Off I Hyogo to Japan

My first written exam is tomorrow, so naturally I’m doing anything but revision right now. Not really, I spent a good solid afternoon studying yesterday with my new-found (and highly effective) study buddy, so taking half an hour out to write this entry is perfectly justified.

I got a letter yesterday at my home address from JET – so I can finally confirm to you all that as of the start of August I will be living and working in the Hyogo prefecture of Japan!!

Map courtesy of wikipedia.org

The prefecture, as you can see from the map, covers a little slice of the main island of Honshu. There are a few tiny islands just South of the main island so I guess I could potentially be on one of those too. The capital city of the region is Kobe, which was worryingly the location of the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995. I won’t lie and say this doesn’t worry me a little.. but I guess you have to put these things into perspective. The fact that 5500 people died meant that Japan sprang into action to make buildings, bridges and other structures more secure so if an earthquake did occur again the people will be better protected.

So now time for some (hopefully reliable) Wiki facts:

“Hyōgo has coastlines on two seas: to the north, the Sea of Japan, to the south, the Inland Sea. The northern portion is sparsely populated, except for the city of Toyooka, and the central highlands are only populated by tiny villages. Most of Hyōgo's population lives on the southern coast, which is part of the Osaka-Kyoto-Kobe metropolitan area. Awaji Island is an island in the Inland Sea, lying between Honshū and Shikoku.

Summertime weather throughout Hyōgo is hot and humid. As for winter conditions in Hyōgo, the north of Hyōgo tends to receive abundant snow, whilst the south receives only the occasional flurry.”

As soon as I get more info about where I’ll be, I’ll post it here for you all to see. It’s all becoming a bit real now, and this is the pre-departure moment where I start to wonder if I really know what I’m doing or if I really want to go. But I know from past experience that this is all part and parcel of the adventure. It was the same for Italy and France, although obviously this time I won’t be able to pop home for a week during holidays. It’s a kind of bittersweet excitement; I’m looking forward to all the new things I’ll be doing and learning and the people I’ll be meeting, but it makes me ache to think of everyone and everything I’ll be leaving behind. I have to remind myself that it is only for a year, so just an extended holiday really (a working holiday, obviously.) It will all be fine! My mantra is, and has been for a long time, that everything always works out in the end!