Sayonara

Well, its been an emotional ride. 182 posts in a year documenting my highs and lows, the fun times and the hard times, the weird, the beauty and the sheer crazy. It's been a great therapy for me to write my thoughts and feelings and I have ended up with a open diary of my time in Japan. If I had the experience again, I would do a lot differently, but I will never regret going. It's been an amazing year, but while this blog has been a great outlet for me, I want to thank all those who have taken the time to read it. As I write this my google statistics tell me I have had 3166 page views from all over the World, from Brunei to Poland to Malaysia. However, it also tells me that 2 people have stumbled onto my blog by typing “naked Japan man” into google and a further two from “old lady tractor”!

But I want to say a big thank you to my friends, the avid viewers, the ones that have taken the time in some cases to read every single post. My heart was warmed the other day when I contacted a friend of mine who I haven't spoken to a long time, to which she told me she had been following my every post. It warmed my heart as I am happy it has brought such entertainment to them as it has been for me to write. Thank you.

Should any budding ALT's or for that matter veteran ALTs stumble across this blog, please let me know what you think and if you need any advice about your move to Japan, I'd be happy to guide you in the right direction. Incidentally, I have never mentioned on this blog which company I work for while I was in Japan, but I would like to share with those who find this that I highly recommend ALTIA Central. They are a smaller company than some out there, but because of that they have a friendlier/family vibe to them, which is why I chose them (And because they pay full salary for summer and winter holidays, the company car etc etc). They were up front and honest about getting me placements and where they could place me (Unlike Interac who royally screwed me over) and the training and materials they supplied helped me through the challenges the lessons face me. Nuff said.

And so, the end is here. The last post. I will hopefully be starting up a new blog of life in London and the trials and tribulations there of, so hopefully it will have some of the entertainment value with less of the sashimi, schools and running through the streets, semi-naked. Watch this space!

THANK YOU FOR READING AND GOODBYE!