Jiyugaoka
To describe this photo, here’s the text from my post for Dannychoo.com uploaded earlier today: *Twinkle* and I are having a lazy day today, the fourth day of the Silver Week holiday. We’ve come out to Jiyugaoka, just a couple of stops down the line from our station, and 10 mins from Shibuya on the […]
Video: Joseph and *Twinkle*s trip to Yamaki Jouzo
In our first video podcast collaboration, *Twinkle* and I take you to Yamaki Jouzo, an organic farm located about 2.5 hours from Tokyo in Kamikawa-cho, Saitama (accessible by train to JR Honjo and then bus) [Google Map]. This video was originally going to be a Japan Podshow episode, but in the end we were unable […]
Valentines Day 2009
After work last night, I came home to find the house stinking of rancid steamed broccoli – we’d forgotten to put a dish of it away in the fridge before heading off to Saitama the previous day, and what with these spring-like temperatures it had rapidly deteriorated. Windows open, air purifier on full blast …soon […]
Gaijin Bubble – Being a good husband – Taking action
Sunset from our front door The intense feeling of ‘being a foreigner’ is starting to fade. These past few weeks there have been several occasions when I’ve been out and about, and completely forgotten that I’m a member of the 2%(ish) minority population of non-Japanese residents in Japan. Upon arrival back in Japan last September […]
Cafe de Twinkle
Today is a day to be remembered. *Twinkle* and I have a whole day off together. It’s a rare thing. We stayed up pretty late last night (about 3am), planning and working on our goals in our cosy little bedroom – with the heated carpet warming our tootsies (had a little switch-on ceremony). This morning […]
Last day of the year: Looking forward to 2009 and beyond
We’re back at *Twinkle*s parents for New Years Eve, as is the tradition when in Japan. This year I won’t be drinking, following a disastrous incident last time when I, along with *Twinkle*s two sisters’ British partners devoured a whole crate of beer between us – most of it went down my throat. I feel […]
Our first professional engagement as a couple
The lack of broadband at home has finally driven me out to an Internet cafe. I would just use our iPhone, but it’s a bit tedious when it comes to long texts, and also I needed to use Skype …although now I’m here I find that you’re not allowed to talk in this place. Oh […]
Laser eyes, the work, the friends and the MCs
You find me sitting in the waiting room at the Shinagawa Laser Eye Clinic in central Tokyo. …feeling queasy. *Twinkle* has just been taken up to the 15th floor to have her eyes done, leaving me in the big waiting room on the floor below, stuck in front of a TV showing an instructional video […]
Married Life: Day 9
When in the past I’ve asked newly-wed friends if marriage changes things, most of them have said ‘sort of but not really’ or ‘no’, having been living together before the marriage for an extended period of time. It’s my experience that it changes everything. But then, our marriage occurred in rather unusual circumstances, and so […]
Date set for departure for a new life
This morning I decided to have faith in the international postal service and the Japanese embassy in London, and buy my flight to Japan, despite not having yet applied for my visa, or having yet received the documents I need from Japan to apply for it. Having been granted student status again I was able […]
Married for the second time in a month
As mentioned on Twitter this morning, *Twinkle* and I got ‘married’ again today. I was in bed, asleep in the north of England. *Twinkle* was in her local town hall, Japan. I was happy (I mean even happier) All she needed was our original wedding certificate, my original birth certificate and copies of my passport. […]
A CELTA weekend, and Family Planning
So this is what a CELTA weekend is like then: study, study and more study (and a very enjoyable 3-hour trip out to the Peak District to see friends – thank you!) It’s been fun though. You know, I think I’m actually starting to get my head around English grammatical terms, after 30 years of […]
The Wedding Reception
The wedding website has now be updated to reflect the post-wedding reality of our present existence. Anyone interested in taking a peek can find it at www.twinkleandjoseph.net (with the name ‘twinkle’ being replaced with a name she uses in 1st life). The username is ‘guest’, the password ‘banana’. So there we were. Married, with the […]
The wedding service
The morning of the wedding was pretty hectic. I’d had this idea that if I tried to prepare everything as far in advance as possible, there would be little to do on the day itself …but it didn’t quite turn out like that! At 7.20am I was on my way to Hereford to do some […]
Marriage: it’s like a sheep pen on the island of Crete
In the end, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. 6 months apart, followed by 9 days together, then the wedding. It seems to have been a good combination. I recommend it. I’ve been thinking about this feeling I (we) have, this ‘being married’ feeling, and wondering how much it is a result of […]
Photos
Our thanks to John who will be taking photos for us at the wedding (so that I don’t have to pause proceedings in order to take a photo of us – although I’d like to!) Here’s one he took yesterday in the garden 🙂 If you’re coming to the wedding, don’t forget you can upload […]
The wedding tree
*Twinkle*s family arrived yesterday. I was a little nervous about the meeting of the parents, what with mine being completely crazy. Thankfully, it went really really well, with *Twinkle*s parents saying afterwards that they found it hard to stop laughing (that’ll be dad’s humour which does indeed seem to cross international borders). After the initial […]
Marriage – from the pre-wedding perspective
The past couple of days have started to see a change in the relationship between myself and *Twinkle*. I think I know why that could be – the Marriage Effect. It first struck me yesterday when we were driving home to the holiday cottage that we’ve rented about 500 yards from mum and dad’s place. […]
*Twinkle*s arrival and the first of two weddings
The drive to Heathrow airport never takes as long as I expect it to. I think of London as being a long way away, but it actually takes less than three hours to get there from Herefordshire, and what with the airport being located just off the M4 there’s not much in the way of […]
Touching base
In response to anonymous’ comment on the previous post: you’ll have to bear with us – things are a little busy at wedding central… Will be back online ‘soon’. Driving back from Heathrow At Ludlow castle Camping
Ittekimasu!
