this time. She was an amazing girl, living her dreams of living in Japan out, kinda the same as me. And for some man to end it all for her is sickening, and I seriously hope they catch that guy.

She's in a better place now.
Take care and rest in peace lindsay.

kyoto zen [part 2]

2007-04-11T21:19:00.000+09:00

Right now in Japan its election time.

and the parties will send out troops to wave, and wave, and well, wave.

one of my favourite places in japan. Gion. It feels like you've stepped back in time. (Apart from the roadsigns and the cars)

These private eateries are all determined by the symbol on the entrance curtain. The curtain is there to not allow you to see inside, and therefore you can only go in if you know what the symbol means.

So there I was enjoying, quiet, peaceful Gion. When these guys came and started up again. I think they were following me because they so desperately wanted my vote.

love this place.

If you've ever seen or read memoirs of a geisha. You will know how lucky the girl on that poster is. Advertising this years spring dance.

i'm in love with this picture.

it seems strange for them to use digital cameras.

Pagoda.

Billowing the incense over your body is meant to bring you good luck and strength to whichever part of the body you do it to.

Then it was back to tokyo [via night bus] for a breif pit stop before flying back north to home.

Japanese and bagpipes.

Oh Japan. With your men you have dogs in coats.

dinner with friends. Salad was AMAZING.

Yuko is a great singer.

Me and Yuko dueted Mariah Carey. She hit the high notes.

Going home in the rain at some horrible hour of the night I stumbled across these lanterns.

more friends, more karaoke.

We sang J-Pop, and ate donuts. Life is good.

Then it was a train, a plane, and finally a bus back home to Hokkaido where two days later I started work again.

stretch.

This spring holiday was great.
so many new friends, so many drafted plans for summer. Which I can't wait for. Although now I only have 4 months left in Japan. It's all going by far too fast. I never want this to end. But it has to. But until then, I'm loving life here.

kyoto zen [part 1]

2007-04-11T18:17:00.000+09:00

so, then it was off to kyoto.

which took about 30 minutes on the train.

killed some time by walking around kyoto before checking into my hostel, and was lucky enough to chance upon these girls. An up and coming band apparently.

One of many many temples in kyoto.

One of the cutest wish boards I've seen.

and I was SOOO Lucky.

to catch a rare glimpse of a maiko.

these japanese butterflies.

I really wanted to get my fortune told at this shrine. But didn't think my japanese was good enough yet, maybe in summer...

I could have spent all day walking through these gates. Peaceful, tranquil.

managed to stumble upon a bamboo forest. Something I've wanted to see for a long long time.

A single sakura blossom in the wind. A rare and lucky photo.

kyoto is by far too tranquil.

when you experience sakura first hand. You realise why such the big deal.

the next few photos are from an ancient Zen garden laid hundreds of years ago.

the longer you sit and stare into the stone patterns you are supposed to go deeper into your soul.

And discover things about yourself you never knew.

But with all these tourists about I was never gonna get a chance.

Temple made completely of gold.

breathtaking temple.

Pausing for a portrait.

All the japanese take photos of themselves with the sakura plant.
Lucky lucky sakura.

Osaka delights [part two]

2007-04-11T13:21:00.000+09:00

next morning, killing time at starbucks with the gang, before keith had to go get his plane home, after 2 years of travelling. (ouch)

More trekking around Osaka, seeing more random things.

Either I was REAL hungry, or these were the best noodles I'd had in japan.

so so so so good.

more cool guys and girls from the hostel.

next day. cafe. made friends with a dad and his kids in here. They were funny.

sightseeing.

I had to take a photo of this girl. She was working, but wasn't really there. She was somewhere else completely. I'd love to know what she was thinking about.

picnins under the sakura. The national blossom of japan that is only around for 10 days. Japanese love it, and all have massive parties underneath it.

Oh Japan. I will miss you.

Where else can i see dogs driving cars?

very famous Osaka Castle.

not very famous ice cream boy.

amazing japanese instrument player.

wouldnt mess with her.

no way.

one of the best street performers I saw. She definately knew how to win over the crowd.

I had a soft spor for her and her tightrope walking, fire juggling skills.

killing even more time before meeting friends.

thank you osaka. i loved you.

and will be seeing you again in summer.
definately.

Osaka delights [part one]

2007-04-11T12:51:00.000+09:00

ok, so after visiting Osaka, I definately fell for it.
Will be going back there in summer.
loved it.

Arriving in Osaka at some unknown hour of the morning. At 6am, nowhere was open, the only refuge for a few hours until osaka woke up? The glourious macdonalds. See, life in japan isnt all that glamourous.

Walking around, exploring.

sky scraper central.

Stumbled on a tiny little art gallery. Very cool.

And a little shrine.

Where a baby was having his first service.

Little hideaway cafe. Wanted to eat there, way too expensive.

Street performer earning his keep.

Keith, catherine and sam. Some friends I made at the Osaka Hostel I stayed at.

We all did the very toursty thing of going to the aquarium.

Was definately worth it.

Dolphins!

(i like this photo)

This fish gave me the creeps. Still does.

Not a bad job if you can get it. Swimming about in an aquarium all day.

next time we'll use the flash to take a photo of us.

big crab.

my favourite display tank. jellyfish.

Thanks for ruining what would've been a nice photo sam.

thank you aquarium!

Japanese shop, can you see me?

Later that night...

nate and catherine do their horror movie faces.

Acoustic bar was awesome.

These girls sang a few songs I really liked.

After seeing them we got the bug for singing, so we all went to karaoke. Where I was a saviour with my japanese skillz.

More fun in Osaka.

The stories from this bar will never be told.

Awesome girls, very very cool.

Thanks for the fun in Osaka you three!

A few days in Tokyo.

2007-04-11T12:37:00.000+09:00

So the spring break started with 3 quick days in tokyo, meeting some friends. Didn't take a whole lot of photos here though.

those harajuku girls.

Gotta love them.

I'd never be this brave.

seriously.

there was an english girls here too doing cosplay. felt a bit wierd

this was cute, all the girls swapping mobile numbers. See? They are normal after all!

I was waiting for a friend at shinjuku station.

we took some cool shots.

way cool.

Then it was the night bus to Osaka at 11pm.
yawn.

back to the real world...

2007-04-09T11:36:00.000+09:00

hey hey.
I'm back of my spring vacation.

It went so quickly, far too quickly in my opinion.
I made a tonne of new memories, and a tonne of new friends.
I took a whole load of photographs, over 700.

I'll be updating here with all the highlights from my holiday, so keep checking back. and I think I'll be redesigning this blog too.....

It's good to be home, and finally get a decent nights sleep!

hiatus2.

2007-03-22T13:34:00.000+09:00

so.
In 3 hours I start my spring vacation.
I'm going to Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka.

I'll be back on the 9th, so check back then for a world of photos and updates. I'll see you in a few weeks. Have fun and take care. And to guard my page while I'm gone, I'll leave this fierce kid from my nursery, Taimu-Kun.

misc.

2007-03-14T01:08:00.000+09:00

just some photos from the last week or so.

winter is slowly dissapearing.

driving in Date.

the next few pictures were taken by seya-kun.

he loves using my camera.

and I love letting him use it.

but I might have to stop him soon.

since he's started to take better photos than me.

dinner on sunday.

my stomach likes japanese food.

the woman who worked here needed to smile more.

after-dinner lights

self-timer love.

sunrise at some early hour of the morning.

one of the things that keeps me from having washboard abs.

