Konnichiwa!

Today without doubt is the best day of the year here in terms of weather and due to that I feel as though I am going to write a longish entry today! I think it`s around 25 degrees which for Gotenba is pretty hot! I left the house this morning and immediately went back inside change into something less heavy - a pity then that I can`t change my body into a less heavy one so easily, although I am trying to do as exercise as much as possible these days. Walking everywhere is a good start, and what better way is there to enjoy the weather I might ask?

I have a very funny story to tell you from last week. On Tuesday, I went to the golf driving range with my host mother`s brother. He a barber (who by the way is going to give me a new hairstyle before I move to Tokyo) and a very entertaining and amiable man. Anyway, so we start practicing and I am hitting some good seven irons and am feeling quite confident so when he hands me his "big bertha" driver I am like "Yeah, let`s hit some great drives" After three swings and three hooks in succession, he tells me to use more power in my swing and to stand a little more square on (I am not very good at golf by the way!), so I do!

OK, so I`m all set. I take a couple more practice swings (which by the way is the best practice swing in the world) and then prepare for another try. About five seconds later I am staring at a broken club that has some how simply snapped half way up the shaft at the moment of impact with the ball. I have to say that when I hit the ball I felt a sudden reduction in weight in my hands and I also saw something bigger and darker than a white golf ball fly off into the distance. So I turn to him, just hold up the broken club and try my best not to laugh, which by the way was almost impossible, and his face, already a little contorted with pain and surprise by what he thinks he has just witnessed, turns a whiter shade of white and into a more contorted shape because of his realisation that what he thinks has just happened, has in fact actually happened!

After a few seconds of trying to look as though I have no idea of what has happened happens, he tries to look for where the club head and remainder of the shaft has landed, although it is impossible to see. For a second, I thought he was going to run out into the night and try to search for it, but he remembers just in time that another fifty or so people are driving balls at a very high speed into that area so maybe he shouldn`t run out there. So, instead he goes to the reception desk and returns about ten minutes later (a time during which I understandably just couldn`t stop laughing) with a smile and a few smirks saying in Japanese (which at the time I didn`t really understand) that his insurance would cover it! Insurance on a golf club! I have never heard of such a thing, but obviously I wasn`t complaining as I was expecting to have to buy a new one (well, to offer to buy a new one at least!) Looking later at the prices of similar drivers in the shop I was staggered to see that the average privce for a new one is around 60,000 Yen or about 300 pounds, and 300 pounds that I don`t really have either! After realising this, I didn`t think insurance was such a bad idea!

The reason that this story is so funny for me is that I witnessed exactly the same thing about twelve years ago while with my father. At that time, we (and about twenty others) were waiting to tee-off on a small golf course in the seaside town where we used to keep a holiday caravan, and an oldish and overweight guy (maybe drunk too!) was preparing to tee-off. He gave the club such a big swing that he almost fell over and on the way through he hit the ground so hard that the impact of this created the biggest divot you could ever see and while the ball and the divot flew off into the distance as expected, the club head (poor thing!) surprisingly flew off into the trees behind him in a completely different direction.

I have to say that I have never seen a more puzzled and dazed look on anyone`s face as the look the man had just after this happened! Obviously, the twenty or so others (including my father who I had never seen laugh as much!) were in stiches with laughing and furthermore, this guy had absolutely no idea of what had happened (hence the "drunk" comment earlier). Maybe the force of impact with the ground and the after-shock had nullified his brain or something I don`t know but eventually he managed to regain composure and go to try and find the club head! I can`t really emphasize how funny it was, and I don`t think my episode was as funny, but the first time I was only watching, this time it happened to me! Therefore, I can definitely say "Now I know how it feels"!

Let`s talk about cherry blossoms. I found a link that talk a little about cherry blossoms and Japan - please have a look if you have the time or inclination.

http://www.time.com/time/asia/asiabuzz/2000/03/31/

Anyway, tomorrow and again on Monday I am going to do "ohanami" (cherry blossom viewing) - I think its something you `go to do` rather than simply `do` or `go to`(does anyone actually understand what I have just said?!) - so I am looking forward to it very much. I hope the weather is as good as it is today! The last time I wrote that (in the last journal entry as a matter of fact) it rained the next day. This was teh day I went to Saitama for the international BBQ (which as I found out later from the poster was a "Ohanami International BBQ). I had such a good time there and really enjoyed meeting some new people. I will definitely go back to Kitamoto City someday soon.

