Japenglish

I never really noticed how long ago the cicada stopped. Must be the change in weather over the lastfew weeks. It was a constant reminder of how foreign this place is, as I've never lived where they're so constant throughout every day.

I've been out three times this week with the guys with the last two being until 6am and 4am respectively. I'll never be able to say I didn't check out the night life of this place.
Wednesday had us at what seems to be another regular pub for the guys where it has 300 yen beers once a week. After a few hours we moved onto another place where I ended up chatting away to the bar chick who didn't speak English at all. It was all pointless gibberish, really. Where I was from, when did I get here, what do I do etc. However, it was a lot of fun. Amusing to think back on... especially since I went back there last night a little more sober.

She was a chatty again, but didn't come over til we were leaving. Asked if I was going home or moving on elsewhere etc.
I then managed to miss the elevator while I had my back turned whereby the guys all disappeared. So we kept chatting while we waited. The elevator came again, which was quite full. I jump in and, as the door closes, an alarm thing goes off. "Too heavy," was what someone brokenly pointed out to me...
So I ended up having to get out and wait with the bar chick again. She looked at me, wondering what I was doing and I had to break the news that I was too heavy. At least she had a good laugh.

So the guys were waiting at the bottom, wondering what had become of me (even called me to see what I was doing). I did finally make it out of that place, though. And so we headed off someone else.


I'm having too much fun with all the little quirks of this country, but you'd have to see them for yourself to 'get it' sometimes.
We got to the next place, which was a quiet little bar on the way back to the apartment. There were only a few people in there, but ended up having a long chat to this Japanese guy who spoke fluent (and very native/slang/good) english since he'd lived in Canada for 3 or so years. Nice guy, but was strange to compare someone like him (who was 24 y/o) to the students at Nova. This guy hasn't done any real study since school, but simply lived in an english speaking country for as long as he did. If Nova's students had the time in their lives to move overseas, they'd end up saving more money and would become fluent much faster.
The Japanese lead busy lives though...

I'm already dreading having to go home in 17 months. It just doesn't seem enough time.

Settling In (again)

Not much to report really.

Spent Saturday arvo and night out and out with Duncan and the guys; playing pool then onto what is seeming to be 'our' bar, "The Midnight Express", to which I've now been a few times. It's run by a Turkish guy, Jay, who's lived in Melbourne's St Kilda for ages before moving over here. The amount of people from Melbourne over here is just crazy and isn't really funny anymore. He does make an awesome kebab sandwich though.
So we watched 3/4 of the Gamba vs game (which had Gamba leading 3-0 with about 20 mins left in the game, but it was Duncan's night so the channel was changed) before Duncan's dream came true to finally be able to watch Scottish Premire League football, which he says he's never been able to see his team play since coming to Japan so many years ago. So it was the Celtics vs Rangers game, of which Duncan is a Rangers fanatic (being a Scotsman and all). They undisputedly lost, but it was still a fun night.

I went out and about today updating my address details at my bank and for my mobile as well as sending off the apartment key for Takarazuka to the Osaka Nova office, setting up my rent to automatically be paid from my account into the real estate's, and stopping by the 100 yen shop on the way home.


Dimi offloaded a heap of stuff to me last night. I scored an (old) toaster oven, pots, pans, a kettle, plates, bowls, glasses, chopping knife & board, a handful of different utensils, a torch, some candles, an alarm clock and a few other odds and ends. I'll be getting her rice cooker cheap soon too.

From Matt, the Canadian guy who moved out yesterday morning, I scored some cheap curtains
and fairly new iron (it's cordless!). Just need an ironing board now though...
In my mailbox yesterday, I found a handful of Lonely Planet books and Japanese learning books from Matt too. He seemed to just want to get rid of everything and actually got a microwave off him for nothing too. Haven't tried it out yet though.

I thought about his leather couch/bed thing (is a couch but folds down flat to a bed) but decided I really don't need it. Would have been handy to sleep on (or for any visitors to sit/sleep on) but wasn't worth the price he was asking for it. No idea what became of it because if I didn't take it, it probably ended up being thrown out anyway.

