For reasons known only to my subconscious I've had this song, You Know My Name by Chris Cornell (dude from Soundgarden and Audioslave,) the Bond Theme to Casino Royale, running though my head for days now. Best Bond song ever, in my humble opinion. Heard the new one for Quantum of Solace by Jack White and Alicia Keys. It's shit.

So, election day is upon America tomorrow. I've made my allegiances clear, not that it matters since I'm not American. I'm not gonna discuss politics again either. I become more hard-line liberal by the day, though. Being in Japan has played a big part in that. When you see just how selfish, intolerant and ignorant hard-line conservatism is from the persecuted side of the fence it tends to affect you.

OK. So life goes on. A long weekend for bunka no hi (Culture Day) had me in my junior high on Saturday for its 50 year anniversary. Got to do some kyudo (Japanese archery) in the afternoon with the 3rd years. Normally every Thursday afternoon is chiiki sentaku (lit. Area Selection. Basically means the students have a choice of activities in the immediate area they can do, including taiko drumming, tea ceremony and archery.) I always go with the 3rd years to do kyudo which I'm getting moderately proficient at. On Saturday the kyudo club came to the school and set up a range for us to shoot. Always good fun to do. Sarv arrived Saturday night and Star Wars concluded at Matt and Dani's on Sunday with Return of the Jedi. Sarv missed the last train back so stopped at mine for an extra night.

Sarv and I spent most of today just chatting and thinking about how we'd like to spend the remaining 2 months he has in Japan. He only has till January 3rd, in all likelihood, and familiar feelings of separation and loss are starting to loom. As such I've decided not to go home for Christmas. At over £1000 the flight was looking way too expensive anyway and my holiday is so short this year I would only get 1 week, max! This was not an easy decision by any means as I have been feeling a little homesick lately. I wanna see the family, my friends back home, just be in the UK again for a bit. But the cost of the flight for such a short time was weighing heavily on me too. This is the last time Sarven will live in Japan, most likely. He won't spend another Christmas here. Ever since NUFS we've all known the pain involved. Separation. We are family too. At least I feel that way and I like to believe everyone else does too. I want to know that, for the rest of our lives, we'll at least be able to get together for a reunion holiday in Japan, the US, the UK, Canada or Australia, maybe once a year. But.... this is the last chance for me to spend this time here, now, with Sarv. So that's what I've decided to do. It hurts to disappoint everyone back home and hurts knowing I won't see them for a little longer now... but right now I feel Sarv is my priority. I love everyone back home and miss them. But you, all of you, you are my family too and I love you too. Count on it.

I am about to talk politics. You have been forewarned.

There are a couple of things I play at being. One is someone who is not interested in politics. The second is someone who is not a liberal. Both of these are lies. Of the first I will say this; I don't like politics. It's a dirty game full of corruption and scandal. It brings out some truly horrible sides of human nature. But it affects everything and, as such, is something everyone is involved in. Everyone who has an opinion about anything at least dips their toes in the politics-pool. I often feel myself drawn to politics like a knight, sworn never to touch sword again, but suddenly finds himself reaching for his trusty blade when his village gets attacked by, I dunno..... Nazis. I certainly didn't pick Global Politics for my degree because the only other course on offer was International Business (though I woulda picked Basket Weaving over Int. Business!) Second, I am a liberal. I only pretend I'm not because I'm tired of Trendy-Liberal Students (henceforth known as TLSes) who just want an excuse to complain. Tired of people thinking (and acting like, sometimes) Liberalism equates to Nihilism or Hedonism. Tired of labels, tags and allegiances in general. I actually feel very strongly about my moral compass and believe in it. I am a liberal in the same way I'm emo; I am what it is (or, at least, should be) rather than what a media-saturated populace and reactionary hate-mongers perceive it to be. OK, now I've established those things, I'll get to the point.

Occasionally I read the Featured Content on Xanga's homepage. Sometimes it's interesting. Sometimes.... it makes me want to stick a rusty fork in my ear and pull out my brain. Recently I mentioned on my pulse two entries from Revelife (Christian Blogring) and Momaroo (Parents' Blogring) that had me reaching for NaziSlayer again.... "My Salvation Questioned Because I Voted Democrat" and "Outrage Over Pro-Islam Doll." So.... lemme get this straight. Republican = Salvation. I get it. Christians "have" to be conservative so "have" to vote for the conservative party, right? Wrong. At least it should be wrong. Very, very wrong. First, politics and religion should not mix. Especially in a multi-cultural, multi-faith country like the United States or the UK. If a President is of a certain faith, naturally that faith will influence his/her decisions. Nothing wrong with that. However government has no right to infringe on the freedoms of other groups or people who may not adhere exactly to their own beliefs, so long as they do not promote antisocial behaviour. That is the very essence of a free and democratic society. The second blog detailed a kid's doll that supposedly said pro-Islamic phrases. First, by all accounts, the doll did no such thing. Second, it was detailed as saying "Satan is King." How is that pro-Islam? What we have here is another example of ignorant, paranoid people demonising Islam. Yes, I was outraged by 9/11. Yes, I questioned what role the Islamic faith played in the terrorist's actions. But I actually asked Muslims about it and they were totally condemning of the bombers. There was nothing they knew of in the Qu'ran that condoned such actions.

Now, as though to bring the two topics together, my heart was warmed by Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama. The endorsement itself was nice, but it was Powell's speech rebuffing the "Obama is Muslim" crowd that I really respected. "Obama is not Muslim... but so what if he were?" was the gist of it. Basically Powell covers both points I was seeking to make in this update. 1) Religion is not a matter for politics and politics is not a matter for religion. In a free country anyone should be able to be President and people are free to vote for who they wish. 2) Islamophobia (or whatever the buzz-word is) is really fucking idiotic and people who still think Muslim = Terrorist should grow up! I want Obama in the Whitehouse precisely because I hope America will move away from issues like these, issues which have dogged the previous administration. I think America desperately needs to start off on a new foot and Obama can do that. I'm sure he won't be perfect. I'm sure there'll be problems. But, if for nothing else, I want to feel like my time in Global Politics spent defending America from the TLSes was not all for nothing.

End Transmission. "This is a public service announcement this is only a test..."

