乾杯！

I was thinking about creating some kind of Top 10 of things in Japan, and if I did, Chu-Hi drinks would definitely be vying for the number 1 spot. Close to the hearts of many teachers, they are a Japanese equivalent of the alcopops back home and are a cheap yet oishii source of comfort on the train ride home after a hard day teaching 7A students!

My Japanese TV debut

This week I made my debut on Japanese national television! My friend Chris and I appeared on the morning TV show Tokudane on Fuji Television, one of the main terrestrial channels in Japan.



Kumagaya was the hottest city in Japan last year with the maximum temperature recorded at 40°C. However the other day the temperature reached a sweltering 41°C, and it seemed a camera crew had been sent to cover it. We were standing outside Nova on our break when they came over and asked us a few questions, but when they left we thought nothing more of it.

Then the next day at work lots of students came up to us saying how they'd seen us on TV! So it was a bit of fun, being a mini-celebrity for the week and joking how we'd probably been seen by a few million people on TV! (^-^)

Summer Matsuri, 鴻巣

It's festival time here in Japan! All over the country at this time of year every town and city holds a traditional festival, and this weekend was the matsuri in my town, Konosu.



The main celebrations centred around a procession along 旧中山道, the main street in Konosu, of several groups of people, one group from each ward, carrying portable shrines called mikoshi. I invited a couple of other teachers Greg (l) and Mick (r) to take part in carrying the mikoshi for my area 入形町. It was pretty hard work, it was a hot day and the mikoshi was very, very heavy! But it was good fun, everyone was in high spirits and it was a good experience to be able to take part in something so Japanese!

ただいま！

I've returned to Saitama after my holiday to Okinawa. What an amazing place! Our hotel was fantastic, very luxurious and we were lucky that we went just after the rainy season finished but before the summer holiday season starts in earnest so we had lots of space to relax around the pool or on the private beach. As you can see from the photo, the weather was nice and the ocean was incredibly blue and clear.



I tried different types of local Okinawan food - goya champuru (stir-fry of egg and goya, a bitter green fruit), soki soba (buckwheat noodles and pork ribs served in a clear broth), shikuasa (a very sour fruit which is making my face screw up just thinking about tasting it again!) and even mimiga (thin shavings of pig's ear served with mayonnaise!). We also tried snorkeling which eclipsed any previous attempts I had at snorkeling in England where you'd be lucky to see your own hand in front of your face in our murky sea let alone any tropical fish or corals!

*sigh* and now back to Kumagaya...