I’ve just got back from a trip home and I’m awake at 4am! Thank you jet-lag…
The sun has risen, albeit behind a thick veil of cloud/mist/humidity, and the birds are singing. I’m sitting with a fan blasting the morning air into my face – when I got off the plane yesterday it was 31 degrees with stifling humidity and it’s not much cooler even now – aargh!
It also smells like a hot summer. My flat is stuffy. Perhaps a good thunderstorm would clear the air. I always miss home most when I’ve just left, probably because I haven’t yet settled into a routine here or had time to get busy with stuff. This time it’s no easier – I spent a lovely time with my family and now it’s just me in my flat alone.
Last night I popped over to the conbini (convenience store) to buy a few essentials. In Japan there’s one on every street corner and they are fantastic! Open 24 hours, you never have to worry about being out of milk, or hungry after a night out. Even in the 10 days I was in the UK there were several times I could have done with a conbini on the corner…
What I did appreciate was the relative lack of cigarette smoke. It’s really prevalent in Japan – you can smoke in restaurants and they even have special smokers rooms inside airports and shopping malls so that you don’t have to go outside to smoke, which means that there’s always a distinct whiff of tobacco around. In the UK you can’t smoke in any indoor public space and, what’s more, e-cigarettes are increasingly used – even fashionable – so the air smells much fresher.
On a positive note, I noticed on the plane – I flew with JAL this time – that its toilets had all the buttons I’ve come to expect in a Japanese toilet! And they provided oshibori (hot towels) before serving dinner. Two things that I never knew would make my life that little bit better before coming to Japan…
Two Years of Sushi 