Oosoji...

Its the last day in work this year...we've got pizza on order for lunch and there are clothes hanging drying around the lab- hanging off the ice machine, draped over benches.
Yesterday I spent a happy hour clearing out my freezer space, removed the ice that had filled the box 1/3; boxed and bagged nearly 4 years of experiments and samples, threw out many litte tubes of PCR reactions, cloning steps which are no longer needed. I'll have to downsize again in the new year for leaving, but for now I can enjoy space and organisation that has been lacking for nearly a year.
Now the desk... I've started packing the desk, and also de-cluttering, its either that or up-dating my lab book and tidying is so much more satisfying.
My own apartment is currently resembling one of those overstuffed houses that you see around in Japan. The last few days that rubbish can be collected this year so I have bags of burnable trash, plastic trash etc already to go out on their designated day to avoid The Sticker of Shame on them. I should be able to pack a couple of boxes tonight, my cupboard is nearly sorted. Of course all I want is to bum around my apartment and catch up on the movies I've missed this year or sleep endless hours...
I suppose at least this way I can garantee the Japanese new year gods will visit my little apartment and send me off in style in the New Year.

Have a Happy New Year

Merry Christmas Eve

Some how he reminds me of one of the two Ronnies (for all you Brits)....

Well we made it to Christmas eve... Dished out some little presents for the girls in the lab and I'll pop out later for some Christmas cake... I may even pretend to do some work.
If I hadn't cancelled my Christmas and New Year travel plans, I probably would have been stuck in an airport somewhere or disappointed at suddenly being unable to travel. As it is, I'm actually kind of relieved, very relieved in fact as it sounds like trying to travel in the UK is putting people through some form of hell.
Instead, I'm here spending time with my very good friends. Tonight I'm off to spend Christmas eve and morning in the company of Oyome san with KFC, mulled wine, christmas movies and good company to welcome in Christmas day. Tomorrow I've got 2 christmas dinners so I'll be pretty much pigging out all day, and hopefully they'll be a trip to Karaoke to sing some christmas songs. Not a bad way of spending my last christmas in Japan.

So, have a Merry Christmas everyone- I hope those travelling reach their destination, and those who have arrived or aren't travelling are tucked up cozy in the house enjoying your Christmas holidays.

On your marks...

Is everyone else feeling similar here? I feel like I'm in some race to the end of the year at the moment. No sooner has one thing finished then another 10 things pop up and not to mention moving, which its own seperate layer of "fun" on top.

Last Saturday was our bonenkei, and although I would luuurve to post the video of our band of technicians, PhD students, fat foreigner and skinny bloke doing our finest AKB48 impression(please look elsewhere for information on the uber J-pop band of teenyboppers that is AKB48), I'm not sure the others in the video would want to appear to the world (well you few who read here and the mysteriously silent Russian contingent who read a few posts). That part was fun, the chance to look like 15 years old again and leap around being stupid is not going to come along until I get into the nightclubs in Newcastle on "skool night" if that is still popular in the UK.
Also fun was having the sound of the next doors bonnenkei soundtrack playing whilst our endless speeches were on. Its been a tough year in our department- his highness is still out of commission and has been for 6months so its been hard on the staff. He'd sent an email, about how we've all pulled together and struggled blah, blah and as it was being read out the "Rocky" theme started up from next door, which our table found hilarious. Our first formal bonenkei was followed by 3 increasing less formal ones, where the chair of the department took us from cocktail bar to sushi restaurant (yum!) to bar with karaoke and piano-playing bar owner. This guy knows all the good places, previous enkeis have seen me at possibly the coolest and at the same time kinda dodgy bar in Susukino (the entertainment area of Sapporo) - a secret bar with its own elevator entrance hidden behind a wall. Your own huge space with karaoke, pool, darts, fully stocked bar with 2 barkeepers (the stories they must know!) and a jacuzzi with disco ball which the slightly disturbing part. Anyway, I got home at respectable 3am from my last bonenkei and spent Sunday packing and sorting with the help of Oyomesan.
I sent off the last of christmas present by Monday, so then I could make a start on the Nengajo cards - so won't miss these, christmas cards are a chore already, but new year greetings even more, especially as I have to hunt through to find names and addresses in Japanese. Tomorrow is our departmental research conference, so I've been busy writing yet another talk and trying to get some last results to include. Following the conference, 5 of us are heading to an onsen in Jozankei for the night followed by a pottery session on Sunday (part of the package apparently). I'm looking forward to probably my last chance for an onsen here, although it comes at the price of not getting any packing done this weekend.
On the New job/moving front. I have some fantastic friends, who are taking the majority of my items- a BIG relief. I have a flat in Newcastle for the first couple of months, curtesy of the university. Its going to cost me an arm and a leg, but its fully furnished (down to bed linen) and gives me a base for posting too and finding a cheaper, less studenty and further from the football stadium place once I"ve arrived.
Very Jane Austen like don't you think? I showed the folks in the lab and their first question was whether it was that old inside?! Do they imagine I'll be cooking over some spit or living sewing by candlelight or something. ..the mind boggles.

A musical interlude

I wanted to write up the rest of my trip to Taiwan, but other things got in the way as you might have noticed. I wanted to make a movie of the photos with this cool song we kept hearing all around Taipei. When we were there the election campaign was in full flow. The green party had this really nice song with a native taiwanese singer- so a cool mix of chinese and native tune. My friend wrote the name down so we could find the CD- but alas we couldn't even find a CD shop in Taipei, let alone the CD!
If my friend can send it to me, it will make a nice memory, I'm sure only K and myself will associate this song with our trip- its weird how music can do that. Limahls "Never ending story" always reminds me of my family holiday to Majorca when I was a kid as it was playing in all the restaurants. Shakiras' "whereever, Whenever" is Cyprus- bouncing around in a landrover in the turtle conservation area.

Here ( I can get it to work) is the tune curtesy of you tube . Its a nice de-stressing tune..enjoy


Do you have any tunes you associate with a particular time or place? feel free to share.

Headless chicken

Oh god! has it been a week already?
Monday was letters and tears last week, by Wednesday we had two visiting researchers to talk too from Europe. By Thursday I had been shaken from bed by a rather scary earthquake (the epicenter was about 3/4km from my apartment) , packed and flown to Wakayama for a conference. Friday- my brave little umbrella I first bought in Japan met its end in a mini typhoon when we went to try the local ramen. Saturday I gave a talk....
Went to karaoke with most of the foreigners who attended, rolled into the hotel bed about 3am.
Sunday- got up at 6am, to depart for Nara with the girls from my lab. Cycled around Nara trying to avoid marathon runners, hoards of tourists and roaming ravenous deer
Flew back to Sapporo, headed to the lab for a practice of our routine for next weekends Bonenkei- well its my last chance for humiliation so I volunteered for this... I finally reached home at 9pm.
Yesterday I started making plans for moving- I will start work on January 24th in Newcastle, so this week I've got to start getting the important things sorted...lists have been started, Christmas flights to the UK cancelled.
I spent an hour last night staring around my apartment wondering what I'm going to do with the things I have. Then I realised I still have all the presents for Christmas to post....

