Ueno Koen - Sakura viewing

Today, Gramps and i went to Ueno Park to see the Cherry Blossoms (Sakura) and the Hanami parties that the Japanese have. Some people would have had someone staking their picnic spot since 8am this morning. Let me tell you first what i had envisioned. I thought it was would be a big open area that would just be covered by picnicers. But it was more like a walkway with people sitting wherever they could on the pavement. Sort of in between the other plants and walkways. It was still impressive but not how i thought it would be.

The Sakura looked awesome though. It almost looked like the trees were covered in snow. It was amazing. We went late afternoon and stayed in the park until it got dark cause we wanted to see the Sakura lit by the lanterns.

It was a really nice afternoon.

Then we went to TGI Friday (Thank God Its Friday) for dinner. But there was a wait so the waiter brought Gramps a seat out. Then we ran into my friend Becca and her friend Dan. So we all had dinner together. It was Becca's bday on the 25th so she got the standard TGI bday do. She got a huge dessert for free and a polariod. It was really awesome. I had the nicest steak and the most hugemungus margarita. Becca and Dan had a cocktail as well. THough we all agreed that mine seemed much stronger than theirs. Oh and these girls in orange wigs came around with shots of some kind of alcohol and so we had one each. It was 300 yen. And it went straight to my head. But a glass of water fixed that right up and i was good to go.

Then it was home to have a good nights sleep.

Green Centre with Gramps

This is a park near my house. We went to have lunch and just a wander around. It was a very nice day.

Purikura (photo stickers)

This is usually for teenagers in Japan. But i did it with mum and dad so i thought Gramps and i should take some too.

You can look at my other ones through this link.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=42432&l=da6bd&id=684506290

Other Sakura (cherry blossom) products in Japan

Some students of mine gave me a list of Sakura products

• Ice cream
• Buck wheat noodles
• Cake
• Youkan (bar of sweet bean jelly)
• Anko (bean paste)
• Wine
• Petals on top of cakes
• Tea - with petals in the cake
• Pickled Sakura petals
• Candy

Sakura Cake

So it is spring at the moment. Which means Cherry Blossoms. So Gramps tried Sakura ice cream and then he wanted some dessert for one night at my apartment. So we went to Cozy Corner and got him some Sakura Cake. He liked the ice cream better but i think it is special cause you cant have it anywhere else.

Shimbashi for ShabuShabu lunch

My 80 year old Gramps has come to visit me for two weeks in Japan. A pretty big thing for an 80 year old and very special for both of us. He arrived early Saturday morning and i met him at Narita airport. One of their rotary exchange students from 1977 , came with me. Keiko had not seen Gramps in 20 years so it was very special for them. We had to leave for Narita at 5am.

We got him a phone to use while here and shipped his luggage to my house. We had to take two different trains to get home and sometimes there are no elevators or escalators so it is easier to ship it.

Then we headed to Shimbashi to have lunch with another ex-Rotary exchange student Yuki and her family. Keiko also came with us. We met them at the station and then headed for a yummy Japanese lunch. ShabuShabu means shake shake. So you have really thin beef and really nice veges like sprouts and lots of other greens. You put them in a big pot of broth and then cook them. We also had rice and some Japanese pickles. Then we had ramen, which is like a soup with noodles in it. It was a very nice lunch. Yuki's husband Ken and their two kids came too. Yuugo is 2 years old and he just ran around and around the private room we had. And Nana is 8 months so she was easy to look after and i got to have a nice cuddle. Very good little baby. Yuugo was really fun too. A very friendly and agreeable little guy. Plus his Japanese was so cute.

The dessert was probably the most special though. It was sakura (cherry blossom) ice cream. I ordered Vanilla but Gramps gave it a try. He said it tasted like almond and i thought it tasted like tree. Not a fan.

Then we headed home to wait for Gramps luggage.

Another ripper of an article....trust me.

Just in case i want to earn new some extra cash.....and i can have a shower too.....
Get wet and go wild: housewife rakes in extra loot at the neighborhood body wash


If a man has money in his wallet and a gnawing need to get naked and have sex, where would be the most logical place for him to mount his search?

In Japan, the first place that would come to mind would doubtless be a dimly lit alley proximate to a neon-illuminated drinking district, usually within staggering distance of a major commuter rail station.

