My First Manga

Reading manga is not only a good way to study Japanese, it's also an excellent way of relating to the students. But breaking into the world of manga can be difficult - expressions used are not necessarily in the dictionary but are clique-specific, some stories may have been going for years before you buy a manga, the characters tend to show up in more than one series of manga and stories often overflow into anime videos.

So I was totally lost when I walked into the comic store in Kurashiki's Aeon Mall a couple of weeks ago.

I was confronted with row upon row upon row of comic book spines, and hundreds of similar-looking covers. Genre definitions were blurred as almost all artwork looked sexual in some way. And of course the hentai porn comics were mixed in with comics meant for teenagers (much in the same way that porn anime is always located next to children's movies in the DVD store).

Eventually, I just went with some cover art I liked and purchased xXx Holic written by a group of writers called CLAMP.
A seductive witch and a troubled school boy. How can they make something sexual out of that?

Another mindless day at work

To be honest, most of my days at school, especially days I'm at S or M JHS, pass by in a haze of mind-numbing uselessness, where I can feel my spontenaiety, creativity, intelligence, and general zest for life slipping away from me.

Without any classes, today was one of those days.

I sat at my desk marking mounds of homework, reading the same vocabulary over and over again. I tried to solve the mystery of the eaten cake.And I stared out the window.Sometimes I wonder if the JET salary is worth it.

Taiko o tatakitai

After a year and a half of nagging, I have finally been accepted into Niimi's local taiko group, Yuzurihadaiko.

This weekend I played roadie and helped load and unload the truck and film the performances at an old fashioned amusement park called Joyfull Park in Hiruzen Highlands, which is located at the foot of Mt Daisen and is famous for jersey cows in fields (a rare sight in Japan) and dairy products.
After the first performance, we had time to mess around on the "attractions". I had a go on the lamest roller coaster in the world (even worse than the one at Rainbow's End), and the go karts (which didn't really go at all).

Tom and Darren raced their rides at a breakneck speed of 500m an hour.During the second performance, I took my own videos. I only managed to upload one to YouTube due to size limits - one of the songs was a 10 minute battle between two drummers....
At the end of the day, I watched as the taller members of the group maneuvered the oodaiko (In my head I affectionately call it Big Boy for some reason) onto the trolley.I would post more pictures, but SOMEONE hasn't passed them on to me yet.

I thought I'd seen it all...

Until I saw this thing on the floor of the gym. It was at least 20cm long!

Proud

It's hard to believe, but last night, I cooked Japanese dishes for the first time since I've been here.

Firstly, I created hiyayakko tofu, which is simply chilled tofu, garnished with grated ginger, sliced spring onion, a little soy sauce, and bonito flakes.

Then I tried my hand at oyakodon. I love the name - it means "parent and child in a bowl of rice". Basically, it's chicken and half cooked egg simmered in a sauce along with some other ingredients, and served on top of a bowl of rice.

Maaaaaaiiiiiiuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The gym

In a bid to get in shape so I can start wearing those Woman's Egg outfits, I've decided to go to the gym more often.

Niimi has two gyms. One is called Genki Hiroba, and is situated a 25 minute easy cycle away at the other end of town. It's a huge modern complex with a training room, aerobics classes, heated pool, onsen, massage chairs, and who knows what else. I hear they're having special Billy's Bootcamp classes every weekend since the craze recently hit Japanese infomercials. I've never been there. There's a sign on the door stating that if you have been tattooed, you are not welcome. That, plus the membership fees are ridiculous.

Instead, I'm going to the Shimintaiikukan, or Citizen's Gym. Located on top of a mountain a 20 minute cycle from home, it's only 100 yen per visit!Apart from the deserted training room with antiquated machinery, there's an outdoor swimming pool open in summer, baseball and soccer fields, and.....that's about it. You can hire ping pong tables whenever you like, and there are social games of volleyball and badminton and I don't know what else held on a weekly basis.

All mine to use whenever I want.

A funny thing about Japanese gyms is that they all have these old-fashioned vibrating belts. And yes, I've seen people use them.

Just in case you can't figure the equipment out, there are handy instructions about the place.

And if you overdo it, there's a defibrillator at reception for your convenience.

Woman's EGG - Slightly less NSFW

The precursor to Men's Egg was in fact Woman's Egg. Originally a fashion magazine teaching young girls how to be fashionable gyaru, it now includes a skanky lifestyle element.From the latest fashion on the street in Shibuya...

To a poll on what is and isn't acceptable behaviour in bed.How can us foreign girls keep up?

Dis-Orienteering

There's nothing like racing around the mountains with your students to cure a Sunday morning hangover.

