Hachi mushi invasion

I forgot to say in my last post that in addition to getting a room I also got a free wasps nest, which had been built just outside my room. Fortunatly there wasn't much of a chance of them been able to get in because of the insect netting outside of the room. To be honest it was pretty cool and the wasps were only paper wasps so they are not very agressive, but today we got the bug spray and with pretty much 1 shot they were all dead and the baby larve were falling out of there nest. So no-one got hurt (except the wasps). I have a few pictures but I have to find a way to post them with this new computer (which is a mac, unfortunatly) but oh well.

Im free

Well I finally left Nogata on the 16th of July. I got all my things packed and got a lifft from Yukari's mum to my new apartment. Everything went perfect. It didnt take too long to unpack most of my things because alot of the stuff I could leave in the boxes for when I come home.

The day after I moved (Sunday) I went for a walk into tenjin which is the main area and it is quite far away. i think it took around 1 hour 30 to get there by walking, but it was a nice day, abit too hot and humid, but thats usual. I passed alot of nice places that I kept in mind to go and it seems that there are about a million and one things to do here, so hopefully I can do as much as possible before I come back to England. To be honest I wish I could stay here a few more months, but unfortunatly I can't work so I would be living off nothing. Although I am going to see what I can do to stay here a few more days, maybe an extra week because I want to stay here as long as possible (mainly because of Yukari).

Yesterday I spent the whole day at her house with her family, which was great because they are so nice. I guess I was abit nervous most of the time, but I guess they were too, except her sister, who is very outgoing.

At the moment it is about 11.30am and I plan to go to one of the parks to do some reading and writing and drawing for the day and maybe have abit off a walk to a museum or something. The only problem i'm having here is the weather because it is too hot and especially at night, because I don't have an electric fan or air conditioning, so i'm left to roast. But Yukari said I can have one of hers, unfortunatly I forgot to pick it up last night.

So as far as moving and living on my own, everything is going great and I am looking forward to the rest of my time here, short though it may be.

Birthday message

Well today is my birthday and since the last post, I have been to camp with the nursery. It was a pretty fun time, but very tiring and I`ll put the pictures on when I have more time. I`ll talk about it abit more later, but for now I have to go have my dinner at Etsuko`s who has made my tea. I was meant to go and see Yukari in Fukuoka, but she missed the plance from America to Japan, meaning that she will get here tonight at about 8pm, which is abit late.

Just to say, the main feature of the camp trip for me was when I caught a snake with my bare hands. I even held it by its head while I was holding it, so that it wouldn`t bite me (although it nearly did). I`ve never touched a wild snake before, so it was so cool.

Anyways gotta go. Thankyou to everyone who sent me a card and cash and chocolate and also thankyou to Christine an family for the birthday message on my website. (Note to everyone else) you can post things you know, it ain`t too hard :P

Oh my God　i`m 20!! im so old

OH MY GOD!!!

I can`t believe it, I cant bloody believe it!! ok I just finish posting about the stupid computer deleting my photo`s and then I decided to add some new songs to my ipod. So I load up the software and I find that all my songs are gone. GONE! thats over 1000 songs I had on this ipod, over 1000!!!! all and the cd`s for them are in England. Some I even had to rent to put on and now they are all gone. I swear to god I am so close to destroying this computer, it should be grateful that it isn`t mine. So now I had 2 albums on my ipod, the ones that I was going to add in the first place.

I feel like been sick right now. Those songs were everything to me, I listened to them everyday, and now they are all gone (they are still on my laptop in England, but thats like 2 months away) I am not joking or anything but this has really pissed me off. Now I have 2 albums to listen to at night and probably for the rest of my time here. I am so angry right now, I can`t even think of what to say. I`m just going to go now.

Pictures.... all gone....

The previous post of when I went to the kangaroo park is all that remains of my pictures from there, because I put them onto the computer, posted some onto here and then deleted them from my camera as I was running out of space. Today i decided to put some more on, but when I checked my folder practically everything had gone. This happended once before, but I found out that they had been moved because of low file space (after finding a note on the computer, which I found very rude, because they waited ages to put it there and they should have told me) but luckly all was ok. But this time it seems that they haven`t been moved and they have just been deleted along with alot of other things. Thankfully my parents have disks with my photos on (from previous) and I have my own disk, but all those that were recently put on will never been seen again. So thankyou "woman who uses computer" I really appreciate it, I`ll be sure to return the favour some time ;)

There were also horses at the park, which we could feed (with a shovel for some reason). There was also a horse that you could ride, but Emiko didn`t get very far on it.

Today I went on a trip with the Yamamoto family. We went to the beach (but it wasn`t exactly the best weather for swimming) and then we went for a great meal and then to the kangaroo park, which wa cool because I got to pet a kangaroo. I have seen kangaroos before but never petted one. I was going to ask the kangaroos if they wanted a boxing match and her is the picture after I won.

Mondays almost a go

I called the english speaking japanese woman today, to say about holding a meeting on monday and all seems well, so all I got to do now is to tell the boss tabout the meeting on monday and then I can finally tell them Im leaving. I will be so happy once I`ve told them, it will be like a big weight off my chest. There is only about 9 days left until my birthday and till Yukari gets back to Japan and there is just 16 days until I go to my new apartment. YAY. I just want it to be july 9th now. GAP said it might be a good idea to help out with some of the end of year cleaning at the nursery, which I will happily do, but I am not going stay past the 16th. Yukaris cousin will come and pick up my luggage on the 16th and take me to the apartment, so Iit would be abit stupid if I wasnt going with it.

