Last Few Days

I started packing up one of my suitcases today. Now that I'm actually doing it, it doesn't feel so bad. I've been constantly thinking about what it's going to be like going back to America, how I'm going to feel, and how much I'm going to miss my friends here. But I've been really putting off the actual preparation for my return journey. At some level I think that I thought that procrastinating would prevent going back from being real. And I've been completely scatterbrained for the last few days. Gah! I know that all endings are just new beginnings, etc., etc., but it doesn't make them any less hard.

I've been trying to spend as much time with my friends as possible, but on Sunday my host family drove me to Chiba prefecture. We went to a bay viewing spot that was absolutely freezing and picked wild daffodils by the side of a road while chatting with a wizened obaasan. We then drove very quickly and on twisty roads (I got carsick) to a very old traditional Japanese house that has been around for over 100 years. Today, I went with my host mom to Ueno and we went to the Tokyo National Museum. For lunch she took me a super-traditional Japanese restaurant with really really traditional food. The restaurant is supposed to be almost impossible to get into in the spring when the cherry blossoms are blooming because it has a fabulous view. I wish I was still going to be here to see that.

A few weeks ago I participated in Seiji no Ni (Coming of Age Day). It was cool to dress up in a kimono (which I own) and go to Meiji Shrine in Harajuku. But I felt super self-conscious. And then, once my friends and I met up (we're ALL in kimono) we earn ourselves a hoard of paparazzi. Apparently 5 foreign girls dressed up in kimono for Seiji no Hi is a rare sight. We literally could not stop for a quick photo without 20 or more people stopping up for more photos. It was ridiculous. But I have to say, dressing in a kimono was no where near as tight around the abdomen as wearing a hakama (kimono with skirt/pants thing). It was also annoying not being able to sit back in a seat of the train because I didn't want my obi knot to get destroyed. That really hurt my back. But overall, it was a great way to experience Japanese culture first-hand.

Just trying to stay in the moment and experience as much as I can. For me though, the sights are not as important as the people. I feel as though the photos I take are not really for me: they're for other people to look at where I've been and for them to imagine being there too. They aren't really for my own personal reflection. Most of the time I just feel obligated to take photos. I'd rather just take the time to be with my friends in and around Tokyo. Experiencing that kind of connection with great people in a great city is something no picture could ever capture.

Kyoto, Osaka, Nagoya, General Update, etc.

So...I haven't done a blog in a really long time. I'm not all that great at these things. Fabulous moments pop into my head and then pass out again. But, I can give an update on my winter break and other things that are happening :-)

For winter break I went to Kyoto, Osaka, and Nagoya with 3 of my friends. For once, I did not do any planning for this trip. Instead of being the parent, I was the kid - which was a nice change. We found a ticket that we could buy for around 11000yen (maybe around @120?) for 5 days of unlimited use of the JR train lines all over Japan. So instead of taking the Shinkansen ([i.e. bullet train] which is really nice and quick, but very expensive) and then having to pay for trains and buses out of pocket, we got the pass. We had to take all local and rapid train to get from Tokyo to Kyoto however, which took about 8-9 hours. But it really was OK because we had to transfer trains a couple of times and that way we were able to stretch our legs. In Kyoto, we did end up buying a bus pass for one day (500yen) but it really was worth it.

The hostel we stayed at was really quite nice. I had expected hostels to be kind of grungy and loud but this was extremely clean and organized and quiet. We got the female dormitory, which had 6 beds. It was very cozy and really close to the big train station and right next to a 7/11. We actually bought our bus passes from the receptionist and we also received 5 free postcards :-) Not that I will actually send those out because I am even worse at sending out postcards than I am at updating this blog.

On our first day we had a hunt to find a good breakfast and ended up going to MacDonald's. This became kind of the norm (at least for me, because I actually want protein in my breakfast, not just bread). We then tried to figure out the bus system, which was a little confusing at first. Then we went to Kinkaku-ji, which is a golden temple on a little pond with all these moss-covered islands in it. Awesome! Then we got a little lost because of the high school cross country meet that was clogging up the roads. We then went to Roanji, which is a temple know for it's large Zen rock garden. After that we got lunch (I don't actually remember what we had) and then went back to the hostel, because we were totally beat. That night we walked around Gion, which was really cool but we didn't get to see any maiko :-(

The second day we went to Inari Shrine, which had all these fabulous orange torii (shrine gateway doo-dads). The were set up in rows so that it was just like tunnels of torii all around the mountain, so you could do lots of cool hiking. We didn't get to stay there very long though because we wanted to go to the aquarium in Osaka. To get to Osaka by train didn't take very long, but when we got off the JR train we needed to get on a subway to get to the aquarium most efficiently. However, subway trains in Osaka cost quite a bit more than they do in Tokyo. So we decided to walk, which took an hour. I was really ready to see the aquarium at this point. It was really cool. The design was such that you would start at the top of the aquarium and work your way down. Many time the tanks would be the same on different floors but you could see different fish because of where some were living in the tanks.

On the third day we went to Arashiyama and walked around. There was a great view of the mountains and a river running through them. We didn't want to pay any admission fees so we just did a lot of hiking and then bought omigaye gifts for our host families. And then on the fourth day we left Kyoto and went to Nagoya, where we spent the night in a ryokan (Japanese style inn). Our room was really large and we were given yukata robes to wear and there was an fabulous host spring bath (onsen) we could use. We spent the evening in Nagoya, wishing that Nagoya castle hadn't just closed for the holidays :-( But it was still really fun. The next day we went home.

It was a great trip because I got to see several different parts of Japan then Tokyo and got to spend some epic quality time with my friends. I have to say though, it was hard to figure out which side of the street or escalator to walk on. In Tokyo, the general rule is to walk on the left. You also stand on the left on escalators and walk on the right. But I had heard that in western Japan this was reversed. What ended up happening was that everyone just went everywhere and you could never tell where you were supposed to walk or what side to stand on. It mean, this happens sometimes in Tokyo but at least the general custom is what I mentioned above. It took me a while to adjust from America to Tokyo, and it was confusing to have to adjust again.

On a completely different note, on Monday is the Japanese Coming of Age Day. If you have turned 20 before January 10th, you qualify to participate in the day. Usually girls will dress up in kimono and men will do suits or kimono and go to a special ceremony. My friends and I that want to do Seiji-no-Hi (as it is called) aren't going to go to the ceremony because it will all be in Japanese and be rather boring for us. Instead we are going to dress up in kimono, go walk around in Harajuku with all the Japanese girls and go to Meiji shrine. I'm concerned that maybe Japanese people will think it is weird that an American girl is dressing up in kimono and walking around on Seiji-no-Hi. But I have been told that actually Japanese people will like to see that because I am actively participating in and trying to understand their culture. Also, my host mom seems really excited about this so I think I'm OK.

It's hard to think that I have less than a month left now before I go back to America. I used to get really sad about it but I'm starting to accept it more and just try to enjoy the time I have left. I have made such wonderful friends on this program that it is going to be incredibly difficult to say good-bye to them. On top of that, I'll be returning to American schoooling, which is so much harder than what I have been doing here. It will be a little bit of a rough transition. But on the other hand, a lot more work means less time to miss people. I just have to think of the up-side :-)