~*Japan Aftermath*~

I've been home for almost two weeks.... I stopped writing in my blog for a while because things got REALLY crazy!! I really wish I could have written more while I was in Japan....but I guess now is the best time to reflect on my last week or so in Japan before I write about the aftermath of Japan.

My last two posts were more of reflective posts then they were updating all that had happened.

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So I was right. A lot can happen in 11 days. And a lot happened INDEED.

To start things off, I felt that I had lost some one really important to me...I was kinda tossed aside by a friend and was completely ignored for awhile. I'm not sure what I did wrong to invoke those kind of negative feelings towards me but it happened nonetheless Y_Y;; But I strengthened other friendships and even made a lot more new friends.

For example, Adrian and I had a lovely adventure together <3 We did cosplay purikura together! XD I think it was AKB48 outfits we were but it was AWESOME! Our purikura booth was named "Heroine Face".....I didn't quite understand what kind of advertising they were trying to do with a name like that...but oh well! It sold Adrian and I XD
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I also went to a place called Jamunji 55 with Kitty on a Thursday. It was slow at first....not a lot of people were there and we got there kinda early as we waited for Brenna and her friends to get there. Then we met two of the cutest girls I have ever met <3 Yuri and Arisa ^_^ Kitty and I sat and chatted with them for a super long time just having girl-talk! They were so amazing! <3 Their English was really good, too, which made up for mine and Kitty's low-vocacbulary Japanese!

It's funny....Almost all of my American friends would say that Japanese guys are the hottest. If I could place a bet, I would say that most of my friends would rather date Japanese boys then American boys. But then I found out from Arisa and Yuri that they MUCH prefer American guys and that Japanese boys are lame. The grass is always greener on the other side, isn't it? ^_^ Kinda interesting!

The night picked up quite a bit and Brenna and her friends from the guest house showed up. And Kitty and I tried to get this Swedish guy (with blonde hair and blue eyes! Very cute!) to sit over there and talk with Yuri and Arisa since they love foreign boys so much! ^_~ I have so much Ricey Gomez in me! Trying to play matchmaker with my friends and stuff...<3

In the end, I met two other people that really impacted my life--Abe-chan and Jun-chan! The first Japanese Christians I had come across! Kitty and I sat and chatted with them for a really long time!! It was so amazing! Plus, they were also fluent in English so it was really easy to chat with them! I got to learn so much about the problems Christians face in Japan.... I really do wish them the best of luck and I hope they can find a way to practice their beliefs freely with out any problems their family and friends give them...

Oh! And Jamunji was also the place Brenna had an awesome night <3 But that's between me and her! ^_~ hee hee!

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Rawr....I really wish I would have taken more pics of my last two weeks as well as wrote in my blog. I'm not quite sure what events happened first or what happened in chronological order! Oh well...I guess I'll just drabble....I guess its not important when things happened but just the fact that they happened.
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Kitty and I really enjoyed hanging out with Jun and Abe so much that we wanted to meet them for karaoke one night ^_^ Sodany and Wooyong came with us!! We had an AWESOME time! Nothing is better than listening to two Japanese guys trying to sing Engrish! hahahaha!! It was such a memorable night! We ate dinner at an Izakaya first off and finished the night with Umeshuu at karaoke! I got to sing more of my favorite songs like "Hikari" and "Alones" ^_^ Ahhhhhhhhhhh definitely the best karaoke night ever ;^;

We finished the night with a round of Purikura! ;D It was great!!

And a hopskip and a memory later.....

CAMIKET!

Oh gosh.....Well....what to say about Camiket?? It was definitely....an experience.... Camiket was an alleged anime convention going on in Tokyo. It was near the Kasai dorm so I met up with Marc and we decided to check it out together.

We....were thoroughly disappointed. It wasn't like the cons we have in America. Well, it was a doujinshi con so I'm not quite sure what we're expecting. Maybe we were expecting a lot less yaoi, hentai, furries, and lolicon things everywhere.... Not to mention, cosplay there wasn't the same as it is in America. In America, people walk around in cosplays and you can go up to them ask for their picture. At Camiket, you could only really take pictures of cosplayers outside. A lot of the cosplayers inside were actual cosplay models (MY DREAM AND ASPIRATION!) and you weren't allowed to take their pictures since they're paid to advertise certain products or series...

So yeah...a tiny bit disappointed with Camiket. But Marc and I managed to still have a good time snickering at everything. We eventually gave up and went to Akiba for the last time. I needed to buy some souvenirs for people so it was a great idea!! ^_^ I got C.J. a Monster Hunter rug for his new apartment <3 yayyyyy!!