Finally, Thanks for commenting- its nice to hear! I will try and keep up to date on the blog once I"m in the land of brown ale and crazy football fans and skimpy nightclub outfits. Newcastle is definately an interesting place.

Fog on the Tyne....

....will be all mine all mine, or maybe that should be sub-arctic temperatures and drunken Geordies will be all mine all mine.
I got the job. Despite the fact I didn't think the interview went that great. The fools! or am I the fool? I was very weepy yesterday, still a bit today. I'm happy of course, but its a wrench to leave so many wonderful people behind here- some I've not even met!
It will be a quick change- maybe thats good, scary too- I have to move in the middle of January... and start working straight away. Maybe this will help make the transition better.

How to survive a SKYPE interview: part 2, Revenge of the Powerpoint

Round 2 with the guys from Newcastle took place on Friday last week, hence the reason the trip to Taipei hasn't been properly written up.
Having agreed to go for the next round of interviews, I was hit with a barrage of emails asking for presentations, hoop-jumping forms about disability disclosures, proof that I don't need a visa to work in the UK etc. etc.
The up to 20 min presentation on why my background was suitable for the position had me most worried. Fortunately I cheated a bit, having already prepared a talk for this weeks conference down in Wakayama so with a few extra slides from other projects and previous papers and a sprinkling of photos of me in Japan with the lab, I emailed it off, in time for my interview at 9pm on Friday.
Friday morning brought news of the snow in Newcastle, with planes sliding off runways and I had visions of them not being able to make it into department to host the interview, afterall the Brits (well English) never seem to cope with a light smattering of the white stuff, let alone the inches that have already fallen, but no, they all managed so there was no escape.
Once again I opted for the home for setting up the interview, so they got a charming veiw of my curtains and I got to sit on my zabuton and try to look and sound professional. I went for smart shirt and cardigan and tried to conceal the dark shadows under my eyes. I think I kept the swaying under control this time. There was a panel of 3 people, though I could only see one at a time and thankfully (so very thankful) I couldn't see the giant projection screen of me that they were looking at.
The presentation went pretty ok, except for the slight stress that my laptop decided it didn't like all the images and froze up. Non-existing scouts training had kicked in and I was prepared with a back-up paper copy of my slides...always be prepared!
I had a couple of brain-freeze questions, that threw me, but they were genuing quite tricky. After an hour we wrapped it up and I signed off, swore loudly (after checking the call had finished ;)) and got into PJs and stuck the heating on and tried to forget about checking my email every 10mins to see if they'd made a decision yet.

Terrific Taipei, Taiwan trip

A perfect antidote for all the stress of the past few weeks, was to completely forget about jobs and interviews by swanning off to Taipei for a long weekend. My friend K and I had booked this trip a couple of months back as a short break before the winter set in.
It was really nice to flight direct from Sapporo to Taipei, no transfers at Narita or Kansai to add to the journey- well that was the theory anyway.
The new international terminal in Sapporo, is all clean and shiny with a silver birch/outdoor and nature motif throughout, its also a bloody long walk from the main terminal building and only has a couple of restaurants and cafes, fortunately it wasn't a long wait until we were boarding our flight. Our seats were in the middle of a noisy Chinese tour group and the women who was assigned to our row was clearly unhappy to be sharing with two whities and kept trying to swap seats while the plane was loading. Eventually she found an empty space leaving us with an extra seat free on our row.
Shortly after takeoff our "fun" started. An announcement came over asking for any medically trained people on board for a sick passenger in business class. I felt for the little J-woman who got up, I bet it must be a situation you never want as a doctor. All the tour group around us are standing and trying to see whats going on by this point. As K is vegetarian her meal was served up first, somewhere over Tohuku 30 mins into our flight. Just as she started eating, the plane made a huge bank around and we headed back to Sapporo- goodbye to her meal.
Back on the ground in Sapporo, it seemed to take ages to take the passenger off, meanwhile half the plane were up being nosy and K and I contemplated our plans for the evening. Now 2 hours late, we would miss our dinner plans with my Taiwanese friend and the karaoke that was planned after, with no way of contacting him or the hotel to let them know we'd be late. Eventually 2 hours late now, we set off again for Taipei, into the night. Our 4 hour flight seemed to take forever, endlessly dark outside, with no lights to give a reference that we were actually getting anywhere, endless turbulence. I had visions of that Steven King novel about that plane with only a few people left on it (the Langoliers?). I really noticed the difference between the J-passengers and C-passengers, who were always standing and moving around, even though the air hostesses were trying to get them to sit down as the plane bounced and shook through the sky.
Just as we thought the plane should be landing we remembered that Taiwan is actually an hour behind Japan, so another hour of torture ensued. It was a relief to finally see the lights of Taiwan and get off the plane. Thankfully, the car we had booked to take us to the hotel was still waiting for us and I could ring my friend and let him know where we were. A luxury blacked out window sedan with a silent driver and water helped ease some of the tension from journey. My Taiwanese friend was waiting for us at the hotel, we dinner and karaoke still on, so a quick change and freshen up we headed out into the muggy night for some hot pot.My friend persuaded me to try the congealed duck blood that comes as standard in the spicy side- actually not that bad! I guess all the years of eating pickled seaslug guts and the like are paying off, that and the black pudding I like at home too...
Finally around midnight we headed off to Karaoke- taiwanese style, which is pretty similar to Japan, except there seemed to be a buffet for the food and you got the original pop videos for the songs. The choice of english songs was more limited,but as we only had an hour of energy left in us, there were enough. My taiwanese friend and I also sang some enka together, a memory of our times together in Sapporo.
The bed at the end of this day was very welcome, I think I was out like a light less than 10 seconds after turning out the light.

How to survive a skype interview..part one?

