Gaijin Smash

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First of all, I figured I'd do an overview of the trip and then break it down by certain trips/pictures. I left JFK for a five and a half hour plane ride to Seattle, then 12 hours from Seattle to Kansai International Airport. I've never experienced the amount of anxiety or culture shock more than when I first arrived in Japan. I had to clear customs (people in the Kansai area don't speak a lot of English), pick up my ripped luggage from the baggage claim, and take out 2,000 yen from an ATM. I was fully aware of the exchange rate, but the first time you take out yen it feels like you're emptying your bank account and I was basically hyperventilating. Not only was I exhausted from jetlag, but I left everything and everyone behind that I had ever known. Saying goodbye to my boyfriend of 3 and a half years, and my mom and two sisters was the hardest thing I had ever done. On the shuttle to the school, all I felt was fear and regret. I couldn't stop crying as I thought about what a mistake I had made and doubted myself for ever thinking of going to Japan of all places. As we were about to get off at the school, one of my classmates that I never got to see after the departure from the shuttle, offered me a tissue and told me everything was going to be okay. That was the beginning of the longest week of my life. After a month of stumbling around Hirakata City where my school was located, and trying to meet all of the 40 international students I lived with, I started learning things to help me get by. I couldn't order food (I didn't even know what half of it was) or use chopsticks, I didn't know which stores sold what things (so used to going to Walmart for everything I need), I had trouble with the train systems, and I found that Japanese was harder to learn than almost any other language I had started before.

I know that this is going to sound a little weird, but the day it turned around for me was the day I found out about heated toilet seats. There's nothing better than not knowing what you're about to experience as you sit on the comfortable heated throne to do your business. I started forcing myself to go out with my housemates, talked to the RA's constantly (they were so helpful) and planning more daytrips so I could start actually enjoying the country I knew I may never get to see again. I learned to cook rice and how to order the foods I found out I liked (which is most of it), I bonded with people, and I finally started to open up to the experience.

My school was in the Osaka prefecture, but I traveled also to Kyoto, Nara, Kobe, and Tokyo, which was pretty much everything I needed (I wanted to take a trip to Okinawa and Yokohama, but I didnt have the resources or money). Needless to say, Tokyo was the highlight of my trip. One of my housemates got sick the first month, and the otousan and okaasan that were in charge of our house being traditional Japanese people, locked him in a separate room for a week even though he was feeling better after a day. Since he had so much free time, he planned our trip to Tokyo for Golden Week (I think there's about 3 holidays in Golden Week but everyone travels in Japan during this time). When the time came, about 20 of us took a nightbus, which was the most uncomfortable thing in the world, to our first stop in Ikebukuro. During the week, I got food poisoning from a bar called beersaurus, we got rained on almost everyday, visited the famous meiji shrine and harajuku, stayed at a ryokan, visited one of the largest sex shops in the world, and drank until our livers couldn't take it anymore, which is a must in Japan since the clubs and bars are ridiculously awesome.

Overall, by the time I got home I realized that it was the best decision I ever made and I now have lifelong friends from all over the world I talk to almost everyday

"kanpai gaidai"

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