明けましておめでとうございます

So I haven't posted in forever.

Merry Christmas! メリークリスマス

Happy New Year!　明けましておめでとうございます

And all that malarkey...

For my 冬休み(fuyu yasumi - winter break) I headed back to England. I'd been in Tokyo a long 4 months; a fun and exciting 4 months full of discovery, happy times and also sad times. My journey was a brutal 23 hours but I knew it would be worth it. Unfortunatley, I had a headache for the majority of those 23 hours as I had decided to boycott caffeine in an attempt to sleep on the plane. However it was a failed attempt and 19 hours later I found myself sitting in Starbucks at Schiphol airport sipping on a very christmasy grande praline mocha scowling at an American who tutted "she's writing Christmas cards" while I wrote out birthday cards for friends. How dare he make me out to be scatterbrained and unthoughtful...postage from Japan is expensive!! I was pretty cranky lol.

As I waited at the gate to board my final flight I found it hard to control my excitement. Listening to the familiar voices of the geordies around me I thought about how Chris would be leaving soon to pick me up from the airport. I even started to wonder if I knew anyone on the plane, as if it would be likely lol. I don't think I had been this excited since I was a child. It was so nice to see Chris at the airport, something I had been waiting for for what seemed like a loooonnng 4 months. But the moment became perfect when out of nowhere I was ambushed by my amazing friend Jenny. They had schemed together to surprise me and it was amazing to see her after so long.

My 10 days at home were hectic but I wouldn't have had it any other way. I had a lovely family Christmas, a snowy romantic getaway in York as part of my Christmas present from Chris, and I managed to have quite the crazy drunk New Years Eve. For me the highlight was seeing the ones I love and being able to hug them and laugh with them, while technology has progressed enough to the point where we can bridge the gap with Skype, there is something quite unnatural about it which leaves much to be desired. The greatest gift I received this Christmas was to be with friends, family and loved ones.

Here are a few photos from my time at home. I'll make a post soon with some New Years resolutions (one of which is to post here more), and what I've been up to since I got back to Japan.

Me and my girlfriends on NYE

On our way to York...EXCITED!

Ahh Singstar Girls v Boys, is there a sweeter victory?

Chris and I before New Years Eve

Christmas Tree 

Thanks for reading :)

Homesickness. Lesson 1: How to keep your mind off it.

 Most likely due to my quiet weekend, I have acquired a little bit of homesickness. It was a total surprise to me but when it hit it hit hard. I wanted to eat a cheese savoury stottie from greggs, go shopping at the Metro Centre, walk the dog along the beach at Seahouses.I wanted to have a cuppa and a Tunnock's Tea Cake (not from newcastle but still northern!) And wanted to party in the third best European city for Nightlife, I wanted a skittles!  I swear being homesick turns you into some sort of obsessive, I don't usually want to eat pease pudding watch Auf Wiedersehen Pet! Still I've enjoyed listening to a bit of Sting and Mark Knopfler.

I looked out across
The river today,
I saw a city in the fog and an old church tower
Where the seagulls play.
I saw the sad shire horses walking home
In the sodium light
I saw two priests on the ferry
October geese on a cold winter's night
And all this time, the river flowed
Endlessly to the sea.

 home·sick 

Pronunciation:  /ˈhōm-ˌsik/

Function: adj

:  longing for home and family while absent from them

home·sick·ness Function: n

On a more serious note, yeah, I miss my home and I miss my family, friends and my boyfriend ♥ that is true, but the way this seems to have effected me the most is by stripping me of my self confidence, some once everyday tasks have now became quite a challenge to me and I have found my self relying upon people from home for comfort quite a lot. Nevertheless I am determined to push through and overcome this obstacle. I'm going to try and turn this into a learning experience. 

Upon hearing I'm homesick, a lot of people have offered words of advice, one of the most popular ones which surfaces time and again is: 'keep yourself busy and keep your mind off it'. Luckily, something has been happening here at Global House recently that should do just that...

ASSASSINS

The game takes place over three days and it started at midnight yesterday. There are 41 players, each with a target, you must 'kill' (or tag) your target and make sure you get a witness to the assassination. Then your team receives points. The team with the most points wins, sounds simple I guess. So far its bloody terrifying! I've heard many stories of how in previous years people have assassinated their targets, hiding in cupboards, jumping from balconies and climbing through windows. All I can say is wish me luck.

Thanks for reading :)