By contrast, the last place one would think of looking would be in a suburban residential area. But thanks to magazines like Jitsuwa Taiho (April), we have learned to expect the unexpected.
The magazine's reporter was able to get wet and go wild, not in a bar or massage parlor, but in a bathing establishment where low-income earners go to get clean. Although as we shall soon see, in his case it was more like getting cleaned out -- and in more ways than one.

The incident in question occurred at a "coin shower" in Tokyo's Bunkyo-ku, an area with a high population of students who reside in cheap apartments and boarding houses.

These coin showers, which are often set up adjacent to coin-operated laundromats, are like self-service car washes for human bodies. Catering to people whose tiny, low-budget residences lack bathing facilities, they consist of a compact cubicle for disrobing and a shower stall -- with timer-equipped hot water heater -- that is activated by insertion of several hundred yen, permitting a 10- or 15-minute hot-water scrubdown.

Since, unlike the larger neighborhood public bathhouses, they are automated and unmanned, one can slip in for an inexpensive scrub any time of the day or night.

Lurking outside one such place in Tokyo's Bunkyo-ku, Jitsuwa Taiho's reporter encounters a kinky 36-year-old housewife named Miyuki, who has discovered another use for the establishment -- as a spot for turning tricks.

To make contact with her clients, Miyuki uses a prepaid cell phone that cannot be traced to her. Her old-style 'mama-chari' bicycle, a standby of Japanese housewives, makes her appear to her neighbors as if she's headed out for a perfectly innocent shopping expedition. But having a two-wheeler also enables her to flee the scene quickly, should the need arise.

Greeting our reporter with a shy smile, Miyuki's bearing was unmistakably that of a female on the prowl.

Miyuki tells the reporter she never paid much attention to the coin shower in her neighborhood, until one day she caught a glimpse of a happy young couple, wet hair glistening, making their exit together. This gave her the idea that she could utilize a coin shower stall for illicit purposes.
She also lets him in on her secret fetish.

"I'm a little shy about taking about my sexual preferences with a guy I'm meeting for the first time," Miyuki giggles. "But when I was young, I played around a lot. If I wasn't doing it with a guy someplace out of doors, I couldn't get turned on."

But obviously in close proximity to her own residence, Miyuki doesn't dare indulge in such exhibitionist behavior. The relative privacy of a public coin shower, however, permits her to pursue her perverse penchant for promiscuous play.

While Miyuki's enthusiastic but unrefined techniques suggest she'd never been employed in the sex industry, she did come well equipped. Folded into a bath towel our reporter saw a tube of skin lotion, bottle of throat gargle and several condoms.

"How did I get started in this? Well, my hubby's salary is pretty low, and I wanted to have some extra spending money. We don't have kids, and it's kinda boring to stay home all day by myself."
Miyuki's usual charge for 30 minutes, which will included stripping to the skin, slipping inside the shower, soaping up and going all the way, is 20,000 yen. For half that figure, she'll allocate the same time, but end the occasion with oral only.

This time she agreed, for an additional consideration, to pose for nude photos, so the total cost to Jitsuwa Taiho came to 40,000 yen.

After the sudsy sex session ended, Miyuki's kinky urges were still kindled, so for an additional 5,000 yen, she took the reporter back to her apartment building for a second serving. On the topmost floor on the outdoor fire escape, the two embraced. After slipping a latex muzzle on ol' Fido, she leaned against the banister while he did her doggy style. Now that's about as kinky as it gets. (By Masuo Kamiyama, contributing writer)

Internet Newspaper you should all check out!!!!

For whoever is wondering where i find all these strange but very interesting articles. Take a look at the Mainichi Daily News. Fascinating.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/

Japanese work ethic....

It seems that the Japanese have to give their workers incentives to actually take their vacation time. Cant say we have the same problem in Oz. This article is quite interesting from a westerners point of view. The red sentences are my comments etc.


Eager employers think outside the box for peon-pleasing perks


From bonuses for marrying a co-worker and days off to mope following a relationship bust-up, to time off for bargain sales and pay rises decided literally by the roll of a dice, some Japanese companies will do just about anything to make sure they keep their employees happy and motivated, according to Shukan Post (3/28).

Allowances for managers who foster good relationships with those working under them?????? huh?
The Japan General Estate Co. created waves earlier this month when it announced it would give managers an allowance of up to 300,000 yen a month to foster good relations with people working underneath them.

But there are plenty of other companies across the country that have been offering out-of-the-box incentives to spark worker motivation and satisfaction, in the hope it will reap corporate benefits.