Last night I had my second skype interview in my life (my first one, was for the position here), the first time using a webcam. Its a weird experience, seeing yourself, seeing them. I notice I screw my face up a lot and move side to side when I'm thinking, slightly like a lunatic. Still all in all it didn't go too badly.
Despite all of my stressing in the last couple of weeks, it was nice. We had a good talk- he explained the project in more detail, that I would get my own technician (my own minion! as all evil scientists should have). He asked a lot about my PhD, which was weird and tricky, as that is very much a distant dream of the past and I pulled my weird face whilst thinking back to what I actually did and what got published from that work.
Thankfully no decision needs to be made straight away- there will be a second interview if I choose to continue, this time with other people there too, but for now a breathing period; a chance to digest the information and weigh up the options.
I had the interview after running around like a demented person at my tennis lesson- which was probably a great way of not getting too nervous. There was no time to think about that, no time to breathe either. Despite the fact this should be same level as my usual Saturday class, this alternative lesson Thursday feels like a level higher. It was a non-stop work out of high powered shots, smashes and serves yesterday- my right arm is aching from the extra work today.
I went from there, straight back home to change to a smarter top, put on some make-up to try and disguise the dark circles under my eyes, clear the area around the camera field and arrange the lighting so I didn't look too much like one of the un-dead. Now if I can just get my screwy face and swaying under control I might just be able to try this whole skype interview thing again.

Bits and pieces....

Sorry, been absent recently- lots of stuff going on, I think mostly in my brain.
I was going to write about the really nice walk I did the other weekend, but I think that will wait- if you look at the photo's on the right you can see what I did, pretty much.
Its been an see- saw past few weeks. I saw a position back in Newcastle that's still in this field (which is good, it's getting too late to keep changing fields, plus next years European conference is in Barcelona and who wouldn't want to go there!). Anyway I applied, I emailed the guy too to ask for more information- he wants someone to start straight away....hmmmm....my brain started wibbling at his point, did I want to move so soon? could I even do it? I really don't want to leave yet- I feel like I've found a second home here, I'm comfortable, happy. I've been feeling really torn- am I staying because its comfortable, easy here or should I go and work harder on a career? I even though of giving up on research life, and then do what?
Anyway, I submitted- it was an online application so I had to write the answer that you would usually speak in an interview- why do you want this position, what makes you good...its weird to write this. I bad enough talking about myself, let alone writing, it seems so fake to have to write such positive things about myself.
While I submitted, I chatted with our new de-facto head of the lab (Scotland lover), who had been talking to his highness (still out of commission, until January now!) he mentioned that if I wanted there would be possibly some money to work another year- it would mean a paycut. This he mentioned briefly and then went off to the clinics and other hospitals and trip to Singapore; leaving this little spot of luck dangling, but without any confirmation or more information.
Last week, I got an email that my application was being considered for the short list in Newcastle, which was a nice feeling, though at the same time a feeling of dread. I've been tearing up everytime I thought or had to speak about the possibility of leaving. Then came the email of "lets have a skype chat" last Friday and spent the weekend flip-flopping from happiness at getting this far and all whole host of other negative feelings. I missed the skype message until late on Friday night and there was no way I could hold a normal conversation, let alone an interview at midnight that night, so I ignored it.
Thankfully sitting out under the beautiful autumn leaves with Oyomesan, was a great tonic for the soul (thanks!) and I'm feeling a bit more positive- ish. I think its got me in a tizz because its all so soon and I have a load to do before now and christmas without the whole nightmare of moving country.
Monday- and I have a chat with the returned Scotland lover and there is a firmer idea of what would be the option if I stayed- a big pay cut, but I could stay for another year. So Japan is back on the table- it would mean some budgetting and careful saving for trips or flights and the end of tennis on Saturday.
I still have to have the chat with the guys in Newcastle- tomorrow or Friday night and find out more.
Thankfully this coming weekend I'm escaping this for 4 days in Taipei, maybe this will give my brain a much needed rest to get some perspective.

Sorry for the ramble- needed to get this down and out of my brain.

Last weeks snow

Just maintaining my childlike love of snow here for another week.
It was pretty heavy snow (after the thunderstorm and storm force winds). It was wet and heavy though, and I'm suprised that there are still piles lingering around town.

The day after the storm was beautful blue and white with autumn colours poking through the snow. I really wanted to skip work and head to an onsen at this scene, unfortunately I resisted.

Preview of coming attractions...

A Chilling update

That would be the former olympic ski jump (Okurayama) in Sapporo which I can see from my lab.
As forecasted, its snowing- Well about 100m higher from where I am. Down here we have sleet, with gales. It makes me feel like I'm back in Scotland. Yesterday I taught my lab mates a new word- driech, which pretty much summed up the weather yesterday, and how I felt.
I spent Sunday on my couch with waves of pain in my abdomen and a feeling that I was about to re-inact the chest bursting scene from Alien. I'm still not 100% today, though at least the pain has gone...mostly.

update....update..... its 10.30pm

Its all white outside and still snowing heavily!!

Something chilly this way comes

Best dig out my thermals for next week...

Rambling along...

Not too much going on here. I'm slowly resigning myself to the fact I'll probably have to leave Sapporo (and probably Japan) next February or March. I'm looking for some other jobs and things. I have one I'm preparing for, its an online application- which is freaky, I have to write answers for questions such as what qualities do I have or why do I want to work there- its hard enough answering those in an interview, nevermind thinking about how to write down.
What else has been happening....hmmmm...not too much. The days are lovely and autumnal here, mostly anyway. Hopefully I can get out of Sapporo for a walk soon...
Our lab is slowly adjusting to life without the mini-boss. This means that the second window in our lab is now free of towering piles of papers and slides, so its got much lighter, the prodigal son (he who recently returned from his stint abroad in Scotland) has assumed the mantle of head of the lab and has moved up to the mini-bosses desk. We haven't seen much of him, apparently with great power comes great amounts of work in clinics all over Hokkaido. I got a weird cultural thing we do moment when the lab was discussing whether the Golden Child who is up next to the prodigal sons position should move to make way for the newest person to sit. Apparently its an unspoken rule (?) that the newest person should be closest to the boss- why? no- one could say. any suggestions? Our system in the labs in the uk was wherever there was space you got that.

Oh, and his highness's name has re-appeared back on the work schedule for next month- it seems he'll be back and we'll finally be able to find out what was wrong with him- or will we?

Happy Feet

Yep, these will cheer me right up!

And these...

Jumping on the Meme wagon....

Well everyone else is doing it....

1. What is your middle name?

Ann- with no "e", I like that is makes my initials HAL- like the 2001 Space Odyssey robot

2.What is your favourite magazine?

Glamour when I can get it, Empire or Total film, or any other trashy mags. I do also read Nature, but I don't think that should be counted as a magazine

3. What are you wearing right now?

Old jogging pants, 3/4 length sleave t-shirt with a fluorescent pink bear eating a geeky bearded man (hey- its a uniqlo t-shirt, do I need to explain more?). I'm may have to do battle with my leaky washing machine shortly so I"m opting for safety clothes.

