Kobe

Andy, Damon (My Predecessor ), Amy and Adam
A circada - I am sooo scared of these things!

Andy's Place - chillin on the Tatami floor on his futon unpacking
A Mukade - gads!

So my computer is telling me it’s 15.56 on 29^th July but in reality here it’s Midnight. I’m lying in my bed in my new house in Hanayama Higashimachi – my predecessor has been awesome and left me so much stuff including books, food, cleaning stuff, coffee table, 2 sofas, a double bed, a TV, a PS2, a rice cooker and even a set of golf clubs! (btw you have never seen so many golf courses in your life! I literally saw 6 courses within 2 miles of each other on the plane and that’s the same all over this region – apparently it’s around £100 for 18 holes tho so probably won’t be playing much!)

Anyway my house is cool – I like it although it’s a little grubby. It’s very different from what I’m used to – the Tatami flooring is cool and I have 2 new futons. There are partitions you can slide across to segment the living space or remove them so it’s all open plan – the bath is tiny and very deep, almost like a cube, at first it looks a little dated but the hot water is all electronically controlled and as well as pressing a button to fill your bath to a certain height automatically you can press another button to keep it warm or if you leave the water in overnight you can press a button to re heat the whole bath from cold. (That’s not as weird/dirty as it sounds as in Japan you wash before you take a bath.) My shower is pretty good, the bathroom is a tiny wet room so you just shower standing next to the bath. The cooker is a 2 ring gas model with a tiny little grill under it. That’s it, no oven. I have a rice cooker and a microwave too.

Nine of us flew from Tokyo to Kobe airport with a 3^rd year JET and our Supervisor, Wada Sensei who’s really nice. Kobe airport is on a manmade island in the sea just off the coast so when landing it looks like you going to land on the sea, you get lower and lower then the runway appears at the last second which is unnerving to say the least. We got taxi’s to the Kobe Education Centre (Kec) where, after lunch at a local food court with McDonalds and Starbucks alongside Japanese food stalls we filled in gas, electricity, bank and medical forms etc, got our keys and Inkan (tiny wooden stamp with Turner written in Katakana) and each met one of the teachers we will be working with who took us to our homes and got us settled in. My Teacher is a dude, he cracked a few jokes and was pretty happy I was from “Scotolando”, he left me once the gas man came to switch on my utilities and talk me through how to use it all. He invited me to his house to meet his wife and 2 children (girl, 2 & Boy, 8 months) and offered to make Ramen and Sashimi when I told him that was my favourite. He gave me his number and said I could call day or night if I needed help – he even offered to drive me to the shops or take me out for a beer once I was settled in.

After all that I looked around my house nervously checking for BUGS! All I found was one dead cockroach (they’re tiny over here – like… baked bean size). I vowed to myself I wouldn’t kill them if I saw bugs inside but I would try to “redirect” them outside. It was a bit weird to be finally left alone after being with people constantly since the 24^th, however after putting some washing on and looking through all the cupboards I eventually feel asleep on my bed out of sheer exhaustion only to be woken up at 7pm by someone knocking on my door. It was another JET called Adam who’s from the borders and is a neighbour – he invited me down to a party for all the Newbies so I grabbed a shower and went to meet everyone. They all seem really nice and were super helpful in answering all my questions about the school, mobile phones and transport etc – they asked me about the band and music and it looks like I’ll be going to a festival in Osaka next weekend with some of them. There is an Aussie, an Englishman, a guy from Trinidad and Tobago a few South Africans and tonnes of American’s. At about 11 we (Andy and I) left and nipped down to a family mart to get some snacks with a girl called Stina and another girl whose name escapes me.

Things to note:

Bloody noisy bugs, like REALLY noisy when you open the balcony doors it’s like a cacophony of loud grasshopper type noise – they’re called Circada and are cousins of the lotus and feckin horrible – forget the Mukade and Hornet these bad boys will freak me out, I just know it. They scream and fly around and are big and gross… but harmless.

My school is a badass school of rough kids. It’s called Maruyama Junior High School – they use military type tactics to keep them well behaved. Apparently they’re harmless and pretty cool but they are more outspoken then most Japanese kids, they are not allowed outside at lunch to keep them in check and when going into assembly they go in one row at a time and have to keep their heads down and not look at other kids… crazy huh (I’ve since found out that most schools do this)! It’s cool tho I can handle it – Meldrum has been good experience. Apparently I will be visiting an Elementary School too to teach wee toots so that will be fun too.

The local football team is Vissel Kobe. I plan to go to a few games but it’s pricey (£30-£70 a ticket). Apparently they’re amazing at passing the ball around but can’t shoot for shit?!