New beginnings...

Thanks for reading for the last 2 years. As I'm no longer in Tokyo (sob!) I've now moved to TYBLOGISAGOODBLOG. Hope to see you there!

Sayonara. Ganbatte kudasai.

Why do we do this? Why do we settle down, make friends, learn the local customs, language, make a home, only to uproot ourselves months later? It's horribly painful, and yet we go into these things knowing exactly what is (eventually) to come. Madness.

Tomorrow (well, today) marks the end of Tyrone's adventures in Tokyo. Weather permitting, I will see the Sumidagawa 花火 (fireworks) with some friends, before boarding a night bus bound for 京都 (Kyoto), arriving sometime in the early morning. Last Friday was my last day as a junior high school ALT, and this week has been spent madly packing during the day, and saying sayonara to my Japanese friends at night. Tonight was spent by the Edogawa （江戸川） in Myoden（妙典 - my home for the last year), having quiet drinks with my fellow gaijin and setting off slightly less quiet fireworks, with minimal casualties (one or two singed thumbs is all!).

Sunday will be spent trying to stay cool in Kyoto - I believe Aaron has a takoyaki party in planning. On Monday I will be going to Takamatsu, in Shikoku, the only one of the 4 main islands of Japan I've still to visit. I'll return to Kyoto on Tuesday night, spending one final day on Wednesday in Kyoto, before boarding my Brisbane-bound flight on Wednesday night from Kansai International Airport.

Leaving this country is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. There's so so much I'm going to miss about Japan - the wonderful people I've met (the Japanese can sometimes appear to be cold/distant at first, but once you get to know them are the warmest, most generous, considerate people), the food (sushi, sukiyaki, katsudon, mochi!!!), the train system (!). I'm going to miss speaking Japanese - people back home,I'm warning you now: expect to hear a lot of "nani", "ne", "a-re", "honto", "hai" "he, sugoi", "daijoubu". I see these and other mannerisms as being like temporary tattoos Japan has left on me, and I am going to hold onto them as long as possible! (Since I know these won't stay with me forever, I'm planning on getting a more permanent reminder in the form of a real tattoo - any Japanese design ideas are welcome.) I'm going to miss writing Japanese, and seeing Japanese writing everywhere. I'm going to miss riding through the streets of Myoden, cycling along the Edogawa to my local swimming pool, even in the middle of winter, with 4 layers and a neck-warmer and gloves on, singing along to Arcade Fire on my iPod, not caring who hears me. Watching as my friends who visit me fall in love with the country too - sometimes for the same reasons as I, or their own.

It's hard to believe it's been 18 months. I've managed to accomplish a tremendous amount in that time, and although not everything went according to plan, I don't regret a single part of my time here. Without things occurring the way they did, I would not have met the wonderful people I've met, or experienced the things I've experienced. I've been quite busy these last few months, and so maybe haven't blogged as often as I should. I've so many adventures that I've never posted about - perhaps once I get back to Australia I'll have more time to write about them. I'll be keeping this blog running - with perhaps a name change in the works.

And so now I must once again step into the unknown. It's scary, I'm really quite terrified about taking this next step, but at the same time I know that it's what I must do. My time in Japan was ultimately intended to give me travel experience, increase my confidence, and in this aspect it has well and truly succeeded. I feel capable of landing at any airport in the world and finding my way around now.

But for now, I'm going to enjoy my last few days in this very special country. One more day in Tokyo, a few more days of sightseeing, then it's on to my next adventure.

行きましょう！

A night at the movies

I went to see a movie at the Tokyo International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival tonight. The movie I saw, A Jihad for Love, is a documentary about gay and lesbian Muslims living in countries like Egypt, Iran, India, South Africa and Turkey. Many of those interviewed have fled their home countries for places like Canada, France etc, because of persecution they have suffered or fear they will suffer at home. It was, at times, distressing to watch, not only due to the physical suffering they've been through, but also the mental anguish they go through, trying to reconcile their faith with their sexuality. Very sad and frustrating to see so much pain caused by so much ridiculousness.

