Diary ★ On the 7th of October I woke up at a half past 11 am today because of jet lag; I couldn't fall asleep until 3 or 4 am this morning. After getting dressed, washing my face and teeth, and having brunch, I left home to go to the City Hall to report that I came back to Osaka. It took about 40 min in total and after that I went to a bank to get a new debit card. I wanted to get it as I got used to using debit cards in the UK, and the bank had changed their name because of mergers of 2 banks. In japan, most people still use cash to pay, but the number of people who are interested in cashless payment such as using debit cards and credit cards has been increasing because Japanese government had decided to make consumption tax increase from 8% to 10%, from the 1st of October, and they offered us returning 5% tax at most, for 9 months, if we buy something by card instead of cash. So I will use the debit card more to save my money. Then I went to a appliance shop to contract a mobile sim. I decided to use LINE mobile because they have a nice plan. I chose 3G Internet plan, but they won't count the data if I use it for twitter, instagram, facebook and LINE. Now I have my Japanese mobile phone number, and that means, finally I can start to look for a job!

I came back in Japan After 2 yeas experience in the UK, I came back in Japan about 1 week ago. I wanted to stay in the UK more if my youth mobility scheme visa did not expire, but I had to go back to my country as I am not an EU citizen. I felt it was unfair that we couldn't stay in the UK as long as we wanted even if we worked so hard and payed a lot of tax for the UK; I wish If I were born in an EU country, I could live in such a beautiful country, the UK as long as possible. I did like the life in the UK, but there are some nice points to live in Japan, of course. First, I might not need to say it as it is obvious, but Japanese food is nicer and cheaper at all. Every raw fish and fish roe is fresh and tasty. Also rice is delicious. We can get rice balls or whatever from convenience stores which open every 24 hours. I know Japanese food may contain more food additives than EU countries, but I have been missed the taste of them so much. Second, every home appliance is quite good quality. They work very quick and calm. I believe Japanese one's quality is the best in the world. Third, I do like Japanese bath. Next week, my family is going to take me to a Japanese spa in Osaka. I am really looking forward to it! These days I couldn't sleep at night because of a jet lag. But I should start to look for a new job in Japan as soon as possible. It would be great if I can find a job that I can use my English skills I improved in the UK.

Time flies It has been almost 2 years since I came to the UK with a working holiday visa. Today is 17th of October and I will not be here on the same day next month, 17th of September. Time flies. I believe that a lot of experience which I have had by living abroad will help my rest of life. I learnt how to live by myself, communicate with people, speak and write in English etc. I admit there were not only good things, but I will not ever regret my decision coming to this country. I wish I had more time to stay here, but my visa will expire soon. I wish I were an EU citizen, then I could live here as long as I want. I have to go back to Japan even if I have been working so hard, paid tax for this country. I love this country and culture so much. I have not decided about my life after going back to Japan. I currently have 2 options: living in Japan or going to Canada with a working holiday visa. To be honest, I am not satisfied with my English skills at all. I have to practice speaking and listening more and more. If I will go to Canada, I want to find a job which I have to speak English. The company I work for in London is a Japanese company, so I do not need to speak English; but I write in English so I hope my writing skill have improved a lot! A lot of my friends in Japan are married and have children. I feel I might have to follow them and live a "normal" life in Japan, but I don't know if it is happy for me or not. One day I want to get married to someone nice and have children, but I think my happiness of life is not only there.

I am into listening to The Beatles! I have not written this diary for ages. What I have been doing is just normal, like working on Monday to Friday as usual and traveled to some places during the bank holiday at the beginning of May and weekends. Sadly, I had to quit going to the English language school as I realized I had to start saving money to go back to Japan and travel through Europe before taking a flight to Japan. On the bank holidays at the beginning of May, I went to see one of my friends in Istanbul. That was just amazing! We have known each other since we met as house mates and spent a lot of time together in the UK. It was the first time to see her since we said good bye when she went back to Turkey after finishing her course in the UK. Her family warmly welcomed me and allowed me to stay their house during my stay. Her father gave me a bouquet of roses to welcome me, her mother told me fortunes by reading the Turkish coffee cup, and her sisters talked with me a lot in English. I loved the seaside view and amazing food of Istanbul. I would love to visit there again in near future. Now, I am going to talk about the title of today's entry. Last weekend, I went to Liverpool and Manchester with a friend of mine. To be honest, I was not really interested in the Beatles, but I just realized they were great and I recognized a lot of songs I have ever heard were theirs. After coming back from Liverpool, I am into listening to their songs which are catchy and consisted of simple words, easy to catch and understand with my English level. I also watched a documentary program for Yoko Ono and John Lennon on YouTube, which was very impressive and I loved it even though Yoko was considered that she was the person who caused breaking up the Beatles. I thought she was talented and amazing.