3 day weekends are always good. What's cool is that Japan is rather keen on them, you can usually expect one to roll around about once a month. This past Monday was taiiku no hi (that's basically "physical education day.") In spite of the name it isn't required you to spend the day playing sports or working out or anything. Instead Holly came down from Shizuoka for her first Nagoya-region trip since she returned on JET. As we'd been batting the idea of a Star Wars marathon around for some time now it seemed only appro po, in light of Holly's Star Wars fandom, to kick it off during her visit. In fact, much of the past weekend ended up being Star Wars-themed, though we still threw in the obligatory karaoke on Saturday afternoon.

We kicked off in chronological order with The Phantom Menace. I'm pretty insistent, when it comes to watching the Star Wars saga, on starting with the prequels and seeing the story play out chronologically. I really like Revenge of the Sith but it would be super-depressing to end on. It's far more uplifting to see Episode III then jump right into A New Hope and let everything come full circle. Anyway, after 3 hours of karaoke and all the travel involved Episode I was all we had time for. Since the last train had departed by then Sarv, Holly and I crashed at Matt and Dani's place. Matt had 2 weddings the next day and Holly had to return to her hostel in Nagoya so Sarv and I set off for my place, in Ena. Holly joined us later that morning and we kicked off a new chapter of our Star Wars RPG, albeit sans Calex. That evening we were joined by Matt, Dani and Jen (a new Toki JET) for Attack of the Clones. Again we were left with very little time before the ridiculously early last train so Episode II and a little of Volume 1 of the Clone Wars cartoon was all we could fit in. Episodes III. IV, V and VI to go, possibly after the Clone Wars cartoons.

Star Wars. It's a big thing for me, a pretty important part of who I am. As I've sat here typing I can't help but imagine all the derision directed at the Prequel Trilogy and feel pretty sad. Basically I am a Star Wars fan. Not of the OT, not of the PT. I am just a Star Wars fan and ya know something; I love Star Wars movies. All of them. We only got in Episodes I and II over the past weekend, popularly regarded as the weakest Star Wars movies. For much of them we got the banter going, giving the films' faults the what-for, when it hit me; I don't like that. I don't wanna be that guy. I never have. Sarv and I kicked off in harmless fashion, delighting in the presence of Neimoidians, and throughout the films we got in several affectionate jibes at the dialogue and writing, not to mention a few venomous jibes at Jar Jar Binks. It was all good fun. I don't really like sitting in silence through movies and enjoy the social element of sharing a film with friends. But some way through Episode II I just started to feel.... unpleasant. Deriving affectionate and accepting fun-making out of something you genuinely love is one thing but the tone became pretty derisive at times and it troubled me. Troubled me pretty deeply, actually. Star Wars is very important to me and, whilst I am aware of the flaws and rant about what I consider creative errors at times, I still love the Star Wars movies. All of them. I'll always make fun, I'll always have things to say about the directions taken in some of the movies, but I'll always love them as a whole and I never want to forget that.

This same weekend I finally got hold of The Force Unleashed. It's been great fun to play, albeit not quite the experience I'd hoped for. Essentially it's a linear action-adventure when I'd been hoping for a free-roamer the scope of Grand Theft Auto. Hoping for a more open-ended action role-play style game. Whats more some of the enemies are unbelievably annoying and the game occasionally becomes platformer-like, which does not sit well with me (I am not a fan of platformers and strongly dislike them in 3-D.) So, admittedly, I am a little disappointed. However I must stress this game is still immense fun. The Force powers at your disposal work perfectly, you can be hugely creative and knowing how and when to use which power is a big element in game play. A sustained blast of Force Lightning is a joy to behold! Playing the first level, stepping off a shuttle as Darth Vader and Force Choking, Force Throwing and lightsabering your way through scores of Wookiees had me geeking out pretty spectacularly. The Force Unleashed is not unlike the movies really; it`s flawed, it doesn`t quite live up to all it promises and not everything is done exactly how you'd like. But it's still extremely enjoyable, so long as you let yourself enjoy it!

Incidentally, I still hate Jar Jar and Ewoks. OK, that's all. Laters! "It never used to hurt before. It isn't funny anymore. Feeling so alone now, funny how you wish someway you could die at the hospital..."

So how about if I did a short update for once....?

There's little reason for this update, bar the fact that I have a few slight OCD tendencies and I didn't like the idea of 2 close-together updates at the start of a month then nothing till October. Felt unbalanced. Weird, I know. Another thing I know is how shamefully camera-whoring this profile pic I have up is. I hate my face 99% of the time. Just let me have this, OK...?

So September has not been as bad as my pessimism told me it would but not as good as my optimism told me. Matt, Sarv and I have hung out a little but not as much as our proximity should allow due to Matt's social life-destroying part-time schedule right now. Work is the usual; I hate getting up in the morning but enjoy myself once I'm at school. 80% of my kids are awesome. Had two 7 year olds climbing on my back today whilst another tried to teach me Shogi. I kinda started to get the hang of it. Had some Aussie homestay kids in my chugakko last Friday which was a fun change, for me and the kids, all-round. Downtime has seen me mostly making my way through Metal Gear Solid 4, watching more Naruto and online, chatting and/or just idling away the time. I actually started writing again too.... Maybe I'll get round to drawing next? My creative side has always been frustratingly inconsistent and often largely dependant on my relationships with others. My inspiration to draw always came from having a solid group of friends round me, and whom were usually the basis for my endeavours. During my teenage years I had that and drew nonstop. During NUFS that same spark was lit again after a few years of dormancy. It's been hard to achieve since, though, with said friends scattered far and wide and the commitments and responsibilities of This So-Called Adult Life robbing me of them, and me, and in turn, my creative mindset and inspiration. Working out is much the same. Sarv, Matt and I have managed to visit the NUFS Gym a couple of times together but it's just not the same. Practically speaking I just can't put in the hours with working out anymore. Emotionally speaking the knowledge that we can't, and won't, be going everyday, all working out together anymore, just leaves me very empty, killing what small motivation I had going in. It's hard to explain but getting a cut body was only a positive side effect of working out whilst at NUFS. The real motivation was doing something with my friends, my brothers. You guys! We're still family, in my mind, but now we can't be together and that makes a huge difference to me.... I doubt anyone has missed the fact it's been 3 years now since we all arrived at NUFS? Man......

