Wow! Every World Cup delivers shocks and unexpected displays, but this World Cup is like no other. Who could have expected these results? There have been so many surprises! Although having said that, some things never change.
What? The games? No! I`m talking about the hair!
These are my choices for the worst haircuts of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
By the way, I know some girls like ponytails. Actually, me too - but not on guys!
Who do you think has the worst/strangest haircut at the World Cup?
![2010 South Africa World Cup N...]()
I love football (soccer) so of course I`ve been watching a lot of the World Cup games. I realise some strange/American/dead people are not interested in the FIFA world cup, but for the rest of you, here is the first installment of my...
2010 South Africa World Cup Notes
- I was just getting used to white boots; now they are all the colors of a radioactive rainbow; orange, yellow, violet... One guy had fancy orange ones that look just like the shoes that some little Japanese boys wear.
- Germany is very strong, and deserved their 4-0 win over Australia, but they got TWO yellow cards in one game for DIVING... I don`t like teams that cheat & try to trick the referee
- a few of the `big` teams have drawn their first games against `weaker` opponents: Italy, France, England, Portugal. Brazil only beat North Korea by 1 goal. Interesting.
- Congratulations Japan! (though I thought Cameroon played quite poorly). One more win and you`re into the next round!
- Congratulations New Zealand! 1-1 against Slovakia.
DON`T FORGET:
This Saturday, Ichinomiya teachers, staff & students will be watching the Japan v Holland game at a bar called Sports Casters, near Ichinomiya Station, from 7.30pm (kick-off is 8.30). 800 yen. Come on! Let`s cheer Holland... I mean JAPAN! It will be a lot of fun. You can get lots of practice saying "Where was our defence?!?" in English.
Last Saturday I went to Mihama Beach in Fukui Prefecture. It`s one of my favourite places in Japan. It`s on the Japan Sea coast, but it only takes one & a half hours by car, so it`s pretty convenient, and now on weekends the highway charge is only 1000 yen.
The beach is long & the water is much cleaner & clearer than the Pacific Ocean side of Japan, near Nagoya. Now it`s still too cold to go swimming (last year I tried to go swimming there in May & I almost had a heart attack) but when the weather is warmer, it`s a great place to snorkel.
I like walking along the beach and collecting interesting things. In my next blog post, I`ll show you some of my treasure (not trash!)
Recently my student Makie gave me a blackberry plant. I put it in a pot outside Ichinomiya Teragoya school, and watered it sometimes. Now some blackberries have appeared - cool! One is black, so I think I can eat it soon. The others are still red, so I have to wait...
I feel happy and positive when my plants get fruit and flowers - my students seem friendlier, classes are more fun, my wife looks more beautiful, and I expect Australia to do well in the World Cup.
I recommend keeping a plant!
Thanks Makie!
UPDATE: I ate the ripe blackberry today. Yum - it was perfect!
Thanks everybody for your comments. I enjoyed reading them, even though some were pretty short... Come on, guys! Comments are not telegrams - you don`t have to pay for each word!
Everybody seems to agree with me that Nagasaki is a nice place. If you haven`t been there, you should try to go there one day.
A couple of commenters asked me about `bread rolls.` You can see a picture of some bread rolls here ----->
They can be various sizes and shapes. Long ones are good for hotdogs. Round ones are good for hamburgers and, when they get stale (old & hard), you can use them to play breadroll baseball!
On Sunday, we had our big annual (once a year) Teragoya BBQ. About 80 students came, and I think everyone had a good time. Fortunately the weather was great - unfortunately last Sunday we had to cancel because of rain.
It was a good chance for me to meet students from Ginan & Gifu schools who I have talked to before, but don`t often have a chance to meet (some of them saw me and tried to hide, but I found them). One student from Ginan let me try her Korean alcohol. Yuck! It was disgusting. Fortunately there was beer at the BBQ too. I like beer, but I didn`t drink so much on Sunday, because I get drunk quickly if I drink during the day.
The food was delicious - wieners, meat, onions, corn, and... breadrolls. Western people usually have breadrolls at barbeques, but Japanese people don`t.
What did you do on Sunday? Did you come to the Teragoya BBQ? Why are Japanese people afraid of breadrolls?
![Nagasaki]()
After Kagoshima, I flew to Nagasaki (by propeller plane - my first time!). Of course we visited Glover House/Glover Park. The old, western-style houses there are very unusual for Japan, but actually, you can see many similar houses in my hometown of Brisbane in Australia. They are popular because they look very stylish and have character.
Our hotel was next to Chinatown, and from there it was a short walk to Dejima, where the Portuguese and Dutch traders used to live. The history of this area is very interesting! But I feel sorry for the Portuguese - they got kicked out for being Christian. How rude!
From there, we walked to the harbourside. There are lots of cafe-style restaurants here, with tables outside, so you can enjoy the fresh air and nice views - great! Such a comfortable place to eat & chat, or chat & eat even.
Nearby is the art museum, which was also a nice place. Well, the art was rubbish, but the building was nice. There`s also a big, grassy park beside it, and, while we were there, there was a visiting Navy - sorry; `Self Defence Forces of Japan` - ship. Luckily for us, it was open to the public at that time, so we could go on a free tour of it - cool!
In the evening I went drinking with my Japanese friend and his cousin, who live in Nagasaki.
I was really impressed with Nagasaki - it seems like a really pleasant place. They even have old-fashioned trams (streetcars)!
Have you ever been to Nagasaki? What did you think? Were you tempted to steal coins from the fountain at Glover House?
For Golden Week I went to Kagoshima, in Kyushu, to visit my wife`s mum`s hometown. It was up in the hills and pretty remote. There were lots of green fields, trees and mountains - very nice, scenic and natural. Unfortunately there were also a lot of snakes - I saw six in four days! Even though Australia has lots of dangerous snakes, I hardly ever see any, but I`ve seen quite a lot in Japan. If Australian snakes played hide-and-seek (kakurenbo) with Japanese snakes, I think Australian snakes would win.
After Kagoshima, we went to Nagasaki. I`ll tell you about it in my next blog!
Have you ever been to Kagoshima? If so, why? Do you have a snake fetish or something?
Hello. This is Otto from Teragoya`s Ichinomiya branch. Welcome to my first ever blog! I hope you`ll find something to interest you here. I will use English, but I will try to use pretty easy English so if you are Japanese or New Zealander, don`t worry - I`m sure you can understand! If you don`t, please send me a comment and I`ll try to help.
Also, you can send me a comment to answer questions that I include in my blog. If you want to practise communicating in English, this is your chance! Don`t worry about mistakes, just write what you think and enjoy thinking and writing in English. I`m looking forward to hearing your comments - really!
By the way, this photo is of Yuko, Nikko, Eriko, Rose and I celebrating Eriko`s birthday.
What kind of cake do you like? I like cakes with not many candles on top. Unfortunately I haven`t received one for a long time...
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