My Easter Holiday in Holland I stayed in Holland during Easter holiday. Because I have wanted to visit Keukenhof to see tulips in spring. One of my friends from Japan have lived in Holland for about 2 years, so I decided to go there and visit some places with her. My budget was limited and flying or taking Euro star was too expensive to chose, so I went to Holland by coach. I chose Flixbus as it was cheap. I thought there was no problem to take the bus during night because I can sleep anywhere else like in a plane or on a chair. And actually I could sleep well on the coach. On the first day, I went to Den Haag to visit a Madurodam where is famous for miniatures of Holland. There were a lot of miniatures and they looked very cute. Many children and family enjoyed it. On the second day, my friends and her husband took me to Marken. It is an island on a lake near Amsterdam. We saw the beautiful view of the small village, harbor, rape flowers and sheep. We had lunch at a restaurant near the harbor where you could enjoy of viewing and nice food. I had Heineken with a sandwich, and it made me happy. After that, we went to Amsterdam. We went to the cafe of Blond Amsterdam and took a canal cruise. Also I tried to have a croquette which was sold at a vending machine! On the last day, we finally went to Keukenhof. There were a lot of kinds of tulips which colour were vivid and beautiful. I took many photos of them and enjoyed it. I was glad to see the view which I have wanted to see for a long time! Holland is one of my favorite country I have ever visited :)

Finally I am getting better! I have been suffering from stomachache since few weeks ago, but finally I feel getting better. I went to see a doctor 3 times and did blood test in few weeks. The pain was terrible and I thought that I might not be able to get over it forever because I have not been ill like this before, normally I can get over illness if I take medicine and sleep 1 or 2 days. I had not seen a doctor in this country before. I was worried if I could tell my symptom and understand what doctors explain to me, but they tried to explain easily so I could understand them and I felt relieved to hear that my symptom was not so serious. But I didn't get better even after seeing doctors and took medicines they prescribed. I couldn't stand the pain I felt after eating anything, I was crying and couldn't sleep once the pain came and it continued for 4 hours. So I decided not to eat anything. For 2 days I didn't eat anything except water and some pieces of chocolate. And after that, finally, I felt much better! I still feel uncomfortable and sick after eating anything, but don't feel that kind of terrible pain. I started to eat food as usual and hope I will be able to eat whatever I want without pain and feeling sick any more soon.

I got rid of stomach ache! Finally I almost got rid of stomach ache! I had been suffered from terrible stomach ache for about 2 weeks. I didn't get better even after seeing a doctor at Urgent Care Center, so I tried to make an appointment to see my GP. Luckily, I was able to book to see a doctor the next day, last Friday, just after I registered a GP near my house and made an account for online booking. The doctor was really kind. She asked a lot of questions to find out the cause of my stomach ache, and explained me that I had stomach problem and it was kind of a little ulcer. She prescribed me a medicine for taking 1 month, and finally, I felt better after taking the medicine. I think I was lucky to be able to make an appointment to see a doctor without waiting 1 or 2 months. I returned to the English lesson after work and which made me happy! I want to eat what I want as soon as possible; I have mainly had what is good for digestion, like Japanese rice porridge.

Terrible stomachache I have been suffered from a terrible stomachache these days. One day, I felt that I really wanted to eat crisps, and had a bag of crisps after dinner. I don't usually eat crisps so often because it is bad for your health, but the day, I really wanted it. About 2 hours after eating crisps, I felt a stomachache at midnight. I though the pain should fade out soon, but the terrible stomachache had been suffering me until 4 am in next morning. Since the day, I feel a pain after I eat something, whatever I have. On Saturday, I didn't have a stomachache and had dinner as usual, but the pain came again and I couldn't sleep well. And today, I couldn't move because of the pain and laid down on the bed almost all day. I registered a GP near my house, and looked up about walk-in center nearby, so I will go to see a doctor if it doesn't seem to be better.

Relaxed weekend Time flew! It is almost 11 pm and I have to take a shower to go to bed before midnight. I relaxed at home this weekend. I did the laundry, cooking, cleaning my room, talking with a friend of mine, watching YouTube videos and planning for some trips. I feel good to be in my tidy room! Last 2 weeks, I was rather busy. First, I visited one of my friend living in Bristol. She took me to Wells which is the most smallest city in England. I had not known the definition of "city" in the UK before my friend told me it. We can call the place "city" if they have a cathedral even if the population was less than any other villages. I thought it was very interesting. I really recommend to visit there because the Wells Cathedral was the most beautiful cathedral I have ever seen! Second, my friends visited to London to see me from Japan and Holland. It was the first time to gather 3 of us in a year! We caught up, talked a lot and went to various places in Oxford and London. I was happy to see them and it looked that they really enjoyed staying in the UK!