My Brother's Visit: Airport Chaos!

This morning Dom and I went to Narita Airport. He had reached the end of his 9 day stay here. It was very sad on the Limousine Bus from Kichijoji, but we knew it was only 12 weeks until I'm back in the UK. I can't believe I have such a short time left in Japan!

It was a very scenic route to the airport. We passed Tokyo Tower...



... and went over Rainbow Bridge.



And then, after getting up at 5am for the 2 hour bus trip, and paying Y3,000 (£20) each to get there, we find all flights to the UK, and most of Western Europe cancelled.



This wasn't the biggest surprise. We knew there was a risk of delays and cancellations because of the news the previous day. But we'd checked online before we left and there wasn't a problem at 6am. Somewhere en route they'd cancelled all the flights!

The cancellations were due to the Icelandic volcanic eruption, which happened two days ago. I knew about it, but didn't quite believe that we'd actually be affected by it so badly.

We were three hours early for the flight, so we started to queue up at the check-in desk and waited until they opened. We were only a few people from the front as we were there so early.

TBS News were interviewing people in the line, but Dom and I weren't asked to say anything, but I think I may have been in the background of one interview.

They opened the desks on time, but we still had to wait for about an hour until we got any information. They were taking people who had been cancelled on yesterday, but were sending anyone who hadn't missed a flight yet away, saying that all the nearby hotels were full and people should return to their previous accommodation. Bit of a tall order! But I suppose their hands were tied.

We were advised to change our bookings online or on the phone, and try to get another flight for when the airports re-open.

As the morning went on, the lines got huge as more and more people found their flights had been cancelled. But every was very well behaved and well-humoured, except for one Japanese woman who kept huffing and puffing next to us in the line. I expected the British people to be causing trouble!

Dom and I had a sandwich in a cafe, and then got on the train and braved the two and a half hour train journey home. We were both exhausted, and were not expecting to have to do that at all! I rang our Mum and let her know what was happening, but then couldn't get through on the phone to Virgin Atlantic's Tokyo office until the evening. I changed Dom's flight to Monday 26th April, which was the earliest available flight. I can't believe it! He's doubled his stay in Japan! And he'll miss some school, but I suppose he has the best excuse there is - stuck on the other side of the world because of a volcanic eruption! I find it so ironic that he came to Japan, one of the most volcanic countries in the world, and then can't go home because of volcanic ash over Britain!

Well, I suppose Dom will get a much better idea of Tokyo life - he's going to be here for a while!

It's now 22nd April, and the airports are all open again, after a week of total closure. What a huge mess! We really are at the mercy of nature... But fingers crossed everything goes smoothly for his flight home on Monday. Adding his visit with my family in 2008, he's now been in Japan for over a month in his life! Madness!

I think we were quite lucky to get a flight as early as the 26th, because I rang back a few days after the initial cancellation and they told me that apart from Dom's secured seat on the 26th, the earliest available flight was the 2nd May! I'm so glad I was persistant in ringing them all day.

It's been lovely having Dom in Japan for so much longer than we first expected, but I think he's quite looking forward to going home. I have to leave him alone for so many hours every day while I go to lessons he must be bored stiff!

Now I just hope that the volcano doesn't decide to let another burst of ash out as a little surprise for Europe again!

A Sudden Change in Plans!

Well here's a big surprise!

My exams finished on Friday, and that started a two and a half week school holiday. I was really relieved to finally have my exams all out of the way.

Then I was talking to my parents on Skype on Saturday evening and they surprised me by saying that they were going to pay for a flight home for this break! As you can imagine, I was completely overwhelmed! I didn't think I'd be going home for ten months!

But now, the flight is booked and I'm going home on Thursday morning for 12 nights! I can't get my head around it... But I'm so excited! I'll see my family, and my home, and my friends, and I'll be sure to go back to Cadbury World and see people I used to work with. And it coincides with a trip to my grandparents' house in Wiltshire, and also our annual family trip to Norfolk where we meet up with my mum's side of the family.

It will be incredible - I can't wait!