4. What colour are your bed sheets?

Currently black base, cream duvet and pillow, shortly to be purple and grey moose patterned duvet and pillow and cream base. I"ve been waiting to put these new ones on all summer.

5.Who was your 3rd grade teacher?

3rd grade? No idea, I can't remember at all- maybe I had more than one. I loved that Primary school though.

6.What's the weather like right now?

Stormy skies- gusty wind, grey threatening rain and about 16C, so a wee bit chilly

7. Do you know how to ski?

I'm learning- every winter here, with the help of my fabulous friends Oyomesan and her ski-instructor boyfriend ;).

8. What was the last thing you drank?

Drinking a mug of tea (with milk naturally). Alcohol wise- Champagne earlier in the week.

9. Dream Vacation?

Riding horses across the Mongolian Stepps is high on my list at the moment.

10. Favourite article of Clothing?

Anything blue or my pink "this is your brain on joy" t-shirt

11. Do you prefer baking or cooking?

I love both- but baking I do for fun and friends.

12. Is your hair above or below your shoulders?

On or just below- I"m growing it long again after my first short hair cut in 15 years.

13. What drink do you order when out?

Out with the lab- Umeshu (ice in summer, hot water in winter) after the kampai beer.

Out with friends- cocktails, or ice-tea, Cola if need to be awake later.

14. What book are you reading?

Just finished book 4 of the 12 Kingdoms (yes, I do like to read childrens books- I am a geek). Probably some Georgette Heyer tonight- I do like my witty historical romances.

15. What did you dream about last night?

Nothing I remember

16. What was the last movie you went too?

I think it was "The Sorcerers Apprentice" way back in August- I need another cinema trip soon.

17. Any injuries at the moment?

Nope, still in one piece.

18. What colour is your bathroom?

White vanity unit, beige loo and bathroom, grey/blue fake wood lilo, Off white walls. And a non-leaking washing machine- finally!

19. What is the state of your laundry just now?

One load is on, at least one more to do- It piled up this week, I was too scared to try washing in case the thing leaked again.

20. Do you take vitamins?

No

21. Where do you love to shop?

Monsoon- back in the UK. Here I love Loft and the shops in Sapporo station. Clothes- I actually bought some clothes in Japan that fit me! A wonderful little ethnic/unusual style shop in the underground shopping street.

22. How often do you buy groceries?

I try a big shop every 2 weeks, then little things on the way home during that time.

23. Do you have a pet/pets?

Not here- I'd like to think that my Dad's guidedog is a pet when I"m back home. I had goldfish before I came to Japan- Bob and my first pet was January the goldfish- who lived for many years.

24. If you're married when is your anniversary?

Not married- but if anyone knows of a Japanese guy who wants a foreign geeky scientist wife- I'm available ;), especially if it means I can stay here.

25. How often do you take tea or coffee?

Usually, coffee in the morning at work, tea in the afternoon- with a sprinkling of starbucks and Sunday morning coffee's.

26. Mac or PC? Desktop or laptop?

PC desktop in work, Macbook at home. I"m on the look out for a netbook at the moment too.

27. Favourite month of the year?

January or February- Mid winter, lots of snow, bright blue skies and snow festivals. Or October when the leaves are peaking in the colour here. I love cold frosty mornings with blue skies when you can see your breath.

28. Do you have a hobby?

Music- I've got a piano here and my clarinet and the karaoke is less than 5 mins away (I actually have point cards for most places in Sapporo). I"m also starting to really like photography. Hiking when the mood takes me.

29. What salad dressing do you prefer?

Goma is sinfully good. Otherwise I like the honey and mustard dressing that I make with avocado salad (preens).

30. Live or Fake Christmas tree?

Real- I love that piney smell.The fake one I have here is pretty nice though.

31. Did you walk or take the bus to School?

Primary and Middle school- I walked

High school- I walked a mile or so to the bus stop and then a 12 mile bus journey to school.

32. Any Phobias?

Spiders, man made heights- suspension bridges etc. nail files, broken finger nails, the sound of knives being sharpened.

33. What's your favourite snack food?

too much to choose one- I'm munching my stock of salty licorice at the moment.

34.When do you take your shower/bath?

Usually at night- more time for lying in bed that way.

35. What time did you get up this morning?

10.30!!! so, so happy. Its been so long

36. Whats your favourite animal?

dogs, wolves, bears and penguins in no particular order

37. Have you ever broken a bone?

Touch wood- no

38. Do you wear makeup?

Only for special occasions or when the bags get too big under the eye.

39. Do you speak any foreign languages?

Poor Japanese and rapidly worsening English, I can remember random phrases in quite a few languages- I can say I love my car in Hungarian.

40. Have you ever played a sport?

I take tennis lessons once a week, and I like swimming. I loved rounders when I was at school, but I was never in any sports teams. My PE report was tries hard but rarely succeeds....

41.Your last UPS package contained?

Two amazon books- a guidebook for Taiwan and the next 12 Kingdoms book.

42. What's on your desktop?

A photo looking out over the blue blue sea of thailand from a restaurant where we had lunch on my holiday in March.

43. What's your homepage?

The apple webpage here, google in work

44. Introvert or Extrovert?

Introvert- definitely introvert

45. Favourite board game?

Pictionary, cranium, trivial pursuit and cluedo

46. What class did you like best in High school? College?

In high school- music and biology

University- Anatomy and the cell biology ones

47. What would you do with an extra hour each day?sleep

48. Do you have allergies?

I'm allergic to penicillin, and vaccines

49. Are your nails painted?

Nope, I'm usually never bothered to do it.

50. Where are you right now?

Sitting on my couch with Dollhouse on the DVD. I need lunch.

Its all getting a little melodramatic....

This morning I felt like bit-part in one of those sickly horrible overly melodramatic movies that seem impossibly popular here in J-land. Imagine the scene....
A group of 30 something women and a silent man meet at a train station through a careful co-ordination of text messages. Anxiously we wait on the platform like a bunch of sad VIP stalkers. Then a wave and cheer as a diminutive man comes up the escalator weighed down with 4 bags of suitbags and a computer case. After handing the things on the waiting train there are bows, hugs... awkward silences as we try to figure out what to do next. Then the whistle blows and we line up to wave off...tears in the eye as we wave our beloved sensei, onto his new position as head of department down south.
..... And cue big strings or maybe some warbly MISIA or Angela Aki song and a misty montage of lab parties, photo's, beers and cake.
Yes, this was me at 0810 this morning- I dragged myself out of my bed early to do the group bonding farewell thing. Its been a pretty emotional week here in the lab- we've had about 3/4 goodbye parties- drank lots of champagne, lots of handshaking and huge amounts of bowing (I think the chiropracter will be having a busy week).
I also was told that unless I get my own funding- there's no job for me from April. So I'm on the hunt for a new job- hopefully in Japan, but I'm on a global search, or one last stab at getting my own funding.

