Blooming Hell

I wasn't just imagining it! (Click the title)

My Spidey-Sense Is Most Definitely Tingling

Last weekend I was bitten by a spider. Normally I would hate to have a spider crawl over me let alone come anywhere near me but it's a selective phobia in that it only bothers me indoors. I don't mind so much if it's outside where spiders belong - although, I've never encountered a bird-eating spider of mammoth proportions and I'm not willing to test my theory by hunting one down - but if they are smart enough to get into the house then they're smart enough to eat me when I turn my back. However, this spider found me whilst I was lying in the park and by the time I had tried to get him off my neck he had gone for me. It was only a little pinch and I was more excited by the prospect that he had escaped from a test facility and had transmitted all his radioactive goodness into me.

Days passed without any webbing sprouting from my wrists and the only walls I ventured near were of the ice-cream variety. Ho-hum, I thought, at least it wasn't poisonous and I put it behind me.

That is, until yesterday....

I was getting ready for bed, minding my own business, when I suddenly had a weird feeling flood through me. Straight away, I emailed Keiko (who's now in Sendai, Miyagi-ken - quick game of 'catch up' there) at 10.18pm, which is 6.18am Japan time, to tell her just to be careful for a while and to look out for earthquakes.

A couple of hours later, just before bed, I had a stunned reply from her including the following:

Earthquake Information
Occurred at 06:23 JST 26 Apr 2010 - 5.2 - Miyagi-ken

Exactly 5 minutes later, exactly where she lives! It wasn't a serious tremor but strong enough that it shook her awake.

Not good enough for you? How about this one:

Today, a friend had an interview and I was reading a random journal article in preparation for a similar interview of my own next month. Remember that every month thousands of journals and articles and research studies are published. Guess which exact article she was handed and asked to discuss in her interview.

I need to hone my skills to give people a bit more preparation in case of earthquakes or interviews or, at the very least, work on the Euromillions numbers.

桜が咲いた！

I had a text at work on Friday from Oli telling me that it's a year since I last posted an entry. It's been a weird year too: I couldn't talk about work for confidentiality reasons to the point where saying anything became such a moral dilemma that it was best to avoid it entirely, and there was a lot in my personal life that I didn't want to share.

But the text message made me think, what would it be like to post again? I wasn't even sure I remembered my password. For something that used to be second nature to me, to the point where I was already imagining titles for the blog posts as I was experiencing the event in question, I was worried that I had forgotten how to use the software.

Just tidying up the blog and typing this much feels like I've made a snip in the time continuum and sewn it up to the day after I last posted; it's still that familiar to me. And maybe it's because I've got something to write about.

I've been back in England for nearly two years now and not a day goes by where: a) I don't miss Japan, b) random memories or images of places or thoughts of Japan don't enter my head and, most importantly, c) I don't wish I was here instead. As much as I've appreciated the job, the experiences and career opportunities it's offered me, it's always been about career progression with a view to the future.

There's something big coming up in the near future that will dictate much of the next few years and it's not something I want to get into in so much detail for fear of it not coming into fruition. It's a 'fingers crossed' thing. If 'it' happens, it means I can spend two to three weeks this summer in Japan.

I'm sure I can be just as vague on any future posts, if that helps!

Recently, the skies have been blue without a cloud in sight, and I've spent the majority of my weekends walking around Holland Park and lazying in Hyde Park. It's been bliss.

When I first arrived in Japan, I had no idea about cherry-blossom season or how important an annual event it was. My first week was the height of the viewing season when the flowers were in full-bloom and it was a rush to get to see them. I did but the weather turned and it was cut short. Luckily, the next two years I was there were lengthy and allowed for plenty of 'hanami' (cherry-blossom viewing parties) opportunities. Last year, when I was back in England I missed another good year. However, this year I've heard the weather wasn't so good in Japan and, in fact, we've been luckier with the weather and the flowers. Here are a few of the photos I've taken over the past two weekends (the tenth and penultimate are my favourites):

Since Oli clearly still checks my blog just in case I've updated it (or he has an excellent memory!) I think I'll wait to see if anyone notices and comments on it.