March 2003

March 31, 2003

Yesterday I had Aikido practice in the old hall again, which was fanatastic. There are those that suppose that it is one of the finest training halls in the country, and I would tend to agree. Spring has definitely sprung here, and it was a treat to practice in such an open-style buidling, with the spring breeze wafting through and sunshine slanting through onto the mats.

After practice I had my first taste of Japanese hanami, or 'blossom viewing'. These blossom viewings are a major social event this time of year...though it might be argued that ours was a little premature. The cherry blossoms hadn't actually opened yet. The gist of the party, though, was to sit under the blossom trees, drink copious amounts of sake and eat a lot.

The one amusing thing about the party - I thought - was that even though there are thousands of gorgeous places throughout the city to hold this type of event, our group had somehow selected a site right alongside a major road. It wasn't quite as picturesque a spot as I would have selected, but I found it rather amusing and quite typically Japanese...it kind of gave away what I had already heard: the blossoms etc. are really only a thinly veiled excuse for everyone to get really drunk...which of course they did.

The theme for the people sitting around me seemed to be "let's get Aaron in trouble", resulting first in my sake cups being given away with claims that I myself had made them, and ending with a challenge being issued on my behalf to the head instructor, who I'm going to have to face off with today. It seems like it will be harmless enough, but the result will likely just be me getting embarassed in front of a lot of people tonight. Of course, if (and this is the remotest possibility imaginable) I should succeed in the challenge tonight, he will give me my black belt on the spot...that should give you an idea of how much of a chance I really stand.

March 27, 2003

I think I'm getting a handle on this new web host here...which is a good thing. A few of my daily updates weren't appearing before, which sort of defeated the purpose of writing them altogether.

I'll sit down soon and have a good session with my scanner and get some good pics up. There will be a lot more to come in the very near future, too, with Cherry Blossoms about to come into bloom.

This weekend my Aikido class will be in the old training hall again, which is very exciting. I'm going to try and pick up some high-speed film to see if I can get some better pictures this time around. After that class we'll be heading down to the river for a little sake, which I'm looking forward to.

March 24, 2003

It appears that I'm having a few problems with my page...maybe this doesn't bode well for my new web host!

It sure isn't too pleasant to read the news these days, especially now hearing the American Ambassador to Canada saying that "security trumps trade". I suppose we all knew that was the attitude all along, but it sure makes it feel as if they are willing to get people's 'support' by any means necessary.

Even though the Japanese people overwhelmingly oppose the war, Prime Minister Koizumi has directly said that Japan supports the war. The reason, of course, is that he knows Japan will need the United States if anything happens in North Korea, and so just like everyone else he supports the United States not because he wants to, not because he thinks they're right, but because he has to.

March 23, 2003

Things have been pretty busy in the last week, and though I have successfully relocated the site, I haven't been able to do much of anything with it.

This week I celebrated my birthday...the big 26. It's been fun, and still leaves me with a few years of breathing room in my plan to return to school before 30.

Hopefully I will be able to get some of the new pictures up this week, as they are really spectacular. Laura and I blew a bunch of them up to decorate the apartment.

March 19, 2003

I bought a new bike on Monday, but then trashed it on the way home in a spectacular one wheeled manouvre in which the front rim split and sliced the tire to pieces. It was actually pretty cool, except for the fact that I then had to carry the thing home, which took almost two hours. The good news is that a) I may have a career as a stuntman, b) I got the wheel replaced for free.

I am now officially on a new server here...but I'm not sure that all of the files are up yet...so bear with me. I'll be making sure that everything is together over the next couple of days.

March 15, 2003

So it's official: I have run out of web space. A truly ugly state of affairs. I'm in the midst of doing some emergency contingency planning, but I think I will have to - sigh - start paying for someplace to host my site. Realistically, none of you will notice any difference, as the address will be the same, so I will keep the geeky complaining to a minimum.

Tommorrow Laura and I are going with Sarina (our neighbour) to Osaka, where we will hopefully be able to watch a Sumo tournament. I say hopefully, because the tickets sound like they might be sold out. Failing that, we're going to hit the town in Osaka - a.k.a. 'The Big Smoke' - and see what we can see.

I also got paid yesterday, which means that I was able to develop my film. I've got some fantastic pictures from the Plum Blossom festival, as well as a tonne of great monkey shots (as if you hadn't seen enough already) as well as some from Setsubun (the Spring festival) and my training camp in Kurama. All told, there are a lot of great shots here...but of course I can't put any up until I secure some more webspace. Oh me, oh my...what a pickle.

March 11, 2003

Last night I successfully completed my first grading in Aikido here in Japan. All went well, and I'm happy to have made some progress.

Cherry blossom season is fast approaching here in Kyoto, though it's hard to tell by the weather. Winter seems intent on making a brief resurgence, and even today I woke up to snow...which tells me that maybe it's not too late to put up my snow-day pictures! At this point the ground is too warm for any of the snow to stick, but on one day this winter we were treated to the sight of about four inches of snow that fell over night, capping the mountains and the temple roofs.

March 8, 2003

My first week of working full time is over...and it wasn't so bad. The work really is pretty good as far as things go, and the money will be a nice touch, too.

I test for the next rank up in Aikido on Monday, and I've spent the last little while trying to translate all of the requirements for the test which were, of course, entirely in Japanese. I hope that the trouble I've had deciphering the list won't be any indication of how I'll do on the test!

Also, I finally got the Himeji page together, so feel free to check it out...it's only a few months late.

March 7, 2003

I think I'm starting to get into the routine of working full time now, although it certainly is a bit of an adjustment. It's actually turning out quite well, as I spend most mornings before work sitting in Starbucks and working on my various writing projects. Have less time definitely makes you focus your efforts a lot more, and although it means that I'll have to do a lot less in the way of sightseeing, maybe I'll actually get some of my projects finished, and alsoget this website up to date...spring is here, I haven't even put up my winter pictures yet and I still have the autumn background! Argh!

March 4, 2003

Yesterday Laura and I worked our first day as full-time employees of NOVA. There's not a whole lot I can say about that...who needs all that wonderful spare time anyway? Looks like I'll just have to make better use of what little time I'll have left!

As far as the website is concerned, I think it's headed for another redesign. I'm hoping to integrate a sort of interactive map of the city that can act as a gateway for all of the specific pages.