February and March Update

Hello Again Everyone!

Hope all is well, don't forget to let me know what you're all up to as too.
So here is another update from the land of Sumo and Sushi. I hope it's not too boring but I don't have too much to do at work at the moment as it's the school spring vacation. Unfortunately in Japan teachers are expected to come in, even during school vacation, unless they use their annual leave. I don't have a great deal left so I'm coming in without too much to do really. I hope reading this can dwindle away a bit of idle time at work for you, just as writing it has for me. Anyway it's been another busy couple of months since my last email and a lot has gone on so here are some of the highlights.

Just after my last email I went up to the northern island of Hokkaido with about 40 other JETs from my prefecture, to go to the famous Sapporo Snow festival. It was a brilliant long weekend. We took an overnight ferry from a city called Sendai. On the boat we had one big tatami mat room for all of us and the there was a nice restaurant, bars and karaoke onboard so it was a great way to start the trip. We arrived in Sapporo in the early afternoon and had a few hours to check into our hotel rooms and relax a little bit before we headed to the Sapporo beer factory. Unfortunately there was no tour of the brewery but we did have a huge cavern style room booked for 2 hours tabehoudai (all you can eat) nomihoudai (all you can drink) yakiniku (Korean style indoor BBQ) You cook the food yourself on tables of about 8 with a big hotplate in the middle. The food was really nice and the waiters replenished the food and drinks as fast as you could finish them. It was a great atmosphere which was obviously somewhat alcohol fuelled. After the beer factory we stumbled past some of the snow sculptures before finding our way to an Irish bar. Ireland were playing in the 6 nations rugby, but the game didn’t start until midnight Japan time, so by the end I was the only one left. I had got chatting to an absolutely huge Australian detective, earlier on at the bar. He must have been close to 7 ft and apparently my best drunken Mick Dundee impersonation hadn’t impressed him all that much, nevertheless we still sat and watched the end of the game together over some more beers.

The next day we went to see some more of the snow sculptures. Some of them were enormous, and amazingly intricate, I’m not sure my pictures really do them justice, but you can get an idea from the few below. We spent most of the day looking round and enjoying the festival and we were lucky to have brilliant sunshine all day. There were also some pretty cool freestyle ski-jumpers doing some really impressive jumps off a temporary snow ramp they had constructed in the middle of the city. I’m not even sure I could have bettered them on my snowboard, ha ha! That evening we stayed in smaller groups and 5 of us headed for a slightly more civilised but also quite expensive meal. The famous food in Hokkiado is crab, so we thought the restaurant with a gigantic crab on the wall would be a good place to go. There were big rock pools inside and outside the restaurant filled with huge live crabs, so we could have a preview of what we were about to eat. In fact everything in the restaurant from the lamps to the ash trays were decorated with crabs. It turned out that the only thing on the menu that didn’t contain crab was plain rice. This didn’t work out too well for Tracy as she is allergic to crab, but she said she wasn’t too hungry anyway. The rest of us tucked into every different type of crab imaginable. We had raw crab, crab stew, crab brain, crab noodles, crab soup, crab pate and much much more. By the end of the meal I was well and truly crabbed out but it was good to try a local delicacy to the full. After the meal we took a walk to look round the ice sculptures at night. These were on a lot smaller scale than the Snow sculptures but no less impressive. Actually in my opinion some of them were even more impressive. Some of the artwork and detail was incredible, and we got to see one of the sculptures at work. They start with a chain saw to carve the main shape and work down to a tiny ice pick for the finishing touches.
Later on we headed to a couple of ice bars and had some hot baileys, which was really nice in the cold weather. I also met up with a friend that I had met when I first arrived in Japan at the Tokyo Orientation. He has been living in Hokkaido since then so it was good to hear what he had been up to. He showed me the way to a funky little underground bar, and I proceeded to lead a group of about 20 of the JETs from Fukushima there. We took the bar over a little bit and it turned into a bit of a wild night, involving a lot of bar top dancing and free drinks being poured down throats. The next morning it was time to return home. Needless to say the return trip was a little more sombre. I was travelling for about 18 hours before I got back pretty shattered at about 11 at night. Unfortunately the rest of the week was also really hectic at school and it was a bit of a struggle to get through it.

The next couple of weekends were spent hitting the slopes and enjoying some great powder. I had planned a long time ago to attempt the Tokyo Marathon on February 17th but it was a good thing I’d given up hope of that a while before, because I really wasn’t in any shape to run 26 miles when the date came round.

At the start of March I went down to Yokohama (near Tokyo) for a conference for returning JETs. It was a really useful and enjoyable conference and gave me a bit more motivation to get things sorted for when I leave Japan. Tracy and I had gone down to Tokyo a couple of days early to look round the Odaiba bay area. We took a few ferrys to get there and then a really futuristic monorail across the rainbow bridge on the way back. It was really nice and it was good to see a different side of Tokyo. We also had a nice meal with a fantastic view over the Bay area and the bridge.

