Playing the Licence Game!

I call this 'playing the licence game' because getting your licence in Japan as a foreigner has very little to do with actual driving skill, and is more about remembering their rules to perfection, and 'acting' them out.
This is my friend Erinn, and she is an experienced driver, and the holder of a U.S.A licence, but she needed to get her Japanese licence to drive here as a resident. We had been warned by other licence 'hopefuls' that it was a long and tedious process..but going through it yourself gives it a different light! She is one of the lucky ones, she got her licence in 2 tries! Oops...did I give away the ending??
Bear with me as I explain the technicalities and frustrations in gaining freedom on the roads.

Round No.1:
It started two years ago when Erinn found out she was pregnant with her fourth child. After a few months of gathering necessary documents and getting translations of her licence, we set out
on the one and a half hour journey, over hills, over plains (literally!) to the Prefectural Licence Centre. Erinn had high hopes of returning home with her brand new licence that day...although I was a little more skeptical knowing the Japanese system and their need to make everything drag out for no apparent reason.....and unfortunately, I was right.
She was not even allowed to apply for the licence because she didn't have enough days in the States driving (a minimum of 3 months is required). So she was sent home with no progress at all.
In the car on the way home Erinn, being pregnant and emotional at the time, burst into tears and blurted out some things that I cannot repeat here. Then she said something about the officer saying, 'I'll pretend I didn't hear that...'. She relayed the story to me, and I put my hand over my mouth and said, 'Erinn, you said that to the POLICE???!'....Erinn then looked at me in horror and said, 'They were the POLICE???? I thought they were just government workers!'.....ooopss...
So, after that set back, Erinn went back to the States that summer to make up the rest of the days out of Japan.

Round No.2:
One year after the baby was born, it was time to try again.
Once again we set off on the long journey....This time they took the papers and said they would call us when they had officially checked them out. A three hour journey just to hand in papers! Yep, we were frustrated.

Round No.3:
The call finally came! So we set off again to sit the test!
This time things seemed to run a little smoother. We were lucky enough to get a kind officer who explained things really well and let me sit in on most of the proceedings.
First she had to sit a written test. There were 10 questions, with one practice question at the top. We did the practice question, then I was asked to leave the room for the test. I waited outside hoping Erinn would get them all right. When she had finished she said, 'Ok, I am ready for the real test now.'......The Police officer said, 'Um...that WAS the real test!'.....!! I felt a lump in my throat and thought, 'Oh no!'...but the officer soon relieved our fears when he said she got 100 percent! Phew....
Next was the driving test!

The Officer was very kind and said that he would drive us around the course once before the test. This would give us a huge advantage on knowing what it is they are really looking for, and also help us to remember the course better. Other friends who have (and some still ARE) been through the licence nightmare were very jealous when they heard...they were told they had to walk the course without any juicy tips from the Officers.

We battered him with questions as he went around, and he explained everything in great detail for us. (I say 'us' because he let me ride in the car too! Yippee! He said it was because he wanted someone to translate...but that was another thing we had never heard of!)

So, after the joy ride...it was time to put Erinn to the test.

He turned around to me and said, 'This time we should go around quietly'...how tactful of him. I bit my lip as Erinn took off...with the occasional grunt or attempt at sign language to warn her of pending mistakes. Straight after the test, we sat in the car and he proceeded to tell us how she lost points for being too 'smooth' (translation: too good a driver). He basically said, 'You drive like someone who has been driving for a long time and have many bad habits.' She would turn and change lanes in the same swift action, instead of turning then making the change two separate actions. Basically....she failed.

Round No.4:
One week later.

This time was different. No more nice Officer taking the time to tell us everything. Erinn was placed with the rest of the rat race....and told to wait in line.

While we were waiting we met with a woman from Thailand who was there taking the test for the 7th time. This made us nervous. Erinn waited her turn, and the Thai lady went first. We watched from the waiting room, and she looked fine. But...she failed again and went straight home. Next was Erinn.

The days before, she had spent most of her driving time criss-crossing over lanes and turning up narrow streets in preparation for the test. Look, indicate, 3 seconds, look back, look ahead, pull over....Look, indicate, 3 seconds, look back, look ahead, pull over....Look, indicate, 3 seconds, look back, look ahead, pull over....look...Yep...she was driving like an old lady. I was so glad I was not behind her!

Off she went, at snail speed, doing everything as she had been told. She even remembered the course, which was a miracle considering she still gets lost going to her own Dad's place!
I sat waiting inside praying she would get it right!!

