With December 25th approaching, I'll be telling the story of Christmas to the children this week. Though my family never went to Church, I have fond memories of Christmas as a child in England - the family gatherings, the feasting, the presents. When we moved to Australia, however, it felt quite strange celebrating Christmas in mid-summer.

We would drive down to the beach in the midday heat and find a shady spot for our picnic, a cold cooked lobster instead of the traditional roast. Under the huge Norfolk Island pines and - if we were lucky - cooled by a sea breeze, we would eat and drink a little too much and exchange small presents. But Christmas was always accompanied by a sense of disquiet, I think because our mother often complained about the irrelevance and commercialism of Christmas.

Here in Japan there are signs of Christmas everywhere - Christmas trees and fairy lights, Santa-san and the jolly jingling of Christmas tunes. A friend has come to stay from New Zealand; despite her declaration to refrain from Christmas festivities here in Japan, the frequent sight of Christmas paraphernalia now has her storing food and presents for Christmas Day.

I can't remember when I realized Father Christmas wasn't real, that it was actually my mother who arranged the presents beneath the Christmas tree. I must have been quite young. Though my mother and father would likely have experienced the thrill common to all parents who have their children believe a fat bearded man in a red suit comes down the chimney bringing presents they were too cynical to have let the delusion last for long.

I like to imagine my father sitting me on his knee and telling me there was no Father Christmas, he was just an invention to possess the imaginings of small children, and though Santa Claus may once have lived as Saint Nicholas, he was long dead.

I was surprised to learn recently the role commercial interests have had in the conception of Santa Claus. The image we have of Santa Claus as a jolly fat, white-bearded fellow with red white-fur-lined costume was an invention of the CocaCola Company of America in the 1930s. And more than fifty year's earlier in the 1880s, the Lomen Company brought reindeer from Finland to North America. To improve sales of reindeer skin and meat, Santa was put in a sled pulled by reindeer. There had been no connection between Santa and reindeer (and the North Pole) previously. It makes one wonder how much more of our secular and religious traditions are guided by commercial interests.

Here at school we are getting ready to celebrate Halloween. The kids are learning about Halloween and typical Halloween greetings.

Halloween is a children's festival celebrated on the 31st October every year. It is primarily celebrated in North America and Ireland.

Typically, children prepare costumes of monsters such as ghosts, witches and skeletons, and go out in the evening with their friends from house to house calling "Trick or Treat". The houses they visit give sweet foods to the children in return for such a visual delight, or receive unwelcome tricks.

Halloween is also a time for costume parties, bonfires and fireworks, activities such as bobbing for apples, sharing of the barmbrack cake, and a level of tolerated mischief among the children and younger adults.

Halloween was originally called Samhain, and was a festival among the Celts of the British Isles and Ireland. Samhain means "end of summer" and was the time when the dead revisited the mortal world and large bonfires were lit to ward off evil spirits. Sometimes people wore masks and other disguises to avoid being recognized by ghosts. It was also believed to be a good day for divination in matters regarding marriage, health and death.

The jack-o-lantern commonly seen during Halloween festivities today originated during the Samhain festival when a hollowed-out vegetable (a turnip for example) was used to take embers from the communal bonfire to light the family's home fire. The lantern was then placed on a window sill to ward off evil spirits.

In England where I was born I don't remember there being any Halloween celebrations. Instead, on Guy Fawkes' Day on November 5th we had large bonfires and fireworks in commemoration of the Protestant's victory over Catholicism.

My first Halloween was when my family and I moved to the west of Ireland. My friends and I spent the evening causing mischief, laying in wait for our rivals and throwing water at them, setting off home-made bombs and shelling neighbours' houses with eggs. There was no trick-or-treating, nor costume wearing.

Recently in Australia, Halloween has come to be celebrated with the encouragement of shop keepers and other purveyors of Halloween goods. But it doesn't feel quite right, with the seasons being opposite that of the northern hemisphere and the days lengthening into summer.