I'd never had starbucks before I came to japan and now I'm addicted.

love my polaroid.

it was asleep, not dead.

I felt sorry for all those puppies, spend all day with people staring in at them.

hahah.

lights.

lights 2.

had a gorgeous steak for dinner.
couldn't eat it all though.....

It's way too late.
and I have to be up way too early tomorrow.

since when did I start saying 'way'?

snowboarding.

2007-03-13T23:27:00.000+09:00

last weekend was the last time I went snowboarding this year.

started from scratch, only been four times, and finally got it.

bang.

crash.

wallop.

these two photos were taken in a mini snow blizzard at the top of the piste.

nate didn't have his goggles on. The tears in the corners of his eyes froze. His eyes are still red and hurt, two days later.

I liked snowboarding.

and I'm sad to see it go.

my friend hiromi was pretty much my teacher.
arigato hiromi-san!

20 minutes.

2007-03-10T00:21:00.000+09:00

just a quick one tonight. i'm in the middle of booking my march vacation and have been far too busy. It's just gone 12:30 at night, and all day I've only been at home for about 20 minutes.

but march holiday.really looking forward to it. And for two of the nights, I'm getting a night bus across Japan. Which should be an experience, i'll try not to fall asleep on it.

more photos and stories coming sooooon.

goodbye noriko.

2007-03-08T00:57:00.000+09:00

today was one of my students last classes. She's moving to the other side of the country.

I bought her a good luck charm, and chocolated. she liked them. she's the one above my head.

In this photo everyone was supposed to be pulling an ugly face. spot the only two who did.

Another one of my students. Love, hate relationship.

Then it was of to the bar for some fun.

i hate flash sometimes.

Taiki-San has a BRASIL t-shirt like mine. Mine is obviously better.

Raw sashimi. I wasn't in the mood to eat it tonight. Stuck to the hot chicken and noodles.

These things we got were cool. They were like little dumplings cooked in banana leaves.

They were hard to get at, but once you did, it was worth the wait.

Look what came in the mail today!
expext a tonne of polaroids soon.

BUT BUT BUT.
My digital camera wasn't very happy that the polaroid came. Because today, one of the buttons on digicam stopped working. And makes it real awkward to take photos. arghhhhhhh.

3 on 3.

2007-03-06T21:35:00.000+09:00

just got in from basketball.

hardly anyone turned up.
so we played 3 on 3 on a full sized court.
I am so worn out.
and having an early night.

I'm also in the middle of organising my march vacation.
Want to do a tiny bit of travelling.
but its way expensive.
sometimes I wish money wasn't an issue.
someone win the lottery.
then give it to me?

you forgot me.

2007-03-04T20:19:00.000+09:00

I left my camera at home today.

I had meant to take a million pictures of the dance performance today.
guess I was just too buzzed.
Performance was amazing.
hit every move on time.
roll on July Competition.

morning.

healthy healthy breakfast.

so, after that photo I left my camera at home.
ughhhhh.

evening.

thirsty. I chose water.

I spent the evening listening to J-pop. I fallen for it.

and here is a photo for the anonymous person who left me a comment yesterday.
listening to katachi arumono.

and heres the movie poster from a new japanese movie I want to see.

I'm dying to see sakuran.

tweak.

2007-03-03T23:23:00.000+09:00

So.

I've just changed the way I upload images onto here.
As I realise this is turning into more of a photoblog.

It will save me a heap of time to upload photos.
and give me more time to enjoy japan and take even better photos!

and clicking on photos will now take you straight to a bigger version of it in my flickR.

heres a lovely picture of my local volcano to show you how it works.

Its way too late.
I need to be in bed.
but there japanese music on the TV.
love it.

goodnight.

dolls.

2007-03-03T21:05:00.000+09:00

nursery againnnn.

smile smile smile.

'hina matsuri'.
Girls day, the festival of dolls and all things girly.

stop being so photogenic kids.

no seriously.

all dressed up.

favourite.

smile for the photo.

friends.

then went to Dah-te with hiromi.

weather was nice.

on the way back home we stopped by the local 'smoking volcano'.
I love that I live in a eruption danger zone.

blue blue.

i like the way this came out.

ATM machine. bain of my life.

butadon and letter writing.

tomorrow I have a big dance performance in the town next to mine.
maybe you'll get to see pics of me in my uniform.

haha.

and i'm feeling good.

2007-03-01T23:42:00.000+09:00

whenever I take my camera in to work at the nursery, I always leave with a million photos.

although its not hard to see why.

this was 'work' today.

there is a reason I look forward to work on a thursday.

skilled.

i LOVE my job.
and this big hill.

green for boys. pink for girls.

check the backdrop.

go sensei go!

Nate has no skills.
but still buts kids safety over his.

as this shows.....
story time.
So I was on my last time down on the sled before going back. And keito-kun, a 5 year-old boy, jumped in with me and said lets go together. So he squeezes in front, and I'm at the back. And we set off.

Now all morning, there has been this smallish block of snow on the slope down, which I think is the left over of a snowman. Anyway, this has melted, refrozen, melted, refrozen. And now basically is a block of ice. All morning the kids have managed to avoid it quite easily as it wasn't really ''in the way''.

You know whats coming don't you?

So off go me and keito-kun head down the slope, and start going real fast. Then, we start veering off to the right a bit, in the direction of the ice-block. And before I know it, there's no real chance of getting out of the way or stopping in time. So, there we are, heading straight for it. I push my leg out in front, trying to stop us in time, but it doesn't work. My leg goes straight in to the block of ice and I think Keito-kun goes flying straight over it, and I somehow manage to break the block of ice with a combination of my speed and leg and end up in a heap.

And then comes the shooting pain in my leg. It hurt, it hurt bad.
But it was made better when all the nursery kids and staff came running over to me asking me if I was ok. My leg hurt a lot, a whole lot. And I was just lucky it wasn't straight when I hit the ice, or I probably would've broken it.

It's still hurting as I write this, and I cant bend down on it properly.
but touchwood, it'll be fine.

And keito-kun?
The kid I did all this for?
He was fine, and wasn't hurt at all, he's one of those kids that wanted to go again straight away.
But he said thank you, and then even asked me to sit with him at lunch.

And thats all the thanks I need!

Food.

goes pretty fast.

double date!

I love kids food. Tastes amazing.

jokes jokes.

eat eat.me and him were the first to finish.

we chilllllllled.

pulled faces.

I like this one.

ahahahhahahaha.

'sup boys?

3 Karate Kids in the making.

Anger management.

the cutest.
end of.

slow eater.

I like this one too.

x2.

whenever I do this, it has them all in hysterics.

Is that me?
he put on all my things as I was getting ready to leave.
hat, gloves, bag.

lookin kinda trendy takahiro!

home home.
and one my favourite kids from the elementary school walked past my window and saw me.
we talked, I gave him chocolate.
he liked.

later I had friends around for dinner.
we talked, ate and listened to disco from the 80's.

pull up to the bumper baby.....

dance dance.

2007-02-27T23:23:00.000+09:00

tonight was dance practice. seven til nine.

we have a big performance on sunday 4th.

nates a good friend.

until he gets you in a headlock.

practice.

practice we need.

I love you *after-dance-practice* meal.

don't let your firework die.

