Through the Eyes of a Wombat

I must apologise for the long delay since posting last.

The company Halloween Party (of which I have some photos- I shall post them soon) was rather a lot of fun, though it did end up being a very very late night. Interesting to talk to the branch manager in person, and see that she at least gave the impression of being able to understand my point of view. She also appeared to be taking steps to ensure that my situation never arises again in the future, though the concept of rectifying my situation seems to be a little foreign to her. Still, its a slow process dealing with the bureacracy here at any stage.

Trying to teach Halloween lessons at school was strange. Teachers asked me to teach an entire lesson based on how Halloween is celebrated "in my country".
OK.. thats simple, we dont celebrate it at all.
Couldnt quite explain that clearly to a few of the teachers, who insisted that we Trick or Treat, dress up in costumes, and eat lots of pumpkins.

Strangely, they all blatantly refuse to admit that it is, indeed, celebrated in Japan. "Oh no - in Japan we do not celebrate Halloween". "So, why are there pumpkins in every shop and house, black and orange banners on every second building, flags wishing people Happy Halloween, and a huge hype and buildup to it all through the month of October?"

"Um..."

Yep, both the halloweens that ive ever lived through have been here in Japan.

Last weekend was another Long Weekend. I like the second half of the year here - theres at least one public holiday every month, and November has two! Bonus!
This time around it was Culture Day. Apparently, this used to be Emperor Meiji's birthday, but when he kicked the bucket, the new Emperor (of course) had a different birthday. Not wanting to deprive the public of a public holiday, they renamed the day to Culture Day. Incidentally, the replacement Emperor Showa (known as Hirohito in English speaking circles) also carked it sixty-odd years later, and his birthday was also left as a public holiday (Green Day), and the new bloke, Akihito, celebrates his birthday on December 23rd. Sure enough, every time they get themselves a new Emperor, they get themselves a new public holiday in the process. Given enough time, and enough new Emperors, the whole year will be peppered with these new
public holidays with equally bizarre names.

My own Culture Day was spent in Shinjuku, exploring Shinjuku Gyoen, a rather large park. I have plenty of photos, once again, and I shall post these as soon as I transfer them off my camera. The amazing thing about this park is its size - crammed right into the middle of
Shinjuku, mere metres from the busiest railway station in the world, is a huge park and garden filled with crysanthemums, goldfish, and gingko trees. (Just to clarify, the goldfish are in ponds, not garden beds.) Also, being right in the middle of the city, it amazed me how few skyscrapers were visible above the trees. Evening, and dinner with Yusuke. Didnt get home til around midnight, but all in all a great day.

Ive been a little off-colour this week, sore throat and some fluey symptoms. I spent most of my spare time at school yesterday dozing on the couch, finding the energy to bounce up and be genki in class when required, but coming down flat at the other end. They gave me some
medicine that looked suspiciously like lifesavers, but seemed to work.

I went to bed at 4pm when I got home, and did nothing productive all day. This morning waking up feeling great, I think all is well, though I must remember to sleep a little more than Ive been allowing myself time for lately. Must sleep. Must take care of myself.

I ate peaches for breakfast today. They were yummy.