So recently I have been doing many things. For example, when I first arrived in Japan, we thought it would be a good idea to go to a meeting for foreign people living in Japan to get to know each other so I wouldn`t feel so isolated. Three weeks later and I don`t feel that isolated but it was time to go on Sunday and so I went with Reiko.

There were about 30-40 people there of many nationalities – Thailand(ese?), Korean, Chinese, Nepalese, South African, Jamaican, English (me aha) and Japanese. In fact there were about 15 Japanese people, which seems a bit pointless when you are trying to meet foreigners but there you go. We at first had to stand up and introduce ourselves, which I hate doing anyway. Reiko told me some phrases to say so I managed to say in Japanese -Hello, my Japanese is not so good, my name is Simon and I am English, pleased to meet you) Then after that we had about half an hour where we went around and met lots of people. I met a woman who worked on the local council who had a husband who was a German professor at the local university and who might be able to get me a job (networking aha.) I also met the South African and Jamaican guys who lived in Kobe as car scrap merchants and were really funny.

Then suddenly the organisers said could everyone sit down and shut up as we were to listen to the Nepalese bloke play some pipe music.　　I had met the Nepalese bloke already. He was a really nice person and spoke flawless Japanese after living in Japan for only a year. He had changed into traditional costume and got his pipes out and a machine which he switched on.

This machine repeated the sound Ning..Nong over and over again. He introduced himself and proceeded to play on his pipe. He wasn`t bad but imagine if you will with me. Close your eyes and play in your head Ning..Nong slowly over and over again with some simple pipe melody repeated over and over again as well. Then, just when you think he will stop and await the applause, he either a) introduces a new melody which he repeats over and over again for another ten minutes or b) stops and gets a smaller pipe and plays similarly tiresome melodies over the droning Ning..Nong machine. I was wondering if he was trying a group hypnotism experiment. I felt like I was going under – I checked my wallet afterwards but it was still there.

So after forty minutes of this (and only three songs), the Japanese bloke he had come in with and who was taking photographs for posterity, made a brave decision and told him in a nicer way than I could have managed that we had suffered enough. We all politely clapped and breathed an inward sigh of relief. I was glad that I could get back to talking with people but fate had other plans for me.

After the forty minutes of Nepalese pipe music, we were to be treated to an amateur opera performance by a slim middle aged women. She was able to get very high notes　which was amusing as she ha ha heed her way through some Japanese songs. There were fortunately only two of these songs and then it was time for the group rendition..

Close your eyes and imagine if you will again, an A4 sheet of white paper with Japanese characters written on it. Remember kind reader, that this is a meeting for people who are not Japanese and yet no thought had been taken for those who could not read or write in the beautiful and flowing scripture which is the Japanese language. Does it strike only me as strange that such a thoughtless act could have occurred? Reiko and I were sitting at either end of the South African and Jamiacan guys, who were called Johnny and Johnston and none of us save Reiko could speak Japanese. Fortunately she transcribed it into English letters so that we were all Ryo Shiri and Hyo Kara-ing away with the best of them to gasps of amazement from the natives. We all nodded sagely and continued..

Now I thought the point of this meeting was to get to know foreigners living in the Osakan area and not to sit in silence listening to droning Nepalese pipe music and amateur renditions of Japanese opera songs. To cap it all there was a game of bingo and after completing a line, I had to fight my way through round after round of Paper Scissors Stone to claim my prize which turned out to be liquid soap. Is there some message here? Do Japanese people have something to say about my hygiene? Bring it on.

There were some positive points to be drawn from this. I met Jonny and Johnston who live in Kobe and were good people and I met this incredible old blind Japanese bloke who spoke good English and was really funny but the point of the meeting was to meet foreigners and not give some people an ego trip.

Anyway, before I was a novice in the wonders of Nepalese pipe music, I went with Reiko, Tommy, Maki, Tiger and Dragon to the beach where we went around in the ocean looking for things to eat in the sea. Tommy went out for shells and showed me where to look and he went off in deep concentration. I on the other hand and in competitive mood, went on the search for fish. With my bare hands, I attempted to catch the fish in the sea but I had no success. I eventually found some mussel like things from some seaweed which were easy pickings.

Then I picked up a stone about the size of a ping pong ball which had some seaweed grwing on it and found out it was a hermit crab. I was loathe to put it in my pocket due its large pincers and so chucked it back. Then came my good fortune.

I found a jam jar on the floor and picked it up. Inside it were some mussel like things again but more interestingly an octopus about the size of my hand. It was purple and had suckers on its thick and slimy tentacles. I was taken aback with shock and my mind raced as I tried to remember if they were poisonous or not. Then it suddenly woke up and decided to exit as soon as possible. Endulge me once more dear reader and make your thumb and forefinger on your left hand meet and make a cylinder with your remaining fingers the size of a jam jar. Then thrust your right hand throught the cylinder and wiggle your fingers around the top of the jar. Short of being semi-naked and in the middle of an ocean you are now in the position I was in. After deciding that I wasn`t going to take the risk of injury, sting or poison, I let go of the jam jar and the creature swam away never to be seen again.

On a more serious note, I have also been trying to learn Hiragana which is one of the Japanese character systems. These are very ugly letters and hard to draw as well as not being nearly as sleek as the Katakana ones. For example AH あ in Hiragana compared to SHI シ　in Katakana. I hope you can see this okay. I prefer Katakana as they seem more stylish and are easier to draw. You try drawing あ　-it`s hard) In a bookstore, Reiko bought me a childrens` learn to write Hiragana book and I am working my way through that at the moment. I can recognise about ten of these characters at the moment.

I have also spent all of today in a very famous onsen in Wakayama (I think.) The water is like silk – very very smooth I went with Tommy and his family and Reiko and her mum. We split up and I repeated six or seven times the pattern of dry Sauna for ten minutes ice bath for five. I like it there,

As I have been writing this, we have just experienced an earthquake. It measured three on the Richter scale and the television programme was interrupted with notification. It wasn`t a massive one.　There was a rumble and the earth shook a bit (ahaha.) Reiko asked me if that was an earthquake (which is a stupid question to ask seeing as I have never been in an earthquake before.) I said it was a probably a heavy truck going past outside because that what it felt like and then a couple of minutes later the announcement came on tv.