Hei Hei and Moi moi Helsinki- part 2

Ahh yes, the naked blacksmiths statue of Helsinki- for students apparently...what more reason do you need?

Sorry its taken a while to write the next not so exciting installement of Helsinki, I took the weekend off to relax and then this week has so far been work, getting covered in dust as my mini boss packs up his stuff for his imminant move to Nagoya.
Anyway... where was I? Ah yes, back from Tallinn. The next day the conference started and I went along to show my support for one of my colleagues who was talking. Poor girl, I think she was petrified. The talk before hers was a very european abstract talk- practically philosphy. Anyway, she did fine, we skipped out the last few talks to go on a bus tour we'd signed up for, which was good for me as I was suffering from a headache since I had woken up at 3am in the morning (yeaaaahh..gotta love jet lag). It was so nice to be able to understand everything being spoken on the bus tour- my previous one was my 2 day tour of Rishiri and Rebun last year- a full on Japanese tour and I spent most of it in ignorance about the islands and what ever fascinating titbit there were saying. 2 hours is more than enough to see all the sights of Helsinki- we even saw somethings twice its that small. We stopped off at the Sibelius momument.Isn't he a cheery looking chappy? Wonderful music- miserable sod from his face.
From here we headed to the Rock church- a church carved out of the rock- imaginative name...
Its got really good acoustics and was crawling with about 5 tour buses from Russia mostly. But a pretty place for a visit. Santa's shop was close by too.
The tour dropped us back at the conference sight in time for lunch- all the goody two shoes headed to the lunchtime seminar- we headed to the market for lunch. Salmon soup and fried crayfish all for 7Euros- which is very reasonable for Helsinki. I hope I can find some dill here soon and try this recipe out- Its perfect for a Hokkaido autumn I think!
The only downside were the many wasps which wanted a bite of the soup and crayfish too.I had forgotten how annoying wasps in Autumn are in Europe, so persistant and always there when you're eating.
After a quick amble through the market we headed for a quick look at the cathedral, the main landmark in Helsinki- heck its visible from some miles out to sea. The square had a collection of "buddy bears" each one painted to represent a different country. (anyone else think that the china bear is looking particularly smug?)(Yes this would be the British bear- don't ask what's on its head)
It was also populated by a whole crowd of students wearing bin bags and paper hats or overalls in badges. Crowds of them were seated on the steps of the cathedral with loudspeakers calling various groups to buses- no idea what was going on, but it was fascinating to watch. I guess it was some new student orientation weekend or something. anyhoo we escaped the madness into the cathedral which was a lovely oasis of calm after all the noise of the morning.
After this I headed back to the hotel for some sleep as the headache hadn't really gone away and the others were good little conference attendee's. I had a nice afternoon nap and got up in time for the evenings entertainment- a welcome party at the city hall- I slipped the lease and ended up going out for a beer with the British contingent who, as usual, were the latest out.

Next day was spent actually attending some of the conference and then a nice if somewhat windswept and lenghty walk around the world heritage site of Suomenlinna, which was pretty autumnal looking...In the evening was the conference party- which was a big buffet and drinking session with a live band and dancing-much to the amusement and googly eyed-ness of my colleagues. Though the sight of leading names in the field dancing like your Dad at a wedding is kind of funny in that slightly embarassing way. My former boss (who's now in Australia) and I managed to get them to dance for one song, then we retreated to the hotel bar so my mini boss could finally try Aquavit- his sole reason for coming to Helsinki it seemed like.
The last day of the conference- was the busiet for me- I actually went to most sessions, stood in front of my poster talked science and stuff and met my parents, who came across for the weekend. My colleagues also got to met them, and were declared "kawaii" so I suppose thats good. Later they said how interesting it was to see us hugging- do they shake hands with their parents after not meeting for a long time or something?
Conference over- I moved across to my parents (Russian)Casino style hotel near the train station and we ended up back at and even colder and windswept Suomenlinna island for the morning as the ferries to Estonia were way to expensive.

There we are my trip to Helsinki and Tallinn. I came back with a pile of salty licorice, a dress from Marimekko ( only Japanese people know about this designer apparently), a liking for reindeer ( I think we ate all of Santa's sleigh and more), knowledge that many Finnish words are actually pretty rude words in Japanese- or so I've been told, and a promise to visit my friend in Taiwan in the next two months. So thats a nice way to get over a trip - plan another one.

