|
 |
 |
|
| |
Broadcasting to an audience of three (and a goldfish)...
Comment, ramblings and musings... life through the eyes of a Japanologist...
 |
Monday, August 12, 2002 |
 Having sorted the job situation out, I made the decision to go to Kyushu for a few days. I'd planned on staying in Nagasaki for two nights and Sasebo for one, but then I realised that I'd been to Nagasaki enough not to need two nights there, so I decided to go to Kumamoto for the first night, and then travel on to Nagasaki the following day. This plan also has the advantage of a ferry journey, between Misumi and Shimabara, which I'm looking forward to.
I think this every time I decide on a little jaunt, but the planning really is as much fun as the trip itself. I love poring over guide books (Japanese guide magazines are superb) and timetables, and working out where to go, how to get there, and what to see when I arrive. Speaking (and more to the point reading) Japanese is invaluable here.
|
|
The Mayor asked to see me in the afternoon. I assumed that it would be a conversation involving the words 'contract' and 'renewal', but in fact I was wrong. The keywords were actually 'beer' and 'present'- the Mayor told me he had a 24-pack of beer in the back of his car, gave me his car-keys, and told me to go and get it. Then he realised that I didn't have my bike, and even suggested we pop back to deliver the beer to my house!
|
|
O-Bon (the Japanese festival of the dead) doesn't really mean that much to me; after all, I don't have an ancestors' grave in the town I have to go and visit. However, that's not to say it doesn't affect me- this lunchtime, there was absolutely nowhere open to eat, and the bread shop had sold out of pan!
|
|
I went to the tea ceremony this morning (and yes, it was work!). But not just any tea ceremony; this was a sencha tea ceremony. There is less 'ceremony' than the maccha tea ceremony, where you have to turn the bowls to admire their patterns before you drink, and the same tea leaves are used three times, for three different 'brews'. The first brew was a powerful, almost salty flavour, but one very much to my taste. The second brew was weaker, much like a normal Japanese green tea, and the third brew was very delicately flavoured indeed, but the weakness meant that the flavours that had been overpowered by the stronger flavours of the earlier brews were able to be tasted.
This is my sort of tea ceremony. The tea was fascinating, the simplicity was appealing, and there was less seiza. I still had pins and needles at the end, though!
|
|
I finally plucked up the courage to go and ask the Head of the Board of Education about my job, and he stood up very formally and asked me to sit down. It was at this point that I realised that this would be my last year in Etajima.
Realised wrongly, as it turned out. In fact, what I'd suspected was correct- that anything passed in the budget in March will stand even after April. Apparently, the Head of the General Section (who looks after the legal side of things) decided that this would be fine.
In other words, given that the Mayor will be here until April at least, the budget will pass the Town Council, which means that as certainly as it's possible to say without giving an absolute 'yes' or 'no', my job is safe for another year. It's not 100% certain, but it's as certain as it can be. I've not got anything in writing, and, given the circumstances, I'm not sure I want to push my luck by asking for anything- after all, that the Mayor made a decision more than 10 days before he had to must mean that he wants me to stay pretty badly. I'd really assumed that the 19th would come, and I'd still not have heard anything.
But basically, it looks like I'll be here until 2004. It's amazing how much of a weight feels like it's been lifted off my shoulders.
|
|
One of the reasons for the slight coolness ('non-hotness' might be a better word) was that it had been raining, and even when I left for work it was still drizzling, just enough to make biking not a sensible idea. I walked to the bus-stop, but while I was waiting (with the Deputy Mayor) the Mayor himself drove past, saw us, and gave us a lift. Just before we got to the Town Office, he said to me, 'You want a reply by the end of this week, don't you?' I started to tell him that I did if it was possible, but he cut me off mid-sentence and said, 'I've already given my decision to the Head of the Board of Education- ask him.'
Hmmm. Is this good? Or bad?
|
|
This might- I suppose- be just wishful thinking, but this morning, I'm sure, I felt the first, tentative, fingers of autumn. The morning is still stiflingly hot, but just slightly cooler than normal. Only very slightly, but nevertheless, I almost dare to think that the absolute peak of the heat is over.
|
|
Breakfast Show Staple Randomhaiku of the day (from The Genuine Haiku Generator)
shark partakes, gypsy
rushing, tiredly, deep bride breaks
deafening burglar
|
|
© Copyright 2003 Nathan Duckworth.
Updated: 8/1/03; 8:27:43 pm.
|
|
|
|
The Breakfast Show
Weather...
FastCounter by bCentral
|
|
