It Begins - Niigata to Osaka

I fully intended on writing a big final sum up of my time here in Japan. And a counter culture shock thingy about being back home. And a "Day 1: Into the wild blue yonder"-type post to launch off the big adventure. My eyes have unfortunately always been bigger than my stomach though. It turns out, what with moving and goodbyes and a million and one things to get done before riding off, I somehow ran out of time. Instead you are getting the diet version of all three rolled into one, as I recuperate from yesterday's adventures in an internet cafe.


Goodbye Japan

One last burger at Bar 66

The last few months in Japan were an absolute blur. I packed. I cleaned. I threw away so much junk. It's incredible just how much junk you can collect in 5 years.*


The thing about living and teaching here is that you only get what you put into it. You've gotta put down some roots. So I did my best, and learned Japanese, and got involved. The kids at school started to become more than nameless faces in seats. They became the kid that snorted milk through his nose two years ago. Or the girl that fell in the sports day relay and cried her eyes out. Or the boy that used to practice magic and put on performances, even though now hes a cool 3rd year middle schooler who pretends it never happened. The current 5th grade elementary school kids have only ever had English classes with me.


Then of course there are my embattled allies in the trenches, the other ALTs. Life in Japan is a constant barrage of not-understanding, and missing the point, and not quite doing it right. They were there with me through all of those ups and downs, sharing in the experience. A little oasis of normalcy that kept me sane. I think that's why we all became extremely good friends extremely fast. It has been very hard to see people go through the years, and very hard to leave.


I don't regret putting down roots in the slightest, but it does hurt a little bit pulling them back out. Japan and the people I have met here have all been fantastic. Goodbye, at least for now.


Counter Culture Shock

At the end of your contract, the JET programme pays for a flight home if you want it. Even though I'm spending the next 10 months biking from Japan to the UK, I thought I'd take advantage of the free ride and hop over real quick to make sure everything's still good back here in Britain. It was brilliant seeing friends and family, a last glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel to remind me what I'm riding back to. I even managed to squeeze in a job interview with Teach First, who have offered me a position starting next July. Everything is still good.


The UK is a little nuts though. Here in Japan, I am the weirdest thing people will see all day. Then I arrived in London, and no one gave me a second look. I quickly realised it was because there are new levels of weird here. In amongst multicultural smush and busy-ness there, I didn't even blip on peoples radar.


I was sat outside Stratford station, eating a sandwich before taking a numeracy test for Teach First. Out comes this man, in a white shirt and suit trousers, carrying a slightly large bag, but nothing immediately out of the usual. He was looking a little ruffled and agitated, mumbling a little bit about something, but I though it was just about how hot the weather was. He throws the bag down, opens up the zip and pulls out an actual live rat. He then proceeds to slam it against the chair next to me. I obviously start running instantly, almost losing my sandwich in the process. I look back to see the aftermath, but no one else has moved. Everyone had just pretended it never happened and gotten on with their day. Mans got a rat in his bag. Not my problem. Mental.


I also wasn't ready for everybody not compliment me all the time. A friend pointed out this weird ego stroking that people do in Japan, and I can't stop seeing it. Oh wow your Japanese is so good! Wow, you are so good at soccer! Wow, you've been here 5 years? Wow, that's great. Oh you're cycling home? Really? Wow. You're amazing. Nothing can just be alright. It's like the only way to get through social interactions is to gush over how brilliant we all are




Then I got back to the UK. When the bike ride comes up,  people either respond with "Ah yeh, that's cool. I have a mate who did that. You doing it for charity?" or "That's insane. You are insane"**

Either way, there's no dressing up how they feel about it. You'd think it would be a bad thing, but it was quite refreshing being spoken to honestly without the empty flattery.

Rounded off the UK trip with a bit of football in the park with the boys. Also one of them was getting married, so we did that too. Then I jumped on a plane back out to Japan to start the bike ride.

Day 1: Into the Wild Blue Yonder

Well, it's day 6, so I kind of missed the boat on that. I considered just counting this ride from Joetsu down to Osaka as the pre-game warmup, but it's far more poetic that I start from where I've been living. Day 6 it is.

I've had a bunch of firsts. First night unable to camp anywhere, so I had to beg a kind old man to let me camp on the grass by the parking lot. First ride with another random cyclist who bought me lunch. First puncture on my new supposedly puncture-proof tires, and first time using a patch kit to fix it up (then again because I had done it all wrong the first time). I got a lift from a friend to dodge the Typhoon weather, breaking any "cycle-all-the-way" pretentions I might have been holding. I think that's good though, as now in the future I will have no trouble swallowing my pride and jumping on public transport if I have to.


I also had my first really sticky situation. I had been climbing up this hill from Tsuruga to Lake Biwa. Climbs are hard with all the luggage, and this one goes on steadily for about 10km, so I was at breaking point. As was my bike apparently. Something went snap, and suddenly my back gears weren't moving. The plastic protector between the wheel and the gears had splintered somehow, and it was jamming everything up. I dragged my bike over to the side of the road and took off the back wheel to look at the damage. The plastic protector needed to go, but I didn't have the right tools to get the gear off. In desperation I spent the next hour slowly breaking off pieces of plastic so that I could remove the thing using the only thing in my bags I could find able to break through: a pair of toe nail clips.

At this point the sun has gone down, and I am exhausted. Eventually made it to Lake Biwa, and found a free beach with running water to set up camp. Woke up this morning and took my first bath in a lake. Everything is gonna be fine.

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*In the end I threw away a car too. I was planning on selling her on to some unsuspecting newbie, but it felt too cruel. Even if I gave her away for free, the new owner would be financially crippled with keeping her running. The paint was starting to peel down to the metal, and in winter the engine sounds like there's someone drilling in there. After my battle with a small wall, the back door didn't close all the way, and had to be duck-tapped at the top to stop rain from coming in. Teachers at school had started to make fun of me. Bruised and bloodied, covered in the scars of my poor spatial awareness and lack of concentration, she went into retirement. RIP

**The UK has also become extremely ethical all of a sudden. Most people asked me if I was doing the ride for charity, and if not why not. In all honesty though the ride was never about raising awareness for something or other. It's for me. I'd feel bad asking people for money. Really all I'm doing is gap-yearing all over Asia and Europe. I just happen to be doing it on a bike. I may end up setting up a justgiving page one day, but until then donate money to whoever you like and think of me as you do it.