I just want everyone to know that I`m leaving as soon as I can because I dont want them planning anything and then saying (before I tell them) "this is the camp you will be going to in august, you will have so much fun" and then I will go "erm umm". I have thought alot about leaving and its not like its a split minute decision because it is costing me alot to do this. For starters the apartment is costing around 350 pounds then theres food and extra, so my university saving will end up been pretty low, whereas if I stayed here I would have a nice little fund to cover most things, but at the end of the day, money is money, I can always make more, but I cant live on my own in Japan for awhile and be able to do whatever I want. So i`m going to choose the adventure :)

Stage 2 and a half complete. 1 more to go

Well I have let GAP know that i`m leaving and to be honest it went alot better than I expected. They are pleased that I have thought about it carefully and they feel that I have handled the situation very well. Though they say they are disappointed, they understand my reasons and as the nursery didnt set a program after the summer holidays it is understandable.

So now GAP knows and pretty much everyone else so all thats left is to tell the nursery. So I am going to call the English Speaking church woman tommorow and arrange for a meeting with the boss of the nursery for monday and then tell them of my plans and from there I will have just under 2 weeks until I move. So wish me luck (I have a feeling that I will need it)

Stage two complete

I have now sent off emails to the GAP people saying that I wish to leave Nogata, so it i`ve almost completed my "tell everyone im leaving" task. Hopefully they will get back to me by monday, and from there I can tell the nursery, which is the worst part im dreading. To be honest I would prefer just to leave and avoid all of that conversation, because I know whats going to happen. Everyone is going to say "but you only have until the end of august, is it really worth it" and "but you have a contract" or "japan is dangerous now adays is not a safe palce anymore you have to be careful". I know that they will try and talk me out of it, but my mind is made up and nothing is going to change it. I suppose the good thing is, is that when they find out and talk to me (most likely using the english speaking church woman to be a translator) I won`t have to worry about what they think of been worried that they have the power to send me back to England because I already have an apartment ready, money and a flight home, so all they can do is talk, talk, talk. Maybe shout, but I doubt they would.

I don`t really care that I will "no longer be under the auspices of GAP" because I can take care of myself and its what I mainly want to do here. Thinking back from before I came here it seems wierd because so much has changed, in England I would never have got in trouble, but here it seems that whatever I do is bad, or unsafe. Oh well. I have about 20 days left and only 13 until Yukari comes back, so there is alot to look forward to. All I have to do now is keep my head low and avoid there gaze once they find out, my mum said it will be like the time my sister decided to quit been an au pair and the family weren`t exactly please about it to say the least, but short of their *cough* God *cough* striking me down I can`t see what they can do.

And dont get me started on Religion. I just had to delete a page of writing about what I thought about it, so not to offend anyone. I will keep my views to myself. (maybe)

One last thing. On Friday I went to by some drink and bread and a few other bits and pieces at Halloday which is a 15/20 minute walk away and I was at the cash counter and saw the guy that I bought my suit off at (of course) the suit store. I said Hi (Konnichiwa) and then he said if I was on my bike but I said no because it has a puncture, so he offered to give me a ride back, which I accepted considering I was carrying a ton of things and it was already dark, so he gave me a ride home and said about going for a meal (I think that what he said) he was saying something about tempura and about monday or tuesday and about the phone, so I out 45 and 34 together and got whatever it equals (79 im not dumb) so this week I will most likely have dinner with my new friend the suit man (I think hes called Yoshikawa, but that might be his last name) . I was so suprised that he gave me a lift home, I`d only met him twice when I got the suit and again when I got shoes, but it just goes to show how nice some people are (there not all murders and thieves like the nursery wants me to believe).

Well for now I will go back and make dinner. I would have had eggs but I dropped the pack with all 8 in and only 1 survived, so that wasn`t the highlight of my day.

Oyasumi (goodnight)

Here are some wierd statues that I found on my big walk on saturday, in which I walked for about 6 hours but I didnt realy end up anywhere. Oh Well it was fun :P

Stage one complete

I rang David B today and told him that I am planning on leaving e.t.c and his opinion is that it would be best to stick it out but its my decision. The thing is he isn`t excatly employed by GAP, he is just a helper in Japan for the volunteers, so he can`t make anything happen or change anything, but its nice to tell someone that I`m leaving. So the next step is to write a letter to the GAP people saying that I am leaving. As everyone says I wont be associated with GAP anymore and I will be taken off their records, which to be honest I don`t have a problem with. I`d rather do what I want to do rather than "stick it out" because whats the point of sticking it out. The whole point of coming here is to do new things and be responsible for yourself, its not like I planned it from the begin, but if this is what will happen then this is what will happen and I am very excited about it :)

Fish fish fish

Well it seems that the computer situation wasn`t as bad as I thought. I can still use it. I just have to use it at the nursery, so its apart from the heat its almost the same. I still havent told the nursery i am leaving yet, but I am going to call david busk tommorow, which should be fun. Tonight I am cooking fish and that will be interesting because Ive never cooked it before. Whoopee

