Ho Ho Ho

Righty ho, am off homeski to the uk tomorrow. Got the 7:18 bullet train from niigata to tokyo, and am flying saturday lunchtime...however, the uk is in the midst of huge fog and freezing temps and most flights not allowed to land....fingers crossed all ok for sat, otherwise its xmas in narita airport! am quite excited about going back, only decided this week so not much time to plan anything, but im sure it will be great to be back. not sure if ill be able to get online at home...am back in japan on the 4th...

Dozo yoi otoshi o omukae kudasai...happy new year

x

"Tell me why, i don't like mondays..."

looong day at work, massive fall outs with japanese management, so much so that one of them swore at us uk guys in the meeting (in japanese) (we have a good translator!) and a colleague of mine told a japanese manager that he was talking utter bollocks (3 times) ...not a typical japanese meeting but to be fair, they were talking utter bollocks... tensions really high at the mo over here with the situation...which ill explain another day, plus the lead up to xmas and people want to go home...so pretty rough at at work at the mo.normally things have to be very very polite and calm when working with the japanese, but thats all going out of the window at the mo. plus monday is japanese lessons in town, 2 hours of a japanese teacher, who hardly speaks a word of engrish talking at us for 2 hours and confusing the hell out of me...by the end i just want to cry or rip my hair out...leave the house in the morning and dont get home until gone 9 pm...that is why i do not like mondays.

on a separate note...discovered that in my bathroom, my bathroom mirror is heated!!!press a switch and it heats up!!! love it!!!

Obligatory 'Blog' Photo

i know, i know.

(camera steamy, wasnt a 'soft focus' shot i promise)

Gimps!!

these were hilarious, ski masks on sale in the shop...we couldnt resist....steamy picture as my camera had had enough of being wet and cold by the end of the day.

Chums

cassius, kat, jon, lins, cassanova, anna and moi...(thats french you know...)

Merry Christmas

found frosty at the top, was teeny tiny snowman but made me smile...its christmas next week!!! aarrggh!

Blizzard

biting sleet and wind at the top....bloomin cold!

Kathryn Lorimer

Slope...(couldn't think of a better blog entry title)

Janken

japanese settle any dispute or make all decisions using a version of rock scissors paper, called janken...spent all lunch trying to work out the rules....am none the wiser.

p.s. im NOT going to draw attention to jons's belt, which is affeminate at best...

Lunch

such a nice photo...apart from some pillock ruining it...(apologies) ..no one said this was a 'cute' photo, i thought we agreed it was a silly smiley photo?? thanks very much

Kat and Anna

Dumbass

drove 2 hours to get to mountain....only then to realise id forgotten my nice new burton jacket...so as penance, i had to rent a nerdy one from the resort...

Guess who??

jon, obviously (did you think that was me??)

Okutadami

went snowboarding again today. dubious lack of snow around the foothills, but was better than expected at the top. although right at the top we managed to get caught in a few blizzards...which were 'fun'. wasnt as pretty as last weekend, and again, early season so snow not great or deep yet, but i think i had more fun as the snow wasnt as bumpy and i was a lot better than last weekend, so had a great time. really nice bunch i go with, which makes it even nicer (and god bless you kat for staying behind and looking after me!) ...and usually a good laugh on the 2 hour road trip there and back....weve taken to listening to ricky gervais podcasts on the way home...laugh so much i cry...recommended.

"Flying Home For Christmas..."

in other news, and after muchos deliberation and constanation, ive decided to go home for christmas...land on the 23rd december, spend a day and night in london with an old friend ;-) then up to see my mum and bro. am back on 4th jan. at the mo i have no plans as i only decided this yesterday...but will spend xmas day with my ma, any suggestions for new years eve would be welcomed... am actually getting quite excited today thinking about it, lots of people to see and catch up with. not been in the uk for a few months... things im looking forward to:

• seeing me mum and brother
• seeing friends
• bacon butties!
• seeing sheffield united (if i can get a ticket)
• real beer
• seeing/playing with the band
• being able to communicate with everyone!

im sure ill add to this in time...

The Cutest Couple in the World

Pam and Deccy....aawwww...(14th time lucky with the photo eh?)

Jon, Cassanova and Kat

Kat

did someone sneakily take this of themself?????? honestly...

Me 'n' J

Party

incredible....my kitchen is small, the smallest room in the house, and STILL most people stood in there all night...what is it with parties and people in kitchens??? answers on a postcard

Shoes!

in japan, there is a big thing about wearing shoes inside, even at work, we have to change shoes when we go inside...this was at mine last night

Deccy learns to count...

1 and 1 is...?

