So whats this all about then?

Right I guess I should make the first post a bit of an explanation really. Who am I? Where am I going? And why the hell am I writing this anyway? Haha it's always best to start at the beginning anyway, or at least thats what my primary school English teacher taught me anyway.

So I think first a self introduction is in order. Hajimimashite, watashi wa Marcus. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.  Yeah anyway My name is marcus and I'm 22 years old, currently doing a pHD in molecular biophysics at liverpool university.  I'll be moving to Japan at the end of the month as part of my pHD project for about 2 years. I'm really excited, I'm in love with japanese culture and have been since I was five and my Grandad told me stories of his time there during his national service.

I'm also pretty scared though. I think I'd be mad not to be. I'm only recently coming out of a rather dark patch in my life. About 2 years ago now I suffered a pretty bad bout of depression following the death of my grandfather. This coupled ith the isolation I was feeling due to being stuck in a rather awful place led me to develop an eating disorder that I've been recovering from for the past year. It was only a short period really but it messed me up something awful.

Now I love to travel but my worries are that being so far from home again could lead me to spiral downwards again. I think I'm far enough recovered to deal with it though and I'm writing this blog to reach out to my friends and family back home and let them know what I'm upto. I'm also hoping t'll act as an incentive to try as many new experiences as possible, I've got to have good things to write about.

Oh I also love to write, it was my major outlet during the worst of my depression and something I've become more and more passionate about. This log is also to hone my skills, so hopefully it won't be too much of an effort to read. I'll be jotting down thoughts, problems, triumphs, failures and really anything else that comes to mind.

I'll finish by explaining the title a bit. Journey to the east, well thats the obvious part really, I'm moving from England to Japan so I'm heading east. It's also a tribute to Journey to the west of course, a great historical chinese novel, adapted into a brilliant TV show in the seventies (I love monkey magic). That leads me onto the Northern monkey bit. Whilst this is a derogatory term for someone from the north of england I think it fits me pretty well, I have a positive ape index and I love climbing.

Enlightenment might be a bit strong a word but I am hoping to find out more about myself on this trip. There are going to be a lot of hardships, but hopefully a lot of pleasantness to. All in all I can't wait to go so I can share my experiences with you lovely people out there.

Matta ne.