What to write...

Firstly perhaps that I`m no longer the tallest girl in Kobe - I`m now the rival to Godzilla in Osaka!! Am loving living here closer to work and friends, but miss my Uncle Glenn and the clean, quiet relative tranquility of Kobe. It`s only half an hour by train anyway, so I won`t have a big cry about it.

Life update: was really really homesick for ages, but am coming back into normality. I am adjusting to teaching my very own classes of kids and still crack up at them everyday. Especially when you see and hear a three year old Japanese kid say "Hello Darlene" in really clear (NZ accented) English that you`ve taught them...hahahahaaa!!! Weird.

It`s Summer here, and it`s bloody hot and will get hotter, muggier and rainier...right now it`s lush, and I`m still sporting a golden brown tan from my trip to Okinawa in May. I swam with the fishes...and the turtles, sea snakes, star fish, sea slugs and the holidaying population of Japan during Golden Week.

Highlights:
1. Touching a sea turtle with my feet, then hand. Then, chasing it down with the intent of gripping it and having it tow me. Fail.
2. Feeding schools of fish, which then attacked me and bit my body.
3. Kicking and punching said schools of fish.
4. Seeing my first sea snake, having a panic attack underwater and having my flatmate tell me to pull myself together (all done underwater)
5. Swimming with phosphorescents, who lit the night time water up so brightly, it was like day.
6. Playing with hermit crabs

Facebook has some pics, maybe I`ll post some too. Wanna show some pics of my apartment as well which has a beautiful large patio.

Just a coke, desu. Took this pic at Coco`s, a family restaurant similar to Denny`s with crappy western food that I sometimes just have to have!

It says "abunai" and means "dangerous". The Japanese signage is like nothing else. It`s so descriptive. I ain`t going in that water after seeing that pic!!!!!! The waves have teeth, let alone whatevers below!!

Nelson, my friend who I work with on Tuesday.

Jeremy on the subway with a random kid getting in on the picture.

Mecha fashionable couple, both wearing stripes. Stalker shot.

And now my piece de resistance...an actual smoking campaign for Winston cigarettes. Can you believe it??

Japan is a bit behind the times, at times.

The Ramen Museum

Hisashiburi - it means long time no see. Had no interwebs for quite a while, but I'm back for at least a week or so. Next Sunday I move into a flat to share with another Japanese girl and an American from New York...please be like Elaine from Seinfeld, please be like Elaine from Seinfeld, please be like Elaine from Seinfeld...or Kramer, or George, or Newman...

I recently had a haircut which I'm pretty happy with...it's somehow prompted people to actually comment on it too. This old, drunk, Japanese woman last night plopped herself down next to me on the train and started speaking to me in Japanese...then busted out some English which sounded like The Fast Shows Rowley Birkin QC - "but I was very, very drunk". I picked out Oriental Hotel, Onion Soup, Harbour in bits...I think she wanted me to go somewhere. But the funniest thing was when she suddenly said "are you a businessman?" "No..." then she said - "haircut, cute because muzukashi (difficult)". "Mmm, yeah" I nodded.

Works going well anyway, I'm earning some good money and enjoying the kids.

Right now, I feel so free - like a balloon floating into the sky. Which is terrifying and thrilling at the same time. I know these moments here are fleeting so I'm enjoying every one of them!

So...here's one day I spent at a RAMEN MUSEUM:

The use of the word "museum" is very liberal in Japan.

Every make and model of noodles from this company from the 50's to today.

I was naturally very taken with this UFO flavour. Powdered aliens?

AND IKATUN!!!!!!!! Shrimp Pig!!!!! Absolute GENIUS.

The oldest ramen - the first one the company made. I bet you can still eat it.

The highlight of coming to this museum though, is creating your OWN ramen - choose the flavour, and design your own cup. Most people seemed to do an adaptation of the companys logo. I went another way.

Note the whipped cream pooh logo.