When she pulled up at the end, the officer just told her to get out of the car, so she got out of the car and looked left and right, then got back in again, thinking it was still a test. The officer looked at her strangely and said, 'OK...Go wait inside'...I could see Erinn's head nodding in realisation, 'Oh!'...and she came back inside. She still didn't know if she had passed!! So we waited...and waited...until finally the Officer came inside, after testing a few more people an hour later, and said, 'Congratulations, go to the window and hand in these forms..'....time for a squeal..woohoo..yippee!! Then the Officer stopped and looked at her feet. 'Are those the shoes you were wearing?' He asked. 'Sure', said Erinn. 'Oh, If I had known THAT I wouldn't have passed you!'. Then he walked off. Erinn and I sat there stunned holding our breath. She was wearing backless clogs!! Oh well, all is well that ends well!!!
After another one hour wait, she was finally the proud owner of a Japanese Licence!!
Congratulations Erinn! Well done for not giving up!
If you are trying to get your licence in Japan, here is a site that might help you:
http://www.supermelf.com/japan/ajetdrivingbook/index.htm
Good Luck!

Cherry Blossoms

Many of you have heard of the beauty of the Cherry Blossoms in Japan, and may have seen some pictures. I don't really think you can understand the enormity of it until you come here and experience it for yourself. When I first heard the phrase, 'Cherry Blossom Viewing', I imagined people standing around taking a quick look at one or two trees in their gardens. The reality is quite different! Cherry Blossom viewing in Japan is a National event, and has much significance to the people. The weather report has a special section reserved just for the 'Blossom Report', where they tell us when and where they will bloom. The first blossom of the season in Kyushuu is watched closely and reported with great anticipation on the news. Once that happens, the count-down is on as they start to bloom progressively North up the Country.
Once they bloom people take their blue ground sheets and mark their spots under the trees for their viewing picnics. It is common for them to have a BBQ under the trees until late in the evening so they can enjoy 'Yo-Zakura', night viewing, too. There are many places that hold festivals around this time, and most people look forward to it as the first chance to get outside and enjoy nature since the long winter began months before. The trees are usually planted close together filling a garden, or lining a street. In our area there are so many places to go to walk or picnic under them, that I can never see them all in one season, even though I usually go everyday for that week.
The Cherry Blossoms have great significance and sentimentality for the Japanese people. Their blossoms are stunning and only last for one week before falling graciously to the ground, signifying the short nature of life. Not only do they affirm the coming of Spring, but the Japanese School Entrance Ceremonies and the beginning of the working year coincide with the Cherry Blossom's Blooming, so they often represent new beginnings. There is something comforting and hopeful about the Blossoms. In my life they seem to mark the passing of time. When they bloom, I am always surprised that another year has passed, kind of like Christmas might for those back home. It is a time for old friends to get together. I always get calls from my old friends who travel out to meet me and picnic under the trees, and every year they leave with sentiments of meeting again before the next blooming...but the Cherry Blossoms always seem to bloom first.
I have often wondered why the plum was not given as much glory, but I read that in China the plum was considered more worthy of adoration, and Japan chose the Cherry. China introduced the ornamental Cherry tree to Japan in the Heian Period (794-1191), and the Lords were known to have practiced 'Hanami' (Blossom Viewing) even then. The plum blossoms in Japan are still admired, but they are more as John the Baptism was to Jesus, the messenger to the main event. The Cherry trees are purely ornamental, bearing no fruit, whereas the plum bears green fruit that the Japanese use to pickle, despite the fact that the tree is called an ornamental plum.
(Left: Plum Farm) Many songs and poems have been written about the Cherry Tree, or Sakura, and they have given this small country much joy.

Facts retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_blossoms

Fitting in...

