How much is too much?

So I was taken to the biggest electrical goods store I`ve ever seen on Sunday afternoon - how big? you ask.... Well, not one floor, or two, or even three - yes, that`s right, FOUR floors of electrical goods!! One floor for mobiles and computers, one floor for televisions and stereos, one floor for cameras and one for white goods and massage chairs. (Yes, the massage chairs were good!) ;) So how much is too much? I was dizzy with massage chairs were good!) ;) So how much is too much? I was dizzy with choice, though incidently I still couldn`t find a transformer for my electrical cords ;) Thankfully friends are visiting next Sunday and they will look into my computer problem. I`d love to be able to use my computer at home....

Not much else to report really, my limited funds are limiting the excitement factor.... Still, I`m enjoying life here in Japan, I think it suits me & I have begun writing a story in my spare time. It is all in a handwritten notebook at the moment, but I`ll post a link to it once I start typing it up.

I visited a REAL Japanese church last Sunday and consequently barely understood a thing. Still it was good to share in fellowship with my Japanese brothers and sisters, and I met another Gaijin with limited Japanese (I`m not the only one! And he`s been here two years...!). I could join in with the hyms too as they were all written in Kana (that`s the Japanese script, which I`m fairly proficient in). The service was a lot more traditional than the one at Lighthouse too, but I will probably attend there about once a month as many of my students attend there and of course the people are lovely. I haven`t met an unkind Japanese person yet....

I am thinking of going out for Haloween... Well, its actually All Souls Day if you`re up with the Church Calendar. I found an Edward Gorey Calendar too - exciting, I have to return to the bookstore when I have enough funds to buy it! My mum bought me a set of Edward Gorey cards from the US a couple of years ago and I love them almost too much to use them!

Well, so much for today,

Getting Along....

Well, I've been here in Japan almost a month now and it has gone by so quickly. I'm fast getting used to life here in Japan and all too soon it will be over, I might have to come back next year...!!

I've found another internet cafe closer to home and this one is cheaper than the one I've been using in Tenoji and I get my own private booth!! I could get quite comfortable, what with the free ice-cream, drinks and soup as well!! It's great. Its still more expensive than in Australia, but you don't generally get free drinks in Oz....

I'm still enjoying my classes and hope to pick up a few more private lessons in conversation English. Check out http://www.seekjapan.jp under classifieds for my add - "Learn English the Aussie Way!"

Also, if you're interested in helping women with breast cancer then go to http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/CTDSites and follow the prompt.

Enough advertising, so what else have I been up to?

Well, one of my students took me to Osaka and I visited the museum dedicated to the memory of Japan's first medical doctor and Osaka Castle. I wish I had a camera so that I could post photos. I'd love for you all to see my little place and all the other places that I go.

I'm booked up for a visit to Kyoto on November 3rd - its a public holiday here, and I'm really looking forward to that. It will be with a couple of other students of mine. I am slowly developing some good relationships and hope to begin a bible class with another Aussie gal who is also here in Osaka - she arrived a couple of weeks before I did, but will be here for about a year.

I am seriously considering returning next year. I feel like I will have just become used to the place and comfortable and it will be time to go. It would be really good to develop some closer friendships, which takes a lot of effort with Japanese people. Everyone is friendly, just a little reserved.

Otherwise, I haven't been up to much over the last week or so, its been a while since pay day! ;)

Catch you all again soon... please send me an e-mail so I can hear what you are up to!

Jyamatane (see you later) <><

A Contest to be Proud Of!

Well, what a game!! Only a point to decide it and those tense final minutes were thrilling. It took me over three quarters of the game to find the pub to watch it in, but it was like walking back into a pub in Australia for a blissful 20 minutes. The place was packed with Aussies and you could barely hear yourself scream - let alone your order being heard at the bar!! ;)
I`ve spent the last half hour reading the commentaries and match reports on The Age website. It was certainly a memorable match and one worthy of a great game of football. No other code quite compares in minute-by-minute excitement. Still, I`ve been getting into a sport I never would have anticipated while here in Japan... You`d never guess, unless you`re switched on to popular sports in Japan.... MLB - yes, Baseball!! Its one of the few programs regularly screened in English, so consequently I`ve been tuning in pretty regularly.
At present I`m tuned into the Js - its great to hear new music and the Aussie accents of the announcers - there are many things that are hard to find in Japan - decent music on the airwaves and Aussie accents (wide-open spaces..) just a few....
Still, I continue to enjoy my days here, particularly when I punctuate it with moments like the one I had a Murphy`s Irish Pub in Osaka. Plus, to add a bonus, I found Club Quattro - probably the only decent live music venue in this part of the world - not really any such thing as Pub rock round here... The only drawback about Murphy`s was that they didn`t serve any decent Aussie Beer (VB!?) so I had to content myself with a Kilkenny - still, there are worse things, I suppose!!
Today I failed to transfer funds to my new bank account - can`t seem to decipher the BSB - it doesn`t help that my passbook is entirely in Japanese!! And I had a meeting at the English School - the teaching staff gather on the first Monday (though yes, this is the second) and pray and chat about how things are going (well at the moment). Was a good time. I am slowly getting to know my students and am really enjoying classes - Japanese people tend to be fairly reserved so takes a while to get to know people. It is not the friendliest place, always polite, but there is a difference.... Still, no complaints, I`ve been made to feel very welcome and haven`t had any significant problems.
I did have a bit of an adventure on Saturday evening though... I dropped a few coins in the pub so I didn`t quite have enough for my fare back to Sakai. I caught the train about 3 stops from home and thought I`d just be able to follow the train line home, but of course, being me, I followed the wrong trainline!! I walked for about an hour, the sky getting darker, and passed several train stations, not recognising any of them. I finally gave myself up as completely lost about 7-ish and called my lifeline (AKA Tomoko). She had never heard of Kintetsu Yata either!! ;) Still, she came by and picked me up, I wasn`t too far away, only about 10 minutes drive from Sakaishi, but still... I never would have found my way home. I also spotted a couple of homeless people. Poverty is not so obvious here as in Oz.

Well, I`ve probably blogged on long enough now, can`t let you get bored....

Ciao for Now - Jyamatane!