Peace out.

Today my old mate Hugh Je left bound for Tokyo where he's going to spend a few days before he goes back to Toronto, Canada to start a new exciting life. Hugh was the only other Hirosaki JET who came over at the same time as me and stayed the full three years. And although we've rubbed each other up the wrong way in the past, he's always been a good mate.

I'll keep in touch Hugh, but the best memories I have with you are the drives back from Hakkoda, exhausted from all the wicked snow and the whaling around in chest-deep powder, listening to damn good music, thinking about what to do that night. I'm pretty sure we can do it again, either this year or next, Japan, Canada, anywhere you choose.

Now that I've just started a new contract here in Hirosaki, I've been thinking about what new things I can explore to stop this place from feeling like home. So, I decided to take a visit to the local climbing wall the other day and I really liked it. I liked it so much that I went out and bought myself these nice little Italian jobs:





Anyway, I went up to the wall tonight, officially called the Rat Gym, all excited to break my new shoes in, and found that they close early on Sundays, so I'll have to wait another few days before I can use them. I've heard that there aren't any good places to climb in Aomori ken, and that the closest place to climb good rocks and boulders is Hokkaido. The gym's a really cool place to hang out though, and it's good exercise.