Ittekimasu is what Japanese people say when they are leaving the hosue. It literally means, “I’m going, and I’ll come back”. I’m off to Heathrow – *Twinkle* should be touching down in just under three hours. It’s terminal 5 – let’s hope the wedding dress makes it too! xxx
Back in the Alps
As part of my prep for leaving for Japan, I’m going though my box of diaries, which also contains a few DVDs of TV programs featuring me or my friends, and converting them to MP4 format which I can keep on my laptop. One of them I’ve not seen for years is the documentary made […]
I’m marrying *Twinkle* in 15 days
Ha. Everything but the girl. Nice. Last week I upgraded my Macbook’s hard-drive to the 320GB Toshiba MK3252GSX. At £66 it was a bargain, and being a Macbook the upgrade can be done on the kitchen table in about three minutes. One result of this is that I can now fit my entire music collection […]
Generosity, and packing for Japan
Been a funny old day today. Everything’s been out of context. Started with being woken by my mobile. I get an average of one phone call a week, so it startles me even if when I’m already awake. My friend had a puncture, meeting might be delayed. I can sleep in a bit. Tired after […]
The challenges of a long distance relationship
A misunderstanding this week between *Twinkle* and myself has led me to realise that, after 5 months apart, we’ve started to lose touch with one another’s realities. Whilst we do communicate regularly via email (just over 2,500 messages since we saw one another in January), these cannot give us a true picture of the daily […]
The shouting lady
I spent much of today in the library, hammering my dissertation into shape. We’re getting there. All but the conclusion written. This week, the weather has been just beautiful. Real warm sunny days, no need for jumpers or jackets. This brings me such enormous pleasure. It’s been a very long winter, and I was getting […]
Wondering what’s around the corner
I’m about a third of a way through the 27-hour audio version Murakami’s The Wind-up Bird Chronicles. Murakami is the first fiction author whose books I’ve read more than one of – this is my third (following Kafka on the Shore & Norwegian Wood). I’m finding this one as involving as the previous two, and […]
A Whizz Boing Pop day
I find it astonishing (and at times disturbing!) how much detail my camera lens can pick up. My hand doesn’t look so wrinkly to the naked eye, but an adjustment of the levels in the raw file shows the prints and lines in all their glory. I guess this is where photography is going now, […]
Bank Holiday stuff
Every time I come back to my parent’s house I make a point of a) eating mum’s home-made chocolate cake, and b) sorting through the stuff under my old bed to see what of my belongings can be given away. As time passes so it becomes easier to dispose of stuff, and it’s now reached […]
Norwegian Wood, Religious Weddings and the Canvas of Life
Latest addition to my mum’s art portfolio Fascinating, thrilling day today. It is so great to see family after such a long time. I caught the tram at 6.30am, train down to Hereford, bus to Wormelow, car to Orcop. Thoroughly enjoyable journey. Not only did I get to indulge in one of all-time favourite hobbies […]
Coping
As fresh as a Greek daisy. One of the first ever flower-shots I took, back in 1996 I’m glad I don’t usually have a car. Two parking tickets, a blow-out, and now today a section of the front bumper missing after someone reversed into me in the car park. I really am glad that on […]
Organic vegetables, Nelson Mandela, and your own thought processes
Ha. It’s another of those nights. Those nights when I go to bed, but feel so excited about everything and nothing that I have to get up again. Part of it’s the music, I know. I’m listening to Everything But the Girl – Walking Wounded. One of the few CDs I ever owned. Bought it […]