This time of year has always been kinda melancholic for me. Summer ends but the beauty of autumn has yet to set in. It's this kinda interim period of darkening skies and grim weather. And whilst, in Japan, I am thankful for the cooling weather, the September-blues are definitely in effect right now.

Til next time "Come, break me down.... Bury me, bury me, I am finished with you...."

Whaddup?

Perhaps I'm trying to get back into a more regular updating habit, perhaps this has just been an eventful week. Well, either way, it's been eventful. Mostly in a bad way. On Tuesday I found out that my international driver's permit, which expressly states on the front "valid for 1 year from March 25th 2008" has in fact expired! Huh? I know. Apparently it's cos all international permits are dated 1 year from the date you enter Japan, regardless of what they say. Only in Japan is this the case. (Sasu ga Japan.) So, now driving is officially illegal for me I've had my days severely cut into by travelling time, relying on trains, not to mention having to go through the bureaucratic strife of obtaining a Japanese license. Luckily on Tuesday I had no classes and my kouchou-sensei let me go early to start sorting things. He and the kyoutou-sensei (deputy-head/vice-principal) helped me big-time in getting sorted, not to mention coming through for me when I lost my wallet amidst the brain-fried stupour I always fall into when I'm stressed by time-limits, bureaucratic stipulations and anything that involves organising under stress. (I got my wallet back, incidentally.)

I met an Altia staff member in Ena who drove me to Gifu around lunchtime. In Gifu we had to get my license translated then took all the necessary paraphinalia (all sorted at school that morning, with help from my teachers) to the motor licensing authorities who checked some boxes, crossed some 'i's, dotted some 't's (wait....) and stamped forms here, there and everywhere. Now I have to go back next week, quite literally at the crack of dawn, to take an eye test, the accommodate the odd formality and hopefully receive my new license. I am at least lucky not to be American or Chinese in this instance. If you're from the States or China or a bunch of other places whose driving standards Japan does not hold in high regard (I got that straight from the horse's mouth. Sorry guys) you have to take a basically take your driving test again, by Japanese standards, and be put through 10 times as much bureaucracy!

Anyway, I was up at 6 that day, out of school before lunch, in Gifu City by 2 and heading to Nagoya by 5. The lady who had kindly accompanied me all day was returning home and dropped me off at Nagoya Station. I boarded my train at 7 but didn't get home till gone 10?? Why, you apathetically don't care to ask? Basically a guy jumped in front of the train, making himself very much dead. We all know this is a big thing in Japan, the "train jumper." I seem to recall Mario's train being held up for the same reasons at NUFS one time? (If Darth Panda actually used Xanga anymore maybe he could tell me?) I was in the front carriage so felt the impact quite heavily, even felt the train rock as, I can only assume, it rode over his body. The next 2 hours were spent at a stand-still, listening to the occasional announcement, (the important bits of which I couldn't make out. All I ever got was the constant "the police are here and dealing with the situation. This will take a little more time. We apologise for the wait" over and over.) It's very weird to feel that someone just died mere feet from where I sat. Weird to think his body was right below me. What's weirdest is I'd expect to be feeling something. To feel disturbed or unsettled. I don't. I seem quite cold to it. Sometimes it seems like I just switch from uber-empath who absorbs painful thoughts and feelings to a pretty cold, ruthless individual. No idea.....

OK. Something fun now. The Foo Fighters doing what they always do. A great song accompanied by an hilariously goofy video!

One more random thing. Inspired by Mike's geekiness and his latest post about speculations over Batman III I got a little game for ya; pick any one of us and a hero and/or villain from comic books who you think we could play in a movie! Do this before or after your main comment, either's cool. Explanations would be good but not necessary. You can do the same person multiple times and feel free to agree or disagree! It's a bit NUFS-centric but anyone can join as most regulars here know at least me and Matt! I'm gonna start the ball rolling with:

OK, so monthly posts are becoming something of the rule, rather than the exception, from me of late. I've been saying it's cos I've not so much to update about, life being kinda settled now. That's partly true but it really doesn't hold water with the action-packed summer holiday I've had, even after Mt. Fuji. In the end.... it's vanity. I keep wanting to amass more comments! Guess I should just stop worrying about scores and crap, huh?

Well, "action-packed" is still the hyphenated word of the month. Post-Fuji and Calex's departure for Canadia we were visited by Robin and Tiffany and, also joined by Guchi, hit up the U-Style karaoke place (the one with the ice-cream) in Sakae for some truly old-school karaoke. Unfortunately the sound system left a lot to be desired (terrible synth-instrumentals and missing lyric-prompts,) not at all helpful in scraping of the karaoke-rust. Still, the mood and company was as good as ever. The only downside was a slight misunderstanding in arrangements (to all-night, or not to all-night) led to Matt, Dani and I being stranded in Sakae after the last train and trying to sleep in our karaoke room. Not comfortable. Still, an awesome night was had. Many old favourites were sung, many new songs were busted out and new in-jokes were born (Sean-Paul, Sean-Paul!) Take the best of the past and move into the future.

August 16th rolled round, bringing with it the Matt's 24th birthday. As is often the case, lately, we were kinda pushed for time to do anything so I headed round Saturday morning for a little gamage (Metal Gear Solid 4, being my birthday present to him,) some guitar practice by the river and lunch at the none-curry Coco's. Whilst Matt and Dani attended to their duties at church that night I snuck out and picked up a cake from the local fancy-cake place. It was promptly devoured within the week.

