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So I’ve been very busy since I last wrote with starting work and with my birthday celebrations. I finally went to work on Monday after being paid to sing karaoke and sit around watching children’s tv for 2 weeks. I wasn’t too sure what to expect but I really love it so far. Japanese people are unbelievably friendly and curious about foreigners, which in the staffroom is great because I’m never short someone to have a bit of a gossip w ith. With students however it can be more than a little overwhelming. My first few days, I felt like an animal in the zoo with thirty girls at a time opening up the staffroom door and staring until I waved at them, they would then scream ‘kawaii’ at the top of their voices and run off giggling. Scarleh!

Of course if students did this in ireland they’d be told in no uncerain terms to feck off but in Japan it’s very different. Teachers are almost parents to the Japanese students and anyone can come into the staffroom at any time to ask questions or just for a bit of a chat. In some ways it seems to really work because the relationship between the teachers and students is very cooperative and it is not ‘uncool’ to like the teachers. On the other hand, with students swarming every teacher’s desk at lunchtime fighting for their attention, teachers rarely get time to even eat their lunch. Luckily for me the students’ English vocabulary only stretches to ‘Hello, my name is…’ and then the obligatory sqeals of ‘kawaii’ ,so, although hundreds of students pass by me everyday, I still get to take a break now and then.

So, I turned 22 on Wednesday and really wasn’t expecting much, considering I am on the opposite side of the world to all my family and friends. Was I in for a shock! Lily, my supervisor, spread the word in the staffroom and when I went into work on my birthday I was bombarded with presents and Happy Birthdays from everyone, a lot of whom I had never even met! One of the English teachers, who had never spoken to me before, turned up at my desk with a chocolate dessert for me because I had to work on my birthday- middle aged Japanese men are soooo cute! I really have to restrain myself from squealing out ‘kawaii’ myself!

When I got home from work with the basket of my bike full of presents from teachers at my school Brendan gave me his present which was brilliant- a kimono with the obi and all the rest. It’s gorgeous but impossible to put on so one of the English teachers in my school offered to show me the technique of kimono wearing tomorrow, I can’t wait! Now I’ll just have to find some festival so I can wear it.

That night we went to the local amusement arcade and karaoke place with some of the other JET guys and a few teachers from my school to celebrate my birthday. It was great fun, we sang in the kid’s room in the karaoke place, which was equipped with plastic bowling skittles and balls and bean bags to sit on. We then went to a ghost house in the arcade, which everyone found very unscary [except me of course]. After that most people went home and myself and Brendan and one of the English JET guys went to bet on the plastic horses in the amusement arcade where Brendan won about 60e worth of Sega medals! He has no idea what to do with them all now!

The following day in work they threw a party for me with a cake and singing and everything, the food was great, some of it homemade by the teachers and it was such a shock since I had only been there 5 minutes and they were already throwing parties for me!

So, to finally move away from birthdays, myself and Brendan and a few other JETs went to an orphanage today to play with the kids. They were really shy at first and so were we I suppose but once we introduced the ice crushing machine things livened up fairly quickly. It was a really fun day, despite the heat and the insects, fun was definitely had by all. I made plenty of new friends a lot of whom seemed to be fascinated by my boobs and took every opportunity to grab them-scarleh! The JETs who organised the visit intends to make it a monthly thing so I’ll definitely be heading back for some freeze tag again soon.

Well, that’s all my news for the moment, I’ve put up some new pictures on. http://picasaweb.google.com/poolady/JapanAugust if you want to have a look. Smell ya later!

So…..Brendan`s making me write this because　he`s mad for internet stuff but I suppose it`s an easy way of telling everyone how I`ve been getting on.

We`ve done a lot since we arrived in Japan almost a month ago. Tokyo Orientation was hell we were jetlagged and sweaty and we had to listen to hours upon hours of polite speeches about absoluitely nothing. But in the evening we got to go exploring for ourselves and try out a couple of the karaoke bars and izakaya which was great fun. We also sang the night away with Yuka and some other Japanese friedns from DCU and it was all great craic- especially when a urinal started singing at poor Yan in a restaurant when he went for a wee!

After a few days we travelled to Okayama where it was EVEN HOTTER! It was great to finally be in our own place and we explored the city and were very impressed. It has everything we need, and even the odd weird shaped building and plenty of neon lights but it`s still rural enough to be very friendly and give us a bit of celebrity status as `gaijin` (foreign people in Japan).

On our first day in Okayama the so-called Land of sunshine we were informed that there was a typhoon on the way and were given a load of literature about how to hide under desks and all that lark. But when it finally arrived it was very anti-climactic. There was a bit of rain and wind- basically like a good summer`s day in Ireland!!

Seeing as we were expecting a typhoon my supervisor brought myself and Brendan to an electronic store so we would have a mobile phone to contact her with just in case we got blown away or something. We spent three hours filling out forms only to be told that we were uneligible for phones and to come back the next day, grrrrr! And typically in Japan, when we came back the next day there was a different guy there and we ahd to go through the whole thing again!! BUT at the end of it all we both came out with very impressive phones . Mine`s pink and I can go onto the internet with it and send emails etc. It even has infared- whatever that is. Bren`s has tv and everything on it, he had to go for the most expensive of course.　I alos got a reeeeeally cute pink digital camera so I`m as a reeeeeally cute pink digital camera so I`m a happy camper

A few days after this we were cycling through the paddy fields to the cinema which is very fancy (and they have yummy caramel popcorn) when we came across a local festival being held in a field. We peeked in a little to see what was going on, even though we weren`t invited. We were looking aroundat all the singing and dancing、the guys playing the taiko drums and the women in their kimono when some guy with a microphone came over to us and started shouting at everyone to pay attention. SCARLEH!! Brendan had to make a little speech in Japanese, it was gas. He was very embarrassed. Then we were invited to join the circle and do some of the traditional dancing, which wasn`t very easy to get the hang of with everyone staring and the guy with the mike giving a running commentary of us in Japanese. it was really great fun and everyone was so friendly. we had heard about things like this happening to other people but we really didn`t believe it. We were stuffed with beer and bbq by the people in kimono by the firelight and then went on our way to the super futuristic cinema. I love Japan

Just when we wree beginning to relaz into Okayman life we had to go back and di three more days of feckin orientation. Brendan was asked to make a speech to the Vice Chancellor of Okayama and we were all on the TV and in the newspaper (again). Okayaman Orientation was slightly less painful than Tokyo and the last day we went on a really great trip and I got to dress up in a kimono- Yay!!!!!!

So you may have noticed I haven`t actually mentioned anything about work The reason is I am reeeally lucky and have a very easy going Vice Principal who lets me stay at home while the students are off school so i only start tomorrow. I`m actually looking forward to meeting all the other teachers and practising my little self-introduction speech in Japanese.

There was a national week of holidays last week so myself and Bren headed to Kyoto for a few days. it was unbeleievably hot there but we ahd a really great time. we stayed in Love Hotels which were hilarious with pole dancing poles on the end of the bed and mirrors on the ceiling etc. We also saw a load of temples and I bought lots of jewellery-woohoo!

Well that`s all the time I`ve got left in Media cafe Popeye (I don`t know why it`s called that) so I better leggeh. Here is a link with some photos of what myself and bren have been up to so far: http://picasaweb.google.com/brendan.tinnelly