Nepal in Perspective(s)

Disgracefully long wait since plast posting on here. Apologies.
Nepal adventures could take up a week, but I will post the first recollections now and edit as I can. Photos by Ronan Dunlea, Kirsten Jost, Matteo Cullen. That's right. Matteo Cullen.

Day One – Kathmandu

Saw many temples, a cremation – mental. I might go back to that spot. Very public burial. Lots of monkeys about. Amazing blend of Hindu and Buddhist. For example, the living Goddess fulfils Hindu role but is from a Buddhist family. Highlight of the day was the sunshine. Durbar square was amazing as well with good views. A little hazy so no panoramic views. Trek starts tomorrow. Met Ashok, the guide, briefly. Staying in Hotel something or other. Guides seem friendly and we are in good form. Driver from airport also decent guy.

Day Two. First day of trek. We left the safety of Kathmandu for the hills. We have walked up to 2,600m today. Apparently that’s as high as we’ll get – I’m being pessimistic about this. Ronan still feeling the worse for wear, but slowly coming around, I think. Tonight we are in a guesthouse along a narrow mountain pass. Fairly bleak spot, but very beautiful. Hundreds of terraces abound in the surrounding valleys. Am starting, through Ashok the guide, to learn something about Nepali politics and the difficulties they face. Played handball today with a beautiful local child and took sunset pictures. On the way up we passed the army, rhododendrons and some monkeys. The rural way of life here hasn’t changed much in the 20^th century. A high point was sitting drinking yak butter, millet wine, coffee and sugar mixed together with the owner and some locals – though we didn’t eat his pricey chicken, fresh or otherwise.

Tomorrow more of the same, but longer. Ready for great sleep.

Day 3

A fairly hard walk through hills and dales. We stayed at about 2,500m all day, but there was some fairly serious climbing and going down. We passed a lot of kids on the way to school – some playing with catapults, running down the roads noisily and energetically. We did get a peek at some snow-capped mountains for a little while this morning. There should be snow tomorrow, we hear. We saw patches dug up by wild boar; a few unidentified red and yellow birds. Ashok was all over it with the Penguin Guide to Indian Birds. Almost lost the rag one time with the LSD for farting practically in my face – not pleasant, but nothing to get worked up about. I didn’t think we were capable of the walk we did today but we did it! Owner was nice and bed is welcome – it’s 9 pm! Ashok’s card tricks were great craic. Tomorrow – read Tolkein, stay chilled and with the group! Camera battery might be a problem.

Day 4.

Third day of trek. Spent a lot of today in snow, some of it deep enough to sink to your navel. Plus it was old snow. Beautiful view of stars tonight at 3,600m. We might go up higher again tomorrow! In a small “village”, Therapati, and in deep snow. Quite cosy after usual dal bhat and omelette. Adventure continues tomorrow. Odour – for men. Physical rating funf. Met two Germans. Very high up, and good views. Ronan’s card game and Ashok’s tricks continued.

Day 5

Stayed around in Therapati. Walked up small hill to 3,950m for views and snow fun. After tea and lunch went out tobogganing and breaking landspeed records with Bashu and Ashok. Ronan’s jovial nature soon had us chatting to Ella from England (really, not Norway?) and Herman the German and Anne. Needless to say they joined us for ‘Spoon Game’ later on. Went to bed at nine and it was viciously cold. Moving onto warmer climes tomorrow. A group of French trekkers came in after tackling the higher passes and they were cold and miserable. One guy had worked in Uganda and Burundi. Saw the Russians off on their way to the Gopje Lakes and the German hippies too. The Holy Lakes are impossible to see with heavy snow and ice at the moment. We had fantastic views this morning and built a snowman out of the snow at the top of the highest peak we climbed. Above Mt Fuji now!

Day 6

This was mostly downhill from Therapati to Tharkagang. It was unbelieveable how far we walked – down a whole mountain and up another. In the interim we crossed two suspension bridges with a beautiful alpine river. I wanted to jump in. We stopped into a small watermill, where we ate flour given by a man with a gurkha knife. Kirsten had a fall and has injured her foot a little. She’s walking but it looks painful. We stopped in a village for lunch with scenic views, and a little kid that looked like Ice Cube. Then it was uphill to Tharkagang. We met some folks in the village square busily carving furniture from huge logs. We drank from their stock of what seemed like alcoholic oatmeal. One hostel up there was full, so we stayed in a Sherpa home. We got to eat in the kitchen and hang out with Nina and her quiet brother and her beautiful sister. Wow.

