Grand news from his side of the mighty, mighty Pacific. As it transpires I have secured a job as a Coordinator for International Relations in the City Hall of a sunny city by the name of Hatsukaichi, just 20 short minutes train ride away from Hiroshima. Looking to start in early-mid August and very excited about it we are. A move, new faces, new places, a new apartment (fingers crossed for water pressure) and all that goes with a stroll to a new locale.
My thanks to those whose thoughts have gone out in the seemingly endless waiting-to-hear-so-for-gods-sake-don`t-bloody-well-ask-me-again time since the interview back in Feb/March.
OOOOOOOOOooooooh very, very excited. (and a shade nervous). Will let you know more when we do.
Out.
Berin and Nic.
PS - Feel free to leave comments on the page...cheaper than a letter! shorter than an e-mail! Perfect for my lazy, lazy, lazy friends.
PPS - Jon and Melody - Looking forward to seeing you real soon.
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
Oooh. And wedding photos...
Yep. Shindig photos are up on the interweb for perusal. There are about 40-odd at the moment, but as we trawl through the 400 that we have we may selectively release more. If you have cable or broadband internet we can arrange for print-quality ones to be sent through to you en masse if you wish. Otherwise...who knows. Get in touch.
Right-o
www.photobucket.com
Username: wedding1.0
Password: berinnic
We are nothing if not original....
Right-o
www.photobucket.com
Username: wedding1.0
Password: berinnic
We are nothing if not original....
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
The family...
Yeah, so there we were, 11 years after I had lived with this family, having last seen them on a Bullet Train platform in March 1993. Since that time I had generally saved calling them for those times when I was really, really, really drunk and the time zones were juuuuuuuuuuuuust right. This fell away after a while as I forgot an awful lot of my Japanese - what with not using it and all, it gets pretty rusty, pretty quickly -. Now, after kick starting the language again, I am looking forward to keeping in touch with them a whole bunch more.
The Grandad, who was the head of a country-wide Buddhist sect with 100 or so Temples under him, died in 1996, causing Grandma to move in with my host-mother. Grandma is still around, still shuffling around the house, hunched over a shade, weighing about 45 kgs, maybe 30kgs of that taken up with a big old grin and some super laughing eyes that don`t quit. In spite of the phone conversation of a few weeks ago, she maintained that she remembered me when she saw me again and formed a solid liking of Nic, which was nice.
Grandma shuffles. Everywhere. I remember on maybe my 3rd or 4th night in Japan as a wee 16 year old, sleeping in a room next door to an enooooormous Buddhist shrine, still sort of thinking what the hell I was actually doing there, I woke up at maybe 4:00 in the morning to Grandma bobbing in and out of my field of vision at the end of the bed, muttering to herself, wearing odd socks, digging around in a pile of detritus that had been shuffled aside for my arrival.
It scared me.
Upon seeing me awake, she muttered a cheery hello and went back to her digging. After some moments, when I managed to extricate my fingernails from the ceiling she made a successful "hahah!!" type sound and held up what seemed to be a bog-standard plastic bag from the local supermarket. It was empty, but apparently exactly what she was looking
for. She looked over at me, winked, held the bag high over her head and shuffled out of the room, muttering to herself. She went straight to the fridge and raided it, filling the bag with loot before disappearing off into the night, back to their apartment, ready to make Grandads breakfast when he woke at the crack of 10:00.
I liked her from that moment on.
On this trip back, she piped up at the table one night while we were supping ales and she was cackling into her fish porridge that she knew some English.....and then one of the weirdest things that has ever happened to me took place....
...this 93 year old Japanese great-Grandmother started belting out "God Save Our King". Word-for-word. Start to finish. When she stopped, her face broke into her trademark grin "I learnt that when I was six" she said, "Haven`t sung it since". That's, (Paul - Check-it) 87 years ago people.
Grandad was a regal old fella. You could tell by looking at him that he had some pretty lofty connections "...on the other side..." as it were. He smelt comfortingly of cigarettes and incense. He was a conscientious objector during the war. He told me that he had stated the war wasn`t right, there was no way Japan was going to win it and he didn`t agree with it. If you know anything of Japanese society during the Second World War, you know that conscientious objectors simply didn`t exist, or at least not for long. He was in prison with about 100 other men during the length of the war, and he saw them all shot. The officers in charge of the prison were a little wary of shooting a Buddhist priest of his standing and so just sort of overlooked him. Fascinating chap. He gave me a leather bound copy of Moby Dick when I was over here, saying that he had bought it to teach himself english. In the end he admitted that he read it with the aid of a dictionary. He told me he thought Great Expectations was better. He was cool.
When he passed on my host mother (Mama-san) became head of the sect and is now, after some consolidation, in charge of 80 Buddhist temples throughout the country. She was looking super well and cried when she saw me (aaaaaaaaaawwwwwww) (out of affection people). She complained that she has become a grandmother since I left, but she still manages to be a Buddhist minister and and Aerobics instructor every Saturday afternoon...
I`ll write more about the family soon, including some about the craaaazy Buddhist ceremony Nic and I were allowed to go and witness with them.
We`re off to Kyoto this weekend to bludge off Archs hospitality once again. Yippee!!!
Be well people.
Berin and Nic.
The Grandad, who was the head of a country-wide Buddhist sect with 100 or so Temples under him, died in 1996, causing Grandma to move in with my host-mother. Grandma is still around, still shuffling around the house, hunched over a shade, weighing about 45 kgs, maybe 30kgs of that taken up with a big old grin and some super laughing eyes that don`t quit. In spite of the phone conversation of a few weeks ago, she maintained that she remembered me when she saw me again and formed a solid liking of Nic, which was nice.
Grandma shuffles. Everywhere. I remember on maybe my 3rd or 4th night in Japan as a wee 16 year old, sleeping in a room next door to an enooooormous Buddhist shrine, still sort of thinking what the hell I was actually doing there, I woke up at maybe 4:00 in the morning to Grandma bobbing in and out of my field of vision at the end of the bed, muttering to herself, wearing odd socks, digging around in a pile of detritus that had been shuffled aside for my arrival.
It scared me.
Upon seeing me awake, she muttered a cheery hello and went back to her digging. After some moments, when I managed to extricate my fingernails from the ceiling she made a successful "hahah!!" type sound and held up what seemed to be a bog-standard plastic bag from the local supermarket. It was empty, but apparently exactly what she was looking
for. She looked over at me, winked, held the bag high over her head and shuffled out of the room, muttering to herself. She went straight to the fridge and raided it, filling the bag with loot before disappearing off into the night, back to their apartment, ready to make Grandads breakfast when he woke at the crack of 10:00.
I liked her from that moment on.
On this trip back, she piped up at the table one night while we were supping ales and she was cackling into her fish porridge that she knew some English.....and then one of the weirdest things that has ever happened to me took place....
...this 93 year old Japanese great-Grandmother started belting out "God Save Our King". Word-for-word. Start to finish. When she stopped, her face broke into her trademark grin "I learnt that when I was six" she said, "Haven`t sung it since". That's, (Paul - Check-it) 87 years ago people.
Grandad was a regal old fella. You could tell by looking at him that he had some pretty lofty connections "...on the other side..." as it were. He smelt comfortingly of cigarettes and incense. He was a conscientious objector during the war. He told me that he had stated the war wasn`t right, there was no way Japan was going to win it and he didn`t agree with it. If you know anything of Japanese society during the Second World War, you know that conscientious objectors simply didn`t exist, or at least not for long. He was in prison with about 100 other men during the length of the war, and he saw them all shot. The officers in charge of the prison were a little wary of shooting a Buddhist priest of his standing and so just sort of overlooked him. Fascinating chap. He gave me a leather bound copy of Moby Dick when I was over here, saying that he had bought it to teach himself english. In the end he admitted that he read it with the aid of a dictionary. He told me he thought Great Expectations was better. He was cool.
When he passed on my host mother (Mama-san) became head of the sect and is now, after some consolidation, in charge of 80 Buddhist temples throughout the country. She was looking super well and cried when she saw me (aaaaaaaaaawwwwwww) (out of affection people). She complained that she has become a grandmother since I left, but she still manages to be a Buddhist minister and and Aerobics instructor every Saturday afternoon...
I`ll write more about the family soon, including some about the craaaazy Buddhist ceremony Nic and I were allowed to go and witness with them.
We`re off to Kyoto this weekend to bludge off Archs hospitality once again. Yippee!!!
Be well people.
Berin and Nic.
Monday, May 10, 2004
Ooooh now that was fun
Hey folks,
Well, well, well.
After 11 years and one marriage I returned recently to Kurume, where I was an innocent exchange student for one year at the tender age of 16. With Nic in tow, we embarked on a bundle of new adventures that went a little something like this...
Trained on in to the Bullet Train station in Nagoya - about half an hour away and found our lov-er-ly seats, departing at about 9:30 on Saturday. Whisked along at unbeleeeeeeeiveable speeds we reached Kurume by way of Fukuoka at 2:30ish and were greeted by my erstwhile host brother and his brood, as well as that of his sister. So we piled in the car and set off for a whistlestop tour of my old home town.