hei hei and moi moi Helsinki- part one

Goodness, where did the time go? No sense in asking what day it is at the moment- the second day running I've been convinced it was the next day not the actual day, this means unfortunately another day at work tomorrow in which to prop my eyelids open and attempt to restart some experiments. Its only a 6 hour time difference to Finland, but I'm feeling pretty darned shattered at the moment.
So yes, I've spent the last week swanning around Helsinki and Tallinn under the pretence of a conference. I did actually attend the conference, though not as much as I was planning. Partly because I was enjoying myself sightseeing and partly because I was laid low with a migraine for one day. It was weird returning to a city that I had visited some 6 years previously as a fresh faced PhD student on another conference. This time at least I had some decent spending money and didn't cry at the prices of food or drink like last time. Still Helsinki is a pretty expensive city to spend time in.
My fears of being the departmental tour guide were laid to rest, when I saw everyone had their own copy of the same guide book- there must be only one for Scandinavia, they all had it, even the guy sitting next to me on the plane had the same book. I had about 5 minutes of awkwardness when I realised that the guy next to me was also going to the same conference, we exchanged pleasantaries and then thankfully proceeded to ignore each other for the next 9 and half hours or so.
Helsinki was gloriously cool with clear air and a cold wind. It was so nice to snuggle under the duvet and wake up not sweating as I have spent the summer doing. Its nice to be back in the motherland of the EU when I swanned through immigration waving my EU passport whilst 95% of the plane cued to get a stamp- fortunately the plague ridden immigration chappy evened up the odds at Kansai airport on the way back where it took him 3 times as long as anyone else to process our re-entry permits and there were only 5 of us, compared to the 20-30 visitors and 100's of Japanese.
Still,the clean fresh air of Scandinavia helped stave off the jet lag and tiredness, we checked into the very nice hotel in Helsinki-thank goodness for internet deals. I got a huge junior suite sized room all to myself. The only dissappointment was the bathroom, which was functional in that whole kinda soviet type of functional way. After quick freshen up we wrapped ourselves up and headed out into the cold Helsinki evening for some food. Its a really compact city so within a couple of minutes we were in the central harbour area.So we got our first taste (or re-taste for me) of Finnish cuisine.I had Chanterelle soup- which is an autumn speciality. It came with some really gorgeously nutty rye bread. We followed it up with some local sardine sized fish fried on a bed of mashed potatoes and a plate of smoked finnish delicacies, including reindeer. Unfortunately half way through trying those the tiredness kicked and all of a sudden everyone got really slow and tired so we had to skip out without finnishing.
Next day we headed to Tallinn, over in Estonia for a day. The planning us women had! Whilst all the guys from the department arrived the day before the start of the talks, we arrived the day before registration so we got an extra day of sightseeing in- much more logical ne!
I also went to Tallinn 6 years ago with some friends after the conference. We enjoyed that it was at least half the price of Helsinki and got pretty drunk on the honey vodka that came with out medievil themed dinner. this time we really only had time for a 3 hour non-stop walk around Tallinn before taking the boat back to Helsinki. Its nice to see it hasn't changed too much- a bit more English is spoken, but there were no signs of the drunken English stag parties I'd heard had kinda ruined it.Tallinn is still much cheaper than Helsinki and if you're ever in that area I really recommend a visit- its a really nice atmosphere, gorgeous old and quirky buildings. The only issue was trying to find a loo- I was getting pretty desperate, all the loos are superloos requiring 3 EEKs (Kroons), and of course I had no change. In the end we manage to find a cafe for a spot of lunch and a pit stop. It also allowed us to get away from the incredible noisy Spanish party who seem to stalk us around the sights. Seriously, it was a cacophony of noise from them - all talking at the same time, loudly. heading back to Helsinki, the sun came out and I ventured out on deck- a risky affair as the ship was a jet liner so was going at 63mph so it was like standing in a wind tunnel. But coming back through the islands of Helsinki it was really pretty. We got back to hotel to find the rest of our guys had checked in so into was a quick change into a suit to have dinner with crowd of other Japanese conference goers- where they caused chaos trying to order Japanese style in a Finnish restuarant, the dishes aren't really designed for sharing between multiple people, but we managed some how.

Part two continues later, when I've caught up on some more sleep....

And on the left....

Everything is all calm here after the emotion of the last posts. Today is the last day in work before I depart for a conference in Helsinki, so unlike all the others who are going who are still working, I have no experiments, just sorting out information, rolling posters and getting some Euros. I'll just include my mini rant against the stupid, backwards banking system in Japan right here.
Why is it that in a country where everyone works themselves to death or at least ridiculously long hours do the banks only open 9am to 3pm and why the hell do I have to travel all the way to the center of Sapporo to go to the only bank IN sapporo that has foreign currency- what the hell!!?? Don't get me started on the stupid ATMS with their closing times.....
This is the first trip abroad with the girls on the lab, last year I as in Budapest as the only woman amongst the department members. I was also the only one who bothered to learn some Hungarian to take taxis, get the bill etc. And as the token foreigner amongst the J-crowd I was constantly being spoken to in Hungarian by people. I guess they figured I was the translator for the group or something.
I have my suspicions that this will happen in Helsinki, in fact I know that it will. I have already heard the dreaded comments " but you'll be there to show us or to speak for us" from at least 3 seperate people, despite me telling them that everyone can speak English in Helsinki (well most people, but I'm not telling them that). I might add that all those 3 were wimpy guys. These would be the same guys who didn't leave their hotel in the US, because "it wasn't safe", this was a hotel in the center of the city not some ghetto I might add. At least the women are much more relaxed and keen for sightseeing and/or shopping. Hopefully I can steer them to the chococlate and cakes shops ;)
So I'm about to become the department tour guide for Finland, fount of all knowledge on all things Finnish and European. Right I'm bogging off early to pack my suitcase and sort out my little flag and white gloves.

Normal service resumed

Feeling much happier today... I'll put yesterday to be overly tired and emotional. Not sleeping and other things really contributed yesterday. I think meeting up with my friend and stuffing ourselves with a sukiyaki tabehodai followed by an ice-cream like cocktail in a favourite bar (yes a bar, not an izakaya- New Orleans style) helped alot.
I have also gained a new neighbour in work. Like a prodigal son, he has returned from his 2 year maturation stint abroad. Luckily, he was in Scotland for this and misses Scotland a lot (he didn't actually want to come back), so we can chat easily in english- a big bonus.
And can I just say, like 50 billion others have probably said. But its bloody hot still. Despite the appearance of all the autumn onsen adverts on tv (and I have no doubt the snow tire ones will start soon), it is roasting....still. I'm now counting down the days till I leave this heat for the cold and rain of Helsinki, even if its just for a week.

P.S. And would you believe it, I saw 3 snow tire adverts on TV last night, despite the fact I was lying in minimal clothes with the fan on and an ice pack at hand.

Down in the dumps

Excuse this post, I'm just getting some disappointment off my chest here... should be back to my more bubbly self shortly.
I have just spent the last few weeks and days working on this fellowship proposal. I think I wrote a good one. My mini boss helping me out too, even got a blush-worthy letter of recommendation from a former boss. Yesterday we were due to sit down and check everything before submitting, he came and asked me when I got my PhD. It turns out that this fellowship is for those who get there PhD from 2005 onwards. I got mine 2004. So all of our hard work has been for nothing. I'm kicking myself for not checking the guidelines properly. I did look and I did see a deadline,but that was back in March when it was still 2004 as the deadline, from April it changed and I didn't check or didn't notice again. At the age of 32 it appears I'm too old to apply for this grant because in the UK educatioin system you can complete your PhD much earlier than in other countries. So now I'm back to worrying again. I know that his highness said there would be money if I wanted to stay, but its not quite the same reassuring feeling as having your own grant and he's not around. I"m trying to be all positive,but really I'm feeling a bit lost at the moment.
This is compounded by one of my really good friends leaving. She's off to Sweden tomorrow to take up a new job- she's been my lunching companion for the last 2 years. We've been able to bitch and off load when working here gets to you, and as she's also a researcher she gets the little frustrations of research that is sometimes hard to explain to others in other jobs. I'm going to miss her alot, but such is the life of science and the life of an expat.

Now excuse me while I go have a wee teary session in the loo and dig out my emergency depression chocolate supply.

From the Scuttlebutt...