A table and chair(s) would be nice, especially to study on. Also, Dimi's giving me a TV/VCR cheap. Not sure what else I really need in this place now. Just that elusive ironing board, which I looked around today for one but no idea where I'll find one.

Still waiting on this washing machine to be installed too. Went down to Yoshiko's office today, but she was away til tomorrow. They said it's being sorted out though and should be done soon.


Time for work...

Home

I guess I'm leeching net access again...

It wasn't my fault... I turned on my laptop here and it connected to someone's unsecured wireless straight away. I'm not downloading anything really, so I'm not too guilt-ridden yet. I'll have cable installed soon anyway.


I managed to move everything here, to Shin-Kobe from Takarazuka, in just two trips on Thursday. The first was when I met Yoshiko at Nigawa. Carrying that futon to Takarazuka station was painful, but at least the bag on my back wasn't too heavy.
A few hours later, I was on my way back to Shin-Kobe on my second trek. However, this time wasn't something I ever wish to repeat. I packed every last thing I had from Takarazuka, which included my laptop and it's gear as well as heaps of paperwork etc I've collected since I got here (phone, bank account, work, etc).
I truly don't know how I made it here. I was carrying the bag with my suits in on in front of me, and then my pack clipped to my back. It took me about 25-30mins to do the walk from Sannomiya-Hankyu station to Shin-Kobe where it should only take about 15-20 mins. Of course, when I was a few mins away from finally getting there, I saw the subway exit and felt a fool knowing how it would have taken me 5-10mins instead...
It's two days later and I'm still aching... It wasn't something I should be carrying at all. It was just seriously too heavy and that's why I can't work out how I made it here. (And up the stairs here to the 3rd floor at the end of it.)

However, I'm here. No complaints at all, in that regard. However, my washing machine isn't here yet and will hopefully be set up sometime this week. I've already messaged Duncan to see if I can borrow his to wash my work stuff today and will just wait a few hours for him to be fully awake before I wander downstairs.

I got a knife, fork, spoon, chopping knife, 2x plates, a bowl, 2x chopstick pairs, a small pot, a decent frying pan, dish detergent, dish sponge things, toilet paper (which turned out to be hand towel stuff for the kitchen; so it has huge squares...), 2x jars of jam, 2x 5min ramen, a DIY fabric box (for my socks etc, i'm thinking), some okonomiyaki sauce, a tea towel, (may have forgotten some stuff) all for 2310 yen (about $AU25). Bargin. Was all from my local 100 yen shop (where everything costs 105 yen). I also stocked up my freezer with frozen vegies and stuff yesterday (frozen cause I didn't have any means to cook them at the time and just wanted to start stocking up).

So... I'm settling in. Dimi, from work, has also told me she's giving me some stuff for nothing (toaster, a fan, heater, and any more pots, cutlery or crockery I need) as well as selling her TV/VCR cheap, a rice cooker (which I want) and possibly a small couch for cheap too since she's heading back home for good in a month or so. So I've scored big time there.

Only thing I'm missing really is then an iron plus board and some curtains. Of which, I should be able to score tomorrow from the guy moving out downstairs who's moving out.

Blogging and staying in touch

I've no real idea when I'll next get net access again. I'd guess that, at the very most, it'll be in 3-4 weeks when they've installed cable at my new place. However, it may be ages or it may not.

Farewell Takarazuka

#2 is getting kicked out of this apartment.

As it turns out, because Brad and I are moving out, Nova had decided it will be most beneficial for themselves if they move #2 elsewhere and turn this apartment into a women's one. (Since they have a rule about same-sex only places.)
So he came home last night and actually spoke to me while on his way to his room. He asked if I'd 'heard the news at work today', that being that he is being relocated without a choice. I told him I'm moving in two days (tomorrow!!) anyway. He gave me a "Well, I'm not happy," and disappeared into his room.
I got my kicks out of it, anyway.


So... Tomorrow's moving day for me. Even the guys in Voice tonight remembered me talking about it last week. Scary to think about some of them actually remembering details about me. Will have to watch my tongue in future. At least I have enough wit to generalise everything enough that they don't know exactly where in Shin-Kobe.

