The school term has now started. As much as it was good to rest up in the spring holidays, I did get so bored doing nothing. The teachers have changed around and I think I can have a good influence on the classes I'll be taking part in. It's hard to say now, though, but the new teachers seem receptive to ideas and want my input. I hope to leave Japan on such a high note.

Wii + Resident Evil 4 = So Much Awesomeness

http://www.capcom.co.jp/wii_bio4/operation/index.html

Uchiko has a sister city in Germany, Rothenburg and every year people from Uchiko go there and vice versa. The Germans arrived last night, I think there were 14 of them and today was their welcome party. I didnt have much of a hand in organising it, but my taiko group played our drums as some traditional Japanese entertainment. It was fun, though busy busy meeting everyone and helping people communicate in the defacto language which turned out to be English.
I was surprised by how good the Germans' English is, especially the young people. They have such a good grasp of the language and on such a higher level compared with the Japanese.

As an aside, last summer I made the Uchiko Town International Association (UTIA) homepage tri-lingual. It has just been put online, long time over due I know and it needs updating, it is here: http://utia.jp/

Had a quality evening yesterday chillin out eating, chatting, and playing games.
Met my supervisor who I havent seen for such a long time because she went on maternity leave. She'll be back to work in time to say goodbye.
Also, I had my first play on the Nintendo Wii. A bit of sports went down well. It was so much more fun (and less humiliating) bowling on the Wii rather than for real! But thats just cos I suck at sports!
Maybe I'll get one when I get home.

Quality in a little white box.

Based on proper scientific study, the harmfulness of drugs has been calculated.
I find it interesting both how high alcohol is and how low some class A drugs are.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6474053.stm

After an afternoon of hard cleaning, like proper scrubbing the year of grim from staff room floor, I tried to get the low down on which teachers are moving.
At the end of every academic year in March up to about 1/3 of the teachers will be transferred to another school. This means that although there is a breath of fresh air in the school, it means that teachers cant really settle in for more than a few years.
One school was being so secretive about it, but another openly said who was going where. These differences are so strange.

I went to judo again tonight, and had a good work out. I really want to get a brown belt and I'll have my next chance mid-April.

Bank holiday tomorrow. Yay! So I have the rock n roll lifestyle which includes pulling the huge weeds that are making a mockery of my non-existent garden.

Have fun, enjoy the sun.

Tomorrow that is!
With Pancake Day coming back with a vengeance in Uwajima.

Why only eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday? They taste so good, you can eat them anytime!

I really have to think about the direction my life will take.
My contract will end and I will come home in August, but then what will I do.

There are numerous choices, some easier than others, but then the easiest choice isnt necessarily the right choice. What I do with the rest of my life is important. Although I can do research and plan, really I will have to decide when Im back in England. Im sure that then, my thinking will be influenced by just being at home.

No one knows what the future holds, but keeping those special people around is important.

I guess I've been away from computer and technology related stuff for too long!

You can now buy a 2Gb USB Flash Memory Stick for £11.50!
That is soo cheap. How can you afford not to get one!!

St. V was a nice guy right, so even if the meaning has changed, let's all be nice to each other. If not forever, then for just one day.

Whether single or not, take some time to spread the love!

The results of the Japanese language test I did in December came in today.
I passed Level 3 of the JLPT exam! Yay!!

On a lesser note, everyone has been getting ill recently and so it was inevitable that some of those many little viruses should make their way inside me. Its nothing too bad, but I know I should take it easy.

It's the funeral tomorrow and I'm really trying not to be down about it. Cant be helped I suppose.
Thinking about life is one of the ways Im dealing with it; namely my life.
I will be coming back to the UK in August after having finished a fantastic 2 year tenure in Japan with the summer festivals. Then what...

I have just assumed I would just get a job. Now that I have actually started looking into it, its not as easy as I first thought. Ive looked into a few companies now and I think some kind of graduate program would be good for me. That or something which will train me up over a few years. The only trouble with these is that they tend to start in September because, of course, they are linked to the academic calendar. Applications are sent Dec-Jan time with interviews about a month later. I cant do interviews in Japan, so there was no way of apply to start as soon as I get back.
There are some jobs that I can apply to at any time, but these are not usually training schemes.

Trying to think outside the box, the thought of going back to uni and spending a year doing a MSc. This would mean I could do something useful while looking for work by improving my now rusty skills, and would mean I would have more success in getting a graduate job, in theory. The cost is the biggest off putting thing though. Courses cost about £5000 and then there's living expenses and then my current student debt...
Can you get a student loan for a masters I wonder?

I shall have to think fast, because whatever I decide, I'll have to act in the next months.
What to do... what to do...

One of the Japanese teachers I have had the pleasure of working with since I came to Japan has sadly passed away. She was always so energetic and enthused everyone around her with jokes and strong spirit. It is such a shame she went so young; she was only 60. She had almost finished her last classes with me at my school too!

The funeral is on Saturday. It's very fast, but that's Japanese style.
It really is such a sad thing.

Mrs. Takeuchi, rest in peace.

A student asked me how to spell 'cheetah' today.
I couldn't remember the last letter!!
I suck!

My English has most definitely gone down since I've been in Japan.
Maybe reading more will help it out...
I will need to kick serious ass in interviews to get a decent job when I'm back.

Yesterday was fun!
The annual Uchiko Town Ekiden Relay race was held with nearly all the students in the town and loads of adults taking part.
My leg of this 6 part race was the last, 4.3Km. Last year I ran the same distance in 17.21 so my aim was to get some time in the 16 minutes kinda range.

Hurrah!! My time was 16.55! Yay. Our whole team did really well coming in 4th overall in our league. The students compete against each other and the adults have separate groupings.

Our running group's womens team of amazing again, getting 1st again!!

There was of course the obligatory and way fun party afterwards and karaoke! Fun, fun.

On this day in 1995 was the infamous Kobe earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/17/newsid_3375000/3375733.stm

On a lighter note, last weekend, I went to Seto to run in the Ekiden Relay Race there. It's such a beautiful place. It's on the longest peninsula in Japan, I think. It was a beautiful day and the sea looked fantastic!

I ran my 1.6Km in 6.02. Feel pleased cos only 3 people were faster than me in my leg!
Gotta prepare for my town's race in a couple of weeks now.

http://kanjiwheel.googlepages.com/Kanjiwheel.htm
It is about complete. Yay!!

So when I first tried to write Japanese using my standard computer, not luck. After trying some crappy programs, I had to make something that was at least half decent. And here it is.

Simple to use, you can write Japanese using standard keyboard input. And not just hiragana either, oh no! The stops were pulled out and you can write lots and lots of Kanji! Conjugated verbs and adjectives too!

If you have any interest in Japanese at all, take a look.
If you think its useful tell people about it, make a link to it, tell me how good it is!
By the way, its free; the best price!

Kanji Wheel

Yesterday, there was a tiny bit of snow, but nothing to get excited about.

I want to get out and do a bit of running. It's race season and the first one is next sunday. My leg of the race is really short so I need to work on my speed more, but its so hard to get motivated if its raining outside.

Photos of the Philippine trip are up.
Take a look: http://www.flickr.com/photos/71523244@N00/

So just got back off my trip. From a nice hot country, to rain...
But it was a fun trip and a welcome change from Japan. It was the first time I got to have a hot New Years.

On a different note, I have recently been introduced to the latest Internet fad: Facebook.
If you have an account and want to add me, please feel free.