what do you see?

Very wet and windy this morning, again like England (sorry to keep harping on about that...one of the expat traits I suppose). There's a new picture of our car on the pictures site - I took it yesterday in the parking lot - I mean car park - of a dam we went to see. Anyway, have to go off to work now...

Yesterday was drizzly and fairly cool. Went shopping, watched a DVD, got a printer!

Today was nicer so we drove up to Bihoro pass where there's a really good view of lake Kussharo and the various mountains in Akan national park. The leaves are well on their way now, probably at their peak in a week or two. I'll be putting some pictures on the site soon.

PS - the figures I gave were in the Japanese scale, the Richter scale is higher. I think the main quake was 8 on the Richter, with an aftershock of 7.

More here. Japantoday

EARTHQUAKE!!!!!!!!!! As you might know, we had an earthquake here this morning, around 4.50am (aargh, why? we needed the sleep too). The earthquake epicentre was off the south coast of Hokkaido, so the worst affected areas were in the south. We felt it here, but it felt less than others we’ve had in Tokyo! Maybe because that place was made of paper. Nothing even fell over here. I don’t think there was any damage around this area. It's the first one we've felt since we've been up here. There's a very sketchy story here on the BBC news site I don't understand why it's so vague as if they can't get news out of Japan easily! Also, I love the random facts about Hokkaido at the end of the article!

Had a very nice weekend. The weather has turned sunny and cool now, perfect for walking. We went to see the famous "sangoso" - coral grass (glasswort I think) which is a beautiful red colour at the moment - growing around a couple of lakes nearby. One site was the biggest in Japan, hence the big car park, toilet, wooden walkways and piped classical music installed to enhance it! Lots of tour groups there, so we didn't hang around too long! Yesterday was nice enough to sit outside in the local park (actually the grounds of the Pearson House) and have a picnic. Later it got very ominous, some rain but still sunny, so we saw some really good rainbows. Another public holiday tomorrow - it's only when you actually get them as days off that you realise how many there are in Japan! 15 a year, but I think they need it here.

Still grey and miserable, which is fine by me. Got a bit of a cold though. Then again, so has everyone. Spend a while last night helping Christine learn a new kids song - Skiddamarink - playing the guitar while she sang and practiced actions. The most ridiculous song ever, surely. I just hope the neighbours couldn't hear us and think that that's the way we English teachers like to spend an evening, having a good old kid's sing-song!

Yup put the black light in the back, looks OK but a little bit hidden. But it's too bright to put anywhere else (not that it stops a lot of other people here!). Weather was grey and drizzly here today, just like I remember good old England. Ah, nostaligia!

Oh yes, Monday was a day off too. We went to Onneto Lake again, the one which is famous for it's beautiful blue and green colours which continually seem to change. Found some nice trails around it, with great views of the neighbouring volcanoes (active and steaming/smoking!). We are planning to climb one of them soon as it's a fairly easy climb. It has a lot of worrying warning signs about what to do in the event of an eruption though (with accompanying cartoony pictures as even the most serious signs do here!).

Day off today...and tomorrow!!! Yes! 2 days off in a row for the first time since August 23/24. We put three of Christine's new pictures up, walked by the river and drove up to see a "famous" view of Kitami city. I got a little more stuff for the car too - so far I've replaced the interior lights with blue ones, and put in a small blue LED strip light over the stereo. Today I got a black light tube. I'm not sure where exactly to put it yet though. Maybe in the back.

Sorry 'bout the delay! Haven't had much time off since then, having to make up a few days of holiday, and work's been busy due to the move to the new school. Hmm what to say? We had our first taste of "park golf" on Sunday - a game local to Hokkaido, kind of oversized crazy golf/mini-golf. It's a bit like pitch-and-putt (those in England should understand that), but with a special (much too short!) club and a weird plastic ball. It's very popular with retired people, and it's flipping hard too. You have to really crack the ball, imagine playing hockey, but hitting uphill over rough grass and trying to get the ball into a hole too. Anyway, we didn't do too badly considering.

Got woken up yesterday morning by dogs barking (normal) and an inexplicable rooster crowing. Haven't worked it out yet.

Anyway, I'm still working on the various web-sites, keep checking as I always say! Better go now, I have plenty to do.