Friday, February 14, 2003

What I did today Today, I... Got to work to find chocolate on my desk; Got more chocolate from a friend in another department; Set off to take the Ogiri posters to each of the ports; Got as far as the staircase before some of the smokers wanted to chat, and one of the people coming from Hiroshima to help with the pancake day phoned me; Got called back to the office by the head of my department (quite oblivious to the fact I was on the phone at the time), to take a phone call; Finally got to take the posters to each of the ports; Spent ages at Koyo Community Centre chatting to Kinoshita-san and Fukui-san when I called in to give them a poster; Got a phone call from the Takkyubin man to ask if I'd be at home so he could deliver a package of chocolate (I told him to bring it to the office); Finally got out of Koyo Community Centre, and went round to Kirikushi; Driving back over Miyanohara Toge, passed a van and two very suspicious-looking men with a dog, and obviously carrying rifles wrapped in camoflage material (it looked like they were going to indulge in a spot of illicit hunting- although I prefer to believe that they were members of a clandestine organisation headquartered on the island... the Etajima branch of al-Qaeda, perhaps?); Passed a police car heading up to where I'd seen the al-Qaeda training session (did the officers realise what they were getting themselves into?); Got back to the office in one piece, and got more chocolate from the lady who brings round the Yakult each lunch; Got the chocolate delivered by Takkyubin; Got... not more chocolate this time, but a cabbage (what on earth am I going to do with a cabbage?); Stayed at work until late, and got Oshita-kun to pick up to go to Seinen-no-ie for the cocktail event; Had a most enjoyable time at the cocktail event; Got more chocolate from the people who organised the cocktail event; Went upstairs to the taiko practice, and got yet more chocolate from one of the ladies at taiko; Got more chocolate from one of my elementary school students, who plays taiko in our group; Finally got home, and got the new design for the Breakfast Show to work correctly on every browser.

You can tell it's close to the end of the financial year; there are roadworks everywhere, as the departments in charge use up their remaining budget before April 1st. Fair enough- but one of the roadworks, right near to where I live, turned into somewhat of a nightmare. I left the office around five o'clock to take the last batch of things for the Pancake Day to Washibe, and all the way from the office to where I live was a traffic jam! A journey that normally takes five minutes by car took just over twenty minutes! It would have been far quicker to have walked. The police were out directing traffic, the jam was that bad, but even so the situation was horrendous. The buses, for example, must have been delayed enough to have missed connecting with the ferries, which, for people wanting to get home, must have been a real inconvenience. It's not often you see bad planning on this sort of scale in Japan; normally things are organised much more competently than was the case today.

The cocktail party at Seinen-no-ie this evening was fun. First of all, the Master of Buddha Bar in Hiroshima explained the basics of cocktails- bases, liqueurs, etc., and how to use a swizzle stick. Apparently, you have to hold it much the same way as a pencil, and mix from the wrist. He then explained how to hold and use a shaker properly, and we all got to try. Once he had explained the measurements for a short cocktail (always 60ml), we got to try a gin and tonic and a 'Blue Train', and then it was time for everyone to design their own original cocktail. Having tried far too many liqueurs and bases for my tongue to be able to remember which was which, I finally decided on a mixture of 2 parts (30ml) vodka, 1part creme de framboise and 1 part soda water for my cocktail, and called it a Red Russian. It was judged the best-looking cocktail of the evening! The rest of the time was spent chatting to the other people, drinking more (although the tasting alone was more than enough!), and eating plenty of the nibbles (which, strangely, hardly anyone else seemed to notice). It was good not just to learn about cocktails, but also to spend an evening with other young people. I still think that the organisation of the 'Waka-shu yado' events at Seinen-no-ie are far too cliquey, but nevertheless I'm glad I decided to go to this event. More evenings along these lines would be a success, I'm sure.

Pick of the Photos Another Pick of the Photos. This time's photo is of the Nisshoki- the flag used by the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force- on the stern of Setoyuki. This photograph was taken during the JMSDF Naval Exercises in Summer 2002, as the ship was passing Etajima. The mountain in the background is Furutakayama, the symbol of the island.