I'm trying to work out everything so I have as few trips back-and-forth from my new place to old. Also, about how much stuff Yoshiko is expecting me to fit into her car tomorrow. The futon/bedding is most important, but need to make sure I have some wearable work clothes with me for tomorrow night (and Friday).
It's odd that I seem to suddenly have a whole extra backpacker bag worth of junk/clothes/etc to move than what I first arrived here with. I've only bought this laptop, but then there're a few extra things of mine from the kitchen such as soy sauce, al. foil etc that I'll be taking with me. I'll never work out why repacking will never take up the same space as the first time you packed.

So... Meeting Yoshiko at 11:30am means I'll leave here around 10:45, trudge to the station, take the few stops to Nigawa and wait for her outside the 7/11. I'm gussing I should easily be at my new place by 12:30pm, give or take depending on Yoshiko and anything else. Probably head back to Takarazuka within a half hour and get there around 1:30-1:45pm. Leave within a half hour and be back at my new place by about 3pm, which leaves me with 2 hours to fit in some quick shopping, food and to allow for any delays before work at 5pm (with it's 15min walk from my new apartment).
I've barely taken any photos of out here in Takarazuka. As I've said, it's a nice place, but just too far from work and a 'good' life. I wont get everything to my new place in those two trips and am thinking I'll come back on Saturday rather than kill myself carrying everything tomorrow. So maybe I'll take some shots then. I've actually got some good video of my apartment and the area, but I'll wait til I get something worth editing and upload it somewhere for anyone wanting to see.

I guess I should vacuum this room in the morning...

Anyways, early night is prolly a good idea.

Imagine

You've just got out of the shower. You've nearly finished drying yourself when you hear incoming footsteps. You manage to whip your towel around youself and are trying to secure it when the door flings open. Does your housemate (who is #2):
a) Say "Sorry," and quickly leave the room until you're done; or,
b) Realise someone may be in there since the light is on (duh) and proceeds to stick his head into the room. Look you from head to toe and, without moving even a fraction backward, seeming like he's waiting for you to invite him in. Give you a grunt (literally), to which you reply "I'm finished," and then comes in and opens the door to the toilet as you try to get out.


So... I can deal with inconsiderate people who didn't think to check if someone was in there first (I'd be pretty embarrassed if I walked in on someone else). What I can't deal with is indifference.
To me, absolute neutrality just doesn't make sense. I don't understand someone like this, even someone without a personality. (I was in the kitchen making breakfast when he came back past. He didn't look at anything but the floor.)

I wonder what % of the Japanese population are morons. Sucks that my Japanese is still terrible, but I'm hoping to try and start some lessons within the fortnight. Can't wait...

Tip of the Iceberg

Had a student this week who simply refused to do the 'application' stage of the lesson. I had two students in the class, both women, and one simply refused to create a story using the limited info that was given. She started after a few minutes of hesistation with "My friend...", continued to hesistate for a few minutes more and then simply said "Finished."
The lesson was focusing on the use of 'them', 'he', 'she', 'they', 'it' etc and be able to identify who/what each term was referring to.

I simply had to get the other student to do it, and then had the refusing one to report back on what the story from the 2nd student was. Oddly enough, she reported back fine. I'm guessing that isn't going to be the worst student I'll ever have, and she wasn't even truly bad. Just didn't have an imagination, methinks.

I've had that stutterer for who we all simply had to wait for to finish each of his sentences (or single words). That was a long lesson... was short for time at the end because of it too.
Had a 'lesson' where the lady simply wanted me to proof-read some papers (which was an english story-line summary of the anime Spirited Away) and so I did.

I met the 'Crazy Lady' in Voice too. (Also known as the 'Crazy Dog Lady', because I'm told she used to bring her dog in, but doesn't anymore.)
There were about 5 people in the Voice room when I walked in. I asked how everyone was and she was the first to respond. BANG! And she was in charge simply because no one else could get a word in. She told us all about her hair salon that sounded like it'd gone bust; all about her imminent divorce with her husband because he wants to return to live in the country and she wants to stay in Kobe; about the primary school students who used to call her 'Oba-chan' (and she'd repeated Oba-chan 5-6 times if ever she felt like saying it at least once); about a pregnant customer she once had in her hair salon and had multi-layered colouring in her long hair and wanted just the roots to be redone.

