New photos posted on Photobucket!

New photos are up on photobucket including photos from Tsukiji Fish Market, photos from our visit to Namja Town, photos from our trip to Tokyo Tower, photos from our nightmare night at Big Pink Pig, photos of the cherry blossom in Oji, photos from our trip to the Fuji area, photos from our `training` in Ome, photos from the Easter Party, photos from our night out to the famous tempura restaurant Tenichi and photos of me in my yukata!

Please check them out if you have time! I am going to post about April soon, so don`t forget to check back!

March Madness

Sorry it has been so long since I last posted! I`m going to try and do the months of April and May the same way I have done this one, just one month at a time. After work has started up again, we are even busier than ever! Barney has become a full time teacher, so our schedules have completely changed and are now absolutely brimming, whereas before the small time I had I could ocassionally put towards this blog, but now I have less free time, so it`s pretty hard. Once I`ve done all the writting, then I might start uploading some more pictures. Sorry for the wait, here`s March Madness!

Omiya Railway Museum (Mar 10th): During our short break from work, since all of the students were doing exams, Barney`s PTA class (the class from PTA members whose children had already graduated Junten) kindly offered to take us to the Railway Museum in Omiya, which is not so far from Oji and can be easily accessed on our trusty Keihin-Tohoku line. We met at the station and walked to the museum (after witnessing another classically named shop; `Blacky: Hyper tanning studio`. Good one.). The museum was pretty cool and had lots of trains in it, as you could expect, as well as a diorama of the train system (train geeks paradise) and some trains you could actually go inside of. Luckily for us there was some bits of English and we had a scanning device so that the bits that didn`t have English we could scan and the read about. After the trip we went for tea/coffee at a coffee shop that I imagine was pretty expensive, cause we each had a teapot and it was kind of confusing (not that confusing equals expensive). Anyway, it was a fun day out and was something different to do.

Band`s Shock Vol. 6 at Shibuya O-West (Mar 12th): This week`s concert was at Shibuya O-West, O-East`s little brother and once again was a multi-band event, so I was there for about 6 hours. 7 bands played, Siva (who I had seen previously and were just as good this time, bass player is especially good), Matenrou Opera, Tinc, -OZ-, chariots (again, who I had seen before and were maybe even better this time), Versailles (who I had really wanted to see, they were great too!) and lynch (who I had seen before but this time were a lot more impressive than last time). It was a really fun night and there were slightly more foreigners there this time and more men, so I didn`t feel as weird as last time. Next week is `Tokyo Metropolis` at Shibuya AX, so that should be fun too!

Junten Graduation Ceremony, party and after party (Mar 16th): Even though we were on a break from work, we still had a few working commitments to attend and this was one of them. Even though we had never taught the 3rd Grade Seniors, we were still expected to attend the Graduation Ceremony at Hokutopia and the party for the parents and teachers in Ikebukuro`s Metropolitan Grand Plaza Hotel. The graduation ceremony was really kind of different from my last day of school and results day and was at least fifty times more formal. Basically, the students who were graduating and their parents were in the audience, as well as the 2nd grade seniors, who could witness what it was going to be like for them the next year. On the stage however was the Junten podium, flags, flowers and all of the teachers, including Mike and I. Everyone had to wear a white tie, and it seemed a white shirt and black suit, however being the unlucky foreigner that no-one told, I had a grey shirt and grey suit on. Mike was lucky and just happened to be wearing a black suit and a white shirt, so I felt really out of place, but they didn`t cancel the ceremony so it can`t have been that bad. The ceremony itself contained some singing (including the Junten anthem, which I managed to sing along to okay, apart from the chorus, which Mike distracted me for every single time by not singing the words, but instead just saying `zupe` for every word. He was quite well in tune and pitch though) and then each of the students who graduated had their names read out (which was quite a few as there are about six classes of forty) and they could say `Hai` and then stand up, followed by hours of speeches I couldn`t even understand, but I could kind of tell that they were boring, as many teachers were asleep including Nakahara sensei and Barney. Luckily I didn`t fall asleep as I was too amused by the other teachers sleeping, but Mike did look close a few times. After that it was all over, so we could leave to make the `Tunnel of Congratulations` for when the students were lead out of the hall by their form teachers. It just involved clapping and towards the end finally meeting some Barney fans. After that we went back to the ELC to change our ties and then headed off to Ikebukuro to the rather fancily done party for the parents and teachers. We managed to talk to some people when we weren`t eating the buffet dinner and stealing lots of things from the desert table, though in pretty much every case bar one we wouldn`t know the parent`s child at all. After the party we went along to an Irish pub with Barney, Terry and Nakahara sensei and then along to an Izakaya (Japanese pub), where Terry could show us his knowledge of sake. The graduation ceremony itself had been boring but the party and after parties were fun.

