Picture Problems

Hey everyone, I`m sorry this is going to be yet another boring old blog full of words rather than pictures. I`m having trouble finding a cafe where they`re happy for me to upload a whole lot of images from my dubious-looking cd. Understandable, but no less frustrating. So to fill you in: I had a wonderful birthday, Nagasaki was great, and now I have to look forward to a visit from the lovely Lauren and Jeff, and a couple of their crazy friends from Portland next week. Then it`s off to Okinawa for four days of fun in the sun.

This week will be mundane as ever in the leadup, working overtime to try and earn some extra cash for all these holidays. There`s so many more places I still want to see here, but time is running out and I think I`ll have to be satisfied with one more outing before I head home, maybe Shikoku, the last of the main islands we have to see. The weather here is perfect right now, warm, but not to humid (I`m kind of happy to be skipping out before the worst of the summer hits), but the air is full of pollen and my eyes and nose betray my susceptibility. Yes it`s snot monster time!

Anyway, besides the glorious weather, Fukuoka has a lot to offer that was unknown in Himeji, why this morning I saw a very stylish transvestite walking with more sexy appeal in her tottering heels thn most women can manage. It never fails to impress me, this notion of the visualist (read Peter Carey`s Wrong About Japan, a short but insightful book about his travels in Tokyo with his anime-obssessed son). Transformations of the physical and fashionable kind are executed to perfection, in all manner of appearance and conduct. Fashion is so important to so many people here, and while it is at once a shallow indulgence, it`s also a celebration of the ultimate in aesthetic appreciation. In a place like Tokyo or Osaka, it has to be seen to be believed. Having said that, I still fail to see how it could possibly be deemed visually and fashionably acceptable to sport the mullet, especially in the extra hairspray Bon Jovi circa 1980s Blaze of Glory style favoured by so many 20-something wannabe Yakuza-esque males. It`s a mystery how a nation so focussed on the latest, newest look, could have halted male hairstyles in such a warped era, seemingly irrevocably.

Enough of my ranting, enjoy your day(s), I know I will!
Mezzle

Hello Possums!

Well first of all, thankyou to everyone who sent me birthday greetings, a most welcome change from the countless spam messages I seem to be receiving of late. It`s a pain in the arse not having internet at my beck and call anymore, it means I have very little time to write and check and blog and do all the things I should be doing to keep you all informed. So I`ll do my best in the short amount of time I do have.

For my birthday Stu and I went to Nagasaki, which is an absolutely charming place, aided as it was on the particular two days we were there by spectacular weather. It`s a harbour city surrounded by picturesque mountains and dotted with confucian, shinto and catholic temples, shrines and churches respectively. There`s a sweet little chinatown, excellent European restaurants, parks, the atomic bomb museum and a peace park, all within tram or walking distance from the central station. Our hotel was very fancy shmancy, and to top it all off, Stu paid! He also bought some Moet, which we quaffed along with strawberries in our yukatas, it was fusion at its best.

Sorry, that`s all I have time for now, I promise a more elborate update soon, but now it`s off to work to earn the big bucks (haha).

Love you all, thinking of you, can`t wait to see you all.
Mezzle

Somebody Stop Me!

Wah! 2 entries in as many days, I`m on some king of blogging rampage eh? Last night was fabby-doo because we finally met and hung out with some people here in Fukuoka. Got fairly tipsy and went to Karaoke... what else? I swear, social life here is about 3 things, and 3 things only; drinking, eating and karaoke. Suits me just fine as they happen to be 3 things at which I`d like to think I`m fairly adept. We went to a cafe called the Australian Beans Cafe, which did a nomi-hodai plus buffet of all kinds of delicious eaty things for $30. We filled the whole place, about 30 of us, then headed out for Karaoke, hilarious fun. Good thing it`s my day off, I feel a little stupid today. Just finished eating away the hangover blues and now we`re headed to the park for a little reading in the sun. Nothing in terms of grangiose accidents and injuries to report. My only woe at the moment is that vegemite supplies are running low and I don`t know where my next hit`s coming from. 10ccs of salty goodness - stat!

