and so, the adventure continues

... with our intrepid traveller learning to negotiate supermarkets...

hello hello konnichiwa to all of you, i hope that you are not all freezing your little bums off! i personally am beginning to despair of the humidity here ever relentingand am discovering curliness of hair that previously never existed. i don't have a hairdryer so i make do with many clips, which also helps to keep my hair off my sweaty countenance...

koki-sensei (my supervisor) helped me to buy a bicycle on friday so i have been cycling all over the place, which has helped me to realise that my level of fitness leaves much to be desired. the school has it's own (brand new)gym, so i can work out there... however i'm a bit disconcerted by the bright yellow equipment...

so about ikeda... ikeda is a farming town, probably about the size of hermanus but not as exciting, the main industries are farming (duh) and winemaking. they are so proud of their wine here and it is very pleasant and easydrinking. however ask them what type of wine it is and you get a blank stare and the obvious answer of "red" or"white". there are two supermarkets, a pachinko hall (like gambling, sort of) a convenience store, some electronic sstores, a couple of restaurants, and the station. not a hotbed of activity, but peaceful and quiet and very very green. there is an onsen here, a hot spring where you soak (after cleaning yourself thoroughly). the thing with onsens is that every body bathes naked together (women separate from men obviously). i'm working up to the onsen experience, also i have to check about my tat as apparently they are abit shocking to the japanese...

i have a temple next door, and every evening i gaze at it,nestled under the trees while i cook my dinner. dinner, bythe way, usually has some rice in it, and i have learned how to make many things in a wok (ie pasta, asparagus) although my ultimate aim is egg-fried rice, apparently the breakfast of champions. i am still looking for eggs here that aren't bleached to a shiny white. they are too freaky. also the milk is a bit odd, it smells sour but tastes okay, if a bit watery. luckily i have been taken out for many meals and have pleased people here by eating pretty much anything they put in front of me... well at least once. word to the wise...don't eat octopus sushi it is literally like eating a neraser. squid sushi is on the other hand pretty cool. clam sushi is yum but the consistency is all slimy and hard to get used to. japanese food is pretty good to, especially soba noodles and soup with tempura prawn. yum! i'm also relatively cool as i can handle my hashi (chopsticks for you gaijin out there) quite well. the one thing i have yet to try is natto, or fermented bean curd. apparently it is an "aquired taste" and one JET described it as acombination of "urine and bile".

the nearest big city is Obihiro, 20 mins by train. i amgoing exploring this weekend with greg, an ALT (assistant language teacher) from canada who has been here 12 yearsand is married with 2 kids, so he is a great liason between the cultural divide. speaking of which... to small childreni am a source of awe and wonder and wide-eyed staring,older people are very polite and massively interested inwho i am and where i come from (minami-afurika!!) while teenagers studiously avoid interest. greg says this is only a front, and that inside they find me exotic and exciting. my colleagues are very friendly and i have alreadybeen to one brass band concert and am ging to another on sunday night. this is a lot cooler than it sounds+ ikeda's schools have he best brass bands in the area and play everything from movie scores to traditional song... brass band here is like an orchestra with no strings, so are generally quite big...lots of fun.

ikeda also sees japan's largest fireworks festival next week, so that should be fun: all the girls dress up in yukata (summer kimono) and there is plenty of beer andbarbecue. as i said, my place is big: three bedrooms, a main room,bathroom and kitchen (separate toilet) but i don't have any furniture to fill it (except for a bed) and no TV so i have been listening to the radio a lot! payday august 21, have to get a TV, DVD player, and couchfor bedroom #2 or as it will be known, the TV room... m ynew best place is dokidoki, a recycle store, where almost-new stuff is sold for low-low prices... so cool...