As fast-paced as Matt's all-too brief celebrations were it was nothing compared to the following week. On Thursday and Friday Dani and I (as Tono Region ALTs) both attended the Tono Regional Summer Workshop in Mizunami (the city between Toki and Ena.) Basically this was for local junior highschoolers, who had entered into an English speech contest on the first day, to present and then work with ALTs, learn a little about gaikoku (that huge, expansive country also known as "Everywhere But Japan-Land") and perform some highly professional and carefully prepared (!!) plays written and directed by us ALTs. Dani was kinda MCing the whole thing so didn't have to take part but ended up being harassed by a small Japanese girl who decided Dani was gonna be her surrogate mother for the 2 days of the workshop. Also it allowed me to be mildly obnoxious to her!  It was kinda a shock to the system, actually having to get up and work after a good month of rest, but was good fun overall. Gianni (fellow Brit and Altia ALT) put on our UK segment of gaikoku then, on the 2nd day, I joined my 2 of my Ena comrades, Michael and Nicola, in coaching our group of JHSers through our abridged, irreverent take on "Jack and the Beanstalk." A good couple of days, getting to meet and work with many cool people and cool kids (some of them had astounding levels of English.) The tricky part was that these 2 days overlapped with Balex visiting with his girlfriend, Akiko. With talk of tattooing, airsoft, karaoke and Star Wars: Clone Wars in the air we had to seriously start planning to cram in as much as possible into a very limited timeframe. In the end we devoted our Friday evening to airsoft. Shortly after Dani and I had returned from our final day of workshop Sarv had made his appearance, Balex and Akiko following an hour or so later. Specifically, arrived bearing gifts! There were, of course, airsoft guns and gear for Sarv and I. With so little time to do so myself Balex had purchased my brand new silver-and-black twin Hi-Capa pistols in my stead. He also bore what must be considered a master project in self-made gifts: an mini-I House RPG game made using RPG Maker! Sarven, Matt and I have all played our copies, laughed hysterically and sighed in natsukashisa at a whole variety little in-jokes and nuances! Hopefully this will be the start of several Project: I House RPG Maker hijincks! Holly, Mike, Calex and Kate, you all have copies set aside for you. Hats off to Balex for this stroke of genius!

Airsoft was slow to start, mendoukusee as it was to find decent 'softing ground, despite the abundance of woodland around Toki. In the end we got in 2 brief games, Matt and I VS Balex and Sarv, though our true enemies were the swarms of insects flitting around the forest and we all returned covered in sick bites. The next day Sarv and I headed into Nagoya to meet Balex at Jackpot Tattoo for another inking, courtesy of Baccho. Sarv and I chose to kindly keep Balex company by flicking through some of Baccho's books, specifically one of mythical creatures, and commenting on them with our usual sophisticated and irreverent witticism, forcing Balex to steel himself against laughter whilst a needle was driven into his skin for some 4 hours plus. We're such good friends!

This weekend past weekend speedily approached, heralding Sarv's 25th birthday. Our duel celebrations saw us head to Tajimi on Friday night for another bout of karaoke that was, once again, of awesomeness! Despite our throats contracting shut after an intense karaoke evening Sarv and I were not done. The next day we met up with some of the old karate club girls for a little izakaya (Japanese-style bar-restaurant) and some more karaoke. It was great to see them and we're hoping to do it again sometime, with more of the old club members. I kipped at Sarv and Shiho's that night, much of it was spent engaging in Facebook-related entertainment that had Sarv and I in very real pain from laughter. Let's just say..... Neimoidians can have Facebooks too.......! The next day we decided to check out Clone Wars, which we'd been meaning to do for the past 2 weeks or so. The verdict: hmmmm......... pretty average. Entertaining enough but..... kinda so-so. The animation was ok but I dearly wish they'd stuck with the uber-cool, dynamic and stylised 2D Tartakovsky animation from the original Clone Wars series. The CG stuff felt rather stiff and lacked kinetic intensity, something they achieved brilliantly in 2D Clone Wars. The story was decent enough but was interspersed with the same Jar-Jar/Ewok-esque inappropriate kiddy humour that felt so wrong in the movies, largely courtesy of the droids. And having a campy Hutt villain who spoke Engli.... sorry, "Basic," was just wrong. It really does seem the problem with Star Wars is Lucas suddenly realising he can make more cash by sticking in kiddy-friendly silliness and/or cutesiness, even if it is totally jarring (Jar-Jarring?) and spoils the integrity of the story and the impact of the more serious themes of the series. It's worth a watch..... but isn't gonna satisfy fans like it should.

So, hols are over as of today. I was only due in the BoE and let go after just an hour (the perks of being a private ALT instead of a JET!) Tomorrow it's back to school. It's gonna be tough switching back into work-mode again after 6 weeks off. Still, I'm spending most of the week at my JHS (which is my base school and my favourite place to be) and it'll be nice to see 'em all again. I'm just getting a bit of those end-of-holidays blues. It's also a tough month cos, since Matt quit JET, he's had to take a lot more weddings and has a lot of weekend work, pretty much killing his free time. Even Dani'll only be seeing him evenings whilst he does the house-husband thing in the day, whilst we work, then ministers weddings and takes private English classes during our free time! It was all looking kinda depressing......

But, just hours ago, good news! Matt just got a part-time post as a tutor at NUFS! hopefully this'll lead to bigger things later but for now it  means a job more in keeping with what he wants to do and the ability to stop taking weekend-stealing wedding-work! I'm sorry to steal your thunder, buddy, but I'm really happy for you! Not only is it a great job but suddenly it feels like we have a little link back to NUFS. Also...... I know how awesome a tutor you will be. You're patient, kind and smart and your ability to truly connect with people 1-on-1 and inspire them makes you perfectly suited to this job. You'll be brilliant and they're lucky to have you! Wait........... Douche! Nerd! Ass-clown! (OK, balance is restored to the Force!)

Hah! It's like you guys know I'm updating. I just got an e-mail from Nathan. Seems like after a bit of "do, or do not?" he's about to start on his 2nd degree, going the Japanese route like many of us have! Ganbare and good luck, my friend, just... do me a favour. Please don't take nikyu anytime soon. I don't think my ego can take it! Seriously though, go bro! You will excel, I am sure! (No need for counter-balance insults, though. We've never really had a 'bickering-sibling' side to our relationship! That was Bro-hood's job!)

OK, so my 2 best friends from my 2 lives are both the recipients of good news for their futures. Which puts me in a pretty good mood. Guess I'll stay awake for September after all.....! Nathan and Matt, my 2 closest friends, I say "congrats and good luck, and I know you'll both rock sox!" To Matt and Sarven I say "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" I love you guys! And to basically everyone of my friends out there I say "I am honoured and privileged to share my life with you all. I would be nothing without you." Word.

"I'm a little man.... And I'm also evil, also into cats. Also into caaaaaaaaaaaaaattts!"

(Or "The Epic Ascension of Mt. Fuji!")

