Ichi ban - The Kiwi Zespri has landed!

Hey guys and Steve in Europe (you know who you are),

I'm sitting in my classroom right now - its all good here - and to save myself a bit of time im going to bloggerise myself, now there seems to be no structure to this bleat so you will notice it is all over the show but blah blah just read it for an update - alternatively if you think you could do without it then you should all have a window close button nearby..... the question is what brought you here in the first place?

now its very different to back in nz, or even Europe for that.... they have a different attitude in regards to how one should live life, its all very courteous and giving and everyone respects one anothers stuff - since being here i havent seen one mark on any buildings....... tagging doesn't exist which is nice. the only pricks here are foreigners apparently - so im trying to avoid that band wagon. (oh yeah and the yakuza who are a nasty piece of work....... they mess with you if you mess with them - a not so in your face gang - but very horrible all the same).

food is healthy - super healthy........ its like this, i just had a drink which had 7 vegetables and 3 fruits in it and it tasted like pure grape juice...... they know how to do funky things with food..... no preservatives and 0% sugar........ i have found the whale meat.... mean as steaks of it guys... so now to go buy it and eat it!......... watch this space.

i have a boss who i havn't spoken a word of sense to yet....... he knows English like i know Japanese. i have done one week of observing - next week i teach and then the week after im solo....... i love it! the kids are so cool.... im teaching around 5 years of age - the English is as good as a 5 year old in nz and they are super curious.

the girls here are surprisingly fit - im not an Asian girl fan, but you cant ignore some of the beauty out there..... and a European looking bloke like myself draws some attention for sure......... none i have yet to encounter as being bad ha ha..... now what to say to them? konichiwa hite hite!

im living with my cousin at the moment on a couch in a house for which its entirety wouldn't be bigger than a large lounge back in nz ha ha na that's an exaggeration - think of it like one room big enough for a double bed then times that by 7 now put a kitchen and bathroom into that space...... oh yeah and a wash room, a lounge and a bedroom..... hmm maybe its easier if i just send photos....... either way its not that tiny.

technology here supersedes the west (no surprises there aye stu!) with every toilet seat being heated and every car having a tv in the dashboard ha ha....... absolutely mad (and the discovery has only just begun)...... and the stereotype about Asians and shit driving has been nothing but been re - enforced coming here - i saw a guy yesterday try and do a u turn from hard left to the opposite side of a 4 lane main street! Dick! and then you have red light runners who stop first then half way through a light change have a brain melt down and decide to go........ idiots..... but im sure this all comes back to bloody tvs in the dashboards of cars here!!!!!!!!!

everyday im eating something new..... i had raw octopus yesterday and im going to give fish eggs a go tonight. The octopus suckers pop in your mouth......... my cousin says i have to stop bringing all this weird shitty asian food home ha ha but im here to get involved right?!?!?

gambling is a big no no here - you can do it as long as money isnt involved....... so my first weekend here had me found at the center of an illegal poker tournament...... i made it to the last 4 and then bust..... 10 or so players....... the game i could follow - the chatter in between i couldn't......

immigration - for those of you who didn't already know..... they didn't stick a finger up my bum - but they did hold me in a cell for over an hour.... language issues and visa worries - once i figured out what was going on it had kinda sorted itself out....... ha ha

i got on the train after a mind boggling mission trying to understand where the trains actually were......... and they had employed 3 people to stand at the end of the platform and wave goodbye to the train - what a first (second , third) impression......!

the ticket guy came along asked me for my ticket then everyone elses one by one....... then once all were collected he returned to the middle of the train and thanked everyone - either that or he told everyone to get stuffed and not to sit on the train longer than your paid for stop......... i wasn't too sure obviously - but he seemed nice enough. He then bowed about a million times and left.

this last week has had as many new "oh my god moments" in it that im overly eager to see what tonight brings let alone tommorrow!

arghhh so much more to tell but i have to run and catch some kids (and not in the scary trench coat and dark glasses fashion), i cant sit here all day on email.......... im now responsible for the youth of japan and thier ability to interact with western english speaking countries ohh the humor of it all is almost uncontainable! ha ha ha - hey everything is sweet as aint it kids?

i hope everything is well back home and abroad - mum sorry about the language in this blorerog but im sure you will overlook those areas ha ha

miss you all heaps and heaps

x x x