Computer, Computer where for art thou`

Well here is another blow to my already beaten enjoyment. It seems that in 2 days the computer (that is in the church) is going to be moved to the nursery, meaning that I don`t have any idea when I will be next able to use it. I have began to use the computer quite abit, when I have nothing to do, I have even managed to download loads of anime, to put on DVD (I dont have a DVD player yet, but will in Muromi). So, my last luxury here is been taken away. It at times like this that the doubts of leaving are chucked out of the window. To be honest computer or no computer I am still going to leave, I have about one more week until I tell GAP and then we will see what the nursery says. I know I am going to have to have a long conversation about staying, but to be honest, there is nothin they can say or do to stop me. I have a place to go, I have cash to live on and I have a return ticket back to England, so my VISA would be invalid if I just leave. Sure some people will be sad, but in September they will have a new volunteer to take care of (or over take care of). I wish it was July 16th now. I am really excited about moving and if it isn`t what I expected and things go wrong, well then its only for 6 weeks and I can come home anytime I want. I can even stay until March 2006, but I doubt that will happen, for one thing I have to go to University in September and that means leaving my girlfriend behind, but we plan to stay together even when we are apart and can always save up to see her again. I like Japan, but I don`t like been alone in Nogata. It never bothered me when I was alone in Hull because I still had my family there and I enjoyed it. I do enjoy my time here in Japan and I am very happy I have had the chance to do this, but I don`t feel as though I am an adult. People treat me like a child and I just want to do things for myself. I appreciate when people help alittle, its just when people are telling me to be careful every step I take and when everypart of my life here is pretty much published to everyone it starts to piss me off. There was one time when I was told that "I belong to the nursery and I belong to Goda-sensei (the boss) " and that made me so angry. I am a volunteer here and that means that although they have given me a chance to come here it doesn`t mean they own me, I am still giving up my time to help them (although I feel as though I am not needed anyway, which kind of makes me feel I could be doing something productive with my time). I need to do something and meet people, not just bestuck in one place for 6 months. I guess it would have been nice if I was one yaer earlier because that would have meant I would have spent 3 months here then 3 months in Fukuoka and I would have had another volunteer close by, but because the other nursery stopped accepting people I was left alone in one place for 6 months.

Some things have been great here, like going to Nagasaki, homestaying and going to Kumamoto and Kagoshima with the Yamamoto family, meeting Yukari and going places like Haus Tein Bosch, Dazaifu and about a million more. There is alot of things to list what I have liked here, but there is also alot that I don`t like. In sort I am 100% certain about leaving and even if they take away my computer, they can`t take away my freedom. FREEDOM!!!!

And the news at 10 with Trevor McDonald

Damn, I miss English news, I have no idea whats going on in the world apart from the farmers rice crops and the rivalry between broadband and tv companies, which dominates the most of Japanese TV. Although some tv is better than non which I am pretty much left with at the moment because my aerial broke (it was already broke, it was just biding its time till I felt like putting the TV on and then it went snap) but I do have one channel, which is fuzzy and contains the same blaaa as the res t of them (which unfortunatly I cannot even check as I have lsot the TV remote). God knows how that happened. The room isnt even that big and there is nowhere it could have gone. Thankgod I bought a Playstation.

Anyways moving on.... In current events (in order of appearance) I went to Tobata church to have a get together with some of the members there and see some of my friends, who are students in Tobata. We had pasta for dinenr then went to Karaoke on the night and then slept in my friends apartment. Now, I know student apartments are messy but.... well im lost for words. Once upon a time it was a reasonably sized apartment, but over the years, manga and anime began to pile up, so did the cheese sandwiches, the school work, the clothes and the mice (ok maybe thats going abit too far) but it kind of left there 3 of us that had to share floor space with abit of a tangle. Luckily we got to sleep unharmed by the surrounding mountains of books. In the morning we went to church..... (enough said there) and then we went to the arcade, which was nice (Say in a "Fast Show" style of way, it makes life so much more interesting)

After Tobata there was the nursery.monday.tuesday.wednesday.thurday (see what i`m doing?) although Friday was a pretty different, for starters it was at a rice field a.k.a Tambo and the aim of the day was, well, there was no aim, there was just mud. So off into the mud we went and out of the mud we came (a few straglers got sucked under and we will notified their parents the next day). Its hard to describe what we did, it was pretty much, jumpy, jumpy, squelchy, squelchy, muddy muddy., in that precise order (I mean it!)

After the day of "Hey look mum, im covered in.... (take your pick)" I went to have alook at the apartment in Muromi with Manami (try say that fast). The apartment was a short train ride away from the central hub bub of of tenjin, and it nestled across a pizza shop and pretty damn near a liquor shop (wayhay). You can also see the Fukuoka tower and I doubt its too far too walk to the baseball ground (join me in a mexican wave, japanese style, with a slight focus on the america sport). The apartment was nicer than I expected, especially for the price and I will be sharing with 2 Japanese women and a Japanese guy for the remainder of my stay when I leave Nogata. Its pretty much a don`t bother other people rule, which I love the idea of and I can`t wait to move in. I`ve began to like the nursery abit more now, but I still have no intension of staying until when I go back to America, because I do value the thing called "Life" its an addiction. I plan to leave July 16th and I plan to tell GAP and the nursery June 20th ish, im sure its not going to be the highlight of my day when I tell them, but whats got to be done, has to be done. Another problem I have just discovered is that the nursery have camp, which is held on July 7th, 8th and 9th. Now normally I would be looking forward to it, but the 9th (which is a saturday) just happens to be my birthday and the first day that I will see Yukari when she returns to America, so thats a big problem for them. Fine, fine I know that I will have 1 and a half months of free time, but the 9th is a special day and its doubly special in Japan, because when you turn 20 you are classed as an adult (which may mean that I will get took off the breast milk) and as I will have not seen Yukari in 2 months, no camp, no nursery, no bloody Japanese samurai, will stop me from seeing her then.

I`m not one for getting or giving bad news, so this is all abit Waa Waa (I can`t even think of a proper word right now, but when I do I will edit it *I promise*) for me. Its a pity I can`t just get someone to say that I am leaving into a tape recorder then send it to them, it would be so much easier than me having to say and then having "Dum Dum Dum" (dum it in a horror theme) THE MEETING. Ahh the meeting, twas many a day when one could have a nice chat about ones personal life, which any regard for ones privacy and respect.

Im running out of interesting things to write at the moment and I want to go to bed, so I store em up and spill em out at a later date.

