Ju san ban - don't complain about the events at the temple, when you're guilty of the same at the supermarket.

Well its been one year, one month and four days and I still hate karaoke (although recently I have found myself strangely enjoying it - the more you drink the better you become it seems).

*photo missing

My last update found me in another country, enjoying the festive season and I thought the story was good enough to last me for at least 12 months........ but once 2 months had passed I knew it had gone over its best before date and now 4 months down the track I realise - the longer I leave THIS update, the more effort I will have to put in later.

I have successfully completed a year of teaching and I am very sad to see the children move on...... We finished with a graduation ceremony where the older kids donned graduate caps and gave a farewell speech... Not much to say here really about it all except it was good/bad day. Good that the kids had achieved something and bad that it rained.

Well with that being one of the more recent events that I feel I should mention, I shall now return to events that happened earlier this year.

The first was a supermarket incident that I need to get off my chest (there is always a supermarket moment). It was the fruit and vegetable department late on a midweek night. They had started to clean up and there was a trolley full of asparagus sitting in the middle of the isle. I needed to get asparagus I thought, and so grabbed a bag to fill. The supermarket assistant immediately came over barking orders at me while pointing to the shelf behind me. I knew she was saying "don't take those, there are some fresh ones behind you" but instead all I heard was "ooga booga ooga booga booga" with which I smiled and cheerfully responded with "konichiwaaaaaa"...... it was at this moment that she stopped and looked at me like I had two heads and backed away slowly, like it had just become apparent to her that I had contracted airborne rabies. I kinda don't blame her, to be working away, and see an opportunity to point a customer in the right direction, only to be met with an overly enthusiastic "HELLO" would probably weird me out also. My only explanation is that I just had a brain melt down and in my fluster I responded with a knee jerk response, now I shop with headphones on and music blaring.

Last month I turned 30. As much as you expect things to change overnight and a sense of maturity to come over you........... it doesn't. That person passing the mirror still occasionally pulls stupid faces at me and makes me laugh. The way I see it is that he is just a little older looking.

So anyway as I was saying I turned 30 and celebrated the event with a small group that bought me a computer, covered me in cake, feasted on 'Yaki Niku" (beef barbeque) and screamed ourselves stupid at karaoke..... well I did anyway, and gee did I sound good! It was just like someone had put the CD player on...... another beer please!

Recently I have been gallivanting around taking photos of anything and everything. Ever since I grabbed my cousins camera a couple of years ago and pointed and clicked, the feeling just captured my attention and so I went out and bought a Nikon something something. I wanted to immortalise spring here, as it seems so short lived, and just the idea of entertaining the tune "turning Japanese" comes to mind.

I have missed plenty out and am going to hate myself for these lost memories at a later date........ but the fact that I have remembered not to record them here should help me recall them later on....... yeah Kane good work - thats definitely how all brains remember stuff you egg.

I will finish with a quick moment that happened to me as recently as two days ago. I went down the local temple (like the local dairy in NZ - there is at least one on most corners near your house here it seems, but they have less going on and they appear a little more well maintained than the dairy's back home) to photograph the blossoms that have started appearing. There was another school floating about that seemed somewhat interested in my presence but happily ignored me also it seemed. I snapped away merrily and became almost oblivious to their presence. As I sat down on a low concrete verge (just to the bottom right of the photo) a teacher from the other school approached me. He asked me where I was from and and what I did for work amongst other things.......

I responded with im a teacher from NZ and I didn't understand his Japanese sorry, to which he called the school over to introduce themselves in English which was quite daunting. Im sitting lower than the 20 seven year olds all surrounding me screaming "hello im ..... " while a Japanese teacher is instructing them on how to introduce themselves in English properly and I am having to respond to each one with Hello so and so, while the teachers gasp in amazement as I respond to each child with his/her correct name that they had just told me.... it was weird/wrong/horrible event and not how I had wanted to spend my day off. Im not going back to that temple in a rush.

Till next time - stay cool till after school.