Day 7.

Tomorrow is the last day of the hike. Saw some awesome langur action as we left the village – a troop of them staring from the trees and then fleeing as we approached. Cool to hear the lads arguing about whether Nina’s brother was her sister…stopped in an awesome village for a “cold drink” – lovely girls and beautiful scenery and Ronan found a man with a self-help book in Nepali! I had a bit of craic with the kids this evening. We could see a lot of people bringing chickens, etc to be sacrificed. Ronan got a National Geographic of two Nepali villagers with cows in the background. In many places, there are communist signs and flags. It seems they have a lot of popularity in the rural areas.

Day 8

The dawn was pretty amazing considering we were still half-way down a valley.

Two days without a camera is really staring to bug me, but it’s partly my own fault. I managed to get charged up at last somewhere in the valley after a long wait. Good to have a bit of juice after the panic. Today was almost all downhill

Linguistics and Pedagogy Course, Shiga

Okinawa, Andy, Footy, School

一月は、忙しいでした。滋賀県で、一週間欠かれたの日本語コースをしました。難しかったけどう、他の参加者は立派なひとたち！12月に、沖縄に行ってきました。RonanとYoshieさんと一緒に行きました。なごの水族館はおすすめです。せんそうの墓物冠に行きたかったけどう、じかんはみじかかった。いつかみたい。

December

December is the busy period, and it's a relief that professional and social activites are relatively unhampered by Christmas clutter in Japan. If anything, the lack of a buzz means that I almost forgot about Christmas - apologies for the late cards!
Last weekend was fairly typical of life in Kyoto on JET. On Saturday I went to Tennoji, Osaka, to play soccer for Osaka JET. We crushed the Murphy's lads, with Jamie Boot in fine goalscoring form. A hat-trick from himself and a couple from me (including a cheeky 25-yard lob) put the pub lot in their place after their taking points off us in Awaji. The following legends turned out for us on Saturday: Yuki, Luca Kono, Jamie Boot, John Synnott, Matteo Cullen, Paul Spencer, Doug Murrell. Saturday evening I was back in Arashiyama for Colleen Schamm's cocktail party. Drinks on offer included White Russian, Sex on the Beach and various other delicacies. Not being au fe with "that type of thing", I opted to make everyone hot whiskies. Remember to put the lemon in there, Noelle! Sunday morning dawned overcast and windy, and with the prospect of Premiership points up for grabs, I headed off to Kobe on the Hankyu for some Australian Rules action. In my third competitive game for the Kyoto Kockatwos [sic], I notched up nine goals as we ran out convincing winners agains the Kinki Kangaroos. The 'Roos still head up the table, but Kyoto have put ourselves back in the hunt. We'll face a stern test against Nagoya in the New Year. Sported out, a quick curry at KRAC was followed by a trip to the famous Luminarie in Kobe. This extensive array of light sculptures was commissioned in the wake of the Kobe earthquake, and designed by an Italian artist. It's well worth a visit. I had enough time to meet some new friends, before heading on to Osaka, for a gig at the Blarney Stone. It was a fairly quiet Sunday night, but with the likes of Eddie Leyland and Andy Carne in attendance, it became an immensely enjoyable evening. I wasn't in the best singing form, but I think I came through well enough. I did justice to 'Sweet Thames Flow Softly', '1-2-3-4-5' and 'How Do You Come To School?', though I would be flattering myself if I said it was a good show. The singing and dancing lasted well past bedtime, and I was within minutes of missing the JR back home. In other news, I met Lunasa (the band) last week at the Field, along with some great Irish music enthusiasts from Hiroshima. Fair play to Yo! Also, my second CD, entitled 'Audio Lights' is complete. It features 15 original songs for use in the ESL classroom, bonus tracks, brilliant artwork and funky good music for your aural pleasure! 最近東京に行きました。恵比寿で写真の墓物間に行って、色々な写真を見ました。AJETの会議のために東京にいきました。トリニダッドの二ールさんと一緒に楽しみました。今週アンディアブアイヌは、京都にライブがありますが、ほんとうに忙しいです。。木曜日は、はなせの家と言う所に行きますーひよしがおか高校のウインタキャンプのために。楽しみしょう！今週京都ノヤマでは、雪が降っていました。

