Summer 'Holiday' is Over

I remember when Summer Holiday meant six long weeks romping around farmer's fields, building dens in the park and forgetting how to hold a pen let alone write. Now I'm older, I spend all summer indoors and the days whizz by. Already it's September though July doesn't seem that long ago; when I was stuffing a suit into a suitcase and flying back to England to see my brother's graduation.

Time in August really has flown-by, so I must have been having fun. Here's an overview of what I got up to:

• 24th July - 6th August: Trip home to see David's Graduation and Mum's Birthday. Hung around in London, Liverpool, Hull and Barnsley seeing family and friends. The British Food Orgy, which destroyed the good work my summer diet achieved, came to a climax at the Great British Beer Festival. One man, a pint glass, beers from around Britain and a large helping of pies equals the start of a beer belly.
• 7th - 10th August: Spend every evening packing everything in my old flat ready for removel men to come and take everything to the new apartment moving on the 11th.
• 8th - 11th August: Spend everyday in Muikamachi helping to run a seminar for the English teachers in the area.
• 11th August: Go to new apartment to find all my stuff has been moved, but all over the new flat. Decide to leave it as it is until after the weekend
• 12th - 13th August: SummerSonic Festival in Tokyo! Not as good as Fuji Rock, but I still managed to see some excellent bands (Cardigans, Spank Rock, Metallica, Daft Punk, Artic Monkeys, DJ Shadow, Massive Attack). (see previous posts for more)
• 14th August: First decent night's sleep in my apartment. Slept right through from 11pm until 8am without a single truck waking me up. Bliss. Need to sort out the brightness in the mronings though
• 15th-18th August: Organising materials at work by day. Unpacking boxes and trying to correct faults with new apartment by night.
• 19th - 20th August: Spend two days travelling round Tokamachi seeing as many Art Triennial art works as possible
• 21st August: Working at Tsunan and still unpacking
• 22nd August: Help out at Hakkai High Schools open day
• 23rd August: Working at Tsunan and still taking stuff out of boxes. Buy nice, sun-blocking curtains for even better sleep.
• 24th August: Go ot Kawanishi High School and Tokamachi Sogo High School for the first time to meet the teachers. Start buying extra furniture for front room.
• 25th August: Take part in the Marching Dance at the Tokamachi Festival
• 26th August: Host a roof party to watch the fireworks. From my new roof we could see fireworks in Tokamachi, Kawanishi, Oguni and two other displays. Fantastic location! Rest of the night fades out of memory after Lopaka's mates introduce my to a new drinking game
• 27th August: Wake up around 11am to the sound of local o-mikoshi (portable shrine) being carried outside my window. In the afternoon I carry the Tokamachi O-mikoshi with the Eki Dori people. In the evening I watch the final stages of the Tokamachi Festival nursing a sore back and bruised shoulders.
• 28th August: Introduce myself to Tokamachi Sogo Koko at the opening ceremony. Have a chat and a coffee with the principal. Leave to go to Tsunan in the afternoon and prepare for Student Seminar
• 29th - 30th August: Student Seminar in Myoko. Two days of English-club style activities to help encourage students' English studies. Good fun, great kids and lovely scenery
• 31st August: First lessons at Tokamachi Sogo. Summer is officially over. Met all the teachers in English Department. Met half the students I will teach. All really good people so I think I will enjoy teaching here.
• 1st September: Give lesons to the other half of my TSH students. Again, looks like this year could be fun. Go to Japanese class for the first time in weeks
• 2nd - 3rd Spetember: JET Tour of the Art Triennial. Two days in a bus with a guide and 17 other ALTs. Saw around fifty artworks in teh triennial, most in the difficult to reach parts of teh mountains. Had a great time with the ALts, seeing great art and staying at the House of Light. photos to follow

So that brings me up to today. I'll work through my photos and post up the sets when I can. It's scary how fast everything has gone in this last month. I really hope that I can make the most of my last 11 months.