Didn`t remember a thing.
The place is bonkers. Completely different from when I left it...and heres why...
Ever played Sim City?
Sim City is a strangely addictive computer game whereby you are the mayor of a city and have to guide its development from a fledgling village type affair to a sprawling metropolis, all the while keeping your economy, population satisfaction, pollution etc in check. Go get it. It`s good. Now in Sim City, if you want to replace, say, a bunch of houses with say, an airport, you demolish them --click-- and throw in an airport --click--. It`s as simple as that. Now expand that out to the real world and lo!! Kurume.
Over the past 10 years the city has been sectioning of portions of maybe 20 square blocks, turfing everyone out, no matter how much the howl, or how long their family has been there, and then demolishing the lot. They straighten the roads, fix the sewers, plant some trees and throw in some parks on the vast, vast, vast empty lots then they divide them up again according to what the individual families had, minus a percentage of land used for new, wider roads and the like, and invite the people back. BONKERS!! All the while - bearing in mind this takes 2-3 years to complete, the city is paying for these people to live elsewhere, and also pays compensation for any land lost in the developments. BONKERS!! Apparently a lot of people don`t move back. WOW I thought. No wonder everything looks so.......new. For and against arguements are blindingly obvious, particularly following the haphazard (re)construction of Japanese cities following the war. I just thought you`d find it interesting.
Morgan - I reckon you should get some Hou.singNZ folk over there for a look see. It`d make your job infinitely easier I reckon.
Right. More about the family later. Tara!
Well, well, well.
After 11 years and one marriage I returned recently to Kurume, where I was an innocent exchange student for one year at the tender age of 16. With Nic in tow, we embarked on a bundle of new adventures that went a little something like this...
Trained on in to the Bullet Train station in Nagoya - about half an hour away and found our lov-er-ly seats, departing at about 9:30 on Saturday. Whisked along at unbeleeeeeeeiveable speeds we reached Kurume by way of Fukuoka at 2:30ish and were greeted by my erstwhile host brother and his brood, as well as that of his sister. So we piled in the car and set off for a whistlestop tour of my old home town.
Didn`t remember a thing.
The place is bonkers. Completely different from when I left it...and heres why...
Ever played Sim City?
Sim City is a strangely addictive computer game whereby you are the mayor of a city and have to guide its development from a fledgling village type affair to a sprawling metropolis, all the while keeping your economy, population satisfaction, pollution etc in check. Go get it. It`s good. Now in Sim City, if you want to replace, say, a bunch of houses with say, an airport, you demolish them --click-- and throw in an airport --click--. It`s as simple as that. Now expand that out to the real world and lo!! Kurume.
Over the past 10 years the city has been sectioning of portions of maybe 20 square blocks, turfing everyone out, no matter how much the howl, or how long their family has been there, and then demolishing the lot. They straighten the roads, fix the sewers, plant some trees and throw in some parks on the vast, vast, vast empty lots then they divide them up again according to what the individual families had, minus a percentage of land used for new, wider roads and the like, and invite the people back. BONKERS!! All the while - bearing in mind this takes 2-3 years to complete, the city is paying for these people to live elsewhere, and also pays compensation for any land lost in the developments. BONKERS!! Apparently a lot of people don`t move back. WOW I thought. No wonder everything looks so.......new. For and against arguements are blindingly obvious, particularly following the haphazard (re)construction of Japanese cities following the war. I just thought you`d find it interesting.
Morgan - I reckon you should get some Hou.singNZ folk over there for a look see. It`d make your job infinitely easier I reckon.
Right. More about the family later. Tara!
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
Gidday.
How are we all?
Things here are well. Mooching happily along, a public holiday tomorrow, so there`s a chance right there for some concerted thank-you card organising. Crikey.
Elope.
We are now proud owners of NZD1000 tickets to Fukuoka on the Bullet Train. Wooohooo!!! Strutting along at 300-odd kph for a few hours this coming Saturday. The erstwhile host family has been notified, the outrageously expensive tickets purchased, and the oooooh-fun-times-a-big-old-adventure feeling has been kicked into at least 2nd gear. It sure is going to be swell fun. A little odd though. I have thought about what it would be like to get on back there and see folk for the past 11 years, I have even dreamed of it a few times - usually with the soundtrack from that Tegal ad running in the background - "...the old hometown looked the same....as I stepped out from the train..."
Mmmmm The Grand Poulet....
I spent a year there as an impressionable 16 year old living in just a swell family, Mum (46), her boyfriend (23), a brother a year older than I and a sister I didn`t know existed until she walked through the door after I had arrived. Dad had been thrown out by the Mum (a Buddhist Minister, Aerobics instructor and Barmaid) 6 months before I arrived and the day before I got there the dog ran away and hasn`t been seen since. It was a fairly a-typical Japanese experience in many ways. It was one that taught me an awful lot and it will be super to be able to get back there and natter with them again, while also introducing Nic to some people that played quite a large role in "me".
Fukuoka is a pretty city too. Should be nice to see the sea. I`ll let you know how it comes along.
Tata.
Things here are well. Mooching happily along, a public holiday tomorrow, so there`s a chance right there for some concerted thank-you card organising. Crikey.
Elope.
We are now proud owners of NZD1000 tickets to Fukuoka on the Bullet Train. Wooohooo!!! Strutting along at 300-odd kph for a few hours this coming Saturday. The erstwhile host family has been notified, the outrageously expensive tickets purchased, and the oooooh-fun-times-a-big-old-adventure feeling has been kicked into at least 2nd gear. It sure is going to be swell fun. A little odd though. I have thought about what it would be like to get on back there and see folk for the past 11 years, I have even dreamed of it a few times - usually with the soundtrack from that Tegal ad running in the background - "...the old hometown looked the same....as I stepped out from the train..."
Mmmmm The Grand Poulet....
I spent a year there as an impressionable 16 year old living in just a swell family, Mum (46), her boyfriend (23), a brother a year older than I and a sister I didn`t know existed until she walked through the door after I had arrived. Dad had been thrown out by the Mum (a Buddhist Minister, Aerobics instructor and Barmaid) 6 months before I arrived and the day before I got there the dog ran away and hasn`t been seen since. It was a fairly a-typical Japanese experience in many ways. It was one that taught me an awful lot and it will be super to be able to get back there and natter with them again, while also introducing Nic to some people that played quite a large role in "me".
Fukuoka is a pretty city too. Should be nice to see the sea. I`ll let you know how it comes along.
Tata.
Wednesday, April 21, 2004
Done and Done.
Yesterday, on my way home, I saw a guy walking his cat. On a leash. The cat looked veeeeeeeeery aaaaaaaangry. Things are back to normal here in Japan-Towne.
And what a busy time it was, what with the whole wedding shindig and all. Came off without a hitch don`t you know? Enormous amounts of thanks to those who came from far and wide to drink our beer and wine to excess and dance, dance, dance the night away. Your time in economy class and the taking of leave from hither and yon in order to join us has been noted and you will be mentioned in dispatches. Special mention goes to Mssrs Oliver Reeve and Flight Lef-tenant Jeremy Jones, who travelled from Old `Blighty, lover-ly to see you fellas again, Mr Jarrod Blaine Ward danced in from Kansas City, MO all the way over there in the USA; he even managed to enter the country without demanding a regime change, which I thought was nice. My big sis` Pru travelled seemingly for eternity from sunny Chile, Ma and Pa came in from New Hampshire, Kate Archbold took time out from slicing and dicing household pets in `Stralia to come on over and perform questionable acts with Kodak products (go get `em tiger). Suz the bridesmaid and Ashley also wandered over the ditch, as did Nics` cousin Kerry and sooper it was to see them, Tom, Kerryn and Arch, our NZ support crew here in the Japan also graced us with their presents (sic). Goodness Gracious. Just bunches of folk from all quarters came along and boy oh boy was it neat.
On a more sombre note, there were people that due to me screwing up alot failed to receive invites. I do apologise. Alot. You were missed.
On with the reflections.
Fast though. Fast. Fast.
"It`s your day" they say....Bollocks! My, My, My, and this has been confirmed scrupulously through (drunken) conversations with other married folk at the ceremony. The day goes by exceptionally fast. We estimate the entire day took about an hour and a half, give or take 8-10 seconds. Hellish-ly fun and very meaningful obviously, but crikey! Fast. Blurry.
My thanks go out to my "chaps" wedding party, a cast, seemingly, of thousands - Jon, Morgan, Arch, Paul and Darren, who, apart from Darren "Things To Do" Ede, whisked me away on the morning of the do to the Wellsford Golf Course, up there in the country side, for a nerve calming and nervous energy sapping round of golf replete with natters, catch-ups, good times and the odd fine putt. `Twas a joy.
Then, all of a bloody sudden there I was, with a screaming horde of nearest and dearest, waiting at some sort of alter for my Nic-O-La to make her grandiose entrance. Lo. What a gown! And the Bridesmaids! All of it whipped up by Nic, some here in Japan over the last 4-5 months and some the day before. Crikey.