Bonus for marrying a co-worker
Foodstuffs manufacturer Nihon Shoken's Co-Worker Marriage Happy Allowance is a case in point. Whenever co-workers marry, they are entitled to claim a 1,000 yen a month bonus apiece."We pride ourselves on the family atmosphere of the company, and decided to reward people who fill the place with real families," a spokesman tells Shukan Post. "If there are a lot of marriages between co-workers, we're confident that will inspire their parents and relatives to become fans of our products."

A $1000 bonus incentive to take a holiday????huh?????
Recruit Agent, an employment agency, offers its employees a once-yearly 100,000 yen cash bonus if they agree to take off at least four days in a row to go on a holiday. It also pays a 250,000 yen bonus to any worker that meets a target set for them, although conditions apply for this payment to be made."They must agree to go on a trip with at least four other people from the company and stay more than one night," a spokesman says. "We want to try and encourage communication amongst staff."

Shopping leave and leave if you get dumped by your boyfriend???
Marketing firm Hime & Co., meanwhile, gives its employees half-day holidays if they want to go to a bargain sale and full days off if they're dumped in a relationship."We're a company that only employs women. When someone's relationship ends, work is the last thing on their mind and if some people quit over a break-up, it can cause large losses for the company, so we started this plan in 2005," Hime & Co. President Miki Hiradate tells Shukan Post, noting that none of her employees have yet taken advantage of the offer.

Pet allowance????
Some said veterinary equipment maker Kyoritsu Seiyaku Corp. was barking mad when it started offering a pet allowance to employees who own cats or dogs, but the company doggedly stuck to its guns."One of our company philosophies is to strive for the creation of an environment where humans and animals can live in harmony. We want our employees to live with animals and show society that our company lives by what it believes in," a spokesman says. "We want wider society to know what our company is doing."

Deciding who gets which pay rise based on the roll of a dice???? HUH????
Internet service company Kayac, meanwhile, decided a decade ago to end petty rivalries among employees by determining annual pay rises according to the roll of a dice.
"We give rises of anywhere from 1 percent to 6 percent depending on the number an employee rolls on a dice. Someone earning a monthly wage of 400,000 yen, for example, could get a raise of as much as 240,000 yen," a spokesman tells the weekly. "We were sick of employees bickering over things like bonuses and rises, so came up with the idea of deciding them as though we were playing a game."

And Hosei University sociology Prof. Seiichiro Hayakawa says we can expect more oddball offers from companies in the future.

"Improving employee welfare raises motivation and satisfaction, as well as gives the company a better corporate image," Hayakawa tells Shukan Post. "We're still in a situation where most people still only take less than half the time off they are entitled to, though I can see growing numbers of women making effective use of maternity leave. I'd imagine more companies will continue coming up with ideas to get employees to use up their vacation time." (By Ryann Connell)

Boomerangs come back in space, Japanese astronaut finds

Another win for science on the International Space Station (ISS). Now lets see some practical uses for this discovery.

JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, Texas -- Japanese astronaut Takao Doi has thrown a boomerang in space and found, to the surprise of many, that it does come back.
The 53-year-old conducted an experiment aboard the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday, Japanese time, to see whether boomerangs fly back in space. Many had predicted that it wouldn't but Doi confirmed that it did indeed return to him.

"After finishing my duties on the eighth day, I threw it, and it did come back," he said.
Doi tested the boomerang in an American experimental module on the ISS, using a paper boomerang made by world boomerang-throwing champion Yasuhiro Togai. It was not immediately clear how the boomerang actually flew, but a photograph suggested that Doi had thrown it vertically, and it had returned to his hand.

"It flew just like on Earth, and I was really surprised and impressed," Doi was quoted as telling his wife.

It had been thought that gravity was necessary for a boomerang to return, and many people had expected that the boomerang would fly upwards if it was released in space.

Togai had asked Doi to carry out the experiment, and before Doi traveled into space he had asked Togai about how to throw the boomerang and how to adjust its flight path.

"I can't express how happy I am that a boomerang I made flew in space and came back," Togai said. "There's a possibility that gravity does not play a large role in the process of it coming back and that Doi adjusted its angle to match conditions in space. I think this will help spread the appeal of boomerangs."

Cherry blossoms start blooming in Tokyo

Finally, it is time to go and see the Cherry Blossoms. But as there are only up to 5 out in Tokyo maybe i should wait. That is right, this article was sparked by only five flowers starting to bloom. To a foreigner it seems abit silly to get so excited about five flowers. But i guess it is a very important and special time in Japan so when they start to bloom it is a big deal.


