Tears, Airsickness and Bullet-Time in the Land of the Rising Sun

So here I am.

In Japan.

Hiroshima prefecture.

Saijo.

And first off, its bloody warm. About 28 degrees today. Which is much better than yesterday, when, apart from walls scribbled in Kanji, I thought I landed back at Heathrow. Yes, it was raining. And Japanese rain is as unforgiving as English rain, except it's warm too.

HEATHROW

"Convoy, they were a convoy". I guess not many people remember that crappy song, but my journey from Weston was just that. Grant, Kelly and the kids in their car, myself, Dad and Mum behind.

"We'll have to leave early" Kelly had twittered, "they'll be lots of traffic, and it can take over an hour to park at Heathrow."

Yeah right. I was in the terminal at 12 o 'clock. Bless her, though, at least it gave me plenty of time to wander around, pushing my luggage trolley like Harry Potter.

After meeting up with fellow Nova newbies, at 3:30, we were then dismayed to discover that the Osaka flight was delayed for an hour due to "technical problems". With images of the movie, Final Destination running through my head, my next fear was that I'd overpacked my suitcases, and would end up being bankrupt in English sterling, before the Japanese Yen could work it's alluring magic. However I was only 2-3 kgs over, and smiled innocently at the check-in lady, so she let me through.

In fact, one of the Nova newbies, a Billy Boyd lookalike (thats Pippin in Lord of the Rings) called Gareth had bought his bike, and had to sweet talk (in Spanish) to allow it on the aircraft.

Then, I said goodbye to my folks. Just like Kath, the week before, and Sam the day before, there were tears. Even I had a lump in my throat. It must be hard to let a child, brother, friend disappear to the far side of the world, knowing that is likely to be a year until you see them again.

Hanging out in the departure lounge with the Osaka bound Nova newbies, proved to be an antidote for the sudden loss I felt. After splashing out on a bottle of Armani Black, we all chipped in a few quid each for a bottle of Jack Daniels, proceeded to the nearest pub, and like school kids ordered 5 cokes. I think you know where this is going, but suffice to say after 2 triple Jack Daniels and cokes, not only was I more into the whole Japanese thing, but I had managed to gain a new nickname, "Timberlake", and discovered by accident a Mills and Boon novel that had more sexual innuendo than Benny Hill.

FLIGHT JL422

12 hours on a plane is a long time. A whole day. Whilst people are getting up and going to work, I seemed to stuck in limbo, 10,000 feet above the earth. Well, there were the attractive air hostesses to ogle, who even after 12 hours, seemed as bright, polite and as helpful as when I first boarded. As for the films, it was a pretty dire selection. Million Dollar Baby (great movie, but had seen it), Coach Carter, Hitch (is this the crappiest film ever) and Are we there yet ? ( a good question, and one I kept asking myself after seeing 10 minutes of this).

For dinner I had the Japanese meal and warm Sake. Now, I haven't a clue what was in that meal, although it tasted good, and I could develop a liking for Sake. Things were going well.

Until 8 hours in. Claustrophobia, lack of sleep, and air sickness kicked in. I tried to get some sleep and managed about 2 hours, and had a constant need for water. I think I drank about 6 litres of Evian (and they were in those tiny bottles!).

JAPAN

I landed in Japan, about 14:55 local time, and the efficiency of the airport staff baffled me. From landing to checking in through Immigration to collecting my baggage to Customs took about 25 minutes. I even had a brief conversation with my Customs officer, who had taken lessons with Nova.

After meeting our Nova representative, were we sent on our separate ways one by one, many people taking the journey in pairs. Except one. Me. From Shin-Osaka train station, I had to catch the Shinkansen, or Bullet train to Hiroshima, and then get another train to Saijo. Alone. However those of you that know me, know that I'm a pretty resourceful guy, and I managed to get to my destination early and unscathed.

The Japanese people are wonderful (the ones I have had the fortune to have met). I let one elderly chap, off the train in front of me, and I bows and arrigato's until I felt rather embarressed. Even today when I trotted on down to sort out my Alien Personnel Card at the Town Office, everyone was helpful. From the elderly security guard I asked for directions, to the cute girl in reception at the Office, to the man in FujiFilm who took passport photo's of me in his back room! (That's not what you think!).

My flatmates seem cool. Evan, the Canadian fella, has been here two years and has a Japanese girlfriend. Steven, the Australian, is moving out next month, and met me at the station. Both seem sound guys, and the flat itself is small, cosy and clean. Hey, I even have my own bike!

Sayonnara for now!!!

Justin