I’m back from work already – just a few hours in the office saying “Happy New Year” to everyone. I had to memorize a new phrase in Japanese to pull this off, it’s a tricky one: “Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu”, which is a bit tricky to say when you are walking by someone in a hallway.

I passed out some of my omiyage from Australia – I brought some “Australian” candies. A lot of teachers had taken today off, so I just left them on their desks – a nice sweet surprise when they come back.

It was interesting to watch all the teachers come in and bow deeply to each other, wishing each other a Happy New Year. Mr. Hayashi casually said “omedetou…” to teachers from his seat – he didn’t really get up or anything.

I spent most of today just catching up with Mr. Hayashi – he was talking quite a bit. He gossiped about former JETs that had been working with him, and it was interesting to find out that I am the only unmarried JET that he’s worked with. He thinks that it’s much easier managing a single JET – there is a lot more flexibility.

After work I did a quick shopping trip at the local grocery, and then came on back. I’m going to use my extra time this afternoon to do some studying. It’s pretty cold out right now, so it’s nice just to relax on the couch and hit the books.

I got up early this morning to go to Universal Studios Japan with Miss Kageyama. I got out to Akashi at 8 a.m., and then we had prearranged to meet on one of the cars on the Special Rapid Service (shinkaisoku). It worked out pretty well – it’s a great way to meet people. That way they don’t have to get off on the platform and wait around for the next one.

It took about 50 minutes to get to USJ – a lot quicker than I expected. We bought tickets from the JR railroad company before we got there and saved lots of time. We walked towards the park and passed through the “city walk” that is just like the one in Los Angeles. There was a Bubba Gump restaurant, McDonald’s, Wolfgang Puck’s, and other American staples.

Once we got into the park, we walked along amongst thousands of thousands of people, and headed for the rides. The first one we did was Jurassic Park – a water ride that looked pretty tame. It wasn’t too bad, but we did invest in some ponchos from a vending machine in line. Even after wearing the poncho, I got a face full of water – apparently the only person on our boat that even got wet.

After getting doused we went to see the Backdraft attraction – I thought it would be a good idea to warm up a bit. We had lunch at Mel’s Drive In, and then walked aimlessly around the park for a while. After walking for a bit we went to the Back to the Future ride, and had our picture taken there. The guy taking the picture got us to smile by saying “Back… To… The… PICTURE!” Imagine that in a Japanese accent – it was really funny.

Walking around the park I saw that they had hired lots of foreigners like me to work there. I expected more foreigners to be among the guests, but I’d say that I saw maybe only one or two others that looked like patrons. Walking around with Miss Kageyama earned me a lot more stares, but I just take it as an opportunity to smile and nod at people. I think some were wondering if I was an employee – during a parade there were foreign guys walking around in sunglasses and a suit – and they were supposed to be “movie stars”. They just walked around and waved, and the crowds ate it up. Maybe I can get a job here if when my teaching gig ends.

The Back to the Future ride was a lot of fun – and all the rides I would guess have an American equivalent somewhere. The actors in the ride’s videos spoke in dubbed Japanese. I missed a little bit during the rides because I wasn’t catching the narration, but it was still fun.

We finally finished up at USJ and went back into Osaka. Miss Kageyama knows a lot more about Osaka and so she pointed us in the right direction to find a good bookstore (found a couple of good kanji and Japanese grammar books). She took me to a big shopping center, and at the top was a Ferris wheel. The mall was packed with people, but the Ferris wheel was relatively quiet, so we took a trip around that. It was a full sized Ferris wheel, so if you can imagine how high you go on a regular one, try one on top of a seven story building. Wow! I got some great pictures from up there.

Afterwards we went over to a Korean restaurant that looked appealing. It was a “take your shoes off” kind of place, and we sat down and had some really excellent spicy Korean dishes. Almost everything was much spicier than traditional Japanese fare, and I had a great meal.

