Random Acts Of Kindness

Japan is awesome, the end...

Ok I will write a bit more then. I am currently at an internet cafe in Iidabashi and with 20 minutes left on the clock. It is pretty expensive to access the internet so I think I'll wait to find a hostel with free internet for my next entry. Sorry guys!

I have been very very lucky. I landed in Narita and couldn't find the hostel. I asked a local for directions and he pointed me down the wrong street. I don't think he meant to. I think he was just trying to be polite. My backpack weighed a tonne so I couldn't walk very far without needing a rest. It was pitch black and what felt like a million degrees heat. Hotter than a sauna! So I went back to the train station and found a foreigner...he spoke English and just happened to be staying at the same hostel so he walked me back. I was so tired I could hardly form words. I updated my Facebook status and briefly Facebook chatted with my Mum then went off to bed (after I showered of course!).

I had my first meltdown the next day. I say first as I'm sure it will be one of many. I couldn't find my way back to Narita station. I felt useless. My backpack straps were burning into my skin and my shoulder muscles screamed. I found a seat and started to cry discreetly, then after a while I didn't care so much that the locals could see me so I sobbed away. I think I needed that though as I pulled myself togther and managed to find the station. I turned right instead of left out of the hostel. Duhhhh. I lovely elderly guy saw my confused look and asked me where I was heading. He walked with me to the station and showed me how to use the ticket machine,　how much my ticket was and the route I needed to take. Before I even had chance to say a proper thank you he walked off. The people here are incredibly kind.

I needed to go to Shinjuku as that is where the bus to Mount Fuji departs. I was hoping to find the TIC so I could get more info on hostels and some much needed maps! I was so dehydrated and sick from the heat that I got lost again and needed to rest. I found a street map in English though and the TIC was marked on there. Hooray. I must have had that confused look on my face again. A lady asked me where I needed to go and I showed her. I said I needed something to eat first so we went to Starbucks together. Her English was quite good but there were moments where she couldn't understand me and she looked quite embarrassed. Her name is Sayoko Seki and she made my day. Sayoko spent most of the afternoon helping me get to the TIC, calling a hostel to reserve a room for me and generally guiding me round Shinjuku. I tried to get a photo of us together but she insisted that I save my battery and film for Mount Fuji. I didn't want to press any further as I didn't want to offend her. I am so thankful to her. I kept saying thank you over and over in English and Japanese. Sayoko saved the day! I feel a lot better about things now and hope that the rest of my stay in Japan goes ok. I'm still a little nervous. So far I've not really met any westerners to tag along with or speak to and I feel like I'm starting to miss general conversation.

I am ashamed to say that I have survived Japan so far by pointing at things and searching for people who speak English. I can say simple things like excuse me and ask for directions but I feel incredibly rude not speaking more Japanese. That is my current aim.

I don't have time to add any photos I'm afraid. So far I haven't taken that many but tonight I climb Mount Fuji so I hope to get some good shots of the sunrise. Fingers crossed I don't screw that up. It seems to be a running theme on my trip so far!

It's About Time

In one of my earlier posts I wrote about preparation and how it has always been drilled into me that I have to be organised or I’ll only have myself to blame. With this in mind, I have spent the past 8/9 months working two jobs for extra pennies, I’ve been jabbed up (7 in total!), I believe I have read every Lonely Planet book ever published and that’s to name but a few ways that I have organised my ass off. Despite my hard work things have still come crashing down around me. Perhaps a tad dramatic. I’m still going. I have money and, surprisingly, I managed to squeeze the essentials into my backpack. Sacrifices had to be made unfortunately. I’ve probably still over packed as always but I guess I can post stuff home when I get to Thailand.

As I said, things have gone a bit pear-shaped. I mentioned in my last entry that I was experiencing problems with regards to the volunteer placement I booked for Thailand. I’ve actually cancelled that completely now. It was all very dodgy. The organisation I was due to work with kept changing the itinerary and I wasn’t receiving any support from the travel company I booked it through. I’ve submitted a massive complaint which should hopefully mean that I’ll get some juicy discounts off future bookings. I still have a few things left to book which I’ve not been able to yet as it’s too far in advance. It’s annoying that this had to come to a head just as I’m about to leave. Ho hum.

