I’m back in Sheffield …for the next 48 hours.

We weren’t far out of Hereford this afternoon when the train came to a halt at a signal. We must have been waiting for about five minutes when suddenly, the chap in front of me got up, kicked open the emergency door release, jumped out onto the tracks, and started running back towards Hereford.

Clearly, it wasn’t his time yet, as he jumped out 1 minute before the train in the opposite direction shot by.

As is the custom, no one really reacted, other than to say “Gosh. That was a bit unexpected!”

I remembered the vow I made a little while back: never be a bystander. There’s too much bystanding in these kinds of situations – including that done by myself in the past. I’ve tended to wait until I’ve seen that no-one else is going to help, then reacted. I don’t feel that’s the right thing to do, unless there is a serious risk of myself getting badly injured when the victim is not in a life-threatening situation.

Anyhow, the chap had disappeared down the line by this point, so there wasn’t much I could do but run to the front of the train and knock on the driver’s door. He and the guard were totally oblivious to the fact that an emergency door release widget had been smashed and one of the train doors was open – which I thought a little odd.

My language exam is in about 14 hours. I’m not worried about it. If I think back to my 1st year when I got so wound up before exams that I gave myself a Grand Mal seizure (second one ever) I realise how silly it is to get psyched up in the slightest. Fight or Flight may help when being chased by a big hungry bear saying RAAAAAAAAAAA, but for a Japanese language exam? Surely, it’s just a hindrance?

Included in my preparation for tomorrow is the growing of a beard.

Oh, and I wore my suit all day today. AND received a HUGE birthday parcel of organic goodies from Jo in Hereford – thank you love!

I’m going to submit my famine essay tomorrow, and pick up the results of my women in the Japanese workplace essay. Looking forward to that! If I did well, great! If I did badly, Great! (It’ll make me try harder in the exam!).

oyasumi