Japan is wonderful. I`m really glad I got a rural placement as the people here are so friendly and the environment is very beautiful (lots of forested hills and rivers). There are heaps of new creatures here including racoons, monkeys, lots of frogs, big butterflies, snakes and even bears!. There is a pond by my apartment with plants growing in it and its full of little frogs and dragonflies. I`ve seen a snake that lives in there a few times now. It`s long and bronze coloured and quite nice looking really. I`m not going to trying and catch it though! The weather is super hot, a big change from the Wellington winter. It`s about 30 degrees everyday and more. Its also really humid (moshiatsui). I`m having trouble finding sunscreen but hopefully I`ll find some soon. In Japan they walk around with parasol sunshade umbrellas which is nice. The little village I live in is really beautiful. Theres a temple just up the road from where I live. All the houses are japanese style architecture wooden with these amazing ornate roof decorations. There`s a little place near my house where a man grows bonsai trees - they look so cool - I took photos. I haven`t got an internet connection at my house yet so I can`t upload my digital photos but I`ll let you know when I can! Did you know you can get grape fanta in Japan?. I`ve been buying these little fruit jellies from the supermarket that are really nice. Food here is soo different from NZ. I did manage to find some muesli for breakfast and bread and jam too!. Rice only comes in huge $50 bags. It`s hard to know what the products are beacuse I don`t understand the writing but some have helpful pictures or clear windows which is good. They have a lot of vending machines here too, they sell cigarettes and alcohol in vending machines! In NZ the kids would go crazy. Here, I don`t know... They have peach fanta too but I haven`t tried that yet. The grape was really nice.

I still haven`t started work yet. I start in September. But I am visiting the schools and getting to know the staff and pupils - and getting paid! Lots of free time to explore the wonders of Japan. I would like to get a train into the nearby big city Himeji but I don`t want to end up in Osaka or something. It`s hard to navigate because I can`t read the writing but I have a japanese phrase book with lots of useful transport related phrases e.g where is the train station, what platform is .. train? etc...

My phone gets connected today - I`m told so I`ll let you know my phone number!


p.s my email address is davidwhthomas@hotmail.com for those of you who don`t know or would like to send me comments or something...