Journey and first days

My flight was the 1855 from Heathrow so I got there in plenty of time, was checked in on a self service machine and then said my last tearful goodbye to Rory and Liz. I was shocked how quickly i got through the security checks, very impressed.

I was getting a bit upset waiting in the lounge for my gate to be called, until I was spied by the group of Nova recruits wandering round looking for others. I knew most of them from the Visa seminar in London so was good to see some friendly faces. Although i did freak some of them out by getting the camera out! The guy in thr grey top is Nick from Leeds who lives in my building.















When I got on the plane I discovered that I had a double seat at the back of the plane to myself, good for sleeping, but not so good for company as I was the only white person to be seen.

Anyway I settle down for take off, which was slightly delayed due to a no show at the gate. I honestly have never heard a pilot apologise so profusely for anything in my life!!! We were told to the minute throughout the flight what time we were making up and how this would effect our arrival time.

Whilst we taxied to the runway I noticed the big screens in the middle of the aisles (there were seat back ones as well) were showing images filmed from a camera on the plane's nose, so we had a cockpit view of take off and landing!


The food on the plane was beuatiful, I had the japanese choice of beef with rice, smoked salmon and potatoe salad and udon noodles. I polished this off with my second complimentary bottle of wine and then settled down to watch some of the many films on offer. I attempted to watched a few new films I hadn't seen, but my mind was all over the place, so I re-watched X-men III and then snoozed to The Davinci Code. The flight dragged for what seemed like days, I managed to kill some time making a playlist from the poor selection of western music on the plane. Geoff would have been in his element

The sights of Japan from the sky were hazy but I managed to take a few okay pics.
Who can spot the mountains???

A river.



Kansai bay- Osaka, Nara and Kyoto.

When I finally got off the plane and through the baggage reclaim (my bags were on the carousel when I got there and I had to run for a trolley!- Typical japanese timing- I love it!) and Visa check points the Nova recruits had gathered to look for the rep. The rep people arrived and we checked our bags in with the delivery people. Only to be told we had to wait 2 hours for a flight to get in from Cananda.

Here is a pic of the less than happy recruits killing time.


When the Canadian flight came in we met some other recruits, two of which are in the building with me and Nick. They are Sarah from Halifax, N.S. and Gerome from Toronto.
The first few days we have just looked around our area and taken the subway to Namba, the centre where Nova is.

Here is Ikuno-Ku views from my apartment. Its actually quite sunny but my camera struggles with the muggy-ness I think.
Looking West from Balcony

Looking North/West

Balcony looking North

The view from the crossroads nearby. (South)

The view from the lounge/Balcony at sunset.

Namba... Immense!!!! Makes you realise why Japanese people take so many pictures in Europe, its sssoooooo different, its amazing and so surreal.






Look at the massive crab!!!



My new bike, that I bought today, so I could get to the ward's office and register for a Gaijin (Foreigners) card.
Mine's the red one! Sorry Amy!!!!

Just for you nosey devils, here are some pics of my flat.
Kitchen/Lounge room.

My futon, this room will get more coverage when I finally finish this and have time to settle in. Might not happen for a while with broadband!!!!

Hope you enjoyed that!!!

Love you all lots,

Danni x