The weekend after one of the nearby Ski-resorts held an international sk/snowboard day, where a days pass for any non-Japanese person was only 500 yen (about £2.50) It was a great day and there were over 100 JETs there. They had a fancy dress competition and also offered 2 free drinks to anyone willing to do a run in their swimwear. Never one to turn down a free drink I stepped up with 4 other good mates and we all headed down in nothing but our skimpies. It was good for me to get some more use out of the Speedos I had bought for Christmas day on Bondi Beach in Sydney. If you haven’t seen the video yet, be sure to check it out on my Facebook profile.

It was more snowboarding the following weekend and we hired a cabin locally and had some people from around the prefecture come and experience a couple of the resorts in the more remote area of Minamiaizu. It was another great weekend and although the snow was starting to get a little slushy, the bright sunshine, clear skies and great views definitely made up for it.

This week my parents have come to visit Japan. I met them in Tokyo on Thursday evening and on Friday we headed to see some famous temples in a place called Nikko. Tracy came and met us in Nikko as well and again we were really lucky with the weather. After the weekend they came up to Tadami and met some of my Japanese friends here. They wanted to do a bit of skiing while they were here so we spent a couple of days going to one of the local resorts. My parents weren’t exactly rocketing down the slopes but they seemed to enjoy it, and the weather was very kind again. I also took them to a famous old Samurai village and Aizuwakamatsu which was an important city during Samurai times. We visited a famous spot on a hill where a group of Samurai called the White Tigers thought they had seen there castle burning, and with the shame of defeat decided to comit sepuku (ritual suicide) It turned out the castle wasn’t burning but it was a bit late for all but one of them who survived just long enough to tell the tale.
To try and get some slightly better snow towards the end of the season we decided to take a trip to one of the bigger resorts called Zao a few hours North. It took us a while to get up there as we travelled for an hour and a half on a road that turned out to be closed so we had to return and get on an expressway. We eventually arrived at our lodge shortly before midnight and got straight to bed looking forward to a couple of days early. Unfortunately when I woke up I felt pretty rough and spent the first day in bed while my parents enjoyed the skiing. I didn’t really manage any food that day or night but by the next morning I felt a bit better. The resort was huge with over 45 lifts, and a longest run of over 8km. It was great fun but unfortunately it was extremely foggy so it was quite easy to lose your way. Afterwards we had a really nice sulphur onsen (hot spring bath) and then made the trip back to a city called Koriyama where Tracy lives. When we arrived back in Koriyama late in the night, I started to feel pretty rough again. I spent the whole night being sick and at times felt like I might have to go to hospital. I’m not sure what I had but it certainly wasn’t pleasant. The next day my brother Kirk, who had coincidently had to fly to Tokyo with work, came up to Koriyama and surprised my parents. We had a nice meal, although I still unfortunately didn’t have much of an appetite. Later on my parents headed off to spend a week travelling around the north of Japan. I’ll meet them again before they fly home next week.

The next few weeks should be a lot quieter for me and I really need to work on finding a job for when I leave Japan. My plans are still the same to travel back to the UK through china, before moving out to Melbourne, but I really need to start getting things sorted to make this a reality now!

Anyway if you haven’t died of boredom reading this, here are some photos, Take care and stay in touch!
Bryn

On the boat on the way over

The bar on board

Me enjoying the yakiniku

An artistic shot of one of the snow sculptures

An Ice Castle

Thought I'd put a recent email I sent up here. To be honest I don't think this programme is very good. It seems to tak ages to load pictures and stuff. And that is why I so rarely update it.

Hey Everyone,

Hope all is well!

Ok ok so popular demand might be quite a large over-statement but there has definitely been more than one person who has asked me to recommence a regular "Bryn Emans Group Email" again! Whether this will actually become a regular thing or not I don't know we'll see, but I thought I'd send this one as I have a little bit of time. I did try the whole blogging thing but I'm not sure I have the motivation to update it on a regular basis. If there is anyone on this list who really couldn't care less what I'm up to and would prefer not to have to delete my long and boring emails. Just drop me an email and I'll remove you from the mailing group. If however you really like reading what I'm up to please show your appreciation by sending me an email, or preferably some money! Ha ha!

So the real reason for this email was just to say a big thank you to everyone I managed to catch up with while I was back in the UK briefly. It was great to see so many of you again. I had an absolutely Brilliant time but it was pretty tiring. It was a shame I couldn't see everyone but time was always going to be against me. I had a great couple of nights in London and it was amazing to see so many people turn up. Special thanks to Mouse and Al and Jamie and Rob for letting me crash at your places. Also a big thank you to Ginger, Al and Kirsty for helping me make my video of London for my students. It was my first attempt at editing a video but I was pretty happy with it and the Kids really seemed to like it. If you anyone wants to check it out I've put it on Facebook.

After London I had slightly more relaxing time at Home on the sunny south coast. I had a very Merry Christmas and it was brilliant to see my family again for the first time in 18 months. Also managed to squeeze in a couple of victories at 5 a side footy which was nice, though I'm not sure my wayward shooting really helped clinch either of the victories.

