On Arriving in Miyazaki, Teaching and Being Sexually Molested

First the good news.

I'm alive and fine in Miyazaki! It's a beautiful city (yes, city. Not backwoods town with a general store) populated with non-native palm trees and a generally humid climate. Right now it's raining outside (pathetic fallacy for what is to come), and something like 18 degrees Celsius.
My apartment is large, cheap and with no central-air. This comes as no surprise to me, but maybe it would be for people who don't know about Japan and its complete lack of housing insulation. But it gets down to a cool 5C at the worst here, so I'm not too worried.
My job is wonderful so far. That's all I'm going to say. The coworkers are great and the students are enthusiastic and friendly.

Now the bad news.
This article has no pictures to go along with it, so it'll be boring for some. Sorry about that.
Also, I was sexually molested by a 75 year old man today. I bet you thought that was a joke. It's not.
When I first arrived at my apartment I was greeted after my day of shopping for groceries by this elderly man in the elevator. He was very friendly (surprise), and outright invited me to the Onsen location nearby. This is actually very common of people, so I wasn't disturbed or bothered. He asked the general questions about me and when finding out that I lived alone, said "Oh, I do too. Let me cook for you tonight!" Again, this really isn't much out of the ordinary, but that makes me uncomfortable no matter where I am so politely declined saying "I would love to some other time, thank you so much". Mind you, this is all in Japanese, so for when I speak picture a newborn babe trying to do small talk.
I hadn't seen him for a good week or so and was feeling comfortable again, but lo and behold; there he was getting out of the elevator after I returned home from grocery shopping again. This time he asked me when I work, to which I lied saying "from 1 until 10pm", hoping he would give up and realize I'm too busy. "Oh, well it's only 10am, come on up to my apartment for toast and coffee! Do you like toast and coffee?"
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
I was trapped. I wasn't aware of the creepiness of the man, just only a sense of desperation in his being lonely and wanting a foreign friend. Again, this isn't out of the ordinary. So I walked up to his apartment, as we were going I mentioned that yes, I was free friday and wouoldn't mind going to an Onsen with him (I love Onsens and he just seemed eager to be friends).
Upon entering his small apartment I saw that he indeed live alone, indicated by the shrine to his wife tucked in the corner of the living room. I wanted to get out of there so told him "I have to go... these groceries must be put in the refridgerator!" To which he replied "Oh yes, of course! Go do it then come right back. I'll have the coffee and toast ready when you get here."
I shouldn't have returned.
When I entered I saw that he had already made one cup of tea. One piece of toast. For me. My stomach was turning already. I sat down and we made small talk. I sipped the tea as slow as possible just in case he drugged the tea. The toast was dry in my mouth and I could barely swallow it. Especially when he started touching my shoulder and telling me how hard it was. I would have gotten out of there quickly, but "Oh! I took massage lessons, you look tense. Give me your hand." I gave him my hand. He kneaded it with his wrinkled fingers and it did indeed feel very good. He wasn't lying.
"Do you like to drink?" There's no way I'm drinking with this man. "Oh no, I don't drink at all."
"Oh..." I could see his disappointment "so are you a Mormon?"
"No, my grandfather drank too much and died, so I don't." Nice. He can't touch that one.
I change the subject.
"Do you have a DVD player?" he asks. "Oh no, but I'm going to buy one soon." "Let me show you my classic American movies, you can borrow them." He stands up and brings them back in. There are a whole 5 of them. "Oh I haven't seen these. But it's okay, I won't borrow them." He doesn't react, but then drops the bomb that makes me realize my situation:
"Oh so do you watch pornography?"
"... what?"
"You have to keep your penis 'genki'" He points at his crotch.
I change the subject to the television.
He then starts to try and massage my leg, saying he's showing me how to do it. He grabs my calf and starts breathing heavily... I look at the time and finally say "I have to go, I have to get ready for work!"
"Oh, well please come back tonight. We can go to the Onsen after your work or I can give you a massage." He motions to the massage table... which is right beside his bed that has a tiger-print bedsheet.

This man lives one floor below me. I'm still figuring out what to do.
Other than that though, I'm having a great time in Miyazaki, no sarcasm whatsoever! I don't have the internet so I'll be back in a week or so. Hope everyone is well back home and abroad.

On Copulation and Castles

I haven't had much time recently(to my surprise) as the training I'm going through is quite busy. Lots of information is handed to us and I furiously take notes ... sort of. Either way it seems to be going smoothly so far, and I have two very friendly and lovely ladies who are also sharing the training session with me. So things are going well. Today I'm prepping myself for a demo teaching lesson on Monday that I hope will go over well. Who knows with me though.

Anyways, what have I done leading up to my training?
First I decided to visit the authentic(rebuilt like all castles due to fire damage) Nagoya Jou:I toured inside and felt a little nostalgic, as I visited this place 2 years ago with Pat and Marc. This time however, I spent a long time walking around the grounds and relaxing in the park. Absolutely no one except for two other people decided to do this, so it was a really tranquil time. I had my watercolours with me, but I'm still a little apprehensive in trying a plein aire painting.
Here is an example of part of the rock garden area of the park:

A mid-autumn Sakura tree all by its lonesome:

Three cats who decided to make an awesome composition for a photo:

Here is the outside of Kanayama station, where I spent most of my time just sitting and listening to various amatuer acoustic musicians. Staying there forced me to buy a baby guitar for 6000 yen (60 dollars canadian). It doesn't sound very nice, but that's 60 bucks for you:


I also attempted to visit the Nagoya aquarium where Marc and I had an awesome time, but I forgot it costs an ungodly 2000 yen, and it was a national holiday so the line just to buy tickets was roughly a 20 minute wait. I skipped that and walked around the port:
I kept on walking around until I found myself in Italy! I was so surprised. Did I accidentally walk through a magical portal of magic!? No! I just walked into the "Italian Village" which looks exactly like real Italy. Not really, but the prices were insanely expensive for everything so I sort of felt like I was there.

I also found the "Chelan Project". I think that's what it's called. It's basically a program where conservationists breed sea turtles in little tubs and then release them into the wild when fully matured. I wonder if it's very effective.

I also saw a Thunderbird just sitting outside a pachinko parlour(Mom, click on the link to find out what it is).

Also, two nights ago I went out with one of my fellow trainees who I will call "V" to McDonalds when we both realized we hadn't been yet. After we finished our meals I looked down to get punched in the face with this advertising gem on the placemat:
All I can say is that MOTESTO is a lucky guy.