Cherry blossoms started to bloom in Tokyo on Saturday, according to the Meteorological Agency.


Cherry blossoms started blooming in Tokyo Saturday, six days earlier than usual but two days later than last year, the Meteorological Agency said.
The March 22 bloom is the ninth quickest start to the cherry blossom season since records began in 1953.
The agency announced that the national flower also started to bloom Saturday in Shizuoka and Kumamoto prefectures.
Tokyo's cherry blossoms are measured from Yasukuni Shrine in central Chiyoda-ku. As of Friday, three buds were found open, but the sun and warmth in the capital on Saturday opened five or six. About five or six officials have confirmed that there were blossoming flowers.
Cherry blossoms usually need about one week from the start of their bloom to become fully open.

Graduation Ceremony

Mami standing to graduate with her class
My girls after graduation, Mami and Naomi


It was very different from any graduation ceremony i have ever been to. But very interesting. I thought the students had to do alot of bowing and standing up in the practice but there was heaps more in the real thing. They werent able to fall asleep in the real ceremony like they could in the practice.

I actually felt abit emotional when i saw Naomi and Mami (my two fav students) graduating. It is not the same as graduating in a western country. Each individual's name is called out and they stand and bow. They also say "hi" which means yes when they stand. Then they remain standing and their class leader goes and collects all the certificates. Then they all bow and sit back down. A classic example of the group orientation of Japan. It was really awesome to see how it all worked.

Everything was precise. The walking was precise and so was the way the students moved when presented with the certificates.

I didnt sit in the hall but stood upstairs so that i could take some photos and videos. So when the third years were leaving - graduates walk out first, i went downstairs to greet Mami and Naomi. And Mami just collapsed in my arms and cried and cried and cried. I guess it was all the build up from exams and leaving school. Then Naomi came out and she cried too. We had a big group hug. I am so proud of them.

Then i headed to Naomi's classroom where i watched as their homeroom teacher handed out the certificates. I think it is better than the way we do it in Oz cause it is more personal. The homeroom teacher knows the students far better than the principal. And it was really nice cause the class cheered for each other. It just seemed more personal. I liked it very much. I had been into this homeroom a couple of times and the first time i was asked to introduce myself. So i did it in Japanese. This time Sato Sensei asked me to say something to the new graduates. I did. It was kinda embarrassing. I am not used to being put on the spot like that but all worked out well.

Then the students headed out to have lunch with their homeroom classmates. I guess i should explain that apart from the rare elective, all of their lessons would have been together for the past three years. They stay in their homeroom and the teachers come to them. It really builds comradry amoungst them. I like it much better than the system where students inthe homeroom are from different grades. I think that it is important for the older students to be a role model but I like the way that the students bond in the homerooms here. Then that night Naomi and her classmates went bowling. It was really a celebration with her classmates rather than her family. Which differs from Oz.

I really enjoyed learning about this part of Japanese school life.

Then i headed home for a nice long sleep. It was a saturday afterall.

A day of firsts...........

1. It was warm and i didnt have my heater on at all


2. I saw a Japanese person drop rubbish. (i have been here seven months and the place is spotless)

Pupils polish potties as elementary school graduation gift

Would never happen in Australia....This is incredible.

SAZA, Nagasaki -- Dozens of 6th grade pupils from Saza Municipal Elementary School got barefoot and cleaned the toilets at their school as a mark of gratitude for the six years of learning they obtained there.
The 68 pupils scrubbed the restrooms following an idea from local volunteer cleaners and worked under a motto of "scrubbing up your toilet will also scrub up your heart."
Initially, some children complained of the smells, but eventually most became absorbed by the task as they ground away at the cisterns with a scrubbing brush.
There was one reluctant girl chided for being "gutless" and another boy who remained frightened until the very end of the exercise to come into contact with a urinal, but another pupil was delighted when the job was over.
"It was like I could wash away my cowardice of the past together with the water we used," the pupil said.

