I’ve decided to get a brand new Flickr account, since the one I already had never got used. Thus, here is my profile page. If you’re a Flickr-ist, please feel free to add me, I’ll return the favour to anyone who does! Once I have some photos on there I’ll add a “Latest Flickr photos” option to the sidebar, so you guys can keep up with me. Chances are I’ll post the best photos here anyway, but this way you can use geotagging and so forth.

On another note, it’s now just eight days until I leave for Japan, and I still need to buy things and pack. Oh dear.

On the 8th of September at 6.30 in the morning, I fly from Heathrow Airport to Tokyo Airport, and leave behind England for an entire year. Rather than go on about what’s happening in my gap year (as I’ve done that at great length in the ‘Gap Year’ page), I thought I’d write about what preparation I’ve been doing and so forth.

Firstly, money. Since I’ll be working in Japan all year, I’m getting paid into a bank account, so I don’t need to take with me tonnes of money and get stung by the current conversion rate. So I’m taking ¥30000 (currently £136/$256) with me. Since I’ve never been able to hold that much money at one time, I couldn’t miss the opportunity to take some photos of the three ¥10000 notes I have.

I also spent quite a lot of time (and money, sadly) today in various shops around Sheffield trying to get clothes and shoes for my journey. Apparently it’s possible to buy clothes of any size in Tokyo, because so much stuff is made either in Japan or in China, which for shipping is nearby. However, based on the fact that it is apparently physically impossible to buy shoes above a UK size 8, (I’m size 10) I refuse to run the risk. So as a result I’ve come home today with an obscene amount of shirts, ties and jeans, ready for a year’s wear. Who knows, I may find everything I bought in Tokyo. I probably will. But at least I’ll be able to sit back and smile, happy in the knowledge that I didn’t pay Tokyo prices for it.

Finally, procrastination. It still hasn’t really hit that I’m not going to be around for a whole year, not seeing anyone from home aside from my mother’s visit at some point next year. With less than a fortnight to go I’m strangely calm, and whilst these days just drag on and on, I’m really enjoying slowly but surely sidling up to the best year ever. The calm before the storm, I guess. Friends and family ask me if I’m excited, and of course I am, but I really still haven’t got my mind around it yet, so it’s not hit home properly. I’ll probably be a nervous wreck a week before I go. I mean, moving across the world, away from family, friends and everything normal isn’t so bad. Is it? Oh man, I think it’s just starting to hit…