Hi Fuji San

Saturday morning was interesting.( 28 Jan )
Just about to get up and..... jugajagajagajaga... hmm haven't had 
one of those for a while. Then about 3 mins later
JAGAJAGAJAGAJAGAJAGA..Hmm something's up here I though to myself.
Seems a 5.5 mag earthquake happened around Fuji go-ko ( Fuji 5 lakes area).


Good morning Fuji I thought to myself.. are you waking up too?


Anyway the news covered the event for a while but nothing too drastic seems to have resulted from the shaking so it fades off the screens.


HOWEVER, later the a government spokesmen came on TV and apparently said that there is no indication that Fuji is about to do anything.


Oh well, that makes me feel better. I mean coming from the same people who said "Don't worry there is no meltdown" at Fukushima, when actually all three ( or 4 ) reactors were totally out of control and melting down at that very time.


So my take on this is to have the completely opposite view. Fuji is waking up and will make his / her ? presence felt pretty soon I think.


Of course I hope I am wrong but ..time will tell.




http://www.asiaviews.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=25985:reportalias7160&catid=2:regional-news-a-special-reports&Itemid=9


http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/07/060717-mount-fuji.html


http://www.jma.go.jp/en/volcano/map_3.html ( So they say!)


PS  : There was another pretty strong shake at 4:46 today ( Sunday) in the same area. Registered as 3 in Yokohama.

Toilet

Another most welcome thing about Japan are the toilets.
Today I installed my new toilet.
I had one of these "spray your butt" things for 5 years.
I didn't think that I needed one at first but came to really like it.
Recently it started to do strange things. The spray wouldn't stop or the seat was
cold, or wouldn't work at all.

Repair is out of the question as it would be much more than buying a new one.

Looked on Rakuten and found a very similar one for a good price.
http://item.rakuten.co.jp/murauchi-denki/4984824884120/

Ordered it ( with a 5 year guarantee) and it came about three weeks ago.
However, the water fitting needed changing or I could order another part which would make the
installation much simpler. That cost me a 2 week wait and 800 yen.
Finally it came and I was able to fit the new one today pretty quickly.

Now ..back to normal.. heated seat, butt spray..what else could you ask for.

Snow

It snowed in Yokohama for the first time this winter yesterday.
Well, snow fell but didn't accumulate so much
I am suffering with a cold.
Being a English teacher you have to teach when you have a cold whether you
like it or not and of course a new teacher turned up to observe the class.
However it went OK but later it was tough as my temperature was going up.

Later I crashed out, took "eve" ( ibuprofen) to get rid of my temperature.
This morning I feel like death warmed up and have a full day of classes to get through. ( groan!)
Temperature feels normal though.
Definitely need the morning cuppa today.

yes we can!

Friday, Jan. 20, 2012
Headline in the Japan times

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120120f1.html

Scientists say they can find melted reactor fuel

Well, that's nice to know.

Here Melted fuel, here melted fuel , come to daddy...

You can't hurry Curry

Recently there has been a influx of Indian/ Nepalese restaurants opening up.
My favourite one is ROTI BOTI near Sobudaimai Station on the Odakyu Line.




There are three reasons why I like this place. One is the name.
I guess if you eat too much curry you can get a rotty botty.
The second is the name of the chef/owner.
His name is Khan Ukil. ( Can you kill ?)

Thirdly, of course the taste. It is really good. Well prepared dishes and good quality ingredients.
Not just "take the roof off your mouth" stuff.

There is no home page but you can get a review here.

http://r.tabelog.com/kanagawa/A1407/A140703/14037583/

Fortunately good curry is easily available these days.
When I first came to Japan it was expensive and hard to find.

Second to tea, a good curry is essential to survival in Japan.

Electricity

Want to know the daily situation in Tokyo?

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/forecast/html/index-e.html

Good doughnuts?

There is a shop that sells doughnuts near where I live
It is called Natas
I wonder if they know that natas backwards is SATAN !
Satan doughnuts.....

Want to know about Fukushima?

Try this blog


http://fukushima-diary.com/category/dnews/

Take the dog for a ...ride?

Here is an interesting way to transport your dog.