So yeah... exciting stuff.
Everyone else in the room basically sat back and tried to deceifer her bad english that was constantly puntuated with a string of Japanese that she'd want translated.

Anyways... Voice is usually pretty good and can just sit back and chat about anything.


I had a class a week or two back where, as I left the classroom, the two (young) women in there burst out with a loud and drawn out 'kawaii' (literally 'cute'). The 3rd student was an older guy had a good laugh. I try not to let it go to my head, of course. I admit it was a great lesson though, lots of laughing and fun throughout it.

My landland let out a surprised 'wakai' (literally 'young') when I was filling out some paperwork and she saw my birthdate. On that line of thought, I got the same reaction from a few workmates when they asked how old I was and had guessed 26-27. Gives me the shits... but I've had a few decent compliments come of it. But still...

On the train on the way home from the football last weekend there was a group of 3 boys. One of who decided to tell us, in Japanese, that Duncan has a big penis and he himself had a small one. Strange kid... Wes and Hiro tuned in and most of what they said went over my head, but I caught the general gist of it.

Dunno if I'll ever get used to people, especially kids, just staring at me. Above the age of about 10 they usually avert their look, but any younger and they just keep staring back at you. I've a primary school right next door here at Takarazuka and, since I leave around 3:30pm, I pass them all on my way to work. Having 20-30 kids walk past you and every one of them stare at you is extremely unnerving. I had one kid one day give me a 'Hello' and then let out a hysterical laugh when I replied as he ran off.

That's just the tip of the iceberg .

Supposed to be a typhoon coming tonight, but we'll see how accurate that is or what the Japanese definition of typhoon is. The suns died behind clouds a few hours ago and the wind's started to pick up. So I'll see soon enough.

Thursday's getting closer.

Large Blocks of Non-Informative Information

Summary: Collected my Alien Registration Card, found a post office and withdrew some cash, headed into Sannomiya and then onward to my real estate agent's office in Shin-Kobe, headed back home, spoke to a Canadian guy who's moving out of my new place's building and am able to get some cheap stuff off of him, headed back to Takarazuka, did some grocery shopping, headed home, sat back for an hour and then headed off to work.

In Detail:
So... I got up at the ungodly hour of 8am and headed off for a walk to Sakasegawa where the Takarazuka City Office is. I picked up my Alien Registration Card (which I'll have to reapply for once I move to Shin-Kobe; repeatable fun) before heading into Shin-Kobe.

I tried to give this guy Matt a call, who is a Canadian guy going home and is trying to flog some stuff from his apartment in my new place's building, who Duncan had given me the number of. I eventually got a hold on him and he says I'll be able to come check out his stash before he leaves next week. Not really much I can think of that I'd truly want from some random Canadian guy else I'll just not bother; curtains from him maybe, but crockey and cutlery maybe I'll just buy new. He's also supposed to be trying to flog some leather couch for ~$AU200, but am not interested in it for that price and am happy to settle for a beanbag.
I also heard at work tonight that Pierre/Peter, one of the guys who I went to the football with, will be headed back home to Melbourne very soon and might be able to score some good stuff. According to Duncan anyway.
Then there's also Dimi (another one from Melbourne) from work who will be resigning in October sometime and has already said I can have one of her TV/VCR for 5000 yen (about $50, and I still have no idea why she has two TVs and two VCRs. She says "I've been here too long.") and wants to just hand over a load of other stuff cheap or free such as a fan or heater.

Before I rattle on further, I'm thinking much of what I just wrote looks very boring to read...

Anyways... I signed my money away today to Yoshiko-san, my landlady / real estate agent who I still don't know what her family name is and so am just sticking with Yoshiko-san. I'm moving in on Thursday coming and will be officially out of Takarazuka by 12pm Sunday, so I've the whole weekend to move my stuff over. Surprisingly, Yoshiko offered to pick me up at Nigawa train station next Thursday as she said she'd be out this way. I'd commented about how I'll be carrying my futon/mattress through all of the walk to Takarazuka station and then on the train to Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi where I'll be lugging it up and down the stairs before I would have headed onward to Sannomiya, through the throng that never ends, and up for a 15min walk to Shin-Kobe (or I guess by subway, but would still have to walk a bit). So yeah, I'm not doing that now and will be meeting Yoshiko at 11:30am Thursday and driving out to my new place. I guess I made a good impression.

