Day 128 - AKA The End

So, this is a little late, I realize.  The trip to the airport in itself was difficult. Woke up late and still had to clean. Managed to vacuum and everything, and went down for breakfast. Last breakfast in Japan included onigiri (rice balls), so that was nice. Didn't have time to enjoy it though, because by then it was twenty minutes past the time I wanted to leave. Mama and I left for the station, having decided it would be faster and more convenient to take the train rather than the car. I was a little afraid my super-packed suitcases would break on the 5-10 minute walk to the station, but they held. Made it to Shinjuku by a little after 11, but that's way later than I wanted. Had to buy a ticket for the 11:40 bus. I did end up with a little luck though. The 11:20 bus had someone who cancelled and enough space for my two suitcases, so I got to leave a little early. After a quick but earnest goodbye, I was off to the airport.

I brought my Laboon pillow as a personal item for on the plane and got plenty of comments. One of the guys who unloaded my luggage off the bus nodded at it and grinned. It was cute. Got a couple of kids that pointed and tugged at their moms arms, too. Even the girl I sat next to on the plane nodded, and asked if I'd bought it in Japan. A good bit of good attention.

Getting on that first plane took a while. I generally got to sit around the airport and wait. Which was perfectly fine, as I was able to relax a bit. Met up with Tamarra just before my plane left. She took a different one, but it was good to see her a last time before we left Japan.

The flight was fine from NRT to LAX. Didn't sleep enough. I think the rushing sound of the plane ended up getting to me. The worst part was the descent. I couldn't get my ears to pop because of this damned cold. Felt worse than those crying babies. Had to wait a long time after we landed to be able to pop them properly.

Weather in LA was lovely when I arrived. About 66ºF. Wonderful and cool. Walked over to my next terminal where I got to stay for the next something like 7 hours? Guh. That was a little tooo long. By then my cold reared its ugly head and I had a miserable time. Took dayquil and had my first american burger in 4 months. It was good, but a little disappointing, I was kind of expecting magic. Oh well. Spent almost the entire time drowsing in and out, not drinking enough water, and taking more medicine than I should have. Eventually finally did get to get on my plane, but not before finding out that Colleen was on the same plane, a few rows back and on the other side. Got to sit and chat a little while before boarding.

Flight back was uneventful, other than me not being able to pop my ears again. Still trying a little bit. Very uncomfortable. But came home! Got to see my family waiting in the airport. It was late by the time I got home, it had been the longest day I've had in a long long time. But I'm home. Got to sleep in my own bed last night, eat american food… Japan was a wonderful experience but I'm glad to be home. For all of you who've been following my blog, or read it even a little, thank you.

Day 127 - Coming to a Close

You know the day's not going to be a good one when you're crying within the first two hours of being awake. My cold-befuddled mind made it the worse for me when I tried mailing things at the post office. The woman there was kind, I could understand what she wanted me to fill out, but the enormity of what I was doing struck as soon as I started writing out my home address. I'm going home. Of course, that led to a lot of distress on my and that poor woman's part, and I took far longer than I should. I also made some poor decisions when it came to what boxes to check. Hopefully it won't come back to bite me later.

I had made the trip to the post office with Mama, and had assumed she would come in with me. Instead she parked on the street, sometimes coming inside to badger me about why I was taking so long, why am I crying. It was more stressful than it should have been. She was also supposed to come with me to the AU shop to help me cancel my phone once and for all. She decided, for a reason she explained, but I neither remember or think acceptable, to just drop me off and go home. Left me to deal with them myself, and call her if I had trouble. I can't call, I cancelled my phone. Also, don't like being abandoned. Oh well. I managed okay on my own. Managed to not even cry. Hooray. Still, too much trouble to go to, and then have to pay for it as well. Fuck phone companies.

Returned home. Thought we were going to see papa today. Also, with this cold, I thought she said something last night about me not actually going, which I'd understand as this is really fucking with my throat and he kinda has throat cancer. Just sayin'. But no, and we didn't go until about 5:30. So I took some time trying to socialize and ended up napping on the table. Damn this cold. Went upstairs and finished packing completely. This room looks really sad now…

Did end up going to see papa. I wish I'd been able to see him more. Three times in four months doesn't seem fair. He was in great spirits, but it's going to be a long recovery. I wrote everyone in the house letters, as well as one for Tamarra's host family. I hope they're not too bad. Papa is probably the calmest in their family. Yuri doesn't count because she's not related. I hope he gets better soon, if only to return some stability to this household.