Then it was into the ceremony - not the vows and such that we actually chose, it seems our little people are not as efficient as perhaps they could be - but still the sentiment was certainly there. And then it was done, off to Bastion Point for the photees (they look real perty), back for a nanoseconds mingling, in for the din-dins and speeches - special thanks to MC Paul Barron, as well as Morgan, Barry, Paw, Marg (thanks for the headlice story though, the more things change...), then it was more of the din-dins, up for the dancing and the shenanigans, here, there, around, then the lights started flashing and we were out.
Bloody Good Fun. Fast though. Fast.
Then it was off to Whangapoua for some good old fashioned sitting. My goodness. After all the shenanigans of organising, attending, catching up, confirming, re-confirming, meeting and all that palava (sp?) it certainly was grand to go there and sit. Juuuuuuuust sit. Oooooh the sitting. That was good. The sit. We had 5 days up there, then back to the Auckland for a few days then all of a sudden we were walking through the rice paddies to get home, a mere 23 hours after leaving Auckland, having taken 2 planes, 1 bus, 2 trains and finally saddling up Shanks` pony for the final burst.
Since then it has been many, many bursts of laughter of the fact that we are married and a slow return to some semblance of normalcy. Work has started again, the sun is shining, and life is good. We are off to Fukuoka on the Bullet Train in a couple of weeks to see my host family of 11 years ago. Looking forward to that immensely. I called them last night and the Grandma was the only one home. She asked who I was and I explained that 11 years ago I was the one who came and blah, blah, blah this was met by a wonderful bout of cackling and the explanation that she was 95 years old, couldn`t remember what happened last week so how could she possibly be expected to remember someone who came 11 years ago. It should be fun.
Our thanks to all involved in our super wedding day. You all helped make it one that, although particularly quick, will be remembered and talked about in hushed whispers for many moons to come.
Much love.
Berin and Nic (McKenzie)
And what a busy time it was, what with the whole wedding shindig and all. Came off without a hitch don`t you know? Enormous amounts of thanks to those who came from far and wide to drink our beer and wine to excess and dance, dance, dance the night away. Your time in economy class and the taking of leave from hither and yon in order to join us has been noted and you will be mentioned in dispatches. Special mention goes to Mssrs Oliver Reeve and Flight Lef-tenant Jeremy Jones, who travelled from Old `Blighty, lover-ly to see you fellas again, Mr Jarrod Blaine Ward danced in from Kansas City, MO all the way over there in the USA; he even managed to enter the country without demanding a regime change, which I thought was nice. My big sis` Pru travelled seemingly for eternity from sunny Chile, Ma and Pa came in from New Hampshire, Kate Archbold took time out from slicing and dicing household pets in `Stralia to come on over and perform questionable acts with Kodak products (go get `em tiger). Suz the bridesmaid and Ashley also wandered over the ditch, as did Nics` cousin Kerry and sooper it was to see them, Tom, Kerryn and Arch, our NZ support crew here in the Japan also graced us with their presents (sic). Goodness Gracious. Just bunches of folk from all quarters came along and boy oh boy was it neat.
On a more sombre note, there were people that due to me screwing up alot failed to receive invites. I do apologise. Alot. You were missed.
On with the reflections.
Fast though. Fast. Fast.
"It`s your day" they say....Bollocks! My, My, My, and this has been confirmed scrupulously through (drunken) conversations with other married folk at the ceremony. The day goes by exceptionally fast. We estimate the entire day took about an hour and a half, give or take 8-10 seconds. Hellish-ly fun and very meaningful obviously, but crikey! Fast. Blurry.
My thanks go out to my "chaps" wedding party, a cast, seemingly, of thousands - Jon, Morgan, Arch, Paul and Darren, who, apart from Darren "Things To Do" Ede, whisked me away on the morning of the do to the Wellsford Golf Course, up there in the country side, for a nerve calming and nervous energy sapping round of golf replete with natters, catch-ups, good times and the odd fine putt. `Twas a joy.
Then, all of a bloody sudden there I was, with a screaming horde of nearest and dearest, waiting at some sort of alter for my Nic-O-La to make her grandiose entrance. Lo. What a gown! And the Bridesmaids! All of it whipped up by Nic, some here in Japan over the last 4-5 months and some the day before. Crikey.
Then it was into the ceremony - not the vows and such that we actually chose, it seems our little people are not as efficient as perhaps they could be - but still the sentiment was certainly there. And then it was done, off to Bastion Point for the photees (they look real perty), back for a nanoseconds mingling, in for the din-dins and speeches - special thanks to MC Paul Barron, as well as Morgan, Barry, Paw, Marg (thanks for the headlice story though, the more things change...), then it was more of the din-dins, up for the dancing and the shenanigans, here, there, around, then the lights started flashing and we were out.
Bloody Good Fun. Fast though. Fast.
Then it was off to Whangapoua for some good old fashioned sitting. My goodness. After all the shenanigans of organising, attending, catching up, confirming, re-confirming, meeting and all that palava (sp?) it certainly was grand to go there and sit. Juuuuuuuust sit. Oooooh the sitting. That was good. The sit. We had 5 days up there, then back to the Auckland for a few days then all of a sudden we were walking through the rice paddies to get home, a mere 23 hours after leaving Auckland, having taken 2 planes, 1 bus, 2 trains and finally saddling up Shanks` pony for the final burst.
Since then it has been many, many bursts of laughter of the fact that we are married and a slow return to some semblance of normalcy. Work has started again, the sun is shining, and life is good. We are off to Fukuoka on the Bullet Train in a couple of weeks to see my host family of 11 years ago. Looking forward to that immensely. I called them last night and the Grandma was the only one home. She asked who I was and I explained that 11 years ago I was the one who came and blah, blah, blah this was met by a wonderful bout of cackling and the explanation that she was 95 years old, couldn`t remember what happened last week so how could she possibly be expected to remember someone who came 11 years ago. It should be fun.
Our thanks to all involved in our super wedding day. You all helped make it one that, although particularly quick, will be remembered and talked about in hushed whispers for many moons to come.
Much love.
Berin and Nic (McKenzie)
Monday, March 08, 2004
No really, not much at all....
Well, the last post proved prophetic, it is still starting off at about 0 degrees everyday, rising to about 6. More snow, and increasing feelings of "aaaaaaaaaah-hurry-up-and-get-warm-already".
We spent last weekend at Minokamo with Tom and Kerryn, Arch was up from Kyoto, so it was a super catch up with singularly too many Pina Coladas (to try and instill some sort of "sunny tropical carry-on vibe" - it worked.) and beer. Some long, spirited natters and some concerted ignoring of the falling snow made for a top, top weekend. Nic and I moseyed into Nagoya on the Saturday, searching for wedding shoes, while the Cosmic Wheels made some noise. I managed to find a pair of jandels - for soon it will be warm - but Nic returned home shoeless....the search continues.
And to be perfectly honest, since the last post, not much of note has happened.
I certainly hope you fellas are getting into some sort of adventures, have fun.
Lots of love,
Berin.
We spent last weekend at Minokamo with Tom and Kerryn, Arch was up from Kyoto, so it was a super catch up with singularly too many Pina Coladas (to try and instill some sort of "sunny tropical carry-on vibe" - it worked.) and beer. Some long, spirited natters and some concerted ignoring of the falling snow made for a top, top weekend. Nic and I moseyed into Nagoya on the Saturday, searching for wedding shoes, while the Cosmic Wheels made some noise. I managed to find a pair of jandels - for soon it will be warm - but Nic returned home shoeless....the search continues.
And to be perfectly honest, since the last post, not much of note has happened.
I certainly hope you fellas are getting into some sort of adventures, have fun.
Lots of love,
Berin.
Friday, February 20, 2004
Oh. And Shane....
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
Nic says that was pretty mean...I'm inclined to agree.
Still, hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
Nic says that was pretty mean...I'm inclined to agree.
Still, hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
Spring!!-ish
Thats right people.
False spring!!!! Hoorah!!
Oh, for sure next week it`ll be freezing again, but for the moment...the air smells sweet, the wind is warming, the sun shines through the petrochemical haze....and if I had a tail, man!! It`d be wriggling hither and thither like crazy.
Ooooh yeah.
So.
I had an interview in Auckland last week, thanks to Morgan and Jane Reeve (v.2.0) for their hospitality, beer and farm bacon, mmmmmm farm bacon. I really don`t know how it went, I wouldn`t hold your breath (unless your underwater), still, a good experience and nice to get home for a fleeting visit and finalise a little bit o` this, and a little bit o` that for this knees-up-hoolie-bash in April. Came back last Saturday, met at the airport by the ever smiling Tom and Nic, on their way back from Snowboarding, they swung 60 odd kms out of their way and picked me up from the airport. Which was nice.
Sunday saw us at Lord of the Rings. Golly. It`s very, very, very good. Although Frodos` big, blue, moist, trembling, filled with-hope/despair/love/hate/dust eyes got a bot too much airtime for my liking. Still. Crikey. Good. Some one should send a DVD copy of the trilogy to George Lucas et al to show them how to make a trilogy these days.
