Home sweet home

Firstly, I must say, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who's made an effort to send a phone call, letter, package, email or text. Thank you so much for all your love and support - it's sooo much appreciated!

And you know what, it's just so great to feel valued and loved by people when it's your first few weeks in Japan and you feel like the most insignificant ant you could ever imagine - I feel so small here!

Honestly man you just don't know how good it was to hear your familiar wee voices on my answer phone for my birthday!

Well that was once I took it to the shop a few days later and got them to change it toEnglish! I didn't know what the woman was on about in Japanese!

So yeah, my flatmates here are cool - which is lucky as there are a lot of geeks here! - but they aren't the same as you guys back home and I miss and think of you often.

I reckon there's two types of people that come to Japan those who come for travel and culture experience (in which I like to group myself!) and those who come becuase they don't fit in anywhere else!

Really, let me explain this theory, which is very materialistically based I must admit, but the very first week I was here I met a girl with some kind of skin disorder wihch made her look like her brown skin was peeling away to reveal white and another whose eye was so deformed and droopy it looked like hunchback of notredame. THEN I saw a man with an electronic hook for a hand!

I know, I know, I am an AWFUL person, but at least I am honest about my first thoughts (I mean they are surely lovely people, it's just that that kind of shocked me in my first day here having seen nothing like that at home - oh god how naive I sound! Well it's just that I felt uncomfortable trying to talk to those people you know becuase I was afraid I would stare and not realise it or something and make them feel uncomfortable!

And EVERYONE says what they think of the guys here - even the guys! They just love the way Japanese girls treat them and NO matter what their looks or personality are like they're MUCH more successful with the girls here than they are back home!

There are quite a few theories on why this is, but one is that Japanese men are ranked number two on the worlds scale for, ahem... 'smallness'!

Annnyway, speaking of staring, it hasn't been quite so bad with people staring at me as I'd bin told, but I wear my hair tied back for work. I have caught them sneaking looks at me on the train though, and they definitely stare on my days off when I'm in casual gear, but i got used to it after the first day coz I realised it wasn't that I had a huge stain on me or anything - just that I looked different fullstop.

Actually it cracks me up, especially when I'm on an escalator or something and you can see people do 360's with their heads as I go past. I think it's funny coz I'm just an ordinary person, so it seems strange.

But then I probably seem strange to them. On the whole though I haven't found anyone to be rude at all, mostly if they look, it's sneaky so as they don't offend me. And to be honest most people are just like they are at home and couldn't give a damn.

They're just everyday people trying to make their way in the world same as we are, so basically it's just like living in any other city in that sense, just the essence of the culture is different, but they still do all the same things we do and its very much like home in respect to work and making a living day to day.

Has been tough at times trying to manage with language barrier though, but I know I wouldn't have it any other way as would be too easy otherwise! Honestly is amazing how fast am adjusting to life here already and only been here four weeks. God they have been long though, took ages to get used to work schedule and was dead tired ALL the time, but NOW never go to sleep before 12 and am up again at 7am - the japanese lifestyle is very different to ours!

Went to dinner and had raw fish the other night - and liked it!! Amazing! Can eat with chopsticks too! Is astounding what necessity will enable I tell you - couldn't eat to save myself with them at home! But would starve if didn't learn to here.

Also been to Hanami (cherry blossom) festival - thought was a fair like gathering in a park where people stood around and admired the cherry blossoms, but nooooo, they all come out and sit in little groups under the cherry trees getting tanked - it's awesome!

Was such a good atmosphere and they have a lovely drink here called Chu Hi which tastes uncannily like apple juice (and not a bit like vodka at all) and yet is alcoholic! - not surprisingly I've taken quite a liking to it!

the shopping here is AMAZING! Ohh must send you pics of shopping - have been busy taking some and planning to go to out on next day off and behave like total tourist so can show you what it's like.

I have little reminders of New Zealand all over my room. Really was VERY homesick for first few weeks here and only just starting to come right now, but still miss home quite a bit, just not so bad now. Am actually starting to think you ALWAYS miss home no matter where you are, it's just always there somewhere in your heart you know - just it becomes a dull ache after awhile rather than a painful missing feeling.

Was VERY hard at the start tho. Awful. Still you know might as well make the most of it as will regret it if I don't and most likely be home in a year or so as have friends weddings to attend and want to catch the last of summer before heading off to the states and then Europe.

Really do think I'll come home to New Zealand at the end of the day tho - you just really don't appreciate the beauty or SPACE until you leave do you. Feels so pathetic telling people here the population of New Zealand is only 4 million (and we have equally as many dairy cows!)

Honestly think I'm gonna suffer from Agrophobia when I get home!