Student Tamsin Headey is home again from six months in the Far East.

Tamsin landed on her doorstep in Walker Close, Glusburn, last Saturday laden with fans, kimono, pagoda, wooden stick and other precious gifts. She had spent six months working in a disabled centre in Japan.

To her surprise, in big, blue letters painted on to the garage door were the words 'Welcome Home Tamsin' and a huge Japanese flag hung alongside it. And that wasn't all. Inside the house, her brother, Sam, ten, had stuck colour drawings on the sitting room door to show his happiness at the return of his big sister.

The former South Craven School pupil flew out to Iwaichinomiyacho, about two hours drive away from the city of Kobe in southern Japan, in February. There she worked for six months in the Harima Leonard Chesire Home for the disabled.

Her eight-hour working day was spent caring for about 60 residents suffering from various degrees of cerebral palsy and paraplegics. "I had to do everything for them, whether it be feeding them, making them cups of tea, dialling the telephone or bathing them," says Tamsin, 19. "Anything they wanted doing, I did it. If they wanted to go on a trip, we did that with them too."

Tamsin particularly remembers bath time, as the Japanese bathing ritual is so different to our own. She explains: "Before they even get in the bath, which is big enough to hold three people, they have to be washed and cleansed, including their hair, outside. Then they step into the water to sit and relax."

Another fond memory was watching and helping the residents - 'bright, lively, wonderful people' - weave, recycle paper and create beautiful mosaics.

After finishing work in July, Tamsin and a friend, who had also worked at the home, set off on a trip around Japan, visiting Tokyo, Osaka and Hiroshima for the August 6 anniversary of the atom bomb drop.

One stunning experience Tamsin plans never to repeat is climbing Mt Fuji - a volcano and Japan's highest peak at 12,400ft. She says: "We set off at 8.45pm and got to a height of 3,450m at dawn to watch the sunrise. That was beautiful, but the climb was horrible."

Summing up her Japanese experience, Tamsin reflects: "Japan is full of the unexpected. The country itself is an amazing fusion of Eastern and Western cultures. The tiny mobile phones, compact modern cars, fast bullet train and flashing neon lights put Japan in the twenty-first century already."

Tamsin ended her stay abroad with a five-week holiday travelling around Australia on her own.

She thanks Skipton's Bizzie Lizzies fish and chip restaurant for putting up the sponsorship money for this incredible journey to the Land of the Rising Sun.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.