tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-158192802012-02-17T12:34:23.350+09:00How it's going, like.Cantyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04166113703271997300noreply@blogger.comBlogger271100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15819280.post-40911117721851413582010-06-03T09:55:00.004+09:002010-06-03T10:02:54.179+09:00

At the same time I was in North Korea Sue Lloyd Roberts was there making a film for newsnight. Watch part 1:Watch part 2:Now I understand why I'm not a journalist. I was calling our host "guides" rather than "minders". She asked them a lot more difficult questions too.

Cantyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04166113703271997300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15819280.post-38918914463929043542010-05-26T09:43:00.005+09:002010-05-26T11:25:35.593+09:00

Why North Korea?I had some free time and therefore wanted to go on a trip, but didn't want to go too far from Japan. So I looked on the map. Korea is Japan's nearest neighbour and I've never been there, so thought it would be good. But then again, I wanted to do something a bit different and realized North Korea wasn't too much further away. “Why not?”, I thought. So I investigated a little

Cantyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04166113703271997300noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15819280.post-28935953911955114062009-06-30T15:01:00.006+09:002009-07-01T23:59:50.668+09:00

Last Sunday I "competed" in the first bike race of my life. I'd been reading a book by Dean Karnazes and on a whim of inspiration found myself entering the Mount Fuji hill climb bicycle race. It's only 12km, but the course snakes up the side of Mount Fuji as far as a tarmac road can take you. The height gain is 1200m.Here's the profile:I guess the toughest famous mountain for cycling is Alpe

Cantyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04166113703271997300noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15819280.post-64174354901455919132009-04-24T08:18:00.008+09:002009-04-24T22:53:00.013+09:00

PreambleDuring the spring vacation from school, I went cycling around Shikoku for 2 weeks. I’d read about the sacred 88 temples of Shikoku in the lonely planet guidebook and thought it would make a good trip. Travelling around temples is not what I usually do with my free time and many people along the way asked me, “Why are you doing the Shikoku pilgrimage?”I’d only briefly been to Shikoku once

Cantyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04166113703271997300noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15819280.post-33528340428132971812007-11-02T23:14:00.001+09:002007-11-02T23:47:34.232+09:00

Way back in June,along with 130,000 other people I entered the Tokyo Marathon. There are only 25,000 places - so less than a 1 in 5 chance of getting a place and......... I've been succesful. Back when I entered I was feeling quite determined to do well, then, when I saw the number of entrants increasing and my chances of a place decreasing, I kind of lost interest and was looking forward to the

Cantyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04166113703271997300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15819280.post-41023721740270811732007-07-08T17:53:00.000+09:002007-07-08T18:44:14.365+09:00

So it's time for the Tour de France again. This year it started in London and I'm very disappointed to have missed it (being there in person that is). The scenes looked brilliant.This year I'd love to see Alexander Vinokourov win. He's always attacking and a very poweful rider. He's from Kazakhstan, but he's not Borat.You can watch the tour live by clicking here. I was never interested in cycling

Cantyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04166113703271997300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15819280.post-38887475849243934822007-05-24T23:39:00.000+09:002007-05-25T00:01:32.077+09:00

I came across Fujiya and Miyagi when I was searching for an article about a Japanese cake shop called Fuijiya and their rat infestated factory. However this video is much better than cakes and rats could ever be. It's Truely Super! Check!

Cantyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04166113703271997300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15819280.post-71985893260872264572007-05-23T23:41:00.000+09:002007-05-24T17:02:33.381+09:00

We went to the summer sumo tournament last Saturday in Tokyo and then to the room on the night. The music was awesome. An oustanding mix of Jazz, House and Funk. The DJ's we're from a group called Jazztronik. Can't say I know much about them to be honest, but I'll definitely doff my new hat to them. They were fantastic.This weekend is my old mate Hideaki's wedding, back in Iida. He's captain of

Cantyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04166113703271997300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15819280.post-7635814518326427912007-05-12T22:34:00.000+09:002007-05-12T23:24:07.283+09:00

It's been a relatively busy, but standard week here for me. The only real thing of note was I crashed my bike on Monday. I went round a corner a bit too fast, and badly buckled my back wheel. I took it to my local bike shop to get it fixed on Thursday and was told it would take a week for the new wheel to arrive. "Oh Joy! Another week of catching the bus to school" I thought. But as I'm leaving

Cantyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04166113703271997300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15819280.post-64458730271632131332007-05-01T22:37:00.000+09:002007-05-01T23:02:26.133+09:00

I made my podcast debut last week. One of the teachers at my school runs a couple of websites - Guzen Media and English Teaching in Japan. I went on to mumble on about a bit of my teaching experiences since I came to Japan. You listen here.And check out this video:Happy Days - but not for L**ds

Cantyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04166113703271997300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15819280.post-24366903209600876332007-04-23T23:37:00.000+09:002007-04-24T17:45:38.859+09:00

I've been back at school for a couple of weeks now and all's going well so far. My new timetable has been very kind. All of my lessons are crammed together between Monday and Thursday - so I currently get Fridays off. Also – 7 out of 8 classes, I teach with the same teacher - Dejima Sensei(出島先生) So that makes planning pretty easy too. It could have been a disaster if we didn't get on - but

Cantyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04166113703271997300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15819280.post-80563140742947140352007-03-22T16:08:00.000+09:002007-03-22T16:46:49.195+09:00

So I bought a new mp3 player last week. A Creative Zen V. I'm delighted with it. They had 2 colours available - White and Black. When I was buying it, the electronic man asked me which colour. "Either is OK".I said. He brought me the black one and a few days later I realised it matches Hull City's colours. Bonus. So I put a Hull City screensaver on it.So to celebrate my purchase I made a new mix.

Cantyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04166113703271997300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15819280.post-57595881059836970632007-03-11T20:42:00.000+09:002007-03-23T12:59:25.743+09:00

A Ride in the MountainsIt seems ages since I've done a decent amount of exercise, so I thought I'd do something about it. I went out for a bike ride in the mountains yesterday. I set off at about 12:15 and intended to ride for a couple of hours or so. I got a bit carried away and didn't get in 'til it was dark. While I was out I took some photographs. Here they are.......This is a really old

Cantyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04166113703271997300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15819280.post-56017374810454755182007-01-28T23:32:00.000+09:002007-01-28T23:58:00.444+09:00

OK - GOSo I was at work on Saturday and one of my students was telling me she was going to a Music Videos film festival. "Interesting" I thought, and asked her what videos she would see. OK GO came the reply. Now I remember seeing their 1st video a while back and thought it was brilliant - dancing on treadmills - so when I got home I logged on to youtube for another look and found their another

Cantyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04166113703271997300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15819280.post-82443492258717742592007-01-21T23:44:00.000+09:002007-01-22T00:09:41.666+09:00

One of the things that I find mildly annoying about living in Japan is not being exposed to the media (it can be a blessing too, I suppose). If you want to know what's going on you, have to actively go out and look for something to do. So this means I probably miss out on some good gigs, club nights and the like, because I haven’t heard about them. On Saturday, however, I actually went looking

Cantyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04166113703271997300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15819280.post-1169132932007157422007-01-18T23:37:00.000+09:002007-01-20T00:58:34.033+09:00

How do?So I went to Tokyo at the weekend. The main reason was to watch the Grand sumo tournament, but needless to say other events were shackled on to both sides of the sumo. FridayI caught the train down after work using the wonderful senshun jyuhachi kippu - or youth 18 ticket in English. It's a ticket that let's you travel anywhere in Japan on the local trains for one calender day at a price

Cantyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04166113703271997300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15819280.post-1162480391447197452006-11-03T00:12:00.000+09:002006-12-20T23:22:28.633+09:00

here's where i've been....................create your own visited country map

Cantyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04166113703271997300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15819280.post-1160131072478261952006-10-06T19:30:00.000+09:002006-10-06T19:44:08.746+09:00

So, I haven't written anything in ages.Summer passed fast in Hokkaido with the neko and kayochans...........Then, I moved to Shizuoka - my nice new flat, and all ready to start my new job at Shizuoka Kita High School when I suddenly realised......I'd misread the expiry date of my visa. It expired 2 days prior to me noticing. I can't quite describe how I felt. I franticly searched the internet for

Cantyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04166113703271997300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15819280.post-1152105039861377892006-07-05T22:07:00.000+09:002006-07-05T22:34:28.306+09:00

Check out this video.　The elementary school kids love Hard Gay. I kid you not. Japan is strange.Check out out more HARD GAY!

Cantyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04166113703271997300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15819280.post-1151904865732487032006-07-03T13:36:00.000+09:002006-07-04T23:51:18.183+09:00

I spent this weekend in Hakuba with Ben, Tom, Bruce and Stuart. Martin also came down from Niigata. I've not seen him in over 2 years, so it was nice to meet up for a few beers again. We watched the quarter finals, cycled in the paddy fields and tried to cycle up a mountain. It was very difficult, so we gave up. We also cooked up a bonzar fry-up for breakfast both mornings. Yesterday we went to a

Cantyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04166113703271997300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15819280.post-1151029867757973232006-06-23T11:01:00.000+09:002006-06-23T11:39:10.723+09:00

This morning it was Japan v Brazil at 4am. Japan needed to win, and hope that Australia didn't beat the Croats. I didn't get up to watch it as I thought that Japan had no chance. After 34 minutes everything was looking rosy. Japan were beating Brazil and Croatia were beating Australia. Unfortunately it didn't stay like that. Japan lost 4-1. Sayonara Samurai blue.England are doing a little better.

Cantyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04166113703271997300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15819280.post-1149752785122724972006-06-08T15:39:00.000+09:002006-06-08T16:46:25.173+09:00

On Tuesday I received a call from Chas at Shizuoka Kita High School. He rang to offer me the job. I accepted. Details to be sorted out, but I'll be starting sometime around the end of August - teaching 14 hours per week to the same 7 classes each week. It sounds really cool, and I liked the look of the school too. Reports say that I'll be very much in control of the lessons which I can't wait for

Cantyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04166113703271997300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15819280.post-1149492777739202992006-06-05T15:52:00.000+09:002006-06-05T16:33:34.523+09:00

I was involved in a demonstration class today at Junior High School. The rules of a demonstration class are this: Put as much pressure on the teacher as possible, especially if he / she's new to teaching. That way he / she's bound to perform nervously, and you can point out all of their faults, and undermine their confidence even more. Fill the classroom with as many teachers as possible, always

Cantyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04166113703271997300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15819280.post-1149166125796408102006-06-01T21:16:00.000+09:002006-06-01T21:50:59.560+09:00

Summer is finally here. It was boiling today, and I've been walking round the house in just my shorts since I got herm. I stink too.I was back at Ryukyuo Junior High school today for the month of June. I really like this school. The English techers are really friendly, the kids have bags of personality and are even competent at English.I had a funny exchange with a 1st grader today - Kentaro. As

Cantyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04166113703271997300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15819280.post-1148352020900633622006-05-23T11:39:00.000+09:002006-05-23T11:58:06.833+09:00

The Japanese profiency tests take place in December. At the start of this year, Tom and I set ourselves a target of passing san kyu - the 3rd level of Japanese proficiency. My japanese study comes and goes. Well, it came in January, went in February and hasn't really returned since. However it's time to get down to some serious work if I'm gonna achieve sankyu. It's been a long time since I took

Cantyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04166113703271997300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15819280.post-1147420493583744372006-05-12T16:51:00.000+09:002006-05-12T16:54:53.593+09:00

I’ve started to learn Taiko – the art of the Japanese drum. It is very difficult.I think that the 2 most important qualities needed to be good at taiko are rhythm and flexibility. I possess neither of these, but I don’t intend to let that stop me. Last night was my 2nd class and so far I love it. It’s like nothing that I’ve ever done before, and I’m going to need to work hard to become vaguely

Cantyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04166113703271997300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15819280.post-1147331728587403652006-05-11T16:14:00.000+09:002006-06-23T11:36:41.570+09:00

I'm gonna start a blog to keep anyone who's interested up to date(ish) with what I'm doing in my life.Last week, there were 3 days of bank holidays on Wednesday, Thursday & Friday. So naturally, it was time to get out of town and drive off into the Japanese countryside.A large proportion of Iida’s English teachers arranged a camping road trip to Noto Hanto. Noto Hanto is a peninsular on the north

Cantyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04166113703271997300noreply@blogger.com0