Osaka Weekend

A few new syashin for you all. Keihan train, rugby game, Osaka.
最近の写真、皆さん。見てね！今の天気は。。大雨です！昨日アメリカのジェシカと大阪にいきました。友達のパーティにいたあことがあります。トミさんーどうも！マテオの２番のシディは、すぐ出ます！！

Tanzan Jinja

お ひさしぶりやんなー! 最近めちゃ忙しかったdesu。前の土曜日に、奈良の淡山神社に行ってきました。奈良AJETの皆さんとハイクするつもりでした。雨の日でし た、その上今年の紅葉は、去年よりすごい遅いですけど、あの所はすばらしかった。色んなきれいな事がありますー森、自然、やま、神社；LANTERNも いっぱいがありました。皆、行ってみてください。桜井駅から、１４番のバスで、２０分かかります。

シリアス アクション

A weekend of serious action here in the Far East. On Saturday and Sunday, myself, Ronan and Doncastrian Tommy 'Powerhouse' Gibbs attended the Fukai Danjiri, a whopping festival. Many Japanese are stereotyped as reserved, but the hair was definitely down as 800-100 Fukai Shi heads tore up the town, pulling their Danjiri floats around the narrow streets of their neighbourhood. Not for the faint-hearted, the Danjiri costs lives and causes injuries as the huge floats, each costing about 1000,000 000 Yen, race around corners that are tight for a bicycle, never mind a two or three ton vehicle with wheels that only more forwards. We saw some good friends from last year, and made some new ones. Pictures to follow soon. Big thanks to Shimahara-san and family for putting us up for the two days in traditional Japanese-style accommodation.

Sunday evening, I rested before making my way back to Kyoto for Bikouten, my High-school students’ art expo. The show wasn’t as visually or aesthetically attractive as last year, I felt. However, there were some exceptions, with some brilliant anime, life painting, nihonga (Japanese painting), sculpture and fashion/design pieces on show.

After that I caught a few dancing troupes at the Heian Shrine’s Student Festival. Some of it was good, but of what I saw, none was really brilliant, although it was great to see students age18-25 messing about, having a good time and importantly, not taking themselves too seriously (as some of us are wont to do). The young ‘uns generally created good-natured havoc to the beat of syrupy techno for hours on end, and didn’t do any harm at all.

Saturday evening I caught a jazz band at Zac Baran – some highly talented college students laid down instrumental and vocal jazz in the pub. I can hardly talk about being skilled in jazz, but in terms of groove, I feel that some of the players have, no more than myself, a little ways to go before they are comfortable with the material they are handling. However, I did meet a guy who I had played with, impromptu-style, at Kyoto Station one Summer afternoon, and we renewed our acquaintance. The Hokkaido guitarist was the star of the show, for my money. Wonder if he is giving lessons.

Monday was the first Osaka Biathlon, which I completed in 29 minutes. It was a very poor result, somewhat akin to Ireland’s defeat against Cyprus. I found the run-swim-run format difficult, though I ran the last leg quite well. This kind of contest suits sportspeople whose aerobic fitness is very high – sprinter-folk, in other words. Mine (aerobic ability) being weak, I found it hard to adjust to appropriate/optimal breathing, etc, until well into the race. I also found the swim extremely difficult, and had to stop a couple of times. I got a bit of encouragement from a fellow competitor though, and was on my way before long. Given that there were former Olympians in the field, along with some of Japan’s top runners and triathletes, it wasn’t a bad result overall (59^th). However, I’ll be looking to do better next year. I also found out about the Terry Fox events, and I might take those on later in the year.

