A bittersweet goodbye :)

(Sorry this is over a week late. I've been traveling and touring Japan :D )

Saturday, May 17

Well this is it, guys. The end of my fabulous five month journey in this beautiful country. 

Just kidding, I'll be here another week. But today felt like the end because it was the last time I'd see just about all of the amazing people I've met since I came in January. Next week I'll be traveling around with my mom and sister. But today marks the end of my time as a student at 南山大学 and living as a native in Nagoya. Tomorrow I'll be a tourist in Japan for the first time.

This morning I woke up pretty early and rode the subway to Sakae to pick up my mom and sister. They took some of their things over to my dorm to put in my room and then I walked over to Nanzan because we all had to be there, in the green area, at 10 for class pictures.

While we all waited for our class's turn, we took pictures with our friends.

Deanna, Emma, me, and Minju

Me, Emma, and Rana

Me and Pearl

Me and Pearl that someone else took

Me in front of Nanzan

Me and Rafa

Esteban, me, and Rafa

All us Texans: Esteban, Brendan, me, Rafa, Scout

Holding our big Texas belts

Me, Heather, and Emma

Me and Heather!

Me and Emma!!

And then we were free to go, finally. Mom and Bridget came to the green area so we could eat together and Emma and Minju joined too. We all went to the cafeteria and I got my last misokatsu ever. *cries* And I made Bridget get it too. She liked it!

Then we carried our food out to the green area to eat there, because it was a beautiful day!

When we were finished, Mom, Bridget and I walked to my dorm so I could finish writing thank you cards for all my teachers to go along with their presents. It took so long that I barely made it back in time for my graduation! Omg!

They called us each up by class and 300 was last. I was happy that Mutsukawa sensei called out "Keito Biseru" like I'd wanted. And then I went up and bowed to Father Michael (the president of Nanzan) and received my diploma.

Mah diploma!

After the ceremony, I hung around the room handing out my presents. All the office ladies were beside themselves with joy when I gave them their gifts and then they wanted a picture with me, haha!

Me with the office ladies

And then I took more pictures with my friends! :)

Me and Emma!

Emma, me, and Shunsuke

Me and Shunsuke

Emma and me

And Jose inserted himself into my picture with Kazuki

I introduced my mom and sister to Shunsuke and Kazuki and I made Kazuki practice English with them. Whenever I hang out with him, we always speak Japanese because he always acted like he didn't understand me whenever I spoke English. 

But holy crap, he was good at English. He understood everything my mom and sister asked him, was able to answer, and even asked them questions! I'd never heard him speak in English and he sounded so adorable with his thick accent and everything, omg.

When we got over, the party had started. Everyone was there and all my friends' host families had come as well. I met Emma's host mom, who was super nice and adorable and called me "Pinku", haha! I walked around for a bit talking to people and handing out more presents to my teachers.

Some people made speeches about their experiences in the dorms or with host families.

Then I saw Ayuko! So I welcomed her in and thanked her for coming. She gave me a gift which contained these adorable crackers and a beautiful handkerchief!

I like the heart shaped ones!

After I gave Kano her chocolate, she wanted a picture with us as well!

Kano is behind Ayuko. She curled her hair all nicely!

 

I love Ayuko!!

I saw Shungo at the party and he told me "omedetou" (congratulations). He's the one I went to the onsen with way back when with Rafa and Esteban. I hadn't seen him since our awkward exchange at the train station on Ash Wednesday, so I didn't recognize him at first and barely mumbled "arigatou." But we talked a lot  on Facebook later, so it was all good! He asked me what I thought of Japan and I said it's beautiful and the people are all so nice and helpful! :)

Then Una showed up! She gave me gifts as well!

From Nagoya TV Tower!

Me and Una

I'm so happy Una and Ayuko came! I had so much fun with them there and my mom and sister really liked them! Their English is perfect, so my mom and sister were able to talk a whole bunch with them and they're both such interesting people!

I ate a bit of food and then we all got together to sing a song that Una and Ayuko knew. It was hard for me to follow along with the fast pace at which Mitch was singing it!

Ayuko took this of me and Una singing!

After the song, the party wrapped up and everyone started heading out. I ran over to say goodbye to Kazuki and give him a hug. Then I went over to talk to Shunsuke. While I was doing so, Kondo sensei slipped up beside me and whispered to me, asking if this was the guy I had gone on a date with, haha. I told her no, and she was sad because she'd wanted to meet him. But she was happy she at least got a glimpse of him in the car that day.

One by one, I hugged all my friends goodbye. Hotaru showed up as well and we took a picture together! Emma started crying towards the end. I felt like I should have been crying too, but I guess I really am heartless, lol. It really was super sad, though.