We were looking at the menu, and Miss Kageyama pointed out a drink called Jima, and said that she was going to get that. I had never heard of it, so I ordered one, and when they arrived, I was surprised the see that we had ordered Zima. I was hoping to try some traditional Korean beverage, and I got a Zima. Oh well, it was actually better than I was expecting.

After dinner we walked back to the train station and headed back. We were both pretty tired from running around, but it turned out to be a lot of fun.

Antoine pointed out that we were well documented at the Osaka “meat-market” when we went. You can see some pictures from the official website here. There’s a nice shot of my arm in the bottom left pic.

Today I slept in a bit, and then jumped on the train to Kobe. I wasn’t really shopping for anything, I had just heard that it was a big shopping day, and one of the biggest days of the year for shopping in Japan. Since I was taking the train, there were no parking hassles, so I thought it would be fun to look around.

There weren’t as many people as I expected, but it was very busy. Some streets were impossible to walk through, and a couple of times I had to turn down an alley to cut across another way. Since I wasn’t really going anywhere, it was no problem.

The big temple in Kobe was hosting a New Year’s celebration, so I went in there and took some pictures. It’s a pretty nice temple, and it was packed. I’m glad I got my New Year’s prayers over with the other night.

I had lunch in a food court in an underground shopping center that I had gotten lost in just a few months ago. There was a juice bar there, and I had a banana and milk drink that was OK, but didn’t rock my world. I do miss Jamba Juice.

Finally I decided to head home. On the way back I did my good deed for the day by helping a lady carry her suitcase down the stairs at Akashi station. At first she was worried, but then she thanked me in English when we got to the bottom of the steps. I hope that makes up for knocking down the old lady in the elevator the other day.

Well, New Year’s Eve in Japan is a little different. Everything here is new to me, and the New Year’s celebration (called shougatsu) was especially unusual.

I lounged around the house most of the day, and then watched a movie (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) until about 10 o’clock. I walked down to the yakitori and met up with everyone there. The master and the part time help were cleaning the place up, and watching K1 boxing/judo on the television. There was a big tray of food on the table, and once people started arriving, we all snacked from the plate while we waited for midnight. I met the master’s parents, who came by and spent some time with us. I spoke enough Japanese to raise their hopes, but not enough to carry a conversation – they spoke fast and with little patience.

There was an intriguing countdown show on about half an hour before midnight. So this guy stands on this platform outside in the cold with nothing on but a loincloth, in front of a gigantic drum. He beats on the drum occasionally, and then takes a break to say some dramatic things in Japanese. During these breaks his assistants come up and give him things – once they gave him a banana to eat, some sake to drink. Several buckets of cold water were brought up and the poor guy dumped the water over himself.

Also during his breaks there are people pulling a gigantic pole on a rope, aimed so that when they let go of the rope it will come swinging right at the guy and the drum. This pole is huge, and the guy had to be hoping that everyone had a tight grip on the rope.

Finally, midnight hits, and everyone in the yakitori says “Happy New Year”. They said it in English! I don’t know if this is the custom or if everyone had studied in advance, but it was pretty cool.

Back on television, the guy pretty much ignored the stroke of midnight, and was reading a big piece of paper with shaking hands – he was freezing up there. They gave him a bow and arrow, and he fired the arrow somewhere – I didn’t see where it went, and I think neither did anyone else. Finally, he stepped down, and they let go of the rope. The pole swung down onto the drum, and everything exploded spectacularly. We’re talking a big, unsafe explosion. Fire everywhere – it was great!

Afterwards, the guy runs down to another platform and tries to walk across a tightrope stretched over a lake with fire burning on it somehow. He falls twice, and each time swims back to the shore and jumps into a kiddy pool full of warm water. The assistants bring him foods to eat each time, and he seems to be a pretty good sport about it.

