Advertisement
Published: April 4th 2007
Edit Blog Post
There's no place like home. Contrary to what some of you may think, I do love my home, I mean I love Japan, but I love Australia even more. How could you not? When I flew into Sydney on Monday morning, it took my breath away. It was 7.30am and the sky was a brilliant blue, the sun was shining and flying over Sydney Harbour, seeing the bridge and Opera House, the boats in the water, it was spectacular, I will never get used to that. Sydney really is a beautiful city from the air. And I really felt good to be home, not that Sydney is actually home as such, but you know what I mean.
But going back a week or so, I finished up in Niseko on the 25th March, I had a fantastic time but was ready to leave. I headed down to Hakodate for a week to catch up with friends and say good-bye to those who will be leaving soon. Which is almost all of them. It'll be so strange to think of Hakodate without all my friends there. Most of my Japanese friends have graduated and gone off to other areas of
Japan for work, and my foreigner friends all finish their contracts within the next few months, and will be heading back to their respective homes.
But being there was great, I do so love that city (town?). I caught up with Laura on my first day in town, which was great, I hadn't seen her since my first visit back there in November. I really thought I'd get more time to go down to Hakodate when I was in Niseko, but I just didn't get round to it, so after 4 months it was really good to catch up. But then she decides she's going down to Nagoya for a week and so we only had the one day together, but all the same it was good and she had her reasons for having to go south!! And thanks to her I have some new, very cheap jeans (well cheap for japan), what can I say? Two foreign girls shopping in Japan, we come across some jeans that actually fit us, and are about half the price that jeans usually are, we HAD to buy them.
I didn't actually do much when I was in Hakodate, it was
good to just be lazing about, walking around town if I wanted to, reading a book, sleeping in. I went over to my old tea ceremony teachers house for dinner once, it was good to see her again. She is such a lovely lady, like my Japanese Mum. She made me promise that I have to go and see her when I have the chance while I'm living in Japan again.
My last night in town I went out with a group of friends, such a good night, well except for the drinking too much and spending the hour between 3am and 4am in the toilet. Dinner at an izakaya with Nick and Felicia, joined, well everyone else at a little bar called Bar Big Job for some drinking and then finished the night off at karaoke. I swear almost every foreigner in town was at the bar, and let me set the scene, this place is tiny. It has the bar with like 8 bar stools around it and a few more chairs stuck in the corner. And with the 20 or 25 people who were there it was packed. I mean like you couldn't stand or sit
anywhere without touching the people next to you, but great atmosphere all the same. But it was the beginning of my unravelling, what with the Irish car bombs (Guiness beer which you drop a shot of Baileys into and then skull (or chug, whatever you guys say in American)), vodkas and cassiss drinks, and then more at karaoke, it wasn't a good result. Like I said early morning in the toilet and feeling queasy all the next day. I had to be on a train to Sapporo airport at 9.30am and then a plane to Tokyo and then another plane to Sydney. It wasn't good for my stomach at all, all that motion. But thank god I didn't embaress myself in front of all those strangers, I kept my food down.
So here I am back at home. Like I said it is good to be back, a little strange but good all the same. My first day back was perfect weather wise, the sun was shining and it was a beautiful 25 degrees. It's so good to get a little sun. I spent hours walking around my little hometown of Terrigal on that first morning, and for those
of you who don't know Terrigal is a beach town. I sat on the beach and enjoyed the sun and breathed in the sea air, it was wonderful. I will have to attach some photos for you to see.
Since then been quite busy and only have a few days left here now before I have to head back, but planning to catch up with friends tomorrow night as it is Good Friday the day after so everyone is heading out. Although I think I will be staying away from the alcohol! I heard that stuff is bad for you...
Advertisement
Tot: 0.179s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 13; qc: 49; dbt: 0.1409s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb