Miscellaneous updates

Last night I had an all-nighter in Shibuya. (All-nighters generally happen when one gets stranded somewhere. Last trains, you know. So around midnight there's always the inner debate - should I leave right now when the party's just getting started, and get my last train? Or should I stay, thus committing myself to another five hours here?)

It was a fun night. But I was a little surprised. I thought of Shibuya as the city that never sleeps - there are lots of 24-hour places and lots of clubs, bars, etc. But a lot of those clubs and bars close around midnight. Accordingly, we did a *lot* of wandering around. We ended up in the love hotel district. I couldn't believe it. There were SO many love hotels, there must've been at least 100 or 200.

(Love hotels are places where you can rent rooms for a short time - 'rest' - or the rest of the night - 'stay'. They are themed hotels, often with decorated rooms, where couples can go discreetly... some of them were boasting Wii or DVD, and some had sexy costumes you could wear...)

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The weather continues to be wonderful. So much nicer than last year's spring. In the last two or three days, suddenly azaleas bloomed everywhere. I never realised just how many azaleas there are around here. A student told me that Kawasaki's 'symbol' flower is the azalea. It would make sense. There's also a big underground shopping mall in Kawasaki called 'Azalea'.

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I am hoping to go to Korea next week. It's very close to Japan, after all. I found someone to travel with (it's easier to find someone to go to Korea for 3 days than someone to go to the US or something). But nothing is booked yet, so I'm not sure.

The other night I went out with some students and we had Korean food. Korean food is Magnificient. We had bulgogi (a kind of beef and thin rice noodles dish) and chijimi (vegetable pancake), and a kind of pork yakiniku (barbecue) where we wrapped the pork in lettuce leaves. Yum!

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Yesterday I went to the Edo Tokyo museum in Ryogoku. It was really interesting. I was lucky to get a free English guide, in what was basically a private tour. His English wasn't that high level - he could talk quite well but every time he asked me a question, and I replied in my clearest, simplest English, he wouldn't understand my answer. Hahaha...

But he was a very nice man and I learned lots of really interesting things about Japanese history. When someone explains things to you, it comes clear and alive in your mind a lot better than just reading loads of signs.

After this, I went to Akihabara for a while. They have some interesting souvenirs. I bought some Maid Cookies. (Maid cafes are a famous thing in Japan.) They also have oden in cans, and bread in cans. I bought bread in a can (with cute anime girls on the outside) for a friend as a gift. It sounds pretty gross, but it's one of those 'only in Japan' things... hahaha...

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Life is good. I've started studying Japanese a bit again. I'm going to take a one-off lesson today, though generally I've stopped taking lessons. As I think I mentioned, I am finishing my contract in early September. I've been thinking vaguely on-and-off abut what I might do next. I'm still not sure I'm ready to leave Japan; I like it so much.

There is some possibility in my mind that I would try to stay on for another 6 months, in a different job. On the other hand, it'd be a lot of hassle (organising visas and taxes and accommodation, etc), and much easier to just go back to Australia. So I haven't made any decisions yet. I suppose it would depend a good deal on whether I could secure another job.

I hope everyone's doing well. I wish I could come over to Adelaide for a week or so, just to say hi...