Well another week on and I've explored a bit more, done my basic training and met a few more people. Oita seems like quite a nice city. The going out area/red light district is about 5 minutes north of the shopping mall where my school is. Everything is very compact, often one multistorey building will contain dozens of bars and restaurants with all of the signs on the front. There is of course the ubiquitous irish pub and also a very cozy little gaijin (foreigner) bar, run by two friendly Canadians.

I've done my 3 days training and it wasn't too difficult. Every lesson is planned out for you pretty explicitly, all you have to do is go through it. The Japanese students are incredibly keen and often (unwittingly) very funny. I'm really enjoying classes although to begin with it's very difficult getting planning and writing up done in-between. One problem apparently is that psychologists in Japan often suggest english conversation classes as a way to escape everyday life to people with severe personal problems. Not something I've experienced yet, but the old hands have some funny stories!

The food I've had here so far has been great, it's a really varied cuisine, plenty of raw fish although so far I've avoided the fresh seafood restaurants (fresh = still wriggling). A delicacy near here is raw chicken, the locals claim there's no chance of salmonella as the meat is so fresh (a loud squark precedes the dish arriving and it's served at body temperature), I don't think I'll take the chance. I'll probably get in touch next when I get my mobile. The one I'm getting is 3G, has TWO digital cameras, and I'll have an email address so you can email straight to it.  ¶ 9:41:00 pm