Shortly after Christmas I flew back to Japan with my Brother, Kirk, my Brother's mate, and Strehlau, Ben, Hield, Chris and Craig. We had a really good and very drunken few nights in Tokyo. On NYE we had a great meal where we had all you can drink for a couple of hours. Unfortunately we all lost track of time a bit and ended up spending the count down to midnight in different Taxi's. It was a little bit annoying but the rest of the night was brilliant. We ended up in a club called AGEHA which is the biggest in Asia. We all got pretty trashed and returned to the hostel between about 6 and 9 in the morning. The next night I was expecting a quiet one to recover before we headed back to my town in the North of Japan. It didn't turn out that way though and we played drinking games in the hostel til the early hours. I was particularly battered after scrounging a load of gin from to lovely Norwegian laddies at the end of the night. Hieldy also took a fair bit of punishment but that was mainly on his arms from Chris. Ha ha!

This all made the journey back up to my apartment a bit less enjoyable and my forgetfulness didn't really help matters. It usually takes about 5 and a half hours to get from Tokyo to my apartment but we didn't reach mine til quite late at night. We did catch a rare glimpse at Mt. Fuji from the train on the way up which was pretty spectacular. It's not particularly close and you can only see it on very clear days. It was the first time I have seen it from the train and there was a really nice sunset too.

Kirk and his mate headed to the south of Japan and Me and the boys spent about 5 days at mine hitting the slopes. It was a little bit hectic with 6 of us all in my little one bedroom apartment but we survived and had some great days snowboarding. Everyone picked it up really quickly and I think really enjoyed it. There were no broken bones or even any injuries at all which is always a bit of a Brucey Bonus! One night we had a very traditional "enkai" style Japanese meal in Tadami. It was good for the boys to experience but I think we were all a little too tired to really enjoy it unfortunately. We also went to a traditional Japanese festival in a town near me. A lot of Japanese men wearing nothing but a big cloth wrapped like a nappy run through the freezing town, drinking sake, jump in a pool of cold water and then try to climb a rope up to a bell in a temple. It was all very strange but it was a great spectacle. Unfortunately one other foreigner (that I don't know very well) who was participating, got a bit too drunk and far too excited and had to be carted off by the police. A couple of days later the boys headed back down to Tokyo for a couple of nights before flying home, but unfortunately that wasn't the last they saw of the Japanese police. Ben and Hieldy have some stories to tell there but I'll leave those for them to tell. Needless to say they are all back safely in the UK now!

The weekend after the boys left, Kirk came to visit. We actually spent a couple of nights at my girlfriend's apartment and a friends lodge on a lake, and went to one of the bigger slopes nearer to her. It was nice for my brother to meet some of my other friends here. The snowboarding was great and despite Kirk's claims I was definitely the best Emans on the slopes. Ha ha! After the weekend Kirk came down to Tadami and spent a few nights at my apartment. Unfortunately I had to work so he had to go snowboarding by himself, which meant me getting up an hour early for work to drive him to the slopes. He also had to do a fair bit of waiting around but I think it made him appreciate the onsen (hot spring) more when we got there.

Kirk left a few weeks ago now. It was great having everyone over but it was also quite a tiring few weeks for me. Things have settled down now though and I've continued to go snowboarding every weekend but my apartment feels a little empty now. I've had to make a pretty big decision recently as I have had to decide whether or not to renew my contract and stay another year in Japan. My board of education were practically begging me to stay (of course!) but I have decided no to re-contract, and I gave the forms in last week. It was a tough decision but I feel quite happy with the choice I've made. I have actually now decided to try and move out to Australia after August. My girlfriend, Tracy, is from Melbourne and she is a qualified teacher, but she needs to work for another year before she would be able to teach in the UK. Also she is hoping to do some further study so it makes sense for her to return to Australia. I fancied living in sunnier climates for a little while so I thought I would head there too. As Tracy is hoping to study some more she is looking to move back into her parents house, at least in the short-term. So I am actually planning to move in with another friend of mine from Melbourne that I also know from Japan.

It's been a really tough decision, as my life here in Japan is pretty easy so I was a quite tempted to stay another year. Also there is of course loads of things and particularly loads of people that I miss in the UK and I also really want to live in London for a little while in the near future. But right now I think it's time for a new challenge. I figure it wouldn't be too hard to move back to the UK but this may be the only time I am in a position to move to Australia. Now I've just got to find a job, find an apartment and get the visa sorted, which isn't going to be easy, but I've already started the process.

My current plan is to fly to Melbourne around mid September via a few weeks in China and the UK. Not the most eco-friendly route I know, but I really want to visit China while I'm out in the East, and I also want to return home before I head off again. My dad's 60th Birthday is on August 19th so the plan is to be in the UK for at least a couple of weeks around this date, though I'm gonna try and keep that a surprise. Of course it's all pretty cash dependent at the moment but I'm looking into planning things now. Hopefully I'll be able to see lots of you again over the summer.

Ok I think I have broken my previously held world record for longest ever email. I hope nobody has died from boredom trying to read it! Anyway I had a bit of time so I wanted to send one to keep in touch. I'm quite stuck out of the way here in Japan so often have a fair bit of time by myself. It's always good to hear from people, so please let me know what your up to as well.