2007-02-26T22:02:00.000+09:00

the weather today was amazing and made yurikos car really warm.

essentials for the journey.

i like this one.

you can never eat too much popcorn.

movie was cooooooool.

restaurant after the film.

she had a massive bowl of ramen.

nates before.

nates after.

baskin and robbins. popping candy and cookie and cream. yuriko made me feel fat by ordering a smaller one than me.

i'm going to miss living in japan when I can't take purikura with friends.

bought this and listened to it on the way back.
and we translated lyrics from japanese to english.
funfunfundaydayday.

hitori asobi.

2007-02-25T21:40:00.000+09:00

been a while.
sorry for not updating.
been busy, with a lot of little things.

this morning I had a ski-walk event.
which left me in far too much pain.
seeing as the shoes were about two sizes too small for me.
''ouch'' was the word of today.

much prefer snowboarding.
going again soon.

today was a chance to relax and take it easy after a hard week.
just did little things.
write letters.
tidy my room.

nothing too exciting.
but also.

I'm starting to love japanese music.
maybe its because now I can understand it a little now.
but today all I was playing on my Hi-fi was J-pop.

mostly the following three.

1. Shibasaki Kou / Hitori Asobi.

2. Mika Nakashima / Hitoiro.

3. Mr Children / Fake.

not quite.

2007-02-20T22:16:00.000+09:00

we didn't win the volleyball competition.
but we came a very respectable 4th.

behind one team of volleyball referrees.
and the A-team of the town I live.

so not bad huh?

and,
my favourite shot of the whole game?
where I dove for the ball.
and ended up sliding into the other half of the court under the net.
this was all on my knees.

which gave me the worst ever friction burns.
and actually managed to melt the plastic on my tracksuit.

Ouch.

volleyball 101.

2007-02-19T21:55:00.000+09:00

welcome to volleyball 101. My team will teach you how to play.
and win.

Catherine-san was probably the best-dressed person in our team.
and had a 'figure-skater' serve to match.

We were a great team.

hiromi has a pretty cracking serve.

Nate gets irritated when he mucks up.
but then he makes its ok again.

by serving from 11-2 to the oppostion.
and bringing my team back to 11-11 before we lost the point.
nice.
So we won our round.
which means we're back again tomo.
maybe for the final.

wish us luck.

dororo dororo dororo.

2007-02-19T15:08:00.000+09:00

yesterday it was off with hiromi to a town near us called mauran.
to see a new film out in japan at the minute.
'dororo'

It was about an hours drive.
We listened to some gorgeous J-pop on the way.

I managed to sneak my camera into the cinema and take some shots of my favourite scenes.
This was one of them, and is a perfect example of what the japanese call 'chimoi-kawaii'.
Or 'disgustingly-cute'.

I won't tell you the whole plot, but I'll go through this scene with you. That big baby loooking thing you can see is made out of spirits of children. 20 children died in a fire, and left a whole village childless. The spirits of these children were confused and didn't know what to do or where to go. So they all merged together to make this one big spirit baby. Which at first frightened the life out of me, and I thought it was evil. But all it wanted to do was play,and had by far the cutest laugh in the world. In the end, the childrens spirits are set free when they help 'dororo' kill the demon who killed them in the fire. Was a very good film, even if i didn't understand most of it as it was in japanese. Oh, and my second favourite scene was a fight with a sakura demon. Very beautiful.

Oh, and the film also starred on of my favourite japanese actresses.
'Kou Shibasaki'.
Which made the film even better to watch.

She's a great actress.
She's got a film out in june where she plays a Maiko, or trainee geisha.
So me and hiromi made a deal to go and see that when its out.

Another volleyball competition in a few hours.
fingers crossed we'll win again.

revamp x2.

2007-02-16T23:57:00.000+09:00

think thats it for redesigning this site for while.
I'm beat.

might be going snowboarding again tomo.
and then its the movies on sunday to see dororo.
been wanting to see it for ages and ages.

can't wait.

revamp.

2007-02-15T23:36:00.000+09:00

So,
just a shorte note.

I redesigned my site.
I was getting a bit tired of the old one.

So, have a look around.
See whats here, and whats new.

hope you enjoy.
Its almost the weekend!

spoils of valentines.

2007-02-14T23:17:00.000+09:00

So.
valentines in Japan is a very different affair to the one I'm used to.
Now the Japanese haven't taken hold of many western celebrations, even christmas isn't that big a deal. But Valentines day, they've took hold of , and bitten tight.

That picture is all the valentine chocolate and sweets and cake I got given.
way too much, way too many calories.
(i definately haven't just eaten a box as a midnight munchie)

but the thing with Japanese valentines.....
All the gifts a man recieves, he has to return in March.]
on a day called 'white day'.
except the gifts have to be twice as expensive.

not looking forward to that at all.
or eating all this chocolate.

gleaming otaru.

2007-02-14T23:02:00.000+09:00

otaru snow festival.
monday.
horrible weather.
amazing day.

I went with yumi, setsuko and yuko.
the next three Japanese poster girls.

Seriously, was some of the worst weather I've seen since I've been here.
Blizzards.
me and Yumi were just plain horrified by the weather.
as you can by the look of shock on our faces.

Otaru is a gorgeous little town.
About 2 hours away from me.
And is most famous for its glass works, and its music boxes.
It was one of the cute little places in the middle of nowhere.
It had some really nice hidden away places, and the snow festival was perfect.

Spotted this girl in the biggest bookshop in Hokkaido.
10 points who can tell me the name of these types of girls.

So otaru snow festival translates from japanese as ''the gleaming otaru snow''.
It's called this because instead of going all big and fancy like sapporo, its really small, and to the point. And it works, perfectly. the river is dotted with candles. And theres small snow sculptures everywhere, all incorporating an array of colours and candles.The most popular one, a little heart dotted with candles. That saw people queuing up to have their photo taken with it.

But Otaru was definitely a fun day.
And on return, this is how Yuko's car looked.
And I was obviously the one who had to clean it all off.
so .... cold.
so .... macho.

self-portrait.

2007-02-09T22:25:00.000+09:00

So.
this is to the people who think I never post enough photos of me on here.
and that they really have seen enough of ''that shrine''.
and they are slowly forgetting what my face looks like.

and I know this,
because out of all my photos on flickr,
the one with the most views?
Is it one of my landscape shots, or one of my out of focus arty shots.

Nope, its just me throwing the peace sign with some girls.

So,
A little treat, as its my five month anniversary today of being in Japan.
I uploaded a tonne of photos of me in front of the camera on my FlickR.

Go see.
and tell me which one your favourite one is by messaging me on here!

Sapporo tommorow!
Fun fun fun.

Winnie the pooh causes bad spelling.

2007-02-08T19:33:00.000+09:00

Yep, its true.
That little guy causes all sorts of spelling mistakes.

I was teaching my adult class yesterday,
and when I asked them all how to spell 'honey',
they all adamantly stated it was spelt HUNNY.
As Mr Pooh Bear spells it on his honey pot.
They were all upset when I told them that was wrong, although I was tempted to let them leave it as it is.
Can't be too mean to one of the characters you grew up with.

This weeks been quite quiet, had a day off on Tuesday.
Then in the evening I had this ''sports evening'' thing.
Just basically a load of sports for you to filter round.

