(no subject)
Well, I guess I should get this over with!
I am now home in the US of A, mostly recovered from Jet Lag but still tired and DYING from the heat. Its freaking hot down here.
So the first day at my host families, me and Josh mostly loafed about. Jun had work so I slept in and such. After that, there was much rolling around with children! Josh and me got recruted into playing with kids at a local nursery. Theyre supposed to be learning english, but they're also about 2-4 years old, so it was mainly games and reciting animal names. YAY~!! Then it was dinner! I think Im forgetting something..
but the next day we went to a Sake Brewer! I guess Akitsu (the town) is famous for starting this kind of sake because its made differently. They had to make it differntly because of the soft water in Akitsu (as opposed to the hard water in other parts of the country) It was pretty cool and interesting! and the brewery is run by a nice young woman. I'll have to keep in touch and check out her stuff in SF :) Then we went to a park with the boys and Aichan. It was a biiiiiiiig place with some cool jungle-gym like places AND this weird hill where you slid down on plastic slides. HILARIOUS. I took some great videos. I also got attacked by mosquitos. 14 in maybe ONE HOUR. T___T im just too sweet (OH HO HOHO)
It was funny at night because Taka kept offering Josh something to drink. I think Taka just likes Male Bonding over Alcohol. But I could probably drink Josh under the table and I never was offered :3 keeekee. That night, Jun's friend Rumi-san and her family came over to hang out. There was much playing about with the kids and the boys bonding over cellphone games. Rumi-san is a very cheerful person so its always fun to spend time with her.
Then the next day was our last! We gathered up the boys and went to the beach for a few hours just to play around. We played soccer, where I discovered I was very much out of shape, and skipped a lot of stones. Then it was off to the Shinkansen. Im always sad to leave Akitsu and my family there, especially since I wont be seeing them again for a while, but theyre the people I'm sure I'll see again soon, so its not too bad.
After riding a few hours, we made it to Fukuoka! Fukuoka is in Kyuushu, the third (second?) biggest island to the west of the main island. WOOO!! ANOTHER ISLAND!! We checked into our AMAZINGLY SWEET Japanese Hotel and then walked around the city abit. Fukuoka is a lot like Tokyo (its one of the 4 great cities of Japan and its certainly a big, modern city) but different. It seems like its got a big more elbow room, a different aspect on foreigners (Fukuoka has always, always been a major intra-cultural meeting place because of its importance as a port city in trade and stuff) so it was just AWSOME.
The second day we struck out to visit everything we could!! We saw a few really cool shrines, got lost a few times, dragged our stuff to the new hotel and explored the lake and its castle Ruins. That was a lot of fun, but also a whole lot of walking. We ended the afternoon by doing some shopping to avoid the rain before slinking off to find dinner. We ended up finding a Sushi place. THere, we met a girl from Nepal! She was studdying in Japan just like I had been and helped us out with the menu. She started working a few months ago and was SUCH a sweetie. We chatted a bit and joked with the sushi chefs. It was a really awsome dinner. I love meeting random people and chatting! And we got to do it again when we went to a bar to hang out. The husband and wife asked us some questions about where we were from, etc. and told us to come back and visit next time we were in Japan ;) I shall!!
Sunday was unfortunately really unexciting for the most part. We checked out kind of early, got on a train and road it. FOR SIX FREAKING HOURS. And so much of Japan is hilly that MOST of that time was spent in tunnels, ruining the charm of a scenic ride. Oh well x__x then we shoved our stuff in lockers and ran to my dorm to pick up my bags. I ran into some friends at the dorm, which was nice but kind of sad. We chatted just a bit, but we had to run. THEN I CANCELED MY PHONE, an act I later regretted. Because! Once we got to Tokyo, we couldnt get a train to the airport!!! there goes the reservations I made for the airport youth hostel *wince* Luckily there was a hotel near Tokyo station, so we were able to find someplace to stay.
Unfortunatly my goodbyle to Japan was rushed. We had to jump on the earliest train to Narita, and from there I had to run to get Josh's forgotten cellphone. Then it was a sprint to get to the gate. There, I had to wrestle with my bags. TOO HEAVY. So, with the aid of like.. SIX charming airport ladies, we shipped another box of my stuff and managed to get my bags down a bit. YAY. Then it was on the plane and off to Shanghai. THERE, they said my bags were STILL heavy. I had to pay a fine, AND check another bag. THis cause complications because I had to pay for the box, except I didnt have any Chinese money on me. After nearly breaking down in tears on the poor box lady (While Im sure Shanghai is a nice city and the Chinese people a lovely bunch, the airport staff was a whole lot harsher and no-nonsense compaired to the accomodating ladies of Japan, so travel-weary me was just about on my last shred of sanity), she accepted my japanese money and i crawled my way onto the plane.
