…but I’m home. My flight arrived on time despite some rather icky conditions in Chicago. Due to said conditions, my friends had a difficult time in traffic. As the flight wasn’t one of the best for me (I was feeling rather ill), we went straight home from there…after an iced coffee, of course.
The day I left was a rather sad one. I left at 5:30 in the morning and was seen off by a teary okaasan and Nikki. The cab driver was awesome, even though he was rather self-conscious because he couldn’t speak English. I got to the airport and checked by luggage in: only one was overweight, incurring the 5000 yen charge (I was wholly expecting to have that on both). And while my carry-on bag was too big for the flight from Osaka to Tokyo (it had to be checked and picked up at Narita), it was just fine to be stored in the overhead bin on the flight to Chicago.
As for the last few weeks in Japan, they were eventful. They were spend finishing up classes, final exams, and packing everything I could into those remaining days. I’m not entirely happy that I had to leave…I left a lot of good friends behind and I’m already finding it rather weird not to have them around.
I’ve also experienced a bit of reverse culture shock, if that’s what it could even be called. Aside from the initial “oh shit, we’re driving on the the right side of the road!” thing, there have been a few other things including (but not limited to) the urge to take off my shoes before I enter my own apartment (not an entirely bad thing) and the urge to speak Japanese when encountering service people or strangers. Also, I’m finding it difficult to adjust to American food again. I just…don’t know what to eat. I’ll go grocery shopping today and see how that works out.
I miss vending machines. And my bike.
Oh, and if any of you were wondering…I actually lost weight while there. This is despite the everyday consumption of rice or other carbs and the parfait adventures. Jeez.
In any case, one last picture update:
Osaka at night from 五月山

Dana hiding in the bushes…

Dana and Dasha…owning the world.


My sumi-e final before it was backed:

And after it was finished, hanging at the exhibition (with me, of course):

Tiny Japanese road is tiny:

Me and the girl at Pepper, a rather awesome shop in Horie. She was so cute:

Tiny apple:

Coffee parfait! (with coffee jell-o):

A delicious sandwich:

On the bridge while in Kyoto for the last time:

Christmas cake~

Gundam store in Den Den Town:

Ar karaoke…aren’t they freaking adorable?


My last night in Japan. We made macaroni and cheese and fried chicken…and ate it from a cup with chopsticks. Freaking classy:





And for my last pictures from Japan, my last parfait adventure in Japan—クレージビッグパーフェ (Crazy Big Parfait):


And with that, my time in Japan is finished…for now.



























































































































































































































































