On another note, last night was great not only because I got to meet and talk to someone other than Stu (hehe), but I also got to talk to... Nadsie Noo Noo! She was kind enough to call me in an alcohol-induced moment of nostalgia for the good ol days. it was so nice to talk to someone as if they were only a car ride away, it really made me feel like even though we`re all separated at the present, it won`t be long before we come home in dribs and drabs. As I mentioned before (and can`t stop thinking about), I`ll be home in July, I absolutely can`t wait to see everyone, I miss you all, the feeling is nothing if not consistent. Not long now!

I`ll write more when I have more to write. For now, It`s time to head outside and enjoy what remains of a beautiful, sunny day in my new city. Love you all - be good until I get home.

Mezzle

The Pitfalls of Tatami

Hi Everybody!
Long time no writey, did you miss me? Well have no fear, I`m back to let you all in on an exciting and oft-ingnored fact of life: Dust mites are bad little mo-foes who deserved to be wiped off the face of our planet, or atleast transported to a more unfortunate planet far far away. They have caused me nothing short of 3 nights lost sleep so far, and have emptied out my wallet. My ecszema, long dormant, came back with a vengeance this week, sending me into an intcing hysteria. It was so bad Stu had to resort to holding my nails away from myself to stop my incessant scratching. He and I are both relieved I finally decided to bite the bullet, swallow my pride and consult an expert. Seeing as my sister Jules was unavailable for comment, (Psst; I hear she has a new man, but you didn`t hear it from me!) I was forced to do the unthinkable and seek professional medical advice. Oh the shame of it. Still, not so bad in the end, instead of having to do crazy monkey scratch dance infront of a bewildered Japanese phycisian, I was able to get in contact with a very affable Dutch doctor who soon put my mind, and skin, at ease.

So I know it`s not the most thrilling blog entry to date, but that`s been about the long and short of it this week. Kieran, feel free to withdraw your glowing comment in light of today`s effort. Jpefully next time I write I`ll be able to tell you more about the fun I should be having but haven`t found anyone to have it with yet. There`s a party tomorrow, I think a little drinking and falling over is just what the doctor ordered. Actually, he told me to stop doing that when I explained about my facial deformity (it`s healing nicely thankyou, but may never fully disappear I think) - what does he know eh?

Love you all, promise to send some pictures when I can!

It`s All Japanese to Me

Well, after a　few puzzling moments trying to work out why I was suddenly able to write in kanji (I didn`t know I could do that), I found the english version. Bless me, I still have trouble with these damn keyboards, everything`s upsidedowny\backtofronty. So here I am in Fukuoka, a fairly sizeable city (comparatively-speaking), about the size, in population anyway, of Adelaide. After Himeji it seems like a thriving metropolis! Actually we`re lucky to be situated pretty much in the heart of town, a stone`s throw and a bicycle ride from any number of frivolous amusements. I`ll have to be careful, am still trying to save my pennies, and now we`ll be paying more rent, so no more shopping for me.

The schools we`re at are much smaller than our old branches. Mine only has me and one other teacher. What`s more, it`s a good 40 mins by train out of the city, so I feel a little isolated. I`m certainly glad I didn`t move down here by myself, meeting people`s going to be a little more difficult than I anticipated. Oh well, all the more excuse to head out to a few locals! Stu got the better end of the deal. His school`s a little bigger and it`s five mins bike ride from home, dammit! Ok, enough complaining. The good news is We`ve already started thinking about holidays. Okinawa, Nagasaki and Thailand all beckon. Maybe even Shanghai... The plan is to put in a few months here, then piss off to some remote beach location for a few weeks to recuperate before heading home in early July, maybe even sooner of this whole work thing becomes a yawnfest!

The staff at my branch all seem really nice, they`re throwing me a little welcome party next Sunday night. Hope I don`t disgrace myself too badly, or total my loverly new bicycle! My scars are healing nicely and I don`t anticipate any further damage to my physical self in the next little while, but you never do know, so keep your fingers crossed for me.

Love you all muchly, and as soon as I can I`ll work out how to post some pictures from my laptop to this computer so you can all check out my new surrounding if you care to. Good to hear you`re all coping so marvellously with the turn of events which prevents me from returning home in April as originally anticipated. I had a feeling you might.　I can`t wait to see you all really soon, but in the meantime, keep whistling (cause you know I can`t). I`ll bring you all back cheap, nasty souvenirs from some arse end of Asia.

Love and smooches all around, Mezzle