A week has passed now since we first set out on our 2-years-in-the-making NUFS Reunion Fuji Climb. Sarven and Matt have already updated. I sincerely hope everyone doesn't get too tired reading about the same adventure and will check out all our updates. It's been a pretty massive deal for us.

Climbing Mt. Fuji was put into plan 2 years ago. At the time we were at NUFS and Matt, Sarven and I really wanted to climb Fuji, from bottom to top. Most people who climb Fuji do so by taking a bus to the 5th station, about 2000 metres up, and climb from there. We didn't want this. We wanted it all. The plan was put into motion but the university, afraid of the dangers, wouldn't sanction a full excursion. As it happened they put forward a more standard trip; a bus to the 5th station, as per the standard climbing method in Japan. Sarv, Matt and I, disappointed, quietly agreed to sit-out this trip. As the end of our time at NUFS drew near we made it our first major goal after leaving; to reunite and climb the entire mountain 2 years later. Just this past weekend that time came. Looking back now it turned out.... very differently to what we had imagined. It certainly wasn't the experience I had in mind but.... it was most definitely one thing, if nothing else. Epic.

And so we set off, a little before 7 am, from the shrine. Calex bought himself the traditional walking stick that you can get stamped at each of the 10 stations along the climbing route (10 being the summit.) Our supplies in order and our destination set we took our first steps towards the summit of Mt. Fuji. As is typical of this time of year in Japan the sun was pretty strong and getting started was pretty much the hardest part for me, physically. I really can't stand the heat, especially muggy, humid heat, and the knowledge that this was the start of a long, long walk didn't help matters. Nevertheless the scenery around the lower half of Fuji is pretty beautiful. Dense forest, providing some much-needed shade. Coulda done without the insects, though.....

It took us over an hour to even reach the first station. The stations are spaced apart rather randomly; sometimes a good hour's walk between them, sometimes a mere 15 minutes! The 1st 4 stations are generally completely unmanned, and mostly derelict. We took rests at each, snacking a drinking a little before pushing onward.

 (The 1st Station. Don't I look thrilled.....?)

By lunch time we made it to the manned, more civilised 5th station. From 5th station onwards there are actually multiple numbers of each station dotted across the mountain (a fact that would cause us considerable grief later on in our journey!) We passed a few unmanned 5th stations before arriving at a small house with a few benches under a canopy outside, took in a good hour-long rest and bought some food; kare (Japanese curry) for Calex, udon (buckwheat noodles) for Matt and ramen (Chinese-style noodles) for Sarv, Dani and I.

After 5th station Fuji's landscape begins to alter dramatically. We left the forest behind to ascend across earthy, vegetation-rich turf which gradually gives way to barren, dusty volcanic rock by around 6th station. The soil is loose and ashen and the air thick with dust, making breathing even harder, especially considering the ever-increasing altitude. Up until this point we'd enjoyed a pretty quiet walk, taking things at our own pace and greeting the occasional small group of hikers we saw along the way. However, from around 6th station the mountain became incredibly crowded! To make matters worse the route up the mountain takes on a monotonous, man-made zig-zag formation which, due to the throngs of human traffic turns ascension into a tedious, 1-step-at-a-time process.

The change in altitude was becoming evident from 6th station onwards but around 7th station our group was first struck by the dreaded kouzanbyou (altitude sickness.) Sarven was first, getting dizzy and nauseous and experiencing severe shortness of breath. The climb was becoming more extreme, also. At points it literally was "a climb," scrabbling up sharp rocks, the path defined only by a length of rope on either side, all the while moving at a painfully slow pace due to the ever-present congestion of bodies scrabbling for the summit. The featureless terrain, the monotony of the trek, the soul-crushing feeling we were making minimal progress (having passed about 4 7th stations) and Sarv's increasingly draining altitude sickness was making progress extremely daunting. Nevertheless we pushed on until the 3rd and final 8th station. Here we met yet another obstacle; nightfall. It was around 7 pm by this time and, this being the height of summer, we had anticipated sun-set around 9 pm (when we hoped to be at the summit to take it in.) However total darkness had descended within the space of half an hour. All the afore-mentioned factors, combined with the very real danger of risking climbing in total darkness, with Matt's hand-charged torch our only source of light stopped us in our tracks. We decided to try and stay the night at the 8th station.... but were refused on the basis they were already full. Before climbing we had all known the risks. We had also been admittedly very hung-ho about it, sure that we could meet any challenge. But, with Sarven suffering heavily from altitude sickness, with everyone severely exhausted (having not slept in over 24 hours) and the high danger of climbing in the pitch-black we suddenly found ourselves faced with the reality; we were over 3000 metres above sea-level, it was cold, dark and we had no where to shelter! It was then the altitude sickness caught up with Dani, too, who began displaying the same symptoms as Sarven. There is no way to describe the feelings of such a moment in words without understating it heavily. Later we'd discuss the whole adventure/ordeal over dinner, Sarv and I pointing out the very primal fears of darkness and isolation that gripped us. We started batting back and forth the only 2 ideas we deemed feasible at that time; try and rest outdoors, the 5 of us huddling together for warmth, or try to head back down the mountain to safety, albeit, in the dark! Matt and I, just desperate to get everyone to safety, off the mountain, opted to descend. Sarv and Calex, worried about the dangers of traveling anywhere in the darkness, opted to stay put. Dani, in the meantime, was getting steadily worse and was physically sick on several occasions. iIn a bid to find shelter Matt and I descended to the previous station but were met with a very rude refusal by the anal-retentive in charge. It seemed like we were stuck!

It's not a big secret that I don't "accept" things too well. Often it means me losing my temper or brooding. However the only fear that had plagued me the whole trip was something hurting my friends. I had been genuinely afraid that someone would get hurt or sick.... or worse. Seeing these fears start to come to life gave me a sense of resolve; there was no way I could accept this situation. All our phones were on their last block of battery but I decided to call my kouchou sensei (head-teacher/principal,) the only person I knew who had climbed Fuji multiple times. Before the battery cut out he urged me to keep trying at the station, pushing the fact that some of our party had severe altitude sickness. I did so and.... it actually worked. I'd like to say I just waved my hand and said "you will let us stay the night" but it was more like me zoning in on the sympathetic-looking girl who manned (womanned?) the snack shop and pleading with her to let us stay, even if we had to sleep on the floor. Jedi Mind Trick or not, it worked. There had been a few cancelations and we were given spaces in the cramped, but very, very warm and indoors, bunks. Sarv had acclimatised to a degree by this time but Dani was in a bad way, and Calex too was beginning to feel the effects; experiencing a head ache and nausea.

