Jonathan Hillhouse

I spent Christmas and New Year back in England, my first trip home since arriving in Japan nearly four years ago! It was great to see my family and friends after so long. Seeing the change in people’s lives was interesting – friends with new jobs, partners and even babies! Oh, and my cat Rocket. He remains as fat and lazy as he always used to be.

I experienced a healthy dosage of reverse culture shock on my arrival back in Blighty. In fact, I guess it started during my long journey home. Now accustom to the ultra-politeness and hospitality of the Japanese, the off the cuff manner in which people addressed me in airports and shops was a bit of a shock. On many occasions I thought to myself, “this would never happen in Japan”, something which now makes me cringe. My up-tightness may have been due to the arduous journey which, due to delays and London fog, saw me change flights three times and totalled around twenty hours!

Having lived in the sticks for a long time, I felt more comfortable in the countryside as opposed to the urbanity of Liverpool which now resembles more of a construction site than a city. I wandered around parks and woods that I once ran around as a child and took lots of photos. I made good use of my new Kiev 60, a gigantic medium format SLR from Russia. Extremely heavy and cumbersome, it feels more like a weapon than a camera. Still, it’s capable of taking some nice images!

I was able to play music with some old friends and was lucky to jam with a blues band that my dad plays in. It felt so good to be able to play my drums again which have laid dormant for so long. Here in Japan, I have have limited access to a very old and dilapidated kit and so the sound of the maple shells and Zildjian cymbals sounded incredible!

I had a great time back home but as my final week in England approached, I started to miss Tanegashima a lot – my friends, the countryside, the sashimi. My stay made me realise how lucky I am to be living in such a beautiful part of the world and a member of such a warm community.

Bringing us back up to date, I am currently in training for the island’s Rocket Marathon. My time last year was 4:17 and am looking to finish under four hours this time. As I labour around the running track next to my apartment, weathering cold winds blowing in from Yakushima, I regret eating all those roast dinners in England but am looking forward to the the next challenge that island life has to offer!

~ by Jonthan Hillhouse on February 7, 2008.

Posted in Trips
Tags: astia, cat, cat photos, culture shock, england, film camera, japan, kiev 60, landscape photography, medium format, minamitane, portra, reverse culture shock, t-max, tanegashima, velvia, wirral