Just when you think you are fitting in and starting to feel like Japan is 'home', someone reminds you that you don't belong here. I was told when I first arrived here that now matter how long I am here, I will always be a foreigner. At the time I didn't understand, because then I DID feel like a foreigner. I was clearly not Japanese! I wondered if they thought I was mistaken that I would evolve one day? I thought it was a strange thing to say. Now, I do understand. When you live in a foreign country for a long time, you usually try to adopt the customs and learn the language as much as you can, and after a while you begin to feel you belong and don't stand out. Sometimes you even forget that you are different, and feel like 'one of them'. My good American friend said to me the other day, 'Foreigner? I don't feel like I foreigner!', and that is how most of us feel. However, it is usually only when someone tells you that you don't fit in here that you are reminded of your own foreignness....then, life goes on again.
Recently, however, it has been harder to bounce back. Those of you who know me well will know that I have been going through severe homesickness for the past two years now. You will also know that I hardly went through it at all for the first 13 years here. I love Japan, and have always enjoyed living here, but sometimes I long for the friends and family of home... I even long for the very soil of home!
When I started this blog I intended to share my life in Japan with all it's struggles and joys. As I look back over the blog what I have written makes my life appear full of excitement (which indeed it IS!). It is an unbalanced picture. There are many obstacles living in this country, and most of them I have conquered and forgotten, but I think it is important to share about my struggles too.
This is an account of something that happened in a Donut shop in our town with 2 of my 'foreign' friends. It is not overly discriminatory, but, if we were Japanese, this lady wouldn't have behaved this way. It is common to get unkind stares, or even 'kind' ones, so we are used to attention, but this kind of confrontation we can do without:
My friends and I were in the Donut shop waiting to be served. There were about 5 or 6 ladies in front of us. They were spread out over the whole counter so we couldn't tell who was being served and who wasn't. How un-Japanese of them, not to form a line! One of the register's opened up and the staff called out, 'Next please'. We waited for the ladies in front to make a move and looked around to see who was next. No one responded and the lady in front of us was talking on her cell phone. The girl behind the counter called out again and the people behind us started to shuffle, so we stepped up and gave our orders. As soon as we did, the lady on the phone hung up and stared at us in disgust. Obviously she thought we had pushed in, but Mister Donuts waits for no man.....oh well. Ignoring her looks we sat down to eat, and the same lady with her friends came and sat right behind us, dirty looks and all. Unfortunately for them, they were unaware that we are well trained in brushing off intimidation and have perfected pretending not to understand. This is a skill most foreigners acquire after their first year.
The whole shop was busy with laughter and conversation, and we were happy to contribute. Suddenly, the lady behind us whipped around and yelled, 'Urusai na!' (Shut up!) at us! At that point I was the one talking, and you know that it takes a lot to interrupt me and cause me to stop mid-sentence. So I eyed her, then my friends and continued talking as if nothing had happened. We chose to ignore it and carry on, as good foreigners do. Don't make a scene. Don't confront them. Carry on pleasantly. Besides, we had lots to catch up on. In Japanese culture people rarely make a scene, and almost never confront anyone, even if the behaviour IS deserving. We assumed she wouldn't embarrass herself anymore, and her friends continued talking loudly with her. After a few more minutes, she turned around and yelled 'Shut up!!!' in English. We continued trying to ignore her and they soon got up and left. What a strange confrontation. After they left one of our kids finally relaxed and asked why that lady was so upset. It was quite unpleasant for everyone.
I would like to say, 'So, there is unpleasant experience number one...', unfortunately, it is more like number 2,026!! Some of my experiences are funny, and some of my friend's experiences unbelievable...but as I remember them, I will share more! Better go, time for a raw egg and seaweed for breakfast....

Christmas in Japan

Let me explain a little about Christmas in Japan. Christmas is a fairly new thing in Japan. When I first arrived in 1992 it consisted mainly of a few decorations around the shops and chicken legs and cream cake for Christmas Eve. Mainly young couples celebrated it then, and Christmas Eve was considered an important 'date night' where women were often presented with jewelery, and taken out to an expensive restaurant by their dates. These days it has become more of a family event where they eat Christmas cream cake on Christmas eve. The shops now stock elaborate decorations and we can even buy a Turkey! People have also started decorating their houses with Christmas lights and some of the displays are really beautiful.
Click here to see the Kobe Luminarie

Christmas day itself is still not a big event. It is not a public holiday, and families do not get together on this day. There are no church services as most people have to work. All the shops are open but none of them will sell any Christmas goods, they are all put away the morning after Christmas Eve and by opening time on Christmas day they have replaced them with New Year's decorations. Our church has a Christmas service the Sunday before Christmas day, and some churches have Carol Services on Christmas Eve.
I often have Christmas parties for my students, and here are some photos of a party for my Children's class. Most of my foreigner friends have learned to cope with being away from family during Christmas, and one way of doing this is celebrating it together, with our good friends. Our spouses don't have the same feelings as us about how Christmas should be spent, but they understand it is important to us, just as New Year's is important to them. Check out the photos of our parties on my main blog Times to Remember.

