Yesterday, I found out where I’d be posted with the JET programme in Japan.

Okayama, here I come.

I don’t really know that much about Okayama, despite stopping over there for a night with some classmates. Of that night, I remember searching for almost an hour to find a not-very-convenient-at-all convenience store, and swimming naked in what I would soon find out to be sewage-contaminated water.

I’ve done some googling, talked to some of my Japanese mates, and it sounds nice. I’ve yet to find out if I’ll be in the countryside or one of the cities, so I’ve kept my research general, for the most part. It’s famous for yakuza and strong, rough accents, peaches and grapes. It’s an hour and 30e away from Hiroshima in one direction, and my old stomping ground of Kyoto in the other. The prefecture is littered with hot springs, which became something of an addiction of mine during my last stay in Japan.

So, I’m excited to be heading back out. It’ll be different to last time, no doubt. I won’t have the safety blanket of student life, or the crowd of students from all corners of the globe. But I’ll have a job, I’ll have money, and I’ll have a chance to immerse myself a little deeper into real Japanese culture. I can’t wait!