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So if Camiket was on Saturday, then that meant that Harajuku Adventures with Sodany, Adrian, and Kitty happened on Sunday.

It. Was. So. Much. Fun.

Before you ask, yes, I ended up buying another cosplay since it was my last visit to Harajuku...<3 I wanted to buy Analee a maid dress just like the black that I bought ($25) since she had given me money but they were lacking in their inventory so they didn't have any in her size T____T So I decided I would give her mine and I would make up for it by buying me a new one ^_^ So...I bought a Ryomou Shimei cosplay XD I was planning on cosplaying her back in high school but I pushed her to the side since I had so many other cosplays I wanted to do....So for about $20, I bought the dress and then I bought a wig for her for $9 ^_^ Money well spent! Plus, Analee said she would let me use her maid dress whenever I do maid Aigis/Yukari/Lucy so it all works out! hahahaha!

But anyways, we had a lovely time at Harajuku! We went back to the thrift store and I got to try on a dress that we all thought was a hot mess the first time we had adventures together XD hahahaha! It was so much fun! I also got to go by KIDDY LAND which I didn't get to go to before! This time, I didn't eat a crepe....I wish I would have....Little did I know I missed my last chance to indulge in a crepe ;_;

After Harajuku, we decided to hit up Shibuya and go to Tokyo Womb. Ehhhh....it was a bit of a let down.... I was disappoint :l I thought it was supposed to be Tokyo's hottest dance club!! Instead, it was UBER expensive and all it was was a bunch of people staring at the DJ, not really dancing. The music was AMAZING though! Why wasn't anybody dancing?? People would just bob their head to the music and occasionally fist pump in the air. There were A LOT of people, too!! I just don't understand why they wouldn't dance... I danced with my girls and swayed to the music but I didn't really feel....well, alive, if you know what I mean. I just love dancing ^_^;;

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After the dance club, the following week got a little.....well, strange. I might keep some of this stuff to myself... I have a feeling I won't be forgetting 'Betty' or the weird things that followed ಠ_ಠ I really need to not trust people so much.... Bad things ALWAYS happen...

Buuuuuuuuuuut <3 I had an AWESOME time with Brenna and Sodany when we went to an Izakaya with Brenna's friends from the guest house ^_^ Er...I know I said I was done with Izakayas but this was a special occasion <3 After all, we would be leaving Japan in about a week...

So I met a lot of new friends and made some wonderful memories with them! ^_^ Lois and Kennedy were awesome! And of course, it was awesome seeing Koji and Kent again! Sayuri....was a mess but it was funny!

And then bad things happened again......but that's more stuff I'll probably keep to myself. Not my story to tell or even my place to tell it.

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And then cake happened. In Tokyo, there's this place called Sweets Paradise! Sweets Paradise is an all you can eat cake buffet!!! ^___^ Let's just say....I'm really glad I didn't go there before my last week in Japan....why? Because I would have gotten addicted and I would have gotten fat. Because it was FANTASTIC!! I'll be sure to post some pics up on this blog at a later date ^_^ It was DELICIOUS!!!!

And then more crazy things happened because a certain person didn't really understand what was going on.....*le sigh*

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And then....before I knew it, it was time for the final exam.

And then it was the graduation ceremony for the summer short term students.

And then it was good-bye.....

Two months had never seem to go as fast as it had while I was in Japan. One minute I was having a great time with my friends, exploring the great cities of Japan! The next, I was in my room packing and sobbing because I had to say good-bye to my host family....

What happened? Where did my study abroad trip go? And now I'm back in Alabama....getting ready to embark on another journey to Disney. I leave in about 5 days. Things are starting to become a blur...

Japan was.....well, it was an adventure. It was everything I had hoped for and more. I had a wonderful host family that I grew to love VERY much. The twins were adorable, my parents were very loving and caring.... I had AMAZING American friends. I'm going to miss all those crazy times together! I even got to immerse myself in the culture and meet some amazing Japanese people. I find myself messaging everybody on Facebook because I miss them like crazy....

Saying good-bye was one of the hardest things I had to. I was okay at the graduation ceremony. I didn't cry. I took pictures with all my favorite teachers and got to thank all the awesome friends I made for....well, everything hahahaha. Enrolling in KCP was one of the greatest decisions I have ever made. Yeah, studying was a pain in the fanny and it was a lot of hard work! But I pushed myself (I MADE  A 97 ON A KANJI QUIZ! THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE!) and I got through it <3 At least....I hope I did....I haven't received my grades yet so /hopefully/ I passed! hahahaha!

