Oops, long time

Hi everyone, sorry Ive been so lousy at keeping this updated. I tend to write more on facebook, its faster :).

Anyway, as you might have guessed Im having a great time here in Japan. Since I last wrote Ive been to another Miyavi gig, in a place I would absolutely never have gone to otherwise, Matsuzaka, visitedan onsen in Osaka, seen the temples of Kyoto, walked around the bustling centre of Nagoya and spent some more time with Yukako and her family, before returning to Tokyo and Yuris family. While in Tokyo Yuris parents took us for a daytrip to Mt Fuji, Ito and the Hakone area, complete with onsen and kaiten sushi for dinner. Kaiten sushi is when you pick what you want from a moving thing (sorry, cant find the word, you know what I mean) and pay according to the number and colour of the plates. Heaps of fun! Ive also spent a day with Maura and the other guys from the Miyavi gigs in Harajuku, spent a night at a manga kissa (fun but no shower!) and tonight is karaoke with Yuri and Nammie. Im sure Ive done more than that but I honestly cant remember everything... Lucky I still have my notebook, Ill remember with the help of it later on.

Ill soon be returning home. It feels weird, after having been out and about for so long, to think about actually going home and settling down for a year or more. I have already decided I want to come back here but in the same time Im looking forward to all the challenges ahead of me in Sweden. And I miss you guys!!!! Itll be great seeing you all again. For those who dont know yet, Ill arrive at Arlanda at 8 pm on Friday, if all goes well. Many hugs from Japan, see you soon!

Sofia

Osaka/Kyoto

Wow. Two gigs later Im tired but unmistakeably happy. Great people, incredible outfits that only Japanese people can get wear and look good in, and of course an awesome artist. I wish I could understand his MCs better, though, so Im working on the language thing ;).

So, as you can tell Im alive and well and thoroughly enjoying myself here in Osaka and Kyoto. The backpackers Im staying at is really cosy, very much Japanese style, and not very busy. In fact, today its a bit too calm, Im the only one here! I hope someone else will come over, theres not even a staff member to be seen so i cant even pay for one more night. Interesting, to say the least. Anyway, it gives me a lot of space to do my workout, which I havent for a while, so Im not complaining. Im going to make my way to Kyoto later on too to meet up with Yukako, eat a meal and just hang out. I still dont really have any plans on what to do next... Theres actually another gig in the vicinity in five days so I might just stick around and see that one too ;). Its a great way of meeting people and having heaps of fun.

Ill try to keep you all updated as to where I am and what Im up to. Hope youre all well! Big big hugs from Nippon,

Sofia

Tokyo!

After a lot of waiting and stressing out about the languae barrier,　I’m now safe and sound at Yuri’s place。Learning to read some Japanese definitely helped me get around the train stations and at　the airport but it was nice to finally meet up with someone who speaks really good English! :)

Anyway, I'm loving it so far and it's set to get better. Even though I was prepared for Tokyo being big, I didn't expect the train ride Tokyo from one part of the city to another to take over two hours. It wasn't even on the outskirts of town! So there's a lot to d outskirts of town! So there's a lot to do and see... :D Miss you back home though, hope everything's allright. I'll try to update the blog whenever something major happens. Hug Jonatan from me!

Big hugs from Japan

On our way...

So, after a wonderful weekend at Ross and Jean's we're now on our way to Japan and Sweden respectively. We're both really excited! It'll be a long trip for both of us, spending the night at Wellington airport and then travelling for about two days. We're in Welly at the moment, so we'll take the bus out to Miramar and the airport in a few hours.

As I said we spent the Easter with Ross and Jean in Foxton, taking it easy, fishing, daytripping to Wanganui and eating good food. We also got to spend a night at their house outside of Featherston and immediately tried out the spa pool! :) Beautiful views, really very nice.

For all of you back home, big hugs and, from Jonatan, see you soon! I'll be there in a few weeks :). For everyone else, xoxoxox.