After the film I got to speak to the director, and asked him how the film has been received in Muslim countries. He said that it's been shown in two Muslim countries so far, Turkey and another (I can't remember), and so far the reception have been very positive - so that's very encouraging. I doubt however it would ever be shown in countries like Iran or Saudi Arabia, where it most needs to be seen.

Also, in the Q&A after the film, a Japanese guy said that most Japanese people have a hard time understanding why (in this case) gay/lesbian Muslims have this problem with their faith, because "you are a human first and a Muslim second". Why does this faith take precedence over how you are born? The director (himself a gay muslim) said that Islam is a very difficult religion to escape from, as it is a very social religion - your family life is built around the religion, everything you do involves the religion, so if you take it away what's left?

Check out his blog for more, including emails he's had from gay and lesbian Muslims around the world.

All in all a very interesting night. Also it was my first movie I've seen at the cinemas in Japan. The festival continues next weekend, so hopefully I'll see a couple more movies next week.

Last days at Makuhari Nishi

Last week was my final week at 幕張西中学校 (Makuhari Nishi JHS). I was there for 7 weeks, however unfortunately my contract requires me to work at another school for the next 7 weeks. It's terrible, because just once I was starting to get to know the students well, was working so well with the teachers etc, I now have to start all over again at a new school But oh well, that's how life works, I guess. You get to know people and eventually have to say goodbye to them.

On my second last day (Thursday) I had lunch with my favourite class 1B. The students eat lunch in their classroom, and are served lunch by their classmates, as you can (kinda) see in this picture. The kids in the lab coats are those serving that day, a different group of kids serves each day.

I had to take a photo of the boy in the front wearing glasses in this shot because he's so tiny, the hat he's wearing almost completely covers his head (although you can't really see it here). Also, the boy on the left (Agashi) has his mouth wide open and eyes closed in almost every picture I took the other day! The boy on the far right, Tsubasa, is so friendly, on one of my first days at the school he ran up to me as I was walking into the school in the morning just to say hello. Every time he would see me around the school he would say hello with a big grin on his face, and ask how I was.
The students eat at their desks in small groups. The menu on Thursday was soup, fish (see the fish head sticking out of Agashi's mouth?), a bread roll and tinned fruit, along with milk with is included everyday. I eat the same lunch as the students - it's very cheap, and means I get to eat Japanese food everyday! This is the table I sat at - the boy at the back on the right is Kengo, he's one of those students you just know is going to grow up as a leader. He's very intelligent, and stayed in Australia for 2 weeks when he was in 6th grade as part of an exchange program.

I sat with this table last time I ate with 1B. The first year students, although they are only just beginning to learn English, are really not scared to try to speak to me in the little English they know. When they get stuck I try to speak to them in Japanese - so it's good practice for both of us!

See? In the next photo Agashi has his mouth wide open again. Takayuki, the boy directly behind me, is extremely confident, which also means he is the loudest boy in class, and sometimes gets in trouble for this. But the first time I ate with 1B I sat with his group. Lunch that day included natto, which is a bit like Vegemite in that it is an acquired taste, and liked mostly by the occupants of a single region (in this case the Kanto are of Japan). Many Japanese have it on rice for breakfast, the same way we eat Vegemite on toast. I think it's pretty foul, and so gave my packet of natto to Shishido-kun (Shishido is his last name - boys are referred to in class as [last name]-kun, whereas girls are referred to as [last name]-chan or [last name]-san). Almost everyone else at the table also gave their natto to Shishido-kun, and so he ended up with a huge pile of smelly natto on his rice, which he ate with great relish (and also some difficulty, as strings from the natto kept going everywhere.

Shishido-kun tried to take a photo of me with Kunigami-sensei (possibly the cheeriest teacher I've ever met), while also trying to appear in the shot at the same time. Didn't quite work.

After lunch I got some photos from other classes. These students are from 1A.

On the right: Miki and Rika from 1A. On Friday Miki brought me the most adorable letter, written all in English.

