The Long and Winding Road

It was exactly one year ago today that I left Japan.

Looking back on the last 12 months - which incidentally have been the most difficult I can remember - many things have happened...

Things started well when I completed an amazing overland journey back to London from Singapore, then I moved to Birmingham to be with my girlfriend and promptly left Birmingham when we broke up. I then sank to what seemed like the depths of despair as I found myself homeless and jobless. I stayed at my father's place while I completed the first year of my MA and I slowly tried to get my life going again. I had my photos published on the covers of two magazines before a great opportunity arose for me make the move into London. I quickly found a job in a translation company (using my Japanese no less) and slowly but surely things are starting to look bright again.

I try to be positive at all times - especially on this blog - but I cannot hide the fact that this past year has been largely miserable. I spent my last year in Japan so enthusiatically looking forward to coming back to the UK but the fact that things failed so spectacularly for me in Birmingham has been a hard one to take. It has also been difficult to re-adjust to the lifestyle here in the UK, one which I am familiar with but also at odds with at the same time.

It has been a tough twelve months - a real learning experience - but what's done is done. As disappointed as I am with certain things, I try not to dwell on them too much. In terms of relationships, I prefer to think that one girl's loss is another girl's gain!

Like me, I know that many of you reading this blog are currently embarking on new stages in your lives. Maybe you're moving to a new country or leaving one to go home, perhaps you've recently married or have become parents for the first time? Whatever it is, whether it is planned or unintended, it's never easy moving on to something new. I wish you all the best of luck!

Thanks for reading!

Why does it always rain on me?

I have got soaked almost every day since I moved into London and I'm beginning to get annoyed.

To paint a picture of how wet it has been here today, Nadal and Soderling were only able to complete 21 minutes of their backlogged 3rd round match at Wimbledon. And with rain having fallen on seven of the eight days so far, the current backlog is apparently the tournament's worst since 1982. I'm glad I decided not to bother buying tickets.

Yes, it has been a truly awful Wimbledon.

I used to think the rainy season in Japan was wet but I am beginning to think that the British summer is even worse! It hasn't actually stopped raining since the beginning of May. That's two months ago! Miserable, just miserable.

Yes, it has been a truly awful summer.

And during a break in the rain yesterday evening I went running with my flatmate Dan. Our usual route takes us up the north bank of the Thames, past Craven Cottage, across Hammersmith bridge and back to Putney via a triangular route - a little over 9km in total - however halfway round yesterday the heavens opened and we were violently drenched. We were forced to complete the back 5km in sodden wet clothes and shoes.

Yes, it was definitely a case of la vache qui pise.

Golden Brown

It has been an eventful week here in the UK. We got a new Prime Minister, the smoking ban in enclosed public places came into force today, the city of London has been once again targeted by terrorists and the Wimbledon Tennis Championships have been interrupted by the rain three hundred and forty-seven times.

And as I happen to work in Wimbledon the last week few days have been a bit of a nightmare for me travelling to work on the London Underground. With thousands of tennis fans heading in the same direction every morning the trains have been much much busier than usual. However, it has been quite funny to see them all getting back on the train in the evenings looking all bedraggled and disappointed that the rain has once again completely ruined the day's play! I'm actually thinking of going myself this coming week (it's only one stop from me on the Tube) but the weather has been so bad I just don't fancy spending an evening sitting in the cold wet rain in the miserable hope that we might see a couple of hours of tennis.

Anyway, on Friday I was a happy man because I received my first pay cheque in my new job. It's certainly a sweet feeling after all this time and whilst it was only two weeks' worth of salary (well, I only started two weeks ago) it was certainly more than enough to allow me to consume a fair few pints of English ale in Soho without feeling any guilt whatsoever that I was spending too much money! And whilst I don't much like to talk about personal issues on my blog (well, I figure that nobody is really interested in my whining and anyway, one doesn't like to wash one's dirty linen in public in the UK) I would simply like to say that the last few months have at times been pretty tough for me but it's nice to now be finally going once again in the right direction! From here it's onwards and upwards - or words to that effect!

And I'd just like to ask Gordon - who I imagine probably reads my blog on a regular basis - will you please make it one of your priorities to do something about the litter epidemic in this pig sty of a country? The UK is not some third world state, so why do I feel like I'm living in one whenever I walk out of my door?