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 :)