Re-opened and (soon to be) Re-branded

Well, it's been over a year and a half since I last posted on this blog, but I'm back now!

To briefly explain, I actually left Japan last July 2014 (not long after I put up the last post). My 5 years on the JET program had come to an end and it was time for myself and Haru to make some tough choices. In the end, having been out of the the UK for almost 2 decades, I felt I wanted to go back and see what it'd be like trying to make a go of it in England- so that's what we decided to do.

We flew to London late last July, and stayed in the UK together throughout August and September traveling and visiting my family. After that Haru had to return to Japan to finish up her work there, and to await the results of her visa application. Meanwhile, I stayed here in the UK trying to get decent job, and to get ready for Haru's arrival. It wasn't easy to say the least. At first all I could get was a warehouse job, which was far from ideal and really didn't pay too well. This also mean being stuck living with family in order to save as much as possible.

Separation from Haru, complications with the visa application and an unexpected death in the family all colluded to make this a trying time.

However, eventually we started the application process, Haru's visa was approved and she came to join me in the UK about 8 months ago. I also finally got a slightly better job. This means that we'll finally be able to start on whatever this next stage of our lives together is going to be, although we're still staying with my folks until Haru also gets a job.

I miss Japan terribly, and I've been loathed to post entries about the last few trips we made while living there there; as doing so seemed to have a kind of finality about it that I wasn't ready to face - in short I simply couldn't close the door on that part of my life yet. However, as I now finally see a crack of light through a new door opening ahead of me, maybe it is time to close the old door now.

So, what does all this mean for the blog?

Well, I'm finally going to post entries for those last few months in Japan, and originally I was then going to close the whole blog down too. However, I've had a change of heart about that. Since leaving Japan we've already had some great trips around the UK, including a London street art tour, some pony trekking in Wales and a steam punk festival in Lincoln. We also took a long weekend in Venice, and a weekend in Carcassonne to celebrate Haru finally getting her visa. I realize that, with Haru here, England can also be an adventure and there could still be a lot worth sharing here. I also realize that I simply like having this record of all our travels and adventures.

So, although my 'Japan with JET' blog has it's days numbered, once I've finished the Japan time-line I'll be re-branding and continuing under the new name ' Japan and Beyond with Damon and Haru'. The journey never truly ends, or as J R R Tolkien put it 'The road goes ever on'. I hope you'll join us for a while longer.

Lastly, as it seems odd to do whole blog entry without any nice pictures, here are some photos from an impromptu trip to the Fukui Ken coast line that Haru and I took way back at the in December 2013 (if I recall correctly). It's a quite stark, rocky piece of coastline and the pictures are quite dramatic and glowering. Enjoy, and here's to the next five years!