Oyasumi (good night)

The Yamamotos family fun adventure to Kagoshima

Me and Yukari on the bus tour adventure

Me with Eiji. Kendo time

Me and the Nagasaki gang (by the way I figured out how to put pictures on if you didnt guess)

Me and Yukari in Daizaifu (with some strange man in the corner)

I can`t think of an interesting title

Well its been a pretty easy going time since the last post. My arm is almost fully healed and the nursery work is abit more fun (sometimes).

The main news is that Maggie Powell (the GAP representative) came to Nohgata last wednesday with David Busk to check up on my progress and sort a few things out. She pretty much left the issue of Yukari out as she said that it is not their responsiblilty to be concerned with that as I am 19, so it is my own private buisness (I wish the nursery saw my life like that).　But I was told that the nursery weren`t happy that I turn offers down from parents, which according to them made it seem as though I had millions of offers, but the only offer I have got was from one of the parents for the golden week, which I turned down because I had another place to go with another family. So alot of what was said was an emphasised version of what really happens, so for most situations there was a 2 sided story, but David Busk said that, that the Japanese will have a tendency to see things worse then they really are. At the end of the talk I decided to ask about what would happen if I decided to leave the nursery and either go back to England or stay in Japan for the rest of my stay and she seemed to take the issue more calmly than I expected. She said that I wouldn`t be assoiated with GAP anymore so they would take away their responsibiliity and that it wouldn`t look very good on my CV. She also said that it would be extremely hard to find an apartment for a foreigner without a job and I wouldn`t be accepted well with the Japanese culture (something along those lines). But the apartment issue is almost sorted, because I know an available apartment in Muromi which isn`t too expensive and I`ve been told I can move in in June, so next saturday June 4th I am going to take a look at the apartment with one of my Japanese friends (Manami) and speak to the other people that share it (its shared with 4 people with a living room, dining room and kitchen).

I have almost certainly decided that I will leave by July at the latest, but what my plan is, is to stay until the 16th of July (which is when the nursery finshes), as apparently they don`t know what I will be doing after that anyway. Although that depends on what happens when I tell them I am leaving, which I will nearing the end of June, and although I plan to see Yukari, when she arrives back to Japan on July 8th, so I will need the day off then and I plan to spend my birthday with her and my friends, so I will see what they say and either leave on the 16th as planned or 1 or 2 weeks prior. I am really looking forward to leaving because everything here seems to be abit boring, with no-one to talk to and doing pretty much the same things in and out of work, also it will give me the chance to work more on doing practice design for University, because I don`t think I have benifited much for my work in the time that I have been here, because by the end of the day I am too tired and there is too much to do, with cleaning and all I want to do is to read, go to the gym (although I can`t at the moment because I have no money to get a new pass) and learn the piano. I`m not trying to justify why I am leaving, but to me I feel I will benefit more from it. I know thing would have been different if I didn`t get a girlfriend, but I am much more happier with than without and although at the moment she is in America I am still happy knowing that she will be back in July and I will live much closer to her without the restrictions of the nursery or the church.

The money issue is the only thing I am worried about. I am not sure of the exact amount I have in England, so I am trying to save every yen I can. The apartment is going to be 90,000yen total for the 2 months (about 450 pound) and then I have to buy food and travel expenses and entertainment and my flight back to Tokyo, so i`m looking at quite alot of money, but I am going to get a part time job when I get back to England and work as much as I can without taking up study time, so that I can pay off any money I owe and so I can save up to see Yukari in Japan, or England or another country.

Tonight im going to the church in Tobata, or somewhere like that (I went there about a month ago) to see some people and stay for the night. So I gotta get my stuff ready and sort out my washing because its partly drying. I hate washing day.

I fell in a hole...

Before I continue with the past events I would just like to report on a little accident i had yesterday. To begin, I went for dinner at the Korean language teachers house with a woman from the nursery and some other people, but I didn`t know who they were. To be honest I felt too tired to be there, for one thing I had to leave my house at 5pm but because we were too early we had to wait until 6pm at some clothes store. After picking him up we drove to the house and pretty nothing happened until 9pm when we ate. The wait for the food wasn`t too bad because I wasn`t that hungry anyway, but the problem was that none of them could speak hardly any English, so they were having their conversation in Japanese, while I was pretty much falling asleep. I don`t want to sound disrespectful because I am pleased that I was invited to dinner, but this weekend I have been feeling really tired and when i`m doing nothing for 5-6 hours (we left around 11ish) it kinda gets to you. By the way the dinner wasn`t the accident :P The accident in question was after we left and went back to the car. I was waiting for the woman to pull the car out of the drive and I thought it would be a good idea to sit on the step that was below the pavement next to a big field, the only problem was that as it was almost pitch black I failed to realise that in between the upper and lower level was a big hole that travelled around the side. Unlucky for me I managed to go in the center, scraping my arm down the side of the wall and banging my knee on the edge, which left me with a big and very red graze on my arm, also I find it pretty difficult to walk without any pain.

Its times like this that you wish you just said no...

Now thats dealt with I can continue..

After kagoshima, which was from Tuesday to Thursday in Golden Week (its not really golden "week" its more like Golden three days, although technically its only 2 special days, one which is the death of an emperor on the 5th and one which is childrens day on the 7th, but for some reason if there are 2 holidays the day in between must also be classed as a holiday, dont ask me why)

Ok, now after Golden 2 days + 1 day = Week I went on a suprise trip to Haus Tein Bosch with Yukari. It was a suprise because she booked the trip and I either knew that we were going there or some other places we had looked at, but once we were on the train, the conductor kindly informed us on the tannoy. Haus Tein Bosch is like a section of Holldand that has been taken out of Holland and placed in Japan (if you have ever been to Epcot center you will know what I mean) although its kinda of like an emphasised sterotypical holland, but trust me im not complaining because it was a beautiful place, with great buildings, scenery, food and rides (the rides were like movie things, not rollercoasters). It was so great been there with my girlfriend, just walking about, going for cheese fondue and hiring a 2 seater bike, which was fun until the theory of woman been bad drivers came into effect and we went straight into a barrier and I went straight into the fake steering wheel, but no harm no foul.

