I cannot believe that I have almost been back as long as the time period I spent in Japan. In comparison, I’ve achieved diddly squat….nada….nothing. When I was away it usually seemed that what I did last week seemed like ages away, yet now back in a ‘normal’ environment time seems to fly by. I must confess I haven’t been as productive as I thought I would have been by now but it’s bound to take a while to
settle back in. I’ve only really seen a few of my mates so far as I’ve been dealing with other things, getting my head back into it, and moving between Aberdeen and Edinburgh. Luckily a mate has put me up at the moment (Ta John, but no, I haven’t cleaned up your flat that much…and the oven just scared me!).
It’s unbelievable how hard I have found not having a regular internet connection – not only for keeping touch (hey Pay as you Go mobile calls are expensive here) but for investigating stuff to do like work, volunteering, writing etc – maybe it’s a bit of an excuse, but at £1.50 an hour to access the net at a net cafe it would easily mount up. One thing that hasn’t helped is that the weather has been appalling since I came back – constant rain showers for the last few weeks, only easing the last couple of days.
I have also noticed a few things around home that’s been good, and not so good. Everyone seems really stressed driving here. Both times I’ve been in taxi’s they’ve been shouting or moaning at people. I am still grudging spending money on things as they seem so expensive here (although not everything is….I was reassured when watching a couple on TV come home from Australia to see if they wanted to come back and they couldn’t believe how much of a range of stuff we had here and how cheap the supermarket was compared to Melbourne!!?!). Some of the tourism related stuff seems a bit more switched on than I remember – even things like trains announcing what all the destinations are – I guess I never noticed little things like that before as I wasn’t seeing things through the eyes of a traveller.
Mobile phones tarriffs don’t seem to be getting any cheaper here either which is ridiculous – all the main operators are looking at £30-35 a month to get any decent number of inclusive minutes, and for what is meant to be a leading country, if you want to use data related services like the web via your phone the charges are
prohibitively expensive – so much I am convinced it is holding back the country using great services like this.
I have been out for a couple of short runs to try and get some fitness back and maybe I’m not as bad as I thought (although the legs hurt a bit today). I had hoped to get into the hills this week in the hope it would sort my head out and make me realise I’m really back but that fell by the wayside as plans changed, and I have to sign on Friday morning.
And one of the worst things to happen this week? I’ve realised that I haven’t cast my eyes on my precious diving log books since coming home. I have looked everywhere and fear they may be kicking around Japan in some shape or form. They must have been the things I tried to look after the most, not even trusting them in the post I sent home. 65 of the most detailed logged dives you could ever have. Like before I lost my phone and had just thought about backing it up, I had though about
photocopying my log books in Japan but didn’t as I was almost home. I even dreamt of them the other night. I really hope they turn up somewhere but there is another book that was with them I haven’t seen either…it doesn’t look good.
Gutted.
On the upside, my initial submissions to a large picture library have passed the initial quality control check so I am free to submit as many as I like now. It probably won’t work out too well, but another avenue to look into.
I’m keen to try and get back into some of the stuff I used to do like climbing and getting up north, but all that it hard without transport.
On the upside, my initial submissions to a large picture library have passed the initial quality control check so I am free to submit as many as I like now. It probably won’t work out too well, but another avenue to look into.
I’m keen to try and get back into some of the stuff I used to do like climbing and getting up north, but all that is hard without transport.
Time will tell…..