Tokyo Metropolis at Shibuya AX (Mar 19th): This week`s concert was at Shibuya AX, a venue I`d never been to before, but had luckily scouted it out the week before. Shibuya AX is bigger than both of the Shibuya-O`s, but not as big as Zepp Tokyo, it`s a little bit bigger than a Carling Academy, to put it in English perspective. The line-up for this concert was really good too and I got a good standing place sorted out for when Versailles, the headliners were one, so I could see the lead guitarist Hizaki be awesome on the guitar. Firs ton were Matenrou Opera, who were a bit better than the first time I saw them, followed by DuelJewel, who I didn`t know at all, but was quite impressed with. Chariots played next, who seemed to just get better every time I saw them (this was my third time). An unscheduled band were on after chariots, who were called Moran, but didn`t get such a massive reaction from the crowd, but I thought were quite cool and then Galneryus, the reason there were so many men there. Galneryus were really good, even if they do sound a little bit old skool power metal-ish. Vidoll, who I hadn`t been amazingly impressed with when I saw them in January were on after and were really awesome, the set list was great, maybe you just have to be in the standing section to appreciate them more. Finally, just before Versailles were 12012, who I didn`t know but the crowd seemed to love, and I enjoyed their set too. Of course, Versailles, who were hosting the event were on last and played an awesome set including one of their new songs from the single they had just released that day. The concert was so good! Who could`ve thought watching grown men cross-dressed as Parisian aristocrats playing heavy music could be so fun?

Last day at Junten (Mar 21st): Today was the last day at Junten, so everyone got lined up outside listen to the head teacher`s speech about the year and things and also to introduce the head of the charity that we had raised money for in the sponsored run (we did the 8kn run for Refugees International Japan) and she thanked everyone who raised money and told us a bit about what RIJ does. We also got to meet her personally and talk to her and her translator a little bit. We then cleaned up our teachers room and the ELC ready for the next term and I think that was it, academic year over, our second semester over, just one more to go.

Mike`s sister`s visit (Mar 22nd – Apr 1st): Mike`s sister visited from the 22nd of April to the 1st of April, as the title of this post would suggest. Anyway, I`ll try and be brief, because we did do quite a lot of things while she was here and I don`t want to make it too boring for you. Well, Helen, Mike`s sister arrived on the 22nd and that same day, Mike, Helen, Minami and I went to Asakusa to check out the shrine, stalls and the ngo for an Okonomiyaki made by a scary woman. It`s all in a day`s work really. On the 23rd, we went to Harajuku to Meiji Jingu and saw a Japanese wedding (by chance, not invited), I think that was the same legendary day we saw and heard the Texan lady almost shout `Is it this way to the shriiine?` in a wicked Texan accent, it was so funny. After that we went along to Shibuya where Mike, Minami and Helen had a massage from a Chinese lady (planned, not by chance) while I ran around Shibuya trying to find something good to get Minami for her birthday the next day. The next day, surprisingly was Minami`s birthday but also a really rainy day. Minami wanted to go to Tsukiji Fish market, which is a huge fish market in Tsukiji and when we got there I was surprised to find it was a huge fish market. For me, not so interesting (if you go really early in the morning apparently it is more interesting) but for some maybe it is, they did have loads of stuff that you can`t get in England, but that isn`t so surprising as the seas around Japan have a much wider range of fish than in England. We did go to a really good sushi restaurant though that was also expensive but worth it. It really is weird how even just ten or fifteen pieces of sushi can really fill you up. The next day Minami had to go to work, but the three of us went to FujiQ Highland, which is the theme park Mike and I visited already in December. It was absolutely packed and unfortunately we didn`t get to go in the haunted house again (which they had changed back to the original forty five minute one, as opposed to the shorter Resident Evil version) and we queued for the best rollercoaster in the park for two and a half hours. Which was kind of ridiculous but worth it. On the 26th in the morning, the three of us went to Ikebukuro to go to Sunshine City`s (a tower kind of complex thing) Namja Town, a small amusement park run by Namco, though, we went because we had free tickets that expired the next day and to eat gyoza (Chinese, erm, dumpling things) and ice-cream and cheesecake, a healthy well balanced lunch I thought. We started off with the different kinds of gyoza shops, and then moved onto the Ice cream shop that has like every flavor ever. We tried the Yuzu, Sakura, Indian Curry and Squid flavoured ice-creams, and I enjoyed all of them, but Mike and Helen weren`t so fond of the squid one. After that, luckily for us they had a cheese-cake `exhibition` or `conference` or something, I can`t remember but it was funny English. Once we had done filling our faces in the food theme park we went along to Odaiba to wait for the Toya boys, who were back in Tokyo and then to go and eat at one of the usual buffets and then along to Joypolis. The next day we went along to Kamakura again to see Kamakura with cherry blossom (as opposed to the autumn red leaves) and also to finally go to the beach there. It was a pretty nice day. The next day Mike, Helen, Craig and I went to Tokyo Tower to see what it is like, though it isn`t as impressive as Landmark Tower in Yokohama (though it is about the same price). After that we went along to Harajuku and Shibuya before heading to Shinjuku for a (nightmare) night of drinking in the big pink pig and karaoke in Akabane before a long walk home.

