We interrupt the regular broadcast to bring you this important announcement

I went for a ride today.

Out to the big, blue, wobbly thing that fish live in.



p.s. Ditched FB today too. Don't look for me there coz homey don't play that (no more).

more

Being married for almost four years to a Japanese girl had certainly been an eye opener. You thought you knew so much after almost ten years here; however marriage showed you just how little you'd scratched the surface. But it must be harder for her – remember the microwave incident. Her jumping out of her skin in shock, dead certain the glass was going to explode and her amazement when you safely retrieved her now warm glass of tea. It's – she's - worth it though, worth the two year wait, worth the daily hardships, worth all the study of Japanese so you could communicate, still not perfect, but good enough, maybe just right as the language barrier prevents you from getting into those useless couple-debates that do far more harm than good. And when little Mari-Cristine came along your luck doubled. She'll be three soon, and she won't be an only child anymore. Can two kids really be twice the work of one? Or is it more?

Such an old-timer now, he thought. I sound just like all those guys I resented when I first got here, but I suppose that's inevitable. At least I'm still here, and still happy. More than I can say for a lot. We have the place in Nagano now, and to me it was such a steal. Back at the English school I could never have imagined that I'd think $50000 was cheap, but for our own retreat in the mountains it now seemed like a bargain. Speaking of which, I've been daydreaming too much while driving, I can't remember anything from the last ten minutes. I better pay attention, the Chuo isn't really built like a highway, and that blackspot is just coming up. Almost a quarter of the way there already, though, it's funny how the locals are so rooted to the one town they can barely imagine driving two hours up the highway for a weekend. More luck for me, I guess, said aloud and meaning it.

A bit more.

Almost smiling with the relief that entering the highway wicket gave from the sweltering heat and oppressive Nagoya traffic, the car accelerated hard and merged smoothly into the northbound lane. It was unseasonably hot for November, another sign that for all its' technology, Japan was not immune to climate change. The boom of the Hokkaido ski areas hadn't lasted long, the world famous powder snow vanished less than ten years after the Australian entrepreneurs revived the ailing domestic resorts. That, combined with the worst financial crisis on record had cost a job and meant that the stay in the ski village was less than a year. You didn't mind, though, as your heart belonged here in Central Japan, except for the damn summer heat, and now here it was back again. It was a small price to pay for all the things you loved.

Within minutes the impossibly high density urban areas were left behind, and the trees and mountains began to dominate the views on either side of the highway. It was almost a ritual now to muse about your misconceptions of Japan upon passing this point. No matter how many times you drove into the country and admired the order of the rice paddies, the pleasing layouts of old country houses and gardens, the steepness of the wonderfully crinkled hills that had that unique way of catching and holding low clouds, you never stopped appreciating the beauty of rural Japan, and chuckling for believing Japan to be one huge city-state like something out of a robot-catching Sci-Fi movie. But it goes much further than that, there were so many things, and it took so long to learn. You're still learning every day, as is she.

The Bit at The Start.

here we go.

On the main island of Japan, Honshu, there are two major highways connecting east and west, the Tomei and Chuo Expressways. Along these two highways Japan's lifeblood flows in the form of an almost ceaseless, unbroken stream of cars, buses, trucks and motorcycles. For most of its approximately 400km length the Chuo highway is a four-lane highway with two lanes in either direction, sometimes separated only by a guardrail, sometimes a completely different structure with some distance between opposing directions. In its middle section it snakes through the mountainous prefecture of Nagano, home of the 1998 Winter Olympics and in the southern part of Nagano there is a tunnel. A very long tunnel. It is 8.8km long, making it one of the longest road tunnels in the world, and is known as the Misaka Tunnel. Some other basic statistics about this incredibly long tunnel are as follows. Each direction is 4.4m high, 9m wide at its narrowest point, with various bays and wide areas to allow for breakdowns, as well as a labyrinth of support and access tunnels for maintenance, lighting and ventilation. At its deepest point, the Misaka tunnel is 440m from the surface of the ground.

At the time of writing there have been no major accidents in this or any other tunnel on the Chuo highway, but if one were to occur, the following could be what would transpire.

The Story.

Here I sit with seven weeks until I start work, wondering what to do with my time when an idea struck me like a random tomato hurled by some unseen assailant (luckily the tomato wasn't wrapped in a can, or else I might not be writing this at all). First, some background...

Many years ago I had an idea for 'a story' and a few years ago I started writing it. It's untitled, but I will call it "The Story" for the time being. I have delusions of grandeur of one day being a famous, uber-kool writer dude that sits around all say in funky pajama-bottoms, rad t-shirt and sexy facial hair writing fantastic novels that people just can't put down, and "The Story" is going to be the one that gets it all happening. Delusions aside, I know that writing is hard, and that to get published would be a minor miracle, so this is where "The Idea for The Story" comes in - I will publish it myself. Here, on "The Blog." It's good idea, I think, as I have been really struggling for blog content since I decided to grow up and become all boring and serious and get a new qualification and a real job and all that.

So, I will post "The Story" here bit by bit, and all my blog fans (all four of you) can read it for free - yes, that's right, for free. You won't be one of those poor fools lining up in the rain outside Mary Ryans waiting for your own copy, as you'll already know how it ends (assuming I ever make it that far, of course).

In a previous life (i.e. before I went to Japan) a reasonably famous and very successful local author gave me some great advice - write about what you know. So I have. Those of you that know Japan or me, or both, may recognize a lot of what will follow. For that, I beg your forbearance. Maybe something interesting will pop up somewhere for you. Just be satisfied knowing that you'll be keeping me honest; that is preventing me from taking too many liberties in writing a story set in Japan.

It will all start tomorrow - I know you can't wait. Neither can I.

Finished.

I have now met all the requirements to become a fully licensed teacher in Australia. Looking forward to release of results on the 25th when it all becomes official.

Many, many, many thanks to all the people who have helped me with this journey. You know who you are.

Shiny Goodness.

Got myself a graduation present this morning - a day early.

This shiny goodness makes me happy. Very happy. It's so shiny you can see me reflected in it.

Shiny goodness. It's good. Notice the glowing, halo-like effect? That means God approves.

Edit: Yes, I need to clean my cassette. Soon...soon...

kanji

I will pass my Japanese evaluation on Wednesday. I will.

Wow.

Where did that month go?

I have one week to go in my course - a test tomorrow, and a seminar next Monday. Then...who knows? Wait and see. It's less fun than it sounds.

No cool pics of late - have only snuck out for a few little rides. Looking forward to fixing that.

Back to the books now.

Cheers.