In the Narita International Airport

After checking out of the dorm and loading onto the bus at 12, I was worried that we might be cutting it a little close time-wise, since my flight is at 4 PM, and it takes about 2 hours to drive from Waseda to Narita (since downtown Tokyo is in a constant state of rush hour). The drive, however only took about 1 hour, 45 minutes and I didn't have to wait in any lines at all to check in or to get through security. I wasn't expecting the massive international airport to be the least crowded place I've visited so far in Japan.

I did end up paying an extra $50 since one of my checked bags was too heavy. I didn't want to stress out about what to keep and what to dump on the spot, so I said screw it and paid for the convenience. (and to keep my pillow)

So I still have a half an hour to kill until my flight boards, even after getting on this 100 yen for 10 minutes terminal to check my Facebook and E-mail and write this blog post.

Glad to be coming home, but I still have a long journey ahead of me...

Last day in Tokyo

After the going away lunch, a group of us went to karaoke this afternoon for a couple hours. It was fun, though I imagine it's more fun with alcohol involved (even on our last day, 2 PM is just a bit too early). For dinner we went to an excellent ramen place and got one last delicious meal of Japanese ramen and gyoza.

After that, we decided to have a little party in Kevin and Ethan's dorm room, so I ended up buying this small bottle of sake because it's name was 男山 which literally means "Man Mountain." It wasn't very good (I'm not that big on sake) but it was totally worth it for the bottle.

We also spent a section of the evening trying to find ways to spend Alan's big bag of coins that he had accumulated throughout the program. I'm pretty sure the Wendy's and that convenience store kind of hate us now...

Tomorrow the plan is to get up (having packed entirely the night before, ie right now), go to the bakery and grab some stuff for breakfast and lunch, check out of the dorm at 11, leave on the bus at 12, leave on my plane at 4, land in Moline at 8:30 (I told Mom and Dad 8, but it's actually 8:30!), arrive home around 10, shower, and sleep on a real mattress in my own room.

I'm gonna miss Japan, and I'm especially going to miss all the people I've met here, but I'm getting really anxious to be home.

PICS HERE

Turning into a slacker

So I totally went to class today, took the quiz at the beginning, then left. The rest of the class period was going to be devoted to giving presentations about our "self-study" (at the beginning of the program, we wrote down what we wanted to practice on our own and checked our progress every week or so) which I had not prepared for at all (by conscious choice). If I did do it, my only choices would have been to either lie or embarrass myself (I only did the minimum amount of studying outside of class), and since I've done well enough in the class until now, I decided to cash in on that goodwill on the last day.

In other news, I decided since I've been in Japan for 6 weeks and only really had sushi once, I should go and eat real Japanese sushi one last time. I went with a few people to a nice little place by the station and it was really tasty. Afterwards, having eaten a healthy meal of fish, rice, and salad, we decided to balance things out by getting dessert at Mister Donut, an excellent Japanese donut chain.

While eating our yummy, unhealthy donuts, we discussed what our third meal should be if we wanted to continue our downward spiral into heart disease and diabetes. We decided the ultimate evening of starting healthy and ending dead was as follows:

1. Sushi

2. Donuts

3. The "Tamago Double-Mac" at McDonalds (a limited time sandwich in Japan with two patties and an egg, which me and Jane still want to try)

4. Lying in the gutter eating Pixy Stix.

Later in the evening, I tried this Final Fantasy licensed energy drink that I picked up in Akihabara before. I assume it was an energy drink, at least that would explain at least partially why it was so terrible. The can was cool, though (FFVI FTW!)

PICS HERE

Ninja no minasan to isshou!

So for the going away party tomorrow all the classes are doing some sort of presentation such as a speech, but we are really able to do whatever we choose.

My class is totally doing the Pythagoras Switch Algorithm March.

Epic win.

Namjatown!

Went with Kevin, Vincent, and Tasha to this theme park in Ikebukuro called Namja Town this evening. Our main intention there was to visit the haunted house portion, which was fun (the best part, though, was when we were long out of the scary part and Kevin was startled by some people getting massages in another part of the park). While the first floor was a variety of cool looking games and stuff (most of which we didn't try, since our Japanese was insufficient for solving mysteries and capturing ghosts) the second floor was a huge maze of ice cream and crepe restaurants and stands.

In one of the restaurants we saw that they served the largest float we'd ever seen, so we all threw down and shared a giant melon soda float. About halfway through drinking it (each taking turns drinking from our respective straws in clockwise order) we realized that if Tasha hadn't been there, this would have been about the gayest thing we'd ever done. The thought of (if the girl hadn't been there) the three of us guys sharing a float, then realizing halfway through how queer we looked was just too funny.

Following that, we wandered around for a bit, then I got some gelato shaped like Rock Lee's face from the anime Naruto. It was pretty awesome, and pretty tasty, too.

Pics from Shibuya yesterday and Namja Town today (being uploaded as I post)

Just finished packing up the majority of my stuff

Space wasn't a problem at all (There will be no need to dump my socks, though I'll be leaving my pillow I bought here and maybe my towel behind). My only worry now is that my checked baggage will be too heavy, so I'm trying to balance everything between by checked and carry on luggage as best as possible.

Having eaten at Anna Miller's this afternoon (tasty, though the pie was sub-par), that concludes my list of things to do in Japan. All that's left is a little last-minute shopping tomorrow, and I'm ready to go home.

Fight-Ohh... OH!

Went and saw Gokusen: The Movie (based on the drama of the same name) tonight. It was just as cheesy, silly, and wonderful as I hoped.

The plot followed the same pattern as pretty much every episode in the series, so it was pretty easy to follow. I've only seen the first season, and that was a long time ago, so I didn't fully appreciate all the old characters being brought back, though.

Definitely worth the 1200¥ ticket and the 650¥ popcorn and coke.

Tomorrow we're going to Anna Miller's (for reals this time) for lunch, then this haunted house themed restaurant in Ikebukuro that we heard about for dinner. That evening I plan to pack, and then devote Wednesday to any final shopping I have to/want to do.

Now it's homework time~