And while I may have been quite good at the 'floor curling(!)'.
I managed to get it handed to me at badminton by a fifty old woman.
nice work me.
But she was pretty good, real good.
(ahem)

Off to Sapporo on Saturday, going to see the Snow Festival.
Which should be quite fun, and is a lot better than it sounds.
Look what I'll be seeing!
And its made all out of snow!

Ugh, early start tomorrow.
Yawn yawn yawn.

Good night Pooh.
Good night Christopher Robin.

setsubun.

2007-02-04T20:14:00.000+09:00

Yesterday was the Japanese festival of Setsubun.
Which is all about casting the bad spirits and demons out of your home.
In japanese the word for demon is ''oni''.
These demons are quite scary things that are basically beefed up monsters.
usually blue or red.

And in order to get rid of these demons out of your house, or in the case of these photos, nursery, is to throw beans and peanuts at them.
This repels the demons and makes it impossible for them to enter.
All the while you shout ''Out with demons, in with luck''

So at the nursery.
The children were told that the demons would be coming and they would have to protect the nursery. So each kid was given bag of peanuts. And they got ready to fight.

Now I hadn't seen the big demon guys before.
And I won't try and act all macho,
but when I first turned round and saw them come into the hall.
I was a bit scared, or shocked.
I dunno.

Anyways, the kids started hitting the demons, and the demons tried to catch the kids.
The highlight was when one of the demons ''kidnapped'' one of the teachers.
And all the students ran to help her.
very very cute.

but the big scary demons weren't for everyone.

They'll be having nightmares for weeks.

hot cakes and spaghetti.

2007-02-04T19:59:00.000+09:00

The other night went to my friend Yumi's house for dinner.
got there and she was playing Sades; lovers rock.

and I was like ''wow, this is one of my favourite albums ever!''
so the music was good.

Haruna (who I keep calling helena), and Hiro came later on.

Yumi cooked some yummy cheese gratin.
I cooked up some gorgeous spaghetti bolognaise.

but we had no cheese!
so had to use that wierd sandwhich plastic cheese.
which was actually quite nice.

And then for desert Helena cooked hot cakes on a hot plate.
And served them with condesded milk and double cream.
I think the word is stuffed.
But helena carried on taking photos of me, even after I complained of being about to explode.

Then spent the rest of the night watching snowboarding videos and listening to Grace Jones.

the walk home at 1am was not fun.
seeing as it was about -10degrees.
I don't knwo how I survived to be honest.

macarena.

2007-01-30T21:56:00.000+09:00

Just got back in from dance practice.
Was good,
except for the last dance we did which was new, and I didn't know the routine.
So as a joke I started doing the macarena.
And they wanted to know what I was doing.
So............
I spent the last half an hour of the class randomly teaching them the macarena.

They loved it, and apparently didnt know it.
So next week I'm taking in the actually song for them to dance too.

Funny how random little things like that happen.

I'm so hungry!
and want to go back to when I had this cake all to myself.
(but when I got given it, I was ill, and couldn't eat a bit)

But now I thing I could manage it all.

snowstorm and graphics.

2007-01-29T17:23:00.000+09:00

Had work earlier.
Junior high.

but now its snowing so much outside.
mini blizzard I'd say.
apparently its going to be upto our knees by the morning.

So, pretty much stuck in the house.
worked on some graphics.
All from my time in Japan so far.
Took a while, they're all vectorized images.

Tell me what you think guys?!!

1. Geisha (tsukino shizuku)

2. Geisha (lotus)

3. Seijin no hai.

4. Toko by night.

5. Nate waiting for the plane home.

snowboarding.

2007-01-28T11:23:00.000+09:00

Last week I went snowboarding for the first time in my life.
Was great fun.
By the end of the day, I could go all the way down the slope without falling over,
which I think is kinda OK.

but the next day,
wow,
did my body hurt.
Too much falling over really takes it out on you.

But I loved it, and plan to take it up.
theres an event coming up next month where you can snowboard through the night,
as in 5pm to 5am.

so I plan to go to that.
(money willing)

photos!

Stretching before you hit the slopes is very important.
So me and Yumi showed them how we do.

Mr Motivator ain't got nothing on us.

Yumi was my sensei for the day.

One of the ''few'' times I fell over.

Me on the ski lift.
(It is ok that these things really scare me?)

a little friendly competition.

2007-01-27T18:47:00.000+09:00

This photos are a month old,
but when Hiromi gave them to me, they were too good not to post.
They are from when I helped out at the nursery in the town next to mine.
We did a tonne of stuff, but these photos are all from when we played ''musical chairs''.
And was of course told to join in.

It was nice and easy to start off with.

Then things sped up a little bit.
And the game got serious.
I wasn't ''overly'' trying to win, but somehow kept turning out lucky.
and before I knew it.....

There were just two of us left.
With one chair in the middle.

We took our positions.

And ran until the music stopped.....

This photo was taken a millisecond after the music stopped.
And makes me look like one of those over competitive people who like to beat children at games.
But don't let it fool you.
I missed the chair on purpose and fell over in true comic style.
Which caused all the nursery children to fal over laughing.

And that little kid was declared a hero at beating a 19year old guy from England.
Little guy was fast though...

ps.
like the new blog header?
like or not?
Tell me in a comment!

Tokyo Blog 3. [final]

2007-01-26T23:30:00.000+09:00

I'm so tired.
My eyes have refused to open properly for the last few mornings.

So.
I haven't updated in forever,
so just thought that I'd give you a brief but meaningful finish to my tokyo blogs.
because I want to start updating with stuff happening now.
Nate goes snowboarding!!

Anyways, for the final tokyo blog.

I guess all in all,
Tokyo was the winter vacation I needed.

It was a holiday without being a holiday.
Every day I was busy, doing something, and when I got back to Hokkaido I was even more exhausted than before.

It was a break from the teaching and routine of ''home''.
I made some amazing memories and amazing friends who I'll keep in touch with for a long time.

In a way I miss tokyo.

I'll go back for a few days next holiday.

but for now.
Thank you tokyo....

tokyo blog 2. [tarako]

2007-01-19T17:22:00.000+09:00

Ok.

So while I was in tokyo I kind of became obsessed.
no addicted..... to drugs.

In the form of two girls called KIGIRIMI.
and their hit song ''tarako''

Its a bit of a cult smash in Japan at the minute.
hum the tune, and someone nearby is bound to recognise it.
as happened to me on the Tokyo Metro. (oops)

The song is all about a type of japanese food called 'tarako'.
Which is basically salmon eggs.

but just watch the video a few times, and you'll see why I'm addicted.
have to listen to it at least once a day now.
I'm not looking forward to the come down.

Tokyo Blog 1. [imperial family]

2007-01-16T19:36:00.000+09:00

So,

I'm going to pick out all the big days I had in tokyo.
And put all the interesting bits in separte tokyo blogs.

So for my first blog I'm going to tell you all about the day I met the Japanese Emperor and the rest of the Japanese imperial family.
And when I said met,I mean saw them.
From about 50ms away.
Behind bullet-proof glass.

but yeah, I ''met them.''

On the 2nd of January of every year thousands and thousands of people descend into the Japanese Imperial Gardens to catch a brief glimpse of the royal family. The family appear a number of times over the day, each time only for a few minutes.

So after about a 20minute walk into the center of the garden I took my position and waited for a glimpse. Then, after about a half an hour waiting I start to hear cheers from one corner of the crowd. And before I knew it, a sea of white and red appeared. Waving flags to welcome the family.