WEEE!! SO I made it to the Philippines and THERE WAS BUNNY TO PICK ME UP!! EEEEEEE. she and her mother picked me up and we caught some dinner down the road. I dont remember the name of the food I ate but it was good! :DD then we arrived at her house and I met her dad (i'd meet her brother later). I was really tired so we didnt do much except talk and fall asleep!
Because the next day we had to get up early to move to her Grandmothers House!!! Bunny & her dad had to go off to school and work, respectivly, so I cleaned up and floped about in the lovely house, watching TV and such. SO LAZY but relaxing! :D THEN BUNNY CAME BACK. WITH HOPE AND SIAN :DDDDD We went to the Infamous Starbucks to hang out and I met Earl, Kam, Noel, Laem, Randy the Barista.. IT WAS GREAT :DDD Then me, Bunny, Earl & Sian struck out to go to the mall! There we watched SUPERMAN!! It was awsome, even with the noisy people in front of us. We took Purikura and had dinner and did more fun stuff!!! By that time, the storm that had started durring the day was going FULL SWING, so by the time me and Bunny got back to her grandmothers house, it was rainning pretty hard! And durring the night, it was positivly going CRAZY!!
So that mean the next morning we slept in a bit instead of going out (because we really couldnt!) We went back to THE Starbucks and then went out to the Biggest Mall in Asia (aptly named Mall of Asia) for lunch. Me, Hope and Earl goofed around by the ocean and then headed back to The Starbucks to pick up Sian. Our cab died along the way, so we had to walk a bit but that was fun :) THEN we headed off to another mall, this time by Train! Except, we had to walk a bit to get to the actual mall. IN THE POURING RAIN :D:D:D it was awsome and we were SOAKED. at the mall, after freshening up (and trying to dry ourselves by the hand dryers), we grabbed some grubb and watched PIRATES. YES :D it was awsome.
Then it was our last day!! DDDDDD: Because of the continuing WAR IN THE HEAVENS, I didnt get to see Sian or Hope or Earl once more T___T But! I did get to see where Bunny's dad worked (out in the country!!) and have a really nice dinner with them! We also checked out a Bazarr where I got nerdy Sims cds (im planning a Four Seasons thing, oh yes) and some good Filippino muzak from Bunny! Then we went back to her house and traded Nerdy Goods until late!
I passed out on the floor and then had to rush off to the airport. I MISS YOU ALREADY BUNNY T____T I seriously had such a good time!! EVERYONE GO VISIT BUNNY!!! *LOVES*
Did i forget anything??
The flights were long and even having a few hours in Japan didnt make me feel too happy =( But I finaly got home. Its good to see my parents again and all the animals and stuff. I had terrible jet lag the first day but im slowly becoming less of a zombie.
And so......... my travels come to an end! Its safe to sad I had the time of my life. Making new friends, traveling to new places, growing up *GASP* probably only a little bit.. I cant even put down in years how this year has changed me, how the people I met have made such a strong and welcome mark on my life. While I'm really, REALLY sad that I cant ever return to those times--parties on the roof, complaining about classes, all that Study Abroad stuff--I know that I WILL see the people who mean the most to me again and I know that what I have to do now is keep those connections alive.
Sitting here on my butt at home, its pretty easy to forget just exactly what last year was like. I wont feel the full effect of returning home for a while, because home is home and not hard to adjust back to. So Ive got to keep in touch with the people i love, do better with letters and emails, do what I should have been better with towards my friends back home. I know I'll still procrastinate and be terrible with mail compaired to a lot of people, but im going to try!! Because what I've learned the MOST out of this whole year is that Friends are so important, so wonderful, such a paramount part of my life. So I dont want to lose touch with ANYONE. And hopefully I wont :)
So, basically, this journal is over. I'll put a link to some picks later, here or maybe in cherprudence Im not quite ready to move back to that Journal--need to do some nerdy Summer Cleaning and all that, but. Thank you, everyone, for reading my ramblings and coming along with me on this journy. I really appreciat the love and support, and I hope you'll like my boring life as much as my Japan life :) I'll try to keep it interesting, no matter what.