Good o. Off snowboarding tomorrow hopefully.
Have fun.
Berin.
False spring!!!! Hoorah!!
Oh, for sure next week it`ll be freezing again, but for the moment...the air smells sweet, the wind is warming, the sun shines through the petrochemical haze....and if I had a tail, man!! It`d be wriggling hither and thither like crazy.
Ooooh yeah.
So.
I had an interview in Auckland last week, thanks to Morgan and Jane Reeve (v.2.0) for their hospitality, beer and farm bacon, mmmmmm farm bacon. I really don`t know how it went, I wouldn`t hold your breath (unless your underwater), still, a good experience and nice to get home for a fleeting visit and finalise a little bit o` this, and a little bit o` that for this knees-up-hoolie-bash in April. Came back last Saturday, met at the airport by the ever smiling Tom and Nic, on their way back from Snowboarding, they swung 60 odd kms out of their way and picked me up from the airport. Which was nice.
Sunday saw us at Lord of the Rings. Golly. It`s very, very, very good. Although Frodos` big, blue, moist, trembling, filled with-hope/despair/love/hate/dust eyes got a bot too much airtime for my liking. Still. Crikey. Good. Some one should send a DVD copy of the trilogy to George Lucas et al to show them how to make a trilogy these days.
Good o. Off snowboarding tomorrow hopefully.
Have fun.
Berin.
Monday, January 26, 2004
Poor timing....
So there we were, ready to hit the skifield again this weekend after just a whole bunch of snow fell last week and what happens? I catch me a cold. Bugger it.
Still, thankful enough it isn`t Chicken Flu which people are terrified about over here at the moment. The menu has been getting shorter and shorter recently, with beef off the menu following BSE in the States, eggs getting a sideways look after some dude got arrested for selling tens of thousands of eggs that had been refrigerated for 6 months...eeeeewwww, and now chickens are sneezing and getting thrown in incinerators by the billion. It really is a good time to be a pig farmer...Mmmmm bacon.
So no snowboarding this weekend- Nic and Tom were all set to go on Saturday but the roads were closed because of heavy snowfall - which surely bodes well for this coming weekend.
Things are settling back in after coming back from our winter holidays in the NZ, January almost over eh? It`ll be April before you know it...
Over and Out.
Berin and Nic.
Still, thankful enough it isn`t Chicken Flu which people are terrified about over here at the moment. The menu has been getting shorter and shorter recently, with beef off the menu following BSE in the States, eggs getting a sideways look after some dude got arrested for selling tens of thousands of eggs that had been refrigerated for 6 months...eeeeewwww, and now chickens are sneezing and getting thrown in incinerators by the billion. It really is a good time to be a pig farmer...Mmmmm bacon.
So no snowboarding this weekend- Nic and Tom were all set to go on Saturday but the roads were closed because of heavy snowfall - which surely bodes well for this coming weekend.
Things are settling back in after coming back from our winter holidays in the NZ, January almost over eh? It`ll be April before you know it...
Over and Out.
Berin and Nic.
Monday, January 19, 2004
More of that holiday carry-on...
So after a thoroughly relaxing knees-up in Christchurch, it was back to Auckland for some more dashing about doing this and doing that for the April hoolie-bash. That out of the way (and not a moment too soon) it was off to Whangapoua for the some concerted sitting. and barbequeing. and drinking of the beer. and sitting. Ooooh willikers it was swell. Crap-o weather on the 29th going up there followed by a week of the bluest of the blue skies and sweet no wind weather. Ooooooh Crikey. There was beach cricket, daily swims, inordinate amounts of barbequed meats, Shane and Al plaited flax to make a net for beach volley-ball, strolls hither and yon, some reeeeeaaaallll relaaaaaaaxed sitting, barbequed meats, hand crafted loaves of bread (few fishes however) from the Paul, good times, good beer, good meats barbequed well, natters, sunburn, sand here and there, sand castles, digging tunnels in the sand, barbequing meats, swimming in the briny.....Boy oh boy. Good times did abound. And the nature!!! By Crikey, more of the nature than you could shake a stick at...Oft was the time I just stood there and looked around and ended up giggling like a schoolgirl at just how sweet the NZ is...
All too soon it was time to come on back to the Japan, a last BBQ extravaganza at Ari and Donnas` on the Sunday night topped it all off and then it was off to the airport at god-knows-what-time-but-it-really-was-too-early on the Monday.
Thats when we learned a lesson.
Excess baggage charges can add up veeeewy, veeewy quickwy....
NZD460 later we got on the plane and headed out. We negotiated trains, planes and RVR`s on our way back and settled into some particularly cold weather. Nice to be back though, and we trekked away snowboarding on the Wednesday, leaving the strange situation of having been sitting on the beach in the Coromandel sunshine on Sunday afternoon and snowboarding in the Japan Alps on Wednesday morning. It was a nice day, and felt good to be back on the board after almost a year off.
We went again last weekend with Tom and are planning shooting back up next weekend and many more after that also- wOopWooP. Snowboarding is nifty.
So that was our holiday in NZ. Thanks to all that took part, my favorite part was the pies. and the beer. Have some fun out there people.
Berin Age 28.
All too soon it was time to come on back to the Japan, a last BBQ extravaganza at Ari and Donnas` on the Sunday night topped it all off and then it was off to the airport at god-knows-what-time-but-it-really-was-too-early on the Monday.
Thats when we learned a lesson.
Excess baggage charges can add up veeeewy, veeewy quickwy....
NZD460 later we got on the plane and headed out. We negotiated trains, planes and RVR`s on our way back and settled into some particularly cold weather. Nice to be back though, and we trekked away snowboarding on the Wednesday, leaving the strange situation of having been sitting on the beach in the Coromandel sunshine on Sunday afternoon and snowboarding in the Japan Alps on Wednesday morning. It was a nice day, and felt good to be back on the board after almost a year off.
We went again last weekend with Tom and are planning shooting back up next weekend and many more after that also- wOopWooP. Snowboarding is nifty.
So that was our holiday in NZ. Thanks to all that took part, my favorite part was the pies. and the beer. Have some fun out there people.
Berin Age 28.
Friday, January 16, 2004
Dice...
So I bought a packet of 12 die right? I`m sick of them disappearing. They are all fine looking die....apart from one. It has two "2"`s and no "3". Who makes a dice with two "2"`s? Odd.
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
Wow. New Zealand totally rules...
Here we are, back again.
Writing a little late, seeing as we arrived home last Monday, but still, we have been exceptionally busy fitting ourselves back into our social schedules. Oh. That and sitting around doing very, very little....
So...How was your holiday??
Rad.
We arrived in the NZ on the 21st of December, Nic arriving a few hours ahead of me, as I flew through Singapore (mental note - throttle travel agent - three flights for NZ left while I was enduring my 5 hour stopover in Singapore Airport. Grrrr. Grrrrrrr.) Still, a nice enough airport to be trapped screaming for five hours. I took advantage of the showers (SNG$8.00), inadvertantly leaving my trusty cap there. Grrr Grrrr Grrrrr. That cap has seen me through and through for the last five years since Nic bought it for herself anf I promptly appropriated it. It will be sorely missed. Still, I have high hopes for my new cap, given to me by Darren "call me Darren" Ede by way of a Chrissy present after he heard of my capless plight. Thanks big fella.
Anywhoo, the Singapore Airport also had free massage chairs. Mmmmmmm. Free massage chairs. The recommended maximum time to spend in the chairs was 15 minutes, I threw capless caution to the wind and rode the lightning for a full 45 - talk about living dangerously. Some base-jumpers saw what I was doing and stood there agog, yeeep, live on the edge baby- otherwise your taking up too much space....
Anyway - NZ. Nic had commandered Dazza's car and come to the airport accompanied by Mr P. Barron, Mathlete. Breathing in the grassy smells of Auckland airport we wandered to the formerly humble abode of Jon Smith (not his real name). His house looked very nice indeed, including his x-rated shower, which I took advantage of before sitting on the back deck drinking the Summer Ales kindly provided by "Little" Shane (one of the Merry Men), and the Monteiths Brewing Company. Mmmmmmmmmm. Summer Ale. Beer with flavour.
Who should we also see there? Recent arrival from Japan, one Michael Knight, formerly of both Knight Industries and Access Technology. Lovely to see him unwind like a coiled serpent in the NZ sunshine.
The next two days were taken up by organisation of wedding hooha. Running hither and yon, stopping only for pies, L&P, Mandarin MiZone and pies. Things seemed to come together well and Nic and I are still sort of looking at each other waiting for someting to hit the fan as the organisation of this shindig has been quite, quite painless thus far.
Speaking of the hoolibash- invites are being sent out presently - better late than never people.
A fine catch up party back at the Browning Street followed, with an enormous bonfire and some top shelf barbeque action. The evening peaked with Paul "I Teach the Young" Barron toasting one and all with a Jon and Berin special; the processed cheese martini (one part gin, one part vodka, garnish with processed cheese).