During my visit, I also had the opportunity to explain the expression `It`s not really my cup of tea, a British English (or so I think) expression which is used to respond to a suggestion from someone else that you are not so interested in doing. For example, just before we were about to eat dinner, I said to one of the guys I had met (a Japanese who has lived in America and who speaks English pretty fluently, "How about you open the bottle of wine - i.e. take the cork out?" The guy responded, somewhat to my surprise, "Well, Kevin, it`s not really my cup of tea! Understandably, I had to ask him to repeat what he had just said because I though he had said "I`d rather have a cup of tea" which would have been a perfectly fine response to my suggestion. However, he was totally sure that I would understand what he had said and that`s why he said it. I was surprised and very curious to know how he knew such an expression, however I`m still not sure how he knew it but I guessed he had maybe heard it on some old British show he saw on TV in the past. It was definitely the first time I had heard the expression used in Japan and it will probably be the last, although when I see him again I`m sure we`ll talk about it.

Anyway, I have to go now as I have a dinner date (!). I hope you enjoyed reading today and I will try to write again soon.

Take care, and have a good day whatever you are doing,
Kevin-san!

Good afternoon,

It`s a beautiful day here in Gotenba - how is it for you? It`s cherry blossom time in Japan these days so everyone is feeling uplifted and doing `ohanami` - cherry blossom viewing. I am not so busy these days although last week I did teach a few classes at a children` English conversation school on Thursday and had a great time. The kids (and me and the other Japanese English teacher) were so genki and energetic - the kindergarten class did take a while to get used to me (as I was filling in for another native teacher) although we had fun all the same. I will teach a few more classes there next week so I am looking forward to that. In about one hour I am leaving for Saitama, about an hour north of Tokyo by train, to attend an international BBQ - I think that means both international people and international food! I hope the weather there is like it is here - if so I am sure it will be a great day!

Yesterday I spent a very enjoyable afternoon with two of my former GEOS students. One of the ladies cooked a wonderful lunch - and we chatted in English and Japanese about recent news and things like that and after lunch the husband of teh lady who cooked lunch showed me some photographs from his trips to Europe and America abotu 30 years ago. As I had visited most of the places in the photographs it was interesting to see how places looked back then. I did notice that London had its red Routemaster buses, although I read an article recently saying they would all be taken out of use within five years. We also made plans to go to see cherry blossoms at Gotenba Kogen Beer and to visit a sculpture museum in Hakone, which at least fills in two days of my empty April schedule.

What else can I share with you today? Oh, yeah, last night I went to an izakaya (Japanese style pub) with some friends and I ate fugu (blow fish) for the first time. I found the following information about fugu on the internet so maybe you`d like to read it.

Fugu (blow fish) is a fish which contains deadly poison in the organs. Despite the risk, fugu dishes remain as special feasts in Japan. Even the milt is considered as a great delicacy. Fugu is referred to as blow/globe/puffer fish since it blows its body up. The kanji (Chinese characters) used to write fugu indicates "river pig." In western Japan, fugu is called "fuku," which means "to blow" or "happiness." It's reported that about 40 kinds of blow fish are caught and cultured in Japan and that 10000 tons of blow fish are consumed each year. Shimonoseki-city in Yamaguchi, is known as fugu city and supplies a large amount of fugu.

There is an old expression such that "I want to eat fugu, but I don't want to die" in Japan. Since fugu's poison can lead to instantaneous deaths of diners, only licensed cooks are allowed to prepare fugu. You must have special skills and knowledge about fugu to be licensed. Poisonous parts of fugu differ, depending on the kind of fugu. Because of the strict regulations, the number of deaths is decreasing.

Fugu dishes are usually expensive. One meal can cost $100 to $200 per person at a famous restaurant. But there are inexpensive fugu dishes (from $15 to $20) available at some restaurants. It's said that the most poisonous fugu, "Tora-fugu," is the most delicious. Tora-fugu is expensive and can cost over one hundred dollars at a fish market. Nowadays, prepared-fugu are sold at grocery stores and online stores, and fugu are eaten at Japanese homes. Fugu dishes are becoming more common than they used to be. Winter is the best season to eat fugu.

Here is a link to more information about FUGU for you information:

http://www.destroy-all-monsters.com/fugu.shtml

So, the fact that I am writing today is proof that I surived my ordeal with the delightful old blow fish last night, although I have no idea how many people have actually died from eating it. Also, I have to question whether what I ate was really fugu or just something that looked like fugu because it only cost around $4, and after reading the information above, it does seem as if it should have been more expensive. Maybe I just got a good deal, I don`t know, but now I can join the club of Japanese (and others) who say: "I`ve eaten fugu, and I didn`t die". I think once is enough!

One more thing......., no, actually....., I`ll save it for next time as I have to go,

Have a good weekend,
Kevin