My first blog entry since arriving in Japan has taken longer than expected. As I mentioned in my previous entry I’ve ended up twittering more and more often rather than posting a long-winded blog entry. However, there are some things that can’t be expressed in 140 characters.

The fact that I am not here just for a holiday or a temporary basis has yet to sink in. I suppose staying at my grandparents place away from Tokyo does give the whole thing a non-permanent feel and still not quite feeling “at home” in Japan probably does not help. Having said that, I’ve invested in a new mobile phone, which if you’ve been following my twitter updates you’ll know took a bit of effort! Other than that, I haven’t really done much.

The jet lag is still quite significant with my 4am/5am wake up and mid-afternoon drowsiness still prevalent. My theory of it taking half the number of days as the time difference to get over jet lag will hopefully hold true over the next day or so as I really would like a good nights sleep for a change!

Weather

As you may have guessed, the weather in Japan is hot! Having said that the weather dipped below 30C yesterday with the typhoon offshore providing a bit of gloomy feel. Apart from that, the weather has been over 35C, known as a 「猛暑日」 (moushobi – an extremely hot day) – apparently for the past few months. There’s also a term for over 40C but I can’t remember what that is off the top of my head. Anyway, the weather is probably going to gradually drop off as we head into September.

Wow, I still have the English knack of talking about the weather at length!

Olympics

Anyway, in other news? I’ve pretty much lost touch with the outside world with news coverage in Japan pretty much overrun with the Olympics. Japanese news has always been thin on international stories but it’s pretty much dominated by Japanese exploits at the Games and other irrelevant stories such as the Obon U-turn rush, the blip in the hot weather, etc. The Olympics coverage is extensive over here with 3 or 4 channels covering the Games. However, most of it is just the events which Japan have representatives or the finals, semi-finals, etc. I suppose that would be the same with any other country.

I’m sure I had a few other things to talk about…? anyway, hope all is well back in London!

I’m back from Peru. Actually, I’ve been back since Sunday morning, and technically I left Peru on Friday. I have so many stories to tell you about my time in Peru but as I don’t really know where to begin, I’ll start somewhere completely different.

The first time I sat in front of my computer when I got back, I felt extremely odd. I basically hadn’t really used it since pre-Vegas, with the few days prior to Peru not really making much impact. It was strange knowing that the only thing that I really needed to do was check my email, and even that wasn’t essential. I’m no longer a student, so all emails from the department aren’t important, and I’m not yet employed so there won’t really be anything there. When I find a spare moment from all the unpacking and packing I’ve been doing, I’ve found that there’s still a massive chunk of time that previously I won’t while away in front of the computer. Now, I’ve rediscovered the joy of reading. Books.

Books are a wonderful thing. I’ve pretty much read 3 novels in the past month, which I probably more than the last year as a whole. I mean, the initial reason was to pass the time on the plane and at the airport – there was a hell a lot of hours spent at airports – but now I seem to read whenever I can’t find something to do on my computer. I’m not sure how long it’ll last, the whole reading thing, but it’s a nice alternative to wasting away the hours watching tv eps on my comp. Hmm.

Another thing I’ve found is that my hair has barely grown since I left for Peru and probably Vegas. My hair grows at a phenomenal rate. Ok, maybe not phenomenal, but pretty quickly so I usually have to get it cut pretty often to keep it neat. Anyway, I did notice the lack of growth during my travels but thinking about it now, I think it’s pretty much down to me being totally stress free. It’s amazing.

Other things I’ve noticed is that tanning really does improve the skin. So smooth and lovely! But yes, even if I haven’t finished my pursuit of happiness, for the time being, I’m content with being free of any major stresses. There are still a couple of things on my mind like this whole moving to Japan thing but it’s fine.

Anyway, Peru? Peru was fantastic. Once you get away from the polluted, busy, stinky, dirty capital of Lima and head out to the hills, it’s just wonderful. Highlights include the Lares Hike, the high-altitude football and the comic moments we had with our tour group. I’m sure I’ll be mentioning these at some point. For now, I’ll leave you to peruse over the photos.

Jab

As many of you know I’m heading off to Peru for a couple of weeks in the summer. I’ve been delaying it for weeks but I finally booked an appointment with the nurse to get some vaccinations.

I was looking forward to being vaccinated against a wide range of scary diseases such as yellow fever and the nurse was slightly confused by my descriptions of where I was going. Anyway, once the confusion had cleared, we figured out that I was not going to the “extreme risk” regions of Jungle Peru and I was only given a single jab. The single jab, I believe, was for typhoid and hepA but having no written record of what my left arm is battling at the moment I can’t be 100% sure.

I’m not complaining that I’ve only one dead arm to deal with and nothing more serious, but having been told by the same nurse minutes earlier that it was recommended that I took a whole list of other vaccinations a single jab seemed somewhat an anti-climax! I believe the other vaccinations included rabies, tetanus, tb and diphtheria. Thinking about it now, I’ve probably had all those vaccinations before.

Anyway, you know how nurses and doctors always start up a conversation to try and distract you before injecting you with poison. I found today that it was more a case of the conversation drawing attention to the fact that I was going to have a needle stuck in me in a few minutes. I was perfectly calm and ready for the vaccination before the nurse started yapping about languages and culture! Also, do they really have to hold the needle upright and flick the needle right in front of your face!

Anyway, despite all it’s shortcomings, the NHS is awesome! I can get my drug fix on demand!

The pharmacist at Boots however is another matter. I needed to buy anti-malarial tablets for my trip and requested a couple of different types. The pharmacist decided that because they appeared to have only the one on the shelf, that that would be enough and persuaded me that it was one of those “combination” things. A second opinion at Superdrug proved her wrong…. meaning I need to find a pharmacy where they stock the other malarial tablets I need. Grr…

Today is the start of Euro 2008, one of the biggest sporting events in the world and especially Europe. It may also be the last time that I get to watch the championships too – not just because of the linked article, but because I’m heading off to the other side of the world shortly.

A few things are coming up in the next few weeks. There’s my premature leaving do next Saturday (that I hope all of you will come to) and the Summer Ball the following Saturday. In between all the partying I have to wrap up my final year project report, give a presentation and hopefully, fingers crossed, get my code to do what I want it to do!

I don’t know if it’s a side effect of hayfever but I’ve had a sore throat for the last few days. My attempts to fight it off with isojin and lemsip but seem to wake up worse off as each day passes! It sort of reminded me that I have to make a trip to the GP to sort out my hayfever prescriptions and also any vaccinations for the trip to Peru.

I seem to be just blabbering on about a plethora of topics today. I suppose it reflects my current state of mind.

I’m not entirely sure how I’m going to balance the football watching with the project work but I have half an hour to put in some solid coding before the opening match starts! None of the home nations are participating this tournament, which I guess cuts out all the disappointments but does cause a bit of a dilemma in deciding who to support.