Then it was off to Christchurch to see Nics folks and extended rowdy clan for Chrissy. Some bumpy jiggling coming over the hills followed by quite the thumpy landing saw us in the ChCh on the evening of the 23rd. A right nice place to relax down there. The sheep, the wiiiiiide open spaces and the canterbury weather/scenery combo took care of any lingering Japanese winter blues we may have been experiencing. Last minute Christmas shopping was accomplished fairly painlessly the following day and then, following an outrageously hot Thai dinner, it was a couple of drinks then off to bed-y bies and eyes shut tight waiting for the jolly man in the red sut to arrive. Yippee!!! Next morning, up at the crack of 10:30, some grand pressie opening, then the set-up for the arrival of some of the Ede clan. A good old K1W1 chrissy lunch followed, washed down with lashings of petanque on the lawn and seconds and thirds and the ubiquitous Summer Ale. The weather was grand, the food was excellent, the company jovial - it really was a top day. Marred only by the breaking of the nose of my polystyrene rubber-band-launched stealth fighter on its third test flight. that was soon doctered and it was promptly sent off into the trees to be lost. A grand Xmas all round. More later.
Hope all are well, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Writing a little late, seeing as we arrived home last Monday, but still, we have been exceptionally busy fitting ourselves back into our social schedules. Oh. That and sitting around doing very, very little....
So...How was your holiday??
Rad.
We arrived in the NZ on the 21st of December, Nic arriving a few hours ahead of me, as I flew through Singapore (mental note - throttle travel agent - three flights for NZ left while I was enduring my 5 hour stopover in Singapore Airport. Grrrr. Grrrrrrr.) Still, a nice enough airport to be trapped screaming for five hours. I took advantage of the showers (SNG$8.00), inadvertantly leaving my trusty cap there. Grrr Grrrr Grrrrr. That cap has seen me through and through for the last five years since Nic bought it for herself anf I promptly appropriated it. It will be sorely missed. Still, I have high hopes for my new cap, given to me by Darren "call me Darren" Ede by way of a Chrissy present after he heard of my capless plight. Thanks big fella.
Anywhoo, the Singapore Airport also had free massage chairs. Mmmmmmm. Free massage chairs. The recommended maximum time to spend in the chairs was 15 minutes, I threw capless caution to the wind and rode the lightning for a full 45 - talk about living dangerously. Some base-jumpers saw what I was doing and stood there agog, yeeep, live on the edge baby- otherwise your taking up too much space....
Anyway - NZ. Nic had commandered Dazza's car and come to the airport accompanied by Mr P. Barron, Mathlete. Breathing in the grassy smells of Auckland airport we wandered to the formerly humble abode of Jon Smith (not his real name). His house looked very nice indeed, including his x-rated shower, which I took advantage of before sitting on the back deck drinking the Summer Ales kindly provided by "Little" Shane (one of the Merry Men), and the Monteiths Brewing Company. Mmmmmmmmmm. Summer Ale. Beer with flavour.
Who should we also see there? Recent arrival from Japan, one Michael Knight, formerly of both Knight Industries and Access Technology. Lovely to see him unwind like a coiled serpent in the NZ sunshine.
The next two days were taken up by organisation of wedding hooha. Running hither and yon, stopping only for pies, L&P, Mandarin MiZone and pies. Things seemed to come together well and Nic and I are still sort of looking at each other waiting for someting to hit the fan as the organisation of this shindig has been quite, quite painless thus far.
Speaking of the hoolibash- invites are being sent out presently - better late than never people.
A fine catch up party back at the Browning Street followed, with an enormous bonfire and some top shelf barbeque action. The evening peaked with Paul "I Teach the Young" Barron toasting one and all with a Jon and Berin special; the processed cheese martini (one part gin, one part vodka, garnish with processed cheese).
Then it was off to Christchurch to see Nics folks and extended rowdy clan for Chrissy. Some bumpy jiggling coming over the hills followed by quite the thumpy landing saw us in the ChCh on the evening of the 23rd. A right nice place to relax down there. The sheep, the wiiiiiide open spaces and the canterbury weather/scenery combo took care of any lingering Japanese winter blues we may have been experiencing. Last minute Christmas shopping was accomplished fairly painlessly the following day and then, following an outrageously hot Thai dinner, it was a couple of drinks then off to bed-y bies and eyes shut tight waiting for the jolly man in the red sut to arrive. Yippee!!! Next morning, up at the crack of 10:30, some grand pressie opening, then the set-up for the arrival of some of the Ede clan. A good old K1W1 chrissy lunch followed, washed down with lashings of petanque on the lawn and seconds and thirds and the ubiquitous Summer Ale. The weather was grand, the food was excellent, the company jovial - it really was a top day. Marred only by the breaking of the nose of my polystyrene rubber-band-launched stealth fighter on its third test flight. that was soon doctered and it was promptly sent off into the trees to be lost. A grand Xmas all round. More later.
Hope all are well, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Friday, December 19, 2003
It`s Christmas! Hell Yeah!
And even more exciting, we are off home for a week or two of sitting in the sunny-sunshine and eating-the-pies.
As a result the already sporadic updates will be slowing to a mind-numbing crawl. Still, it`ll give you something to do. Get outside and kick a ball around for gods sake.
Adios Muchachos, and to all a goodnight!
b
As a result the already sporadic updates will be slowing to a mind-numbing crawl. Still, it`ll give you something to do. Get outside and kick a ball around for gods sake.
Adios Muchachos, and to all a goodnight!
b
Wednesday, December 10, 2003
Testing times....
Well, they were. Sunday saw us up bright and early for the hour and a half drive into Nagoya to sit the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. Arch had strolled up for the weekend to come along, and with Nic sitting Level 4, Arch sitting Level 3 and me sitting Level 2, all we needed was a Japanese national to take Level 1 - for that is about what you need to be.
It was pretty tough.
Moving along.
First snow on the hills around town on Monday...Brrrrr. Local legend has it that when snow falls 3 times in a row on the hills, the fourth time will bring snow to ground level. Yaaaay snowboarding. Boooo riding to work. Still, we have but 11 days until we wing our way to NZ, so less of the complaining, more of the dreaming of free, easy and unabashed access to pies. Mmmmmmmm pies.
Tom and Kerryn are coming through on the weekend for an Xmas roast - looking forward to it immensely.
Hope all is well.
Have some fun out there.
Lots of Love - B and N.
It was pretty tough.
Moving along.
First snow on the hills around town on Monday...Brrrrr. Local legend has it that when snow falls 3 times in a row on the hills, the fourth time will bring snow to ground level. Yaaaay snowboarding. Boooo riding to work. Still, we have but 11 days until we wing our way to NZ, so less of the complaining, more of the dreaming of free, easy and unabashed access to pies. Mmmmmmmm pies.
Tom and Kerryn are coming through on the weekend for an Xmas roast - looking forward to it immensely.
Hope all is well.
Have some fun out there.
Lots of Love - B and N.
Wednesday, December 03, 2003
Right...where was I?? Oh yes...agog...
So there I sat, all agog like, while the (5 year old) kids processed this rather sad piece of news, I think the guy in the suit felt pretty bad for emotionally scarring these kids for life, so he made another hanky disappear and left the stage.
CAVEAT- THE FOLLOWING IS A TRUE STORY, WHICH DOESN`T STOP IT FROM BEING SOMEWHAT DISTURBING, I JUST WANTED TO SHOW SOME OF THE STRANGER STUFF THAT CAN HAPPEN OVER HERE....
And on come two old women. Complete with blue overalls and caps with "Godo Fire Ladies" embroidered on the top. They didn`t really look like the firefighting types, what being about 80 and all, so I figured they bought oranges on at half time during the fighting of the fires. Aaaaanywho, all the while I am still sitting agog. Then the strangest story of all time was read out by these two little old ladies to the (5 year old) kids gathered around......
The story is presented on large sheets of cardboard, hand-drawn slides if you will, that are presented along with an audio commentary, which went a little something like this...
"How Jonny (actually it was Shintaro, but I`ve translated it) became a star....."
Slide One - Happy Family gathered around being happy - "Gosh we`re a happy family, lalalalala"
Slide Two - Happy Mum and Dad - "Gosh we`re happy, what with our happy, healthy family"
Slide Three - Happy Kids (3x boys 4, 5, 7) - "What fun!! Lets play with our toys and be happy!!"
Slide Four - Mum leaving with youngest child to take him to daycare centre, Youngest child says "Even though it`s cold outside, we got told by the fireman who came to talk to us that you should turn the kerosene stove off when there are no adults around" Mother replies (ominously) "Oh, It will be alright little one, we are just going around the corner......"
Slide Five - Remaining 2 kids having a ball, running, jumping, playing, AROUND THE STOVE (dah, dah, dah)
Slide Six - Perhaps unsurprisingly one of the kiddies knocks over the stove, what, with Japanese houses being very strong on the paper and the wood, the thing goes up like a tinder box.
Slide Seven - One kid trying to get outside with his clothes on fire, "Mummy, Mummy, help me!!" other child, again, ominously, nowhere to be seen (5 years old people).
Slide Eight - Child being rescued by a passing stranger, hands, back, legs and face graphically and hidously burned "Mummy, Mummy it hurts" - the woman actually said this.
