Ahoy there! Forgive the nautical greeting; I’ve spent a lot of time on boats recently, and may have caught cabin fever whilst navigating the high seas between Honshu and Shikoku on a voyage around the participating islands of the Setouchi Triennale. If you miss out on the art festival itself (finishing on November 4th), I still…
Hello all! October has arrived and with it far more temperate weather as we inch closer to the spectacular leaf-changes of autumn, one of my favourite seasons. Did you know Japan has four seasons? It may not the first time you’ve been asked this and it certainly won’t be the last! This question, which…
Greetings! As we move into September the August heat gradually dissipates, soon to be just a sticky memory, and new excitement arrives in the form of the start of school. First time ALTs will have the joy of their first sweltering opening ceremonies; at least one student will faint, either from heat or excitement at…
Greetings all! Welcome to the August issue of the Hyogo Times. Of course August means that we must say goodbye to those retiring from the Hyogo JET community. It is a bittersweet time, but isn’t any period of change? Two of my closest friends are returning home this summer, so as a last…
So long, farewell, ã¾ãŸã“ã‚“ã©, goodbye… I’m still not entirely sure what prompted me to volunteer to edit the Hyogo Times last year, but to whatever neurons fired and prompted me to give it a go, I say thank you. It’s been great fun reading all the articles before the rest of the world, apparently…
I have a confession to make. I am not even close to being able to comprehend that I have less than a month left on my JET contract and house cleaning is suffering as a result. I’m still making lists of things that I need to do, and when I have time to actually do…
Hello, hello! June and warmth are finally here to stay! My temporary staffroom overlooks a tree-lined mini-lake rather than the baseball pitch as the previous one did, and I seem to spend half my time watching the leaves flutter in the breeze. I’m British, so forgive me for the weather talk, but the end…
Message from the Editor They closed my Mister Donut! With no warning at all, the 1st of April found a sign on the door thanking everyone for 2 years of custom and saying that my coffee providing study zone was no more. I was informed of the closure by a friend who came over for dinner on the 2nd…
April arrives and that means the new school year; new faces appearing in the staff room, students in slightly too big uniforms highlighting their status as newbies, and a new timetable to get your head around. Slowly but surely you realize that it really is time to put away the kotatsu blanket and that you’re…