Tokyo and the Amazing Recon-Con

Well I've been fairly slack on keeping this thing up to date. I put that down to the fact that no one is reading it. Anyway I have been newly inspired to keep in touch after recent events in Tokyo.

The three days of at beginning of this week was a Recontracting Conference in Tokyo for Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) on the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) programme. Basically all the people who came over here last year that have decided to stay with this interesting lifestyle for at least another year. Roughly 600 people.

So with the board of education paying for our trip when ever we decided to go, I felt it was my duty to have a weekend partying in the Big Smoke. Saturday night was club night. A group of about 10 of us headed to one of the biggest clubs in Tokyo - Womb. Without a shadow of a doubt it's the largest womb I have ever been in. Good friends, good music and a good night. Here's a shot of Mark, Frankie and me at 5 am. Yes, it is light outside. And yes, the mohawk is back. We look pretty good after 8 hours of partying. Just goes to show what fun we were having.

Sunday was a day of rest, shopping and dinner at the Alcatraz ER - a themed jail/hospital restaurant with a side order of kink. The climax of dinner was a rather unexpected show in what otherwise would be described as a fun family restaurant. I don't want your imagination to run completely wild (I d0) but it did involve fully clothed members of the audience, nurse waitresses, "mental crime" criminals, several cap guns, a video camera and large green dildo. 10 hours later and and we're in a lecture about being a top JET. They didn't have any cap guns in that lecture at all.

With out trying to bore you the conference consists of a number of workshops designed at enhancing and making the most your second year. One interesting lecture was from a clinical pschologist. I really love these guys, they sound so serious! Anyway he told us to watch out for reverse culture shock. Apparently loads of people have no problem moving out here, because we're with a bunch of other people in the same boat. .

When we get back, no ones in the same boat with us any more! So to keep as many people in my boat as possilbe, or at least close to my boat, I'm going to talk to you more through the mediums of Internet and writing (writing? That's always been one of my strengths). This way you'll have some "frame of reference" when I get back home, and maybe you'll be able to ask something other than "So, how was Japan?!" That's the recommendation, lets see if it works!