Photos!!!

Yay!

Evan finally got around to uploading his Photo's onto our PC, and I have posted some of the best ones.

2 gals, a guy and Mr. Bean...

Jen, Me, Suzette and Mr. Bean

The Sake crew

Check out Jason's infectious grin...

Too much sake...

Evan and Kenji

It must be love...

This is how we treat bad students at NOVA.

Peace out and sweaty armpits

Crazy Japanese dancer

Wasted...

Chizu!

Yuka, Me, Ken and Suzette...

What a lucky geezer...

My new bike is possessed

Yes, I am beginning to think that.

By a crazy old Japanese guy called Masafumi, who used to run an Udon (noodle) shop until at terrible accident involving a bicycle destroyed his business and killed him. Now he is trapped inside the frame of my new bicycle (see pics)...

Well, it feels like that.

I couldn't get my light to work on my bike. Then I had an accident, and of course needed stitches. If my light had been working I would have seen the large stone, instead of hitting it head on and somersaulting over the handlebars.

And the little b*****d, decides on Tuesday, as I was riding home after dinner with Suzette to randomly work. I cussed and swore more times than I had all month.

Anyway I have included some photos, so enjoy.

Busy at work

Busy at work
Originally uploaded by renegadese7en.

October View

October View
Originally uploaded by renegadese7en.

View from my appartment

View from my appartment
Originally uploaded by renegadese7en.

My new "possessed" Bike

My new "possessed" Bike
Originally uploaded by renegadese7en.

My old Bike....

My old Bike....
Originally uploaded by renegadese7en.

WHAT!!!!????? A new post!!!

Again apologies for not being overly productive with this blog, but things have been fairly quiet around here. Also, I still have no photo's from the Sake festival but I am promising (and you can hold me to that) they will be up at some point in the next 4 months.

Ah, my week... What has that involved ? Well, firstly the weather has taken a sudden turn, and there is a definate chill in the air. It is especially cold at night, and this has led to us cracking out the two bar heaters in our appartment. Poor Suzette, comes into work wrapped up in hat,scarf and gloves, as her sun-soaked Californian skin is unused to the slightest chill. I don't know how she is going to make it through the winter. Hey Ho, plenty of hugs for me, I think...Ha Ha Ha....

Things are going well on that front, if slowly. Jen was away at the weekend to visit her friend in Fukuoka, so I went round with a video, and we sat on the sofa, under a duvet watching a movie, eating etamame (kind like peas in a pod)...t'was very nice. (wink wink)...

Had my stitches out yesterday. My first bill was 18,144 yen which equates to about 90 pounds, so I was pleased to see that I only had to pay 1,000 yen (5 quid) yesterday. I have tried to claim the money back through my insurance as it's a wopping sum...I have a wierd chin goatee at the moment, as it was impossible to shave. I look like a reject from an early 90's grunge band, so I can't wait to shave it off.

Final note - Our new toaster oven turned up today... and it's pristine! The other one took 7 minutes to brown a piece of toast and was dirty and burnt, despite my best efforts to clean it.

Still No Sake Photos (Bloody Evan) and Good News/Bad News Bears

Ah well...I've been waiting for Evan to upload his Sake photo's but to no avail. I promise they will be up soon. And seeing as I haven't posted in a while, there is a crap load to talk about, so I will try to fill in all the details.

SAKE FESTIVAL

This happened around October 8th ( that weekend anyway) and is one of the most famous in Japan. Saijo, is home to a major Sake brewery, and every year a two day Sake festival is held. Drinking, music and general partying takes place on the main Boulevard, with the main drinking area in the adjacent park.

Myself and Evan, walked on down to the festival after work and got there by 6:30 where we met up with Suzette who had been there all day, but had taken a dislike to Sake. The cool thing was that you could drink as much as you wanted from the various Sake stalls dotted throughout the park. I am guessing that there may have been around 180 different types of Sake on offer.

We met up with Jen, Derrick and Jason and hung around drinking until 8, when the Festival closed down. Feeling merry, but not drunk we proceeded to Club Mondo, where more drinking and crazy partying took place until the small hours. Much fun was had.

GOOD NEWS

After the Sake festival, myself and Suzette wandered home together, only stopping to share a fabulous Gusto burger with Jen (I had three bites and was full). I walked them both home, only to find Derrick, unconscious in Jen's bed. Apparently the Sake/Lager combination had not worked for him, and he had vomitted and passed out.

Suzette offered me a place to stay, so I accepted and settled down on her bedroom floor. I won't go into details as this is a family blog, but I didn't wake up on the floor. (wink wink)

Since then, we've been out to dinner, I've cooked for her and things have been progressing well. I am just waiting for the bad things to come, as inevitably they always do, in my life. I know that's not a good way to look at things, and I try to push it to the back of my head and focus on the enjoyment of her company and smile from day to day.

BAD NEWS

As is normal in my life, good times always seem to be tempered by something downbeat. So here it is. Coming back from Karaoke on Sunday night, I hit a stone bollard, flew off my bike, and suffered injuries.

I have badly scrapped hands, a sprained right wrist and three stitches on my chin.

Luckily Evan, Jen and Suzette were there to take care of me, and I'm on anti-biotics from the hospital. The stitches have to come out on Sunday....so no shaving until then...

All Quiet on the Eastern Front.

Sorry for not posting in about 10 days...

I hold my head in shame and accept the tongue lashings that many of you could throw my way...Ha Ha Ha.

Actually there are two reasons for my delayed postings....

1. I am waiting on some photos from the excellent Sake Festival that was held in Saijo on Saturday and Sunday. When I have these there will be a GJA (Great Japanese Adventure) report...

Sake rocks...

2. It's still pretty new (about 3 days ish) but there is a new gal in my life...I won't go into details here, 'cos I don't want to rock the boat, but things seem pretty grand.

Thanks for reading...Sayonnara

The first day of October and the last days of the Crazy Gang...

I cannot believe its the first of October already.

Blimey, where did that come from ?

It also means I've been here since the first of June, so that tallys up to about 4 months solid. It seems to have passed by really quickly, and its definately been a life changing experience. This blog was born out the idea that I could not only keep in touch with people back home, but that it would also be some kind of online journal. I hope those of you who read this blog often, have got some enjoyment from it.

Today was also the final day of my Saturday afternoon Kinder class (a group I've affectionately christened "the Crazy Gang"). Jen will be taking over, and good luck to her. I mean I've put a lot of hard work in with those guys and I think they have developed into an okay group. A keen eye and a hard stare doesn't go amiss, but they are great kids. I'll miss 'em.

GOOD LUCK JEN!!!!