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.