Slide Nine - Firemen arrive and douse flames, shown retreiving blackened body of other child, he is heard whimpering "Mummy where were you?" before being bundled into an ambulance.
Slide Nine - Child is in a hospital bed, wrapped head to toe in bandages, like the one in the Metallica `One` video, his face is covered in bandages too. Mother is shown slumped on the hospital bed crying, Father is pointing accusingly at her, Smallest child is heard to say "I told you we should have turned the heater off..."
Slide Ten - Jonny (the bandaged one) is seen surrounded by light, a voice asks him if he is ready to go..."Go where?", he asks, "Away", the voice replies. Jonny, a little confused, says, "I can`t go anywhere, I have to go to kindergarten and play with my friends..."
GET THIS
"No", says the voice TO A BUNCH OF FIVE YEAR OLDS, "you played near the stove so you can NEVER SEE YOUR FRIENDS AGAIN..." "But I want to play with them" Jonny replies "YOU CAN NEVER PLAY AGAIN, EVER" the voice replies. Jonny, getting a little concerned, says "I want my Mummy", the voice replies "You can never see your Mummy again- you played near the stove".
At this point even I am terrified and want to run out the door and call MY Mum and say I`ll never play near the stove again, ever. The kids are understandably a little stunned, but it continues...
Slide Eleven - Mother holding Jonnys hand as he slips into the netherworld and with his last breath manages to say "Mummy, it hurts, why weren`t you there, why didn`t you help me...."
Slide Twelve - Jonny goes up into space and becomes a star, and if you listen carefully you can sometimes hear him say "I miss my Mummy, I want to play with my friends". But of course he can`t, because he played near the stove....
Beleive me, no amount of card tricks could get these kids animated again, the fire guys bailed, as did I. It was a very, very, very strange day.
CAVEAT- THE FOLLOWING IS A TRUE STORY, WHICH DOESN`T STOP IT FROM BEING SOMEWHAT DISTURBING, I JUST WANTED TO SHOW SOME OF THE STRANGER STUFF THAT CAN HAPPEN OVER HERE....
And on come two old women. Complete with blue overalls and caps with "Godo Fire Ladies" embroidered on the top. They didn`t really look like the firefighting types, what being about 80 and all, so I figured they bought oranges on at half time during the fighting of the fires. Aaaaanywho, all the while I am still sitting agog. Then the strangest story of all time was read out by these two little old ladies to the (5 year old) kids gathered around......
The story is presented on large sheets of cardboard, hand-drawn slides if you will, that are presented along with an audio commentary, which went a little something like this...
"How Jonny (actually it was Shintaro, but I`ve translated it) became a star....."
Slide One - Happy Family gathered around being happy - "Gosh we`re a happy family, lalalalala"
Slide Two - Happy Mum and Dad - "Gosh we`re happy, what with our happy, healthy family"
Slide Three - Happy Kids (3x boys 4, 5, 7) - "What fun!! Lets play with our toys and be happy!!"
Slide Four - Mum leaving with youngest child to take him to daycare centre, Youngest child says "Even though it`s cold outside, we got told by the fireman who came to talk to us that you should turn the kerosene stove off when there are no adults around" Mother replies (ominously) "Oh, It will be alright little one, we are just going around the corner......"
Slide Five - Remaining 2 kids having a ball, running, jumping, playing, AROUND THE STOVE (dah, dah, dah)
Slide Six - Perhaps unsurprisingly one of the kiddies knocks over the stove, what, with Japanese houses being very strong on the paper and the wood, the thing goes up like a tinder box.
Slide Seven - One kid trying to get outside with his clothes on fire, "Mummy, Mummy, help me!!" other child, again, ominously, nowhere to be seen (5 years old people).
Slide Eight - Child being rescued by a passing stranger, hands, back, legs and face graphically and hidously burned "Mummy, Mummy it hurts" - the woman actually said this.
Slide Nine - Firemen arrive and douse flames, shown retreiving blackened body of other child, he is heard whimpering "Mummy where were you?" before being bundled into an ambulance.
Slide Nine - Child is in a hospital bed, wrapped head to toe in bandages, like the one in the Metallica `One` video, his face is covered in bandages too. Mother is shown slumped on the hospital bed crying, Father is pointing accusingly at her, Smallest child is heard to say "I told you we should have turned the heater off..."
Slide Ten - Jonny (the bandaged one) is seen surrounded by light, a voice asks him if he is ready to go..."Go where?", he asks, "Away", the voice replies. Jonny, a little confused, says, "I can`t go anywhere, I have to go to kindergarten and play with my friends..."
GET THIS
"No", says the voice TO A BUNCH OF FIVE YEAR OLDS, "you played near the stove so you can NEVER SEE YOUR FRIENDS AGAIN..." "But I want to play with them" Jonny replies "YOU CAN NEVER PLAY AGAIN, EVER" the voice replies. Jonny, getting a little concerned, says "I want my Mummy", the voice replies "You can never see your Mummy again- you played near the stove".
At this point even I am terrified and want to run out the door and call MY Mum and say I`ll never play near the stove again, ever. The kids are understandably a little stunned, but it continues...
Slide Eleven - Mother holding Jonnys hand as he slips into the netherworld and with his last breath manages to say "Mummy, it hurts, why weren`t you there, why didn`t you help me...."
Slide Twelve - Jonny goes up into space and becomes a star, and if you listen carefully you can sometimes hear him say "I miss my Mummy, I want to play with my friends". But of course he can`t, because he played near the stove....
Beleive me, no amount of card tricks could get these kids animated again, the fire guys bailed, as did I. It was a very, very, very strange day.
Friday, November 28, 2003
Yeah gidday...I remember you guys....
Yep. Been a while.
Twas nice a week or two back to see Mike come on down and visit. The occasion was a Cosmic Wheels gig with some smashing new tunes (hits?) being tossed hither and yon in what this, the sole surviving member of the 100% club who doesn`t see Tom naked on a regular basis thought was one of their most accomplished, thorough and rich sounding gigs of their career.
Was especially nice to finally gain public acknowledgement of my role as manager of the band (in a very `hands off` manner mind), it will be even better when I get my hands of my 70% of any and all filthy lucre that accrues. That was the same day the Foxton High School 3rd 15 took on the Aussies and lost in some sort of competition in Australia. I forget which.
Last weekend saw a party in quite literally the middle of nowhere with representatives from many far-flung corners of this fair earth- including some particularly excited English chaps and some particularly heavy drinking Australian folk. My, I did shake the hands of those from old blighty and reminded them of my fondness for the mother country. They all agreed wholeheartedly that it was indeed about bloody time they won something, and good on them too. Twas a lovely night that disappeared into the morning time with a lot of standing outside and nattering and watching of the sun coming up and blearily wandering to bed as others arose and started (noisily I might add) making pancakes. Lovely day on the Sunday though, so plenty of sitting around in the garden and watching the day go by. Ooodles of fun. And what knocks a hangover on the head like a steaming pile of meat from the local Brazilian BBQ joint??? Not much. A truly grand cap to a roight noice noight.
Cold though. Well into the single digits now- 3 weeks tomorrow till we step off the plane in Sunny old NZ however, so we can deal with it with smiles firmly on faces.
BIG HAPPY BOITHDAYS TO MY BIGGEST SISTER PRU- TURNING **YEARS OLD JUST RIGHT THERE AT THE END OF NOVEMBER. CUMPLEANOS FELIZ (sp?) AND ALL THAT HOOHAA.
We had the fire brigade come to one of the Kindergartens I teach at the other day. Wow, was that weird. First off they set of an enormous smoke bomb inside the building and made the 5 yr old kids run through it to try and find their way out. Well trained though- when the fire was announced over the PA system, to a one they dropped to the ground, took their wee hankies out of their wee pockets, and bailed out. Then they made them walk through a tent filled with choking smoke (5yrs old people)....but that wasn`t the best part- hell no..... So we stroll upstairs and theres this old chap wearing a Fire Service dress uniform, he has a little chat to the kids, then puts on a manga video about a robot-firefighter that comes back from the future to chase a robot-pyromaniac from the future who is threatening to burn! burn! burn! modern day Tokyo. So that was pretty weird.
But not as weird as the guy in the dress uniform finishing up the tape, pulling a red hanky out of his pocket and making it disappear!!!! Thats right folks, teaching fire safety through MAGIC TRICKS!!! So we sat there for about an hour while this guy did card tricks, rope tricks, wand tricks, disappearing tricks, more and more and still more hanky tricks, he made flowers appear from places flowers shouldn`t be in the first place. The killer was when he made all the kids scream real loud to wake up his "little friend" in this case a stuffed badger. The idea was that they had to scream as loud as they would yell `fire` if they discovered one. So the kids were going ape screaming out this things name and he was making it jump around and stuff, and they kept getting louder and louder and he told them that that was perhaps enough and they had done a good job and well done and no really you should probably be quiet now and so on- but the kids- well they just kept a`screaming - that is until he stopped his badger moving and told the kids that they had yelled so loud that they had killed his "little friend" and now he wouldn`t be playing with them any more (5yrs old people).
