Kyoto and Immie's visit

Immie was a big hit at my school
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Hello people,

This will probably be the last update I write before heading off to China and Thailand. I can't believe that I leave in less than a month! The cold weather has finally arrived so I am very much looking forward to lying on a hot sunny beach. But I will say no more on the subject for fear of being accused of boasting.......

Immie's visit to Japan was definitely a success! She informs me that she had a great time and ate enough sushi to keep her cravings at bay (for a little while at least)! Funnily enough, the sushi thing is the thing that people most frequently mention when I tell them that I'm teaching in Japan for the year. I went to meet her at the (wrong – oops) airport on the Friday and we had a quick blitz around Osaka where I was delighted to find an (quasi) authentic German market. Discovering German beer and Lebkuchen in Japan was a little surreal but it was nice wandering around looking at the Christmas lights. The rest of the weekend was spent navigating Kyoto with a map in one hand and an umbrella in the other. Kyoto was extremely busy, mainly due to the Japanese peoples' obsession of seeing their former imperial capital in Autumn. However, we were not disappointed. Kyoto is breathtaking. We didn't have enough time to see all the temples and shrines but saw the majority of the famous ones but I'm sure that I will go back to see the rest. Highlights included:

Umeda Sky Building by night
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Imperial Palace

Golden Temple

Silver Temple

Fushimi Inari Shrine. Those who have seen “Memoirs of a Geisha” will remember it from the final scene when she is running through the orange Torii Gates.

Playing SNAP! at elementary school
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Gion distrct where we saw a couple of Geisha scuttling in between tea houses. Unfortunately they were too quick for my camera!

Nijo Castle

Swapping the urban lifestyle for rural calm, Immie and I headed back to Susami and went to one of my elementary schools. The kids were so excited about seeing such a tall gaijin, especially one with blonde hair. So much so that they all wanted her autograph and followed her around the playground. I also introduced Immie to the delights of playing dodgeball during break yet, more often than not, Immie and I were human shields for the younger ones! We then proceeded to be bombarded with presents and my Board of Education took us out for a feast and asked her loads of questions. I was expected to translate which resulted in many pauses!

First ever time celebrating Thanksgiving
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Thursday we went to Japan's tallest waterfall and had a thanksgiving meal of one of the JET's houses. Sans turkey, Japanese pancakes (okinomiyaki) and cheese were served!To round off the week I had a party at mine and I waved Immie off the next morning. I will be seeing her again in Thailand though by which time she will have hopefully scoped out the hot spots!

So the time has come to spread festive cheer and teach the children about Christmas. Have already had 2 Christmas classes which only means another 20 times of singing “Santa Clause is coming to town....”! I've also been searching for an authentic Christmas tree to put up in my house but alas, there is none to be found! The Brayshaw residence in Japan shall remain tree-less unless my hints at the Board of Education are noticed!

My BOE insisted on taking us out for dinner
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In general, “cultural blunders” seem to be ocurring less and less yet the other day I made a spectacular one. During my badminton club I was trying to convey the meaning of “to win” and “to lose” by using the thumbs up and thumbs down. The shocked look from my teammates left me to realise that I had unwittingly told them to “f'ck themselves”/

“In other news....” the mid-year conference for all Wakayama JETs took place in the prefectural capital and it was a lot of fun. The conference consisted of 2 days of socialising, going to workshops and having a decent night out. Seeing as China and Thailand beckon in a couple of weeks, the next few weekends will be relatively quiet. A few parties here and there are taking place but this weekend I'm exploring the neighbouring area and will hopefully check out a local driving range and batting cage. Am also going to brave a Japanese hairdressing salon and am getting my hair cut!

Osaka skyline
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Well that's all I can think of for the moment! This update is shorter than the others which could be due to writer's block or the fact that it's well past midnight and I have an early start tomorrow!!

In case I don't speak to any of you before Father Christmas pays you a visit.....MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!I hope Santa is generous to you all.

Love you all,

Sara

Yasaka Shrine
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xxxxx

PS New photos are online!

PPS Speak to you all in 2007!