The sun sets on Japan (for me anyway)

Sorry couldn't decide which picture I liked the best.

I apologise for the lack of posting. I am back in Scotland now (and it has been very good to be home) however I leave TODAY for Glasgow. I am taking the bus down today and meeting Kelly tomorrow at 8.30am at Glasgow airport. Assuming no delays etc of course. So, now to bring you up to date, my last two weeks in Okinawa were a manic, crazy blur to say the least. Every night there was some sort of welcome or farewell party, not one evening passed without at least a little alcohol passing my lips. My exit from the island was equally dramatic. My flight to Tokyo was on the Saturday. My final farewell party was on the Friday. I however had to go in to Nago (on the main Island) to cancel my cell phone and appoint my Tax representative. So I took the first ferry in and the last ferry back to Izena. I arrive back in Izena at 4.30pm to find my supervisor in a frantic mood. Obviously panicking he tells us the ferry will be cancelled tomorrow (due to bad weather) and that we had to take the 5pm (special ferry) back to the mainland! Great! 30min to cancel my bank account and get all my bags on the ferry. Luckily I was mostly packed and what was left I threw in a plastic bag. I made it. Saturday had yet more drama in store for me. A VERY heavy monsoon hit, water was shooting up several feet from drains and were the road dipped water was so deep when one drove threw it water flowed over the windshield. I had to pick up my bike from Yasmine's house, so I instructed my supervisor to get off the expressway in order to do that. He was pretty angry about that for some reason even though he had agreed to do that days before. Anyway we get it and he is raging because now we will arrive later at the airport. It turned out to be a good thing as about 30min after we left the expressway to get the bike the expressway was closed does to the water and cars were bumper-to-bumper trying to get off. We may very likely have not made it in time if we had stayed on the expressway. Well, we got there in time, my very much excessive baggage was accepted without a batted eye lid (much to my relief) and I was relieved to be on the plane. I am sad I missed my final party, but at that point getting home was number one priority! The last hurdle was getting my bags on the BA flight in Tokyo. I was one check in over the limit (not to mention the weight) and two carry ons over the limit (not to mention the sizes). First she told me I had to pay 120 pounds for the extra check in and there was no way I could have the extra two carry ons. I was a little worried as I only had 1000 yen in my wallet (about a fiver). In the end I bull sh*tted and told her I had checked the BA website and it had said one could have one carry on bag, one suit bag and one laptop bag. To be fair these were the rules when I flew BA to Japan two years ago! Anyway she apparently bought it with the caveat that she could not guarantee I could take all those bags on my connecting UK flight, as I got all my boarding passes in Tokyo and didn’t have to go through check in again I happily agreed! After that everything went well and the flight was quite enjoyable. I have been walking the dog twice a day, helping my dad put insulation in the kitchen wall and doing a little running and unpacking since I have been back. I shall try and at least post some pictures of my travels as I go, so please check my blog every so often!

Craig