Sports Day

Sports Day's in Japan are a big event. The teachers spend months planning it to perfection, then the kids practice for it for at least a month beforehand. They are out there in the hot hot sun all day. It is not an athletic event like we would expect, but more of a 'games day'. The school is divided up into 2 teams. The red team and the white team. The sports caps the children buy for P.E. at the beginning of the year are reversible, white or red. This year my boys were both on the red team, which was fortunate for me as some families had kids in both teams and they had to run around the field trying to take pictures of all their kids! The events are then divided up by grade level. Each grade has about 4 events that they participate in. So for us, that means 8 events to watch and 2 events to join in as parents. I joined in the 'Tamaire', which is throwing balls into a basket 5 metres overhead. More balls fell on my head than went in the basket I am sure! The team with the most balls wins. We lost one, we won one. Shibby joined the 'tug of war'. They lost...boo hoo....
Jo had to roll an enormous ball along the field and around a cone which looked like fun (??), and I have some pictures of that, but no video as Shibby took the wrong kid! (Nice...). He also had a 50 metre run, where he was more concerned about the kid next to him, like he was asking him, 'Where are we going?? Shall I follow you...?'...! Very cute. He also had a dance he had to do and some other things I forgot already.
Ken had a 'pole pull' where the team has to pick up a pole and carry it over their line, but the other teams tries to pull it over their line and well, it is a lot of fun. Ken just went over to the team that was winning anyway, and when we asked him why he didn't help the teams that were struggling he said, 'They always run away when I get there...', nobody likes to lose. He had a 100 metre race, and he is no longer afraid of the pistol now so he can run without his hands over his ears...we are very proud...?!? He had to do a dance as well, and he was the best I must say.

The whole day took from 9am to 3pm under the hot hot sun.....why they don't have it in November I will never work out! We fell asleep under the tree during lunch time to the horror of my Japanese friends. Serious business this Sports Day.....! It is a really tiring day, but a lot of fun too. They could do without all the boring speeches from the local council members, but the rest was fun. Everyone had to take a packed lunch, and all the women try and compete as to who can make the best lunch box. I used to make everything from scratch too when I was young and impressionable, but now I just buy the goodies and heat them. We had hamburger patties, fried chicken, corn, egg roll and rice with fruit. Yum. It was so hot though that I didn't eat half of mine! The kids went through one litre of water each and I had to keep filling up their bottles.
This year was Jo's first Sports Day at his school, so it was easy for us to only have to go to one! Enjoy the photos.

At the end of the day, the red team lost....boo hoo....but it was a great effort.Jo rolling his big ball

Ken running the race

Ken's tug of war

Jo doing his dance, he's the one right in the centre of the picture

Ken doing his dance, he is right in the centre

Ken and his friend Masayuki

Ken pulling the pole

Jo running his race, he is the second from the left

Festivals

This is something the Japanese really know how to do well. Everyone loves a festival and the Japanese are no exception. Every summer they hold hundreds of festivals all over the country. You can pretty much guarantee a festival every weekend if you know where to go. Every City has one, every town and every area. Some are famous, some are not. The large festivals have huge fireworks displays which are always a lot of fun. The largest one in the Kansai Area is the PL fireworks. They let off 120,000 fireworks every event...that's 1714 fireworks every MINUTE of the event! I used to go every year, but it got harder with the kids and Shibby working all the time...but it is sooo worth looking at. Here is the last 8 minutes on video from 2006...watch to the end Finale...it is sooo incredible! The whole sky turns red and white. I was so moved when I saw it for the first time live. Some parts get a little hard to see due to the smoke..but it gets really good near the end and I would love for you to see what we get to see every year!
Click here: PL Fireworks (Thanks to whoever made that video......!)
Oh, I just watched it again...it is so good!
Back to festivals...our local festival was last week, they hold it at the school every year and it is always a lot of fun, but the one we really don't want to miss is our city festival, the Kinokawa Festival. They have a fireworks display too, but no-where near as good as PL, but still impressive for our little 'ol town! We can see them from our balcony if you want to come and sip some wine with us. It is held on the 15th of August every year. When the kids were small we used to stay home and have a BBQ on our veranda and watch them from there, but now they are bigger they want to go where the 'action' is..! There is nothing like lying on a grassed hill right underneath these huge fireworks displays with a beer and cheap crappy hot dog! Bliss! Under the huge fireworks displays they usually have endless stalls that sell all kinds of Japanese food and games for the kids. Goldfish fishing, ball fishing, balloon fishing, throwing hoops etc etc. There is often the 'Bon Dance', which is a religious dance they have to send off their ancestors. They all dance around in a circle, and it looks a little like the hokey tokey to Japanese music....and looks just as fun. But the main reason for the festivals is to get all the people together. This is one night that all the locals come out and have fun together. The young girls dress up in Yukata and look so pretty! But there are always so many people....everywhere...people, people, people.....it is really tiring, but energizing at the same time. So, fireworks or not, festivals are a lot of fun and a great way to enjoy the cool summer night air. If you are in Japan between July to the end of October I highly recommend you experience this pagan event at least once! You will see a completely different side of Japan.