And then there they were.

The crowd went crazy for them.

I'm sorry for the quality of this photo.
This was the only one that came out clear on such a big zoom.
So anyway, from left to right is

Crown Princess Masako, Crown Prince Naruhito, Emperor Akhito, Empress Michiko, Prince Akishino, and lastly Princess Niko.

My favourite is probably princess Masako.
Reading her story is very interesting.
She started off as just a normal girl with normal parents.
She's lived in russia, california, and england.
She can speak five different languages.
She married the prince who she met in university.

Then when she married into the Imperial Household her life changed.
And recently there's been rumors in the press that she was suffering from stress from having to stay in the imperial grounds all the time. Also, she hasn't produced a male heir. Which would have meant Japan changing its 'male heir' law which has been going for hundreds of years.

But then her sister in law had a male son, so now I think some of the stress has been lifted from her head.

Hang in there your highness.
;)

So the 2nd of January was a fun day.
And a definate once in a lifetime experience and I'm glad that I went to see them.
keep it with me for a long long time.

Tommorow it's back to work.
It's going to be hard after such a long time.
But I'm looking forward to it, in a strange, round-a-bout way.

back from tokyo.

2007-01-15T23:30:00.000+09:00

''tadaima!''

pushed the door home a few hours ago.
and back home in hokkaido.

And I'm back a whole lot,
poorer, (Tokyo is far too expensive for its own good)
tired-er, (I realised I'm a night owl )
and (according to yuko) slimmer. (haven't got a clue.....)

but seeing that I was there for just over two weeks.
It went far too quick.

it was all a blur.

new friends.
new places.
loved it.

and to update it all in one blog would be stupid.
so I'll spread it over a couple of days.
I'll be updating my flickR too.

but that won't be in any order.
just as it comes.

so now,
its back to work on wednesday.
which I'm actually quite looking forward to.

so stay tuned,
for tales of Tokyo galore.

hiatus.

2006-12-27T00:07:00.000+09:00

^{well.
tommorow morning I'm off to Tokyo.
bright and early.
plane from Chitose to Haneda.
can't wait.

and while I'm in Tokyo I probably won't be updating this at all.}
^{so.
I should be back on the 15th Jan with fresh stories and pictures from Tokyo.

so until then...

ittarashii!}

merry christmas.

2006-12-25T00:42:00.000+09:00

December 25th.
And a merry christmas from Japan.

over here I get to start it a whole 9hours before you guys back home.
luckylucky.

am working some of the day.
but I'm sure it will be a good, first Japanese christmas.

Merry Christmas.
love nate.

IV Drip.

2006-12-23T12:35:00.000+09:00

So, there I am.
In all my illness.

Sorry for the quality of the photo.
My friend Hiromi took it on her phone.
so so kind.

So thats where I spent a large amount of my birthday.
fun fun fun.

but I did get quite a few presents.
and more cake than I dare to eat.
unless I want to put on a few stone.
seriously.
I think they are all just trying to fatten me up.
I doubt I'll manage to eat it all.

The only cake I did eat all of however,
was a cake my Aunty Sheree sent me for my birthday.
A gorgeous gorgeous cake that transported me straight back to england as soon as I tasted it.
lush lush lush.

nineteen and being on a drip.

2006-12-22T11:44:00.000+09:00

so.
this is just a short post.

thanks to everyone for the birthday messages.
everyone knows that the 21st of december is the most important day of the year.

my birthday this year was spent mostly feeling sick and being in hospital.
with an intraveneous drip stuck in my arm.
not the way I pictured spending my birthday in Japan.

but I'm ok now.
and off to tokyo in 5 days.

I'll have a belated birthday then.

I'll do a longer blog later.
off to work now.

santa.
again.

rice cakes.

2006-12-13T12:19:00.000+09:00

So, only a week late here's some of the photos from the nursery.
The day where we made little rice cake, as a form of celebration for the new year that is approaching.

Every morning starts of with a song,
''Sensei ohio gozaimas, Mina-san ohio goziamas''
pretty much,
good morning teacher, good morning everybody.

And no, before you ask.
All the children aren't wearing bandana's just to be ghetto.
It's for the cooking.

Stupidly cute.

So all the kids got to hve a go at bashing the rice with that HUGE hammer.
Which led to some very funny photos.

Nice Try Kiddo.
Easily one of my favourite photos since I've come to Japan.
love it.

Then we got to roll out the rice, which was like dough.
But a lot fo the kids at the nursery just decided it would be more fun to eat it instead of roll it.

And the younger kids got most of it on them.
instead of ont he baking tray.

End result.
We also made pink ones after.

They were actually quite nice.
You then boil them in water and eat them while they're still hot.
Oishee.

8 days until my birthday.
Which I'm working on......
fun.

bruises and blisters.

2006-12-07T22:28:00.000+09:00

that's what I'm sitting here with.
The two biggest bruises on each knee.
And the soles of my feet are red raw.
but it was worth it.

My team won the volleyball competition.
not bad huh?

there's our team sheet.
our team name was jubilation.

winning wasn't easy though.

heres the scores of our last three games.
First Game: 21-11
Semi-final: 21-19
Final:23-21

The final couldnt have really been much closer.
Went all out.
Our team kicked it.
I made one impossible save too.
I think the last game is how I got the bruises.
Did more diving for the ball than ever.

No photos of my team though.
Since the three photos of us were taken at bad times.
and I don't want to offend anybody.
ha.

oh, and tommorow I'll post a longer blog about my day at the nursery today.
Where we all made the most gorgeous cakes.

nite nite.
So tired.
Early start tommorow.

volleyball.

2006-12-06T21:30:00.000+09:00

so today was the volleyball competition.
went pretty good.

our team did Ok.
better than I thought we would.
came third in our poole.

so tommorow we play again.
wish us luck ok?

Volleyball was a lot more tiring than I thought it was going be.

In the games I could usually be found at the fron t of the court. Since I'm so tall I was like the perfect blocker. Think we got a lot of points like that.

After our last game.
We were pretty beat.
Although on our last game.
the score was 12-14 to the oppostion.
15 is game in volleyball.

anyways.
Going for the ball on their serve I hit it up, and one of my team hits it out.
Seeing as the last shot made me go to my knees, I stayed there and put my head in my hands thinking we'd lost.

Anyway, turns out someone hit it back into play and straight towards me.
I heard frantic screams of ''Nate! Nate!" I look up to find the ball right above me.
I have no time to think so hit it somewhere in the direction of the net.
It goes out.
I doubt I've bee that irritated with myself in a long long time.

but tommorow we win.
definately.

3:46am.

2006-12-06T03:43:00.000+09:00

So what to do at 3:46 am when you can't sleep.

Nate's finishing writing a tonne of letters he's been meaning to do.
staying well below the 4 blankets as it's that cold.

and mostly listening to;

I'm sure the suns going to rise soon.

good night.
or should that be good morning?

santa-san.

2006-12-05T17:53:00.000+09:00

So, being santa was a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be. And I've still got to be him at about 5 other nurserys.

although wow.
those suits are hot.
very hot.

but gave out the presents.
made all the kids smile.
and japanese children are still so polite.
every child said thank you after they got their present.
very nice.

and then I was randomly asked to sing 'Silent Night'
I did my best.
hope to see my video on MTV soon.

winter.