Rosaline, j and lins

Work Colleagues

point a camera at any japanese person and they do the reverse two fingered thing..every time...so us gaijins usually take the mickey by doing it...ironically, looking at this, the 3 japanese arent doing it....so much for my theory! p.s. adam...what is THAT face???
(garth, tomomi, miyoko, jo, me, hisa and adam)

PAAAAARTY!

Christmas Party At Mine

Since most people are winging their way across the globe next week to go home for xmas, i decided to have a party at mine. was a really good night, and thanks to those who stayed in the morning to tidy up! photos to follow

How to speak like a true Yorkshireman!!!!

As some of you may know, I am from a great great city called Sheffield (we invented stainless steel, football, floodlights, def leapard - sorry about that one - pulp and the arctic monkies), which is in the county/state/ken of Yorkshire in the uk. Yorkshire people have a very distinct accent...and one that i have unfortunately over the years of being away, lost (although i guess there is a trace there somewhere....?) click on the link below, and it will take you to a page where they have yorkshire phrases and words (phonetically). click on the words and the pronounciation can be heard (you need sound up). (barnsley by the way is the town next to sheffield, but the accents are the same). I love this, it makes me laugh...and feel a little sad that i have lost my accent. working out what the phrase means was however dead easy for me...however, some of you may struggle...for those, the answers are below. again, i love this, this is how i used to speak, and how people speak where i come from...love it!!

p.s. the more i listen to them, the more i slip back into yorkshire mode! i swear its the same after ive listened to the arctic monkies, i start talking all sheffield again!
http://snaphappy.com/life/?q=node/5&PHPSESSID=24fc16c8f0fdbe709eeeb208

answers...
1. How does he know?
2.Give it to me
3.Have you got it right?
4.Get it eaten (eat it)
5.Get out of it (I am surprised)
6.What’s the matter with him?
7.He hasn’t got it
8.Has he given it to her?
9.Give it to me mister (can I have it please sir)
10.He is going home
11.How many times have I told you?
12.Is your mother in the house?
13.I bet it isn’t hers
14.Put him in here
15.I haven’t heard anything
16.He says that he hasn’t had it
17.Its in the tin
18.My dad has got a jaguar
19.Where is the gaffer (boss)
20.Go and get your own
21.Can I …(even I don’t know that one!..answers on a postcard)
22.Shut your mouth
23.It was a pearler (it was a good one)
24.I am going before you
25.He wasn’t there
26.Have you got it with you?
27.It doesn’t matter
28.He knows nothing about it
29.Do you have a tenner? (do you have a 10 pound note?)
30.I told him but he didn’t listen
31.He has got it at home
32.Who was he with? Was he on his own?
33.Call for me in the morning
34.He says that it isn’t his, but I bet it is
35.Some of them have got to go
36.We have got to get them right
37.What do you think you are up to?
38.Now then you, what are you doing?
39.Have you seen him on the television?
40.You will have to get a new one

Monday...(very)

the lone persimmon fruit has died. i for one am wearing an orange arm-band today, i trust you will too.

japanese traditionally have difficulty in saying 'R's and 'L's...this is a true fact.

the highlight of my day was in a meeting where i had to teach my intepretor the word 'parallelism' ...made me laugh anyway. would have been funnier if it hadnt taken me 4 attempts to pronounce it correctly myself.

More importantly....

welcome to the world Annalise Samantha Jones. big big big hug to my dear dear friends lee and vicky jones.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Twilight...going home

double click on any photo for the proper size

Kagura

amazing how you can smile when your mouth has gone completely numb!

Kat

caption competition....

Me, Lins and Cassanova ski-lift

John and Kat - Ski-lift

apparently 'peppermint green' is in this year

Group

me, lins, kat, john, cassanova and lins' friend (oooh im bad with names)

Beautiful...(and as cold as it looks!)