So last time I mentioned that His Highness (aka the Big Boss) was AWOL with my fellowship hanging in the balance. Well.... as it turns out, he's in a hospital somewhere in Sapporo! He came back from his hols in the UK (apparently the UK isn't to blame for this-well I hope not, not a very stunning recomendation to visit otherwise) and went into hospital. Its all been very cryptic, the first I heard of it was on the gaijin grapevine (or the beer garden in Sapporo) when a friend of mine who helps with proof-reading etc. was called into work to help draft emails cancelling various events. Naturally he passed this on to me. Then the next day around at a friend from works house we all sat round and discussed that my mini boss had recieved a phonecall on Friday, saying that he was in a hospital....much gossiping ensued, most of it lost on me with it being in Japanese.
At work last week, the lunchtime has been spent with much discussion, but it seems that those who know are being tightlipped... I've tried plumping the lovely secretaries for info (because if anyone knows I figured they would be the ones) but they ain't saying anything. Also that he's not in the university hospital either is pretty telling, the entire department would have known whats wrong within minutes most likely. All thats known is that he's out of action for the next couple of months...now all we can gossip about is what it is thats wrong with him and enjoy the fact that the department meetings will probably now take half the time without him there...
Thankfully though, my mini boss has stepped in and (bless him) is helping me complete the fellowship application. So there's progress there, thankfully.
It was actually a very medically drama theme week last week... the visiting Prof, that should have come last week cancelled due to being holed up in a Bangkok hospital with food poisoning and then whilst out with a friend for dinner at open plan restaurant, a passing eldery salary man crashed headfirst into the seats right by our table with something pretty seriously wrong with him. I was already to leap into action with my very rusty first aid skills when a what I think must have been an off duty doctor got there first- probably a good thing as I can't ever remember the word for ambulance in Japanese.
All this and Oyomesan's melon sized cyst too. I can't imagine what I would do if I was if it was me with that inside me. I don't think I would be coping as well as she seems to be! Hang in there Oyomesan!

Meanwhile I hope everyone else is healthy.

What I did this August by me aged 32 and half...

These last two weeks have brought new cinema trips- the sauna like heat drove me indoors to the airconditioned places. I went and saw the new Ghibli movie The Borrower Arrietty (借りぐらしのアリエッティ, Karigurashi no Arietti). I'm pretty impressed that could follow most of the dialogue despite my crappy Japanese, though I guess it helps that it is a kiddies story.
It was really beautifully animated and the story was easy to follow with really nice music- in ENGLISH! well sung by a french woman in English at least. I also saw The Sorcerers Apprentice (suprisingly enjoyable even if its horribly cliched).

I also survived my friends hen party- kept the peace between competing chiefs at the event,well attempted to at least.

I spent most of last week with swelling, pain, itching and eventually antibiotics. The blasted heat and humidity addled my brain and I stupidly left the screen open overnight so that a maurading mozzie enjoyed a feast whilst I slept. The resulting bites were not pretty.
The evil bugger even got my little finger which swelled up and turned purple with a scary red line advancing down the back of my hand. Fortunately being in a lab in a medical school means that my neighbours are doctors with boxes of free drugs so within 2 minutes of showing my hand a pack of superstrong antibiotics were given to me which stopped me from indulging in my hypochondria of tetanus and amputations.

I have been working to. I wrote a fellowship application so that I can get 2 years of money and stay in Japan. This would be great, but recently new complications have come along which are causing me some small worries.
Firstly, my mini boss got promoted, which means he's moving off down south where the big bugs roam. It took him by surprise, on account his interview was waaaaaaaaay back in February. And they want him to start in September so he's reaching new levels of stress at the moment trying to do everything. This means that the money for our research is about to also head south so we've been on frantic spending spree's to see us through to next year. Also non of us (probably not even the mini boss) knows whats going to happen to our group. Who will be the next head of the lab? what happens to the technicians, students and me???? is this fellowship for here or the other university. I don't know, he doesn't know....
We would ask his highness, but he's been away on his summer hols and hasn't appeared back when he should... so with an AWOL department head things are feeling abit unsettled for me and the application deadline is rapidly approaching.

Salt and vinegar update

Not too much to report, I've been taking it easy since the epic of Fuji aided by the crappy weather and hellishly busy week at work last week. It was mostly busy because random visiting profs and my talk I gave about Scotland (which I think went pretty well if I might say so *insert smug smile here*). The random prof. was German and as we (I and some of my other lab mates) showed him round the humid and damp sites of Sapporo kept on bringing up The War, Jews (in a very non- 3rd reich way btw) and other extra-sweat inducing topics- and of course all I had in my head after the first comment of his was Faulty Towers and "don't mention the war" comments in my head after this.
I can be thankful that most of the conversation probably went over the other peoples head, they had already been buggy-eyed at the fact that he's gay. J-people, GET A GRIP!
One of my colleagues is going off to work in America- California, no less so he'd better get over it quickly otherwise his head may explode.
That was a long day in an already long week- I didn't get home until around 9pm pretty much every night last week. This week is the opposite- both the Supreme Commander (aka his highness, or the big boss) is away and also my mini Boss is taking a well earned rest (more on that development in another post I think) so I fairly skipped out the lab in the daylight at 5.30 last night and met a friend for a cinema trip, finally getting to see one of the many films on my to-watch list.
Salt- Angelina Jolie in super-action mode. I really enjoyed it, its a little bit Josephine Bourne, and also kinda freaky given all the recent real Russian spy stories from America. That it also has one of my favourite actors in it too is an extra bonus (Chiwetel Ejiofor). If you have the time, give Salt a watch I reccomend it.
And speaking of movies, another I want to see is Toy Story 3, but the stupid cinemas in Sapporo have decided to only show dubbed versions of it, so I'm screwed. Does anyone know if its the same in other parts of Japan- because previously they always had a subtitled version for these kinds of films and I hope this isn't a new trend.
Anyway, the rest of this week should be also quiet- I hopefully will be off on Thursday for a R&R session with another friend, before she leaves for Sweden and before her Hen party on Saturday- I'm not sure Sapporo is ready for a bunch of foreign females on a Hen Party, lets see...

The scientist who went up a mountain, and came back knackered...

I'm not going to include that quote about climbing Fujisan that every other account I've read online seems to do. Not one Japanese person has mentioned that to me, when I said I was going. Anyway, finally I can tick off another one of those life ambitions and say I've done Fuji. As I sit here I can feel the legs telling me this is a loud chorus. Before going I read many stories from those who climbed Fujisan- having done it, either they lied about how easy it was, forgot, or were all some sort of superhero. Here is my tale...The first part from Sapporo to Shinjuku

and out to Gotemba was easy, pretty relaxed even in the heat and humidity of Tokyo.

