Preparations for Japan

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So I managed to get a placement on a programme, thanks to 2 glowing references from my old boss and uni lecturer and to my amazing ability to look fantastic on paper 😉 The whole process started in October 2008 and I only found out I got a place in May 2009!! Longness. But, looking on the bright side - I'm going, Alex is coming with me, and I'm based in a small town of 30,000 people called Kami in Kochi prefecture. They label it as a "city", which was formed on 1st March 2006. That's right - I've managed to find a job in a place with less history than Australia! Who'da thunk it?! Although its separate sections have their own history, so not all that bad I guess...

I had to go to a pre-departure orientation, which involved a load of lectures, Q&A sessions, and language classes. Nuff said about that.

I also managed to develop a headache a week before my departure, along with some nausea and general crappiness, which prevented me from doing a lot of things I'd planned, including my best mate's hen do (I'm already missing the wedding 😞 poo stix!) and meeting up with a couple who I hadn't seen in ages and I'd later found out actually got engaged!!!! Everyone seems to be getting married, must be something in the air. Anyway, I still feel like crap and I hope to hell they'll let me on that plane...

The day before
So they've drilled into everyone that you CANNOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, CHECK IN MORE THAN 20KG, AS YOU WILL BE CHARGED £51 FOR EVERY EXTRA KG. Which is really gay considering they insist on everyone checking in 2 pieces of luggage - 1 to send on to our respective prefectures, and 1 to have in Tokyo for the 2-day orientation. So the extra bag adds like 2.5kg extra that I really don't need!

Another mantra they've drilled into everyone is you MUST ARRIVE AT LEAST 3 HOURS BEFORE YOUR FLIGHT DEPARTURE TIME, ELSE YOU MIGHT NOT BE GUARANTEED A SEAT. Scare tactics. Either way, I ended up leaving my precious tripod behind, coz Alex told me to! And I managed to get my luggage down to 20kg. Still, I'm sad that it's not coming with me now =(

The day of the flight
So I get to Heathrow Terminal 3 on time - in fact, a little early. The flight's at 16:35 and I arrived around 15:20. I found the programme representatives and they handed me an envelope with a load of stuff in it, including luggage tags and an arrival card to get on the coach in Tokyo. Alex told me to put 2 tops into my checked in luggage, because there wasn't any point me wearing them. I actually had 1kg of sweets in my pockets, so I was a bit worried about the weight, but did it anyway. Turned out my luggage was 22.5kg, which she didn't even bat an eyelid to. Bastards!!!! Could've brought my tripod after all, especially as I later found out that someone else checked in 24kg of luggage. Grrr.... Anyway, I queued up to check in and ended up being the very last person to do so!! Every other fucker had gotten there up to an hour earlier, because of the whole "you have to get there at least 3 hours earlier, or you'll miss the flight" bollox. So I'm stuck in 54E, which is the middle of the middle. But I'm about 4 or 5 rows from the back, so at least I'm near the toilet....(always a silver lining!)

The flight
It's an 11.5 hour flight to Tokyo, and I ended up watching 17 Again, He's Just Not That Into You, and Kamogawa Horumo, which is THE weirdest Japanese film I've ever seen!!!!! Honestly, it was the funniest thing, I loved it! Everyone should watch it. Go get it now. Do it. Do it. Do it. Now. Go.

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