The Final Day.

Well today was the last day of my trip. It started around 8:00 when we were called to breakfast on the second floor. Here we could see some of the other guests in the common eating room. There was a 30-something man to my left, four little old ladies to the right of us, a girl in her PJ's and her mother just beyond them and a Japanese girl with her white boyfriend, both dressed in yukata, across and to the right. Breakfast was a bit more edible than dinner. I had miso soup, rice, and green tea.

This was taken a bit before the seating arrangement described above.

Random note, tartan skirts in a school uniform is just about the most ingenious idea of all time. Also, During my stay in Japan, I've seen many couples, young and old, formal and casual, and what have you. Whenever I do see them though, I think to myself what it would be like if I was a Japanese person living in Japan. It seems that most Japanese will date and eventually marry another a Japanese, as there are few other options really. However in the USA, we have all kinds of different people who speak a lot of different languages. And while I'm not saying the Japanese are all alike in every way (which they aren't of course; they're all very unique actually), its just interesting to think that they will more likely than not always end up with someone who speaks only their one language and is likely another full Japanese person. I'm not sure if I can really articulate the thought that so frequently came to mind during my stay.

So after checkout and all that, we found our way to the Haruka Limited Express, a train that goes directly into Kansai International Airport (Osaka). Before boarding, I noticed the seats automatically turn around entirely to face the opposite side of the train when ready to leave for the airport. Lucky for me, my seat was one of two in our car that didn't have another right next to it, so I had extra space. As we headed for the airport, a shinkansen passed in the distance on a parallel track. It was interesting to see one move at top speed from the outside, as I had only seen it move from within before. Traveling in between major city hubs is nice because things are much simpler. There are houses in sight, and next to the track for that matter, for pretty much the entire duration of the train ride. As we traveled on, I could see a bike on the riverbank with a man sitting near, fishing alone. Just past that was a dirt lot with a bunch of old men playing something with long poles. I suppose it could have been shuffleboard, or something similar.

A bit of Japanese graphic design for a Mr. Marco Lucadano (This was on the train).

I'll also mention that I didn't see the slightest bit of xenophobia during my trip. I occasionally read articles where some Japanese are rude to gaijin (foreigners) or altogether ban them from establishments and so on. In fact, some were interested in me without my special shirt to catch their attention. If you recall back in "Akihabara Electric Town and Yuya-san" in the last substantial paragraph, I mention that some school girls in uniform looked over at me smiling, and then waved.

So eventually we arrive at KIX (the airport) with approximately 7 hours to kill until our flight. By now I was long already out of money, so Okaasan graciously offered me 20 USD, which I traded for yen. Afterward I bought a girly teenage fashion magazine titled, "Popteen." I must say I enjoy Japanese fashion magazines very much. Around 1:00 we searched for food on the second and third floor and I discovered one such establishment that sold "Ried Potatoes." After lunch I had a Japanese sweet crepe, which I was already familiar with before leaving the states, but nonetheless thoroughly enjoyed as if it were a brand new experience entirely. After killing even more time and getting through baggage, security, and outgoing immigration, we arrived at a dead end where we would then need to take a brief monorail ride to our gate. Have you ever heard of such a thing? Oh and for whatever reason we were upgraded to economy plus (5 inches of extra space and our own screen with controls for choosing which movie we want to watch) and it was quite nice.

Sweet potato flavored ice cream?

Is this really such a frequent problem that a sign needs to be put up?

On the plane I watched the movie Horrible Bosses twice. I remember seeing the commercials for it around its theater date and wanting to go see it, but I never got around to it. If you know me well, you know I am quite critical of movies and very rarely actually want to go out and see them unless I know beforehand that I would enjoy them. That aside though, it was consistently hilarious from beginning to end and needless to say I enjoyed it. There was also an episode of some science channel show narrated by Morgan Freeman about black holes that was really interesting, but I won't get into that. When we got home, Sake-chan was extremely happy to see me, and I her. She's been very vocal all day and from the sound of her voice I can tell she missed me lots.

So anyway, I'm sure there's more to say about each part of my trip, but I'm done for now at least. Ask me anything you want, specific or otherwise, in person or on Facebook if you'd like. I remember lots of little details that I didn't include in the blog for various reasons. I also have hundreds more pictures (and some videos I may upload soon).

So until next time,
Daniel