I sat agog.
But it got worse....but this is the longest blog in the world so I`ll continue the story at a later date. Tune in- it`s a cracker.
b
Twas nice a week or two back to see Mike come on down and visit. The occasion was a Cosmic Wheels gig with some smashing new tunes (hits?) being tossed hither and yon in what this, the sole surviving member of the 100% club who doesn`t see Tom naked on a regular basis thought was one of their most accomplished, thorough and rich sounding gigs of their career.
Was especially nice to finally gain public acknowledgement of my role as manager of the band (in a very `hands off` manner mind), it will be even better when I get my hands of my 70% of any and all filthy lucre that accrues. That was the same day the Foxton High School 3rd 15 took on the Aussies and lost in some sort of competition in Australia. I forget which.
Last weekend saw a party in quite literally the middle of nowhere with representatives from many far-flung corners of this fair earth- including some particularly excited English chaps and some particularly heavy drinking Australian folk. My, I did shake the hands of those from old blighty and reminded them of my fondness for the mother country. They all agreed wholeheartedly that it was indeed about bloody time they won something, and good on them too. Twas a lovely night that disappeared into the morning time with a lot of standing outside and nattering and watching of the sun coming up and blearily wandering to bed as others arose and started (noisily I might add) making pancakes. Lovely day on the Sunday though, so plenty of sitting around in the garden and watching the day go by. Ooodles of fun. And what knocks a hangover on the head like a steaming pile of meat from the local Brazilian BBQ joint??? Not much. A truly grand cap to a roight noice noight.
Cold though. Well into the single digits now- 3 weeks tomorrow till we step off the plane in Sunny old NZ however, so we can deal with it with smiles firmly on faces.
BIG HAPPY BOITHDAYS TO MY BIGGEST SISTER PRU- TURNING **YEARS OLD JUST RIGHT THERE AT THE END OF NOVEMBER. CUMPLEANOS FELIZ (sp?) AND ALL THAT HOOHAA.
We had the fire brigade come to one of the Kindergartens I teach at the other day. Wow, was that weird. First off they set of an enormous smoke bomb inside the building and made the 5 yr old kids run through it to try and find their way out. Well trained though- when the fire was announced over the PA system, to a one they dropped to the ground, took their wee hankies out of their wee pockets, and bailed out. Then they made them walk through a tent filled with choking smoke (5yrs old people)....but that wasn`t the best part- hell no..... So we stroll upstairs and theres this old chap wearing a Fire Service dress uniform, he has a little chat to the kids, then puts on a manga video about a robot-firefighter that comes back from the future to chase a robot-pyromaniac from the future who is threatening to burn! burn! burn! modern day Tokyo. So that was pretty weird.
But not as weird as the guy in the dress uniform finishing up the tape, pulling a red hanky out of his pocket and making it disappear!!!! Thats right folks, teaching fire safety through MAGIC TRICKS!!! So we sat there for about an hour while this guy did card tricks, rope tricks, wand tricks, disappearing tricks, more and more and still more hanky tricks, he made flowers appear from places flowers shouldn`t be in the first place. The killer was when he made all the kids scream real loud to wake up his "little friend" in this case a stuffed badger. The idea was that they had to scream as loud as they would yell `fire` if they discovered one. So the kids were going ape screaming out this things name and he was making it jump around and stuff, and they kept getting louder and louder and he told them that that was perhaps enough and they had done a good job and well done and no really you should probably be quiet now and so on- but the kids- well they just kept a`screaming - that is until he stopped his badger moving and told the kids that they had yelled so loud that they had killed his "little friend" and now he wouldn`t be playing with them any more (5yrs old people).
I sat agog.
But it got worse....but this is the longest blog in the world so I`ll continue the story at a later date. Tune in- it`s a cracker.
b
Wednesday, November 12, 2003
Hello...
....to everyone. I went to a Toyota factory last week. And right excited I was about it too, whacking great MACHINES I thought, ROBOTS, I thought, WOW!!!
It was pretty cool. We strolled above the factory floor of one of the 9 Toyota factories in the region (Aichi-Prefecture, the one wot has Nagoya in it is home to all of the Toyota factories in Japan.) This one in particular made smaller cars, in particular the Corolla, and the `Vitz`, (a snazzy little mid-sized number that has its own racing leagues over here, like Mini-7`s, but not as cool. Those of you familiar with Gran Turismo 3 on the PS2 will know the Vitz as an underpowered lump, curiously with its own championship in the Professional League). Anywhoo, above the factory floor we walked, we didn`t get to see all the super cool stuff like the stamping presses and the welding robots and the painting pool -dash it all- but we did get to see a fairly well oiled production process make some fairly well oiled machines and some, presumably, fairly OOS riddled line workers.
We started with the cars in their basic shape being guided around, over and below us on the nifty rack system- the fun thing is the car is bought in after being painted, the doors are mounted and straightened and checked out, then taken off. The doors then float around the factory on another conveyer system, presumably passing the time of day, than when the cars are finished having their sound-proofing, fuel tanks, dashes, seats, engines, running gear, pretty much everything elses installed, the doors appear out of nowhere, in order, the right colour and exactly on time for them to be slotted in and off it rolls. That was pretty nifty.
The chaps assembling the engines looked a little bored. There was one fellow whose job it was to attach 5 bolts to each engine as it rolled past on a conveyor, he was on a conveyer too, then would walk back to meet the next engine, for another 5 bolts, then he would walk back to the next engine.........
It was a very interesting time indeed. Walking out there was a commemorative wall made in 1989 for the 20 millionth vehicle to comke out of the factory....thats a lot of Corollas out there.
The town the Toyota factory was in was called....Toyota Town. And woe betide any poor chump fool enough to NOT drive a Toyota in the town limits. According to the chaps at the factory if you don`t drive a Toyota you don`t get a parking space- making it a little difficult to get to work on time....which doesn`t show you off in a good light come worker review time.....and well, you know, if your not a team player and your can`t support the company....and what with all those unemployed people out there, many of whom presumably drive Toyotas....if you get what I mean....
Following the factory we were bundled off to the Toyota Stadium, 60,000 seat home of the 3rd Division Nagoya Whatsadoodles. It`s like Buller having a stadium that size. We took our seats during the stadium tour and our attention was drawn to the cables under them....they were heated seats...60,000 of them...in a 3rd division stadium...and, oh, don`t worry about the rain, because this 60,000 (heated) seat 3rd division stadium has....thats right, a retractable roof (rampant overfunded construction industry anyone??). It was pretty cool. Now if they could just spend some of their money on buying good players.....
Cold now. Leaves a stunning array of colours...right nice....
Looking forward to the Cosmic Wheels gig this weekend in the Minokamo.
Have fun all,
lots of love,
Berin
It was pretty cool. We strolled above the factory floor of one of the 9 Toyota factories in the region (Aichi-Prefecture, the one wot has Nagoya in it is home to all of the Toyota factories in Japan.) This one in particular made smaller cars, in particular the Corolla, and the `Vitz`, (a snazzy little mid-sized number that has its own racing leagues over here, like Mini-7`s, but not as cool. Those of you familiar with Gran Turismo 3 on the PS2 will know the Vitz as an underpowered lump, curiously with its own championship in the Professional League). Anywhoo, above the factory floor we walked, we didn`t get to see all the super cool stuff like the stamping presses and the welding robots and the painting pool -dash it all- but we did get to see a fairly well oiled production process make some fairly well oiled machines and some, presumably, fairly OOS riddled line workers.
We started with the cars in their basic shape being guided around, over and below us on the nifty rack system- the fun thing is the car is bought in after being painted, the doors are mounted and straightened and checked out, then taken off. The doors then float around the factory on another conveyer system, presumably passing the time of day, than when the cars are finished having their sound-proofing, fuel tanks, dashes, seats, engines, running gear, pretty much everything elses installed, the doors appear out of nowhere, in order, the right colour and exactly on time for them to be slotted in and off it rolls. That was pretty nifty.
The chaps assembling the engines looked a little bored. There was one fellow whose job it was to attach 5 bolts to each engine as it rolled past on a conveyor, he was on a conveyer too, then would walk back to meet the next engine, for another 5 bolts, then he would walk back to the next engine.........
It was a very interesting time indeed. Walking out there was a commemorative wall made in 1989 for the 20 millionth vehicle to comke out of the factory....thats a lot of Corollas out there.
The town the Toyota factory was in was called....Toyota Town. And woe betide any poor chump fool enough to NOT drive a Toyota in the town limits. According to the chaps at the factory if you don`t drive a Toyota you don`t get a parking space- making it a little difficult to get to work on time....which doesn`t show you off in a good light come worker review time.....and well, you know, if your not a team player and your can`t support the company....and what with all those unemployed people out there, many of whom presumably drive Toyotas....if you get what I mean....
