A special day

I know that some of you are interested in charity, so I'll tell you about a special day for some of my friends and me. Once a year, in June, we take part in a sponsored walk for charity along the Kamo River in Kyoto city. As some of you may know, a sponsored walk involves finding sponsors (people who agree to donate money if you do what you say you will do), and then taking part in the event (a 10km walk, in our case). My best friend, Kevin Ramsden, who lives in Kyoto, organizes the event. (The photo is of some of us taking a break at the halfway point).

We walk 5km from San-jo bridge up to Kitayama bridge, then turn around and walk back down the other side of the river. A mixture of Japanese and foreigners take part every year, and we all have lunch and drinks together in an Irish pub afterwards. As you can imagine, I gain more calories than I lose during the day. The purpose is to raise money for disadvantaged children (orphans in Zimbabwe and Nepal). Kevin has contacts in those countries. Last year we raised a little over 1,000,000 yen, and had fun at the same time. If any of you are interested in joining us next year, let me know sometime.

Communication in a high tech world

As we all know, people (particularly in developed countries) have access to amazingly sophisticated technology nowadays. It is certainly true that this gives us the ability to communicate faster and in more ways than ever before. But what use are people making of this technology? Are people communicating more, and leading happier lives as a result?

Of course there is no one simple answer to this question. My friend Dale (we were on our way to a concert at Zepp Osaka in the photo) loves to go out and has many friends, but he also makes notes about his experiences and writes about them on his blog. He uses technology to enrich his (already enjoyable) life. Can we always say the same thing about other people? My friends and I sometimes comment about seeing a few (usually Japanese) people sitting together somewhere for a long time, all of them using their keitais, and never talking. It looks like a strange situation, in our opinions. Is technology making people less interested in talking? In the past families used to sit together and watch TV, so even if they didn't talk very much, at least they were sharing an experience. Now kids go to their rooms and use their various high tech devices alone. Could technology become more of a problem than a help to communication? What do you think?

Globalization's impact on me

Naturally globalization has affected my life in various ways, but the most obvious one is that it played a part in me choosing to live in Japan. I first came to Japan in 1989. At that time I was feeling adventurous and just wanted to explore the world as much as I could. I had been in India for 4 months before I arrived in Tokyo, and was curious to see what life in Japan was like (maybe I was also kind of chasing an American girl, but that's another story).

I knew very little about Japan then. I was even surprised and relieved to discover that there were some trees in Tokyo!! It was hard to adjust to the crowds at first. Being inside Shinjuku station at night made me feel like I was some kind of fighting spaceship in a video game, dodging missiles. After a few happy years here I realized I could enjoy having a career in Japan, even without speaking good Japanese (because of globalization). I went back to Brisbane to do my M.A., but always planned to return.

Summer

The most enjoyable part of my summer was probably just having plenty of time to spend with Sophie. Her first birthday was on August 20th (this photo was taken on that day). Over the summer she discovered how to walk. Now she can walk across a room slowly, swaying from side to side, kind of like a drunken old man. Although she's only small, she's surprisingly strong, and loves to be chased around the house (by me) and to play with things that "grown ups" use, such as remote controls, mobile phones etc.

We went to Hokkaido, as planned, and had a good time exploring some national parks. It was cooler there than Kansai of course, especially in the forests and on mountains. I carried Sophie 1.7 km up a very steep, rocky trail to the top of Kurodake (in Daisetsuzan National Park) on my back. It nearly killed me, but the views from the top of the mountain made it worthwhile. We saw a fox up there, and some squirrels as well. The weather was good the whole time, and we ate really delicious soft cream every day (maybe my summer diet was not 100% successful).

Summer vacation

This summer I'm planning to go to Hokkaido with my family. Sophie is too young to take on a long flight, so we decided to hang out in Japan somewhere. I lived in Sapporo for a year in 1992, so this will be a nostalgic return for me after 18 years. At that time I was a young guy working at a conversation school and didn't get much time off, so I didn't do as much sightseeing as I would've liked. This time I want to enjoy the countryside more. We're trying to book a sleeping car on the "Twilight Express" (the Osaka-Sapporo train), but it seems like it's hard to make a reservation. If that's not possible, we'll fly. Anyway, I'll rent a car up there and drive around for about 10 days. Sometimes we'll stay in expensive hot spring hotels, and other times just cheap places. I'm especially looking forward to spending time at Akan National Park (it includes Masshu-ko), and swimming in some lakes. I guess we'll eat "jingiskan"(?) too. Lamb (or mutton) is delicious!

A magical experience

I took this photo while standing on top of an old, ruined temple in the countryside in Cambodia. The sunset was spectacular, and we could see across a really wide area of jungle. The sound of the insects was very mysterious, almost like some kind of machine. They must have been a similar creature to cicadas though.

Angkor Wat was very near this place too. If you have a chance, I really recommend you go there. There is a strange sense of something "special" as you approach it. It's hard to describe, but you might feel how wonderful the Khmer culture must have been. The Khmers came from present day Cambodia, but ruled a huge Asian empire from about 900 A.D.- 1400. The stone walls of Angkor Wat are decorated with countless carvings showing events from the daily lives of the people.

My good and bad points

Of course I have many bad points, but maybe the worst is that I'm not strict enough with myself. I usually eat and drink too much. If I want something, I have it. If I exercised more, it might be okay, but these days I don't have much chance to play sport. Anyway, I'm also a bit lazy. I don't like cleaning my room very often, and tend to leave things until the last minute. My wife says I'm stubborn too. I guess that's right, although maybe that can sometimes be a good thing.

My best point is probably that I'm reliable. If I say I'll do something, I really try to be sure that I actually do it. That's something that I think is important, for myself or anyone. I'm also glad to say that I'm not a follower of fashion. I prefer to do things my way, and don't care what is "popular". Also, I'm not especially fussy. Simple things can satisfy me.