Agatha remembered

I have been feeling a little low over the last few weeks.
When I feel like this it does me a lot of good to go back to somewhere familiar and think about how my life has developed.
To this end, I went back to visit Tsurukawa, the place I first lived when I came to Japan five years ago.
I was so excited about moving to Japan, and even more thrilled at being placed in Tokyo.
I had visions of living in a cleaner version of a set from the movie 'Bladerunner'.
I clearly remember being collected by representatives of my company at the airport, and them leading me to my new apartment.
It took so long to get there - three trains, a bus and a gruelling walk up a forty-five degree hill in the dark of night.
Imagine my surprise when I woke up next morning to find I wasn't living in a cement jungle, but rather just beside the little field pictured above. I mean I was in Tokyo all right, but bloomin' back-arse-of-nowhere, suburban Tokyo.
It was a thirty-minute walk from my door to the train station. This in a country where ten minutes is seen as too much!
One of the best decisions I ever made was buying my beloved granny bike, Agatha (front shopping basket and all). I wonder where she's rusting away right now.
Anyway, going back there and walking around my old neighbourhood really did my soul good. It hasn't changed a bit. I remembered all those feelings of excitement, confusion and joy at finally being in a place I'd dreamed of coming to.
It was also good to think how far I've come. Since living there I've been around the world to Asia, America and Australia. I've visited home several times. I've gotten a new and far better apartment, a new and far better job and a new and far better grasp of the language. It was a really big trip for me to be able to read all these signs and store names and directions that had been but charming squiggles before.
The whole walk charged me up and filled me with fond memories of the past, and hopes for the future.
Here's to another couple of years yet.