♥
I am now home in the US of A, mostly recovered from Jet Lag but still tired and DYING from the heat. Its freaking hot down here.
So the first day at my host families, me and Josh mostly loafed about. Jun had work so I slept in and such. After that, there was much rolling around with children! Josh and me got recruted into playing with kids at a local nursery. Theyre supposed to be learning english, but they're also about 2-4 years old, so it was mainly games and reciting animal names. YAY~!! Then it was dinner! I think Im forgetting something..
but the next day we went to a Sake Brewer! I guess Akitsu (the town) is famous for starting this kind of sake because its made differently. They had to make it differntly because of the soft water in Akitsu (as opposed to the hard water in other parts of the country) It was pretty cool and interesting! and the brewery is run by a nice young woman. I'll have to keep in touch and check out her stuff in SF :) Then we went to a park with the boys and Aichan. It was a biiiiiiiig place with some cool jungle-gym like places AND this weird hill where you slid down on plastic slides. HILARIOUS. I took some great videos. I also got attacked by mosquitos. 14 in maybe ONE HOUR. T___T im just too sweet (OH HO HOHO)
It was funny at night because Taka kept offering Josh something to drink. I think Taka just likes Male Bonding over Alcohol. But I could probably drink Josh under the table and I never was offered :3 keeekee. That night, Jun's friend Rumi-san and her family came over to hang out. There was much playing about with the kids and the boys bonding over cellphone games. Rumi-san is a very cheerful person so its always fun to spend time with her.
Then the next day was our last! We gathered up the boys and went to the beach for a few hours just to play around. We played soccer, where I discovered I was very much out of shape, and skipped a lot of stones. Then it was off to the Shinkansen. Im always sad to leave Akitsu and my family there, especially since I wont be seeing them again for a while, but theyre the people I'm sure I'll see again soon, so its not too bad.
After riding a few hours, we made it to Fukuoka! Fukuoka is in Kyuushu, the third (second?) biggest island to the west of the main island. WOOO!! ANOTHER ISLAND!! We checked into our AMAZINGLY SWEET Japanese Hotel and then walked around the city abit. Fukuoka is a lot like Tokyo (its one of the 4 great cities of Japan and its certainly a big, modern city) but different. It seems like its got a big more elbow room, a different aspect on foreigners (Fukuoka has always, always been a major intra-cultural meeting place because of its importance as a port city in trade and stuff) so it was just AWSOME.
The second day we struck out to visit everything we could!! We saw a few really cool shrines, got lost a few times, dragged our stuff to the new hotel and explored the lake and its castle Ruins. That was a lot of fun, but also a whole lot of walking. We ended the afternoon by doing some shopping to avoid the rain before slinking off to find dinner. We ended up finding a Sushi place. THere, we met a girl from Nepal! She was studdying in Japan just like I had been and helped us out with the menu. She started working a few months ago and was SUCH a sweetie. We chatted a bit and joked with the sushi chefs. It was a really awsome dinner. I love meeting random people and chatting! And we got to do it again when we went to a bar to hang out. The husband and wife asked us some questions about where we were from, etc. and told us to come back and visit next time we were in Japan ;) I shall!!
Sunday was unfortunately really unexciting for the most part. We checked out kind of early, got on a train and road it. FOR SIX FREAKING HOURS. And so much of Japan is hilly that MOST of that time was spent in tunnels, ruining the charm of a scenic ride. Oh well x__x then we shoved our stuff in lockers and ran to my dorm to pick up my bags. I ran into some friends at the dorm, which was nice but kind of sad. We chatted just a bit, but we had to run. THEN I CANCELED MY PHONE, an act I later regretted. Because! Once we got to Tokyo, we couldnt get a train to the airport!!! there goes the reservations I made for the airport youth hostel *wince* Luckily there was a hotel near Tokyo station, so we were able to find someplace to stay.
Unfortunatly my goodbyle to Japan was rushed. We had to jump on the earliest train to Narita, and from there I had to run to get Josh's forgotten cellphone. Then it was a sprint to get to the gate. There, I had to wrestle with my bags. TOO HEAVY. So, with the aid of like.. SIX charming airport ladies, we shipped another box of my stuff and managed to get my bags down a bit. YAY. Then it was on the plane and off to Shanghai. THERE, they said my bags were STILL heavy. I had to pay a fine, AND check another bag. THis cause complications because I had to pay for the box, except I didnt have any Chinese money on me. After nearly breaking down in tears on the poor box lady (While Im sure Shanghai is a nice city and the Chinese people a lovely bunch, the airport staff was a whole lot harsher and no-nonsense compaired to the accomodating ladies of Japan, so travel-weary me was just about on my last shred of sanity), she accepted my japanese money and i crawled my way onto the plane.