Finally, we suited up and went over to the temple. There was a big lineup of people waiting to pray at the temple, and the bell was ringing in the background – 108 times for 108 sins from last year. Our group met some friends there and we stood around a fire pit keeping warm. I bought a fortune for next year, but I couldn’t read it. Most people tied their fortune to trees on the temple grounds, but I stuck mine in my pocket to translate later. The master assured me that it wouldn’t invalidate my fortune by doing that.

People kept coming up and wanting to drink sake with me – all you could drink sake was provided by the temple. Again we drank out of little square cups, and sake was getting spilled everywhere. After too much sake, I slipped into the prayer line with some of the yakitori gang, and we went up and prayed. I watched carefully the people in front of me, and I think I pulled it off OK.

We gathered up our things and left around 2 a.m., and I was home in bed by 2:15. It’s 2004.

Miss Kageyama picked me up this evening and we headed out to the bowling alley. When I got home from Australia, there was a long message on my machine in Japanese, and from what I could tell it was from the bowling alley where we had bowled a couple of weeks ago.

We had both dropped our scorecards into a jar for a raffle, and apparently, I had won. When we got to the bowling alley today, there was a big sign with the winners, and among a list of about 15 names written in Japanese characters was my name. Woo-hoo!

It wasn’t hard proving who I was, and they gave me my prizes – a baby blue jacket that is four sizes too small and a small white mug that says “Merry Christmas” in English. Oh yes. Miss Kageyama couldn’t stop laughing at my reaction, and I tried to give her the stuff, but she was smart enough to say no.

Afterwards we went across the street and had some spicy nabe that was quite good. It was so spicy that we had to order several rounds of beverages, and I disturbed the traditions by serving Miss Kageyama instead of the other way around.

On the way back to the car we got in the elevator, and as soon as we entered the doors started to close, just about knocking some old lady to the ground. She yelled in alarm, and the only thing I could think of was that she was going to get cut in half by the doors or something. Apparently as soon as you enter an elevator, you have to hold down the “open door” button to keep the doors open. I was the first one in and everyone just kind of expected me to do it, and I was standing there oblivious, watching the old woman go down in amazement. Little differences in how an elevator works can make you look like a real jerk, and all the “I’m sorry”s in the world weren’t going to change the old lady’s perspective – she was pissed off.

We stopped for ice cream on the way back, and then Miss Kageyama went back home. She is going to just hang out this week – her family is not allowed to celebrate the New Year. She has been doing a lot more around the house since her parents are pretty distraught about the death of her grandfather. I did my best to cheer her up tonight and give her a break from the gloom of her household, and I hope it worked. Cutting an old lady in half might not be the best approach, but it was the best I could do.

Tomorrow I’m heading over to the yakitori at 10 p.m., and I understand that I probably won’t get home until 3 or 4 a.m. The New Year is one the biggest events on the Japanese calendar, and it should be fun!

I’m continuing my post-holiday shopping today – looking for a messenger bag to carry with me. Lately the stuff I carry around every day is getting bigger and bigger. I carry a digital camera, an electronic dictionary, gloves, a small notebook and pencil, and my buff. It’s time to find a good carrying bag to lug this stuff around – my pockets and getting way too full.

Tonight I might meet Miss Kageyama for dinner – I’d like to check in with her and see how her family is doing after her grandfather passed away. The rest of this week is like family week – I won’t see many people on the streets and the stores will be closed. With the exception of New Year’s Eve, I’ll be on my own through the end of the week. I think I’ll spend the time studying and depending on the train schedules I might travel just a bit while I have the chance.

Yesterday Mr. Hayashi helped me pick up my packages – one of them was a carton of egg nog concentrate from the Cellini family (excellent!). Afterwards we stopped in for a coffee and then he dropped me off.

A couple of hours later I met Antoine in the monstrous Osaka rail station, and then we walked across the street to the Yodabashi store. This store is a lot like Fry’s in California – a gigantic all things electronic superstore. The store has five floors that are each about the size of a U.S. supermarket.

