In Transit

The longest day .
Well actually our flights home* went very smoothly, and I still think Emirates is the best way to get from Japan to Scotland, so unless they could make the flights not be 11 and 8 hours respectively, or let me fly in first class for the price of economy , I guess it was as good as it could have been.

* "home" will henceforth be used to refer to either Jspan or Scotland, depending on which one I mean by that

Reflections I had today (in no particular order):

? Japanese trains are awesome
? Japanese jobsworths are in a class of their own
? Emirates cabin crew give very good service
? apart from the Internet , the thing that has possibly made living abroad the most bearable over the past 20 years is individual entertainment systems on aircraft
? an Arabian breakfast is a lovely thing- who knew? See photo
? my daughter is secretly a little trooper
? I miss my dog already - oh yeah and Dr Y
? Scottish people returning to Scotland are the friendliest travelers I've met, regardless of age, sex or social standing
? Scottish tourism may be better served by changing the first posters you see on entering the country from "Want to complain?" "Assault" and "Asylum" to pictures of lovely lochs and mountains and whisky bottles
? jetlag laughs in the face of all attempts to strategise your way out of it
? the UK needs heated washlet toilets immediately
? you can live abroad for 20 years and still run into your childhood next door neighbour the very first coffee shop you go into in a different town 2 hours after you re-enter the country
? British TV kicks Japanese TV's arse
? My sister has amazing taste
? People on the cash register in Asda should be consulted to resolve any family tensions you may have
? can Americans really understand the word "tattie bogle ", or anything Kevin McKidd says in "Brave" without subtitles?
? there are lots of sheep in Scotland
? there are not many sheep in Japan
? my daughter said " it's got a wire attached to it so be careful" in her sleep just now, which is quite weird