Dumplings over Drawl-ings.

The contract signed and it all being confirmed that I will no longer stay with my current job and will leave at the end of the Western fiscal year in early August (the fiscal year beginning in April in Japan), I went to a conference held for those who will be leaving the programme this year, which was held in Yokohama. A wonderful excuse to escape from snow and party in Kanto opportunity to develop ideas for my upcoming career and aspects for the future.

The conference itself was overflowing with information on the second day with the varieties of workshops it offered, of which I was torn between deciding which ones to go to  (I shan't comment too much on the first or third days, eheh). I hadn't done a thing in terms of researching into my next job, so although I am now carrying buckets of resources which reassures me, I am also beginning to panic. I seriously need to knuckle down into looking into what offers are available, and when I can start applying.

There was a job fair there as well, with a few stalls. I casually sauntered through and took a glance, quite naturally, at the sign 'British Hills', which I'd heard of, and was immediately stopped by a grinning, but rather charming Manchester lad who told me, in wonderful British fashion, "Go on, take another look." (And though I write "lad" I meant it more from my dad's perspective. He was probably a little older than I am). What can I say, being away from the UK for almost 4 years, not once going home, and now accustomed to the mostly expressionless, shy Japanese boys it was refreshing to have such an approach again. Not that I'm accusing the guy of flirting with me, but I couldn't help but notice a twinkle in his eye as he chatted away. I was flattered, nonetheless.
    'British Hills' is a "Little Britain" (not to be confused with the wretched TV series) in Japan, which includes a Manor House, a Craft House, and a guesthouse, which have been reconstructed based on the British architectural styles between the Twelfth and Eighteenth Centuries...as told in the exact words of the website. Being proud of my British roots and culture, as well as a fan of history, it did sound rather appealing. Alas, I worried that I wouldn't be "British enough", mostly because of my strong Asian looks but also the fact that I probably haven't been exposed to enough Britishisims due to my double-cultured background. The location is also in Fukushima, which I have nothing against, but I would like to stay in Hokkaido if I can. I am still going to keep all my options open regardless, and will keep it filed along with the other dozens of options that have been laid out for me...though mostly out of Hokkaido. Hmm. Will begin to worry about that slight problem as I continue research.

I made to sure to enjoy myself in Yokohama too, as you can also see from my photo blog. Yokohama, for those of you who don't know, is famous for its Chinatown, which I visited when I was probably still in Junior school, hence my visit on Tuesday evening felt more like my first.

I happily joined my American friend, who's family background is mostly Taiwanese, so she was able to show me the ropes in authentic Chinese food and being able to speak the language somewhat. She also happened to share my love for food; I pigged out in front of her quite shamelessly and vacuumed up most of the leftover food...

We went to an all-you-can-eat place, and I'm pretty sure we got a close deal for our money's worth. This was just the first few dishes. I was too busy stuffing my face to take pictures of anything else!

A Furry Guest and a Reluctance to Abstinence.

As of Thursday last week I've been looking after a black and white cat. At first, and not surprisingly, he was frightened of me and the new environment, but he has finally warmed up to me by happily sitting on my lap and purring when I stroke him. The only problem I still can't resolve is the fact that he pees everywhere. Not quite everywhere, but a fair amount, on my zabutons and sofa... His owner says that he apparently does it when he's feeling lonely, but he even did it when I was there. My guess is he's trying to own the place by placing his scent everywhere. Hoping he will calm down a bit as the days go on, or at least before I have to give him back to his owner when she comes back from her trip.

The spot he claimed as his own on his 2nd day here.

A taste of Christmas.

It may seem a bit out of place for me to be talking about Christmas on New Year's of all days, but I'm behind in updating, and as there are technically still a few days left of the Christmas season, I think I can be forgiven. Just about.

Having been a resident for almost 3 and a half  years, I'm used to the oddly turned around, Valentines-version of Christmas, or rather Christmas Eve, in Japan. For those of who you are unaware of what Christmas is like here, Christmas Eve is a "couples night" for the Japanese, and so you're pretty much screwed if you don't have a partner to spend the night with. Mr. Billy Hammond explains it better here.

Last year, Christmas day fell on the weekend, however, it being a regular Tuesday this year, I went into work on Christmas day for the first time in my life. It was shocking for me deep down, but as the whole Christmas saga had died all around me, not that it was ever that lively to begin with, it didn't feel that strange, oddly enough.

In saying that, I did experience a few specks of Christmas here and there over the month.

First off, I had Christmas parties with the students of my English class that I teach once a month. The majority of my students are middle-aged housewives, bless them, and they all brought amazing home-made food. Aren't these snowmen bread the cutest?

 
Also, I always make time to squeeze in a visit to my favourite bar 'Melty' in Sapporo. Look at the adorable Santa ice-cream they presented to me as a little freebie ♥

The real "Afternoon Tea"

My mother came and went. She's still in Japan, but she's staying with my grandparents in Tokyo, where all the other bazillion of my Japanese relatives live. We had a wonderful four days together, going on a delicious Hokkaido gourmet tour of Sapporo and Otaru cities. Due to that, today was supposed to be a "salad day" for me, but I've already failed by munching on a chocolate pie thing from Hakodate. Damn Japan and its omiyage (souvenir) culture.

I held an "Afternoon Tea" cooking class last Saturday. My International Exchange Section holds International Cooking classes during the year for non-Japanese people living in the city to introduce locals dishes from their home countries. As it was our first time, I held a British-themed class by giving presentations on U.K. through trusty Powerpoint slides, then teaching them to make super easy scones via frying pans and enjoying "cream tea" (ovens are not readily available here). We handed out questionnaires for the participants to fill in after we had finished, and it was quite amusing to read about the images of the U.K. that filled up their little Japanese minds. Overall the comments of the class were positive, but some said things along the lines of "It was a shame that we used tea bags", and "I had hoped to learn more on the details of brewing tea". I don't mean to crush their bigged up images of Britain, but I don't think I know of any English person who actually goes to the trouble of brewing tea through tea leaves in a tea pot. I can imagine the dear Japanese old ladies' (a large majority who took part in the class were women in their 40s onwards) looks of horror if they do have the chance to visit England - in place of their admired after, dainty Victorian ladies in corsets sipping Earl Grey from their delicately decorated china cups fat, they would see dirty builder men with their jeans sagging around their arse, holding giant mugs with the PG tips teabag tag dangling at the side.