2006-12-04T21:37:00.000+09:00

And as you can tell by the photo, winter is here.
Autumn said goodbye a bit late.
It's been snowing the past two days straight.
loving it.

Sorry for the lack of updates.
been super busy with work.
marking and stuff.
all very very serious.

Oh, and I want everyone who reads this to feel sorry for me.
Guess who's working on his birthday and christmas day?
Yep.

9-1 on the 21st.
9-5 on the 25th.

ouch.
that makes it two years in a row now I've worked on Christmas day.
unfairrrr.

Tommorow it's the nursery's ''Pinnochio Xmas party''.
And guess who santa is this year?
Nate.
I'm sure they won't realise.

Oh, Volleyball competition on weds and thurs.
nothing serious, just with some of my adult class.
(But obviously going to win)
I'll post a tonne of photo's on flickR instead of here.

Oh, and here's a recent picture of me.
Since a lot of you have said I'm hardly in any of my photos.
hope that makes you all happy.

haha.
While I was typing this out Boney M came on my iPod.

bear print?

2006-11-26T15:45:00.000+09:00

So woke up early today and decided to go for walk.
thought I'd climb one of the big hills round near me.

but it kinda turned into a hike
when I lost the path.

which actually was quite good since it turned out I could get a few nice shots.

then decided to go a bit further.
through all types of brambles where I get scratched and thorned.
anyways.
I keep walking,
up to where the snow we had hasn't melted yet.
and then see this.

now the photo doesnt do it justice.
it was about the size of my hand.
I stopped and thought this couldnt be a bear print?
maybe some really huge dog?

but considering that apparently there are wild bears in the area I'm in,
I turned around and went back,
just to be on the safe side.
(obviously getting a photo first.)

elementary school tommorow.
but no high school on tuesday since they all have exams.

oh.
and on the 25th of Dec I'm being Mr Claus.
Santa Claus.
at the nursery.
Ho Ho Ho.

cure for a headache.

2006-11-23T23:01:00.000+09:00

so today I had one of the worst headaches I've ever had.
got back from the shop and my head was pounding.

tried everything to make it go away.
but just wouldn't.
lied down for a bit, still hurt.

struggled and made myself some dinner.
spaghetti bolognaise, which was actually quite lush.
and then crashed in my room and listened to this.

by time I'd finished eating my headache was gone.
nice work.

oh and for the people that asked.
the dance performance went good.
did one wrong move, but doubt anyone noticed.

sorry, I didn't get any photos!!
because for once it was me doing the perfoming and people taking photos of me.
ha.

ps.
talked to faye today.
we reminisced about our holiday to New York.
we laughed, a lot.

snow and dream.

2006-11-22T13:20:00.000+09:00

just woke up and its snowing outside.
think this might be it now.
the big snow.
soon we'll be under 7ft of of it.
photos soon.

oh.
and last night I had the nicest dream.
I was the most amazing swimmer and did the best dive the world had ever seen.
Then I saw a slow motion replay of it in my head.
it was pretty lush.

any dream analysers out there?
shoot away.

Xmen.

2006-11-22T00:07:00.000+09:00

So today.
A hectic few hours which actually turned out to be quite fun.
So finished at the high school early and met Noriko to go to Maouran .
But only for a few hours since I had dance group this evening.

So drove there, weather held up for once.
And then got to mauraun. Which is quite a big town compared to where I am.
Kind of reminded me of Coventry. Size wise.

And then we did Purikura.
(right, you know how people use photobooths in the UK to take photos of them with friends. Well in Japan they've taken it to the next level, having whole floors of arcades devoted to these purikura machines that have a million options and leave you with 4 photos that you can edit and play around with)

This turned out to be a lot of fun.
even if the results weren't that atrractive.

she thought it'd be funny to clock me one in the middle of the shoot.
I wasn't too pleased.

Anyway did a tonne of other stuff, including winning on one of those arcade pick and grab machines TWICE. and I've never done that before in my life. not bad huh?

Then we drove to the CAPE of the province I'm in. It's where Hokkaido meets the sea. The view was amazing, and we caught it just at sunset. This would have been perfect if it hadn't of been raining and far too windy.

We ran back to the car not long after this was taken and headed home.
Passed some huge power stations on the way home.
And I mean immense. Took my breath away. Amazing to see close up. Didn't get to take much photos though. See my flickR for one.
But there was loads of pollution. Wasn't good.

Then headed home and had a very japanese style, healthy meal to end the day.

Can't escape it.
honestly.

Then it was home for a quick break.
Where I got a call from Andrea.
Which kind of made my day!

Then had dance.
Was a rehearsal for Thursday.
See thursday is Labor Day, which is a national holiday.
And we're doing a dance.
should go well.
keep your fingers crossed for me on thursday.

Ps.
This site is on just over 1000 hits.
And my photo page even more.
and only a few people have ever commented me.
If you come here, say something!
please!

zero degrees

2006-11-18T23:03:00.000+09:00

It was 0 degrees celsius today.
nice.
and its going to get colder, fast.

Sitting here with a hot cup of cinnamon tea, and listening to some chilled out Aaliyah.
perfect remedy for the cold.

Well, today it was another early start.
Had to be up early for an elementary festival.

There were songs, and some plays.
All very good.
And the mini-cheerleader dance with pom-poms was very cute.

Then went to Onsen with Shiro, which was fun.
But on the way back we had the most beautiful view.
We could see for at least 3hours in the other direction.
And there was the huge volcano which had the sun setting behind it.
And the clouds gave off a gorgeous orange haze.
And Nate didn't have his camera.
he was irritated.

But yeah, day off tommorrow.
Sleep is needed.

not much else is new.
Dance Troupe peformance on Thursday.
Got my outfit yesterday.

Oh, and this guy has become my best friend.

yuriko.

2006-11-14T18:34:00.000+09:00

In a way I apologise for the stupid face, in a way I don't.
Thats me and Hiromi-san.
Having as much fun as we can with lollipops.
See, Nate knows hows to party?
Although I think it may have been called for, since it was my first day off in how long.

So, its been a while.
And work is still going good.
And I've also started giving this handicapped kid a few extra lessons which is good.
But still enjoying my work. I had my adult class listening to Josephine Baker the other day.
And she's always good.

So, on sunday.
Drove to Sapporo with Nori-nori-san.
or Yuriko as I call her. (long story)
Anyways, started driving, weather was nice.
Before we knew it we were driving through a blizzard.
I felt sorry for her having to drive.
But after a hard 2hours drive that was made easier by Pocky and Nsync (??) we arrived in Sapporo.

Compared to where I'm staying, Sapporo is like tokyo.
It's a massive town, and the capital of Hokkaido. It's got a the biggest mall I've ever seen. We actually managed to get lost at one point. Also the basement had 2 floors???

But one of the highlights was....
(OK, so here's a bit of Japanese culture for you. It's extremely bad manners to walk and eat at the same time. Even like a chocolate bar, or ice-cream or something)

So, we'd just bought these FRESH baked cookies. And wanted to eat them while they were still hot. But since we couldn't eat them anywhere, we decieded the safest place to hide from judging was the elevators. And seeing as this mall had 11floors, we thought we could just ride up and down a few times. So, it went well, until people stated coming into the lift at different floors. And we just act casual while stuffing our faces. It was a whole lot of fun, maybe you had to be there.

