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2006-01-05T16:47:15+01:00

I got back to Japan yesterday after a fairly uneventful flight via Korea. I had managed to fall into a reasonably fulfilling sleep for a few hours, and after twisting my neck back from the unusual angle it had assumed in secret whilst I was asleep, I was happy and pleased to get back to what has become my normal life over here in Japan. I started work at a new Nova branch today, hereafter known as Okamachi (for that is its name), it's really small with only two or three teachers working each day. On the plus side it still has lots of Kids classes, which I enjoy a lot. I love young kids. Fortunately I have been allotted at least three classes with the Kinder age bracket (3-6 years old) and I even scored one Chibiko class (2-4 years, with parents in the classroom). Chibiko is something I've always enjoyed, as it basically boils down to chasing small people around a room shouting simple nouns at them, and as I'm sure you all know, that's pretty much exactly what I do all the time outside work. Anyway, it's nice to be back in Osaka, it's strange that being a lone foreigner in a sea of Japanese people seems more like normality than being in Britain, but that's a year living on the other side of the world for you. A strange fish indeed, acclimatisation.

So if I didn't actually get to see you, or you weren't aware, this Christmas I went back to Britain for the first time since I came to Japan. It was of course very nice to see family and friends again, I would have preferred to stay longer, but I had a lot of fun and certainly appreciated lots that Britain had to offer including grass, friendly pub service, pork pies and light rain. To be honest, having been away for so long I was able to look at England afresh, and having envisaged a violent and filthy country overrun by scum, I was pleasantly surprised to notice more the gentle good humour, old buildings and beautiful countryside. However, the public toilets were pretty much all covered in piss, but maybe I shouldn't be so bothered about it, Japanese toilets are uncommonly clean, certainly far more so than most countries I've visited, excepting perhaps Switzerland, which might well tie, at least in the tourist areas. Anyway, we're in danger of getting off-topic, so let's head elsewhere. New Year's was pretty good, many thanks to Bazza for putting us up. We went to a Japanese-style karaoke box in Soho, then saw the New Year in at Trafalgar Square. Good times, and then it was good to see all you guys in Camden on Sunday and Monday. All round it was a great holiday, nice to see those who I did, next time surely for all those I missed. When will next time be? No comment!

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Chris Pollard in Japan

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