I hate Japanese trains in peak hour

I really do hate the trains in peak hour. It is awful. So jammed in and if someone has eaten garlic then thats all you smell. Or when a Japanese person eats nori or seaweed paper for breakfast and then breathes on me then that is all the smell. Of course eat whatever you want for breaky but brush your teeth before you get on the crowded train. I have taken to riding my bike for 30 mins to get the my bus stop rather than go on the train for 10 mins plus wait time of course. Plus as a westerner i am used to having my own personal space and that is not the norm on these trains. Plus i have really small so i am at armpit level, which doesnt seem to be a problem because rarely do people have BO here. They dont seem to sweat at all. Anyway, but i get shoved in the face and stuff when we are being crunched so that a few more hundred people can fit on the train.

Another really strange thing is that you can push your way in. So if it looks full, you just turn around and use your bum to force people back so that you fit. It is not that hard because there are so many people that once you push one they all move. Thank god i only have to go two stops to work. Still gonna ride my bike though. And here if someone bangs into you they dont usually apologies, on the train i mean. It is so strange to be able to accidently smack someone across the back while fighting to get out of the train and not have to say sorry. I guess that is just how it is. But i always feel bad and to someone not used to it (which i am now), it sometimes seems rude. But once you have done it a few times it becomes like second nature. That said i will never get used to the lack of space on the trains. The pushing i can cope with.

The other thing i dont like is that the majority of people on the train seem to be men. And you always hear stories of girls being groped by men on the trains. I was late to school one day cause all the train stopped because a girl had been groped and had reported it and the man had run on the train lines to get away from the police. I found it quite uncomfortable being pressed up between three or four men all taller than me and bigger than me. Sometime they are standing with their front against my back and other times we are face to face. I find it all very uncomfortable. So i prefer to ride my bike. I mean imagine that...i prefer to do exercise. Crazy huh. This country is changing me.....

The reason i am writing this post is becuase i actually found an article in my online Japanese newspaper which talks about this. And it was very interesting that this older Japanese gentleman had some thoughts in common with mine.

How wandering hands on packed trains can land you in jail, hospital, or the grave
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/culture/waiwai/news/20080310p2g00m0dm003000c.html

Unbelievable

So i was just reading the online newspaper and a four year old boy fell onto a chopstick and it got lodged in his head and he died. That is awful and unbelievable. I didnt even know that was possible. I would never have thought that a chopstick could be that harmful. Chopsticks are everywhere here and of course in the rest of Asia as well. I guess it was inevitable that like knives and forks they would be dangerous at some point. How unlucky is this child and his parents. He was just eating cotton candy and then fell and the chopstick it was on went into his head. How awful!

It is strange the things you learn when its test week and you live in Japan. This year has been one huge learning curve. Some good and some bad. But all very worthwhile so far. And there are still 5 months to go or 141 days till end of contract. Thanks Nat for that info.

Verdict imminent in boy's chopstick death lawsuit
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080211p2a00m0na007000c.html

Fuchu Prison inmate commits suicide with chopstick

I didnt even know this was possible. How awful!!!!

A Fuchu Prison inmate in his 50s has committed suicide by stabbing himself in the head with a chopstick, prison officials said over the weekend.
The man stabbed himself in the back of the head with the sharp end of a broken chopstick on the night of Feb. 19.
He received treatment at a hospital in the Tokyo suburb of Fuchu, but died Sunday morning in the Fuchu Prison infirmary. An autopsy will be carried out Monday at Fuchu Police Station.
Prison officials said the man, whose identity has not been revealed, started serving his sentence at Fuchu in March 2006.

Astounding number of suicides in Japan

So i have been watching the news and reading the internet newspapers pretty closely lately. For reasons that i will be able to write about in a few months. But i find it quite alarming how many articles there are about suicide in Japan. Escpecially group suicide. I knew it happened and that it dates back to the Samurai and their honour. But the number is increasing here. Someone jumped in front of a train near my station earlier this year. Something i never would have expected in Australia. I mean look at how many links i have found just in one online newspaper for this week. I havent included them so you can read them just to show you how many there are. Of course you are welcome to click on them but it is abit depressing.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080310p2a00m0na006000c.html

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080226p2a00m0na010000c.html

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080219p2a00m0na015000c.html

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080212p2a00m0na022000c.html

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080305p2a00m0na009000c.html

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080303p2a00m0na005000c.html

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080228p2a00m0na018000c.html

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080303p2a00m0na002000c.html

Here are some of the amazing headlines in Japan today!!!!

