11 months

Next Tuesday morning I'll leave Japan, after spending some fabulous 11 months in this country. I'm not one of those enthusiasts who is madly in love with Japan. I definitely like this country, but what makes this past year so amazing isn't just the country itself. It's the people I've met, whether Japanese or not, who have made my year in Japan the best year of my life so far. And there are some breath-taking, stunning sceneries in Japan which has blown my mind away.

In the past eleven months, I...

...dressed up for Halloween for the first time in over 10 years

...met some incredibly gifted polyglots

...had my first hangover after 7 or 8 tequila shots

...kissed four girls in a row in one night (no tongue though - I'm not a lesbian!)

...kissed a gay man on the lips (also no tongue)

...learned to cook a few Japanese dishes

...passed Level 2 on the JLPT

...travelled to the following prefectures: 京都府、兵庫県、奈良県、和歌山県、三重県、滋賀県、愛知県、岡山県、広島県、岐阜県、新潟県、宮城県、栃木県、東京都、神奈川県、香川県、愛媛県、高知県、徳島県、沖縄県、山口県、福岡県、大分県、佐賀県、長崎県、熊本県、鹿児島県、長野県

...been to the 3 Kyoto festivals (時代祭、葵祭、祇園祭)

...been to the 日本三景（松島湾、厳島、天橋立）

...dug gravel and pushed a car

...learned to make green tea cupcakes and lavender cupcakes

...learned to say "eight" and "basically" with an Irish accent

...accumulated 9 different stores' point cards/membership cards

...learned to like karaoke and internet cafes

...made many mistakes in terms of handling relationships with people, and learned from the mistakes

...have come to wish I knew how to turn back time

...learned a lot from some very talented photographers

...learned to sleep without air-conditioning during summer

...sang レミオロメン's 「粉雪」over a thousand times, at karaoke, a cappella, with Daan's guitar accompaniment etc.

...entered into a relationship for the first time

...broke up with someone for the first time

...discovered my own flaws; learned about myself thousands of miles away from home

...met some of the most important people in my life

Without you, I don't know how I'll ever be the same person again. I don't know how I'm going to adjust to moving back to Manchester. There's probably going to be some sort of counter culture shock...I thought that going back to somewhere familiar might help, but it seems that Osaka is now the familiar place.

I love you. Everyone of you.

瞳を閉じれば あなたが

まぶたのうらに いることで

Even if I close my eyes, I can see you behind my eyelids...

(レミオロメン「3月9日」)