ただいま！

I'm home! and I know I didn't update this while I was in Japan, but I didn't really have time there. Now I'm back, I might sometimes write about my experiences in Japan (that is not a promise....) There's probably no one left who even reads this anymore, so now this blog is more for me to write in so that I can remember things that happened in Japan and so that I don't end up talking about it too much in real life, because nobody likes that year abroad student...

I flew home to Birmingham airport from Kansai International airport on the 10th July, with two very short stops on the way. I had been staying at my friend Amanda's flat in Kyoto for about a week (will write about that another time) and on the 9th July I took a couple of trains to a Best Western hotel close to the airport in Hineno. This journey was very difficult with two suitcases and handluggage, but luckily in Japan people didn't laugh at me if I started struggling or falling over them, like I think they might have in England. When I arrived at Hineno station, I found they didn't have any elevators so I had to take them all one by one up and down a couple of flights of stairs, before the very short walk to the hotel. The hotel was very nice, there was a public bath there so I used that and then had tea at the restaurant. For tea they served buffet style japanese food. So I took a lot as it would probably be my last proper meal in Japan. At 5:30 the next morning I caught a free shuttle bus to the airport and arrived about an hour before check in opened. When it did open and I got to the desk, they had some issues working out my passport or flight tickets or something. She took quite a while and eventually asked if I had a visa for Germany :S (But I'm from the EU??) I think she felt a bit bad for making me wait because she didn't care that my baggage was several kilograms overweight or that I had too many pieces of handluggage. In the departure lounge I had my actual last bit of food in Japan. I bought a small tray of prawn tempura sushi and then nearly missed the boarding time for my flight while eating it.
My first flight was to Beijing airport and took about 3 hours. The second flight was about 10 hours to Dusseldorf and I had a whole two seats to myself! Aisle and window seat! Unfortunately, this flight was delayed for about an hour. In Dusseldorf, because I was changing airlines, I had to collect my baggage, go to check in, and then go through security all over again. I was very worried about missing this next flight because I had a little bit less than an hour to get all of this done before the flight. I think the man at the check in counter just wanted to get me onto the flight, so he didn't seem to care about how overweight my baggage was. Anyway, I just about made it, and then landed in Birmingham at about 9pm. After landing in Beijing and it being 30degrees centigrade, the 12degrees that I was welcomed by in Birmingham wasn't so nice. My parents were already at the airport waiting for me. I was really happy to see them, especially as I had two really heavy suitcases to carry :P I was happy to see them, and happy to get home and be able to relax guilt free, with no feeling that I should really be studying.

I've been home for about two weeks now and I am really missing the life in Japan and the people I met and got to know this year. A few times I've realised that some things I can't do like I could in Japan. For example, I've noticed while cooking, some of the ingredients aren't available and I can't eat things I would have eaten often in restaurants in Japan. Or, when going places, I can't just hop on my bike in the evening to go somewhere, because I don't have a light on my bike. Really I need to go and buy a light, but my bike in Japan just came with a light. Also, it's probably not even safe to be out riding my bike in the dark here. If I can't get to places by bike and it's too far by foot, how do I get there, because the buses in Stourport stop at around 5pm :S ...rant over.. I miss my bike a lot, if I have chance, I could probably write a whole long blog post about it.
I do really miss people I met in Japan as well, especially the people I lived with in Global House. I made a few really good friends there that I want to stay in touch with forever. I'm so glad skype exists!
Although there are things I miss like that, and things that are a bit frustrating. It is nice to be home and to be able to see people that I haven't been able to see all year. ....and since being home, me and Emily found a sushi bar in Birmingham that has a £10 all you can eat sushi buffet conveyor belt. Woktastic in Birmingham! Although I miss 100yen Sushi Ro- in Japan, Woktastic will go a little way towards making up for the lack of Sushi Ro-.

I've arrived!

On Thursday the three of us got our first flight from Gatwick. We flew with Emirates to Dubai and then to Narita. The flights were ok because it didn't feel like that long even though it was a 6 hour followed by a 9 hour flight here, but the food wasn't so good on one of the flights. I think it was either the food or the travelling or a bit of both that made me a bit ill on the flights- but that soon went away. When we arrived at Narita airport Aki was there to greet us and take us to where we are staying. First we got the train to Tokyo station, then we went to find somewhere cheap to eat. We went to Matsuya, and had gyumeshi. I think this was a rice bowl with meat, onions and sauce on top. I like it though, whatever it was. They rode with me on the train to my hotel. On the flight I thought I'd lost my camera at Gatwick airport but I found it when I got to the hotel- so I have no photos of the journey....

The next day I woke up at 5 wide awake so i went for a walk around Asagaya and then to Roppongi to meet Amanda and Tsukasa. Very difficult to meet someone at a station without a phone!! We went to Nanoka's house (a friend from Leeds) for a little bit to change into Yuukata ready for the Sumidagawa fireworks. There were so many fireworks there and some exploded in shapes like cats or pikachus. This firework show is the biggest firework festival in Tokyo so it was verrry busy and hard to find a place but we could see alright. We could just about see between the buildings.

After the fireworks we got a very crowded train to an Izakaya in Roppongi. I'm not sure what some of the food was but it was really nice (I would never have eaten something if i didn't know what it was a couple of years ago!) After this we went to Vanity club in Roppongi (still wearing the yuukata!) This place had an amazing view! It's quite high up so you can see a lot of Roppongi and maybe some other places too. Even in the toilet cubicles the back wall was glass so you could see the view from there. After this I missed the last train so Nanoka said I could stay at hers like Tom and Kawakami. I stayed in a traditional tatami room on a futon on the floor and slept really well!