But then just went shopping. Even though nothing in Japan fits me. Jackets have to be at least LL just to fit my arms. I ended up buying a t-shirt, and a pair of jeans. Wild I know. So, after running through the rain to the car park, it was time to head home. And this time it wasn't snowing so much, so it was a pretty easy drive for her. On the way home we listened to the Beegees and the Backstreet Boys. I coped, somehow.
ps.
yuriko doesn't like her photo taken, but this is one I managed to snap. I likes.

pocky.

2006-11-10T18:44:00.000+09:00

addicted.
end of.
these things are gorgeous.

It stopped raining today at last.
Have to be up at 6 in the morning.
Nursery festival tomo.
Should be fun.
I've taught the children 'this way, that way'.
So we're performing that.
We're are obviously going to win the next emmy, or oscar.

in 10 minutes I'm off to Yosakoi.
performance in two weeks.
at the culture festival.

Gambatte ne!

rainbow.

2006-11-08T14:10:00.000+09:00

I saw my first rainbow in japan today.
It was just after I finished at the junior high.
I didn't have my camera, I was annoyed.

junior high was fun today.
I made one of the classes cry with laughter.
with my performance of being scared on a plane.
oscar winning.

I haven't really taken much photos over the last few days.
plus its been raining the past 2 days straight.
:(

everythings going great still.
nursery performance on saturday.
singing ''this way, that way'' with all the nursery kids.
there should be a tonne of photo's then hopefully.
till then, ciao.

culture day.

2006-11-03T21:17:00.000+09:00

so today was a holiday.
culture day - 3rd of November.
Originally Meiji Emperor's birthday, (current Emperor's great-grandfather) renamed Culture Day after his reign. Every year on this day the Japanese government gives out Bunka Kunsho (the highest rank of Culture Award) to a few people who devoted their lives to promoting Japanese culture or higher achievements in academic fields. Photos featuring the recipients and their spouses taken in the Imperial Palace grounds will be found on the front pages of Japanese newspapers on this day. Many other awards will also be given to thousands of people who made distinguished contributions to Japanese society. Many institutions of higher education such as Japanese universities and high schools hold Culture Day to display their research projects, hold debate sessions, etc. November 3rd is one of the days with the highest probability of fine weather over the past 100 years of meteorological record keeping in Japan. Chrysanthemum displays are also found in various gardens around town.

So, for my taste of culture day I got to witness a tea ceremony. Completely different to anything I've seen before. It was a ritual, making a cup of tea took about five minutes. It was a ornate series of structured movements, and definate placings. The whole act was hypnotising, and really took you in. So, I gave it a go. You pay your 300Yen, and sit down on the front stool. Then you are given two sweets, which you don't start eating until the tea ceremony begins. Then, the ceremonist begins making your tea, which involves over fifty movements and placings, all very beautiful and intricate. Then, when the tea is finished, you are given it with a bow, and take it with a bow too. Then drink it, but only holding your cup a certain way. (I copied that off the person next to me). But the tea was lush, and the ceremony was beautiful, and definately a taste of japanese culture.

Then I spent the rest of the day relaxing. And also changed my bedroom around, I just thought it need a change. It still hasn't started snowing yet. Not looking forward to the next two weeks. Only one day out of 14 off, ouch. I guess can kiss any lie-ins bye bye.

happay halloween.

2006-10-31T21:55:00.000+09:00

happy halloween from Japan!
hope you've all been trick and treating.
haha.

not much tonight.
I got a tip off today about some photo competition in my area, so all day been choosing, printing rushing around. See, the deadline was 6pm, and I got mine in at 5pm.

I chose the picture on my flickR called shrine at dawn.
I had to give it a title in japanese,
as it was at 5am, I was going to call it 5am dream.

but eventually, after much translating and everything.
The title for my picture is, ''Yoreno no Yume''
Which translates as, ''Dream of the Daybreak''
I actually liked that a lot.

so yeah,
If I win first place, I get £300.
results are out next month, so keep your fingers crossed.

Its storming outside, and I can't sleep.
It might snow tommorrow too.

house party.

2006-10-30T17:22:00.000+09:00

2nd house party at mine.
In the picture.....

left to right.
Yumi, Hiro, Nate, Taiki and his wife and baby (akachan), Takete.btw, that baby is by far one of the cutest babies I've ever seen. And I let his mum use my room when everyone got too noisy.

We ate octopus, rice, and some gorgeous pasta cooked by me. That actually reminded me of home. But is was lush, and everyone enjoyed it. Oh, and then I was playing my music, and Little Eva's ''The Locomotion'' came on, and everyone started dancing. Apparently they all new the song, this led to much fun.

''Everyone's doing a brand new dance now,
come on baby, do the locomotion.
A chigga chigga rhythm like a railroad train now........'

japanews.

2006-10-27T21:00:00.000+09:00

So, open the national Japanese newspaper, 'maoran mimmoro' today, to page 14 and guess who you'll see a feature on.
Yep, its Nate. Not bad huh? Haven't been here two months and already I'm being featured in the news, (even if it is page 14). Give me a few more months, I'll be on TV. haha.

But no, it was just about me and my photography. And they gave my website address in the article too, so today my page had over 200 hits. Although, I'm glad the photo they used turned out ok, since they took it about 5 minutes after I had finished working at the nursery, and was tired, and sweaty and genreally looking my best.......

So, the article was all in Kanji, which is the hardest form of Japanese. I did my best at translating it, but think I might wait and get someone to translate it for me. I did a little and managed to get....

''Nathan said, "....where the sky is deep is expressed fascinating the townspeople who are accustomed to scenery. Other than the temple and the cherry tree, now it is absorption in the tinted autumn leaves. You do not separate the camera always and aim for the best shot that the smiling face is shown.''

I'm sure I've probably done it wrong, but its roundabout what the article said. Or the one paragraph I spent like an hour translating. When I get it properly translated, I'll post it on here.

It's 9pm here, and I'm about to fall asleep. So so so tired. I think I get to lie-in tomo, but knowing me 'll wake up early anyways.

long time no blog.

2006-10-26T23:32:00.000+09:00

So, in the last few days I haven't been that busy.
Was a vampire for a night, climbed an active volcano, held the best halloween party this towns seen, and had an interview with a national japanese newspaper, who are doing a spread about me and my photography. Not bad for like 3 days huh?

So, Halloween party.
Nate was a Vampire, it was for my adult conversation class. And I threw an amazing early halloween party for them. All pumpkins, candles and gore. We played a tonne of games, which were to be honest, a tonne of fun, with scary music and lots of tricks, they announced it as one the best party ever. And, in my honour, they are throwing me a well done party for me. Which I kinda think is just an excuse for more fun, but still, a party in my honour? I'm not complaining.

And then for the active volcano. Mt. Uzu, is about 20 minutes from my house, and is one of the few active volcanoes in Japan. It last erupted in 2000, and it was pretty big. It's erupted about once every 100 years, so I think I'm safe for now. But we had to watch a video on what we should do if it erupts, it was all in Japanese but I kinda got the gist of it. So, I think if it erupts, I'll be kinda safe. Oh, and by the way, the Japanese for 'volcano eruption' is 'fun-ka', which literally translates as 'fire fountain', which I think is kinda cool.

It was a very hard walk, especially since I was wearing the wrong shoes. There wasn't really a path either. And I've noticed that the Japanese aren't really big on safety. For example, there was a massive canyon, and you could, if you wanted, just walk right over the edge. No fence, no sign, nadda. But the ground still smoked, and you could put your hand on the ground and feel the heat. It was kind of breath taking, and also relaxed me a whole lot.

