Today was unlike any other day I had. Today I was able to visit Midori’s school in Kyoto and go shopping in the mall. Kaori, Midori and I got out of the house around 8:30ish to get Midori to school on time. She is a nursing student at Tachibana University located in the mountains of Kyoto. With an easy train ride to Kyoto and a 20 minute walk up the mountain to campus, we made it to her school. As we arrived to the school I noticed there were all Japanese students and professors, except for one British professor who teaches English. I’m still not use to being a minority in Japan. But at her school it seemed like I was famous like Brad Pitt. People also tend to stare at me, I felt very uncomfortable ... read more

I woke up and was immediately ready to go for the day. Kaori and I didn’t have any plans but I did want to get some things and sights see more than just the house. After breakfast with the Midori we all took off to Osaka Aeon mall. I grabbed my coat and I bolted out of the door to the bikes which were in fact in front of the house. I was taught about the locks on the bike which are small little loops that are on every bike. I finished my locking lesson and biked for a second to get use to it. I felt kind of like a child until I got out of the area. I WAS OVERWHELDMED BY BIKERS!!! This was a completely different biking experience than going on any American ... read more

Before we begin I am not a writer, nor have I ever wanted to be a writer, It’s not what I’m good at. Besides that everything has been both exciting and crazy at the same time. Our adventure starts with Kaori and me in Minnesota. For the first time I got to pass through those full body scans, which was very uncomfortable. Before that we had to wait for the front check in counter personnel to finish breakfast at 4:15am even though passengers and formed a line at 3:50am to get on the plane. What a joke! After arriving in Chicago I came upon the first “duty free” shop were Kaori went to buy some goodies for friends and family. The flight to Canada felt the same even though ‘secretly’ it is the first country other ... read more