Smarter Primate

Maybe it’s the warmer climate
Maybe I’m a smarter primate
Maybe it’s the beer I’m drinking
Maybe I’ve stopped over-thinking.

For a country that has such absurdly complicated recycling laws – separate this, only put this out on the second Tuesday of the month unless it’s raining, this stuff can’t go with that stuff, if you put this out on the wrong day people will get upset – they certainly seem to generate quite staggering quantities of junk mail here. Every time I come back from another day on the treadmill, there’s something else stuffed into my letterbox, usually an advert for fast food I would be quite incapable of ordering, even if I wanted the damn thing. As it is, it seems merely provided as one more thing that must be found a home in the seemingly never-ending search for the perfect recycling system.

Everybody asks about the weather in Japan when they e-mail me, so here’s the latest on the weather situation – it’s really just like the UK, with the thermostat cranked up a bit. Having arrived in Tokyo right at the end of the hot season, and being plunged into the rainy season when the first typhoon I’ve ever experience blew through a little while ago, I can say from limited experience that when it’s hot it’s humid, and that makes it worse. When it rains, it’s warm, and it’s a relief. When it’s cold, it’s quite refreshing, and that’s rather nice. It was yet to be cold and wet although I’m sure that particular weather will be along soon. And that really is the weather in Japan, from beginning to end. Apparently the colours here in autumn are amazing and I’m looking forward to getting up to one of the national parks and having a look around.

Actually what this part of Japan reminds me of most are memories all drawn from holidays in the south of France.

There’s a certain quality to the hills and the countryside that reminds me of my grandparent’s house, with the same immense cliffs and staggering mountainous views that you find in their area – notice I’m hedging my words as I can’t actually remember exactly where this is. But that’s the sense that I get when I’m on the train, winding its way to its destination, looking out the window at the passing fields and the distant swelling hills and the mountains beyond, all dressed in green for summer. It’s a stunningly beautiful place sometimes. I stepped onto the walkway outside my flat one morning and stood in awe of the mountains that surround where I live, the cloud feathering and shredding across their summits as it swoops in from the ocean.

Being here is amazing, and I’m starting to learn a little (a very little) Japanese, to start to feel a little more comfortable, although I don’t think this place will ever feel like home. So far the things that I’ve enjoyed have been spending time looking at Tokyo and experiencing Tokyo, far more than I’ve enjoyed any of the teaching. I know already that teaching long-term is not for me. The pencil and the keyboard are a-calling me, and I shall put my time into writing and drawing and see what I can make of myself.

Baby you’re the words and chapters
The sweetness in the morning after
You are the cry that turns to laughter
You’re the hope that ends disaster