Cool Stuff

The first cool thing is that I started work on Saturday. I have a six month contract teaching young kids in 50 minute lessons, ages from 2 - 7 in different classes. Lots of games, singing, talking.

The second cool thing is that I caught the express train for the first time to get to work. I had to stand, and I started to feel like I was seriously going to vomit. I felt my knees go weak, I started to sweat. So I thought "I'm definitely getting off at the next stop to hurl". The next thing I know, I'm on the ground with concerned Japanese faces looking into mine. I had fainted!! Didn't realise until I woke up on the ground - I didn't feel a thing. Luckily I had fainted at my stop. The train driver made me sit down, and then he made me get into a wheelchair and took me into the staffs office. No one spoke English. I contacted my uncle - he told me to get out before they called an ambulance and put a drip in me, which is what the common cure for what ails you is around these parts. After a slight rest, I went to work and felt fine. Strange episode, I think it was stress and motion sickness. Considering I'm fine, I laugh to think what everyone's faces would have looked like; a big 75 kg foreigner collapsing to the ground making a loud noise...it's just not done on the train! They would have thought I was on drugs.

The third cool thing was that I had an epic weekend with Josephine and Caroline. I took lots of pics, and want to show you them, but am going to have to split them up into groups.

Here is some cool stuff I saw, with stories where applicable.

We stayed at a hostel called U-en for the night, as if you wanna go out in Japan you have to either stay out til 5am (first train) or leave before midnight. The hostel had rice paper walls, tatami mats with futon to sleep on, and floors like that. http://www.u-en.net is the website, I highly recommend it.

A Japanese keyboard. They are a pain to use cos you keep hitting wrong keys and converting into Japanese. There is a red panic button for some reason - I pushed it, nothing happened. I think it's unique to the hostels computer though.

Live FUGU, the poisonous fish. In a restaurants window, ready for the cooking.
Aren't they cute?

oh, hai!

I want to know what this material is, I love how this building looks. Reminds me of pounamu.

This cute cat was walking around the floor at a game arcade. They have heaps of toys that walk around to lure you in.

I think these are punters drawings of the staff at this bar we went to called Kangaroo Bar (at the recommendation of the staff at U-en, not cos it sounds Austrailian...)

More of U-en, this is on the walls outside of the rooms.

Classic Japan - according to my sources, most Japanese think Westerners are on drugs. This poster is in English, conveniently.

Cool lamp post in Shinsaibashi.

Cool mural on shop front.

Cool bike.

A love hotel...

The cast of a Japanese play.

You may have heard of hostess bars - businessmen go there and get doted on by young females. The drinks are really expensive; you're paying for the privilege of their conversation and attention.

Well THESE guys are HOSTS. The male equivalent!!! They were fishing for girls on the streets. One would break away from the group when they saw a candidate, and try and get her to go to their bar.

Caro playing a timpani game, similar to guitar hero.

OLD MAN PLAYING A VIDEO GAME!!!!!!!!!!!! Old Japan meets New Japan.

Can I have a go?

Japan - Day Seventeen

Yesterday was Culture Day in Japan, and my cousin Jamie's school had a festival. The school is called Kwansei, I think, and it's a junior high school, high school and university all at once. It's a mega huge campus. Once you get into this school, you go to university from there - and you're apparently "in" with life because it's a good school, and that's the main thing that matters in Japan. You get a job based on what school you went to - majority of the time, it doesn't matter what you even studied.

So all of the schools within the school were doing performances, had stalls etc. Jamie was in a skit about Santa Claus giving everyone their wishes; Jamie was in the Michael Jackson dance scene to the song "Bad" - he was one of the knife wielding guys in the knife fight scene. His moves were pretty good. Japanese school performances are like watching your old primary school end of year performances in a foreign language with an extra something I can't describe. It's the same - but quite different.

My aunty Kayo bought me a tea in a bottle from a vending machine. It was hot and sugary. It's the norm here.

ALSO - finally understand why the Japanese wear those masks over their faces. Swine flu has been around the schools, and the amount of coughs, splutters and breath that I heard/felt/smelled...I really wished I had a mask. Sure, I may have chosen a Hello Kitty one, but it's functional too...

So this is a self portrait that Jamie did. I love the pink hair.

The entrance to the high school.
Everyone, wait, you're actually walking into the bowels of a dinosaur.

Oh...you're ok.

I think I've said everyone has bikes - this is only a tiny snapshot of the amount of bikes I saw.

Cat Big Band.

My cousin Maria with her besty from primary school. They're 12. Kayo said that they are the tallest and shortest girls in their school. Reminded me of myself with my own friends so much with the height difference.

And then there were the clouds from Super Mario Brothers.

Japan - Day Four

First things first:

http://www.mustlovejapan.com/howto/howto_restroom/

My purpose for today was to do a dummy run into a town? city? area? Not sure exactly, but a place called Namba which is just under an hour away. I have a job interview there tomorrow so needed to practice taking the train to Umeda/Osaka, transferring to the Midosuji line to get to Namba. The train stations are massive, kind of like our biggest malls, so the practice was necessary. I made it, and thought that Namba was cool so took some snaps!!

A view from my uncles place, today was such a clear and beautiful day that I saw the port for the first time!!

My train arriving to my local train station, this is the one taking me to Umeda where I transfer. About a 40 minute trip, seems to go fast when you're a gawking tourist.

View from the train, took this photo to show the green mountains that surround Kobe. Apparently locals would never live there, preferring to cluster near to the train stations for conveniences sake. Atop those mountains there are lodges etc that hold weddings. You can cable car up there.

This girl was dressed like Little Bo Peep, she got on the train that I transferred to. Couldn't get a good enough photo without feeling like a stalker.

I think this street is what I thought I'd see when I imagined Japan. This is in Namba.

A cool colourful building.

This building blew my mind, don't know why. Probably the sheer size and minimalism of it!

Everyone here rides bikes, from the elderly to the young, and they're all awesome bikes that you wish you had. This is just one of them, took it for the Marks and Kits out there.

Biking.

After I found my job interview place, went for a walk and found this park. It was a little bit grotty but it was really nice to sit in a big open space.

Couldn't resist this sunset shot, took it when I got back to Rokko.

OK. So I made some food purchases today which are noteworthy. Number 1 - Corn Flavoured Doritos, which really turned out to be Corn Soup Flavoured Doritos. Not that nice; think chicken and corn flavouring from 2 minute noodles on corn chips.

An Oreo Bar - just tasted like a Milo Bar.

POCARI SWEAT is a healthy beverage that smoothly supplies the lost water and electrolytes during perspiration. With the appropriate density and electrolytes, close to that of human body fluid, it can be easily absorbed into the body.

It tasted like sweat.