Never really thought of myself as a blogger before... but it seems to be the trend of late, so I thought I'd give it a go. Apologies in advance for the boring content you will endure as I capture my life in size 10 Arial font (for the most part, anyway).
So without further ado, Let's blogging!
Last night was a night in, which involved cleaning my house thoroughly, talking to friends and watching Japanese TV. One of my favourite shows here in Japan is Toribia (Trivia) no Iizumi. A group of celebrities sit in the studio and are read pieces of trivia by the two hosts. Each celeb has a button they can hit to show how surprised they are by the trivia. Now, when Japanese people are surprised by something, they say "he~~~" (pronounced "hair" but in a drawn-out fashion) with rising intonation. So when the celebs hit their buzzer, it makes a "he~~~" sound, and they can hit the "he~~~" button up to 20 times per piece of trivia. Last night, one of the first pieces of trivia was about "kurashikku pantsu" (classic pants, or underwear). The celebs were told that Mitsukoshi, a big posh department store found in places like Ginza, sells these classic pants. But what are classic pants in Japan? Y-fronts? Boxers? Tightie-whities? Nope. They are fundoshi - undies similar to what sumo wrestlers wear. Loin-cloth at the front, g-string at the back. So, if you're ever in need of some kurashikku pantsu, just head to your local Mitsukoshi. Then, not long after Trivia no Iizumi, there was a programme where people were sitting around talking about their emotions; discussing things that had happened to them and how they dealt with them. Sounds like your standard Oprah-type show, doesn't it? Well, it would be, had not all the people been men. And had one not been a drag queen. Yep, 4 guys and one Queen sitting around opening their hearts to each other and the world. Touching stuff. Ah, love a quiet night in.
So it's been autumn here for a while now. And I have hardly taken any pictures of the trees. Today, the tree in the middle of the car park is a brilliant red, so I ran out to take a few pics. I'm no photographer, so just imagine how good the pictures would be if I was.
I cleaned my house. It needed it. But, as always, it wasn't because I felt like doing it. It was because the music teacher was coming over to practice for our duet on Saturday. But I am going to do my bestest to keep it looking like this. Minus the laundry of course.
... to write about my weekend. It always seems to take the same format. "I did this on Saturday. Ooo then I did this on Sunday. Thanks for reading." And this entry is going to be no different.
On Friday night I went to a mate's place for dinner. I haven't caught up with him properly for ages. We work together at the BOE, but I only go there one afternoon a week so we don't catch up much then either. And it was the first time I'd seen his wife since their wedding in July. She is an amazing chef - we ate some of the best food I have eaten in ages. And I showed them my blog, which was quickly translated into Japanese via yahoo translator. Hope you're reading this guys!
Saturday and Sunday was the bunkasai (Cultural Festival) in Azuma, and the Nursery School kids sang in the concert on Saturday morning. Like last year, I accompanied them on the piano, which was good fun. They sang 6 songs all up; three Japanese and three English. Nothing like belting out the ABC song, Do Re Mi and Under the spreading chestnut tree with 20-or-so five- and six-year-old kids on a Saturday morning.
Afterwards, I went over to the baseball ground where all the small stalls were set up. One of my student's fathers talked me into buying a stone keychain which he made. He told me I had to buy one, and that I could choose between a dog or a rabbit. I went for the dog, seeing how I was born in the year of the dog.
Had a lazy afternoon at home before going to Maebashi for a Halloween Party. OMG - good times good times. While we lost a few team members along the way (had nothing to do with alcohol consumption, I'm sure) the majority of us managed to dance the entire night away.
Sunday was a lazy Sunday, with a trip to Tonya coffee for the best coffee in the world, then onto Martown for the best pizza, then a spot of shopping at Muji (the best shop ever) and then home.
Ok, yep so that was my weekend. I promise I will try to make a more exciting entry next time...
