Things I miss from America and my Brackin's abroad

Wow, so I am looking at pictures on Facebook now from friends back home. SChool has just started and it seems that for everyone still there in Maryville, life is going on as usual. It's so weird to see the same apartments and dorms but not to be in any of the pictures! I'll always miss my college days. I don't think it's homesickness so much as it is just the realization that college is only four years of your life, and it has to come to an end. None of us will ever be in the same place all together again. Now we're in California, Texas, Iowa, Nashville, Ghana, the Phillipines, Germany, Scotland, France, Russia, Peru, Boston, Japan, Korea... you name it and my friends have probably moved away to it. I also made a list of things I love and miss from America, both for my friends' amusement, and to explain them to Japanese readers.

-Redbull! No energy drink in Japan tastes as good or works as well as this. Redbull will keep you wired for the next 10 years, and then you will never sleep again and become an insomniac. Also, I have lots of inside joks with friends back home about it, especially about Redbull crashes during final exam week.

-Hookah bars!!!!!! Whether at someone's home or at one of the various hookah bars that are springing up around the country, it is the perfect place to relax with friends. You can smoke flavored tobacco out of a hookah which is always really nice and smooth (I don't usually smoke, but this is very nice! My favorite is pomegranate or rose flavor) and drink tea and eat awesome Middle Eastern foods... also, they will never chase you out! You can seriously lounge around all night if you like

-Parties in my apartment, at Adam's, or at Rommy's! We always had the best crowds with people who loved dancing! No one here seems to be into dancing, and so I miss jumping around at Adam's or dancing salsa at Rommy's house!

-Brackins Blues Bar!!! The bar right over the bridge from campus was our home away from home. The bartenders all knew us and what we wanted to drink, and it was our haven after exams (after margaritas with our professors at Cancun, of course!!!)

-My boyfriend. Ok, that is obvious, right? But we're both moving around the world so much these days that there's almost no chance of us living in the same city. He's going to live in Germany, Scotland, and America in the next two years.

Luckily, I found a Brackin's-esque blues bar here in Wakkanai that I like called BB Music Club. The people are really friendly and relaxed and they play great live music! Akiko took me there a few weeks ago. The place is small, so everyone knows everyone and jokes around and stuff. The bartender/owner is a cool guy in his 40's maybe with long grey hair in a ponytail and lots of Native American and Ainu accessories strewn about. I told him that his bar reminded me of home, and it made him really really happy.


Oh yeah, and things I DON'T miss:
-Driving. I hate driving.
-American coffee... sorry but it tastes like dirt. The coffee in Japan is amazing!!! It's really strong, usually.

Ok, so that's my rant on how weird it is to see you kids back at Maryville doing all the same old stuff. I miss you guys lots!

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