WEEE!! SO I made it to the Philippines and THERE WAS BUNNY TO PICK ME UP!! EEEEEEE. she and her mother picked me up and we caught some dinner down the road. I dont remember the name of the food I ate but it was good! :DD then we arrived at her house and I met her dad (i'd meet her brother later). I was really tired so we didnt do much except talk and fall asleep!
Because the next day we had to get up early to move to her Grandmothers House!!! Bunny & her dad had to go off to school and work, respectivly, so I cleaned up and floped about in the lovely house, watching TV and such. SO LAZY but relaxing! :D THEN BUNNY CAME BACK. WITH HOPE AND SIAN :DDDDD We went to the Infamous Starbucks to hang out and I met Earl, Kam, Noel, Laem, Randy the Barista.. IT WAS GREAT :DDD Then me, Bunny, Earl & Sian struck out to go to the mall! There we watched SUPERMAN!! It was awsome, even with the noisy people in front of us. We took Purikura and had dinner and did more fun stuff!!! By that time, the storm that had started durring the day was going FULL SWING, so by the time me and Bunny got back to her grandmothers house, it was rainning pretty hard! And durring the night, it was positivly going CRAZY!!
So that mean the next morning we slept in a bit instead of going out (because we really couldnt!) We went back to THE Starbucks and then went out to the Biggest Mall in Asia (aptly named Mall of Asia) for lunch. Me, Hope and Earl goofed around by the ocean and then headed back to The Starbucks to pick up Sian. Our cab died along the way, so we had to walk a bit but that was fun :) THEN we headed off to another mall, this time by Train! Except, we had to walk a bit to get to the actual mall. IN THE POURING RAIN :D:D:D it was awsome and we were SOAKED. at the mall, after freshening up (and trying to dry ourselves by the hand dryers), we grabbed some grubb and watched PIRATES. YES :D it was awsome.
Then it was our last day!! DDDDDD: Because of the continuing WAR IN THE HEAVENS, I didnt get to see Sian or Hope or Earl once more T___T But! I did get to see where Bunny's dad worked (out in the country!!) and have a really nice dinner with them! We also checked out a Bazarr where I got nerdy Sims cds (im planning a Four Seasons thing, oh yes) and some good Filippino muzak from Bunny! Then we went back to her house and traded Nerdy Goods until late!
I passed out on the floor and then had to rush off to the airport. I MISS YOU ALREADY BUNNY T____T I seriously had such a good time!! EVERYONE GO VISIT BUNNY!!! *LOVES*
Did i forget anything??
The flights were long and even having a few hours in Japan didnt make me feel too happy =( But I finaly got home. Its good to see my parents again and all the animals and stuff. I had terrible jet lag the first day but im slowly becoming less of a zombie.
And so......... my travels come to an end! Its safe to sad I had the time of my life. Making new friends, traveling to new places, growing up *GASP* probably only a little bit.. I cant even put down in years how this year has changed me, how the people I met have made such a strong and welcome mark on my life. While I'm really, REALLY sad that I cant ever return to those times--parties on the roof, complaining about classes, all that Study Abroad stuff--I know that I WILL see the people who mean the most to me again and I know that what I have to do now is keep those connections alive.
Sitting here on my butt at home, its pretty easy to forget just exactly what last year was like. I wont feel the full effect of returning home for a while, because home is home and not hard to adjust back to. So Ive got to keep in touch with the people i love, do better with letters and emails, do what I should have been better with towards my friends back home. I know I'll still procrastinate and be terrible with mail compaired to a lot of people, but im going to try!! Because what I've learned the MOST out of this whole year is that Friends are so important, so wonderful, such a paramount part of my life. So I dont want to lose touch with ANYONE. And hopefully I wont :)
So, basically, this journal is over. I'll put a link to some picks later, here or maybe in cherprudence Im not quite ready to move back to that Journal--need to do some nerdy Summer Cleaning and all that, but. Thank you, everyone, for reading my ramblings and coming along with me on this journy. I really appreciat the love and support, and I hope you'll like my boring life as much as my Japan life :) I'll try to keep it interesting, no matter what.
♥