I had a guy with a really bad stutter at work tonight. Wasn't too sure how to deal with it. Do I let him try to finish the sentence for a few minutes? Do I interrupt him and stop him from holding up the lesson (with two other students)? Do I praise him when he's finished? I don't know... I do know that the most fluent person in that class was actually a young guy who'd just been 'leveled up', oddly enough, and came out with a lot of things the other students were unable to. Nova works by having grades for the fluency/difficulty of classes broken up into:

Zone B for level 7B students (very basic english with single word answers etc and very hard to have a non-guided conversation with)
Zone C for level 7A students. A very slight step up from 7B.
Zone D for level 6 students.
Zone E for level 5 students.
Zone F for level 4 students. Start getting into some 'fun' english like exaggeration. (This one's awesome.)
Zone G for level 3 students. Very fluent and have lessons following topics such as discussing alternative medicines and your belief/non-belief in them, the industrialisation of where you live and how it has changed over your lifetime, dealing with awkward situtations etc etc. In other words, some very abstract topics. Although I say 'very fluent', so people don't deserve the title.

Then there are Voice classes where it's just a room where anyone can use up a single Voice voucher/payment and spend as long as they like in there talking about absolutely anything. Since I'm new, it's easy to just fall back on talking about Australia and my life-so-far in Kobe, but I'm starting to get some regulars in there and will have to start actually working a bit in there soon but, once the novelty that is me wears off, they'll find topics to settle into and discuss as a group. It's a focus on talking to each other, rather than to the instructor. The instructor is more the mediator of the conversations and there to help out (or force) the converastions along. There can be anywhere from 1 to 15+ people in Voice at any one time and they can be of any skill level so I have to ensure that each person in there gets a chance to try and participate. I've averaged about 4 people for each time I've been in there, but had just 1 person the other night. Some students don't actually even take regular classes and will just come once, or more, a week for Voice.

So... I'm tired...


Really looking forward to moving out; it can't come soon enough.

Niches and football

Today was a day to never forget.

I started off by heading off to meet up with the real estate agent. I was dead certain, even after she was 40 mins late, that I was really at the south exit of the Shin-Kobe subway. Eventually the person who'd come to meet me came and explained she'd rung back to the office to say that I'd not turned up but found out then that she'd actually been at the wrong train station.
So... I was feeling wrong after a few drinks the night before on an empty stomach (yes, only a few) but that pang in my head faded anyway. Empty stomach and beer is so easy to avoid too...

I checked out this apartment and I think it's fantastic. It has everything I need including a fridge, air con, stove and balcony as well as getting a washing machine and the internet rigged up as a bonus (and a sink/hole in the kitchen floor). So I'm thinking that saving 13k-ish yen a month (probably around $AU145) as well as living by myself, having only a 15 min walk to work (or 5 min by the subway, but I'm not that lazy yet) and no '11:50pm curfew due to trains'. I really can't see a down side to any of it. The bathroom is what you'd expect to find in an aeroplane, but it's not bad.
So my meeting later on with Yoshiko had every request granted without costing me anything and they'll actually have it available after the 21st of this month, which means I've now got a date to negotiate with Nova about waiving the 30 days notice for moving from here in Takarazuka. (My boss told me that they're really short on Nova accomodation and he was going to get some guy to call me and tell me how early I can move out.) Once I confirm my moving out date, I can settle my moving in date.

I've a small issue with cash at the moment, since Nova head office lost my bank details and so can't give me the salary advance I requested for yet. And also for advance rent for my new place, once I move in, as well as some extra payments up front that isn't key money...
I'd prefer to leave what's left of my savings in Aus, but I've no option other than to take up Duncan's offer to loan (which I don't think I'll do). He actually mentioned this well before I'd made any mention of moving from Takarazuka and was just a genuine offer if I ever needed it for anything.

So from the real estate agent's office I headed back to Sannomiya and simply went for a few hour walk where I found the 'old' memorial park for the Great Earthquake of 1995. 'Old' because parts of it were relocated to a museum a while back. The park has a very eerie feel to it; lots of water used throughout it as well as lines of trees etc. A really beautiful park though.

