Konnichiwa! Picture it, the match of the year. Two teams on opposite sides of the world, sharing few similarities yet one common denominator.
Strabane vs. Japan in the greatest tug of war mankind has ever seen. Winning prize? Well, me of course!
For months I have been barraged by countless pleads, pleas, begs and bribes from my friends and family at home and my friends and family here as to whether I would stay or go.
They all tugged and pulled and pushed and shoved but at the end of the day there was no contest really.
Those Japanese weaklings could never hold out against the fighting Irish - it's a shame I never befriended a sumo wrestler!
As I told you last week it was a tough decision but one that was going to have to be made sooner or later, but after all this time, I am finally coming home.
Of course Rachel Quigley doesn't do things by half. It's certainly not your run of the mill twelve hour flight from Tokyo to Belfast with maybe a stop-over or two in between. Not for me. I've decided to drop in on a few friends en route and see just exactly what the rest of the world has to offer.
So here, in a nutshell is the Rachel Quigley route from Japan to Strabane: I'm leaving Tokyo next week and flying to India, where I will be staying for approximately six weeks (more details on that later).
After experiencing the culturally diverse, exotic plains of this amazing country, I will make a brief return to Thailand for a few days, before traveling overland to Cambodia where I will be exploring the ancient temples and ruins of Angkor Wat.
Next stop? Australia, and finally a country where I can speak English, while I'm there I will be catching up with my good friends Oonagh and Christopher, as well as being bridesmaid at the wedding of my Japanese friend and her Australian husband.
From Australia I will be making brief stops in Hong Kong and New York, before jetting into Brazil just in time for the carnival.
Next its overland to Iguazu Falls, both the Brazil and Argentina side, then a mere hop, skip and jump down to Buenos Aires where I can hopefully practice my Espanol (I've been taking classes).
To round off the trip I will be flying to Atlanta to visit my good friends Drew and Mitch (you may remember them from previous columns, 'Life in Utsunomiya' and 'My Thailand Adventures').
And if all goes according to plan I shall then make the ten hour plane trip back to sunny Belfast, where hopefully someone from my dear family will be waiting to pick me up.
The return date has been left open ended and is subject to change at any time!
So who knows where I'll end up! More next week!
Sayanara xxx