The hotel we stayed in was amazing, we even had out luggage taken to our room and the view from the window contained all you could want, the sea, mountains, windmills, flowers, european houses. Also on the night we watched the fireworks from the window, which was the suprise of "the biggest flowers in the world". Every suprise that Yukari had planned was amazing and it was one of the best holidays ever, even though it was only for 2 days.

It was also a sad holiday because on the tuesday Yukari would have to go to America for 2 months, so it would be the last time I would see her for awhile. I think this is why things were alittle tense on the Sunday night when I had to leave because everything was getting to me, homesick, Yukari leaving and the nursery and I just wanted to have an extra day to think things through and talk with one of my friends, who offered for me to stay at his house. But as my Japanese isn`t so good and the boss of the nurseries English is 0 I had to have my friend ring to explain, but as she didn`t answer the phone we had to call Etsuko from the church, which ended up that I had to come home. The next day I had to have another exciting meeting about been bad and been told that I can`t go to see Yukari at the airport on the tuesday and that raised the temperature even more, because although I try to keep things as balanced as I can here it doesn`t seem to work and I was ready to pack my bags on the night and go stay with my friend for a few days and then try get an apartment with what I had, but after talking with Yukari we deicided that I would stay in Nogata because I didnt have enough money to leave right now. In July when she comes back maybe I will get my own apartment for the remaining 2 months, because now I feel uncomfortable some of the time and been with Yukari helps alot, its especially bad when I see her on the weekends then I dont get to see her again for awhile. If I do leave I don`t want things to end badly with the nursery so that it would be a problem for any other GAP placement following mine, but I am not the first person to leave, because about a year ago some GAP volunteer called Richard also left after only a few weeks. Im not saying what I want to do is justified, but to be honest there is no point in staying at the nursery if its going to make me unhappy and begin to cause alot of problems when Yukari comes back. In short its what I want to do even if things get better here, as my reason for coming to Japan was to have more freedom and experience new things and although in July they have summer time, which means I might have more time off anyways, I would rather be with my girlfriend and friends.

Saying that I can`t tell the future so maybe it will happen, maybe it won`t, so until it happens I can`t say if I will leave or not.... but its going to bloody interesting to find out ;)

Where to begin....

Well its been a busy few weeks since the last post. To begin with Golden week was pretty much sorted out and I went to Kagoshima with the Yamamoto family, it was a great holiday. We treked up mountains, had a barbeque, went to onnsen and saw some incredible views. I also got to meet Yoko Yamamoto`s cousin and her family, who were very nice people and spoke great english, they also had a daughter my age so it nice to talk to someone of the same age.

On the first day we went for a walk after arriving at mountain center and walked to the top (although it wasn`t steep, just long) and although it was great I unfortunatly had an extremely bad stomach ache just as we reached the top. Regrettably as we were at the top it was an extremely long walk (to be honest it was more of a hobble) to the nearest toilet, some 30 minutes away. Lets just say I have never been more excited to go to toilet. After that incident we drove to the campsite and took our luggage into our cottage. It was interesting to see the Japanese camping style, compared with the english. There were virtually no caravans or campervans in sight and due to the crowd of misplaced tents there was virtually no ground. Fortunatly our accomodation was, well, more accomodating in a nice quiet area surrounded by trees and the other cottages. Japanese camping is more like a quick fix and reduction of the english size. On the night we went to the local onnsen and had a tasy barbequed meal (japanese style)、which consisted of multiple things, most I knew, but with the added excitement of bowel.

The next day we had free time in the morning, for which myself, Emiko, Chikako and Rise spent playing card games and badminton, with the addition of Yoko. We then went to the onnsen, overlooking a pretty cool view, but I was slightly off put by the sulpher that coursed through the air. The barbeque on the night consisted of Curry Rice and a mixture of other things, but I can`t seem to remember what (maybe I had too much bowel).

The final day we went for a big walk up a big mountain, as I was more genki (feeling good) this day I decided to run most of the way with Rise (who lets just say made her best attempt). This mountain was abit steeper, but i found it to be more fun because it was a challenge. Once we reached the partial top area, there were 3 seperated ways to go, so off I went up one and was treated to a great view of the lake below and its surrounding mountains that gleamed with the glaring sun. After we rolled down the mountain (true in a way) we got back into the car for a drive to a nice posh restaurant for lunch and I had chicken and it was the best chicken i`ve had in Japan.

To finish off the day we had a long drive back and a stop off at the local Ramen shop for some yummy Ramen then a short drive back home.

And that was the first holiday.

The second holiday which was on the weekend I spent with Yukari and we went to Hause Tein Bosch (I`ll check the spelling later) . But I will have to write about that another time as I am going to the gym now and then having tea at the church. Also after the enjoyment of the holiday came the worst days ever, but thats got to wait maybe a day or two till I write about....

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling...

Just as soon as you think the ball has stopped the ground caves in and it carries on its downward journey.

