Journey to the East – the physical bit

So D-day had finally arrived. It was time to set off for Harima. I must admit I wasn’t off to a particularly great start. For one I’d messed up the night before and eaten dairy meaning my stomach was in bulk and I’d barely slept, not good. I’d also been very cranky, something about packing had just made everything feel that much more real and I was taking it out on the people around me. To top it off watching the original Godzilla was not really the best of ideas the night before leaving.

Still up early and semi raring to go. I got a visit from my Auntie Ali and Rod who had brought me a wonderful gift. That’s right only four pages in and my blog already has merchandise, sadly only two t-shirts right now so don’t hold your breath.

Anyway the trip to Manchester was fairly uneventful, I said my goodbyes to a few people, got my bags on, with a few worries about how suspicious my chalk bag looked and got ready to board. The flight to Amsterdam was  faster than the drive to Manchester. I got chatting to a lovely guy who was a retired butcher from Rochester which my have helped. Anyway landing in Amsterdam was a bit of a whirlwind. I landed after my flight started boarding and had to peg it to the gate, not before getting a snap of those mad statues to prove I was there.

I felt like a bit of a spare part on the flight out, I think the passengers were maybe 95% Asian.  Not much conversation but plenty of chance to read. Or at least that was the plan but I couldn't concentrate, way too excited. Well for the first three hours anyway haha, 12 hours is a long time to be stuck in a small metal tube. Also I know airline food is terrible but I'd had to get the vegan meal to avoid dairy. I think on my death bed I still won’t know what they served me for dinner and for breakfast I got curried pineapple rice and a yoghurt (oh wait dairy free right?) so no breakfast pretty much, forgive me for being delicate but curried rice just isn’t really what I want for breakfast.

Other than that the flight was all right actually. Massive choice of films, I watched the Kids are alright and Tangled (oh the shame). I also managed to get chatting to a girl called Kelly from Birmingham University who was on a language exchange to Kobe University. It was nice to discuss thoughts, worries, things I was looking forward to with someone.

Anyway landing procedures were pretty straightforward. The airport is so cool, absolutely massive and on it’s own little Island.  So all on  my way and no hiccups right? Nope life’s never simple. After waiting at the baggage thing for about 10 minutes one of the attendants comes up to inform me that my baggage was left behind in Amsterdam. Thank you KLM. I’d kinda seen this coming due to my short connection time so not too bothered I filled out my forms and legged it outside to the bus stop to jump the limo bus to Himeji.

First thing that hit me about Japan? How industrial everything Is. Everywhere you look there is some kind of factory/construction site/ power plant.  It is definitely a busy busy place. Also there was soo much smog in the air. Not particularly nice. I must admit I didn’t see much of the cities since the journey was mostly on the expressway. These things are incredible. Massive roads that run the length of Japan, at some points they have two stories. I was pretty taken aback.

The bus journey added to another 2 hours of travelling. I thought I’d get some sleep but I was far too excited. I got chatting to an Aus Girl called Aimee. Another language student she was going to be going to Himeji University for 7 months. She’d been out here before and shared some of her good experiences with me, definitely putting me at a bit more ease.

So we arrived at Himeji. Due to the terrible flight food I was starving and I really wanted to try a bento box. Plus since I had no luggage it might be nice to have a walk around, always look to the positives ey. Sadly it wasn’t to be. The bus for spring-8 arrived pretty much straight away and I was whisked to my new home.

I don't remember a lot of the journey I’ll be honest, I’d been awake 36 hours by this point and I couldn’t focus on anything. One thing I do remember is that everything was looking very dry. Most of the trees were bare and the grass was looking very yellow. I’m not sure if I’ve missed spring or I’m early. I hope I’m early really want to be here for Hana-me (cherry blossom season). Anyway as we got closer to Spring-8, mountains surrounded us. This place is absolutely beautiful I’m not gonna lie. Pine trees everywhere and rolling hills and valleys. Not much civilisation though.

1 o’clock and the bus pulled up outside of the front office. I managed to find out where I needed to be and went to meet my supervisor. I was introduced to a load of people whose names I don't really remember and then blissfully was allowed to get some lunch from the cafeteria.  I had okonomiyaki, its kinda like a frittata with cabbage onions and spuds, tasty stuff. Finally fed I went and met Yamada-san, my other supervisor and some of his team. I think everyone could tell I was shattered at this point and they let me head back to the guest-house. By 6 I’d been awake about 48 hours and I crashed out. What a journey. Also check out the funky flavour of Fanta I bought.