Hello there. It`s kind of weird writing this journal sometimes because I kind of feel as though I am writing to myself and then on the other hand I feel as though I am writing to no-one! So, please forgive me if I sometimes have no focus or direction - that`s the bit when I think I`m writing to myself!

This week I received some pictures from my friend of their recent trip to Japan. I thought I would post a few of them as they are quite good. This one is taken on the slopes of Mount Fuji on what has to be just about the best day of the year for mountain climbing - looks like something out of `Doctor Who`, or better still, is it the new `cyberman costume`?! As it says in the title "And out of the mist appeared Gandalf". Very apt!



I wanted to add some more photos but there is some problem with the upload function here so I`ll have to try again later. You can look at them in my photo albums of you like. The address is:

http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/keveds2003

As a result of a request from some of my students, I have also put some photos of my house and garden in England in the album. Please enjoy!

Sayonara!

Konnichiwa. Hisashiburi ne! Let me start with an interesting and funny story.

Last Sunday evening I went to the leisure centre and I thought it would be nice to spend some time in the steam room. So when I entered I was confronted by three old Japanese ladies and an old Japanese man (it`s surprising they were Japanese, right!). Now I guess it`s a little strange to see a westerner in a steam room in Gotenba but I was suddenly the centre of attention and the new topic of conversation - I could just about work out what they were saying in Japanese. I just smiled and pretented not to notice. I wouldn`t say I was embarrassed to be there but I couldn`t help to try to be intersted in their conversation so I made a comment in Japanese like "it`s hot in here right?" - oh wow suddenly I am taken for a fluent Japanese speaker and I am overrun with a barrage of questions, some of which I can remember - maybe like, "Are you American?, How old are you?, How long have you been in Japan?, Can you eat Japanese food?, You look very young and handsome, don`t you?, ” etc etc. So I tried my best to answer some of them and they were laughing and making comments, when all of a sudden one of the women asked me - "do you like sashimi (raw fish)?" I said "Yes I like it very much", so then she launches into a kind of speech about fish and what is good and the she gestures as if she is slicing a fish (or that`s what I thought she was doing through the heavy steam!) and there was some comment about her imagining my mother slicing a tasty piece of fish for me back in England and my eyes bulging at the thought of what I was about to eat. It was all rather strange and a bit out of this world - maybe the heat got to her. The next bit is best......

After the fish slicing episode, I stood up to do some stretching. I had just been in the gym and felt like touching my toes for some reason. Oh how I wish I hadn`t had that thought because as soon as I did, I was met with comments like "oh, isn`t that amazing, he is really fit (NOT!), I wish we could do that!", and then they all stood up and tried to copy me but half way down they had to stop - and they just kind of hung there trying to reach for something (i.e. their toes) that I knew and they knew they were never going to reach. I almost wanted to try to help them out but I don`t think it would have been appropriate for me to have started pulling on their arms and maybe slipping one of their discs. Anyway, they soon left as it was really hot in there, but I kept running into them again during my time there that evening and when I did I would always received a kind of - how can I put it , `knowing smile`.

More updates later when I can think of something to write about. Sayonara Mr. Bond.