In 24 hours I’ll be in Doha awaiting the next flight out to Narita, Japan. I don’t think it’s truly registered yet as I’m not freaking out and I’m not sad about leaving. I get a little bit breathless thinking about being all alone in a foreign country and having to navigate myself. Will it be hard finding accommodation to stay in? What if everything’s booked up and I have to sleep on a bench? I have no idea what I’m going to do in Thailand now I have a 28 day gap in my itinerary! I have no idea what I’m going to do in New Zealand still. Everything in Oz depends on where and when I get a job. You know when you have so much to drink you stumble home and you’re not quite sure where the light switch is so you end up groping your way around the house in the dark? You then wake up in the morning and have no idea how you got home  but are thankful that you’re in your own bed, safely wrapped up in your duvet. Sound familiar? That’s how I think my year out will be. I’m not going to have a clue what I’m doing. I’m going to travel from country to country completely astounded as to how I have managed to get this far! So I wouldn’t say I’m going to travel the world. I’ll just be on a continued journey in search of the light switch. This could be interesting!

Child's Play

I am now officially unemployed. With no job comes no responsibility. I have complete freedom. I don’t quite know what to do with myself. Well that’s a lie. I have a long list of things I need to do before I go but I’m trying not to think about it as I start to freak out. That, coupled with the fact that I’ve had 2 jobs for the past 7 months, has resulted in my lazy disposition. In my head I’m already on the plane. In reality, I have shopping to do, hostels to book, itineraries to figure out and finances to put in order. Oh, and I best tidy my room too or my mum won’t let me leave the house!

Whilst thinking about Thailand, my second stop on my round-the-world trip, it suddenly dawned on me that I have no idea what I’m going to do when I land in Bangkok. I booked and paid for a voluntary work placement at a Thai hill tribe community back in January. Since then I asked my advisor once or twice for an update but was told I’d be sent further information nearer the time. This never happened. Oops! Frustratingly, I was then told that I have to seek this information myself. Several back-and-forth emails later, I have my transfer organised and know where I’m staying for my first night in Bangkok. Lovely.

All was seemingly well. I carefully chose this placement from the company’s brochure. Each placement was handily organised into categories. Conservation, communities and children. Now we all know which one I hoped to avoid! The hill tribe hands on project sounded perfect. The project wasn’t focused on one particular activity. I could choose between working on their website, proof reading and writing articles as well as other media related tasks. This sounded perfect. I would get a true insight into the hill tribe culture whilst utilising my skills to aid the community. Everyone’s happy…right?

Maybe not. After confirming my flight times for the transfer I was asked to provide my insurance details and a CRB check. The latter was necessary because of the proximity of working with children. Say what now? Children? Ok, ok. The project was labelled as working with communities so I expected to be working with children in some capacity so I didn’t panic too much. My CRB form is just a technicality right? I then received an email asking me to choose either the indoor or outdoor program. I asked for more information.

Outdoor program - construction work, installing toilets, painting etc etc

Indoor program - teaching English to children, caring for children, singing lullabies, playing games, caring for children in the local hospitals.

…aaaaaand? No, that’s it. Aww crap. Someone definitely doesn’t like me. The fact that you only need a CRB check to be left to look after children is rather strange. They should do the carry test. Place the child in a person’s arms. Embrace child - you’re in. Run away screaming “geddit away from meeee!” - get out now. I do think I have gotten better with children. I worked at a family restaurant so had direct contact with children and babies. I did alright. Oi! I did! This is a bit of a leap though. It doesn’t help that each time I think of children I play this Family Guy clip in my head.

It’s all been booked and paid so there’s no going back now. I’ve submitted some feedback to the booking agent as they need to change the listing in their brochure. I read it numerous times and it doesn’t mention children once. Rubbish.

I’m going to remain optimistic. What will be, will be. I plan on taking lots of distractions. A ball - look, ball, fetch! No…wait, that’s dogs *facepalm* I’m kidding, I’m kidding. Sheesh. It’s all part of the adventure and the uncertainty of it all. This will be good practice for me. I’ve already told a few people about this and each one burst out laughing. Ladies and gentleman...challenge accepted.