Then I hugged Shunsuke goodbye as he headed out, and gave Emma a giant hug as she left with her host mom. Soon we were the last ones inside. So Mom, Bridget, Una, Ayuko, and I all went outside to sit an enjoy the beautiful weather and each other's company.

Ayuko and Una walked with me as I went to the office to turn in some last paperwork and we got to talk, so that was nice. But all too soon, it got late and we had to part.

It's so horrible saying goodbye when you're not sure if you'll ever see each other again in the future.

Ayuko is a pro at candid shots

Me with my friends :)

Then Ayuko came back to my dorm to get my bonsai, because I was giving it to her since I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to take it home.

When she left, Mom, Bridget, and I went over to Cafe Downey so I could talk to the owner who knows my friend from back home. He was really happy I stopped by and talked to him and gave him her message for him. Then he said he was going to email her right away! The cashier was there to, while we were talking and she said my Japanese was really good! :)

After that, we hung out in my mom and sister's hotel room planning for our trip next week. 

As I write this, it's the night before my flight back home to America. I had a great week with my mom and sister, which I'll post about once I'm back in America an have good, strong, wifi.

Gosh, I can't believe my time at Nanzan and in the Land of the Rising Sun has already come to an end! I had such an amazing five months in Japan.

I  went to an onsen, took hundreds of purikura, did hanami under the sakura, rode the fastest train in the country, experienced an earthquake, visited a host club, ate at a maid cafe, got hit by a car, dated a local, attended a festival celebrating a phallus, got kicked out of my host family's place, tried just about every Japanese dish, slept in a capsule (more on that later), saw my favorite band play in their hometown, and befriended some of the coolest people I'll ever meet!

It's been quite a ride.

I'm going to miss terribly the fact that it's socially acceptable to bathe naked in front of people, elevators with close door buttons that actually work, melon pan and melon soda, misokatsudon, karaoke, purikura, heated toilet seats, scented toilet paper, konbini, and the convenience of trains.

But I can't wait to get back to America where there is: cheap fruit (the ichiban thing I miss!), paper towels, napkins, dryers, and water fountains. And I don't have to commute on a stuffed train in the morning.

So yeah. It's been real Japan. I will miss you terribly. Right now I'm excited to go home, but I know in a few weeks I'll have uncontrollable pangs of longing for this amazing country. 

Nooo it's so sad. I made so many amazing friends that I'll probably never see again. I don't want to say goodbye!!

Jim is so right. They really are.

(In case you can't see it: http://cdn2.thegloss.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/the-office-goodbye.gif )

I hope you all enjoyed reading my blog!

I want to say some thank yous really quick!

First and foremost, thank you to my awesome parents! Thank you for supporting me both physically and emotionally in my adventures and for helping me achieve my dream of living in Japan! I love you guys so much!!

Next, to my amazing friends. Both those back home and those I have met here. Thank you to everyone in Blacksburg who let my possessions take up temporary residence in your homes, and thank you to everyone who Skyped or texted me while I was here so I didn't get too homesick, especially those of you who sent me packages in the mail!

For my friends here, thank you for being there for me when the going got hard and for taking me out on fun-filled adventures!

And to the Japanese Conversation Group I'm part of back home. You all prepared me unbelievably well for this. Thank you for taking time to practice Japanese with me even though I sucked ass last year, and for even just letting me sit and listen to all you natives speak all pera pera while I understood absolutely nothing. Thank you especially to those who helped me prepare for my journey by giving me things or introducing me to friends or family of yours in and around Nagoya so even though I was coming to Japan by myself, I would never be completely alone or friendless.

And finally, thank you, readers. Especially those of you who read every post every day. I really, really appreciate it! There were some times I thought about quitting writing, but I'd always get texts, emails, or comments talking about or asking about my blog and telling me how much fun it was to read, so I knew I couldn't stop. So thank you!! You all made it fun to write! :)

So yes, goodbyes are a bitch. But you know what I think? If saying goodbye is hard, that must mean you've made great friends and lasting memories that you will treasure forever. And that's exactly what I've done! :)

さよなら日本！みんな読みくれてありがとう！！(^_−)−☆

Things are looking up!

I finally had a good day where I was happy all day and had no major issues (even though I had a really bad sore throat all day I think from being out in the rain that night)!!

Here's my breakfast :)

I talked to Yuko in Japanese a bunch at breakfast this morning and she invited me to come with the family to see the illuminations at the outlet mall Sunday night!

It was soooo cold today! 36 degrees :(

(The street next to my host family's apartment)

I wanted to return the bike light I bought yesterday. Even though I opened it, I just stuck the staples back in. It tire a bit but I was hoping they'd still take it off my hands. Daiso was closed though. 7 an is too early I guess.

