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-.

The day after tomorrow!

The summer holiday has gone so quickly! Can't believe I'm actually flying out the day after tomorrow! Since my last post I've nearly got everything sorted to go. I've already had to say bye to a few people :( I said goodbye to Helen on Sunday and had a last few drinks for the year with a few friends last night. Going to miss everyone so much!

A few weeks ago I went to London to get my visa. It was surprisingly quick and easy to get but it did cost £43. To get this I had to take my passport, certificate of eligibility, a passport photo, the visa form and money. It's arrived now, it's pink with little sakura flowers on it and prettier than English passport pages (apart from the photo which is black and white and 10x worse than any passport photo.) I've also bought and half packed a giant suitcase that I can fit in (Yes, I tried) and have tried several times to get the last jab I need for Japan. They won't let me have it because I have a slight cold :S I'm going again for the sixth time to try and get it again tomorrow. This is the first time I've ever wanted a jab!

I've booked a hotel for the first week of being in Japan now. It's at Asagaya station which is about half way between my university and Shinjuku. It's close enough to where other people are staying too so it shouldn't be hard to meet up in that first week- I hope. This is the hotel I'm going to stay in. I found the first picture on google maps. I think it's the hotel anyway- but it says karaoke on a sign outside so I'll have a better look for it when I get there. The second photo kinda looks more like a car park as well, but it looks alright- better than a capsule hotel!

The flight is on Thursday at about 2pm (will have to check the time) from Gatwick. We have an 8 hour flight to Dubai then another 8 hour flight to Narita airport. We only get to wait at Dubai for about an hour in the middle of the night though.

My next post on here will probably be from Japan, so will hopefully be with pictures of Japan and more interesting. I will keep in contact with you through skype and facebook.

Going to Japan in 3 weeks!!!

This blog is so people at home can find out what's happening on my year in Japan, maybe future year abroad students want to see what happens on a year abroad in Japan, and also so I can look at it later and remember the year abroad (or cringe at what I've written- the reason I deleted my bebo after revisiting it years later :s ).
I haven't had a blog since high school when really there wasn't much to talk about, but now I have something to talk about! I'm going to Japan! At Leeds I'm studying Japanese and French, with that I get a year in Japan. At the start of the year I found out I'm going to ICU in Tokyo with James, Charlie and Sally. So now I've got my visa, booked my flight and found out where I'm going to live. I think all I have to do is pack and go get my last jab :'( before going. Maybe in the last week I'll find a load more things that need to be done before I go, but I hope not!
I'm going to stay in Global House on campus at ICU, which although it was my first choice I was very worried about applying for dorms. The on campus dorms at ICU all tend to have rules that would seem very odd if we had them in uni halls in england. Most of them have a curfew, you're not allowed visitors at any time of day, you must attend monthly meetings about the dorm and share a bedroom. At one of the dorms the only showers they have are communal showers, but according to the leaflet you get used to that....maybe... but at the minute I'd rather not. Luckily, Global house is a dorm with no curfew! and you share each flat unit with two japanese students and one other exchange student, so hopefully it should be helpful to get better at Japanese. The only proper rule it has is that you can't have visitors over night, which I guess is better than a curfew...
Flying over on the 25th (in about 3 weeks! eeee how did it get so soon?! really looking forward to it!!) with Shivvie and Amanda to explore Tokyo a bit and maybe visit Yokohama before starting uni on the 1st of September. So when I get there I will have more to write on here, but for now I need to go to sleep (when did half one in the morning happen?)