I got some new shoes yesterday. "Wow, big deal...", you might think. But for me, new shoes are a very exciting thing.

I own a few different pairs of shoes that are in regular rotation.

I have a pair of nice black leather shoes that I wear only on formal occasions (graduation ceremonies, school functions, weddings etc.). These shoes are a couple of years old but they still look brand new because I don't have many chances to wear them.

I have a pair of Nike sandals that are about 10 years old. I wear them in summer when I go to the beach, go to a picnic or some other similar outdoor activity. They are also in great condition.

I have a pair of Nike runners that I wear when I play indoor sport and when I am at work. In Japan, you have one pair of shoes for wearing outside and one pair of shoes for wearing inside (at work). When you leave your house, you put on your outdoor shoes. When you arrive at work, you change your outdoor shoes for your indoor ones. Theoretically, your indoor shoes should remain nice and clean because they are only used indoor on clean floors (which are clean because everyone wears indoor shoes... get it?). I admit, I sometimes use my indoor shoes for outdoor activities. If I go jogging or partake in some outdoor sports, I'll probably use my Nikes because they are the most appropriate for sport. However, I usually give them a bit of a clean before they return to indoor use. Amazingly, even though I wear these shoes everyday, after 2 years they still look brand new (they don't smell brand new though...). I have never had a pair of shoes that have had this much use and have remained so clean.

Finally, I have a pair of Jack Purcell slip-ons. These shoes are awesome. Jack Purcell's are apparently badminton-style shoes made by Converse. They are fashionable enough that they can be worn out, but they are also the sort of shoes that can be worn when I'm just hanging about. The best thing about them is their slip-on-ness. I have to change shoes so many times (leaving home, arriving at work, leaving work, arriving home etc.) that I would probably go insane having to tie and untie my laces all the time. Unfortunately, these shoes are a little worse for wear. Actually, that's being kind. They are barely holding together. They are full of holes and my socks get wet when I walk in a puddle. They started off as a slightly off-white colour, and now they are a smoky grey. The worst part is that they've been like this for ages.

The thing is, buying replacements is not an easy task. Sure, if I was living in Australia, I could just wander down to the local shopping centre and pick up a new pair, but this just isn't possible in Japan. It's not that they don't have nice shoes here - the selection is basically the same as a western country. The problem is that they just don't have my size. I wear a size 13, which equals 31cm (Japan measures shoe size in cms). The average men's size is about 25 or 26cm, so most shops will stock up to about 27 or 28cm. Occasionally I have found places that have a special section with a small selection of 'big sizes', which are usually about 28 or 29cm. The only time I've actually found size 31 was at the Nike Factory shop in Sapporo, where I found a pair of Lakers purple and yellow basketball boots (no thanks...). For about a year, every time I've gone near that store I dropped in to see if they had anything my size, but no luck. When I went to China I also had no luck, even though I spent many hours searching.

Finally, this week, I decided enough was enough. I ordered a pair of shoes from an online shop here in Japan that specialises in 'freak sizes'. The selection was actually not too bad, and although they were a little more expensive than usual I was happy to pay.

One great thing about Japan is the excellent delivery services that are available. Delivery is great - I can order something from anywhere in Japan and it will be delivered to my door within 48 hours. I can pay at a local convenience store or I can pay the delivery man directly. I can choose a specific delivery time, and if I'm not at home then they'll come back at anytime of the day I choose. Actually, this is not entirely true in my case - as I live out in the middle of nowhere there are only a certain number of deliveries each day. If I was living in an urban area then they would deliver at any time of the day or night. One time I ordered a camera part and had it delivered to my apartment. I wasn't at home when it arrived so the delivery guy actually went to my office to find out which school I was working at, then went to that school to hand deliver it to me (nice, eh?).

Anyway, my shoes were supposed to be delivered Wednesday but I wasn't home. There was a note there asking me to call to organise a redelivery time. The next day I was driving home after school when I just happened to see a delivery truck turn a corner ahead of me. I followed it, waving my arms until the driver saw me. He stopped, grabbed my package and gave it to me without me even having to exlpain anything. I guess there are some good things about being the only foreigner in town.

So, now I have a nice new pair of shoes which is a real luxury for me. When I get a chance I'll post a picture of my old shoes, just so you can see what I've had to put up with for the last few months.