2/3/2011
I have been home three days, and I am just now sitting down to write…. Wow. I’ve got a lot to write about. Lets see if I can catch up. Here we go.
First off I ended school, got a few photos, and even got a few souvenirs. After that I realized I only had three days left in Japan. Well that didn’t mean I could relax. I had to get home to finish arranging the last of my luggage and clean my room so that my host family could move Luna’s stuff in. Not a bad thing, I got done pretty quickly.
When I got home I saw my host dad actually put together a computer! It was soo cool.
Well I was told I would have to get my bye, I barrowed during my stay, from where my school was to my host’s home. It was a little scary thinking I had to do that, but it sounded like fun. But the day I had to do it, my host dad picked it up with his car. Bummer…. But thoughtful of him. That night I got to see Heramatsu again, and Kumiko. Only this time I didn’t expect to see, heramatsu’s family!!!! Thy were soo nice, and I got to see Heramatsu’s room! It was soo cool! Posters on his wall, records and cds everywhere, it was the room that… almost every guy in America wanted!!
Well after chatting a bit, and obsessive gawking over the huge list of British artists, we finally got to see Kumiko. She joined us for a while, and then we were off to eat Tsukiyaki! Heramatsu’s part time job and one of my favorite foods. I ate it at the first party I had, and the last party I had in Japan. It was so sad. We ate ice cream at Basken Robbins afterwards. I ended the night talking with kumiko on the train home.
One thing the three of us talked about the most is Having Heramatsu, kumiko, and Natsumi come to America sometime. I exchanged emails and I hope I can keep in touch. So far so good.
Sunday was…. Difficult. My host dad, for the third time the past three weeks, brought up the issue of baggage. I don’t know if he wanted me to mail it or what, but the third time he went ballistic. It didn’t help that he kept thinking I didn’t understand everything. I won’t go into detail because it upsets me still, but lets just say that I tried doing it the cheapest way possible, and my host father wanted me to do it the fastest way possible, and no one knew what the true restrictions were for the airline. (Turns out I was right since I got here ok.)
Anyway, I managed to calm down enough, and so did my host dad. The next morning everyone but my host grandparents had to leave early. So I had quick goodbyes with most of them. I was very stressed at during this soo I didn’t know what to do.
When it came to saying goodbye to my host grandma is when it got hard.
She cried, I cried, and we said our goodbyes.
They helped me get my bags to the train station, and (after putting on a huge show struggling with my bags) I was off, headed for home.
The ADVENTURE home. (now I know all this is kinda short, but it all flew by really fast. So my goodbyes and plane ride seemed a lot like a dream. Actually all of Japan seemed like a dream, like I was in a comma actually.)
Ok we’ll start at the train station, Konosu. I was trying to juggle my bags and get everything situated for the adventure, while also saying constant good byes to my host grandma, and buying my train ticket at the same time. So something had to happen. Actually two things happened. One, I didn’t check the table to get the right ticket. I had enough money, (in fact I had planned to be charged extra money at every checkpoint I came across.)
Anyway I bought the ticket and went to the gate to check about the extra fee (I was told there would be, by my host grandpa.) well… there was none. One problem solved. Lucky me. I go through and take the tran from Konosu to Omiya. Yay!!!
Then I realized my mistake. I might of paid to little for my ticket. I thought it over, and thankfully was able to think clearly, I can just pay the rest at Omiya train station like before. After some more struggles, and a discovery that baggage wheels and going fast is bad, and that in Japan the only people willing to stop and help you are the old ladies, and very nice guys. (They helped me with the elevator. J) Anyway, I took a pit stop, and then went to the end station counter. This got confusing.
I told the lady I had made a mistake with the ticket. I just could tell her what kind of mistake, but eventually we got it worked out. Turns out…. No mistake. I paid full fair. I have got to be the luckiest guy ever! I didn’t even pay attention when I bought that, my host grandma was worried and talking to her and balancing my bags was hard! So I just picked one and went. Who knew I had suck luck!
Problem two solved.
Next… bathroom break. I was early for the bus and I had to go.
After that, I played, find the camera charger! I thought I had lost it, (and didn’t find it till I got part way home.) so I was digging through my bags a while. This didn’t give me much time for lunch. How fast a half hours go by. I grabbed a doughnut, and fallowed the signs (and my host dad’s map) to the busses. I spent a whole half hour looking for the Narita bus for the airport. It wasn’t until Heramatsu showed up that I was helped….. HERAMATSU!??
He ditched school to say goodbye…. Ditching school is…. Very bad in Japan. But he wasn’t the only one. One of my other classmates Take, came to say goodbye as well!!!
