Last one of the year!

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Hi All,
Today I move out of the dorms and into a hostel with Jenny and Annie from the States. I have to admit that this semester has been incredible and I'm not sure if I can comprehend it being over. The past week and a half has been an interesting mix of goodbye's and traveling. It was insanely difficult to say goodbye to the Ayase ladies and for awhile it was so lonely to be the only one left in the dorm. We grew so close over the four months of living here in Tokyo and it seemed unnatural and premature to have to be separated. But then someone pointed out that it is a bit unnatural in the first place to suddenly be immersed in Japan with a bunch of strangers. We had a blast, though, and part of me will always be an Ayase Lady... I've been emailing with a bunch of people who've already returned to the states, and from what I hear, the transition back into life in America is very difficult. Hard to live in such a different and foreign place for four months and then suddenly go back to your old life. A lot of people have said that they feel so different after this Tokyo experience, and yet everything at home is exactly the same... it's like Tokyo never happened.
Well, I still have about two weeks here in Japan with my two good friends and I'm really looking forward to this time. There is just SO much to do, I hope that I wear them out. It will be interesting to experience the city with them and I think that it will re-energize me and make me realize once again just how crazy Japan is. I fell into a routine and Tokyo seems like home to me, but I can remember the first few weeks of being here I felt like everything was just so different!
Last week I went to Osaka and Kobe for a few days to meet up with my friend Sheyen who goes to Cornell but lives in Kobe. I took local trains from Tokyo to Osaka and it was a super long trip (about 11-12 hours each way), but the scenery was incredible. The train went right along the coast of the ocean, passed right by Fujisan, and went through the countryside where there were little clusters of houses that looked as though they hadn't changed for centuries. There was also an unusually large snow storm between Nagoya and Kyoto and on some of the train platforms there were 3 feet of accumulated snow. Absolutely beautiful, but I have to admit the trains were not very warm and I was pretty cold a lot of the way.
In Kobe I stayed with Sheyen's family which was great. His mom is American and his dad is Japanese and all four of the kids are completely bilingual. I have a new goal to raise my kids bilingual and I think the only way to do that is marry someone who speaks another language and then live in a different country... so if anyone out there speaks another language and is looking to get married, let me know. We went with his sister to the Chinatown in Osaka which was really cool. Ate delicious ramen noodles, drank tapioca tea, took purikura (sticker pictures), even got approached by two women asking if we would do a modeling shoot. We must have looked like young parents with Sheyen's little 6 year old sister.
I ate really well at Sheyen's house; a Korean family came the night that I got there and made delicious food. I am now in love with kimchi and I can't wait to go home and eat it at Johanna's house. We also had these potato-pancake like things, so it was almost like Hannukah! Also, Sheyen's dad makes the best coffee and I'm going to save up for an espresso machine when I get back to the states and have it in my apartment next year at Cornell. Sheyen's whole family was there as it was nearing Christmas time, and it was great to be with a real family. They were so crazy and fun and welcoming, definitely distracted me from being sad about my Ayase family leaving. I also got to meet Sheyen's friends who all went to an international high school. We hung out in their usual places and it was really fun to do stuff with "locals" - a very different experience from being with other foreigners all the time. Went to Karaoke with them and then drove around the reclaimed island that their old high school is on. The sky was so clear, I could see like thirty million stars.
Coming back on the train was not as fun as going there as it got dark several hours before I arrived in Tokyo so I couldn't look at the scenery. Also, at one of the stations in Maibara, the train was an hour late and so everyone was waiting on the platform in the freezing cold for a really long time. And my ipod ran out of battery. But made it back ok and have been in the dorm since.
Christmas was an interesting experience. I missed my family sooooooooooo much and I was on the phone with the several times during the day, but it just wasn't the same. It's weird, I've always been with them on Christmas for the past 18 years and so it felt kind of strange. However, I was able to celebrate with some friends. We met at a bar in Takadanobaba (actually the same place as where Jenny and Annie and my hostel is this next week) and we lit candles of Hannukah and listened to Christmas music. And then we went to McDonald's for Christmas dinner! Ha ha, kind of pathetic, but also hilarious. I have to say, this is a Christmas that I will remember forever, as strange as it was.
I've learned a lot this semester and I'm really glad that I will be coming back next spring. There are a lot of things that I never thought I would ever experience in my life. And as cliched as it is, I will be returning to the states a stronger and more matured person. And I'll also come back with the Japanese skills of a three year old. But I'm finding through my interactions with JApanese people that I've actually picked up quite a bit of the language. Considering I came here knowing absolutely nothing (except "Domo arigato" from the Queen song), I have to say I've come a long way. And I've made some incredible friendships here that I hope will last forever. I'm ready to come home, but I think I'll come back to Tokyo often.
Take care, thanks for reading.
I'll try to do a better job of writing next semester. ha ha yeah right.

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