I had gone out for drinks last night before with a few people that then set up the plans for today. Monica had messaged me, wanting to go out for drinks because she didn't want to come back to Takarazuka and be bored. So she came into Sannomiya, since she works a few stops away, and we went out with Duncan. Mike from work there also, as well as 4 Aussie guys (2, at least, from Melbourne) and a few others who turned up as the night went on.
So anyways... Duncan invited me to the football, Gamba Osaka vs Cerezo Osaka, which was on today but only if we could get a hold on some tickets (else the plan was to distract the guard and have me dive through this known gap in the fence). Sounded great fun (as long as I didn't have to dive through the fence), and have come away from it very content. Good stuff, but back to earlier today.

So today, after doing my apartment inspection and my self tour of parts of Kobe, I met up with Duncan around 3pm then found the others and went for lunch.
Getting to Osaka from Kobe had us change about 3-4 trains then 3 monorails before we finally got to the stadium. I'm in debt to Wes for using the fact that he's Japanese to negotiate a ticket out of the scalpers for me. It was funny to see 5 of these scalpers just standing there at the monorail exit waiting for people, but I'm very thankful they were there. And I ended up getting the ticket cheaper than I'd expected to too.

It was an awesome game. We were for Gamba Osaka (whose home stadium it was) and so I simply adopted it as my team. In the end, it didn't feel false to have just taken it up as 'my' team by mere circumstance as everything, and everyone, just kind of went with the flow. I also wasn't the only one coming to a football game for the first time. I actually bought a Gamba scarf/towel/thing too.
Wes and Hiro, the Japanese guys, as well as being just great guys in general, stood out as being really close mates most notably with Duncan but it's just great group all round, oddly mostly Aussie (else Scotish, English, Kiwi or Japanese; there were 9 of us today).

If you look really hard, you still wont see us in the middle. 1-1 at halftime with Gamba being unlucky to not have saved the leveling header. The 2nd half ended 3-1 Gamba, where Gamba truly just had the constant offense. I really couldn't described this evening/night without it sounding wrong. So just simply, it was an awesome night for which I owe more to the guys than the game/adventure itself.

I hope this is the niche I've found myself in this infinite country.

Watashi wa Aron Kyameron to moushimasu

I'm shaking. My heart is pounding like it rarely does. I'm sweaty (but that's prolly cause it's a hot /humid day).

So... I made a telephone call to Yoshiko-san, a local real estate person in Shin-Kobe. So... The receptionist picks up "Moshi-moshi. blah blah blah."
I say a garbled "Hai, moshi-moshi. Watashi wa Aron Kyameron to moushimasu. Yoshiko-san ga imasu ka."
She replied with "Ehhh What is your name?"
"Aaron, AAA-RO-NNN desu."
"Hai, Aaron desu. Shou shou omachi kudasai."

From here, I met Yoshiko who spoke awesome english and I just wish I'd known that before I rang. No doubt the receptionist had tipped her off since I was greeted with a "Hello".

I've calmed down now, but I've been pacing my small room for the last hour holding my phone as I recited several phrases and sentences I'd made up and had decided would be the most helpful. And, although I'd been pacing for the last hour, I've been putting it off all morning (and didn't do it yesterday when I should have).

But anyways... Duncan and Mike from work told me about this empty apartment in their building and so gave me Yoshiko's number so I could chase it up. She knows these two quite well by the sound of it and straight away knew I was a Nova teacher. So this apartment that is empty is truly available for rent at the moment, and so I've arranged to meet her outside Shin-Kobe subway station's south exit at 10am tomorrow.

I'm now suddenly a huge step closer.
A place that's of my own (and not have freaky housemates), is cheaper than here in Takarazuka and is only about a 10 min walk to work is just impossible to turn down. Takarazuka is a really nice place and it's kind of a shame to leave it, but saving 10k yen a month and 1hr40-ish+ travel time a day is worth it.
I guess I should check out the onsen before I move...
Although I do hear the Takarazuka one is Japan-wide famous and is quite expensive.

Rain is good

I’ve been unable to post for the last few days since my net connection has been terrible and last night, after I finally actually got online, I couldn’t even sign into msn. Even when I do manage to get into msn and actually talk to someone, it’d not be long before I get booted and spend 20 mins trying to sign back in.

