Last lessons

On Wednesday I had my last lesson in Yao, we cooked up yaki soba and drank ice cold Kirin beer. Not a bad way to finish off. Then I had my last day in Korien, I also got my final tako yaki from my favourite shop, it tasted good, I´m going to miss it. After that I went to Kyoto, we went to a sushi train restaurant. There are two disgusting thingss you should never eat in Japan, sea urchin is horrid, it´s texture alone will give you nightmares, the second thing is nato, I didn´t think nato was so bad, last night shattered that conception, the smell is disgusting and the taste is like toilet, it also has a sticky texture. I don´t think man was supposed to eat fermented soy bean. Many Japanese don´t like it, my advice- don´t eat it.
Today I had my last private lesson then I picked up my ticket, AirChina back flipped on me so now I have to leave on Sunday instead of Monday.












Final tako yaki

Golf

Today I had my final lesson with one of my private students in Hirakata, halfway between Osaka and Kyoto. Afterwards we went for ´shabu shabu´-thinly sliced pork and vegetables cooked in boiling water and ten dipped in sesame or sour sauce. I ate way too much, I wasn´t really hungry to begin with. After that ordeal we drove to the driving range. It wasn´t fenced off- a bit of a worry considering there were cars and people nearby. I think 3 of my shots managed to land in the putting area, about 30 metres to the right. By the time we left I was just happy that I hadn´t killed anyone and was still able to leave Japan un-arrested.

Umeda Skybuilding

My computer has been having some problems recently-a bit of a hassle. Last Wednesday I had my second teaching day in Korien. We had a going away party. I had a bit of a fever and felt a cold coming on so I drank about 10 bottles of lemon juice. On Saturday I felt a little tired so I missed footy training. I headed to Kyoto. We went to karaoke at 7. I´m really going to miss karaoke, great times. On Sunday night we had a few drinks and watched possibly the best movie of all time-Police Academy! Today me and Natsuko went to the Umeda skybuilding, two buildings connected at the top. It´s like a weird ´transformer´ or something out of a manga comic book. We went to the top where you can stroll around the rooftop, 360 degree views at 173 metres, pretty impressive-imagine the empire state building-thats 450 metres! After that we saw ´Angels and Demons´. Wasn´t as good as the book, but not bad.

No internet

I haven't written in a while because my internet was out of action for a week. I don't have too long left in Japan so I've been preparing for my departure. I bought a ticket for Bangkok which is very exciting, I also have to get the visa.
On Friday we went to Kyoto for the Aoi festival where they dress up in very old style costumes and parade through the streets. Friday night I went to see my friend Giordan, we ate dinner at his house, his mum is such a good cook. I stayed with them when I first came to Osaka so it was great seeing them. After dinner we went to Giordan's friends izakaya/club hybrid, with sharks, lobsters and fish swimming around. I was so tired after that and I returned at about 1.
Yesterday we had footy training at Mayashima island, near Universal studios. We did some drills then played a practice game. Afterwards I headed for Stew's Working Holiday party for my farewell. The food was so good. Many people were there, including a French Canadian, a Pommy and a Kiwi.
Some of my fiends signed me a card and gave me a few gifts which was nice. I got 2 Osaka nike tshirts from Daisuke and a caritature potrait from Mizuha.
Today I slept until 2 then went for a run, and studied. I feeling a bit strange about leaving Japan, I'm sure I'll get reverse culture shock when I leave. One things for sure- I'll miss the service in Japan, it's so great, over here the customer is king. I'll also miss the tv ads, they're so entertaining and quirky.

Golden Week

This week is the public holiday week. Friday night wasn't the most exciting. We got some sake. The cup, cheap sake really doesn't taste good.
I worked on Saturday, Saturday night I went with my flatmate to a party at 'Hub' pub in Namba, didn't drink too much because early Sunday I had to rise for a work BBQ.
We drove out into the mountains around Yao, my workplace, located 10 km east of the centre of Osaka. It's so nice to get out into nature, such a big change from the grey sprawl of Osaka, of which we got a good view of.
We set up our bbq on the side of the road, Japanese usually bbq thinly sliced meat and vegetables and then dip it in a special sauce-fantastic! After the barbie we went down to a small lake and went fishing. My bait kept falling off the hook so I really didn't believe I had a chance of catching anything, and in fishing, if you don't have any faith that you'll catch something there's no point. So I just read a book and relaxed.
To my suprise 5 little fish were caught.
Today we went to the Osaka museum of history, it was OK but a little small-there weren't so many artifacts. There was good info about the Naniwa period of ancient Osaka. Unfortunately pretty much all the info was in Japanese. Still, I had fun. After that we went to Umeda. There was also a festival in Nakonoshima, I had the best soy sauce ramen(Chinese noodle soup) and it was only 300 yen.