31st July - Leaving England

There is going to be a load of writing here which dates back to the 31st of July so you can just skip by this if you already know of my adventures so far:

Waking from my travel lodge accommodation I set off on what was to be the final leg of my journey to Japan. I was accompanied by my parents who had brought me from my hometown of Hull to Heathrow from where I would be catching my flight to Tokyo. However as the flight was not until 7pm our first stop was to some beautiful stately Abbey, which was surely a true representation of how beautiful England can be. With acres of lands, interspersed with small monuments and overwhelming trees the abbey was more the size of a small town rather than that of what I guess would be classed as someone’s back garden. Through the antiques and grazing deer I was presented with what was to be my last taste of the English countryside, the start of where I would trade cows for rice fields, county manors for pagoda’s and a light rain for blistering heat.

Our next port of call was to be the town (city or whatever) of Windsor from where would experience both the elegance, hustle and kitsch approach of Britain’s historical ways. With a view of the canal myself and my parents sat with fish in chips in hand to savour another part of England’s famous delights. Savouring the taste of cooked cod and batter for what would surely be replaced by sushi and tempura I began to think more about all the things I would miss in England, the weather (on some occasions) the local events (which may at times be lacking but they do try) the British pint of ale and bitter from our local pubs, my home-cooked Sunday dinners with the accompaniment of my grandmother, but perhaps most of all I would miss my girlfriend, who after over 4 years has for some reason stuck with me. Through my bad habits, my time away at University, my laziness and my bad cooking, she had decided to love me and now in the most difficult test of our relationship we are parted once more. Through bad luck and timing she in fact left before I did to go on holiday with her parents to Canada, a nation ironically from where many of my new friends are from. It was almost torture to say goodbye to each other and even though I managed to stay strong I felt like I was falling apart inside. Perhaps we were fortunate to have said our goodbyes before I left so that there would be no tears at the airport, no last minute changes of hearts and no long ride home. Canada would keep her occupied for the time being and anymore tears can be said through a webcam.