Ki-kun, one of their past students actually showed up at the hospita. He studied with Papa a lot and ended up actually studying to be a doctor. He's really close to the family, and I gather visits all the time with gifts and such. I actually first met him on Mothers day when he stopped by to give Mama a gift and I had to answer the bell. Mama invited him to come along to my good-bye dinner. Wut. Come on, really? I've met this kid once. I know you're attached to him, but really? So I got to share stilted english conversations with him, he hasn't practiced in a while.

We actually went to a Korean food restaurant in Ginza. Hurray. :/ One of my major issue foods here has been kimchi, I don't even like smelling it. It smells worse than natto, and that's saying something. We got a fancy course meal, and all the courses had kimchi in it somehow. Wow. I just… Hooooo it's okay. I'm going home. They also gave me a bunch of small presents. I appreciate the smallness, since I can fit them into my carry on, and I'm glad they were thinking about me, at least a little.

Came back and I did some cleaning. Managed to smash one of my toes trying to maneuver one of my suitcases around. Bad idea. Used mama's bathroom scale to see how much they weigh. Should be just under 23kg, which is the limit. I know. I've checked at least 5 times. Going to finish with dusting, vacuuming and airing the room tomorrow, want sleep now. And thus ends my last full day in Japan.

Day 126 - Phones, Donuts, Dogs, and Hogs

Wow. So today. First of all, I woke up with a terrible throat pain. Japan is really doing its best to have the last laugh here. Fuck. I'm sick. And it's awful. It makes my head hurt, and my throat hurts terribly. I just wanna curl into a ball and cry. I did, in fact cry. Three times today. Thanks Japan. Love you, too.

Today was the day to cancel cell phones. Had Tamarra meet Rio and I at meidaimae to take care of it. Tama-chan had no troubles. Me? Lots. I tried earlier to have them charge to my debit card. Unfortunately, they were declined. But kept the card on file, and apparently didn't know they were declined, even though they sent me a notice to that effect and I've been paying in cash. Because the company itself is separate from its billing department, and I guess doesn't send them important notes like that. But so, since they have my card on file, they've decided that I should close my account with that card. Even though it doesn't work. And I told them that. So I guess we had to do paperwork to take the card off file. And other paperwork to find out how much I actually owe them, because they don't know. This took over an hour today to figure this out, working with Rio, who speaks Japanese. So I got to sign forms that I guess they're faxing, but it'll take all day, so I have to come back tomorrow. Fuck.

We split with Rio after that and headed for Setagaya to see the Harley Dealership. Took us a while, but we got there eventually. Cool, cool. Had to ask two different 7&i for directions, neither knew what we were talking about. We'd actually given up and were walking back to the station when we found it. Whoops. Good fortune here, at least.

Headed out to Odaiba after that. Couldn't remember which stop on the Rinkai line to take, but figured it out. It was absurdly hot. Like it's been for the past week. Glad to be going home, just because of the heat. We took some pictures of the Fuji-tv building and the Gundam outside Diver City, and had a quick lunch of donuts and pretzel dogs in Diver city. Very American. I can't wait to eat normal american fast food again. Mango donuts are not normal. At that point, I was feeling rather faint and exhausted because of whatever this sick is. I don't think it's a cold as I have no nose/sinus related issues, just throat pain and coughing. But it was enough to send me home.

Relaxed at home, trying to get better. Have no medicine, so I don't know what I'm gonna do. Had a very late dinner with the host family because I fell asleep. Guess I'm going with Mama to mail things and deal with cell phones again tomorrow. I had wanted to visit Papa one last time, but since I have this throat thing, and he's dealing with throat cancer and is still in recovery, it's probably not good to have me go anywhere near him. I have written him a letter though, and I'm gonna give it to Mama to give to him tomorrow. I hope it's okay. Seriously doubting my writing abilities. But yeah. Gonna finish letters for Mama, Rio, and Yuri tomorrow. For now, sleep. Japan will not win, I'm gonna try my damndest to finish this in one piece.

Day 125 - Fireworks Festival

I completely forgot to post yesterday. And now cannot remember what happened. What was yesterday? Saturday? Ah, right. Saturday was a flurry of packing. Woke up about 10ish and spent the entire morning and afternoon packing to go home. I even forgot to eat breakfast until after 2 or so. Furious packing rampage. I thought I would be shipping packages so I wanted to get everything completely squared away. And mostly did. Unfortunately, no shipping that night.

At about 5ish I left to go see some fireworks with Tama-chan at the Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival. It was later than we'd meant to leave, but oh well. I'd been planning on wearing my yukata in Japan for the last time, but it was so freaking hot I decided to just go with a dress. Tooooooo hot. Even in the short, light dress I wore, it was too hot. We went out to Asakusa, 'cause I guess they were doing fireworks out on the river. I keep getting myself into these situations were I don't really know what we're doing, and come along anyway. This was a great example of that.

We got to Ueno to take the Ginza line to Asakusa and it was packed. I mean, packed full, shoulder to shoulder, just to stand in line to get on the train. OMG. Tamara wore her yukata, but with a new obi and was kinda falling apart already. We did manage to get onto the train and to asakusa where we fought our way down the middle of the street to see some fireworks. It was intense. I mentioned at the beginning of my trip the crowds for club recruiting at waseda? It was nothing compared to this. I intentionally stomped a few toes just to vent my frustration at the crowd.

Still, it was astounding to see so many people and women dressed in yukata. Usually, in Japan, you can see four or five women a day dressed in traditional attire. And they're usually old ladies. On a lucky day, you see them moving in packs and get in a whole 10 or 12. This day, about 1/15 women were dressed in yukata, of so many shapes, colors, sizes, decorations, with hair bows and flowers and ties, that it was just baffling. I wish I'd taken more pictures. I wish I'd bought more yukata, or at least worn mine. But I'd look dreadfully dull in my more traditional colors against the brilliant bold colors and darks and pastels and glitter and butterflies and everything…

We did get to see some fireworks. Never really had a good shot of them though. They were really impressive. Took some video. But I think the best part was really the people, fighting to get past, listening in on conversation, rubbing elbows with hundreds of other people all charged with the excitement of just being there. Reading up on the festival itself now, it seems there's a long tradition, and while we only stayed for an hour or so, they were going off the entire time, and continue for hours. Thousands of fireworks all up and down the river. And I guess expected attendance was over a million? You never really get the feel for how many people there really are in Tokyo until you go to one of these major festivals. It was insane.

We couldn't stand it for very long. Headed back to the station, where we had our Japanese version of a mosh pit of all the people trying to shove their way into the station. No music, but plenty of stomped toes and screaming people. The ride once we got onto the train was pleasant though. Took it all the way to shibuya were we relaxed and had a quick meal before I returned home.

I think, of all the things I've done so far, this has been the most "Japan" of them all. So many people, meeting for such a Japanese-type display, wear traditional clothing. It was overwhelming, but also just utterly fantastic and I'm glad I went. I guess I was so exhausted when I got home I just forgot to post or even think about posting. I guess this means we get two posts back to back tonight.

Day 124 - Conclusion of Waseda

After doing karaoke all night, I am properly exhausted. Got home and into bed about 6:30, and promptly fell asleep. I had the air-conditioning going. Modern electronic devices are fantastic. Love 'em. Can't imagine living in Japan without them. Woke up about 11 feeling refreshed. Had a lazy brunch and slothed around for a few hours. While I was shaving my legs I got a cramp in my calf so strong and painful I literally fell over. It still hurts.

The shock of the day was that we had to be at the school by 2:45 for the closing ceremony today. I strongly recall people saying 3:30. That's when it actually started, but they wanted us seated earlier. I learned this at about 1:30. Didn't give me much time to get ready, considering the hour-long commute, and by then I was sweating again because I'd turned off the air-con. Still, managed to get there with a little time to spare. Hung out with Tamarra and her host family for a little while.

The closing ceremony itself was rather dull. I was surprised at the lack of formal dress from quite a few students. I understand maybe a plaid shirt or dark jeans, but a t-shirt, shorts and a baseball cap aren't really appropriate attire. But yeah, got my little certificate saying I attended Waseda for spring term of 2012. We had a little get-together afterwards with some food and company and carousing.

As things wound down I started to really realize that this was probably the last time I'd be seeing a lot of people. That kinda brought down my mood a little. Kenna kidnapped Tamarra and I to go to Ike. We looked around in Tokyu Hands for a little while and I managed to buy more things. I just gotta leave my money at home. This is getting ridiculous. We went to Starbucks and tried their weird, Japanese summer drinks. Very refreshing, if strange tasting. I had something with lime in it. Don't remember the name. Not bad. Just strange.