Antoine was looking for a digital camera, but the one he wanted wasn’t imported to Japan – they had a newer one there, but it was out of his price range. I was able to find lots of cool things – but I only bought a couple. I bought a new shaver, an indoor/outdoor thermometer, and a case for my electronic Japanese dictionary.

I looked at MP3 music players, but they didn’t have the one I fell in love with a while back. The prices seemed high on the players, too – I’ll have to keep looking.

After shopping we went over to a noodle shop and had some noodles and beer. The employees glared at us as we ate, and so we got out of there pretty quick. We walked around exploring that part of Osaka for an hour or so, and finally stopped in to have some fried rice and more beer at a little sushi/ramen bar.

There we met a salaryman who spoke a fair amount of English. He lives in Kobe, and invited us to visit him there. He wants to practice his English with us, and he said help us with our Japanese. We exchanged phone numbers, and so maybe we’ll get together in a couple of weeks.

Finally we went back to the station, and made our way back. By the time I got to Akashi the last train was just pulling in, and I almost missed it. They are running an abbreviated schedule just before the New Year’s festivities. I was tired when I got home – I plugged in my new shaver and thermometer, and went right to bed.

This entire week is a holiday for me – I go back to school on Monday, January 5th. Yesterday I spent catching up with things around the house, and today in the afternoon Mr. Hayashi is going to pick me up and take me to the central post office to pick up some packages that arrived while I was gone.

Tonight I’m going into Osaka with Antoine – he is shopping for a digital camera and I’m going to help him out. I’m also looking for a few things – an MP3 player to listen to, since I spend so much time on the trains staring out the window. I’m also looking for a new electric razor – mine holds a charge for about one minute and then starts dying.

Tomorrow I was supposed to go with Miss Kageyama to Universal Studios Japan, but she found out when she got home from Australia that her grandfather had passed away. She missed the funeral while she was away, and she was pretty depressed about it. Hopefully time spent with her family over the next week will help.

I’ve got a stocked fridge – meals should be very good this week. Last night I cooked up some chicken breasts that were jerked with some of the sauce that Nancy and Lynn sent. They were really spicy, and quite good. I also made some homemade onigiri (rice balls). They turned out really well – I was impressed with myself. I filled the rice balls with a bit of dried salty salmon, and sprinkled them with black sesame seeds. I wrapped the whole thing in dried seaweed, and it was great.

I’ve also got some pretty good thin sliced mad-cow beef from America, some nice pork, lots of carrots and tomatoes, chinese noodles, onions and some tonkatsu. Yum.

What a great trip! I’ve posted all the updates below, so enjoy!

What a contrast to Japan. I could understand everyone I talked to – I was able to do more things because I could read signs, bus routes, and schedules. I was the one who helped my Japanese students and teachers get through English conversations, instead of me relying on them.

There was great food – I ate so many hamburgers, steaks, and prawns! The seafood was excellent, with a little more of a western style to the cooking. The wine was excellent – my cousin Steve took good care of me and let me try some great Australian wines. I was able to try lots of different Australian beers – I never saw Foster’s anywhere.

Australia reminded me a bit of England, without the clouds and more relaxed. I bumped into a surprising amount of English expatriates. After living in Japan for four months or so, it felt like I was back in the United States for a little while.

I got to sleep in this morning, and it felt great. The first thing I did in the morning was go on a hike to visit the local coal mine. There were some pretty big hills, so I got a fairly good workout. After my hike, Steve cooked up a big breakfast for everyone – homemade hashbrowns, thick bacon, eggs, and toast. It was excellent – the bacon was especially good. Afterwards, my folks called from San Diego, and we got to catch up and recap Christmas. They had finished their Christmas and it sounded like everyone was pretty jolly.

We took quite a long time to talk, and while I was yakking away Brenda made a bunch of sandwiches for a picnic. When I finished talking we jumped in the car for a shopping trip and a walk through a local rainforest.