Ayaka and Ayaka from 1C. Ayaka (on the right) played me a song she liked after she asked me what the song title meant - it was called Gimmick Game, so I had to first of all try to explain what a "gimmick" is. This had to go through Nakamura-sensei, who explained in Japanese. Then I had to figure out what "Gimmick Game" means - I don't think it means anything. To try to get a better idea I asked if she had the lyrics - it turns out the whole song is in Japanese anyway :P So I just explained that it was bad English. To thank her for playing the song for me I made a CD of some of my favourite music for both of them. (You do know how I love to share my love of music!)
Eriko (1E) and Emiko (1D) in the back, I'm not sure who that is in the front.
Murakami-kun (Shoutarou - pronounced Shoh-ta-roh, I can't get the accent code to work properly) (second from the right) from 1C is another very confident boy with such a personality, and very friendly - to me at least! The first time I ate with 1C, he lost the game of janken (Japanese paper-scissors-rock - they use this to decide everything, seriously) that decided who I sat with, and so I was sitting with Akira's group (Akira is the boy on the left in the photo below), on the other side of the room. About three or four times during lunch Shoutarou stood up and waved to me with a big smile. He's a bit cheeky to Miss Nakamura though - if I'm not in class and it's just her teaching, he says to her "oh it's just you today?".

The boy in the middle (Yoshiki) has to be the most adorable student I've ever taught - he's so tiny, is always smiling and has such a spark in his eyes.

Shoichirou from 1B and Fujii-kun from 2C. The first time I met Shoichirou he told me his favourite food was poison gyoza (there was a poison gyoza scandal in Japan, involving gyoza imported from China), so I always remember him as "poison gyoza", which he's happy about.

Shoichirou takes a self-shot.


Poison Gyoza on the drums.


Later that afternoon after cleaning time (every day for around 15 minutes the students clean the school, I help as well) 1B called me up to their classroom, and I found they'd decorated the board and were waiting to take a huge group photo with me! On the board they've written some of the lyrics from the song Sing by the Carpenters, as they sing it at the start of every English lesson (as I mentioned in this post). The line is "Don't worry that it's not good enough", the most difficult part of the song, but the part they sing the loudest.

When I got home on Thursday night and was looking through the photos on my computer (I also printed most of them out and took them in to school as a present the next day), I already started to miss them, and I hadn't even had my last day there yet!
So Friday was my last day, however I had no lessons as the students had tests all day. In the afternoon after their tests, I had to give my farewell speech over the school broadcast system (It was videoed, and the students watched on the TVs in their classrooms - scary!). I was able to give my speech in English and (with the help of Mrs Matsunaga, the very friendly school librarian, who lived in the US for three years) Japanese, stumbling only once or twice in the Japanese. A third year student then read out a speech in English, and presented me with some flowers (this photo was obviously taken at home).

That afternoon, after the exams were finished, I was called up to 1B one last time. When I got there, they sang Sing for me one last time. I couldn't have stopped smiling if I'd wanted to.



Afterwards, Shishido-kun presented me with a card with a picture of the decorated blackboard on one side, and one of the group photos from the previous day (taken by Kunigami-sensei) surrounded by messages from the students on the other side. Afterwards, I presented him with a certificate proclaiming him "Best Singer", because his is the only voice you can actually pick out when the class sings!



That night I went out for drinks and dinner with many of the teachers from Makuhari Nishi. Most of them I'd never really spoken to, as 1) my Japanese isn't that great, 2) their English isn't that great (except for the English teachers), and mainly 3) we'd never really had the opportunity to talk. I was a bit worried when I found out the two main English teachers I worked with everyday and was quite friendly with weren't able to attend dinner, but I couldn't really NOT go as the drinks were to celebrate my last day. Well, I'm so glad I went - not only did I get to know some of the teachers a bit better, it was also an interesting look at Japanese social interactions, especially between coworkers, despite the fact it was officially outside work. Also, I was the only non-Japanese there (the first time I've been in a social situation like that!), so my Japanese got quite a workout! The 3rd year English teacher was sitting at my table, so I was able to go through him when I really got stuck, but I didn't want to ruin his night by using him as a translator all night, so used him only as a very last resort (and in fact when possible I spoke to him in Japanese as well). Anyway, I had some really great conversations with some of the teachers (a few of them my age), and have organised to go have ramen at some time in the future with them. The whole night just reinforced my love for this country and its people.

