It's the six month month mark since I left Australia so I've been thinking about home. I'm definately not homesick but I do miss my friends & family. Hopefully I'lll see my friends & family overseas somewhere soon. The food is the other big one. The first thing I'll do when I get back is call the Yum-Cha All-Stars for a Sunday morning at Zilver in Chinatown for Chinese tea and dumplings. Perfection.
On the subject of nationalism; I have been looking at lists of the world's best cities to live in and thus countries. From these lists it becomes clear that Australia, Canada & Switzerland are the nicest places to live. According to the Economist our five major capital cities are all ranked in the top 11 'world's most livable cities list' (there are equal placings) with Melbourne ranking highest at number two.
These lists are based on things like: cultural attributes, climate, cost of living and social conditions such as crime rates and health care... but not in terms of fun. So while it confirms my belief that Australia is a great place and I'm proud to call it home... I don't want to come back anytime soon.
A photo from my farewell party (why I miss Sydney)
Freaky performance shit from the Design Festa 2006
Today I went to the annual Tokyo Design Festa which is one minor example of the things I would never get to see back home. Basically it's a giant festival for artists, dj's, designers, performers, musicians, or whoever to set up a stand and show their stuff. Heaps of neat original stuff to buy; so I walked home with a hand drawn design shirt, some watercolour bookmarks, a mini-artwork badge, and an electric candle that flickers and everything! It was a friggin' massive event, hundreds of stalls and performers, thousands of patrons, and as you can imagine plenty of freaks.
There was a great consistency of quality throughout the event, some very talented people, some hilarious performers; such a sensory-overload packed into a weekend. I took a few photos, but naturally the batteries died very early on in the day so unfortunately I can't show you all of the really cool stuff that was there.
I shall soon be a very busy boy because next week I am starting a second job teaching at a junior high school three days a week. I am a little anxious about it cause I have never taught a class this size before (30-40 kids) or been an assistant before. The job is reffered to as an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) position but I do not know anyone who has tried it. At the very least it should be quite interesting; I hope it turns out well. I have also been busy getting to know some lovely Japanese ladies, but you'll have to get on skype and talk to me for details. Later....!
The entrance in Tokyo Big Sight. One artist of hundreds. Some weird fashion/performance thing. The two girls started making out at the end. Not quite sure what it was about. Must be too high-brow for me. These guys have a blog at rapeme.org ...lovely Freaky deeky. Some intense footwear (The one on the right is a dude).
Just wanted to post some videos to make sure it still works, there appears to be some errors with my other posts. Anyway here are a couple of great songs/clips from my new cd recommendation page which you can link to ===========> over this way
1. Hot Chip - Over & Over; Five really geeky looking guys bouncing around their keyboards like a teenage Kraftwerk. One of them looks seriously like Napolean Dynamite. They look like they got beat up at high school and are getting their revenge by making nice beats.
2. Gnarls Barkley - Crazy; Awesome concept (scatterplots) and execution. Incredible visual effects. Hate to think how much time some dudes spent in front of a computer to make this. I imagine they have hunchbacks and don't see much daylight.
Some dudess rocking out in Kichijoji, the families are loving it.
If you want to speak to me from time to time buy a headset and get ontoskype.com so we can talk. Its very simple; basically it's the same as MSN Messenger but we can talk instead of type. A headset costs around $20, so it's well worth it for those of you who spend as much time on computers as I do.
In other news, more of the same over the past 2 weeks. More day trips around Tokyo, another night out in Roppongi, more dates, more Japanese classes. Work is still fun, my bosses are still cool, the Japanese staff are still cute and friendly; all in all things are going well. I'm quite happy at the moment and having a good time getting to know Japanese people. Mostly I hang out with girls. There isn't anything wrong with the guys, it's just we don't seem to have enough in common or something. I don't know. I should try to make some guy friends though.
Don't have too much else to say right now, too busy having a good time to think much. Except soon I think I might be starting a day-job working at junior high schools so I will be much busier, but also richer which will be nice. I think working in a high school and getting to know the kids will be a reward in itself; as will the cold-hard yen! If I do get the job I'll be moving into an apartment somewhere cool so I can live the high-life.
We'll see.... So remember your homework, buy a headset so we can talk, it's a small price to pay for some priceless conversation (maybe).
Oh and here's a photo I found of the Thai movie stars we were living with for a while; the movie is about a Thai guy who falls for a Japanese girl (fyi - she is actually thai girl). The guy in the middle is the one that hit on me. You have to do better than some instant noodles mate.
Chinatown in Yokohama Ohh lord.... let me touch it. Yum Cha is one of the main things I miss about Sydney. Don't take it for granted; make it a Sunday ritual. When I get back there will be no slackin' off. Roppongi night with the Canadians.
Lived in Tokyo for a year teaching English.
Travelling through Europe, a little of North America, Mexico and then South America before heading home (via Japan & South East Asia).