The shopping mall was really crowded, and some stores were closed for Boxing Day. I went to Target first, but the layout and inventory was quite a bit different from Target stores in America.

I really scored in a grocery store in the mall – I picked up six cans of refried beans, three bottles of shampoo, post-it notes, a bottle of ketchup, some Turkish Delights, and some spices in little jars.

Combined with the bottles of wine that I already bought, the toothpastes and deodorant that I got for Christmas, my suitcase is really heavy and full of imported goods. I’m hoping it’s not contraband, but I’ll have to wait and find out. Last time I entered Japan I had no problem, but I was with a big group and nobody even checked. I’m pretty sure they’ll check this time – so I hope I don’t have anything illegal.

After shopping for a while, Steve bought us all a coffee, and we sat around while the mall buzzed around us. After the coffees we went back to the car, and then headed out to the rainforest.

The rainforest was beautiful – it was full of old trees and green, lush vegetation. The forest had a creek running through it, and we followed a wooden footpath through the forest in a big loop. Near the halfway point we stopped and had out picnic. The turkey sandwiches were quite good – they always taste great after Christmas.

We finished up our walkabout, and then drove through the small town of Jangaroo. The pub was open, but that was about it. We stopped and saw the building where Steve and Brenda were married, and then got back on the road and headed home.

After we got back we kicked around the house for a little while, and then went over to another neighbor’s house to have some drinks. It started out by opening a couple of wines to compare vintages, and it soon turned into a wine drink-a-thon. Other neighbors came by with wine, and we sat out on the porch in the warm night enjoying some great vino. After a final “cleansing ale” to clear my palate, I staggered back home, and the crashed into bed.

Tomorrow I’m off to the airport where I’ll join the rest of the gang and fly home to Japan. I’ve heard that snow has fallen while I’ve been gone, so I’m packing some cold weather clothes in my backpack to take with me on the plane.

Steve woke me up early, since he is driving part of the way into Sydney. He dropped me off at Waterfall Station, and from there I rode the train the rest of the way into the city.

Miss Kageyama met me at Central Station. We had pulled a bit of an “end around” from Mr. Hayashi – both of us had said that we were busy today. There is a BBQ being held in Manly, and all the students and teachers were going to be there – both Miss Kageyama and I were invited, but since we’re not getting paid for the trip, it was optional. We both opted out, and decided to do some exploring of Sydney together.

We started off by swinging by the Hard Rock Café in Sydney. Mr. Yamamoto, the third year English teacher, had asked me to pick up a pin from the store… I guess he collects them. Miss Kageyama had two maps, and they had different addresses to the same restaurant. Unfortunately, we walked to the wrong address, so it took a while to find the right one.

After the Hard Rock, we headed north along Crown St. to the Domain – a grassy park area that encompassed the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Admission was free, so we explored the fairly large gallery. Steve and Brenda had recommended the gallery, and it was really impressive. Miss Kageyama and I really enjoyed the Aboriginal artwork floor – but we rarely agreed on our favorite pieces of art.

After the art gallery, we walked north along a wooded park area until we reached the northern tip of Sydney’s port area. From here we had great views of the bridge, the opera house, and the spectacular downtown area.

We took a bit of a break in the park and planned our next move. We went into downtown and rode the elevator to the top of Sydney Tower, which affords an amazing view of downtown Sydney and beyond. Afterwards, Miss Kageyama bought me lunch in the café, and so we had a long, slow lunch while enjoying the view.

Finally, we wrapped up lunch and walked north until we reached “The Rocks” – a trendy restaurant-centered neighborhood similar to Kitano in Kobe and South of Market in San Francisco. The restaurants there were right next to the main Sydney Harbor, so we could walk along the wharf and enjoy some great views.

After another break under the bridge, we finally decided to throw in the towel – we headed back to the train station, and went our separate ways. Miss Kageyama will be in a homestay until we fly out on Saturday, so hopefully she will enjoy her Christmas.