It was definitely a major relief to be in out of the cold and dark. But the conditions were incredibly crowded and something that maybe a bit of a secret about me is that I'm mildly claustrophobic. It's usually only in very extreme cases, when I literally can't move without touching walls and when it's extremely hot. It's never made itself an issue before, by and large, until this point. Everyone was packed in tight and, cramped between Matt and Calex, feeling extremely hot, exhausted and stressed, I got very irritable, fidgety and had a couple of minor freak-outs during the night. Luckily around midnight the majority of those staying at the station set off for the summit, no doubt to see the sun rise. This left us with way more room and we actually managed to get the first decent sleep we'd had since Thursday night.

That morning we were up around 5 am. Sarven and Dani had largely recovered but Calex was still feeling rough. The risks of further exacerbating all 3 of their conditions made climbing further very unappealing. We faced the final difficult but inevitable decision; to abandon our attempt to reach the summit and get everyone to safety. To end it all there, when we were so close to the summit (just 500 metres left) was no easy decision for any of us, and yet... I don't think anyone doubted for a second it was the right call. Since night had drawn in and throughout our stay at 8th station all I could think of was getting off the mountain. I really didn't care about the summit anymore. I still don't. In the end it came down to the safety and well being of friends vs climbing a few more metres of volcanic wasteland just to stand on the top of it for a few minutes and secure bragging rights. We had all, it seems, come to hate Fuji. The mountain was our captor and we were gonna fight it tooth and nail to escape. So, with the sun low in the sky (very low from our perspective) we set off down the mountain.

We soon realised that both plans from the night before would have been pretty dangerous. The cold was chilling and a night of that would have been pretty bad for us. At the same time we found that the route down the mountain, whilst more spacious, was on very lose, ashen soil that would have made traversing it by night pretty hazardous. Tired and low in spirits we progressed silently until the greenery of the lower half over Fuji was once again in sight. Calex was still feeling nauseous and had a pounding head-ache, having been the last to succumb to altitude sickness he had not yet acclimatised. As we neared 5th station we discussed the idea of heading to the main station (where the tourist-climbers usually start from) and riding the rest of the trip out by bus. Calex decided he'd had enough of walking so I accompanied him to 5th station whilst Sarv, Matt and Dani continued on foot. Splitting up worried me considerably but 2 hours later Calex and I found ourselves back amongst civilisation. Concerned about the other's progress we jumped in the car and set out up the mountain road we had initially set out on over 24 hours earlier. Sure enough we encountered the other 3 just setting foot onto the road a good hour's walk from the shrine. Relieved to see everyone safe and at ground level we took ourselves to a local Coco's (the other Coco's, not the curry place) and ordered sizable amounts of food. Sweaty, smelly, dirty and very, very tired we finally felt we could relax. Though we hadn't reached the summit we felt we'd achieved a victory nonetheless. We'd climbed 3,250 metres having driven for 4 hours prior on no sleep, 3 of us had been struck by altitude sickness, we'd been stranded with initially no sign of shelter, we'd climbed back down on minimal sleep.... and we'd survived.

The great irony of our trip is that during the climb we felt only the occasional spot of rain. The drive home was, however, another matter. Whatever divine force is in charge of "taking the piss" decided then would be a good time to open the flood-gates of heaven and we spent much of the journey home driving through torrential rain with very limited visibility, on 1 occasion even having the whole car covered by a small tidal wave courtesy of a passing truck! Still, we once again survived this ordeal in 1 piece and had returned the car to the dealer (and gotten an early-return refund) by 6 pm. Calex took my keys and an early train back to Ena to crash out at my place. Sarv, Dani, Matt and I got dinner at Coco's (the curry place, not the other Coco's) and philosophically reflected on our epic journey. I've resisted making Lord of the Rings references throughout this update but we did indeed feel like little hobbits scaling Mt. Doom. It even looked like Mt. Doom, what with the volcanic rock an' all. It was a long and difficult journey and there were times when we cursed our own stupidity, for not taking many things into account, for thinking that we could just get by on guts alone. But in hindsight there was little more we could have done. No one can really prepare for the onset of altitude sickness and we couldn't have set off any earlier. Booking a place at a station mighta been a smart move but it's all academic now. Fuji was meant to be special, and it was. Just not the way any of us had imagined. We pushed ourselves like never before and challenged ourselves physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. In the end the thing that stands out the most is how little anything meant next to the well-being of people you love and care for, which is something I am very glad for. Fuji was epic and we're all glad we did it. It will stay with us forever, the good, the bad, the very bad. But we'll never do it again. Ever.

Love. Peace. Sauron, you suck! "She'll destroy us all before she's through, and find a way to blame somebody else."

This is an amazing album!

OK, so I got an e-mail from Nathan (my 17 years-strong best friend back
in England) the other day and it inspired me to make this update. I
would like to make an observation about the vast majority of
Western-made video games and their character designs. If you would
kindly glance over the following photographs:

Gears of War 2: Square-jawed, skin-headed cybernetically enhanced guy with a massive gun!

Fracture 360: Square-jawed, skin-headed, (possibly) cybernetically-enhanced guy with a massive gun!

Unreal Tournament: Square-jawed, (almost) skin-headed, (possibly) cybernetically-enhanced guy with a massive gun!

Mass Effect: Square-jawed, skin-headed, cybernetically-enhanced guy with (it's not displayed in this picture but I assure you he has it) a massive gun!

Too Human: Square-jawed, skin-headed, cybernetically-enhanced guy with.... OUT a massive gun!!? Seemingly. I wouldn't hold my breath, though....

OK, so is it just Nathan and I or are all these guys basically the same character design? They are from 5 different video games (and there seem to be endless others who look just like them out there!) I'm not saying all Western-made games suck balls and have lame, generic, cookie-cutter testoster-drones wielding massive- "I'm totally comfortable with my man-tackle, I swear I'm not compensating" -guns but there certainly seems to be a trend here. Japanese character design > Western character design!

