Happy Merry Christmas!

As promised, I haven’t stopped eating since I got to Australia. I expect to be at least 10 kilos heavier by the time I get back to Japan. I had a very merry Christmas day, started with a Champagne breakfast with my extended family at mums house. Once we had finished eating breakfast, it was time for lunch so Heath and I headed into Dads place for a roast lunch and a glorious game of volleyball in the pool. After loosing the game (dodgy team mates). Heath and I sang up a (drunken) storm before heading to my grandma’s for another feast. Got to hang with my gorgeous little cousin before rolling home to bed. Hope you all had a fabulous day!



look like my dad much?

I'm comin' home, so you better get the party started

That’s right, I'm leaving this god forsaken freezing country today for the warmth and sunshine of AUS! This time tomorrow I’ll be enjoying a beer in my mum’s new inflatable pool in the backyard. Two and a half weeks in AUS should give me just long enough to get sunburned, drink my body weight in decent Australian wine and get fat off my grandma’s cooking.

BRING ON THE SUN, THE BEER & THE BBQ’S.

Do my ears look big in this?

This week the opportunity to partake in the super-sexual Japanese facial mask craze arose. Although I can’t help but think I chose the wrong style. I think this one makes my ears stick out. I have been off work for the last week with what started as pharyngitis and developed into a mild case of pneumonia. But, please don't tell my grandma that, she’d ship my arse back to Australia, tie me to a chair and force me to listen to her Greatest Hits on repeat. Including old favourites such as “Don’t go outside with wet hair”, “Are you taking your medicine?” and my personal fave “Are you sure you’re eating enough?”

So, over $1000 in medical bills, about $800 in lost wages (the bastards don't pay me for sick days), a shot of steroids in my bum and a real fear of having to stay in a Japanese hospital later, the 7 days of sitting/laying on my arse taught me a few things. Good TV never gets boring, your bum actually hurts when you sit on it for too long & breathing is fun.

Seriously, this week off with nothing else to do except watch the box has enabled me to contemplate some of the bigger issues in life. For example, How do people complete a Rubik’s Cube™ without peeling off the stickers? Will Gabrielle’s attempt to sabotage Carlos’ relationship with his Catholic Nun succeed? Or will it only push him away? Why don't more people in Japan get braces? There are orthodontists all over Japan just crying out for the mother-load. How do photocopiers work? (that's Naomi’s fault) How can a doctor get paid $600 for a single visit? What do Japanese bakeries do with the crusts off the bread? Why aren’t I a doctor? What is it about J-men that makes them so god damn beautiful?

Actually, it was mostly just the last one, and I think it has something to do with bone structure.

After bringing home enough drugs to start my own business, which I’ll actually need to do to pay for my medical bills, my body is no longer running of its own accord. My veins are flowing pure vegetable juice and I’m all pumped up on vitamins and steroids. So if I look a little bulky next time you see me you’ll know why. On second thought maybe I’ll just go for the more traditional style, it’s always best to stick with the classics. It's almost a shame that I'm starting to feel loads better now, these babies are quite becoming.



ps. No, I didn't go outside with wet hair
Yes, I'm taking my medicine
& Yes, I'm sure i'm eating enough

Sayonara Yukarigaoka

Last month I had to say goodbye to my little school in Yukarigaoka. After moving to Tokyo it took me close to an hour and a half to get to work in Yukari, after doing the commute for 3 months, I finally caved and am now working at a school a much more reasonable 40 minutes from my home. I was really sad to leave Yukari and I will miss (most of) my students loads. Here is a pic of my favourite Kinder class, from left; Saya, Yuta, Shiori, Takumi, Naoki, Fumihiro, Suguru and some random child who would always wander in to help do the Hokey Pokey. Yes, I remembered all their names. This class made my week because I had them every Monday morning and they are all so adorable (even when they slobbered all over me).



This is Keisuke, he’s one of the higher level students (the ones that know bigger words than you). He used to bring his Law homework in, in an attempt to get me to help him translate legal documents (this usually ended in me banging my head against the desk).



And these are the people that I worked with everyday (minus Nicky). Ian (my boss) and the most diplomatic man I have ever met, Kumiko (the J-staff boss) she is the sweetest thing ever and Dhugal (the reason half the Japanese housewives wanted to learn Engrish) an extra chilled Australian.



I miss you guys loads, Sayonara Yukarigaoka.

The House that Love Built

I think I probably live in the coolest house in Japan. Not only do I live here, but so do two of the hottest chicks in Japan - Naomi and Sandy. This country is not always the easiest place to live, which is why having your own little family to come home to is so special. After a hard day of trying to decipher monotonous longwinded stories in appalling broken English its nice to come home to mates who share my pain and who are always willing to listen to me complain, boast, cry or laugh. Sandy, a sexy fellow Australian preserves my Australian humour, makes sure I’m eating my vegetables and maintains my global perspective while Naomi, a gorgeous Brit drags our jokes out of the gutter and provides our house its cosmopolitan edge with that special element of class that only she was born with while, impressing us with inventive recipe ideas creatively dubbed “Naomi specials”.

We three girls have a lot in common, all fabulously sexy, hilariously witty and surprisingly single. We share many common interests, red wine, chocolate, men and vodka. We enjoy similar pastimes, be it sitting in a grimy little pub shouting random Japanese words at a small old Japanese man with a cheeky grin and little to no knowledge of English, necking a Cosmopolitan at a pole dancing club in downtown Shibuya or snuggled up on my bed with a bottle of red absorbed in the Desperate Housewives Omnibus. One thing is for certain we have the most fun together, we look after each other like family and I’m incredibly lucky and grateful for landing such gorgeous, generous and loving mates in such a crazy place.