A change in the law

Just found this information.

http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/newimmiact_1/en/index.html

No more alien registration card but a new registration card.

Good or bad?

I have to think about it a bit.

The train ( again)

It had to happen.
I knew that as soon as I posted a blog about the train culture something would happen
Yesterday I got the NOSE PICKER !
I mean this guy was mining. A full 15 minutes on the train to Ebina.
Pick, investigate, roll., flick. Pick, investigate, roll, flick......ad infinitum
I tried not to look but he was directly in my field of vision.
I was on my way to eat curry so it kind off put me off....as you can imagine
At least he didn't EAT the result of his mining activities.

Blaaaaaaahhhh.....

The Train

Living in the city ( Yokohama to be exact) most people use the train especially to go to work rather than a car.
There is a "train culture" that eventually becomes clear the more you use the train.
My main train line is the Sotetsu line which runs from Yokohama to Ebina.
If you want some information on this line you can read about it here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagami_Railway_Main_Line

I am sure that if you ask anyone they will tell you their train story.
Here is mine.

I was riding the Sotetsu line and I had been able to get a seat.
In front of me a man, probably in his 30's was standing reading a book and chewing gum.
I though nothing of it, as I was also absorbed in reading something, when I heard a 'plop'.
I looked up from what I was reading to see a lump of chewing gum stuck on the handle of my bag that was on my lap.
Of course I was surprised, as well as somewhat taken aback ,and I looked up at the man in front of me.
He was looking down at the gum. Saying nothing, he picked the gum up, put it back in his mouth, and nonchalantly started chewing and reading again.
I was speechless ( fortunately) so I just sat there taking in what had just happened.
My stop came soon, so I got up and got off the train, thinking to myself, only in Japan.

Perhaps you are thinking to yourself what you would have done under the same situation.
But remember there is a train culture which affects everyone, including myself, it seems.

On being an English teacher

"Why don't you get a proper job?"
"The last thing I want to do is teach English in Japan"

I have heard such comments about the English teaching profession in Japan.
Having been a teacher (or instructor) for the past 25 years I believe I have some
credibility when it comes to commenting on this particular occupation.

I got into this field mainly because I was not able to do anything else.
That is probably true of many of the teachers in an "Eikawa."( 英会話 )

However, I have to say despite that, I have found teaching English to be one of the
most satisfying jobs. Why do I say that?

Being a teacher is not just a case of opening your mouth and speaking English (as many think)
Over the years I have had to be a counsellor, a father figure, a mentor, a salesperson, a sounding board,
an entertainer, an advisor + more.

I have seen some of the students go from very basic beginners to achieving a level of fluency
that surpasses a lot of so called "native " speakers in the UK.
( I didn't do nuffin, honest )

I have met some really wonderful people, ( as well as some not so wonderful people).
I have seen some students pass the CPA exam in the States and publish medical papers using
English that would confound most people brought up in an English speaking country.
Truly amazing achievements in a foreign language,and I feel that , in part, I have contributed to their success by means of my teaching. I still keep in touch with some even though they are no longer students at the school,
and they continue to impress me.

So " get a proper job"? Well, what is a proper job? A dustman, a salesperson, a doctor?
I believe that it is not getting a "proper" job that is important, it is doing the job that you have.. properly.
and that applies to being a teacher in an Eikaiwa as well as any other job.

Just for fun, some teachers produced this recently.

Enjoy..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhAc1CCgxiI

Why this blog?

Hi ..
I am an Englishman who has lived in Japan for 25 years
I moved here in Dec 1986.

I have found life in Japan to be both exciting as well as frustrating.

Being English I have found out that whatever problems I encountered the good old cure for the "Blues"
was to enjoy a "nice cuppa tea". ( Not the green tea stuff although I like that too..
I mean the good old British cuppa. )




Fortunately I have always been able to purchase good quality tea.







Recently the choice is quite good

and the price has become much more reasonable

compared to when I first moved here.

After a quarter of a century living in Japan I thought it might be

interesting to start a blog of my experiences of living here and what I have found to be

either interesting or unique or downright strange.


Anyway ..here goes....