Barbeque Hanami (Mar 29th): The next morning I went to Shibuya for a shop around but I don`t think I bought anything, later on I went somewhere which I have forgotten the name of but it was quite far away. Dave and Co were having a Hanami (flower viewing) party to look at the cherry blossoms. These kinds of party are very common with Japanese people and we often saw them sitting under the cherry blossom trees, on their mats drinking, not only at night but pretty much from the morning. Even saw some of the bad after affects of such drinking habits. Anyway, we had a small barbeque and it was great to see everyone again, though unfortunately I had to go only a few hours in as I had to go to an…

X Japan concert (Mar 29th): Yeah! It was an awesome concert at Tokyo Dome. X Japan, legendary Japanese Rock musicians and pretty much founders of the `visual kei` (visual style, mainly involves dressing up as a bit of an extreme goth. Sometimes I prefer just the music to be honest) genre of music I am into. It was a once in a lifetime chance for me, so I decided to go to the concert (there were three in a row, but I could only get a ticket for the middle night), albeit expensive. It was definitely worth it though!

Day trip to around Fuji (Mar 30th): A while ago I had planned to go on a day trip around the Mount Fuji area (just generally around Shizuoka prefecture), but in early February our Monday night English class decided to merge itself into the trip with the help of Nishimura-san. So, Mike, Helen and I went on the trip on the 30th. We went around everywhere by coach, starting obviously with a long drive out towards Fuji (west of Tokyo). The first place we stopped was a Wasabi Farm, where we could see them growing wasabi and then we could try a variety of wasabi related goods, including wasabi ice-cream, which was pretty good. After that the next stop was to see two waterfalls, `Shiraito no Taki` and `Otodome no Taki`. I don`t know the meaning of either of the names unfortunately, but they were both massive waterfalls and we took some pictures and things. Next stop was one of Fuji`s great lakes; Motosuko, so, Lake Motosu, which was quite beautiful, but it was kind of a dull day unfortunately. Next stop was to a vineyard, which was growing peach trees I think, but it was kind of hard to understand what exactly it was they were growing. Lots of nice pink flowered trees though. Last stop on the tour before returning back to Oji was a winery, where we could try lots of different kinds of wine, some of which we good and some of which weren`t so good. It was a really fun day out though and all of the places we visited were really different places that we wouldn`t normally have thought to visit. Seems like a long day? It was only just beginning…

Training course in Ome (Mar 30th – 31st): After the day trip, Mike and I had to go out straight away again to go to Ome by train for our `training course`. What it was training for I didn`t have and still don`t have any idea, since half the year has gone by already, but we went anyway, even if we were reluctant to go that far out of town for `training`. When we got there we were picked up by a guy we had never met before and to be honest I didn`t have a chance to get to know him that good anyways. For the training, we were staying in an old-style Japanese house, which was apparently haunted by the ghost of a Samurai. Anyway, rather than training it was more a midyear debriefing course rather than anything else. It was quite cool to stay in an older house and sleep on a futon, but it did make me glad that Mike has the futon room and not me, since I was so unused to sleeping on a futon it was hard to get to sleep. After the training was over we went along to an onsen and then back to Tokyo, ready for work starting the next day…

COMING SOON: April Fools and (Not so) Manic May … see what I did there? Terrible. (Also soon: Photos!)