Despite it being a miserable, rainy afternoon the brewery had a good atmosphere as everyone got pretty drunk. The owner was pretty pleased to see so many foreigners and said the usual Engrish buzzwords of "Ohh hohoho gaijin... today izu intanashonaru drinkingu festabaru." As I didn't want to offend anyone by selecting an inferior product... my tomodachis and I headed straight for the most expensive bottles. They were worth about £50-£70 and tasted a bit smoother than the cheaper stuff. Despite what you might believe... sake is not always drunk hot and so most were just out of the bottle. The sake that you heat up is actually a little different but I much prefer it. At parties in Kochi there is a tradition where you pour and down sake to one another from the same cup. That's my favourite way of doing it and I usually drink the majority of the bottles on the table. In saying that... I prefer any drink when it's hot... including whisky. More importantly, I feel that heated sake truly accentuates the subtleness and fragility of the samurai soul inherit in all Japanese.

If you were wondering what sake actually was then it's simply fermented rice with an alcohol content of about 15-20%. In Japanese, sake (酒) actually refers to all alcohol whilst the more accurate term is Nihonshu （日本酒)　which basically means 'Japanese alcohol.' This is a good example of the different readings of kanji... fun. It's usually referred to as rice wine in English but the process is more like that of making beer. I taught this translation to my boss and it is now one of the few English words he knows. At every party he shouts me over and proclaims to everyone that we are drinking "raisu wine". The taste of sake is actually quite bland. You can tell that it's alcohol and it's quite apparent when you're drinking a bad one. I went to a sake festival in Hiroshima last autumn and I could easily tell what ones were dry, sweet or bitter but I couldn't really tell you what it tastes like. I'd say it was like a weaker and less offending vodka. Actually, the first time I tried it the taste and texture reminded me of George Orwell's description of Victory Gin in 1984. I didn't know what gin tasted like back then though so it probably isn't very helpful to you.

I can’t say I've had a lot of desire to write anything in my blog lately. It can be terribly tedious to talk about myself despite quite a few interesting things happening. I haven’t had much time or energy to complain about Japan recently either… maybe I’m just getting used to it. Also, it appears quite a lot of Kochi people have read a few entries of my ramblings. I met an English bloke who said he’d seen it before he came and compared it to Charlie Brooker. This pleased me but then I got paranoid about everyone analysing my blog whilst talking about how I was mental and bitter.

Anyone that does read this might be pleased to know that I have decided to stay here for another year. When I first came here I didn’t expect that I would stay anymore than two years at the most so I’ve even surprised myself. It’s strange that I will be a veteran JET at the age of 24, possibly the same age as the majority of the new people that will come this year. I feel a degree of embarrassment for staying so long even though there is no reason too if I am happy with it. I probably would have left last year if the circumstances were different but it suits my present and future plans to persevere through the harsh wilderness of Japan for a further twelve moons. It’s never an easy decision at this time of year and I usually stress myself into illness. This latest re-contracting was the most difficult and it has been in the back of my mind for months. I talked to a few people at the weekend that are staying and it’s amazing how easy it is to sign on for another year when you realise the reality of the alternative which is to go home with no plans or money. So I’ll hopefully be working on those things in the next year or so. Probably not though.

It is at this point that I would also mention my continued determination to improve my Japanese. Though I have said this too often in the last two years and have only barely got anywhere with it. In saying that, I passed the Japanese test that I sat in December. It’s still quite a basic level and the next two levels go up exponentially in terms of difficulty. People who are good at Japanese comment with derision at how simple a test it is but they’re arseholes and I’m great. Actually, I’m not really pleased with the mark I got so it doesn’t really feel like that much of an achievement at the moment. I might continue to stick it out or I might just give up altogether. The reason for my pessimism is that I never use my Japanese. The extent of my conversing during the week is planning lessons with elementary teachers. After that it is ordering food/beer and trying to decipherer what the hell the younger children are trying to tell me (it’s usually about fish or insects). Indeed, the re-contracting procedure this year showed me again how much my work can irritate me. I had to ask my boss about getting me a contract to sign… he didn’t know there was one. I told them I needed it by Friday and so they asked if I was staying or not. Whilst I was thinking for the Japanese to say I was going to wait till the end of the week to decide I got a few mutterings of “Bah he doesn’t understand what we’re saying” so I just replied “Yeah… I’m staying another year” and I got not a single glance of anything. I just said my “Sorry for leaving before you” and went home.

Some small issues with my town and work aside, I am quite happy to continue living here for another year. As the years have flown by on JET I’ve become less agitated and more accustomed to living here. I still want to travel to a few more countries this side of the globe and I’d like to have a fair bit saved up so I’ve got some options when I return home. Also, when I compare my life to those I graduated with then they aren’t exactly that far ahead or even enjoying themselves. Everyone hates their job or is losing it or doesn’t have one and yet they haven’t experienced living in a foreign country or doing any of the exciting stuff I’ve been doing for years. I don’t regret coming here in the slightest and each year still has something new to offer it. It’s great. Look how optimistic I am. Right… I’ll wrap this up and write a new post about stuff that Japan does that is stupid.