Big breasts help actress to get conviction overturned
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080304p2a00m0na028000c.html

Tokyo teacher reveals the less-obvious benefits of a good screw
That's the screws like nuts and bolts, to clarify matters for those whose minds may have been in the gutter. He is writing a book on screws.....add that to your must read list.
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/culture/waiwai/news/20080305p2g00m0dm002000c.html

Japan's gray jail birds no spring chickens
The oldest prisoner at the facility, which is officially called CF Onomichi Midorigaoka to make it sound less harsh than a jail, is 89.
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/culture/waiwai/news/20080306p2g00m0dm016000c.html

Japanese Authority's Clean up Hits Sexual Cabaret Club

This is not for the faint hearted......

A friend of mine brought this to my attention back in Feb. It is incredible but not in a good way. And very gross!!!!

One of the most daring adult clubs in Osaka's Minami entertainment district has been shut down in what many say is the first strike in a campaign to clean up the area, according to Shukan Jitsuwa.Six of the hostesses and a male customer of the "sexual cabaret club" Impulse were arrested last month for indecent exposure after the workers allegedly labored while entirely nude and the patron exposed his genitals.

Those alleged acts aren't the only indecency that appears to have gone on at Impulse."As soon as you enter the club, a hostess will give you a hot towel that she has already used to swipe her private parts. You can start fondling the hostesses' breasts as soon as you sit down, but that's nothing.

You immediately get a drink, but it's a hostess's urine served on the rocks. They also serve tidbits sprinkled with cuttings of the workers' pubic hair," the employee of an adult entertainment introduction service tells Shukan Jitsuwa.

"They also had a service where the ice served in drinks is first inserted into the hostess's private parts. They just kept on getting wilder and wilder and I think they went too far in the end.

"Impulse strictly forbid the media from covering it, but word of the club's existence spread quickly and it was among the most popular establishments in Minami. Some say the arrests at Impulse signal the start of a clean-up of the entertainment district.

"That place was warned plenty of times in the past for going too far," a writer on the sex industry says. "I knew there'd eventually be arrests there some day."

Others defend Impulse, though."Sure, it stretched the limits, but it never really went beyond them. It didn't provide any sexual services that resulted in ejaculation and if there was any nudity going on, it was never anything more than a quick flash," the operator of a call girl service says. "Even its most raunchy stuff wasn't that serious. I think the arrests have been made to send a message to others."Reporters covering the Osaka Prefectural Police beat certainly think so.

"Some people are saying the tough line cops are taking on adult businesses in Minami will only go on until the end of this year. But I think they're wrong. I think this crackdown is going to keep on going for ages," a hack covering the Osaka police beat tells Shukan Jitsuwa.

"And the reason why I feel that is the cops working on Minami now are the same ones who carried out the massive clean-up a couple of years ago of the Kabukicho district in Tokyo."

Just to prove that strange stuff happens in places other than Japan.....

Cemetery full, mayor tells locals not to die

BORDEAUX, France (Reuters) - The mayor of a village in southwest France has threatened residents with severe punishment if they die, because there is no room left in the overcrowded cemetery to bury them.

In an ordinance posted in the council offices, Mayor Gerard Lalanne told the 260 residents of the village of Sarpourenx that "all persons not having a plot in the cemetery and wishing to be buried in Sarpourenx are forbidden from dying in the parish."

It added: "Offenders will be severely punished."
I wanna know how you punish a dead person........

The mayor said he was forced to take drastic action after an administrative court in the nearby town of Pau ruled in January that the acquisition of adjoining private land to extend the cemetery would not be justified.

Lalanne, who celebrated his 70th birthday on Wednesday and is standing for election to a seventh term in this month's local elections, said he was sorry that there had not been a positive outcome to the dilemma.

"It may be a laughing matter for some, but not for me," he said.

(Reporting by Claude Canellas, Writing by Andrew Dobbie; editing by Sami Aboudi)

"Girl" at school was 39-year-old man

This happened just this week in Saitama, which is where i live.

TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese man was arrested for trespassing this week after turning up at a high school dressed in a girl's uniform and a long wig, local police said.

Thirty-nine-year-old Tetsunori Nanpei told police he had bought the uniform over the Internet and put it on to take a stroll near the school in Saitama, north of Tokyo, on Wednesday, the daily Asahi Shimbun said.

When students standing outside the gates started to scream at the sight of him, he dashed inside the school grounds, hoping to blend in with the crowds of teenagers, the paper said.
Why did no one take a photo on their Keitai??? (mobile phone). The teenagers seem to have them glued to their hands......what a missed opportunity

They also screamed, forcing the man to flee, losing his wig in the process. A school clerk pursued him and stopped him at a nearby riverbank, the paper said.