So now I have three days to sort everything out and pack, and then on Thursday morning I'm getting up early and heading off to Narita Airport! How amazing is that!?

Arrival in Japan

First things first - wooo, I'm here!

It's lovely to be back in Tokyo! I hadn't realised how much I missed it until I got on the train and started seeing places I remembered. Especially when we passed the Shinjuku skyscraper district - I love those buildings!

But anyway, I should start at the beginning. My family and I drove down to London Heathrow airport on Wednesday morning. It took about an hour and a half, despite part of the motorway being closed due to a gas leak. We parked and walked up to Terminal 3, where I heard my name shouted by Rob, one of the other students going to ICU. Katy, the other one of the three of us, was already there, along with another student going to a different University we were flying out with. There was one other too, but we decided not to wait for him before we checked in. There was no queue at the JAL desk, and we all got in with no problems. I'm sure our bags were overweight, but the woman didn't say anything - maybe she took pity on us!

I met my family upstairs and we had lunch. My stomach was churning like crazy, with that bizarre mix of anxiety and excitement. I managed to eat a jacket potato and the hour passed very quickly. It was too quick! Suddenly I was saying goodbye to my family again, with tears in my eyes. We had done it before, and we knew what goodbyes are like. But of course that doesn't make them any easier!

I waved until I had passed into the security check with the other four. I was okay then, because I started focussing on the next section of the journey. I didn't beep at the metal detector, which was surprising! All my stuff was okay, despite being overweight, but of course they don't weigh hand luggage.

We made our way down to Gate 27 and had our boarding passes checked. I realised that I'd meant to ask if there were any aisle seats available, because my long legs are awful in cramped seats. I asked at the gate if there were any aisle seats available, and they said that a party hadn't turned up, and I could have their seats if they didn't arrive in time. I waited for about 15 minutes and the party didn't check in so I moved four rows back, so not too far from the rest of my group, who were spread across two rows, but where I could sit more comfortably. I'm very glad I asked!

The 11 hour 45 minute flight went much quicker than I thought it would. I watched one and a half films, and then tried, largely unsuccessfully, to sleep for the rest of the time. I think I got about 3 hours in the end, but it was very hard to tell because I kept waking up to readjust my position.

I wasn't nearly as worried or stressed as when I first arrived in Japan. I knew where everything was, and that I was with other people, and we were being met by locals. Everything felt much safer and more secure than last time!

We went through the swine flu check and immigration like a breeze. Narita Airport is so quiet and calm, it's the exact opposite of British airports. They took my fingerprints and photo at immigration, just like last time, and checked my visa. I think the inspector was a little perplexed at seeing two visa stamps in my passport, but he didn't ask any questions.

We left the customs check with no problems (you have to fill out two forms on the plane, one for immigration, and one for customs) because we weren't carrying any prohibited or restricted items. Then we met Rob's good friend and a couple of students from ICU who I'd been in contact with. They were all really really nice and helped us all with our heavy baggage. We bought tickets to 東小金井 (Higashi Koganei), which is where the head office of our guesthouse company is. From Narita Airport (outside Tokyo to the east) to the western suburbs where we're living, it took about two hours, and three trains. It was quite hot (around 30C) and humid, especially as we weren't used to it, but not as bad as I remembered it being. Maybe it was because it's the end of August, rather than the beginning, which is when I left last year. But Rob's friend said that Japan's summer this year had been cooler overall than average. That's not a problem with me!

Watching the scenery flash by as we made our way through central Tokyo was amazing. I recognised so many places, and just looking at the train map brought back fond memories of last time. We were all very tired, and everything seemed a bit like a dream, I think particularly for Katy, who has never been to Japan before. But we got to Higashi Koganei station with no problems, thanks to our local guides. We thanked them very much and were then picked up in a brightly coloured van and taken to the office. The office was right by a small wooded area, and there was a deafening roar of cicadas! I'd never heard anything like it. I really hoped I wouldn't be able to hear any from my room. We were talked through the contract and the rules of the guesthouse, and we paid our deposits and first month's rent.

