Well, I finally get around to updating this....
I had a wonderful Christmas holiday here - it was a bit strange being away from home for the first time but there were others like me who didn't go home or away on holiday so I was able to spend time with them.
Went to Yokohama again for another day trip. Did the usual tourist sights this time with Gina, and also went iceskating outside. That was fun and I managed to get away without a bruised bum despite the kamikaze children's efforts to wipe us out.
Also visited Kamakura which is about 2 hours from my house and which was once the capital of Japan. It is home to a great 'Diabutsu' or Giant Buddha which is smaller than the famous one in Nara but widely considered to be artistically superior. Also did a hiking trail through the surrounding countryside which was very pleasant.
We then went skiing for just one day in Niigata which, like the whole of Northern Japan, has had record snow this year. We got up at 3 in the morning (my Japanese teacher drove up) and were on the slopes by 10. The skiing was good as the snow was really fresh. It snowed the whole time and was very cold at the top of the mountains but at least it wasn't painful when I wiped out (just once - head over heals!). I surprised myself that I was able to ski about as well as the last time I went when I was 18 and I even managed the black slopes without too much difficulty. We ended the day in a most relaxing way, in an onsen (Hot spring bath). We were able to get outside in a hot pool surrounded by snow and stars. It was truly a fantastic way to ease our achy muscles!
New Year's eve was spent in a bar / club in the centre of Tokyo dancing to cheese with a big group of English and Japanese friends. Good fun.
Then from the 4th to the 7th January, I went with a friend to Kyoto (on the bullet train yay! and it is fast!). Its a very beautiful city, totally different to Tokyo. It is packed full of culture. There is a temple or shrine on every street, and Kyoto is famed for its traditional cultures / crafts and good food. We spent four days doing the main sights - which are mainly temples and shrines but the market was also a highlight. I spent many a happy moment there playing 'Guess the uniditifyable food'. The smells were deliciously exotic and enticing. We had time also to see the film of 'Memoirs of a Geisha' which was fitting since we were in the city where it was filmed and set. It has caused a stir out here because the actors are mostly all Chinese and their accents are apparently dreadful on the few occasions that they speak Japanese. But I thoroughly enjoyed the film and will read the book soon (I have been meaning to for so long!) So I liked Kyoto and will probably try to go back again - there is still so much more to see.
It was back to work then - a little difficult after a two and a half week break, but I have now settled back in and am enjoying most days! Since then, my weekends have been spent meeting friends, eating out, drinking, studying Japanese, going to gigs, going to the cinema and meeting students on a social as opposed to work basis. Today in fact I am have been to lunch with one of my classes (four women) and am going to dinner with another (also four women!). It is really nice to have the contact outside work but I sometimes feel that I have no time for myself. However, they are all so friendly and totally welcoming so it's really good.
My next holiday is in less than two weeks. I am going with Shane (The company I work for not a random guy!) to Sapporo which is on Hokkaido island right up in the north. Temperatures get as low as minus 40 so that will be a shock to the senses. But at the moment there is the annual "snow festival" on. Huge ice sculptures and stunning scenery so I am told. Its only for 2 days and we are flying there but I can't wait to go. I am now saving money having moved in with two other Shane teachers so am able to spend every last penny on travelling round - something which just has to be done here!
And last week it snowed in Tokyo - and not like it does in the south of England where it turns to water as soon as it hits the ground. This was proper, heavy snow all day and night and the ice is still on the streets in parts. I gather it has been in the news in the UK about the heavy snow in Japan and the people who have died because of it. It has been a big problem here but luckily for me, Tokyo is spared the worst of this kind of weather. Now its back to dry sunny days.
I must be running out of things to say if I have got onto the very British habit of talking about the weather so for now I will shut up and write more soon....
Love to ya'll xxx