Happy snow boy

very happy, -3 degrees, but very very happy

John and the Scooby

john in my tatami room...early sunday morning. john more awake in the back of the Scooby (just look at the excitement on his little face!!). After deciding where to go, we drive down in convoy with lindsay and cassanova (real name) to Kagura. Kagura is a 2 hour drive south of niigata. was a bit of a worry on the way down as there was no snow at all, even when we turned off the highway into the mountains, there was little snow. We started driving into the mountains, and an Ataris song came on the ipod, the first line being "it was the first snow of the season..." and i swear on my life, the second that line came out, snow drops hit the windscreen...i kid you not..it was such a postcard moment, anyway, the higher we got, the more snow was evident. we reached the car park at the resort, and it was cold! and there was plenty of snow... by this point i was completely excited, in fact i had woken up really early through sheer excitement! i was a tad nervous as i hadnt been on a mountain before and i hadnt boarded for a while, and i was with some seriously experienced boarders (and skiiers lins!) anyway, we went right to the top of the mountain (1200 metres). anyway, i managed to keep some dignity! the snow was very cool, very virgin and very powdery and fluffy, and falling down was actually quite good fun (i did experience that feeling many times!) it was very bumpy though, i guess due to the newness of the slope/snow, and with it snowing heavily the whole time, it was hard to see the big bumps and managed to have some spectacular falls! we boarded for a couple of hours, then headed for a much needed lunch, then back out again for a few hours...was soo tiring, and my legs were burning so much! john and cassanove were very very good, so was lins, but we all managed to stay together all day which was cool. it was cloudy and snowy, but amazing views of the snow and mountains. finished off with a long ride down the mountain just as dusk was falling, but by this time my legs had just about given up and fell over too many times on the way down, one incredibly spectacular fall, face first down the mountain! i did manage to accidentally end up in the middle of the moguls...which was 'fun'! anyway, ill stop boring you, needless to say it was massive massive fun, and loved every minute of it....off to shibata next weekend for more boarding....soooo much fun!!!!

"four longs years ago, searching for the snow..."

this sunday (today) was the second official week of the japan snow season...and my first. now, ive been snowboarding for many years, blimey, on and off for about 5 years..but heres the thing...ive never been snowboarding outside...how? you ask...well, about an hour away from my home in the uk there is an indoor snow slope, and i have only ever been there, well, i did go snowboarding this july in dubai, on the way back from malaysia (it was 40 degrees outside, and freezing inside!) but, never been on a mountain. so i went shopping on saurday to get me some gear. saturday night, Kat and John came over and stayed at mine as was an early start sunday morning, and we had take away indian (theres a brilliant restaurant near mine which i have discovered...run by real indians who speak pigeon english/indian...just like being in the uk!). anyway, this is kat on saturday night checking out which mountain has the best snow so far..and john filming her. was actually a really nice night saturday...but early to bed...

Earthquake!!!! (kinda)

went to yoshida fire station today for an afternoon of first aid training. did the whole dummy heart massage, mouth breathing stuff. you have to breathe in to the dummy twice, then pump the chest 30 times. i was with 15 japanese work colleagues..and my translator (thankfully!). anyway, it came to my turn, so thinking i was clever, i tried to do the whole thing in japanese, so, i knelt down, and asked the dummy if he was ok etc... then started the breathing, then as it was an exam, you had to count 30 chest presses...so i did that in japanese (we did numbers in my japanese class last week), all was going well until i got to 20, when i completely forgot the number 21, so i knelt there for a minute while i tried to think, meanwhile, the dummy died in my arms....id killed someone with my bad japanese! (was bound to happen at some time...just thought it would be me who died because of it!) the next time, i muttered in english under my breath and passed. also did the defibrelator electronic thing, was gutted when i wasnt allowed to shout "CLEAR"! in a david hassellhof/baywatch voice...note the dead dummy in the background... rumours that gareth tried to take one of the dummies home yesterday are as yet unconfirmed... afterwards, we went to a small room where they can replicate earthquakes. we stood in there and got shaken around, we went up to a level 7 earthquake, which was what niigata went through in 2004 to devastating effect. kobe went through a level 8 12 years ago, where 500 000 homes were either destroyed or badly damaged and over 6000 people died...scary stuff.

How Beautiful??

this was taken by a friend of mine, it is taken the other side of niigata from where i live, about 30 mins from my house. it shows a typical japanese suburb, with the gorgeous mountains behind. I went to Shibata for dinner with friends on tuesday, shibata is a foot under snow! Sakai where i live had a brief bit of snow, but that has now gone. regardless though, i went to get some snow tyres for my baby last night...snow tyres are an alien concept to us brits, but everyone has them here. i had a quote of $200 per tyre on monday! eek, but went to a second hand place last night. i actually managed a conversation in japanese about what i wanted, and what size tyre i wanted...was quite chuffed. anyway, they didnt have 16 inch tyres, but they did have some great second hand subaru alloy wheels with 15 inch chunky snow tyres on, for a piddling 110 pounds for all 4 alloys, all 4 snow tyres and fitment!! needless to say, my baby now has sparkling phat new alloys!! very much needed as a load of us are heading into the mountains this weekend to go snowboarding!!! CANNOT WAIT!!!!!!

Journey To Work

I took these on my way to work on tuesday. i always pass the tree with the single orange fruit on (oh i forget the name), and every day, the little tree clings to that last piece of fruit, its been there for weeks now, on its own, clinging for dear life (its still there today). always makes me happy to see it still there, it will be a sad day when it gives up...ironically, the picture of the tree abundant with fruit is directly across the road from the one fruit tree....maybe this says something about life, (or maybe i should just put the red wine down...) the other picture i took on my way to work, the yellow and red poles are 'snow poles'. they are so that when it snows, the snow ploughs can see where the road is....note, the poles are 6 feet high! eek!