So I caught my train and then subway and walked to school all by myself!

(Sign pointing to Nanzan Daigaku)

I got one of the free tissue handouts too!

At school I was early, but Rana was there too so I got to talk to her. 

Today was when we bought our books. They told me to wait until I knew for sure which Japanese class I was in to buy the second Genki book. So I just bought the paintbrush kit I need for calligraphy class.

Then we headed to the Internet orientation. There we logged onto the Nanzan computers with our username and password and changed our passwords. 

All the buttons and icons were in Japanese! So everything was so hard to read. But I managed! 

I also got an email address: 13r502@nanzan-u.ac.jp

Then we learned about the World Plaza which is a room where Japanese is banned. It's for Japanese students to practice foreign languages so they want is to help communicate with the Japanese students and make friends. :)

For lunch I went with a bunch of my friends to the curry cafeteria (Nanzan had like 20 different cafeterias on campus!) and got tonkatsu. It was soooo good!

I got a glass of water and the machine was so cool! You pressed your glass against the thing like you'd do in America, but instead of just water or ice coming out, it was ice and then water!

The weird thing was that all the other students in the cafeteria (all Japanese) were all guys! There were no girls. And there were a bunch of people in there. Maybe the girls don't like the spicy curry?

Our next orientation was to learn CPR. I've already been trained in CPR but it was cool to learn it in Japanese. Like you'd run over to the person and go "Daijobu desu ka? Wakarimasu ka?" Instead of "Are you okay?"

The room we were in was in an old building that was sooo cold! This was the bathroom:

(Why were the windows open when it was in the 30s outside??)

(And of course no heated seat toilets)

(And no hot water :( )

We had to watch a movie in Japanese about earthquakes. Then we went outside in the freezing cold for the fire extinguisher drill. It was totally awesome, though, because we got to shoot the fire extinguishers into the fountain! (They just had water inside)

Then I went to get another copy of the packet of kanji from CJS that I had gotten with my acceptance letter and then left at school last fall. 

As I was leaving with Emma and Pearl, we were stopped by two girls from a nearby university who wanted to interview foreigners. They were with this shy guy who decided to interview me because I wanted to do an interview too! They were all so cute. They told us they were nervous to speak English, but they were all very good! One of the girls added us on Facebook too!

Then Pearl left for her dorm and I walked Emma to the station (look at me showing people around now!)

While Emma and I were waiting for the train, Aya came over! She was with her friend Natsu. Emma got off at the first stop, but I was able to talk a LOT in Japanese to Aya and Natsu. They were both so patient when I didn't understand something. And Aya added me on Facebook! :)

When I got off at Kanayama to catch the next train, it was snowing!!!! Tons of flurries were falling, it was so exciting!

At Ichinomiya Station, I went to Daiso to return the light. The girl at the counter put her arms up crossed like "no" and I thought she was going to not let me return it, but then my tired brain processed her Japanese and realized she was checking to make sure I really didn't need it. And then she gave me my money back! Awesome!

So I think I must have been high on my success and the fact that for the first time it was still light out for my trip home because as I was biking home (the snow had stopped), I saw a SoftBank building and decided to stop. I asked the lady inside if she spoke English and she didn't, but I was like what the heck. I pulled out the Japanese phone a friend back home gave me and tried to get more minutes on it. She ended up not being able to help because I didn't know the number of the phone, but hey, I got a bunch of language practice in!

It was sprinkling on my way back home and it had gotten really cold. When I got home I had the house to myself for a bit. Then Miyabi and Yuko got home. I played with Miyabi and then we ate dinner. We had yakiudon and it was super good!

Then when Ken got home, I finally gave everyone their presents and opened mine from them. 

Everyone LOVED all the Texas themed stuff I gave them haha. And the cat and dog liked their gifts. And here's my gift. :)

Yuko made me strawberry caramel tea and talked to me in Japanese a bunch. She told me that the stroke order for kanji she learned in school has changed and Miyabi has to learn a different stroke order! I couldn't believe it. She told me all about the Japanese school system and learning kanji and stuff. It was so interesting! And my listening skills are rapidly improving!

Oh and guys, they have pink toilet paper. I am eternally jealous...

(Just so you know, I actually wasn't on the toilet while taking this)

And by request, pictures of Nanzan and my surrounding area:

(Hill up to Nanzan)

(Front gate)

(Foreign student building. It's so new :) )

(Awesome dude who works at Lawson's)

(Train ride home)

(Strange tall white tower)

(The river I bike past)

(My host family's apartment complex)

(Bikes)

(Ribbon with my present to him)

Tomorrow I'm going to Osu with friends! I can't wait!! :D