We spent the morning chasing down the letters of the alphabet for a maximum total of 500 points (The N JHS teams all came in with around 250 points - I blame the heat) in the mountains of Seinen no Ie.

The azaleas and daisies were in bloom.

I was glad to leave all evidence of human habitation (and destruction-by-concrete) behind.The path forked often on the way to various well hidden checkpoints.After sneaking off on my own for a bit I was unable to see anyone or anything man-made, and all I could hear was the insects and the wind in the trees.My perfect morning was followed by a perfect hangover-free afternoon on Jo-yama with a soccer ball, hackey sack, red wine and good company, which was then followed by a perfect evening of Okinawan fare at Marin and good conversation.

The fact that I had Monday off work just topped it all off......ahhhhh.

I got mail!

At 3.05 am this morning....

Monkey Love

We headed out to Kanba Waterfall in Chuo Katsuyama for an afternoon of Monkey Love. While the monkey love was going on around us we took a moment to appreciate the waterfall too. And the wisteria which blooms only briefly.

Men's EGG is not (S)afe (F)or (W)ork

I bought this mag on the way home from Kyuushuu but by the time I got a look at it, it was all dog eared after the boys had all "had a go". In fact, it was this mag that nearly caused Tom to drive into the median barrier as he tried to get a glimpse of what Brian, sitting in the passenger seat, was getting excited about.

And it wasn't the hot oni-kei fashion that Brian was drooling all over - no, it was the "Sex Point Up Technique Collection", which came complete with near naked real life models.Although that chick looks more like one of those "near to life" super sex dolls to me than an actual human being.

Once you've learnt how to please a girl, you are then ready to head out on a nampa mission and pick up a chick. But which drink leads to sex? Aparently there's a method to buying a drink too.These shekshi young guys and girls love "the cock".

Apart from all the sex, there's also dating and health and beauty tips, and of course the fashion. Some of the outfits in this mag cost the same as a return trip to Korea (over 30,000 yen). But that's the price you pay to be one of the beautiful people.

Calling all space children...

The first half of Golden Week was spent either in one of the many fine drinking establishments around town or picnic-ing on Joyama, complete with red wine, mohitos, and hackey sack.

For the second half, five of us left Niimi at 4.30am and drove a borrowed van for 13 hours down the expressway to Kyuushuu. Our destination was the Niji no Misaki Festival, also known as 17th Annual Space Children Gathering.

Along the way, we killed a bird, we exited the expressway too early and got caught up in "honey festival" traffic, we spotted some young punk punch another young punk in the head, and we had a nice little buzz going by the time we rolled on into the field where hundreds of tents had sprouted.

We soon had camp set up and joined the neighbours at their campfire. Among them was a Japanese woman who lives in Australia and her petulant son, her parents, and some hitch-hikers she had picked up on the way.

The rest of our stay was spent in a blur of live music, drum circles, hellish onsens, campfires, wild children, fantastic food, chance encounters with people we had met before, and meeting more of the best people you could ever wish to meet in Japan. Oh, and mud. I can't forget to mention the mud. Or the peeing in the bushes.

Lots of fire poi posing around the place.Jembe circles every night - just follow the beat, and you'll find it.Lots of instruments, and lots of impromptu jamming. Not to mention camp fire hospitality and kindness of everybody we met.Mt Aso appears during an early morning stroll through the neighbourhood.A great percussion group.

A reminder that Children's Day is celebrated this week.

Some great fashion.

And the mud...The Fundoshi Revolution is coming to a town near you. Eee, janai ka?The band played and Jesus wep...danced.Guitar Panda morphed into Elvis.Children roaming free-range minded their own business. Or forced you to help them find Mum while trying to get to your beer.A safe place to be, complete with tatami, shrine, and fire pit.Belly dancers surround the crowd.

And captivate everyone with their moves.The toilet tent. Eight holes in the ground surrounded by bamboo screens. At night, it was easier to brave the wildlife than use this "facility".A lazy Saturday morning at the Shaggin' Waggon campsite.It was funny...

Until it happened to us.

But we didn't mind.Neither did anybody else.We've got ice cream and shochu, so it's alllll goooooood.The bands rocked on.

The rain didn't bother anyone.And neither did the melodica player.It's easy to get entangled in the Fundoshi Revolution.

We left around 11pm for an overnight drive home to avoid the traffic, and after a kombini stop and some McDonald's drive through, we were on the expressway.

Marilu had no idea that we were careening down the expressway at 110km (instead of the 80km limit) in the middle of two lanes, or that we almost ran off the road because of boobs. By 10am we were back in Niimi with the rest of the day to recuperate and try and remember what went on before work the next day.