Today is a day I should be spending de-cluttering the apartment in anticipation of getting the all-clear to move apartment next month.  However, having felt like a pig shat in my head all week, I've decided that today is the summer equivalent of "Bed, Bath and Book" day, in which I do nothing but laze around in bed, read books and have a nice long ( Read more... )

Here you are:

Ina

'And so you are going abroad; and when do you return?
But that's a useless question.
You hardly know when you are coming back,
You will find so much to learn.' T.S. Eliot ( Read more... )

In my previous post I put up a clip of Yoshio Kojima, whose morning workout is having absolutely no effect, save for improving my ability to stomp and amuse small children. When we go canvassing for new students in Ina, however, we rely on the Hard Gay technique:

Click to view

So the news I posted about on Sunday, or whenever, is that I will be going to Cairns ( Read more... )

Not really much to say about this one. I've been planning a trip to Takato, the next town east of Ina, but it looks like it could be a long cycle so I've decided to start going out more often on my bike with the intention of readying myself for the long trip. This morning I went North along the river, yet again seeing how long it took before I ( Read more... )

Yesterday was a rather lovely day, so to escape the stifling heat in my apartment I slapped on the SPF 50 and went out on my bike. I had planned to see how far along the river I could go by following the small road that runs along my side of the confluence, but after city hall it became a smaller road and ended up circling round some sort of stone ( Read more... )

As it's Xmas today, I decided to get up and clean my apartment before opening my presents. Okay, I did the main room. The kitchen is too painful a thought. After opening the presents (sweeties, a calendar, a CD) I had a bath and then went for a walk. I've had my eye on this group of trees I can see from my apartment over the other side of town ( Read more... )

”I wish they were not so beautiful; if they were not so beautiful and so inaccessible to me, then I should feel less lonely, although, after all, I came here in order to be lonely.”

The Smile of Winter, Angela Carter

( 1730 words )

This past week was my first in Ina, and a far cry from Tokyo. The three hours bus journey here heralded not only a change in scenery, but a change in the pace of life. From the crowds and incessant noise of Tokyo, to near desertion and a comparative peace. But Japan requires a soundtrack for its population, and that is the first of my musings ( Read more... )

Here's my write-up of my first week in Japan. It's 2000 words long so make sure you're sitting comfortably. Links to pictures included.

( Here you go... )