Beyond the Horizon

[Google Map]

Tottori... a small, unassuming coastal town located somewhere north-west of Kyoto and north-east of Hiroshima. Known for its anomalously large coastal sand dunes and its prefecturally famous Shan-Shan summer festival...it will be my home for the next two to five years.

Although I had known I would be moving to Japan for some months now, the whole experience still felt a little abstracted and unreal. As if I had woken up from reality and found myself in a dream. The knowledge on really hit home for me while I was researching the town I would be living in, wondering which house I would be renting, which mountains I would be hiking and which bars would be my favourite.

In a couple of months, I will be 14 000km away from my family, my friends and everyone I have ever known, and at the same time I will be home.