Happy Endings And New Beginnings

It’s August…Seriously guys it’s August. Where the heck did that come from? As soon as 1st August hit, a sudden surge of excitement rushed through me. This may come as a surprise to people as, surely, I should have been excited from the beginning. Instead, the past few months have been spent stumbling about trying to get stuff done and attempting to hide the sheer panic instilled by the torrent of tricky questions thrown at me. At times I felt like I was being grilled by Paxman.

Most frequent questions I’ve been asked:

1. How much money have you saved/are you going to take? - these questions came at a time when I was desperately trying to sell my car and was discreetly begging for people to buy my tat on eBay. I hate this question. My usual response is - whatever is left in my bank account on 26th August. Ha!

2. How many people are you planning on sleeping with? Which is shortly followed by the statement - you do realise how lucky you are right? You can sleep with as many people as you like without any consequences. Nobody will know what you’ve been up to. I’m so jealous! - at this point my mind starts building up a conspiracy theory involving the nurse from blog 6. Who have you been talking to?!

3. Are you looking for love/what will you do if you meet someone whilst you’re away/would you stay in Oz if you meet someone? - this is just a few variations of the same theme which is on the other end of the spectrum from point 2. I don’t bloody know! Obviously my idea of meeting new people translates into shagging around or finding the love of my life. Sheesh.

4. Are you excited? - this is my favourite. The last person who said that, I turned and said “meh, not really.” Again, another moment where sarcasm fails as the response I got was “Aww, why not? I bet you are really” *face palm*

5. What are you going to do when you get back? - I saved the best ‘til last. Now what kind of question is this? What am I supposed to say to this? Do you know precisely what you’re going to be doing in a year’s time? If you do, you’re either boring (as you do the same thing every day!) or you are lying. I. Don’t. Know. This whole trip is about living for the now so why would I have thought about what I’d do when I get back? Go away.

Despite the fact that I can usually predict what questions/statements are going to be uttered my way, I still can’t help but tell anyone that will listen. As most people close to me (as in those within walking distance during day-to-day life) know that I’m going away, I don’t feel like I can excited around them so much anymore. Not unless I want a punch in the face anyway. “Yeeeees we know you’re going away. Stop going on about it already!”. Which means I’ve had to find new people to tell. It’s been a fun game of mine. A sort of Six Degrees of Separation, but instead of getting from one person to another, I’m getting from whatever subject is being discussed, to my trip. I come into contact with a lot of people coming in for interviews at work. I always get the standard “How long have you worked here?” and “Do you enjoy your job?”. See this one’s easy. I lead on to the fact that I’m leaving my job and then they instinctively fall in to the trap of asking me why…mwhaha. I’ve also shamelessly dropped it into conversations with customers when I’m waitressing. Sometimes it worked and I got a juicy tip, sometimes it didn’t work but it still lead to some interesting conversations with tourists. Aussies and Americans love a bit of carvery, haha.

I’ve finished my waitressing job now. My last day came and went so quickly that I never did anything exciting or dramatic. I thought it would be funny if I was alternately rude. It was so busy I didn’t even get chance to properly say goodbye. I think I managed to do that and a whole lot more at the my leaving do! I haven’t been out drinking since October last year. It’s been a long time coming. I can’t believe it’s all coming to an end already. I hope my year out doesn’t go as quickly as the past 8 months have.

Every day I keep seeing people’s big announcements on Facebook. In the space of one week I saw that 2 people announced their pregnancies and one announced an engagement. My Facebook currently stands at 2 just marrieds, 6 engagements and 4 pregnancies. That’s just off the top of my head, there are probably more than that! A lot of these people are the same age as me or younger. Number of people sacking everything off to go travelling…2. They’re only going away for a few months though so I’m not sure that even counts. Oh well. I’ve never been one for convention! It’s great that people have found their happy endings so soon in life. I’m getting a new beginning. Things will never be the same again. This could be in a good way or a bad way. I have no idea what I’m doing, where my life is heading in the grand scheme of things or what I want to do with my life….I’ve never felt better.