"I'm turning Japanese I think I'm turning Japanese I really think so....."
OK, so the rather dubious lyrics of this 1980 song from Guildford based band, the Vapors, may have very little to do with Japan and Japanese people, but as soon as I knew about my imminent trip to Japan, I felt duty bound to add it to my "running" playlist in on my ipod shuffle.
My flight to Japan leaves Heathrow at 1:45pm today, and so with the Great South Run in Portsmouth just over a week away I had to bring my weekend training run forward from its normal Sunday slot to 6:00 am this morning. I always have my ipod in shuffle mode, so that the tracks play in a random order, and my "running" playlist includes over two hundred songs, so I was absolutely amazed when I stepped out of the front door into the darkness to be greeted by the opening chords of "Turning Japanese". To say I belted it out as I headed out towards the bypass doesn't do justice to the gusto with which I joined in the singing.
Anyway, 8 miles, a refreshing shower, and the completion of packing later, I'm shortly going to be heading to the airport. Juliet and Hannah are coming to see me off, and we are picking up my work colleague, Kieron, on the way.
The purpose of the visit is to carry out research into special educational needs provision in Japan as part of a larger research project. It's the first time I've been involved in anything like this, so as well as being very excited about the opportunity to experience a culture that is very different to anything I have experienced before, I'm quite nervous about the work side of it. However, Kieron has a lot of experience in this kind of work, so I'm sure I will learn a lot and everything will go fine.
Well, that's going to have to be it for now. Kieron's just called to say that he's arrived at St Albans Station earlier than expected. So I'm off. Stand by for hopefully a number of updates during the coming week, wifi availability permitting.
さようなら
OK, so the rather dubious lyrics of this 1980 song from Guildford based band, the Vapors, may have very little to do with Japan and Japanese people, but as soon as I knew about my imminent trip to Japan, I felt duty bound to add it to my "running" playlist in on my ipod shuffle.
My flight to Japan leaves Heathrow at 1:45pm today, and so with the Great South Run in Portsmouth just over a week away I had to bring my weekend training run forward from its normal Sunday slot to 6:00 am this morning. I always have my ipod in shuffle mode, so that the tracks play in a random order, and my "running" playlist includes over two hundred songs, so I was absolutely amazed when I stepped out of the front door into the darkness to be greeted by the opening chords of "Turning Japanese". To say I belted it out as I headed out towards the bypass doesn't do justice to the gusto with which I joined in the singing.
Anyway, 8 miles, a refreshing shower, and the completion of packing later, I'm shortly going to be heading to the airport. Juliet and Hannah are coming to see me off, and we are picking up my work colleague, Kieron, on the way.
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| Essential reading for the journey |
Well, that's going to have to be it for now. Kieron's just called to say that he's arrived at St Albans Station earlier than expected. So I'm off. Stand by for hopefully a number of updates during the coming week, wifi availability permitting.
さようなら
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