Natsu bate

This is a word that you soon learn if you are living in Japan during the summer. 'Natsu' means 'summer' and 'Bate' comes from the verb 'bateru' which means 'to tire or wilt'...(I think!). Either way, if you have ever had it, no translation is necessary! Basically it means that you lose your appetite, you drink but cannot quench your thirst, you are lethargic all the time and have no energy. It is hard at first to know you have it because you feel fairly 'normal' but wonder why you have no energy to do anything! Then someone will tell you, 'You have Natsubate'. Putting a name on it makes it easier to bear somehow...and works for a good excuse to get out of unpleasant appointments. You tell anyone here, 'I have Natsubate' and they will say, 'Oh, that's terrible, you should lie down and avoid cold drinks...'. I have never had to 'fake' Natsubate as I usually get it anyway! Actually, I have it right now. It took me a few days to work it out as it hasn't 'felt' that hot. You know it's hot here when you sit still but still feel the sweat running down your back. But it hasn't been that hot yet so I thought I would be OK. But after 3 days of no appetite, lethargy and thirst, I have decided I have Natsu bate. The easiest way to get it is by going through sudden climate changes, like travelling by train in the air conditioning then walking outside, only to go into an air conditioned building moments later. The sweat glands close off when in the air conditioning and take a while to respond to the change in temperature. That means when you go outside in the heat your body doesn't adjust to the temperature quickly enough to let you sweat.....and most of you know not sweating is a bad thing. Well, I haven't done that, actually we have only used the air conditioner once this summer so far, but I got it anyway! The joys of summer in Japan.....

Something I will miss...

Japan is great for it's technology! This is one of the things that I will miss when we leave this country. 3 weeks ago our gas water heater broke down. We were expecting it to go sooner or later as it hadn't been replaced for 17 years! Not a bad run. While we were umming and ahhing about what to do, 3 weeks passed and we got used to having no hot water. Last Thursday we finally decided to get a new one. I had my first shower and bath in 3 weeks!! Don't worry, I did have sponge baths until then...! It was sooo nice to feel clean again though! It is pretty much the same as our last one... it allows you to set the water level for the bath from 100 litres to 350 litres, and the temperature of the water. It fills the bath for you, then tells you when it is ready. It then keeps it warm for you for as long as you set it for. It also has a timer so you can set it to be ready for when you get home. The benefits of the new one are that it has a wider range of settings, and an alarm button for when you want someone to bring you a Vodka in the bath...at least, I THINK that's what it is for!! The water is now heated a lot faster than before too. It pretty much comes hot out of the tap now, whereas before we had to wait for at least a minute. The pressure is a lot better as well, and for some reason my skin and hair feel a lot softer now! Maybe I just forgot what shower's felt like?!?! There is one digital panel in the bath, and one in the kitchen, so I don't even have to leave the stove to put the bath on! The only thing I have to teach it to do is put the plug in...! Yeah....I WILL miss this place...!

'Obachan's' (Grandma's) Dance

This is a traditional Japanese Buyo dance. My mother-in-law has been learning this dance for some years now...and I think she is really good! She is very particular about the style and hand-movements and it shows in her precise actions. She usually does a dance with beautiful fans, but this time they were using 'tenugui' cloth. Each time they buy a new kimono just for the dance so she has over 30 now. Apparently 30 is not very many according to her! This dance show was in Sakai's Civic Hall that seats 1,500 people. I was very impressed!

Beauty all around...

Here's a shot of the countryside just out the back of our house. We were on the way to horse riding so took some shots of the rice fields. This is a very beautiful time of year...the new bright green colours of new leaves and freshly planted rice fields are breathtaking sometimes. In a month this field will be so green you won't be able to see the water at all. Now is 'frog season'...when you pass these fields in the evening the sound of the ribbiting frogs is almost deafening! One of the reasons I love going to horse riding is the beautiful scenery we pass on the way to get there. It reminds me so much of the roads I used to drive out the back of Howick...before all those houses were built there! Minus the rice fields of course! I love the feeling of freedom driving past all that nature!

