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| So...I'm home. I don't really want to be, but next year, I shall return. You see, the thing I loved most about being in Japan is that no matter where you look, beauty is not far away. There's always something captivating, entertaining, or fascinating to see.
Japan is...
Being able to wear knee high socks without feeling stupid, seeing fog over the nearest mountain (which is also outside of your bedroom window), watching a foreign girl get stood up at Starbucks and witness a single tear trickle down her cheek, two friends riding past your window at 3:20 AM talking loudly about anything, nothing, something, but by the tone of their voices, it's not a waste of oxygen, 50 kids all shouting your name at the same time, watching an old man with a cane fall on the most crowded street in the city, only to be helped up again by his wife and asked if he was okay by an innocent school girl in a yukata, characters from cartoons stamped on everything, real men in U-20 soccer crying on TV and being able to talk about it afterwards, switching up who you talk to on a daily basis, being afraid that the next meal that you'll eat is something you'll despise then remembering there's a McDonald's in walking distance, never having to walk to that McDonalds, seeing modest fashion everywhere, your host father making angry hand gestures towards Osama Bin Laden, helping out clueless foreigners at a festival that takes up blocks and blocks, eating the best soft serve ice cream the world has to offer, having peoples' biased opinions fly right over your head, the sewing skills of an elderly woman who constructs costumes for kabuki theatre and kimonos for weddings, giant hair clips, boys wearing giant hair clips, college guys being scared to approach you and start a conversation, waving at faces you'll never see again and hearing a "Hi" in response, non-electronic sliding doors, coolers, naviagation systems in cars that tell you exactly where home is, the relief after finishing an entire chunk of tofu, wishing and hoping you'll find hontou no ai, watching your family eat sushi 10 times faster than you, random high school boys telling you "I love you," getting candy from strangers, eating it, and not dying, getting towels from banks, guys who walk past you alone and return your smile of foreign understanding, a couple sitting next to you on the Kamo River at night not kissing, just talking, other foreigners smiling at you, other foreigners sharing words with you, being bombarded with sparkly things and loud, upbeat music in peliculas, listening to your host sister play piano, bidding farewell to your older host sister as she leaves for her first night out as an adult, your hand hurting after trying to list all the beautiful things of Japan, the noises of mopeds daring you to try the impossible and catch up with them, but you can't, watching live TV on a cellphone while waiting in line at a restaurant, meeting up with friends and literally talking yourself dry, seeing a child sitting in the front basket of his grandfather's bicycle, a baseball player who makes pitching look graceful, an entire stadium of people letting balloons deflate in the 7th inning, finding the clothes you wore yesterday washed and clean on your desk, music playing to let you know you can safely cross the intersection, blowing kisses to men on parade floats and their bashful grins in return, the young junior salaryman with long hair, mail from a friend from home, glancing outside a classroom window to see the shinkansen at the same exact time everyday, foreign men and Japanese women couples and vice versa, me-ru, complete strangers taking pictures of you in your one-of-a-kind yukata, knowing you are for certain returning to Japan in a short time, seeing attractive men wherever you go, refusing to pack your bags because you're in denial that it's all ending soon, the little melody the trains play at every stop, packing yourself in a little subway train with as many people as you can imagine, small automobiles everywhere you look, a female taxi driver, beautifully colored taxis, looking at Kyoto Tower from atop a mountain and being able to fit it in your hand, elderly Japanese couples holding hands, finally admitting to yourself that you have a liking towards Japanese pop music (only because you hear it everywhere you go!), a cardboard pendant with origami pasted on it, kanji that you understand, learning the kansai-ben, having a second family on the other side of the world.
"Dore kurai mae kara, wasureteta kimochi nan darou"-Arashi
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| I miss this place already. Tomorrow is my last full day and I really don`t want to go. Its late here. Oyasumiiiiii. | | |
| So, I looked up my flight today, and I finally realized that it`s not, in fact, a direct flight to Chicago. I have to go to Washington DC first, and then get a connecting flight to Chicago. Gahhhh. So basically, I have to fly over Chicago, land states away, and then go back in the same direction I came from. Total time: 14 hours and 43 minutes. Maybe, just maybe, I can pick up a copy of HP in DC. I doubt it though. I won`t have any money or anything. I have less than 70 bucks left because I spend my money as fast as possibly. Grrrr. Oh well. Here`s Gion Matsuri for you 
And here`s that cell phone you`ve been wanting to see 
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| Most. Disappointing. Typhoon. Ever. Where is this 423984372ml of rain we were promised? I wanted to wake up and be able to ride a raft through the streets and paddle my way into Starbucks to order my vanilla frap. I woke up to this: 
What the heck? I wanted to see people panicking about their insurance while water was up to their knees and crying to TV cameras, but alas, nothing. Blue, clear skies and the temperature is a thousand and one degrees celsius. I don`t even know how to calculate celsius, so I don`t care. So much for today`s entertainment. Tomorrow is umi no hi. Wooo. Hippie day. Oh! And, I saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix last night. Amazing. Absolutely amazing. It stayed true to the book this time (unlike #4 where I didn`t even know what was going on) and the special effects were splendid. It was a sold out show, too. I laughed where I thought it was appropriate, but apparently, the Japanese people don`t understand English humor. Honestly, there I almost lost it during the scene where they show Umbridge`s office. But alas, the theater was silent, and I was forced to think about how if Ryan were there, we would make a Schoenbach joke right then. But he wasn`t, and I had to put my hand over my mouth to stifle my laughter. | | |
| Here. Without school, Japanese life seems to be full of day time TV and finishing AP summer homework. My yukata is finally finished, just in time for Gion matsuri woo! A neighbor of ours made it, and she specializes in sewing, especially kimonos, yukatas, and kabuki theatre costumes. Here`s my masterpiece 
I don`t think I even own anything pink, but it`s lovely, I think. I even went to a Kyoto Sanga game (They`re a division 2 soccer team.) They tied 1-1 to Osaka, which is a nearby city therefore making it an intense rivalry. 
Playing with Hiromichi`s fake katana 
Seeing geisha in the rain 
Spending time with my host family 
Setting off fireworks on the 4th of July 
Doing activities with the other Kyoto-area exchange students (the guy next to me is a German exchange student who`s here for a year. Lucky.) 
Hanging up my wish on a tree for the Tanabata festival. 
Chilling with the modern day Power Rangers 
Being put in prison with Mai (my host sister) 
Sitting down in random traditional houses and posing with cheesy smiles 
This is Kyomizu temple, which is my favorite temple of all time. (Me, Mom, Mio) 
Me, Mai, and Mio 
The whole family, basically, minus papa 
Kamo River 
Yeah... | | |
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