Finally, I headed to the Gakkentoshi line and took a train out to the Osaka soccer field, where I played in a 5-game 11-a-side tournament for Osaka JETs. Up until now, our form has been poor enough, but we set that right today with convincing victories in all of our games. I played in 3, and we won all of them, 1-0, 2-1 and 4-0. I scored a nice header in the last, making up for a penalty miss minutes before, and did well in a stint in goals. On song for us today were Doug Murrell in defence, and new talent Paul from Oz up front, who scythed through defences and scored a brace in the final game. Overall a brilliant weekend, and a useful, stomping, healthy build-up to Shanghai next weekend.

東京 And Such Like

What with being back in the old country (あいるらんど) and several other things　(さまざまな　物), blogging time has been thin on the ground. Was in Tokyo (東京)　this weekend for the second time this month for Gaelic training. As I struggled and failed to keep lunch down pitchside, I wondered what the heck it was all about.　 Will find out next month in Shanghai, at the Asian Gaelic Games. We have a good panel but are (多分) a few ボール short of a トレーニング　セシオン ag an am seo. Currently writing an essay on Flann O' Brien and V.S. Naipaul, which is keeping the head (頭) ticking over. School continues. I mo Junior High School, bíom I gcónai ag arguáil leis na muinteóiri. Níl a lán suim acu i bheith ag múineadh in an módh ina bufuil suim agam - ag baint usáid on ceol agus an craic, and using English as first language scenarios, rather than translating for the students all the while. Anyway, it was the school festival 中学校文化祭　there last Friday. I was delighted よころびました　that one class put on a play about their English class, and sure wasn't I in it! Not me, but one of the kids dressed up and playing me in a red t-shirt and massive 'fro, guitar in hand! I was, as the saying goes, 感動しました！ 今 の天気は　－雨が降っている。台風１３は強かった。あの　 時に、九州にいましたので、大雨みました。日本の一番大きな　旋風がありました。電車がくつがえました。しかし、九州の　観光は、　すごい　よかった　で す。さいきん、写真機は、’病気’　に　なりました。フィルムをとるはまだできるけど、写真をとるはできません。残念です。先週の金曜日に、 Therese　様　と　McLoughlin's　アイリシュ　パっブで　コンサート　しました。僕は、ギターと　ピアノをひきました。Therese は　ギターと　バウローン（伝統的な　アイリシュ　ドラム）をひきました。　みんなは、楽しみました！

Field Gig; School; Japanese

Last week I played at Field, Kyoto City. I was accompanied by Genta, the talented guitarist. It was a joy to play with him and we ripped it up.

Here’s the set:

·         Drowsy Maggie

·         Leaving Of Liverpool

·         Si Bheag Si Mhor

·         Jah Warrior                              

·         WA’s Best Family  

·         E Jam                                       

·         Ice Cream Man

·         My Baby’s Eyes      

·         In Bloom                                 

·         The Derby Ram                      

·         Old Maid in the Garret

·         Arthur Mc Bride                     

·         Paris 1919

·         Bass and Piano Solo                             

·         Heart Of Gold

·         Satellite of Love                     

·         Good Ship Kangaroo

·         Parting Glass

·         1-2-3-4-5

A nice shot from my friend Valerie here – click on it to blow it up.

School is fairly mental at the minute. Níl mé i ngrá leis an modh ina múineann na múinteoirí sa scoil nua – táim ag déanamh iarracht bheith cáirdiuil leo, ach  uaireanta bíonn sé deacair! Ag an am céanna, bainim taitneamh as na leanaí – tá siad 12-13 bliana d’aois ar average. Tá suim mór ag na 3rd years in Éirinn!

The new maple leaves are out, inviting us out of the city for a wander. 最近　亀岡　に　行って、蛍を見ました。しのぶさんは、蛍がたくさんを集まりましたの場所を教えてくれました。すごいマジカルでした。

Shiga

This weekend I took a trip to Shiga prefecture. After the heady heights of a gig at Field the night before, we headed out to photograph the newly-planted rice-fields in open countryside. Across Japan the rice is now growing on the terraces; the glint of water caught among young shoots is seen on many a slope or mountainside. We explored the Hata area outside Otsu city; along with the patchworked hills, we noticed spiders and frogs, snakes and fireflies; conversed with local folk tending the crop, and spotted the once-daily Osaka-Hokkaido Express snaking along, northward-bound. I didn’t know there was a floating torii on Lake Biwa, yet we found one at Shirahige Shrine. As the day ended we were close to Hakodateyama, and feasted on hand-made soba noodles. Lá breá a bhí againn - bhi an grian amuigh 's chuir se sasta ar mo chroi.