I took the train back to Wollongong. The ride was pretty nice. The train seemed to move pretty slowly, though. The air conditioning on the lead car died, so all the people on that car had to move back into the other three cars, making it a bit crowded and warm the rest of the way.

Once I got back to Wollongong, I called in for a ride home, and Brenda picked me up. Back at the Coursey homestead there was some serious cooking going on. Christmas preparations were in high gear, and so I did a little wrapping of my own.

In the evening a big group of people came over for drinks, and I helped Steve by selecting some red wines to drink while they were here. There were tons of snacks and we had a good time eating and drinking. Julia and Alyssa were starting to get excited about Christmas the next day, and so they each opened up a present to whet their appetites a bit.

Well, I’m off to bed myself before Santa makes an appearance. Tomorrow should be an early start and a nice relaxing day. There’s a lot of food – we’ll be eating a lot tomorrow.

This morning I was up late – around 8:30. Steve was driving me into town, and we were planning on meeting Mr. Hayashi and Miss Kageyama for lunch. We stopped in along the way so Steve could do some business along the way – he had to inspect a house for his insurance company.

Afterwards we went directly into Sydney, and then found a parking spot almost immediately. Since we found a spot so early, we walked around town a bit, stopping in for a beer at a pub and walking through the courthouse. Steve was looking for a bathroom and bypassed a turnstile that said “Exit Only” to get to one. The funny thing was that the security was tight only a few meters away, but nobody even glanced at him as he skipped over the turnstile. They were too busy concentrating on the X-ray machines and metal detectors, I guess.

We went to Mr. Hayashi’s hotel and met him and Miss Kageyama in the lobby. We went upstairs and had a pretty good lunch. Mr. Hayashi and Miss Kageyama had a Christmas lunch, with turkey, cranberry sauce, potatoes, and such. Steve and I had the Malaysian lunch, and it was pretty spicy and fairly good.

We got to talking about our plans after lunch – it turns out Mr. Hayashi had to rush off and help our students do some shopping. I took a chance and asked Miss Kageyama if she’d like to join us – we were planning on doing a little shopping in the area.

She said that she was free, and so we decided to take her along with us. Mr. Hayashi paid for lunch, and then we went to the elevator. As soon as Mr. Hayashi got off the elevator, Miss Kageyama heaved a sigh of what I think was relief. I guess she was getting tired of hanging out with Mr. Hayashi every day.

Steve, Miss Kageyama and I went out and Steve ran to get his car. We sat and chatted while we waiting for Steve, and then he pulled up. He leaned out of the window and said that he had just gotten a call on the cell phone and he had to visit a client – so he took off and Miss Kageyama and I had some time on our own in the afternoon. We decided to walk around a bit and try to walk off the big lunch we had just eaten.

We visited Hyde Park, St. Mary’s Cathedral, the Pitt Street Mall, and several other shopping centers. I found a warm fleece to bring back to Japan, and we both found some goodies at Woolworth’s to bring back as omiyage for teachers in Japan.

Finally we went back to the hotel, and Steve came by to pick me up – we said our goodbyes to Miss Kageyama, and then we were out of Sydney and on the road. On the way home we stopped at a liquor store, and I picked up some nice Australian wines – I can take three bottles back, so I got one for Mr. Hayashi and two for myself.

Once we got home Steve cooked up some wonderful pasta that he had picked up during his travels. He also had purchased some sourdough bread, and had run into Russell Crowe while he was there. He was pretty nonchalant about mentioning it; I guess he’s a regular around Sydney.

Dinner was great, and we drank a nice Shiraz while we ate. Afterwards we sat around and talked a bit, and planned a little for Christmas Eve. I’m heading into the city one more time to catch all the things that I’ve missed in one fell swoop. I’ll be back around 7 o’clock for drinks here in Wollongong – it’ll be fun! Christmas tradition here is opening one present on Christmas Eve – something different than what I’m used to!