I was soo excited!! I didn’t realize what was going on, but one minute I was listening to Heramatsu the next I was listening to my host Dad on Yokomichi’s (my area coordinator) cell phone! (WHERE DID SHE COME FROM!? I though she would meet me at the bus stop!) turns out the bus stop for Narita was separate to the other busses. So after fallowing Hermatsu, we got there with thirty minutes to spare.
We didn’t do much. I fallowed Heramatsu and Take around, (By the way, my image of heramatsu changed very fast over the last month. Sometimes he can seem very Mature, but he still a kid in my eyes. Just saying.) anyway listening to him made me smile. He was (sorry IS) someone I would not forget.
The bus came, I shook Take’s hand, GOT A HUG FROM HERAMATSU, and also a hug from Ms. Yokomichi (surprising since we had a bit of a fight the day before.) I boarded the bus. (I think everyone felt bad I was going to be leaving Japan with no goodbye when I think about it. Because they all seemed a bit surprised when I told them I would be leaving alone. Must be why Heramatsu and Take Came. Well I don’t care, weather it was because it was courtesy or because we were friends, or both, but I loved the goodbye.) So, with my Teddybear “rirakuma” I was off to the airport.
The ride there was amazing. I took so many pictures of Tokyo Tower, and the cities I passed.. And the highway was, like a roller coaster!
After a while I got to Narita airport. And a couple of the Airline Employees were waiting for me! They spoke English and the girl was really friendly. Wish I got a picture wit here, she was pretty, and all the other People of the bus loved the way she ran in her heels. She was amusing. She spoke English really well. She even showed me the last Japanese mall, (in the airport.) I went to buy the COOLEST souvenirs ever, but not before checking my bags in…….
Checking in the bags was……. Quick and easy. I paid no extra fees! I managed just fine. (Bragging isn’t nice so what I my ‘I told you so’ comment, is very mild.. besides, I like my host dad… he gave me a lot of help in Japan.)
Problem three, gone and vanished.
So I got in the airport ok, said goodbye to my alien registration card I got when I came here, and… went to go eat a REAL lunch. My last meal in Japan. A muffin, and sandwich.
I was told there was another student leaving, and it was Alex, the guy I bunked with at the beginning of the trip COOL. He showed up late. But it was cool. After being a disaster with feet, (my carry ons almost doubled after I got the souvenirs.) We managed to get two seats together.
The flight was long, Alex and I talked, a lot at the beginning, and slept… or did homework (Alex) at the end.
Alex seemed to have changed host families twice, but over all had a good time. I had a lot of frustrations, but also had a good time. Who had the better trip? I still don’t know, and rather don’t care. It doesn’t matter. I seem of had better contact with the others then Alex.
Well we got to America, split up, (I got lost in San Fran’s airport, but managed to do Ok) and we were off home.
The first thing that shocked me About America when I returned home was… the friendliness of the people. The second, the jerkiness of them all. The third, how UN organized everyone was and the maddening way to get home.
The flights were long. I stunk, and After a few troubling conversations with other American’s I realized… I was going to have a hell of a time re adjusting.
On the last plane, I was told it had rained in Tucson, my home, so when I looked out the window for the first time since I got on the plane in California, I saw my home for the first time and I thought….. ‘it looks like a giant mud puddle.’ ….. just great right? I don’t know why I was so grumpy, but I was.
When I got off the plane… I chose to go to the bathroom to wash my face. I was living the 31st of January twice, and I have been on three stuffy planes. So I smelled, but That didn’t mean I had to look bad. I wanted to look nice for my family. I did pretty good too, but… when your as out of it as I was, you don’t notice much. Anyway.
The four people I saw once I got down the escalator out were my mom, my step mom, my dad, and…….. my little sister running at full speed. ….she’s kinda dramatic… but…. I didn’t care, I wanted to look like an idiot (a really cool idiot.) so I ran…. Three steps.. before I got tired. … got my hugs, (I was so tired that I kinda hugged the first person who moved, it was my mom, but then my dad did something, so I somehow changed direction. My dad realigned me though, nice thump on the head… see its those kinda moments that get me into trouble.)
Well I then gave my little sister her first present. Pokemon (her favorite.) but the newest ones from Japan that are not even out in America yet! COOL!! Nothing big for me, but when I was like my little sister, I always heard stories or saw tv shows that have Family travel, and they always bring back awesome stuff for the kids that are so new its not even out yet in America, and well…. I wanted to be that person. I think it worked. If not…. Bummer, by little sister needs to watch more TV then.
From that point on I never shut up. I remember going to eat a breakfast dinner, waiting a long time, not caring. And a few other things, but again… I was so tired I can’t remember a lot of it.
Well ok. I got to go to sleep now. I still haven’t had a good night’s sleep, but I have had a good day’s night sleep. So I am making progress.