The Wierder....

What's the new Pepsi flavour?? Anyone guess?? I heard one good guess, 'lettuce'...mmmm, just as gross but the answer was Cucumber!! Yuk!
Can you believe it???
But I haven't tried it so I can't really judge....

The Wierd...

Pizza Quiz.

And the winner is....
Well, what can I say?? You guys are so much fun!! I really enjoyed reading your fun answers. Some of you really got into it. I hope you had fun guessing!
The answer is...MELON.... huge chunks of it!
Disappointed?? Well, I was shocked to see it come around the table that's for sure! How did it taste? Well, it wasn't awful....just a little like eating dessert with cheese on it! Mmmm...I am one who dips her fries into her chocolate sundae at McDonalds so maybe I'm not a good judge of taste...but everybody else said it was good too! Not something I would order again..but I survived! hehe... The shocking part (for me) is that when I told Shibby the answer..he was really disappointed..he said, 'But that is so ordinary'! on pizza?? ok......
So who won??
Kris! You finally guessed Melon!
Robyn, you were clever to come up with Canteloupe, but that's the ORANGE melon!!
Your mum Carolyn caught on quick and got it with 'Honey Dew Melon'...on the nail!...maybe you two should share?? hehe.
Look forward to your Choc coming in the mail! Congratulations!!
Ready to play again??? There's a new Pespi Cola out now with the wierdest flavour.......!

The Wonderful...

Some of you may think the rainy season sounds horrible...but it does bring it's pleasures. You may be wondering what the yellowish/green blob is in the picture on the left...? It's my pathetic attempt at getting a picture of a FIRE FLY! With the rain come the fire flies. This picture of course doesn't do them justice. There are thousands of them all flying around the river, and they look like mini shooting stars. Quite mesmerising! They fly around so gently and their lights fade on and off in a pulse, it feels like magic! The kids love to catch them. Often they just fly into your hands. Of course, we don't take them home because they only live one night or two and need to find their mate before morning.
We have a river just below our house that has a few, but the river near Erinn's (about 10 mins away) is so full of them! The locals have taken pains to preserve the river just for the fire flies. If any of you are in the area around June I would LOVE to take you!

Culture in a nutshell......ok, or a huge space capsule...(?)

OK, here's something to write. Today is the first day of the rainy season. How do I know? No, not because I saw my first centipede in the house (that was last year), no, not because I can see fireflies zipping around my house (they live in the river...and I don't have one of those in my garden). And the most obvious of them all....NO, not because it is raining. Actually, it IS raining, and it's definitely the rainy-season rain, the way it falls so gently so as not to disturb, and the way the sky is a bright gray colour all day, and the way the humidity in the air builds up so that you sweat uncomfortably and when it finally rains you breathe a sigh of relief because at least the rain brings a muggy breeze. But those are not the reasons I KNOW it's the rainy season. I know because they announced it on the news this morning....and my neighbour was gardening in the rain so I said 'working in the rain today are we?'..and she said, 'yeah, it will be raining a while from now on so....' . So, that settles it. Cultural update: everything about the weather is announced on the news here. Oh sure, back home they tell us the weather too, but here it is a little more detailed. I mean it had been raining all week last week and I asked someone, 'So has the rainy season started?' and they replied, 'No, not yet.' I asked, 'How do you know?'. She said, 'Because they haven't announced it on the news yet.'. So there you go. The news caster will also tell you when to change your clothes. If you come here in May you will see a lot of Japanese walking around with long sleeves, even though the temperature is 30 degrees Celsius. This is because the news caster hasn't told them to change to their summer clothes yet. I am one of the ones who gets into her no-sleeve shirts at the slightest hint of sun, so they are continuously asking me, 'Aren't you cold?'......?? I have given up replying 'IT'S 30DEGREES!!', because I know they just want me to conform to the gospel of the weatherman. I can tell you it really freaks them out when my dad comes over in December (winter here) and walks around in shorts and t-shirts. Personally, I think it is just an Aussie pride thing...he he!
So, this next month we should get all our rain for the summer and the rice fields will soak most of it up.

Off to a good start!

Ok, so I started this page and got writer's block straight away...typical....
You'll just have to wait until I think of something funny to say. Once I get going it wont stop so then who'll be complaining...??!!!