I'm back!!

You guys are getting spoiled if you think an 11 day absence is a long time! Jeez, back in the good ol' days I sometimes went months without posting! The reason for my absence is a bad cold, my second in two months. I can't wait for the 'cold' season to be over. I've had it for over a week now and it's caused me to stop posting and stop doing lots of other things!

Speaking of the cold season being over, is there something wrong with my computer because it just told me that the temperature for the next few days for Toronto is supposed to be something ridiculous like 22, 23 and 24 degrees Celcius!

It's February-do you know where your New Year's resolutions are??

I'm happy to say that it's eight days into February and I'm still following up on my New Year's resolutions. I'm still reading quite regularly, I'm still studying Japanese, I'm still staying away (as much as possible) from the computer in the mornings and I'm not sure if this was one of my original resolutions but so far this year I've been very successful at it so I'm going to add it henceforth:going to the gym four days a week. That is all.

An ode to my T-shirt

WORLD
SOUND
of the live with a
certain hall completely

Liveliness

IN A MORNING TO HULL. MY PEACH AND HULL HAVE
DRESSED UP. ONLY I AM JEANS. THE INTERVIEW
FINISHED, AND BOILED RICE WAS EATEN AND IT RETURNED!!


In the cold smell of winter,
a child feels growing up certainly slowly
and becomes a feeling
solitary without knowing why.
It goes to studio from daytime.
It is sound adjustment
of DVD in the after studio.
It is a word about my first DVD
work. This document
movie looked
at the form where it seemed
to be best at last,
through trial
and error and the
idea of various edits.
It is the method of
carrying out
full inclusion

Am I so fat?

I was showing my vacation pictures to some of the students at my school and one of the older gentlemen commented that I was a little fat. I know he was joking-sort of. This is a country where being skinny is a must. In North America, the perfect form for a guy is to be big and well muscled. Here, it's to be a skinny shrimp. I play indoor soccer with guys who are in perfect shape, no fat on their body whatsoever and they play in these tight nylon pants that no Canadian guy would be caught dead in. Why? I asked. Weight down they replied. Sheesh! I've been in better shape I admit, but I've also been in worse.

Fortunately, Fumiko wasn't nearly as critical of my body as she usually is. During our vacation she called me fat or tried to grab a handful of my waist ohh only about...136 times.

Nova in the news

6 English-language teachers at Nova held for alleged drug possession

TOKYO — Six teachers of English at Nova Co's language schools in Saitama Prefecture were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of possessing cocaine and cannabis. According to the police, Errin Valentine, 32, another teacher at Nova and an American, who was arrested last November for possessing cocaine in Tokyo, has told investigators he bought the drug at his colleagues' request, leading to the arrest of the six.

Adam Renwick, a 36-year-old Australian living in Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture, and five other foreign nationals are suspected of possessing some 1.5 grams of cocaine and some 8.2 grams of cannabis on Nov. 19 in Tokyo's Roppongi area, the police said. The six were teaching English at six branch schools of Nova in Saitama Prefecture. Valentine, who is charged with drug control law violations, had been soliciting others for drug purchases through emails sent over cell phones, the police said.

Wow! Six Nova teachers charged for drug possession and I am very happy to say that none of them are me! You don't need to worry too much about me. I'm so far removed from the drug scene that my lack of 'drug knowledge' is embarrassing. I don't even know what 1.5 grams of cocaine or marijuana would even look like!

Couple of interesting things of note. If you are a criminal in Japan then you should be very afraid of the Japanese justice system. Rights are a foreign concept apparently. You'll notice that the main guy was arrested back in November. It is now January. That means that he had been rotting away in a Japanese cell for a good three months before he caved and snitched on his friends. I suppose now they'll give him a better sentence.

Secondly, the other six teachers have been arrested for suspicion of possession of drugs on Nov. 19-is that an actual crime? Being suspected of possessing a small amount of drugs on a certain date three months ago? How in the world could then even prove such a charge?

A few panoramas

A few panoramas from Saipan. They're pretty big so only click on them if you and your internet connection are brave.

First up is a view of Saipan from the beach of Manigaha island.
Secondly is a look at Suicide cliff. Unfortunately it's difficult to get a good sense of scale with this picture-that cliff is HUGE.

Lastly, we have a view of the old Japanese airport as seen from the top of Suicide Cliff and looking out onto Banzai Cliff. It's sad that there's two of them, within only about a kilometer of each other. I've heard of the military strategy of defence in depth, but suicide in depth? That's just ridiculous.

Saipan pictures - snorkeling/war related

Now tell me this isn't the life. Combining a new love (snorkeling) with an old love (looking at blown up stuff) and what you get is pure heaven. From our hotel you can see two Sherman tanks sitting in the water from over 60 years ago. I was determined from the beginning that I would not be leaving Saipan until I had a gander at at least one of them and on the last day I swam out (it's pretty far!) It makes a great home for tropical fish now.

Saipan pictures-war related (cont'd)

More Battle of Saipan pictures. The first two describe how the Japanese planned to rebuff the invasion and how it actually went down.



Suicide Cliff overlooking the Last Command Post. It must have been well protected from any American artillery.


Next, a hodgepodge of Japanese military equipment. Mostly anti-aircraft guns I suspect.





Side view of the last command post. I hope that large hole didn't suddenly appear during the battle-that would have been painful.

Saipan pictures-war related

There's a crapload of war-related material left on the island but it's not well documented. Obviously someone decided that the beach would be a bigger draw for tourists than learning about history. The following three pictures are a collection Japanese armaments collected together at the base of Suicide Cliff right next to the last command post at the northern end of the island.


Japanese T-95 light tank. Surely even the Sherman would have made short work of these little Matchbox toys.

Me again, this time with a better sense of scale. It's slightly sunk into the ground but you get the idea.

I'm not sure what kind of gun this is. If anybody knows the answer then please let me know.


These next two are pictures of what I assume must be naval guns that are parked on Maneegaha island (a small island just off the coast of Saipan where I took all the snorkeling pictures. One has been dragged out into the open and a second one still sits in its destroyed bunker.

Saipan pictures - snorkeling

Ok snorkeling is basically the coolest thing I've ever done. So many amazing, colourful fish. On the surface all you see is blue water-poke your head under an inch and suddenly you see a complex, living biosphere.



Oh God, it's horrible! Horrible!

Saipan pictures cont'd

Lots of palm trees.


Our rented car-a first for me.


Fumiko doing her best Indian impression.



A cutie flower girl!

Saipan pictures

Ok here goes. These are the beach pictures. I won't put you through too many of them I promise. This is my first time to see white beaches and blue water in real life. I knew places like this had beautiful blue water, I just never knew how many shades of blue they have! It was ridiculous.
I like this picture-I'm not sure why.


It doesn't get much bluer or whiter than this.


I'm not actually sure if Fumiko can swim. I've never seen her close to water without her "inner tube".


Ohh I look pretty white in this picture. Fortunately I don't look quite so fat as Fumiko tells me I am!

I'm back!!!!!

Back from four glorious days and three glorious nights on a beautiful sun-filled island. I'm not sure where to start. Basically it was a fantastic vacation. The highlight was definitely going snorkeling for the first time. It's truly the closest thing to flying. I had all sorts of comments I was going to make but I can't really remember them right now so I'll just post some pictures. Perhaps later it will come to me.