Thus marked my last day at Makuhari Nishi JHS. While I was only at the school for 7 weeks, leaving was tremendously difficult, and everytime I hear the Carpenters I'll be fondly reminded of the little class of first years I taught at a little school in Japan.

Random images from around town

I went to the Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art on the weekend, this was a neat installation called Reflection (view from above):

And the view from between floors:

Walking back to the train station, I passed a little patch of flowers, from the bridge where I was standing it looked like a painting, and the photo came out the way I wanted it to:


This is my last week at my current school, Makuhari Nishi JHS. I'm really sad to be leaving them, especially my favourite class 1B. Here is a video of 1B singing Sing by The Carpenters. The first attempt was aborted due to their even-more-so-than-usual extra-genkiness.


On the second attempt they were their usual extra genki selves.



Aren't they adorable? I'm going to miss this school :(

Some images from the Makuhari skyline. Every day I pass something I would only expect to see in this country. A love hotel in the shape of a UFO, with a castle-shaped love hotel in the background.



Currently reading: The Battle for God by Karen Armstrong - a history of fundamentalism in religion.
Currently listening to: lots of Björk.

The Beauty of Björk

Many people dismiss Björk because she's weird. Well, yes, she is, her music certainly isn't like anyone else's out there. But she's also produced some of the most beautiful music I know of. Here are four of my favourite Björk songs.

Pagan Poetry - impossibly beautiful, with a filmclip that was banned on MTV.



New World - the uplifting final song in the terribly depressing but brilliant movie Dancer in the Dark. A bit more accessible - she even uses rhyming lyrics here! (No official video released, this is a fan-made one.)



All Is Full of Love - groundbreaking video for a stunning song.


Verandi - could be the soundtrack to a Bollywood 50's sci-fi film. Wait for the breakdown around 2:10. (No actual filmclip, just the audio.)

MooMoo in Japan

My friend Moo visited me in mid-March - she was my 4th visitor in the space of an exhausting 2 months. Given I hadn't seen Moo (or anyone from my much-missed Tori group) in over a year I was tremendously excited in the weeks preceding her visit!

Her first meal in Japan - Moo had some difficulty with her chopsticks...

... but still enjoyed her meal. Especially gyoza.
Moo's first day in Tokyo - and we were lucky to happen upon a Shinto wedding at the Meiji Shrine.



The place I was most looking forward to taking Moo was Harajuku - I knew she'd go nuts walking down Takeshita-dori.
One of the few Japanese words I taught Moo the night before (when she arrived) was かわいい (kawaii), which means "cute". As anyone who has been to Japan can attest, it has to be one of the most spoken words in Japanese culture (hey look! It even has it's own wikipedia entry!) - you hear it EVERYWHERE. Everything is described as "kawaii", because, well, nearly everything in Japan IS kawaii. And sure enough, while Moo was purchasing a dress at a small boutique in Takeshita-dori, the store clerk pointed to Moo and said "kawaii" and "dooru"' (ie she was saying Moo looked like a doll). Moo, while flattered, was quite taken aback, especially considering the store clerk herself was about 5 ft nothing and looked even more like a doll (including her clothes). See? Kawaii, ne.
Moo prizes her long-desired crepe in Harajuku.

On the evening of the second night of Moo's visit, we went to a monthly dance party called Hard to Explain. Moo quickly realised that living in Japan does have its annoyances (taking off shoes inside the door)...

... but also its benefits (alcohol vending machines).
In our favourite music t-shirts (mine: Patrick Wolf; Moo's: Blondie) we got our boogie on down to indie music I'd mostly never heard before but could still dance like a nutter to.

Well.. when you stand in front of the speakers...

Moo getting to know the locals. I think this photo was taken just before Moo jumped like a kangaroo across the dance floor - either to explain she was from Australia, or to scare him away, I can't remember. (This photo is actually quite innocent - just poorly timed and the depth is difficult to work out).

