Friday, July 28, 2006

   Missing Japan already
Listening to: "Lithium Flower" - Scott Matthews

In response to SunFallE's comment on my last entry, UT stands for University of Texas. I've discovered that I use weird abbreviations that people outside of Texas or even Rice University wouldn't know about.

I'm back, and like the heading says, I already miss Japan. It was such a fun trip, despite the fact that a lot of the kids misbehaved and we only spent a little while in Tokyo (Tome City is 3 hours away). I hope to go back.

I'll be doing a day-by-day recap of my trip on my travelogue so check out the link from the last entry. It'll include pictures as well. In the meantime, here's a top 10 of my favorite moments (no particular order):

1. The Tome City summer festival that took place over the weekend (it included performances and a parade).
2. Kendo and koto lessons.
3. Meeting and chatting with various high school students (they were excited to learn that I liked J-pop and J-rock).
4. Living in a traditional house and eating authentic Japanese meals with my host family.
5. Going to a "music shop," which I discovered is a bar and not a CD store.
6. Shopping at Jusco, which is more like a mini mall than Costco.
7. Taking pictures in the "purikura" (those Japanese photo booths).
8. Hiking up to the Golden Temple in Hiraizumi.
9. Meeting a rock band at the summer festival.
10. Attending a traditional tea ceremony.

Quote of the day:
"One kind word can warm three winter months." - Japanese proverb
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