Golden week is coming up (next week) and all was going well, until there was a few problems about where and what I am going to do. At first I was invied to go with the Yamamoto family camping, but as we have both been busy not much more was said about it, I also got an invite off another family to go to Kumamoto, but I told them that I would need to think about it because of the initial invite, my girlfriend also wants to make plans as she has the day off on the 5th and 7th of May and as she is going to America for two months I really want to see her as much as I can before she goes, but I also want to travel. The plans were previously stated werent so much of a problem, until I got the recent invite today from one of the nursery parents about going on a cycling trip, which I was presumming was on a different day, or would have at least left me time to go with the Yamamoto family and/or meet my girlfriend and although I said to them that I would need to think about it, I think they got the inpression that I had no other plans and it was where I was going to go, so I have sent an email to the father and hopefully he can understand my english enough because they seem to have already applied for it (like a couple of hours after I said that I might be able to go) so at the moment things are getting pretty confusing.

To be honest my plan which I would like to do is to go camping with the Yamamoto family and get back in time for me to go and see my girlfriend on the 7th of May because I am so torn between what is going to happen. If I say no to everyone and just see my girlfriend on the 5th and 7th, then I will regret not going on a holiday travelling, but if I say yes then I am really going to regret it if I dont see my girlfriend until after she comes back. Hopefully today I will speak to the Yamamoto`s and be able to sort out what is happening because otherwise I might end up somewhere and still be confused about what is happening.

Lets hope by my next blog I will have found out what is happening, before everyone thinks i am going cycling, although most people already do because thats what Etsuko sensei and the teacher think I am doing, even though I was only told about it 3 hours ago!!!

Do you ever get the feeling....

Do you ever get the feeling that your life is like a snowball which is rolling very fast down a very big hill and you hit every rock as you go down?

Its a wierd simile, but at the moment that what I feel like. After the "incident" things were starting to get abit better, but during the course of getting a girlfriend I seemed to anger afew people that I didn`t think would have been affected by it. Take for instance Yuka (the girl that I went to the cinema with) after we went to the cinema we didn`t see each other again, but we still kept in contact via email, until she found out that I had made a girlfriend, then things started to go abit ... I knew that she only wanted to be friends, but because I liked her and then abit after I got a girlfriend, she thinks that I am a playboy (which is in a way is quite a funny thing to compare me with) She really seems to hate me because of it and at times its kind of confusing, partly because of the language barrier, but also because of the gender barrier. So the current news with Yuka is that she never wants to see me again and although I doubt that we might have met again anyway it still saddens me to lose a friend.

Moving on.... I have been extremely nervous on how Emiko was feeling about this because I had emailed her a few times and she hadnt replied and I thought that she didn`t want to speak to me as well because she is Yuka`s friend. The last time that I saw Emiko was about 2 weeks ago and I really miss seeing them and its hard to understand how everyone is feeling, but to be honest I didn`t think me getting a girlfriend would have affected so many other people. Although I was relieved when Emiko replied and told me that she had just been busy, but its still hard when I dont see her or her family as much.

Hopefully people will forgive me for trying to be happy and lets hope the snowball　slows down.....

On the road to recovery

I have just received a pleasing email from Maggie Powell, who is a GAP co-ordinator and apparently it seems that accroding to GAP I can go where I want or do what I want in my spare time as long as it doesn`t affect work (i.e getting there on time and been able to do my job like usual). So everything seems to be falling back into place and hopefully this weekend I can go whereever I want until the monday.

Today I also made my first proper meal, which was a combination of meat, chicken, noodles and vegetablesb and it was very tasty and went pretty well, apart from the smoke, but thats nothing to worry too much about. Tommorow I will be going to another families house for tea, so that should be much more tasty than what I cook.

I`m too tired to write a long post tonight because the kids wear me out too much and its too late, so bye bye and lets hope things get even better.

Currently Undergoing problems

If you have already notcied I have not been updating my site as much as I would like, due to many problems I am currently having, which has been taking up most of my time. So I apologise for this, but hopefully everything will be sorted as soon as possible.

My knights in shining kimono`s

"When there`s something strange in the Neighbourhood who you gonna call Ghostbus....." actually this time it was the Yamamoto`s that came to save me from the onslaught of the mosquito empire with the mosquito repellent domy shaped thing. I haven`t tested it out yet because I think I kill the current mosquito`s that were dwelling in my room, but hopefully it will force away any new blood suckers that like me.

I am back at the Yochien tommorow so I really hope that I can get some sleep tonight or else I will be zombified in the morning.

And on that note its an early bedtime.

P.S If the Yamamoto`s are reading this thankyou for the mosquito repellent and the cookies mmmmm...... oshii

The Mosquito`s are back and hungry for blood

Last night I had the worst sleep ever. After clearing away all of the pots and pans I had accumulated for my new adventure into the world of cooking and setting up all the new bedsheets and pillow I bought and hoovering all the floor to make the whole place nice and tidy and finally, getting a shower, I put my head down to rest, only to be kept awake by the buzzing of the mosquito that was above my ear. After about 30 minutes of searching for it I finally found it and BANG down it went. Once again I put my head back down to rest and once again, buzz, buzz, searchy searchy, BANG, BANG. This routine went on for another 2 mosquito`s at which the time by now was around 5am without any sleep at all. So I took measures to make sure no more appeared. I cellotaped paper over the fan (in case thats how they got in and put a towel under the door. Although it seemed that one was already in the room, so after the final kill at about 6am I finally managed to get some sleep, until about 9.30 when I woke up and my body decided that it didnt want to go back to sleep, so overall because of the damn mosquito`s I got a total of 3 and a half hours sleep. To make things even worse when I got up I noticed another mosquito on my window and with a swift movement of a shoe down it went.

I am now determined to get some insect repellent because if I have one　more night like that I will go insane.

I am still very tired now, but at 3pm I am going to have a piano lesson, so that should wake me up abit.

ZZZzzz...

