Hi everyone,

I know it’s been a while but I’ve been pretty busy the last few weeks and I like to wait until I have a decent amount to write. Time is still flying. I must be having a good time. Just over four months since I arrived.

I bought a car. It is a 1999 Nissan Wingroad. Full time 4WD, 1800cc, Automatic, electric windows, alloy wheels, roof racks and 99,000km on the clock. Aud $1800. It’s a very comfy car. It bought it from a prefecture about four hours away. A local Pakistani man owns a restaurant here in town ands also a car export business. He did absolutely everything for me in the process of buying a car from an online auction to having it delivered and on-road, all as a favor.

Winter has just begun and it has turned quite cold in the past fortnight. Average daytime temps are just below 10 but late at night and early morning it has been about 3 degrees. So the thermals are on. Gloves will soon be a necessity and so too a beanie. Not looking forward to the months ahead of falling over on the icy pavement.

I caught a bus down to Osaka city on Sunday and on the way out of town, about two minutes drive past my house, all the mountains tops were covered in snow. Locals say that the first snowfalls of winter in Maizuru usually happen mid December.

A couple of weeks ago, I went hiking in some local mountains with a few friends to see all the colored leaves at the end of autumn. We finished the days climbing with a long relaxing onsen. Inside the onsen sauna, there is a wall mounted plasma TV that has all the Sumo wrestling matches across Japan. You couldn’t be any more immersed in the culture than having an onsen and watching sumo.

I had my observation week a little while back. Overall, it went very well. Kids were generally well behaved and the parents were quite happy. After the nerves of the first day, I just continued the week pretending the parents were not sitting there watching. It was all over before I knew it.

Three weeks ago, I attended my first ‘tea ceremony’. Really trying to get as deep into the culture as possible. It was in a village of a nearby town. It is like having a cup of tea with friends, without saying much for the first 10 minutes and following precise methods of picking up the cup, drinking, giving thanks etc. It’s a very interesting aspect of Japanese culture. Following the tea ceremony, we sat down to a very traditional Japanese country meal. The event was held in one of the most old and traditional houses in the area. Yep, I was the only foreigner there in a group of about 30. Stood out like a sore thumb, but everyone was very polite and friendly.

Last Tuesday, some students and I ate at a very traditional local restaurant that was about 500m from my house. Expensive but great food. On my menu was, Kawahagi (leatherjacket) liver. This was probably the best dish of the night. A very similar texture to foie gras. Next were female snow crabs where almost the entire crab was eaten, eggs and all. Third was a sashimi platter. The fourth dish was Namako (sea cucumber/slug). An almost bland dish so a dipping sauce was on hand. A very strange and tough texture. Worth trying though. Lastly was a hot-pot dish of udon noodles and vegetables. Of course, beer and sake was there to accompany. The chef and staff were shocked at the amount I ate and also that I liked all the dishes. They told my friends to tell me to come back again and just put money on the counter and not say a word, they will look after me.

Restaurants aside, I have been eating bucket loads of prawns and bananas. Both are very very cheap. I have been averaging 2 bananas a day and prawns about three times a week.

Even though it is winter, the bananas are imported and I usually buy 5 bananas for about $1.30. Sorry to rub that in.

I went to another cheap concert recently. A big, local Jazz orchestra played at the city hall. Tickets were about $12.50. After the concert, the students I was with took me out to their favorite ramen bar.

I have three weeks holiday starting December 18^th. I am going snowboarding in Shiga Kogen, Nagano (98 winter Olympics) for 5 nights. I leave on the 22^nd and arrive back in Maizuru on the 27^th. My first white (and cold) Christmas. Speaking of Christmas, our school Christmas parties are coming up the weekend after next. Three children’s parties and an adults party over two days. I have the joy of dressing up in the Santa costume for all the Christmas parties. The adult’s party is at Fururu farm (mentioned in a previous blog) which should be a lot of fun.

Hope I haven’t forgotten anything.

Hope everyone is well. Miss you all,

Tim