Bulgaria

Snow-capped mountains above Rila Monastery

Back in 2004 I visited a lot of countries on my Dhaka to Dakar tour, and now that I am back into publishing my book in chapter form I thought this would be a great opportunity to revisit some of the places I visited. One such place, the first stop in Europe, was the not-so-often visited country of Bulgaria.

Impressive Roman ruins above a highway!

 Bulgaria borders quite a few countries including Turkey (where I had just been), Greece and Romania (where I would head after Bulgaria). It was May-June 2004 and the weather was just warming up. Great weather in fact for visiting Plovdiv, an attractive university city with a smattering of Roman ruins and the capital Sofia, a charming city that I highly recommend to the traveler.

Veliko Tarnovo

 Sofia was full of churches and typical tourist fare, but on an easy day trip from the city I visited the Rila Monastery, a magical little place up in the mountains. I also visited Veliko Tarnovo, a smaller town with an impressive ancient citadel and beautiful perched on river banks. The weather there wasn't so great but the setting certainly was.

Restored house in Plovdiv.

If you'd like to know more about my time in Bulgaria, the chapter (7 in the series) is now available by itself for 99 cents on the Amazon kindle store, or 99 pence on the UK store.

US Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007SNSGVW

UK Amazon:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007SNSGVW

Teaching in Japan, first impressions!

So here I am in sunny (no really!) Ichinoseki, Japan. The weather is chilly but not too much rain since I moved here which is good. I find myself at two schools during the week. One is a high school with some classes as big as 42 students, and once a week a special needs school with classes ranging from 1 to 6 student! Yes quite a contrast!
The teachers are very dedicated to the work in Japan. Actually most of Japan is dedicated to their work. It's an interesting part of the culture here, a country of workaholics! Imagine the teachers work around 9-10 hours a day and regularly need to supervise events and work weekends. One teacher I spoke to at my high school worked two twelve-hour days last weekend.
School is full-on for the students too. They will always have activities after school, most days, as well as weekend activities as well. I walked into some of my classes to see one or two students asleep at their desk! I don't blame them. I begin to see why I saw so many people falling asleep in public places when I visited last year. The train often has a number of people asleep, and McDonald's often hosts people sleeping. I saw a couple both asleep at their table at the Akihabara McDonald's last time I was in Tokyo.

The schools are well set-up places, a big difference in funding compared to Georgia! Lots of big buildings for classrooms and sport. CD players, copiers, laptops for every teacher. Can't help but be impressed. The teachers at both schools, but especially the special needs school, are incredibly dedicated. This year is going to be hard work, a lot of learning, but I hope very rewarding too!


Also - Readers might remember I published a book last year for Kindle. That book is still available and now under three dollars. Check it out if you have Kindle or Kindle for PC (free to download) or other devices.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005MJ0RKM

or in the UK store:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005MJ0RKM

Please support the writer of this blog! I have also published the next chapter of the book. Will soon send a link to it!

Japan... the return!

A cherry blossom in Tokyo

So folks I am back in  Japan with a new life. I've had all manner of weather and earth-shakes (not quite as good as milk shakes) since I arrived. I have a little apartment in Ichinoseki and am waiting for my wife to join me. I have seen the cherry blossoms in Tokyo and visited some of Yokohama's attractions that I missed the first time around. There was a crazy week of training after which I traveled to the Iwate prefecture capital, Morioka. There was karaoke and a lot of snow.

Following that I moved to Ichinoseki and my new apartment. It's standard for a Japanese apartment, a decent size even. Two main rooms, a kitchen and bathroom. Oh and toilet. It's pretty bare right now but starting to fill up. When I was in Tokyo I bought a guitar I hope can help with the school lessons I am to give. The first night I got to Ichinoseki I felt a fair quake. It was a long way away but around 6 I believe. The following Friday there were a few much smaller rumblings throughout the day.

Mt Fuji from the Landmark Tower.

So I moved on down for a week in Yokohama. I took the lift to the top of the Landmark Tower and got a great view over the city. Was lucky to have a fine day and I could even see Mount Fuji from there. This is the best view in many attempts I got of the mountain. I also visited the Ramen Museum. This is a museum dedicated to one of the Japanese people's favourite bowls of noodles, ramen noodles. It was set up like a night time streetscape from the fifties with lots of functioning ramen shops inside. Actually, the bowl I had was a bit below par to be honest. There is a chain of these museums in Japan. Quirky and unique!

Snow in cold Morioka

The Ramen Museum.

So back in Ichinoseki, visiting my schools for the first time tomorrow. I've been driving too the last couple of days. It's all an adventure. Stay tuned, over the next couple of days some news on the book front!

View of Yokohama

Return of the Blog

It is a dark, chilly night. The wind howls around the trees, through the open window of the house. A loud, crashing sound is heard as things fall from the tops of tables. The curtains are parallel to the floor.

Okay not really. but I am sitting inside as the wind and rain ravages Yokohama outside. I am back in Japan and back blogging again. Sorry, it's been so long but when you get married blogging is no longer a priority. A new life is beginning here in Japan for my wonderful wife and me.
We honeymooned in Surfer's Paradise, on the Gold Coast. We had some nice meals and were surprised by just how cold it was. Now I am in Japan and will be starting to teach English very soon. Compared to Georgia this is going to be a very different experience. I hope to get back to working on the book as well.
So, soon you can expect a post of Surfer's, and a bit of info about what I'm doing in Japan and places I visited and experiences I have.

I will be teaching in Iwate, a prefecture north of Tokyo and Sendai. One hit rather badly by the earthquake and tsunami of March last year. Already I was welcomed by an Earthquake last Tuesday. On Friday there were several tremors through the day. Just brief shakes of the apartment. But I'm here. It's all part of the advebture, right?