And yeah, I had an interview with a Japanese newspaper, about my photography and me coming to Japan. So I'm going to have a feature on me in a Japanese newspaper, which I'm looking forward to. I'll post that as soon as I get a copy.

Its been a hectic few days, and I'm so, so tired. And I've got a busy few days in front of me too.
Ouch.

rain.

2006-10-22T18:19:00.000+09:00

Day off, and it rained all day, so I've been stuck inside. But it's been good, chance to relax for once. Life is still amazing. Yesterday went to Tomokomai with some friends, did some shopping. Even though, none of the clothes fit me over here. Tshirts have to be XL just to fit me, while still being tight. So, I bought one t-shirt all day, and a few things for my room, which is almost finished now. Oh, and I've got my first Yosakoi performance next month, so have to practise a tonne for that. on Wednesday its my adult classes Halloween party, so need to get, or make a costume somehow.

Anyways, sorry it's such a short one, and I need to start taking more photo's. I seemed to have slowed down recently, and it's definately a habit I don't want to get out of. Oh, and I think you should all listen to Skye's new album, Mind How You Go. Listening to it right now, perfect for long, rainy, cold days.

marathon.

2006-10-16T17:13:00.000+09:00

So, today I only had one lesson at the junior high. Because today the students were doing a test run of the mini marathon they are going to be doing on Thursday. Girls are doing 3Km, and the boys were doing 5K.

Was a lush day, and they all did it pretty quickly. And one of the things that surprised me was just how much of a good mood they were in. I'm used to cross country being depressing and stuff, but they loved it over here.

But it was the same as everywhere, when they all finished. Everyone was tired.

Very tired.

26K.

2006-10-10T17:30:00.000+09:00

So, finished at the high school early today, and the weather was lush. So I decided to go for a bike ride around the lake, 26KM's in all. So I get changed, grab my jacket, iPod and a bottle of water and go.

This photo was taken in my new favourite place in Japan. In the middle of my ride, I decided to take a break, and found this gorgeous little hideaway, that overlooks the lake, and is amazingly quiet and peaceful. I stopped here for a drink, and took a few photos.

Also found this little pebble beach, which was completely deserted. Stayed here for a while, then carried on until I reached the end. It was an amazing ride, saw some beautiful views and places. I took a heap of pictures, and mostly listened to Billie Holiday and Kirsty Maccoll.

day off.

2006-10-08T20:21:00.000+09:00

The past few days have been as hectic as ever, working and early mornings. And its starting to move into Autumn, and everythings becoming a lot more beautiful. Definately getting settled in a lot more too. Faces are getting more familiar, the foods getting more usual, and I'm slowly but surely learning a lot more Japanese. Work is going well, getting on more with the kids and teachers, and teaching is slowly becoming a lot easier. Nursery kids are the highlight of the week for me. Still don't have any free time or lie ins, working 24/7, and then doing a lot in the evening. So, I was very happy that today was one of my first days off in a long time, and it was still as busy as ever. But it was a great day, if a little tiring. Last night we had a little gathering around Yumiko's house, with a few people around. Had some delicious food, even though there were some baby octopus' on the table. We had a great time, we listened to music, danced and all that jazz. Before we knew it, itwas far too late, and I ended up getting back home at 2 in the morning. After then getting a random case of insomnia, I managed to get to sleep. And was woken up by my alarm what seemed like five minutes later. After a quick shower, I got picked up by Shiro and his wife, and we drove up to Date, which is the nearest biggest down to where I am. Here I finally managed my mobile phone, and then the fun really began. We then drove to a district near Noribetsu where they still practise all the traditional aspects of the Japanese Eido Period.This covers people like Geishas, Ninjas and Samuris. The place itself is truly stunning, all old buildings, surrounded by countryside, and the nearest town is like 20 minutes drive away. First off, we got to walk through a ninja house, that was full of tricks, sloping floors, ninja stars and fake walls, which all turned out to be a whole lot of fun. Then we were treated to a ninja performance, and those guys were amazing at what they did, top class. Then came the geisha performance, and this was the highlight of the day. They really did take my breath away. They definately do carry with them an air of exotic mystery and beauty.

Call it raw silk: the lotus-and narcissus ...... I watch you lay out geisha arts.

first one.

2006-10-05T19:50:00.000+09:00

So, its been almost a month in Japan now, and it's gone by far too quickly.It feels like it's been about a week or so, seriously, way too fast. So, life here in Japan is amazing, even better than I thought it was going to be. It's been pretty hectic since I got here, and that shows no sign of letting up. Arriving in Tokyo blew me away. It was all so much more than I imagined, busy, hectic, and 24hours. I spent 3 days in Tokyo in total, made some good friends, and had a lot of fun. Visited a tonne of places, from the quiet and tranquil Mejii Shrine, to the loud, bright and in your face Akibara. I sang karaoke, set off firework in the middle of Tokyo Park, ate octopus and squid and walked across the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world. Tokyo was immense, did so much, and got to know so much more about Japan, really was an amazing intro. Although, from the few days in Tokyo I have to say that my favourite memory was walking around at 2am, sharing a iPod earphone with Yuki. Just one of those little memories that make you smile.Then it was off to Toya-Cho, Hokkaido, to get on with my actual project. Now my first impression of Toya was kinda nothing, I was speechless. And I guess you all know thats not like me....... But anyway, Toya is stunning beautiful, definately one of the lushest places I have ever been. The scenery takes your breath away, the air is amazingly clean, the people are so friendly, and everything is pretty much.....great. On the first morning I got here, I woke up at about 5am, and couldnt sleep, a mix of jetlag and nerves I guess. Anyway, so I get up, get dressed, grab my camera, hat and scarf and go exploring. OK, I say exploring, I just kinda went walking to the shrine thats here. But it was perfect. I sat and watched the sunrise coming up over the mountains, and wrote in my journal. And all this time all I could hear was birdsong, pretty idyllic. That evening I had a welcome party, where I managed to stumble through a Japanese speech, but I got a round of applause at the end, so I'm guessing it went good. So, not long after that the work starts. I do 6 jobs altogether. Every monday its the Junior high school (13-15), teaching here is pretty fun, kids are all very energetic. Then on a Tuesday its the High School, which is a boarding school too. I've only had introductory lessons here, but the kids seem cool enough, even though they all wear towels around their shoulders in the lessons. On a wednesday its the junior high again, and then in the evening it the Adult classes. I'm currently teaching the advancded adults, which is a small group of all quite experienced English speakers. This gives me a lot more scope for lessons though, like yesterday, I had them listening and interpreting a Nina Simone song, which lead to them talking for about an hour or so. Thursday is the nursery, where the kids are far too cute. For the three, four hours I'm there I have the most stupid grin on my face, those kids could cheer anyone up. Then friday is the hospital, which is probably the hardest day of the week for me, and I usually come home pretty beat. But so far, everything is great, and I know it can only get even better. Its about to turn to Autumn here, the leaves are starting to go red, and gold. And everything around here is about to turn picture-perfect. Well, that was a long one, to make up for the lack of one before, but I guess from now they'll be a lot shorter, and with a tonne more photos. So, for now, talk soon, leave me a comment or two....... Matte-ne!!