Whilst I'm being inspired by other people's writings I'd like to borrow from Dani's latest blog entry and talk a bit of politics. I'm never quite sure how I feel about politics. Weird for someone whose degree effectively had him minoring in Global Politics! Part of me hates it; the dirt, the lies, the muck-raking, the back-stabbing, the fact nothing ever really seems to get done! But the INFP world-peace-seeking humanitarian in me just can't help but get involved. I've always been drawn to it. I can't resist a discussion (however emotional and objectivity-lacking I may be) and I spend a lot of time considering various view points, mulling over things and trying to reach some kinda ideal balance that would naturally lead to world peace and harmony if someone would just put me in charge of the universe! Anyway, Dani effectively turned my attention to the US Presidential Race and it got me going. Honestly, I really hope Obama gets it! I admit I have a certain liberal bias (I regard myself as a considerate liberal) but by and large I hate party voting. "I always vote Democrat. I always vote Republican. I vote Labour. I vote Tory. I'm conservative. I'm liberal." How about actually considering more than your own blinkered, probably parent-inherited, view, people? Anyway, I admit I have only done minimal reading on Obama and McCain but I think they're both strong candidates and could be very effective presidents. I hope that whichever one gets in they can achieve a balance that undoes the damage the Bush administration has done. Seriously, whether you back Bush or not, one fact remains; he has eviscerated America's international standing! This is no day and age for any nation to be thinking unilaterally. No-one can afford to be thinking of their nation and their nation alone, least of all the leader of the world's numero-uno superpower! We need to be thinking about rubbing out the lines in the sand, breaking down borders and fostering good relations, not further insulating xenophobic "them and us" attitudes. Speaking as a none-American I back Obama simply because of the change he represents. Conservative America has been championed for too long and it has done considerable damage. America does not need conservatism. It does not need liberalism. It needs balance, and it does not have balance under George W. Balance will be brought about by change and, whilst I hope either candidate could bring that about, I am more inclined to trust in the younger, more progressive candidate to do so than the 70 year old political veteran. We do not need the political equivalent of another square-jawed bazooka wielder! I say "we" despite this being an American issue because it is not just an American issue. "We" is not America. "We" are the world.

"We are the world.....?" Tell me I didn't just say that.....! >_<

Yeah. So the rest of my life is cool. My rant last week was an isolated incident. In fact the day after I was in the BoE (Board of Education) and the guy I spoke to told me he had been at my school the day before and was extremely happy with how I was doing! I got the distinct feeling that he never saw my lone-teaching disaster but he showered the praise so much I suddenly felt overwhelmingly vindicated. Though being up around 7 every morning is always gonna be a task for me I have to say school (with the exception of a few niggling annoyances) is usually a pleasure for me! I did get to go to an awesome party this past weekend for the Tono (the region between Tajimi and Nakatsugawa) ALTs, albeit sans Matt and Dani. Got to know some cool people and one very wacky, just-what-is-he-smoking Japanese guy. I guess I do feel pretty drained sometimes, being on the go constantly and the fact I don't get to spend enough of my free time quite how I'd like to (PS3ing is awesome, but I'd rather it not be all I do with my time off) but in 2 and a half short weeks term ends and I hope this will soon rectify this. Sarven and Holly will be back, Calex will be Honshu-bound shortly after Sarv's arrival. Coupled with the massive amounts of free-time most of us will have (sorry, guys who won't) I certainly hope this summer will be as awesome as I'm dreaming it will be!

It's over. I have the high ground.... Later peeps!

"... say whatever you want cos I can laugh it off...."

The title is self-explanatory. I got up today. I have a cold. It's bloody hot here. I knew today wasn't gonna be smiles and sunshine...

Points of contention, the first: I was told last week I'd be teaching alone today. This is not entirely kosher, by and large. I ran it by my office and they told me that no, it shouldn't happen... but it was up to me. Up for the challenge I said I was good with it. I know Robin does it regularly and figured, well, if I ever wanted to become the 3rd generation teacher I sometimes seemed tipped for I could do with the experience. My subjects were 6th grade elementary, so about 11-12 years old. Basically I asked them to form groups. They did. OK. But.... the groups weren't evenly matched (6 kids in 1, 4 in another, etc.) The reason for this imbalance; they had opted for gender apartheid. it's not that unusual, I know, at that age. I admit I lose patience with this kinda immaturity. These kids have been together for the past 5 years. They know each other. They no doubt used to play together and hell and they will soon, in a year or 2, want to "play" together, if ya smell what The Rock is cookin'? But they wasted over half the class ignoring and/or whining about my instructions. I even explained the rules and why they had to form even groups, that it would not be fair if they all didn't do it. I then tried to organise them by number (since Japanese school kids all have a class number.) Still, no dice! 1 or 2 kids lectured the others about wasting time and to hurry up but by and large we got about 3 minutes of 1 activity in. Remarkably I myself remained quite calm through all this, just reminding them they were wasting time. But, irritating immaturities aside, I was peeved because this has happened before but, with the homeroom teacher there, they have solved their "boys/girls have cooties" issue within 2 minutes! (Whatever 'cooties' are, I've never known....?) It was this that reminded me I have basically no power to discipline, am always supposed to stay nice and friendly, etc, etc. This is why the ALT is not supposed to teach alone. Sure, if you have a remarkably good class and/or actually have the power to be a hard-ass, fine. But technically we don't. Therefore the HRT is necessary to get them in order. This leads me to...

Point of contention, the second: The HRT did talk to me later, thanked me, but when I explained the situation that had gone down she, well, she said they "couldn't" form mixed gender groups. She said dekinai. Now, to me, dekinai means "can't do." It is not possible. It is possible. The issue is not that they couldn't but they wouldn't. This is a pretty serious leap now but today was the proverbial straw proverbially breaking the proverbial camel's proverbial back. I get so fucking pissed about the discipline (or lack thereof) in Japanese schools!!! Now immature elementary kids whining that they have to sit with the boys/girls is a far, far cry from Jeremy's experiences. I am not comparing the 2 in terms of gravitas. But this stuff happens in other classes too, even with teachers around. Kids whine and make a fuss and they are accommodated. At the light, fluffy end of the spectrum you have this. At the heavy, spiky end it's kids riding scooters through schools, bringing in knives and air-guns, assaulting teachers and falling through roofs, as recounted by Jeremy! Most teachers just don't do anything serious about kids being brats in elementary and then juvenile offenders in JHS. What. The. Fuck?