Mushi Mushi

Today I got my new keitai (mobile phone) from vodaphone and I am currently trying to figure out how to use it. I have mastered the dialing technique and how to send messages, but I have not yet figured out how to change my email address on it. Unfortunatly as it is a pay as you go phone, I can`t get the internet on it (something to do with crime or something). I would have prefer to have got a nifty little monthly phone with about a million features, but there 2 problems; one, the minimum contract is about 6 or 7 months at a price of 4000 yen a month (20 pound) and I didn`t really feel like paying out and extra 4000-8000 worth of call time when I will be back in England unable to use the phone. Two, as previously said the mobile wont work in England anyways because the Japanese mobile networks are very mean. But I am happy with it and once I manage to figure out everything it does I will be happy. So far my favourite featre is the ability to turn the screen into a mirror state so that you can see yourself :P The good thing about the japanese networks though is that a text is only 5yen (about 2.5p) whereas in England they are about 12p a text now and with the best monthly plan in Japan you get text for 2yen.

So its a hate/love relationship with the Japanese phone companies; I love em because they are cheap and have some amazing features on (you can watch tv on them now), but I hate them because they don`t feel the need to allow export with their networks on their phones.

But we can dream.....

Today in Kokura (Part 3)

The journey to Kokura has been plentiful in these past few days and today I went with Emiko Yamamoto and her friends (about 10 all from Seinan Jo Gakuin) to try our skills at Karaoke. Although the karoake place didnt open until around 12, but the urge for the purikura arcade that was across the road was too much, so we went to get some pictures. I enjoy purikura, but I am not too keen on having my picture taken, so its a combination of fun and a slight nervousness, although I am sure that I will be nervousness free after many purikura`s.

After the picture house we went to McDonalds (I still have too many memories of my last job there) and then onto Karoake. I sang about 5 songs which included, good charlotte, green day, elvis, cyndi lauper and a duet with Emiko on Celine Dion. Karaoke is very different from the one in England, because in England its more a case of getting drunk and then singing at local pub whether Karaoke night is on or not, but in Japan you hire out a small room (the one we went to today had a horror theme) and then pick songs from a book and sing away, also you have a phone to contact the person at the desk to bring you food and drink, like Karaoke room service.

After Karaoke we did abit of shoe shopping and then off back to Emiko`s house for tea, which was very oshii (delicious).

Tommorow I go back to work at the Yochien and from that is left to see.

Oh and also in August I maybe going to Tokyo for a camping trip, but then again I am not sure if I am or not (its like that sometimes)

And on the 7th day he had rest

Today was "Yukuri" (rest). Although I did plan on sleeping until my body saw fit to wake my mother felt otherwise :P so I was awakened at 9am by a knock at the door from Etsuko-sensei to tell me that me mother was on the phone.

After finding the right spot to stand in so that the signal didn`t disappear I managed to talk to my mother who I was meant to call the day before, but I had been really busy so I didnt have time and when I finally tried it was engaged, my guess is that it was my sister on the internet.

After the phone call I managed to close my eyes for about 20 minutes until my alarm clock took its turn and once it had been smashed into little pieces I got some undisturbed rest.

The rest of the day was mostly a combination of using the internet and eating and having a nice conversation where I learnt some more words.

Though today was pretty slow tommorow I have big plans, first karaoke, then tea with my favourite 2nd family the Yamamoto`s.

Today in Kokura (Part 2)

Today was Easter Sunday, so because the nursery is part of the church I went to Easter service where some of the teachers and children came and we had a little party. There was alot of food (as always) and after the Nogata service had finished we moved onto the Kokura service, which is about 1 hour away (as most places are from Nogata). The Kokura service is run by Americans so it is all in English, which made a change from the Japanese service and although I joined in on the hymns, I decided to avoid the cult recitation parts from the bible and especially the parts to obey God.

After the service we had a little party, with alot of food (as per usual). Also I got to meet some Americans and someone from Norway who had lived in Japan for a long time, so it made a change to speak to some English speaking people, even if they were unfortunaly American.

After the party had finished we came back to Nogata (after Kyoko-san got lost in Kokura).

Tommorow I can finally get some rest and I am planning on going to Karoake on Tusday and next week I am going to buy a mobile phone so I dont have to use the internet all the time to communicate with people.

So until that next installment of life in Japan adieu

Today in Kokura

Today I went to see "National Treasure" with Yufuka and Yuki in kokura, which is just under 1 hour away on train from Nogata. Etsuko showed me where the station was and which platform to use so getting there wasn`t so bad, although about halfway through the train ride, the train stopped at one of the stations and the announcer said something in Japanese that I didn`t understand and then straight after a few people got off the train, so I had no idea what was going on. I asked one of the people who was leaving if she spoke English but she didnt, then I turned to four old women who where sitting behind me and asked them, but they didn`t speak English either, so I decided to try out my Japanese to ask why the train had stopped, I think I said something like "Suminasen, doshite wa densha no made desu ka" which means "Excuse, why has the train stopped" and then then said a few things that I only caught part of. Just then another train pulled up to the other tracks with the words "Kokura" on, so I was just about to leave the train when I asked the women "kore wa densha no Kokura ni ikimashitaka" , but I should have said "ikimasuka" instead of "ikimashitaka" which meant "Has this train gone to Kokura", but they got the idea and said that I should stay on this train and they were also going to Kokura.

After a nervous wait for the train to start again it did and off I went to Kokura where I met Yuka and Yuki. We then went to the Riverwalk and I found out that Japanese cinema`s are very expensive, costing me 1800 yen which is about 9 pound. After the movie we went to have some dinner at the restaurant "Moby Dick" and I had a hamburger steak with italian chesse, which was different from english burgers and steaks, but was nice non the less. After eating we went for purikura (as is common pratice in Japan it seems) then we went to a few off the shops before figuring out the trains I needed to catch to get back to Nogata.

