In Tokyo: highlights, thank you and goodbye to Japan

Hi everyone,

I'm operating at a bit of a delay - I've been back in the UK for a month, but it's been a bit of a crazy month with getting no time off in the transition from Tokyo to London, moving into a new apartment, finding a new flatmate, and having my parents here visiting.  I wanted to list here some of the highlights of my time in Japan, so that I can properly bid it farewell. 

1. That time I stood in a 1 hour queue at the top of Mt Fuji

Incredibly, I wasn't going to climb Mt Fuji.  I'd heard only bad things (usually along the lines of "worst climb of my life but still worth it") and I knew that luck with the weather had a lot to do with it.  Eventually, I pulled myself up and went.  It was just breathtaking. 

We started at sunset, and the sky progressively got darker around us:

As we got higher, I saw more and more often vomit on the side of the path.  Fuji is high enough to cause altitude sickness (from which I was luckily spared). I remember taking a break with my new friends and we decided our mission was to help warn other hikers of the big patch of vomit where many of them were going to stand or put their bags.  It was so gross...

As we got higher, the number of people also increased.  Once we reached the 8th station, I realised that it was actually getting kind of packed.  And this is at about 1am in the morning.

My friend felt so sick due to the altitude, and we were going so slow that at about 3am I started to worry I would miss the sunrise. She kindly said something along the lines of "save yourself!" and let me go on without her.  I tried to hurry, because I could see the sky brightening.  

What I didn't realise, is that there was a HUGE queue to get to the summit. It took one hour to move forward 600m.  I was practically running and trying to pass people on the outside. Being polite Japanese climbers, they seemed quite annoyed that I wasn't patiently waiting my turn.  But I thought "I didn't come this far to get stuck in a bloody queue!"  I finally made it to the summit with 20 minutes to spare. And boy was the sunrise everything I hoped it would be:

The hundreds of people gathered at the summit thought so too:

2. That time I was kicked in the shin in Hong Kong and sorely missed Japanese politeness

I went to Hong Kong one weekend and was amazed at how culturally different it was to Japan.  They could have been opposites in terms of the way people spoke, dress and interacted.  I went to Fa Yuen market, which was a fantastic hive of activity.  I stood in the middle of the street taking photos like this one:

Then suddenly, this old woman shuffled over to me and kicked me in the shin!! I have no idea why! Was it because I was a foreign tourist taking photos of something meaningful to her?  She pointedly looked at my bag before kicking me, so was it because I had left my bag open while taking photos and she was warning me to be more careful? I was like:

3. That time I felt the "Karaoke Disconnect"

I will SO miss karaoke. It became clear over my many sessions that karaoke reveals a lot about a person.  I went to karaoke with good friends, with new friends, and with people I didn't know.  After singing karaoke together, I felt like I knew MUCH more about them (probably than I ever needed to know).  I'm not talking about singing ability, I'm talking about their taste in music.

For example, people who I thought were perfectly normal and potential friend material, but then who decide to go with heavy metal the first time we sing:

Dude don't bring that out so early, I only just met you.  

Or people who I thought had depth, who I thought I could have a good, deep conversation with - but who wanted to play Taylor Swift on repeat.  And when they put on Carly Rae Jepsen I was like:

I call this the "Karaoke Disconnect".  

Compare this to how I reacted when colleagues at work put on Broadway musicals, Disney songs and Queen:

I guess this would be the "Karaoke Connection" then?

4. To all the times I bought the wrong thing

I guess this is a highlight in a "I'm not going to miss this" kind of way.  That is, constantly buying the wrong thing because I couldn't read the label or understand the packaging. 

• Yes that includes the time I bought what I thought was soup, but turned out to be "rice topping".
• Yes that includes the time I bought soap instead of moisturising cream, and only realised after days of applying it, why my face was burning and raw.
• Yes that includes the time I set out to buy a flat sheet and a blanket, only to walk away with a doona (duvet) cover and a mattress protector.

5. Goodbye and thank you Japan!

Japan, I already miss you.  The food, the peaceful and polite culture, the food, the breathtaking natural scenery, the food.... 

Above all, it also taught me so much about living in a foreign country. My experience was so different to what my grandparents faced when they came to Australia, and not just for the lack of a Google translate app.  While I try to put a fun spin on the difficulties I've faced, it WAS hard at times not speaking the language and being surrounded by a different culture for 6 months.  I can only imagine how much more difficult it must be when you don't have the resources or support that I was fortunate enough to have.  In this new, post-Brexit, Trump-could-actually-be-President world we now find ourselves in, let's open ourselves up instead of closing ourselves off.  Let's celebrate different cultures and languages and how beautifully diverse the human population is...and of course...