That took just over an hour, and then they drove us to our guesthouse. I was glad we could go straight there even though it was late afternoon, because they had said that if we didn't arrive by 15:30, we might not be able to check in that day, and would have to stay in temporary rooms in the head office. We were shown to our rooms, and we sorted everything out, and then were left to it.

We were all a bit dazed and confused, but we knew we couldn't go to sleep, as it was only 6pm, so we met Rob's friend again in the town near the station, and went for some dinner in an izakaya (Japanese pub). We got back at about 21:30, and I was dead to the world by half past 10, and I slept dead through until 6:30am this morning, when I woken up, either by the bright sunlight (the curtains here are just as transparent as in Sakura House last year) or the gradual heat as the room warmed up.

Today we did some shopping and bought some food while exploring the local area, and I'm feeling quite comfortable here. We made our first group meal this evening, noodles with beef in a tomato sauce. I think that's a really good way to save money, as the meal split between the three of us was only Y380. We'll definitely be doing that a lot!

I'm fully unpacked now, and I'm feeling much more like it's a home now. Everything has its place and I'm getting used to the layout of the house. Tomorrow we're going to try to figure out the best route to ICU. Wish us luck!

Student Visa Application

Two days ago I went to London with my youngest brother Dominic to apply for my Japanese student visa. I followed the same procedure as when I got my Working Holiday visa last year. I went on a National Express coach, which is much cheaper than the train, for only £11 return.

We met up with someone else from my course, Rob, who is also going to ICU for the next academic year, at Green Park tube station and then walked down to the Japanese Embassy on Piccadilly.

Our IDs were checked at the door, although my brother didn't have any but they still let him in. I suppose he didn't look too dangerous! We went into the visa section after being airport-style checked with metal detectors. We took tickets from the machine, and we were 529 and 530 - the next two numbers to be called! We sat down for two minutes and then Rob was called through to the windows, laid out like a bank. He was in there for about three minutes and then he came out. He was so fast I thought there must have been something wrong, but that was it! I was called in next and was served by the same British man who gave me my last visa. I told him so when he checked my passport and saw the stamp. I gave him the documents I'd brought.

To get a student visa you need:

- passport valid for the period of stay;
- completed application form (available from the Embassy) with 2"x2" photo attached;
- Certificate of Eligibility (this is the certificate the host University sends), and a photocopy of it;
- pre-paid self-addressed Royal Mail envelope (only if you want your passport and Certificate of Eligibility returned to you by post);
- fee, which is £6 for UK citizens.

The Embassy's website said that I also had to bring my official acceptance letter from ICU, but the man gave it back to me, so I'm not sure if he just needed to see it or if it wasn't necessary at all. My University also said that I needed to take a spare passport photo, but he gave that back to me too.

It was much easier and quicker to apply for the student visa than the working holiday, mainly because the Certificate of Eligibility means that you already have a guarantor, which in my case is ICU.

The student visa allows you to study, work and live in Japan for 15 months. Apparently it's just changed from a year so students can travel either side of their academic year, which works very well for me!

I should get the visa back in the post early next week so I'll be looking forward to that!

Term Three

It's been a long time since I posted anything here, which I feel quite bad about. It's always in my mind, but last Semester was so busy, and then I was working at Cadbury World again over the month-long Easter holiday and had a grand total of 4 days off! I also turned 20 earlier this month, and it still feels very strange when I tell someone my age.

I was in London last weekend because my Mum ran the Marathon, which was an absolutely amazing experience, I was so proud of Mum for doing it! While I was there, I spoke to some of my Mum's friends who said they had been checking my blog to see if I'd posted anything new. I suppose that's spurred me on to write something!

First of all, my exam results from the exams in January were okay. I got a mixture of results across my core modules and electives, ranging from 2:2 to 1st. But of course Japanese is the important one! I got 69%, which is 1% off a 1st. I didn't find this at all annoying, because I honestly was expecting a 2:2 at best. I was so happy when I saw that mark - it gave me a boost of confidence that I think I needed, because up til then I'd been wondering if I really belonged in Intermediate Japanese.

After the results, Semester Two went well, with nothing special to report. We continued working through the textbooks in Japanese, which are:

短期集中初級日本語文法総まとめポイント２０ (Tanki shuuchu shokyuu Nihongo bunpou sou matome pointo 20) - basic grammar
日本語中級Ｊ３０１ (Nihongo chuukyuu J301) - grammar
みんなの日本語初級II漢字英語版 (Minna no Nihongo shokyuu II Kanji Eigo-han) - kanji

And now I'm in Term Three, which is still part of Semester Two, but it's just split in half by the Easter holiday. The next set of exams is the final lot this academic year, and they are 18th May til 5th June. Unfortunately, my 6 exams (which seems to be more than anyone else has!) are spread right across those dates so I can't get them all over with at once! But I suppose it's less stressful to have gaps in between them.

This time round, I have a Japanese oral exam, so I'll be studying hard for that, as speaking and responding is my weakest point! The oral exam involves us giving a short individual speech in front of two teachers, who then ask questions afterwards. We're familiar with this format, because we've done two mini-speeches before, but they were only worth 5% each, rather than 20%!

Yesterday we had another Study Abroad Meeting, and we met a third year student who went to my Japanese University, the International Christian University (ICU) in Tokyo, and had the opportunity to ask all the burning questions we had.

The academic year finishes straight after exams on 5th June, and then I'll be back in Birmingham, hopefully to work at Cadbury World again, because I love that job! There's one final Study Abroad Meeting in June, but I'll get the train up for the day for that. Then, if all goes well, I'll work right up to the end of summer, which is when I'll be flying back to Tokyo!

But, first things first - exams!!

I'm Back Home!

I'm actually back!

Very tired and a little confused, but definitely back in Britain!

I will write about my flight properly soon, but it went without a hitch. It was extremely sad to leave my guesthouse and my housemates, but I knew that it had to happen. I said goodbye to everyone, and everything, and really had to fight myself to stay as composed as possible. I was leaving my home of seven months.

My Chinese housemate, very kindly, came to Tokyo City Air Terminal on Thursday morning to wave me off. It was incredibly sad to say goodbye to him, because he was very kind. I waved until the bus rounded the corner and he was gone.

On the bus to the airport, which cost Y2,900, I was having real flashbacks to various times during my trip. I know it sounds like something you see in a film, with grainy black and white images representing memories, but the journey was actually filled with random images of people, places and emotions.

At the airport, I sent emails to some people from my phone, and told them I was safely ready to go, and thank you for everything.

I couldn't believe I was leaving Japan. The last few days there didn't feel real.

On the plane, I looked through the selection of music you can make your own playlist out of, and I found some songs that meant a lot to me while I was in Japan. I feel I must admit that Touch My Body, by Mariah Carey, was included, but I probably heard that song more than any other over the last seven months.

I only slept for about 90 minutes the night before I left, and had maybe 3 hours of broken, uncomfortable sleep on the plane.

But somehow I stayed awake and alert, probably from adrenaline, until 11pm at home. My mum, brother and cousin met me at Heathrow airport in London, and then we had lunch in a pub (so British) and drove up to Birmingham.

The over-riding feeling was a dream-like state that I found myself in. It felt like I was just in Britain for a little bit, and I'd be returning 'home' to Tokyo soon.

Once I got home, everything felt strange, lovely, but very strange. It didn't quite register that I was at home. My real home, in Birmingham.

I knew that, after a few days, Japan would feel like the dream, but for now, Japan is still my reality.

I can't find the words, and that's not because I lived in a non-English speaking country, to describe how absolutely amazing my trip to Japan was.

The way my personality, outlook, and life has changed as a result is more than I ever expected. I can't recommend doing something like this enough.

Although I was sad to leave, I'd much rather be sad to leave because I enjoyed it, than be happy to go because it was a painful, trying seven months.

And sometimes it was difficult, looking back at it, and I did feel a bit homesick at times, but the memories and experiences I have now make up for it a thousand times.

I have to close that chapter of my life behind me now, and look forward to University in September, where I'll study English & Japanese, and after that, in September 2009, I will return to Japan as an exchange student to study for one year.

An exciting four years lie ahead of me!

And I can't wait.