Let them eat cake...

Hello *waves*

Yes, I'm still around, just not much happening and not much energy or time for writing recently.

This last week or so I feel like I've made the transition from feeling like I'm just visiting here to actually living here feeling, Japan has felt distant almost like a holiday. I put this down to the whole flat searching and friends visiting that I've been doing recently.

I've managed to get myself a nice flat- actually a maisonette, in a beautiful Edwardian red brick house in the nice posh area of Newcastle called Jesmond. Its really close to the swimming pool there and tennis club, so hopefully that will prod me into going and getting rid of the bulge from all the cake that I keep eating in work. It seems that we eat cake A LOT here. Lab meeting= cake, birthday=cake, someone walked by Marks and Spencer coming into work=cake.

Anyway, back to the apartment, it really was a lucky turn of events. A PI (head of a research group in Sciency speech) is friends with my soon to be landlords and told me about this place. I had some other flats to see which I'd found through agencies. I had appointments to see those last weekend, but the Friday before I popped up at lunchtime to see this one. It really is a beautiful house- Huge living room, probably the size of my apartment in Sapporo. Dining room with a huge granite slab for a dining table. The only thing similar to Japan is kitchen which is small and compact, although filled with lovely appliances, including a dish washer.

The landlords and really nice and laid back and with no fee's or even a deposit, it really was almost a no-brainer. The other places through the agencies wanted over 2 and half months upfront (not just a Japan thing obviously!).

So in a couple of weeks I'll be out of my slightly studenty staff accomodation which is costing me an arm and a leg and into a beautiful old house fully furnished. I think cakes maybe in order here

Downtime weekend

Woke to the sound of rain today.It was really peaceful so I lay there listening to the drips and splashes. Of course this meant my plan for a trip to the sea was off the boil. I ended up going to the cinema to see Tangled. I was quite aware that I was there on my own, but once the film started I didn't care. It was a great movie to see on a grey, wet weekend day, I really enjoyed it. I thought about seeing if any Chinese new year celebrations were on afterwards, instead I ended up back at home making some lentil soup for the week and updating some pictures.There were a few fireworks outside the window a couple of hours ago, I guess the probably the post gradstudents from the halls of residence.Yesterday I had a glorious sleep of nearly 11 hours! the first big sleep for ages- the previous 2 nights were really noisy here with gales roaring through the bare branches of the trees in the park keeping me awake. I was all set for a reasonable lazy day when the police horse clopped by the window to remind me that it was match day.All snuggled up cozy next to the football stadium...makes for noisy Saturdays during the season

So instead I ended up taking a 4 hour walk around Newcastle suburbs and booking someappointments to view some flats. It was nice to walk around the streets- down the red brick, Victorian/Edwardian terraced houses of Jesmond and Sandyford and Heaton. I came across the Church where my sister was baptized when we used to live in Whitley Bay (a coastal town near here), so it was almost like a trip down memory lane. As I headed home the match was being broadcast across the city- A huge cheer went up at one point which echoed around for ages and judging by the noise it must have been an exciting match.

Later on, after the match, the cheer was replaced with the sound of the local teenagers shouting/screaming and howling at each other in the park. It was almost like listening to the sounds of the jungle- with those loud carrying howler monkey noises that the boys were making.

And finally....look at these little fellows, merrily munching away on the grass in the middle of the city, right next to a busy pavement. Wild aswell, I could imagine the squeals of kawaiii! if my J-friends saw these.

Fancy a frisk?

Little things I've noticed since being back...

1. Chocolate is more expensive- maybe its because the shop is in the hospital, maybe its to encourage you to not eat too much, but it costs much more than I remember.

2. Asking people if they want a frisk meets with a rather shocked look and silence as opposed to a yes please "itadakimasu".

3. There are birds everywhere- and they aren't just the mutant giant evil crows

4. I have no idea who any of the singers and bands are on the radio

5. The sun is just rising as I get up for work at 8am and I don't need thermals on to leave the house, but you can wander around the hospital without melting in normal clothes

6. People DO actually hold the door open most times...its very nice.