But yeah. Saying good-bye.... Saying good-bye to Kitty, Adrian, and Sodany was REALLY tough...Adrian went with Brenna and I as we did karaoke with Brenna's friends from the guest house. So I got some good time in with Adrian before I had to say good-bye to her, too....

But yeah. It was tough but it didn't exactly hit me until the day I had to leave. Brenna and I were on the same flight and we didn't have to leave until the afternoon. So I pretty much pulled an all-nighter the day night before trying to see as many people as I could to tell them good-bye. So the next morning, I was pretty exhausted....

But Ririka and Taiga had gone to stay at their grandparents for two weeks. So I had to say good-bye to them a lot sooner than I thought....But it didn't really hit me until I had to say good-bye to them on the phone. Hardest conversation I ever had to do...

I pretty much lost it.

Poor mom and dad didn't know what to do with a sobbing crazy American xD I practically tackle hugged Mom before she had to leave to work and I think she felt awkward hahahahaha! And then I sobbed to myself while eating breakfast and dad kept trying to make small-talk which I'm sure he felt super awkward doing.... hahahaha!

But it was really hard....to say bye to them ;____; Thats when it hit me that I was leaving Japan. No more doing origami with Ririka and Taiga. No more watching Ultra Hero with the kids. No more long conversations with my host mom about how I dislike America and how awesome Japan is. No more after school adventures with my American homies. No more Purikura. No more arcades. No more konbini riceballs. No more edamame. No more Izakayas. No more Betty (ha lol). No more Udon. No more meeting awesome people at clubs and stuff. No more karaoke. No more speaking Japanese on a regular basis. No more text messages on my Japanese phone. No more Sky Tree. No more riding trains. No more jamming about to SeeU and J-pop on the train. No more sweating ferociously in the classroom (it was uncomfortable but it was still a memory). No more Udon. No more going shopping in Harajuku. No more going to anime stores in Akiba. No more Udon. No more crepes. No more Udon. No more Udon. No more Udon....

Yeah. It was tough leaving.

But Brenna and I had a smooth trip coming back to America. Er....Kinda. When we got to Canada, we didn't know if it was morning or evening and almost missed our flight....BUT WE MADE IT <3

We even got to bump into Kitty and Marc before boarding our flight! And I got to buy my family some epic souvenirs <3

But when we arrived.....Wow. It was more of a culture shock coming back then it was going there! I've been craving rice non-stop!

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I have to admit though....I really missed my family and friends. And C.J., of course. It's strange how things go back to normal so quickly....Er....kinda.

I've been spending a lot of time in Tuscaloosa trying to get things squared away for Disney. It's been hectic as heck..... Oh, and of course, in the first week I get back to America, I'm greeted with a kidney infection and I have to go to the emergency room. Gee, thanks a lot (¬_¬)

So on top of being an emotional wreck, I had to be in heaps of pain, too.

At least I got to see my Ricey and Analee <3 Oh, and I got to hang out with C.J., JT, and Rhett this past weekend! It was SO much fun!

But yeah..... Here I am. Sitting on my couch listening to my dad fuss about who took a sip of his pepsi =__=;; So do I miss Japan? Yes. Yes I do. A lot.

Things have been so....confusing for me lately. I think this is what they meant by culture shock coming back XD I feel out of the loop with my friends and I feel so distant from people. Disney actually might be the best thing for me to do now.... I'm just not ready to have my adventures end.

Don't get me wrong though. It feels good to be home, in a way. I kinda wish I had more time in between Japan and Disney... I spent my first week trying to get rid of my kidney infection and this week stressing out with what I need to get done for Disney. I wanted to see Brenna again before I left but I'm just lacking in time to do stuff....*sigh*

But yeah. I feel like a different person after going to Japan. Will I change even more after Disney? I feel so independent now...I also feel a bit more mature (HA! Yeah right XD) and I feel more...culturally aware?? Hahaha I don't even know! Or maybe I haven't changed at all and I'm just fooling myself....

When I come back from Disney, things won't be the same. I have a feeling I'm going to grow apart from a lot of my friends which really saddens me.... If I feel apart from them from only being gone for a summer, what's a whole semester going to feel like?? Everyone's getting ready for AWA and I won't be apart of it ^_^;;; It kinda hurts a little but I'm just being childish and selfish hahaha...

But I have another adventure ahead of me. I can't let myself down because I miss Japan and I'm scared of what will happen while I'm in Disney. Who knows....maybe Disney will be like a new home.

I guess I'll end this blog with how I ended most of mine while I was in Japan....

I wonder what tomorrow will bring?? 〜(￣▽￣〜)