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Counting down

December 2001

It's been a while since I stepped onto the plane that whisked me from my familiar life in Queensland to my quite different existence in Japan. I haven't been back to Australia at all these past 16 months. I didn't really think I missed it until I booked the ticket that will take me home next Friday, when I realised how much I'm looking forward to seeing everyone. Next Friday, I can reset the counter as I journey back across the equator and touch down in sunny Brisbane. It won't quite be red carpet or kissing the tarmac as I arrive, but it'll be nice.

I've only got 12 days in Australia, though, and they're looking busy. Christmas, family, friends, the dentist, shopping, and a wedding... this is supposed to be a holiday! In an effort to create an opportunity to catch up with everyone and have a good time, I'm going to go to the beach on Sunday DECEMBER 29. Meet at the cinemas at PACIFIC FAIR AT NOON, have some lunch in the food hall, maybe a quick bit of shopping for anyone who wants to. Then we can wander over to the beach, a short walk away, have a swim and hang out for a while. When we're done, we can either go and have some dinner nearby, maybe catch a movie or play some pool, or possibly go back to my place in Labrador for a BBQ and a few quiet ones on the deck. It's pretty flexible and relaxed, we'll just see how we go.

If you think you can make it, even just for a little while, let me know, email is fine. If you can't but still want to catch up, email me and we'll work something out. Remember that it's easy to get to Pac Fair by train and bus. Friends who aren't getting this email directly are welcome, too. Hope to see you there!

When I get back to Japan on January 2, I won't be pulling my mini Pajero into the same carpark or tramping up four flights of stairs to the two-room apartment I've lived in since August 2001. It's time not only for a holiday, but for a change as well - I'm moving house! My current residence is the teachers' apartment block, owned by the Nishiiya Board of Education and used only by local teachers. When I arrived last year, a new apartment block was just being finished about 50 metres away from my balcony. I had the chance to get in when the new flats were first available, but the teachers' apartments are cheap and I didn't know whether I'd stay until 2004 or not, so I didn't try to get my hands on one at the time. (There was also the issue of the building being painted pink, but I'm over it). Now that I'm here for the long haul, it's a good time to shift to something more roomy. A flat became available just last week, a bit more expensive but quite satisfactory. I'll be moving before I go back to Oz. Housewarming party in January! All welcome in room 602!

My new address from January will be:

David Cowland-Cooper
Hikyo Furusato Danchi #602
413 Ichiu Nishiiyayama-son
Miyoshi-gun, Tokushima-ken
778-0101
JAPAN

There'll be little time to settle in and enjoy my new flat, however, because January is when the musical goes into full swing. My village is organising a ski trip to one of Japan's best ski grounds on the 11th, but I can't go - musical rehearsal! Arrrgh! It'll be worth it, once we're on stage, but next year I'll hopefully be able to let someone else do the work and work on my snowboarding. For now, I'm lined up for some choreography and a minor role as a referee in our copyright-flaunting-but-very-amateur-and-non- profit-so-who-cares educational production, Harry Potter and the Blackmailed Beckham. We held our auditions just this past Sunday. The script needs a lot of work, and I'm damned if I have to dance to Ricky Martin just because we have a soccer scene, but it's looking like we're on track. Hitting the stage in March, less than three months away, eek!

I might have been more partial to Ricky Martin, and possibly gotten more than a bit part, if I'd had more to drink at the Christmas Party the night before the auditions. Having made the decision to drive, I couldn't drink much at all (zero tolerance in Japan!), but I'm happy to say that my fellow revelers more than made up for me. Having the party at an indoor pool was a great idea, but the festive spirit was maybe a little too much for some, who, in their merriment, jumped into the water but forgot to keep any clothes on. Having kept all of my own clothes on, I nevertheless had my own story to tell the next day.

At night's end, I made the drive back to a friend's house with a few friends in the car. A mini Pajero, though a 4-wheel drive, is quite compact. Two people in the front, quite comfy. A third in the back, not too bad. Four is a bit tight. Five sees the people in the back sitting slightly on each other. My previous best effort in the Pajero was five with all their luggage, which I thought I'd never better (and didn't really want to try, just for the record!). Saturday night's six, with my luggage, a stereo, and three of the tallest boys in the prefecture... well, suffice to say that we were talking about going for the world record over breakfast the next day! Maybe in someone else's car. :)

I also caught the new Harry Potter film on Friday night, so my weekend was a good one, all up, and a nice way to wind down a bit after the previous weekend's stress. I had my Japanese test in Osaka on December 1. It wasn't a particularly high level test, Level 3, but I've been busy and tired lately and hadn't done enough study to feel comfortable about sitting it. Being able to get by and have conversations in everyday life is one thing, but knowing the difference between this Chinese character and that, or which particle is appropriate to which sentence structure, is quite another. It didn't go badly, per se, but I wouldn't be surprised to be sitting it again next year. It'll take another couple of years and some serious study after that to make the grade at Level 2, but that's a decent goal, not least because Level 2 is the sort of standard which allows you to get language-dependent jobs. Now, if only I could stop falling asleep when I want to study. :)

Despite the looming test, the day before was fun. I arrived in Osaka and was met off the bus by a friend who was raised in Nishiiya. Like many young people, she moved to Osaka when she finished high school to get a job and an education. Masako is studying dance and sports recreation - I'm quite jealous! - and has lots of ideas for her future. It was great to spend the afternoon with her. Parting ways at Osaka's main train station, a quick journey south brought me to the doorstep of a couple I met at the onsen near my apartment. I don't usually strike up quick friendships with naked men, but Yamamoto-sensei is a school principal and his wife is also a teacher, they seemed okay. They were very kind to take me in for a night so I could get to my Japanese exam on time the next morning. In fact, without them, I probably wouldn't have found my way there at all! What's more, they have two sons about my age, both soccer crazy, and I hope I'll get to hang out with them in the new year. So never mind the exam. Pass or fail, being in good company made the trip worthwhile.

It was the same philosophy which saw me in Osaka just the week before, as well, with my Awa Odori group. Our last performance of the year, before breaking for the winter, was at a reunion for Tokushima natives who have worked in Osaka. I spent 8 hours on a bus that day, going to and returning from the big city, but it was great to have a dance and join in with everyone. They're great people. Shame I couldn't stay the night and party on with the boys in Osaka, but I had to go to work the next day.

I woke up to go work this morning and was met by the season's first snowscape. It was predicted to happen this week, but I was still surprised to see it. It is still a bit foreign to me, the very idea of snow, let alone it being everywhere. It's falling outside even as I type. No snow on the Gold Coast, I guess, but when I get back to Japan in January, it'll likely be quite deep. I think my dose of Australian sunshine will be enough to see me through the long cold Iya winter. Bring on the beach!

Once again, hope to see you at the beach on DECEMBER 29. In the meantime, my very warmest wishes of the season to everyone, and thanks to all those of you who write back to me once in a while. That's what really keeps me going through the winter. I'm sure that meeting everyone this Christmas will recharge my batteries for the next winter, too. Merry Christmas!

Lots of love,

Dave