It's my new friend Terry Donovan - he's one of the Donovan brothers. Duncan normally doesn't wear a top, so I thought I'd best draw Terry.

Ikatun skating with flowers.

Mmm ok, I'll admit I crappily tried to draw the logo, but failed. So it turned into a UFO spaceship.

Ikatun and UFO saying "Hai, douzo" - meaning, yep, here you are , eat it.

Soo...the two on the left are Nacho and Mio's, and the one on the right is mine.

At least I was able to teach them NOM NOM NOM.

Big ramen model.

It's my line, going into production...

Add flavour.

Chuck a lid on it.

Seal it up...

I'd pay money for that.

The company founder, or something.

Happy

I wrote a blog a couple back which appears a tad ungracious...and I didn't mean for it to be, but it reads that way. Japan, I'm sorry. Look what you did to make me smile:

You sent him!!

Me, Erica and David were doing some street drinking in Kuzuha and I spied this guy much to my immense JOY!

Oh, hi!! My names Rammy - what's your name? Daariin? Pleased to meet you, Daa-riiin-san. Can we be friends?

So..I just stood there taking pics, and the person inside Rammy did this amazing pose, and held it for ages as I kept trying to get a good pic with the fading light. As I'm writing this I'm doing a wheezing crack up laugh.

Oh, bye!

Special Valentines Day ice cream for all those kapurus in rabu-rabu from the deliciously evil Baskin Robbins icecream chain...look at the attention to detail on this sucker.

Stories

The other day I was covering some classes for an absent teacher. My first class were these two 5 year old kids who were tiny, smart and cute. There was a jar of sharpened pencils which I was using to mark their homework, which after I had finished using, I placed on the ground - next to me. Then I started to do some ABC flashcards. I put the cards on the ground - also next to me - without looking. Then I felt a strange sensation in one of my knuckles...I had whacked my hand into the pencil jar and stabbed myself with a 5cm pencil lead. As I raised my hand, a 20 cm long pencil was dangling out of it. All I could think of was - I've scarred these 5 year olds for life with this image. I felt sick, but smiled, ripped the pencil out (which left a clean hole) and continued flashing "B - buh! C - cuh! D - duh!" - the show must go on, right? I snuck a look at my hand - and it had started to pour with blood. The kids by this point were looking at me with concern - "daijobu, daijobu sensei?" (are you ok?) they asked. "Yes kids, daijobu" I smiled - when all I wanted to do was vomit at the sight of the blood (I'm really squeamish with things like blood and stabbing oneself). So now I have a lead dot tattoo on my hand. I'm a really good teacher.

It's a Thomas the Tank Engine train for grown ups!!! I raced and raced to try and get a pic of the Gordon cart, cos I hate Gordon. He's so ugly and grumpy - big wide faced git! Could only get Percy before the train departed.



Shoes contrast. I could make an album of shoes I see on the trains here. I love looking at them so much. Those are Gareth's Nikes in the foreground.



It's Sailor Jupiter!!


This was all I could manage before someone busted me for taking pics of a school girl. But I had to, I loved watching Sailor Moon. Sailor Jupiter was my fave.



This is a place called Hirakatashi. I liked the balloon in the sky.




And that's a crane in the river. Bad pic - I need to take my proper camera out with me more. I keep forgetting!!



Naoko and Duma. We went to a place called Harborland in Kobe. There's a cool little rink for kids to drive around in. I couldn't fit in the train...



An Anpanman car. Anpanman = Red Bean Bun Man.



A Baikinman car; that's "Germ Man". He's pretty angry!



A GIANT Mario bouncy castle!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wanna go in!!



A cool robot toy. I wish I had a sweet playground like this when I was growing up.



This is Erica.



She can do this. She's another Kiwi and a friend. She rules.



And finally, a crow on a ball. I was for the first time afraid of a bird seeing this guy. He was pretty close. I'm always concerned they're gonna swoop down and pluck out my eyeballs.