I got back at about 5.30 and went for a walk round the shops for an hour and then went for a 5 minute nap before heading off to the church to use the computer, have tea and use the computer again, which is where I currently am and I am very tired, but I am looking forward to monday and tuesday where I have the days off and maybe I can wake up later than 8am.

I am going to go to sleep now as I am very tired and so much want to sleep in tommorow, but I have to get up early for Easter service. *yawn*

Nogata Yochien Website

If you are interested in taking a look at where I work in Nogata here is the website http://www6.ocn.ne.jp/~st-paul/index.htm and on the main page you can go to a link to see the past volunteers and myself and the construction of where I am currently living. If you can`t read Japanese just click on anything and you will eventually find it.

さい世なら Seinan yo Gakuin

Today was the last day of Hogwarts Academy, so I am very sad to be leaving, but tommorow I will meet a couple of the girls that are students there and next week I plan to go to Karaoke with Emiko and some of her friends, which I am looking forward to.

Unfortuntly still no luck with the photo`s, I have them on the computer, but trying to post them is another challenge, that I hope to sort out ASAP.

Hogwarts Academy

Today I spent the day at Seinan Jo Gakuin High School with Emiko, where we watched some more of the movie and made pizza for our lunch. Some of the girls can speak good English, but I can usually understand those that can`t. Tommorow is the last day at the school and we are going to have a graduation thing at 3pm, but I will miss the school when I go back to work at the nursery as I have been having a really good time. I finally got the chance to make my own plans for this saturday and I will be going to Kokura to see "National Treasure" at the cinema.

Tonight I am homestaying at Emiko`s house and I am currently using their computer, so I have to go now as we will be having tea soon.

Also I still haven`t had the chance to upload my pictures, but when I go back to the church I will and hopefully be able to show you some pictures of Japan.

Life In Japan

Welcome to the JapanEasy blog. I am Gary Wilkinson, 19, from Hull, England. I am currently taking a Gap year before I go to Huddersfield University to study 3-D Design and I plan on been an ALT in Japan after I finish. At the moment I am in Japan and have been for 20 days, but I havent had the time to set this page up yet, but I have managed to spare abit of time before I go to bed (even though I am very tired) to inform my friends and family about my time in Japan (plus it will saving me having to write the same emails all the time)

To bring you up with my events so far: On the 1st March I went to Heathrow airport with my parents to get the plane for Japan at 1pm, which was a 12 hour journey and I arrived in Tokyo on 2nd March 9.00am there time. Since I didnt manage to get to sleep on the plane it was hard to keep awake considering we landed in the morning so we had the whole day to spend around Tokyo and at about 9pm I got to sleep in the youth hostel with some of the other gap people I met.

The next day I still had Jet lag, but we went for another walk and went to the English center to use the computers and have a talk, then we went to akihabara (I can never remember the name) where I got a digital camera, with a discount as it was duty free (even though our Visa`s shouldnt have allowed it) but after the shopkeeper, who fortunatly was English realised his mistake on the other Gap person who first bough a camera, he still allowed me to get a discount after abit of persuation and luckaly I didnt have to use my passport like the previous person, who my have trouble at customs.

Fast forward to the friday, on the day of leaving and we woke up to snow, which was unusual since the previous day had been very hot, but luckily my plane wasnt cancelled or delayed.

After a 2 hour plane flight I arrived in Fukuoka abd met with David Busk and two Japanese people (One who is a reverand in Nagasaki and the other sometimes comes to visit me and speaks very good english) The woman (Mitsuko) then took me in her car to the nursery, which was a 1 hour drive and when I arrived we had a big meal and introduction to the teachers.

After spending the weekend doing many things and meeting many people I started work at the nursery for the week. My job is pretty much just to sweep the sand in the morning and pick up some of the children, then play with then for the rest of the day and sweep up at about 3pm ish and then leave at about 3.30-4.30, but on wednesdays and fridays its earlier. The nursery is great and every day is something new, also I havent cooked for myself yet as Etsuko sensei cooks my tea at 7.30pm, but eventually I will be cooking for myself.

I have only managed to get lost once, when I went for a walk and it got dark, so I couldn`t remember the way home, but I ended up at the city hall and got a taxi home.

I stayed at the house of Emiko Yamamoto (15), who goes to Sunday school and met her parents who made my tea, then the next day we went to Kumamoto castle, which was great. I will post pictures of it.

Many more things have happened which I dont have time to write at the moment, but recently on the Saturday, Sunday and Monday, I went to Nagasaki for Christian peace thing, where they discuss things like war and the atomic bomb (Genbaku) and we went to the bomb museum and did a big walk around Nagasaki, which was really interesting and I took many photo`s. On the Sunday there was a big earthquake in Kyuushu, which we felt during Sunday service and the whole building began to shake and everyone was suprised because earthquakes are very rare in Nagasaki, but this was a major one, but nowhere got damaged in Nagasaki, as it mainly hit one of the islands where a few buildings were badly damaged.

Today I went to the seinen gakuin junior high school with Emiko, for the Hogwarts Academy, where they learnt English in a fun way, because it was an option thing to do, while Spring Vacation is on (which I am pleased about because it means I get holidays off and the big 6 week summer holiday off like teachers do at schools in England.

I am going to go to bed now as I am tired and i might watch some Japanese T.V (I dont get the majority of it, but I eventually figure out whats going on, plus my Japanese is slightly improving, so I can understand some of what people say and I am learning Kanji, so I can read the signs, but I only know about 35 of the 10,000+ at the moment.

I will write about the previous days which I havent mentioned when I next have chance to use the computer, but for now its signing off.