A Glass Half Full

With no plans made for Sunday I decided to sleep in and play it by ear. As far as I knew almost everyone was off doing something today. Nabe-chan was taking a large group to the hot springs, Dani and a few others went to Sado Island with Professor Brown's son, and Mike and Roshan went to the beach. I woke up around 10 and found my roommate was back from the dance party he and a few others had gone to. I hadn't even heard him come in last night, I was completely out.

After Alex got up and after I did some laundry, we went next door to see if Saiyu wanted to go get something to eat. He and Ronnie joined us and we went over to Saizeriya. Little Ronnie managed to out eat all of us guys, although I'm not entirely surprised, seems like everyone in this country can eat more then me. I asked Saiyu and Ronnie some questions about China (they're both Chinese students studying abroad). Ronnie was actually kind of surprised that I knew of the area she was from (Dalian). They both want to travel to America to attain graduate degrees in English some day. I hope they do, I think it would be a good experience for them.

We took Alex to Saiyu's favorite hair salon to get him a haircut. It was pretty much exactly like an American hair salon, except the service was probably better. After the haircut we headed back to Saiyu's place and hung out while watching Lord of the Rings 2. Yuu came down and joined us for a while. I headed back to my room to study but I ended up taking a long nap. I woke to hear Seth and Alex talking outside so I headed out. The bus with the spa group showed up as I walked out and they announced we had been invited to a barbecue hosted by the Katagiri family.

I convinced as many people as I could to come to the barbecue, I really wanted them to meet the Katagiri's and experience the kindness that I had over the home stay. Even Yuu agreed to come along with us. Hisako and a friend came to help haul us over to the village. She was as full of energy as ever, such a wonderful woman. Once at the village we parked the cars at the new house and took the scenic route over to the old house. I played tour guide as best I could, although I hardly had to say anything about the old house, it was impressive without a word being spoken about it. I took Seth, Alex, and Yuu up to the shrine and then back down the mountain. When we got back to the house food was just starting to be served.

At the house we met Justine, a Canadian that was apparently teaching English locally. She was very friendly, I'd like to talk to her more about how she came to be here. The entire night was filled with amazing food and good fun. I wandered into the kitchen a few times to joke around with Hisako and Nabe-chan. Hisako's husband got drunk once again and had most of the guys drinking with him. Eventually all the food was eaten and the night died down to small talk and joking around. We got together for group pictures, an all too common thing these days, but something we all desire. These pictures along with our memories will more then likely be all that binds our lives together after these last 2 weeks end. Hisako's friend and Nabe-chan drove us back home and we all wandered into our individual apartments.

This ends my first two weeks in Japan. Half of my time here is now over. I haven't regretted a single second of it. Every new experience has been outstanding, I feel like my mind has opened farther than I could ever imagine. 15 days ago I had never travelled overseas, never visited a country where no one spoke my language, never submitted myself to a continuous torrent of new experiences. My only regret now is that I waited until I was 22 to do this. The places I have seen, the people I have met, even the food I have tried, I know has changed me in some way. No matter where I go now I will never see the world the same. We are strangers from the other side of the planet who don't speak the same language, yet tonight I was able to make people smile and laugh, which is one of the best parts of life in my opinion. The definition of friendship has been redefined for me, its a much more powerful thing now. I will spend the next two weeks making these friendship strong enough that they will last forever, that is my dream.

This trip isn't over, I'm not going to countdown the days to the end. I'm going to get up every morning ready for a new adventure, and I'm going to keep going all-out. No regrets, no quitting, no looking back. Live everyday as if we'll never see each other again.

Everyone after a wonderful dinner. I'll never forget
the Katagiri's and their incredible kindness.
Thank you.