1st of April and I'm sitting in the common room of the pal house on my own. Surrounded by a wall of futons and duvets. Outside its miserable and a mist has rolled in which combined with the rain makes it look almost tropical...that is until you step outside. I'm the last one of the Happoone gaijin left. I've said goodbye to some of the lads this morning and to the rest a few moments ago. They are all headed to Tokyo for the next few days and then go their separ...

Jan 26th is Australia day. Other than two guys and myself all the other gaijin here are Australian. Back home they would celebrate by getting drunk and having a BBQ. We couldn't manage the BBQ but the rest was easy enough. The night before we headed out to Jusco the local supermarket and all stocked up on booze. We had all managed to arrange for the day off and it started early. We all met at breakfast at 7:30 each with a beer in hand. Some of the guys had flags ...

It official, the Japanese are kinda crazy. Since I've been in happone I've been having a great time. The guys that live in the pal house are great and we've been out drinking several times and hang out in the common room every night. We meet up for every meal and have made some good friends in the short time I've been here. Work has been ok too. The job is simple and therefore mundane. i wipe down tables and clean away dishes and feed them into the dish washer. I...

Today was my first day off and i was very excited, today would be the first time id ever snowboard and also the first time id tried all my gear. I got up at 7:30 and caught he first gondalla to the top of the mountain. I would normally use this to get to work but as staff i could use it to be first on the piste. Today was a windy day and the gondolla rocked as it accended. i though nothing of it at this point.I reached the top and looked for a place to get on my ...

Im knackered, at the moment im sitting in a cold room waiting for the heater to warm it up. Im also looking out the window watching it snow. Last night at 9:15 i left osaka on a bus to nagano. It was a 9 hour trip and was not that comortable. I slept some and distracted myself with films and my psp for the most part. I was traveling light with only the rucksack holding my laptop and a handful of other belongings. I had sent my luggage ahead 2 days ago. For £20 p...