Police confirmed the arrest of the man in school uniform and wig but declined to give further details.

(Reporting by Isabel Reynolds; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Graduation Ceremony Practice - wait till you see the videos

Conducting the school song
Sleeping students were everywhere

Learning how to sit
1st and 2nd yrs
Teaching students how to sit

Checking skirt lengths.

Okay so i bet you are thinking that this is not such a big deal. Just like our practices. NOT!!!!!!!

Firstly, all 1000 students had to go and practice. The first years (yr 11) had covered the gym floor with plastic stuff so that normal shoes can be worn in there. And put out all the chairs. This whole younger so the crap jobs should be put in place in Australia. Anyway, so all the students sit in their classes. The graduating class sits at the front, parents and teachers on the side and other students at the back. It was quite boring to start with. BUT that changed very quickly.

First came the sitting lesson from one of the teachers on the stage. The video i took is priceless. He shows them what not to do and what to do. Then he shows them where to put their hands. Boys in fists on their knees and girls crossed in their laps. There is no leg crossing here in Japan. All sit with their legs together and back straight. It was amazing to see 1000 students moving to get into correct sitting position. Then came the skirt length talk for the girls....and then they had to get up and change them back to long skirts. They roll them up to make them short.

Then came the best bit ever.....the practice of standing correctly. That's right you heard me correctly. The same teacher gave a demonstration of the way not to stand up and the appropriate way to stand. So when they say please stand....all 1000 students stand at the same time in the same way. It was incredible. I was above them with Sasaki Sensei who was laughing at me with another teacher cause i was so amazed. It was incredible. I will post videos later. And they even practiced it several times....i cant even imagine Australian students actually doing that....it would take forever....but here it took just 10 or so mins to get it right.

Then came alot of boring stuff. Then they announce the third year (yr 12) students who have never had an absent day in three years. And one of them was in a car accident and couldnt come to school for one year and then came back and never had a another day off in the three years. I thought this was quite strange to acknowledge but i guess that shows commitment. It is a very Japanese thing to do i think.

Then they sang their school song with another teacher conducting them from the stage. I dont know if he does that tomorrow but it was incredible. So much like the military. The song even sounds like a military song. Then they sang Alde Lang song (whatever it is called). The new years song. They of course sang it in Japanese. All these little song sheets appeared out of their jacket pockets. Not to be seen until necessary. It was all so precise. It was amazing. I cant wait to see the real thing tomorrow. I am not going to sit in the gym though i am gonna go up near the band. Above the rest of the people so i can video etc. Plus it is really long and i am not good at sitting still for that long. So i will need to move around which i can do up there.

Another great learning experience in Japan.

The screaming teacher.....

So yesterday i was sitting in the language lab, probably not working. I cant really remember. And i heard this male voice shouting at someone. Of course it is really fast so it is beyond my Japanese level. Boy was it fast. And it was loud. Kinda reminded me of those WW2 movies with the shouting Japaneses soldiers. He sounded really scary like they do in the movies. Anyway, so i asked someone what was going on and Gomi Sensei said that he was yelling at her because she had dyed her hair. Abit of an overreaction is probably what you are thinking. However, she also tried to convince him that it was her natural color. It was the slightly brown. I think he was more angry that she lied to him about her natural colour.

But the most amazing thing was that he was screaming at her in the hall and she was surrounded by teachers. Two males and one female. Plus the screaming one. I mean everyone could see and hear what they were saying. She wasnt crying but she was close.

Now back to the overreaction thing......perhaps to a westerner this would seem abit of an overreaction. It did to me. The lying thing would have made me mad in Australia. But this is not Australia. The hair colour thing is very important here because appearance is very important here. And on saturday is the Graduation ceremony. So they all have to have black hair for that.

I am not sure how i feel about it. I kinda feel like saying "well who cares...it wasnt that different" but here it really matters. I guess thats just one of the many differences between Oz and Japan. It did feel like an overreaction to yell like that about hair colour and lying. Very rarely do we yell at students like that in Australia. In High School at least. Or at my High School where i worked. But then again, I couldnt understand the words she said so maybe she was really rude. Who knows......

Just another interesting experience to add to the many i have had in Japan.

Peach and Plum Blossom Viewing with Amy

They had Japanese harp playing while we walked around and looked at the blossoms. It was like in the movies. And Amy had never seen them before so that was special for her.