And home. I turns out that Rio brought home a cake yesterday, but since I was out Karaoke all night, I missed out. They saved me a piece and I enjoyed that tonight. They have a weird custom of putting fruit and jelly on their cakes. The moose thing was very tasty, and grapes were fine. The pear was a little strange. All in all, tasty cake. The show we watched was about men in Japan making things for their partners for their weddings. Like, a guy made a paper flower bouquet for his wife. Apparently this is a crazy strange idea, to the point of 「気持ち悪い」 I can't believe that it's soooo strange here. Japan has some strong older ideas of gender roles that make me feel a little awkward sometimes.

Less than four days.

edit: There was just another tiny earthquake. Seems like Japan doesn't want to let me go without scaring the bejeezus out of me at least one more time.

Day 123 - The Beginning of the End

Today has been a good day. Started kinda shit, but ended well. Went with my host mother this morning to take care of my insurance. I needed to cancel it before leaving Japan, but it's pretty difficult on my own. I appreciated her help, and the fact that it was done so quickly.

Headed to school straight after to go to my last class of the term (yay!!!). Got some lunch before, and actually managed to get there before the class started. To my surprise. The class itself was rather boring, but whatever, can't have everything. Hung out with Jenny after, reading while she got a little sleep.

Then it was time for the SKY TREE!!! I had been waiting for this for quite a while. We met up with the entire Oregon group to go to it. This thing is massive. I'm a little ashamed to say I didn't even know it existed before getting to Japan. The student who picked me up at the airport pointed it out to me while we were on my train, and I was completely clueless. Well, no more. I've been inside the thing. Up to the highest observation deck. Wahoo!

After that adventure, we went to have dinner as a group at an okonomiyaki restaurant. There were courses and courses of food an I ate sooooo much. Felt sick a little after. But it was wonderful to finally spend some time with the entire group of people. Too bad it was also the final time we'd do it as well. Lol.

Found out a few of us were going to do Karaoke after. Sign me up. Turns out karaoke turned into all-night karaoke. or that was the plan all along. Dunno. Either way, spent something like 5 or 6 hours with a group of cool people, singing fun songs, drinking a little, celebrating our togetherness and leaving back for eugene. Tomorrow (today?) is the closing ceremony, so it's kind of really the end here. After this I'm also graduating (I hope?) so it's kind of the end of all things college. What a way to finish. I'm exhausted, but still rather awake. It's now… 6:30. I'm gonna sleep for another 4-ish hours, then get up, get dressed kinda fancy, and go to that last ceremony. Then school is pretty much all done. For now, sleep. As much as I can.

Day 122 - Time To Present

It's toooooo hooooootttttt. Had three performances today, and they reminded me why I hate working in groups so much. One of our group members in the first class just didn't show up. Texted the guy, saying she overslept. She's just a dunce. Unfortunately, she's the only one who had the full script, and was one of the main characters. And the second person in our group to duck out. It's extremely frustrating.

The other presentations I had today weren't nearly as bad. Thankfully. I talked about cake in one, which is always enjoyable. The other was a gag-skit about people eating dogs. Japanese is weird sometimes... I don't think I would have been able to handle today if things had gone worse. The heat, it really got to me today. I know there's only like, six days left, but I don't know if I'm gonna make it. Water fountains pretty much don't exist here, and shelling out two bucks to vending machines every couple of hours to keep hydrated is really draining my expenses faster than I thought.

Came home today and did all my laundry. Gonna give packing a shot tomorrow morning, see if I can't fit mostly everything into my two bags and still keep them under 22kgs. Mama seems to be worried about me having to pay overweight baggage fees. I'm worried about strangling her in her sleep getting along well for the next few days. She's gotten a little naggy. I emailed her this afternoon asking if we could go to the ward office tomorrow to cancel my health insurance (which she's been adamantly against for no good reason) and she emailed me back about two hours later. I didn't respond because it didn't look like it needed a response. Apparently I should have. Still, we're going tomorrow. Later than I'd like, but I'll take what I can get. If I can't cancel it properly on my own, I'm gonna hand it in at the airport and let Marie know it's her problem. I know she's got her own problems, but Mama is too much for me right now.

I shouldn't let my bad experiences ruin my whole day. It's just harder at the end here to remember what was very good. Some of the skits put on by other groups in my classes were hilarious. I don't know where they get their inspiration, but I'm constantly surprised by the improv ability of my peers. I did manage all my washing, and my yukata came out of the wash just fine. I was a little worried there for a moment. Yeah, I think I'm gonna try to intentionally have something positive in these posts until I leave. Shouldn't be too hard, but I feel like I've been a bit of a downer lately.