Anyways…

I really need to find a hobby or two to fill in my time. As usual, I put it off with an excuse like “well, if I’m planning on moving house asap then I don’t really wanna commit myself to anything just yet”. I learnt yesterday that there’s actually an empty apartment in the same building a 2 guys from work and that the landlord is really good as well as the rent being quite cheap (and without key money). So I’ll be following that up tonight and hopefully then be in touch tomorrow. I’d still have to give 30 days notice to Nova to move from here in Takarazuka, but no harm in trying to claim this place in advance if possible.

Still about two hours til I leave for work. So much free time.

Yesterday I went up to a local temple with the 3 girls next door and was great to actually having people to talk to while sightseeing for once. They’re heaps of fun to hang out with and plan on doing stuff with them often (although they all have only Tuesday/Wednesdays off whereas I’m Saturday/Sunday). But yeah… this temple was great, but I forgot the name of it.

Today’s been a quiet day. It’s raining so haven’t felt like going anywhere. For some reason though, I’d dreamt a dream sometime this morning where I’d just started work at the casino again and was quite happily clearing the layout on roulette as my supervisor made comments about cleaning up my float of chips. I woke up really confused.

Latest Developments

Had a good chat with Brad (the good housemate) just now and thought I'd share the story asap.

I was watching tv when he got home. Started off with small talk but then got on to talk about housemate #2. Seems I'm not alone in my opinions of #2, which makes fitting in here much easier. These two don't necessarily 'not get along', it's just that #2 is a moron and knows everything there is to know about Japan after being here 4 weeks.

So... #2 loves Japanese food (but hates sushi and likes ramen; aka he doesn't like Japanese food at all but says otherwise). That's why he got his Mum to send over a box full of Macaroni and Cheese packs, which Brad'd signed for when it was delivered here. Seriously... why on earth would someone fly to the other side of the world and get their Mum to send over a few months supply of Macaroni and Cheese? Crazy

Seems my problem with the wireless connection to our internet is some random phenomena that can occur randomly for up to a few days at a time. At least this other apartment's unsecured connection will tide me over inbetween, but it's just a shame it's not 100% reliable.

Anyways, sad to say that Brad won't be here much longer. He said this was his last Sunday shift as he's going back home to America. I'm wondering if that means this is his last week and I'll be left here alone with #2.

So... about moving into my own place asap...

The Week That Was

The last few days have been awesome.

I finished my training and got onto my first two shifts of real work, which went really well. Nice and smooth without any hiccups at all. I even had a 'Voice' lesson yesterday where it's just a room where people go to simply talk about anything and everything. Being a new instructor, I was drilled with a load of questions but I also threw it back to them and found out a bit more of the local area (like where some good food joints are). Fun stuff.

Yesterday I undertook a random stroll and simply kept walking til I decided to turn around. I got home about 4 hours later wishing I'd taken my camera with me. There were some places where I had some fantastic views of the surrounding mountains (Takarazuka is in kind of a valley). Having walked up one side of the river I came back down the other side. I got myself onto a reasonably busy, but narrow, road and, although there was a clear area for walkers and bike riders, decided I didn't like being under a meter from passing cars. I don't think I'll talk that part of the walk again anytime soon.
I did find the Takarazuka Onsen, but dunno if I've the gall to go in alone. Maybe one day. So... I kept on walking, finding a nice group of shops that I think will be very useful. I ended up (while still being on the other side of the river) a long way past my apartment and found myself in Sakasegawa, where I'd gone to register myself when I first got here. Wandering around a bit more, I connected a few of my mental maps and found the electronic store where I'd bought my laptop. And so I headed home from there.

Today is a day where I really don't want to do anything and so I'm not.
Something seems to be up with our net connection ever since someone got home last night. The net had been fine yesterday arvo but then just completely choked up when he got home where I rarely could get a webpage to load up. Today, I can't even connect to the router (which is in one of my flatmate's rooms) and so am leeching an unsecured wireless connection one of the other apartments has. It has a really poor connection and occasionally drops out, but I can reliably do what I want online at least.

Looking forward to moving out...