Marathon training update

am now up to 1.5 hours training runs. went tonight, was pitch black on the coast road, and was utterly freezing, then we had driving bitter winds and a hail storm which lasted most of the run...not the most glamorous of sports, why oh why didnt i take up tennis???

Post gig with the star!

me, garth, tomomi, adam, hisa and tocabuchi after the concert today (bad picture as was taken on my phone)

Niigata Brass Orchestra

went to the swanky new arts centre in niigata today. my friend and translator tomomi plays flute in the niigata brass orchestra, so a few of us went to support her. it was a 65 piece orchestra, and was absolutely wonderful, had the hair on the back of my neck standing up at some moments, they played classical and more contemporary numbers. was so so so good, had such a good time. felt bad for not picking up my own trumpet in a couple of weeks, note to self: practice more!

SNOW!!!

today saw the first snow of the year in niigata...settled on cars and buildings but not on the roads....mightily cold! ive not had a winter in 3 years...

Real football...

on more important football news, the mighty sheffield united recorded their second straight win in a week last night (both winners in the last minute of each game). this picture is our winning goal, a stunning volley from 20 yards right in front of our kop (where i usually sit)... i miss this. we are now up to a lofty 16th position in the league, 2 places above the relagation zone (we'll get nose bleeds soon we are that high in the league!)...level on points with middlesborough Stoney!

Saturday afternoon at a football match

today i went with a good friend Deccy, to see the mighty (not so) Niigata Albirex football team. niigata are in the top division of the J league (well, near the bottom of the top division actually...kinda similar to the mighty (again, not so) sheffield united). man, it was such a weird experience. to start off, you can buy match tickets at the local 7/11 convenience stores, kinda like buying a sheff utd ticket from your local Spa shop. the niigata stadium is called The Big Swan (as its shaped like a swan from the air), its where ireland played cameroon, and england played denmark in the 2002 world cup. it was raining today, actually teeming down, and was freeeeezing!! anyway, japanese football is like nothing else, specifically, japanese fans are like nothing else. how can i describe it? well, for instance, there are loads of women, and old people. in niigata the north stand is crazy, they chant and chant and sing like nothing else, however, they all stop in unison, literally, they will all stop at exactly the same point, its freaky. in japan, the football is secondary, they all have soo much paraphenalia, ponchos, clappers, scarfs, everything. the problem however, is that everything is completely regimented, the chants, the clapping, its like some pre-rehearsed routine, which has nothing at all to do with whats going on on the pitch, they all chant at the same time, and clap when they are supposed to, but there is no spontaneity at all. when the game was on, i was doing the usual shouting and encouraging, but everyone just turned around and looked at me like i was some weirdo! its almost as if they are going through the motions, there is no passion about what is actually happening, its weird, and really hard to describe. in england, its all very natural and real, here, they are like dones/clones and polite ones at that, its just too ...oh i dont know, regimented, almost like they learned what to do and what to sing and chant, but not why. its completely different from english football, or any other football ive witnessed. anyway, japanese football itself is good to watch, they are very good at going forward, but hopeless in defense, i know this as ive played many games here in japan, and after what i saw today, its true. niigata were 2-0 in the 90th minute, and i was a tad disappointed that i didnt see niigata score, at least to see what they did, however, they scored with the last kick of the ball, and again was weird, there seemed to be no real delight, again, just regimented cheering. it was a great great experience today, but very weird. i miss going to see sheffield united, truly i do, i miss the buzz, the singing, the atmosphere. kinda cruel that we get into the premiership for the first time in 14 years and i miss it, even in malaysia you were bombarded by english football on tv. ooh to be in bramall lane with my brother, with a non descript 'meat' pie and a cup of bovril singing 'the chip butty song'....

Outside The Big Swan

saturday afternoon football....ah i miss it. note for all you philistines, thats a sheffield united shirt...thats premiership class to you...

Niigata Albirex

picture of the North stand in the big swan. unfortunately i didnt bring an orange poncho...i felt sooo under-dressed dont you know...

Half time pie....kinda

in england, you get a 'meat' pie and a cup of hot bovril at half time...japan, they have sushi

Albirex Fan

i totally loved this guy sitting behind us. he didnt move, or speak...he just sat there with this brilliantly grumpy face, holding his scarf up, he looked fantastic. reminded me of an english fan, just wearing an orange poncho! he caught me taking this, and gave me such a glare! i love this photo

Niigata Albirex

it was sooooo wet, and sooooo cold!! (niigata in the orange)