A Thoroughly Japanese Christmas experience

Yeah, the last post was a bit gloomy, the next part gets better, but I'll write that soon.

Anyhoo, I survived the madness that was Daimaru on the December 23rd holiday and it was seriously crazy....up there with Christmas eve shopping madness in the UK!
Got cake for work. I figure that since I don't want to be in work this week and working, I'll make it as nice as possible and buying cake means I can distract those hard working Japanese guys in my lab and turn them into lazy British bums instead through the power of cake!
I got home after the crush, stuck on all the Bourne films (with perm-a-frown Matt Damon) and wrote up a pile of nengajo cards (that will be Japanese new year cards to the non residents of Japan), a challenge for me as the address and names I wrote in kanji so lets hope those were all right for posting and that I haven't unitentionally insulted them with some dodgy kanji mistakes.

So here we are christmas eve the cake is in the fridge in work, just finishing my coffee, and sat through the earthquake we've just had- it wasn't big, more like a lurch and then some gentle circular motions. M6.4 off the coast of Sibera, but widely felt across Japan.
I"ll be in tomorrow, but I"m planning the great escape off to my friends (Oyome sans) house to cook christmas dinner- with turkey and crackers!

Merry Christmas!
Some christmas joy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDa40nOCat8&feature=related
okay not so christmassy, but its so funny
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hixZec86Ys&feature=related
More christmassy and its got my favourite muppets in it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR_8kmOmxyk&feature=related
Very Christmassy muppets!

enjoy ( I am)

Stolen moments in Nagasaki- part one

This is gonna be a long post, but I wanted to remember this day as fully as possible.....

I pulled my tired, dehydrated body from the bed with the alarm reaching for the water bottle lying by bedside table. The previous 2 days of conference socialising, presentations and listening weighed heavy on my head and stomach: too little sleep and too much kampai'ing.
I realised I'd already missed the first train I was going to catch and was in danger of missing the next to Nagasaki so I pushed my body into gear and decided to for go breakfast for now.
The fresh cold air of a Fukuoka December morning helped soothe some of the headache whilst the pills kicked in as I hurried to the train station.The carriage was empty when I first boarded and I unpacked my ipod and water, aiming to doze the 2 hour trip from Fukuoka to Nagasaki away and gain some energy for a day of sightseeing. A large crowd of senior citzens came in laden with boxes labelled in Korean, rucksacks and hiking sticks, well seasoned travellers who rapidly stowed their bags and boxes and organised themselves in the carriage. As we pulled out the station I became aware of one of the group hovering near me and nudging and commenting from the rest of the group.
I knew what was coming and there was no escape, everyone one who lives here has probably had this experience at some point- the English practice conversation.The elderly gent sat next to me and we started chatting, the usual information was exchanged. They were travelling back from Korea after a short holiday where they had climbed a peak near Pusan, they were all over 70 and all in the hill walking club- I talked about my wish to climb Fujisan (they've done it). The talk gradually turned to what I was doing, was I going to Nagasaki- yes, what will you see? .....Will you visit the Atomic memorial- I think I should, afterall its an important part of the history....How long will you stay? Just the day! too short!....but I have to return to Sapporo tomorrow so.....
The scenery outside the train became rural- large rice fields, stark and bare for the winter, and the sea steel grey reflecting the bleak sky, I pulled out my camera to take some shots- aware of coversations going on between my neighbour and his friend.I was introduced to another gent sitting in the chair across from ours, he didn't speak any English but his house was close to the Atomic memorial and he wants to drive you there so you can see it. I tried to protest, hoping to have a quiet day to myself and a gentle amble around some sights, but it was no go. I couldn't come up with anyway to say no and so the plan was hatched.Back to the conversation, suddenly the plan became not just the memorial, but all the sights of Nagasaki. Again I protested...you've just come from holiday, I'm sure you must be tired....no, no we want to take you...he has a car, how will you see everything otherwise....
Its impossible to refuse or at least very hard without being rude here and so I was cornered.
We came off the train at Urakami and jumped in the taxi, first to house to collect the car. On the way we passed signs with photos, a primary school was here, the memorial is this way... This hill was completely destroyed by the blast. My "guide" and I waited by the gate whilst our "driver" for the day, went inside to tell his wife to expect some strangers. By now my brain was churning, trying to remember the polite phrases and things to do when visiting someones house in Japan, cursing the lack of any gift to give them.
Come up..come up...he waves and we enter the house, his slightly bemused wife is sorting out slippers and all the polite phrases I can remember are slipping from my lips as I'm taking off my shoes. Tea's brought and I've barely time to take a few sips before we being ushered out and back into shoes to get into the car.
The car is a typical Ojisans (old mans) car, white lacy seat covers and all, my English guide and I are in the back like royalty.
He drops us at the entrance to the Atomic museum, only the two of us and "he'll pick us later"...
Inside we spiral down to the entrance, to the sound of a ticking clock.

In the next section, the clock sound stops and so does the talking. There's not much to say about the memorial and I won't discuss my own thoughts about the why's or should they's here. I wandered around in silence, partly fascinated, partly horrified. The shadows of flowers or clothes, permanently imprinted on a wooden wall as a result of the intense blast of radiation energy was bizarre; the same kind of shadows but of a man and his ladder were more disturbing as was the melted glass bottles, one infused with bones from the hand holding it at the time of the bomb.

I caught up with my guide towards the end of the exhibits and was conscious of the time and the other gent outside in his car so we continued out past the stories of the surviving Hibakusha...

Our "driver" was waiting outside, but as we got there he suggested we go through the peace park and he pick us up at the end and off we strode....
He bounded up the steps like a gazelle, I huffed and puffed behind him trying to keep up and we strode quickly past the stark black monolith which marked the hypocentre of the blast and then onwards up more steps to the peace park, built on the site of the Nagasaki prison destroyed in the blast- only a few lines of bricks showing what was once there. As we walked (I was nearly jogging along, trying to supress the hangover and tiredness) my guide decided to tell me how much many Nagasaki people like to visit the memorial, understandable said I and inside I realise its highly likely these 2 men were young children in Nagasaki at the time of the atomic bombing and the guilt and sadness rises.
The park was bleak in the grey December weather and felt quite folorn. The sculpture of the man with one legged crossed and a finger pointing to the sky is suprising ugly close up, but as I had some moments to spare, I pulled out my camera to at least take one or two shots of this area to remember it by. And then we were off, our "driver" met us in the park and we quickly strode off to the waiting car for the next part of the tour....

Post conference exhaustion

My brain is on overload at the moment, partially from the conference I attended in Fukuoka and all the socialising that went on there and also from the 2 days of intensive sightseeing in Nagasaki and Fukuoka. Sleep was thin on the ground and it was a hard day back at work tomorrow so strong coffee was needed and I slunked ( I hope thats a real word!) off early last night.
I've realised that I should post all my christmas presents this week to make sure they arrive in time so I've been wrapping and card writing since I've got back. After that I can sit down and organise my thoughts and photos and write some of the experiences down. Assuming all the departmental activities let me;the calendar is filling up again and my stamina is not high at the moment.