Point of contention, the third: I suck at Japanese. OK, that is not up to other people. The problem I have is two-fold. One is that the majority of teachers who don't speak English will assume I am fluent and speak to me at a speed and complexity level that, if I visited the equivalent level of speed and complexity on my JHS JTEs, they would understand about as much as, well, I understand after these encounters. My JTEs at junior high have been studying English longer than I have been alive! My JHS kocho-sensei is pretty much a fluent speaker of English and very eloquent with it, but he admitted that, when Paul visited (Paul, having little experience speaking to non-native English speakers and possessing a mild Lancashire accent,) he caught only 50% or so of what Paul said. I am not fluent. I would like to be but I'm not. I have 4 years of uni, a few repeated years of basic grammar courses and a total about 20 months in Japan under my belt. It's reasonable and I should definitely be way better than I am but my belonging in the Japanese special class is besides the point. The point is non-native speakers generally need an amount of consideration. I always try to give it and it has been gratefully noted by many of the Japanese I speak to. Some of the non-English speaking Japanese at my schools afford me this and guess what, they are the one's I communicate best with and get on best with! Another thing; I'm sick of studying useless vocab! Why is it that the stuff I learn for nikyu and ikkyu is totally useless?

..... but, I have to admit, it was not all bad. Generally the pain-in-the-ass kids aren't so bad, really. Just immature or stroppy or both. And there are plenty of kids who make the days fun! I definitely think I'm better suited for junior high but the elementary kids are good fun, usually. OK. I just wanted to vent today. That is all.

"Before I close my eyes I'm gonna give it up..."

Long time, no blog. But then I could say the same for a lot of you (glares accusingly!) OK, so life's been busy. Not unpleasant-busy (thinks back to final year of uni,) just busy in that time-consuming-enough-hours-barely-get-any-time-to-self kinda way. It's taken about a month but things are finally starting to settle down. New apartment is almost looking respectable, with the exception of the front room/my eventual bedroom, which is still in chaos. I'm adjusting and compensating for the increased workload and responsibility in my new job which I've been enjoying about 90% of the time. And now I only have 6 weeks until a long (and paid) summer vacation begins. Jurassic Park! Anyway, guess I'll try to recap the past month or so as best I can; by stealing an idea from Matt: sub-headings! (Takes a moment to try to tally how many ideas/concepts/stylistics/thingies Matt and Dave have stolen from each other...)

Gaming: With A Vengeance: I now have, in the corner of my tatami room/living room a huge-screened TV and a shiny, beautiful, wondrous (black) PS3. I hastily purchased WWE Smackdown VS Raw 2008 (I like pro-wrestling. Nothing you can say to me about this will be anything new and, I assure you, I will not care. It's great fun) Assassin's Creed (though I've yet to play it yet) Lego Star Wars: The Complete Trilogy and (after a dramatic pause and adopting the voice of Patrick Stewart....) OBLIVION! I've played Oblivion a hell of a lot. It's a great game. Very much a Western RPG which, admittedly, I snub in favour of the exalted Final Fantasies but this doesn't stop it from being highly enjoyable. A Japanese RPG is usually very story-driven. As a result it lacks a certain freedom but something I really don't concern myself over as the plots and characters are so brilliantly designed, intricate, involving and emotive. Western RPGs often lack these compelling narratives and innovative design elements, relying more on fairly stereotyped Tolkien-derived sword-and-sorcery. Nevertheless they often allow for free-roaming adventure that Japanese RPGs often don't (or capture in a different way.) Oblivion holds dear memories for me as Balex, Kate and I each had our own Oblivion quests going on Kate's PC during our torturous final year at university, helping keep us sane amidst the nightmare of dissertations, kanji tests, essays, exams and Shirasu-bloody-Jiro! I've got it on right now, whilst I update. A benefit of how busy I've been lately: I seem to have gained a +3 to my "multitasking" stat.

Old Friends: A big reason for the business as been the presence of friends from various parts of my life surfacing in Japan. There's no downside to that, it's just been tricky to fit everyone in and kinda stressful trying to make sure every gets to do what they wanna do and stuff, despite my +3 level-up. Most precedent has been my fencing coach, Paul, who decided to, for the first time in his 35 years of life, to leave the UK and do it hardcore with a tour of South East Asia. He stayed for 2 weeks at my place and in that time we took in Himeji Castle (in the rain,) Nara, got some Shiatsu, ate at various places whilst desperately trying to accommodate Paul's vegetarianism and played an inordinate amount of Lego Star Wars on my PS3. My wonderful, wonderful PS3! Then, there've been the NUFS Reunions. A huge one took place at Shooters' about a month ago, when Ben and Julia took a trip to Nagoya, and I'm reluctant to start listing who was there cos I'll only forget someone which'll seem jerky; suffice to say there were a lot of NUFS Kids! A slightly smaller second reunion took place just this weekend past, Jen (visiting from the States) and Jeremy (from not quite so far, in Yokohama) were in Nagoya and Julia, back once again, wanted to celebrate the only way Julia celebrates anything; getting drunk at Shooters'. The next day Sho took us to a little spot in the Komaki countryside for a barbecue. Sadly Jen's departure carried with it the weight of knowing it may well be another 2 years or so before we'd meet again. Though many new NUFS Kids are Japan-bound in the VERY near future (Sarv, Holly) Jen is planning on grad. school and won't be residing Japan-side, at least in the foreseeable future....

It's weird, but I spend a lot of idle moments in the day thinking of important stuff I could write about on here, or anecdotes of my own (another idea ripped from Matt) but right now I can't think of anything. This isn't even my longest update ever despite it being the longest I've gone without posting since I started this Xanga 2 years ago. I'm also aware I've still got no photos to show of my new place, largely due to not having a decent camera (maybe my next big purchase?) I'll get some up in my photoblog once I can get some taken, possibly the next time Matt visits. I really would like to justify the lengthy silence with something more than just me recounting the details of my life but I'm drawing a blank. Think I'll just play some more video games....!

Later. "Can't say I was never wrong, but some blame rests on you..."