Another case of timing and difficult-to-determine depth. Moo wasn't REALLY slapping Annie - Annie is quite lovely (and from Brisbane!) - but it's an amusing shot ;)

At about 4am the fatigue set in, however the first trains don't start running till 6am, so we had to soldier on.

On Monday 17th of March Moo and I took a trip to Nikko. I'd visited Nikko once before, back in November, and loved it. It's one of my favourite places in Japan, offering amazingly beautiful scenery, spectacular temples, and is quite peaceful, with much fewer tourists than places like Kyoto. Plus, it is possible to visit on a day trip to Tokyo.

By this stage Moo was handling her chopsticks like a pro - I'm so proud of her :)

Some shots of Nikko:

Spot the Moo:

Moo in front of Shinkyo Bridge.

Just as my first trip to Nikko gave me my first glimpse of snow, so did Moo's. Isn't she kawaii?
On Tuesday 18th of March we went to Disneyland.
Moo really wanted to ride "It's a Small World". I, having gone on this ride back in December and knowing it to be equivalent to one of the circles of Hell (uh, let's say the fifth - that's got a boat, right?), was vehemently against this idea. However, I was bribed into it with the promise of going on the teacups next. And so it was that Moo and Tyrone boarded the boat across the river Sty- sorry, the boat through Fantasyland.
About halfway through, Moo realised how terrifyingly dull the ride was, and so tried to teleport out of the boat.

However, there is no escape from this diabolically designed ride (unless there's a fire, in which case you have to look for the bright green "Exit" signs - kinda spoils the fantasy), and thus her attempt to flee failed. She had no other option but to sit, grin and bear it. Look at the frenzied look in her eyes - like a caged animal!

As promised, we then rode the teacups. Moo doesn't handle motion well, but she stuck it out like a trooper.


This is Moo concentrating on her breathing.

This crazy bastard invited us to a tea party, made us repeatedly change positions around the table, and then stole my hat!

Unfortunately, we happened to go to Disneyland on a day which was in the student holidays, and so the park was incredibly busy. This meant that the lineup times for the popular rides was ridiculously long. It was also quite cold. Luckily we'd remembered our headphones.
I believe this picture was taken about halfway through our wait in line for Space Mountain.

This picture was taken a bit further along, as evidenced by the progression on our faces from boredom to misery.

In a bid to relieve our boredom Moo practiced her magic "disappearing fingers" act, and had trouble with the "reappearing fingers" part of the act.

Moo has a shocking experience in Toon Town.


Cartoon doors. Difficult.

For the record: this was my third visit to Disneyland in as many months. If I never see Mickey Mouse again I'll die a happy man.


Moo brought a special friend for Beaker. However, while Gumby was very kind and open to friendship, Beaker snubbed him with a look of startled nonchalance (is that possible?).
By the second last day, Moo had grown to love Japanese food so much, she was quite protective of her lunch.


Alas all holidays must come to an end. Here we are at the airport, thinking back on all the fun we'd had over the previous week...

And then realising it will be months till we see each other again, and then it won't be in Japan :(

Moo is probably the last visitor I will have had visit me by the time I leave Japan - and I'm happy to say that every visitor I've had has fallen in love with the country (I think). It is such a great way of renewing your love for the city you live in, when you show people around. It is very easy to get stuck in the same cycle of work-home-work-home, and so when friends or family visit, you of course show them the things you love, and in doing so remember just why you're living here (or why you enjoy living here). The few periods over the last 15 months in which I've been feeling frustrated with living here, for one reason or another, have ended because I've had people visit me, and I've seen them experience the things that have made me come to love this country so much - the food, the unique culture, the quirkiness, the (amazingly) efficient transport system (seriously!), and most importantly, the Japanese people. This country will always hold a special place in my heart, and I will definitely be returning at some (many?) time in the future. For the next two months I will be trying to see as much of Tokyo as I can.

This post is dedicated to the memory of my Poppa, Henry Richard Miles, who passed away on the 17th of March, 2008, aged 75.