Following the factory we were bundled off to the Toyota Stadium, 60,000 seat home of the 3rd Division Nagoya Whatsadoodles. It`s like Buller having a stadium that size. We took our seats during the stadium tour and our attention was drawn to the cables under them....they were heated seats...60,000 of them...in a 3rd division stadium...and, oh, don`t worry about the rain, because this 60,000 (heated) seat 3rd division stadium has....thats right, a retractable roof (rampant overfunded construction industry anyone??). It was pretty cool. Now if they could just spend some of their money on buying good players.....
Cold now. Leaves a stunning array of colours...right nice....
Looking forward to the Cosmic Wheels gig this weekend in the Minokamo.
Have fun all,
lots of love,
Berin
Tuesday, November 04, 2003
Struttin`...
For thats what we were doing. All over the three day weekend like a rash. Thanks to `Culture Day` being observed yesterday we decided to take advantage of it all and head down to Kyoto and indeed absorb some culture. Friday saw us in an almost record breaking trip down to Archs place and out for tasty, tasty Indian din-dins. Arch has struck up somewhat of a rapport with the Indian chap who owns the place and on a frighteningly regular basis receives gifts of Indian "Old Calcutta Fire" Rum....which burns the throat AND the eyes and removes tar from clothing and animal fur in no time flat.
Alas, he was not present on Friday, tending his new restaurant down the line somewhere, so, no free stuff aside, it was still rather good. Off home for some natters and beer and then a relatively early nap time for Saturday was reserved for.....
Uji.
Uji is a place about 35 minutes out of Kyoto by expressway which, as far as Japanese history and culture and the like goes, is just plain right up there. For those of you familier with the Japanese currency system, the temple at Uji (Byodo-In) is the one on the back of the 10 yen coin. And right nice it is too.
One of the really fun things that one can do in Japan is stroll along to a building like this one, all wooden, not a nail used in the whole damn thing and read signs that start of something like this "When this temple was built in 983 it was blah, blah, blah, blah".
Your eyes scan in vain for a fourth number on the date, but all to often to no avail. Then, you look over again at the temple, and see the roof, the walls, the steps, the huuuuuge Budda guy inside that have been standing, in the same spot, unchanged, for a 1000 years. And then you whig out. It`s quite, quite neat.
In addition to that, the gardens and surrounds of the temple have been suggested and studied as probable sites of scenes from the worlds first novel, The Tale of Genji...more about that later.
Must dash.
Toodle pip.
b
Alas, he was not present on Friday, tending his new restaurant down the line somewhere, so, no free stuff aside, it was still rather good. Off home for some natters and beer and then a relatively early nap time for Saturday was reserved for.....
Uji.
Uji is a place about 35 minutes out of Kyoto by expressway which, as far as Japanese history and culture and the like goes, is just plain right up there. For those of you familier with the Japanese currency system, the temple at Uji (Byodo-In) is the one on the back of the 10 yen coin. And right nice it is too.
One of the really fun things that one can do in Japan is stroll along to a building like this one, all wooden, not a nail used in the whole damn thing and read signs that start of something like this "When this temple was built in 983 it was blah, blah, blah, blah".
Your eyes scan in vain for a fourth number on the date, but all to often to no avail. Then, you look over again at the temple, and see the roof, the walls, the steps, the huuuuuge Budda guy inside that have been standing, in the same spot, unchanged, for a 1000 years. And then you whig out. It`s quite, quite neat.
In addition to that, the gardens and surrounds of the temple have been suggested and studied as probable sites of scenes from the worlds first novel, The Tale of Genji...more about that later.
Must dash.
Toodle pip.
b
Monday, October 27, 2003
Hey...
So hello there,
I trust respective weekends were pretty fun around the place. Before I get onto another description of a desperately lazy weekend, some observations...
The Japanese banking system is crazed.
"No surprise there!!" Say those eyeing the Japanese banks and their trillions of yen in bad loans which, despite a good 12 years of looking the other way (and occasionally whistling, checking their watch, tapping their feet etc) by the banking corporations don`t seem to have fixed themselves- disappointing that.
No, but as old Vincent Vega once so memorably put it...its the little things.
I have a bankcard. To get money out of my account. From a machine. Just last week there was an ad on TV from one of the larger banks around (not mine) giving themselves a huge pat on the back for introducing a service whereby their ATM`s are open 24 HOURS A DAY!!!!! WOW!!!! THE FUTURE!!!! HERE!!!TODAY!!!
Thats right. The ATMs over here close. Because even computer systems get crabby when they work overtime. Generally they close at about 9:00 at night and open again at a leisurely 8:00 or so in the morning, all refreshed and ready to face another day....as a computer. Even if you want money out of the machines, when they are open but outside of banking hours, there is an extra charge....nothing like a distinct lack of viable competition to really make these guys try hard...
In our wee village there is a choice of three banks. The largest is the 16 Bank - so called because we live in the 16th prefecture and it is a prefectural bank. The next largest is a bank that operates out of the 2nd biggest town in the prefecture - thats where it gets all its money from. And the third is a cooperative of the Japanese Agricultural sector - the less said about that, the better. There is no available access to a large, nation-wide bank around here. I could certainly have an account at one- but there are no ATMs or branches for larger banks anywhere outside the main centres. It is very odd. We are going to Kyoto next weekend. We will have to guesstimate how much money we will spend on the weekend and get that out before we go. Our (prefectural) bank doesn`t have outlets in Kyoto, which is 2 hours away.
Now I know I`m probably sounding a little disilliusioned, angry perhaps, but this isn`t the case. I simply find it very interesting to daily see examples of the contradiction of Japan being the largest high-tech exporting country in the world while still floundering around in a domestic sense.Having said that, it`s an increasingly exciting time to be in Japan at the moment, people are starting to scratch their heads and ask some questions, I look forward to the results of any reshuffling after the general election on the 9th of November- Koizumi is pretty much a shoe-in, but once he gets in I think he is going to have to come up with some, any, goods pretty quick to keep people happy.
Anyways, enough of that, we managed again to hit the Izakaya on Friday night, followed by a splendid Mexican feast on Saturday night with Kerryn and a bunch of folk in Gifu. Nic was most distraught when they ran out of Pina Colada ingredients, but managed to find comfort in the bounteous Margaritas available. A super night out to be sure. Sunday saw stews being made and frozen, squirrelled away for the winter months.And by a quirk of fate I have a three day week this week before we head to Kyoto for a long weekend.
Trust you are all spiffy,
lots of love,
berin
I trust respective weekends were pretty fun around the place. Before I get onto another description of a desperately lazy weekend, some observations...
The Japanese banking system is crazed.
"No surprise there!!" Say those eyeing the Japanese banks and their trillions of yen in bad loans which, despite a good 12 years of looking the other way (and occasionally whistling, checking their watch, tapping their feet etc) by the banking corporations don`t seem to have fixed themselves- disappointing that.
No, but as old Vincent Vega once so memorably put it...its the little things.
I have a bankcard. To get money out of my account. From a machine. Just last week there was an ad on TV from one of the larger banks around (not mine) giving themselves a huge pat on the back for introducing a service whereby their ATM`s are open 24 HOURS A DAY!!!!! WOW!!!! THE FUTURE!!!! HERE!!!TODAY!!!
Thats right. The ATMs over here close. Because even computer systems get crabby when they work overtime. Generally they close at about 9:00 at night and open again at a leisurely 8:00 or so in the morning, all refreshed and ready to face another day....as a computer. Even if you want money out of the machines, when they are open but outside of banking hours, there is an extra charge....nothing like a distinct lack of viable competition to really make these guys try hard...
In our wee village there is a choice of three banks. The largest is the 16 Bank - so called because we live in the 16th prefecture and it is a prefectural bank. The next largest is a bank that operates out of the 2nd biggest town in the prefecture - thats where it gets all its money from. And the third is a cooperative of the Japanese Agricultural sector - the less said about that, the better. There is no available access to a large, nation-wide bank around here. I could certainly have an account at one- but there are no ATMs or branches for larger banks anywhere outside the main centres. It is very odd. We are going to Kyoto next weekend. We will have to guesstimate how much money we will spend on the weekend and get that out before we go. Our (prefectural) bank doesn`t have outlets in Kyoto, which is 2 hours away.
Now I know I`m probably sounding a little disilliusioned, angry perhaps, but this isn`t the case. I simply find it very interesting to daily see examples of the contradiction of Japan being the largest high-tech exporting country in the world while still floundering around in a domestic sense.Having said that, it`s an increasingly exciting time to be in Japan at the moment, people are starting to scratch their heads and ask some questions, I look forward to the results of any reshuffling after the general election on the 9th of November- Koizumi is pretty much a shoe-in, but once he gets in I think he is going to have to come up with some, any, goods pretty quick to keep people happy.
Anyways, enough of that, we managed again to hit the Izakaya on Friday night, followed by a splendid Mexican feast on Saturday night with Kerryn and a bunch of folk in Gifu. Nic was most distraught when they ran out of Pina Colada ingredients, but managed to find comfort in the bounteous Margaritas available. A super night out to be sure. Sunday saw stews being made and frozen, squirrelled away for the winter months.And by a quirk of fate I have a three day week this week before we head to Kyoto for a long weekend.
Trust you are all spiffy,
lots of love,
berin
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)