We got half way up the windy road to the Subashiri go-gome and stopped, a huge traffic que, I thought maybe an accident as we saw police cars and breakdown trucks skip past us up the road, but when we eventually got moving again (nearly an hour and half later!) it turned out that the other side of the road was full of parked cars, for miles people had parked for hiking so essentially there was a single track road for up and down and not enough space for the 2 of us...the joy of holiday weekend travels.So having arrived late we came of the bus to be met bycrowds and people asking if we'd booked a space in the hut yet.

We sat back whilst they rang various hut to ask for a space. We luckily managed to get the last 2 spaces in a hut at the 7th station. So later than we liked we set off...

The woods at the subashiri trail provided from shade from the pretty intense sun, though it mean there were flies and mozzies. The sweat pouring from stopped most of them getting a bite,except on my leg (as I noticed later).

We carried on up, stopped to rest our calves and take pictures. It was a nice feeling to be able to keep pace with the younger students on the trail. At least some of the running and hiking before had a good effect. Soon the first 6th station came into view.

It was still pretty warm here, but nice to get the pack off and cool down. I was starting to regret not packing deodorant at this point (Doh!). After this 6th station it got a little steeper on the trail up to the next 6th station.This is the evil part of hiking is the number of 6th, 7th, 8th

stations there are. Even though you know, its hard mentally- you almost feel like no progress is being made. The second sixth station was a small hut with seats perched on the edge- like

sitting on the edge of the sky. we stopped only a short while here concious of the lengthening shadows and later afternoon light. Onwards and upwards...

We got to the 7th station as the sun was setting. So we got to see the Fujishadow.

Unfortunately this wasn't our 7th station we still had another 300m to climb up to our hut for the night.

The last climb up to the second 7th hut was hard, mentally and physically. The trail was much steeper and rockier and it was the first time I was climbing at night with a head torch on- it just seemed endless. I was very grateful to get to our hut and collapse. So 7th hut 3200m up-

highest I'd ever climbed. Dinner was curry rice and pickles, but I was so tired I wasn't hungry and had to force myself to eat a few mouthfuls at least. They rolled out the futons and everyone settled down for a few hours sleep. I tried sleeping, but for the first hour I was still recovering form climbing up (cold and sweaty- nice!) and then I was thinking of when we had to get up- meanwhile everyone else was gently snoring around me.

One good thing was that I didn't really get any altitude sickness. Around 1am people started getting up and leaving and soon my friend woke and we decided to carry on, though I was feeling a bit sick at this time. I decided that I would see how I was at the next station and maybe stop there for sunrise instead of trying for

the summit. when we came of the hut the crowds climbing at night became visible. As did the stars. The stars were amazing especially when you could also see

the lights of the cities below- all the way to Tokyo....

I wish I could have taken a picture of them, we could even see the milky way. All the way up the to the summit we call also see the lights of all the hikers lighting the way.

As soon as we started again, the tiredness came back replacing the sickness. I had to pause more often and at one point it was a battle of wills to carry on, but we made it up the next hut- the first 8th station. Around the corner from the 8th station the wind was blowing strongly which made me nervous. I'm not really confident at climbing when its windy and at night... but I decided I would make it up to the next 8th station. One final push for me, I decided that the 8th station was enough, it was clear so the view be virtually the same and I'd have more energy for the climb down. Once I made this decision I felt happy.

The second 8th station was a god send- not only hot drinks and a place out the wind to drink them, they also had a 3 hour rest option, so my friend dropped his rucksack, packed his camera and made a bid for the summit for sunrise and I went and rested and saw the sunrise from the 8th station (3400-3500m up). Sunrise was spectacular...

After the sun rose I went and had a wee nap whilst waiting for my friend to come back from the summit. I figured he'd be a while because the crowds were big- it was busy enough at the 8th station. It was near on 7am before we started heading down the trail back to the 5th station and the bus.

The trail down was dusty and busy with tour groups and other individual hikers, all kicking up clouds of dust and slidding on the lose gravelly ashy trail, but down to the 7th station level it wasn't so bad. According to the map and guides, the trail straight down the mountain

(sunabashiri) is a quick way down, dropping about 1000m or more in less than an hour, people run it! Once I got close to it I knew there was no way I was running it. It was really steep and full of lava rocks, not just gravelly sand and ash. As you walked down you sink up to you calves in the trail and its a matter of controlling your slide more than walking.

Some people of course ran, many passed me, but I wasn't going to risk a twisted ankle or cut up face (like some we saw). so my progress was slow and painful. Whoever came up with this trail was some kid of sadist and I hope that they are stuck in some level of hell where there knees are being roasted over flames and beaten with sticks. This would be close to what it felt like for me descending that part. My friend was waiting for me in a copse of trees and bottom of the long straight section, after cooling off I felt happier that I had nearly finished, the 5.5 station would just be round the corner and cold drink would be waiting for me.... As it turned out about 30 tree's later the tree's stopped and another steep slope of the same material was there. Needless to say I was not a happy bunny, I was practically sobbing here and my knees were all wobbly and aching. It took supreme efforts to keep going- I think I would have murdered anyone passing, on the 4 wheel buggy they use for hauling supplies or with a horse (wrong trail unfortunately), at this point in time. Another eternity and roasting by the now intense sun the 5.5 station came into site and stumbled into the shade for a rest and a blissfully cold lemonade. The end was almost in sight, though as it turned out there was one last loose gravelly, straight section- which was got through with much swearing from me- my friend wisely read my grumpiness and left me to it. Then into the woods where the torture continued. On the way up the trail gently rose through the trees with stone steps. Down was narrow and full of roots and uncomfortably large steps down, designed to thoroughly finish your legs off and kill your spirit.

The ice cream at the 5th station was mana from heaven, it was weird to be back with all the high-heeled shoe wearing day trippers and those super-genki climbers just setting off. All those finishing were covering in black dust or sweat and dragging their sticks along the ground.

The trip back to the airport was another adventure... the so -called express train from Gotemba to Shinjuku was no an express in a million years so instead to have any chance of catching my flight up to Sapporo, I had to get off an random station and run to the Inokashira line transfer for Shibuya, then run through Shibuya and Hamamatchusho to try and get to the airport on time, in the heat and humidity, still with black dust on my skin and sweat in my hair.

I made it with 1 min to spare and then had to run to the gate. Thankfully no-one was sitting directly next to me and I was trying not to move and smell too much.

So here ends my Fuji adventure. My legs have finally stopped aching everytime I sat down, stood up or walked up and down stairs. Would I do it again?..er no, no thanks