Three Years!

September 28th 2004 I was in my room in West Kensington, London - which is DEFINITELY not as nice as it sounds, in case you were wondering. And I was panicking. I was due to fly to Tokyo for my new job and, as hard as I had tried to be organised, I just hadn't been and I had a 1,001 things to do before my 4pm deadline when a taxi was coming to whisk me away to start my new life.

My memory of the stress is still very strong - but it was my own fault. Pay me to organise you and I'm bloody good at it. Expect me to organise myself and, well, forget it really. It just won't happen.

I remember having things all over my room until the last minute though...

And funnily enough, it's pretty similar now. I'm in the midst of a massive clear out and sort out blitz, which means I have piles of things to sort. But I'm getting there, and I have no 4pm deadline this time.

Three years ago I was about to embark on a career change, a new job, a new life. I was only coming to Japan for one or two years. Now, I'm about to start my fourth year here, and it seems just right that my new job is starting at this time. Next Friday in fact. This is going to be my chance to, hopefully, show what I can really do.

And it's all a lifetime away from my bedroom in West Kensington and the daily stress of the BBC.