I look forward to Halloween here at the school. The kids always present such a pleasing spectacle in their costumes.

I mentioned in my last post that Japan with its warm humid climate may be a paradise for insects but perhaps not for the people who have to live with these insects.

In the very early morning of the night before yesterday I awoke with an intense burning pain in my left middle finger. I found nothing to indicate the source of this pain despite searching the room. The two elongated puncture wounds on my finger however, together with the knowledge that there is likely no other culprit, suggests my current bête noire, the centipede (scolopocryptops rubiginosus).

Previous experience with envenomation suggests the venom is likely 'heat labile' and a finger is ideally suited to immersion in hot water. The water eases the pain but it's dawn before I feel able to go back to bed. The next day my finger is swollen and left arm aching. A day later there is little to remind me of having been bitten - a slight ache in my arm. In a way I'm glad to have been bitten. I certainly don't want to be bitten again but at least I know what to expect!

It seems centipede venom is most similar to scorpion venom. It contains a cardiodepressant (for predation) and histamine/serotonin as 'pain mediators' (ie to cause pain) for defense. Apparently the most common 'severe' reaction is 'necrosis' where the body tissue rots away. Pleasant.

It wasn't the most painful sting/bite I've had however. I was wading through the sea off the west Australian coast some years ago when I stepped on something that pierced the sole of my foot. The onset of pain was immediate and excrutiating. By the time I'd managed to hobble back to my van my foot had turned a blue-black. The pain eased with time and the use of hot water but I never could be sure exactly what it was. I guess it was probably a type of fish that buries itself in the sand with its poisonous spines exposed. Since then I take care to wear thongs when walking in the sea. [Have a look at photos here.]

I've returned to Japan from Australia. It has been a little difficult adjusting to the heat and humidity of a Japanese summer but otherwise I feel reinvigorated and am looking forward to getting back to classes with the kids.

The journey to New Zealand took almost 24 hours. I'll have to think carefully the next time I consider buying the cheapest airline ticket.

After a week sight-seeing with a friend, we flew to Sydney, Australia. My friend had a month's work around Australia and I took the opportunity to travel with her and see some of the country I hadn't seen before.

In Sydney we hired a van and drove across to Melbourne. From Melbourne we caught a flight to Adelaide and then a week later caught another flight to Perth. [Click here to see a map of the trip.]

I'd forgotten how varied the bird life is in Australia. I was eager to share this with the children here in Japan and showed them pictures and the calls of some of the birds I came across on my trip. [Click here to see photos of some Australian birds.]

I'd also forgotten how pleasant the sounds of summer in Japan are - the chirping humming and buzzing of the crickets, grasshoppers and cicadas.

While Australia has a profusion of birds, Japan is a paradise for insects. It's not always a paradise for people living with these insects however! When I got home I found the floor littered with the small dead bodies of centipedes. Quite awful! [Click here for a photo!]

The children are busy at school preparing for their sports festival. I admire the kids' resilience in the tremendous heat and humidity. I usually spend lunchtimes running around outside with the kids. Afterwards, however, I find myself quite fatigued and what's worse, terribly itchy.

I look forward to the children's sports festival next weekend and hope for clement weather.

The rainy period is quite oppressive! My home town in Australia gets hot in summer but it's rarely as uncomfortable as it is here in Japan. I feel like I'm walking around caked in a layer of grease.

The upper grade classes have been learning about the weather - basic words to describe the weather in English ('hot', 'cold', 'rainy', 'cloudy' etc), simple ways to talk about the weather ("How's the weather?"), and a brief look at Australian weather and how climate differs around the world.

In northern Australia near the equator most people regard the weather as either 'wet' or 'dry' - it's nearly always hot. That is, they observe only two seasons. The native Australians of that region, however, recognize six seasons.

In a month I return to Australia to visit my family and friends. It will be winter. I'm looking forward to the cool weather.