Neil Young

The new Neil Young album is now available. From what I gather, it's available for free from his website. 彼のウッブサイトのアドレスは：www.neilyoung.comです。The last time I checked Neil Young didn't even have a website, but now he does. It's rather preoccupied with the new Living With War album, and the reaction to it in the US, to the detriment of a lot of Young's older material. However, there is an exhaustive discography of Neil's earlier work, which is great.

Speaking of albums, I've promised to provide the tracklist and other information for my own release. I've provided it below. I will add a good bit of detail on the blog here about the album in due course.





１．Jah Warrior
2. Drum and Bass
3. Does She Know?
4. In My Soul
5. Watchin' the River Flow
6. WA's Best Family
7. Ice-Cream Man
8. Buffalo Ballet
9. Rockin' In the Free World
10. Little Eyes

はい、bonus track はいています！

最 近、京都ですごいいい天気でした。昨日大阪でお友達とEnglandのゲームを楽しみました。実は、そのゲームは、ちょっとつまらなかった！しかし、友 達は４０人ぐらいので、いいatmosphereでした！今日Noelle　さんと日本のShall We Dance　と言う映画を見ましたーよかった。

Footy Weekends

The last two weekends have been a lot of fun. I played soccer and Aussie Rules consecutively.
The soccer tournament was the Awaji JET Soccer Championship. We played really well to get to the last eight, but lost to the eventual finalists. Needless to say, our team Osaka JET won the award for best banter - we had a great time sneaking in the window of the hotel, letting rip on the karaoke machine, Nick Warry's raffle and our singing of '1-2-3-4-5' - the song which I'd written for the Saiyko Junior High School students!たのしかった週末でした。
This weekend, I went to Maishima Sports Island, Osaka to take part in the final of the Aussie Rules Premiership. Playing Compromise Rules for Japan gave me some idea of what to expect, but kicking the ball between the posts was difficult for a while. We (Kyoto Kockatoos) did very well against a hardy, experienced Kinki Kangaroos side, coming from behind in the first quarter to take the game by four or five goals. Nice to add a trophy to the Ned Kelly Cup which my team won in March, and the third place at Ashiya in February.みんあ強かった！

Kumano Festival and Tokyo

Was lucky to see a sneaky local festival right outside my house the other week. Enjoy a few photos. Have been to Tokers since I was on here last, and will post just one or two 写真　－楽しんでください。最近すごいいそがしいなーJETのここりつCOUNCIL代表になりました。日本語を勉強しなければなりません。These are in honour of Brian Mac's new ウェッブプレセンス!　

Totally Lame

I've been totally lame lately, no excuses. I got the album done, changed schools a few times and am trying to keep my head above water while reading V.S Naipaul, Flann O'Brien, making lesson plans, playing rugby and soccer, preparing for meetings in Tokyo, trying to stay social with my friends, get computer savvy, making more music, いつも日本語を勉強する, writing stories, poems and feeding myself, organising my gaff、家でそうじする...well it's　楽しい　けど、たいへん. It's just started to be Summer here after 6 months of really trying weather.　前の冬はすごい寒かったでしたーもたいへんなー！ It was cold and stuffy all winter long, more so than last year. These days are a welcome break. 今いい天気ですよー夕方まださむいけど！In recent news I went to Omi Maiko, a small spot near 琵琶湖. Bhi me ag seinm ceol with a bunch of bowsies from the Field Irish Music Circle.
My playing has gotten so much better, thanks to the likes of Suzaki, Umi, Chihiro and all the other くわしい folk playing out of the Field.

Putting some links in here which I hope you find interesting:

http://www.tourismireland.jp/ (see how we look in Japanese)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_music - a little formal but nonetheless...

Anyone in Ireland around June 4th should consider Dweezil and Ahmet Zappa's concert at Vicar Street - more details at www.zappa.com.