This will probably be my last post from this trip. I’m on a Shinkansen to Tokyo. We visited Osaka Castle and it’s lovely park today. Next visit, I’ll plan to stay in cities for two or three days instead of one. There’s too much to enjoy in one day or afternoon. It’s been like cram school but without a doubt I want to return again. My interest in Japan started with anime but I’m leaving Japan tomorrow knowing there’s peaceful air here. Life seems simpler here. It can be slow but also bustling. You can work hard in Tokyo, play hard in Osaka, and find peace in Nara.
My knowledge about traveling jumped to an new level in just a week and I’ll remember my experiences in Japan forever. I managed to save all the literature collected over the last few days. Those will help me for next time. Nara and Osaka especially require a solid three days to enjoy at a leisurely pace. I could spend a day in silence at the deer park or spend all night raging in Osaka. It’s an amazing place and the adjective doesn’t describe my affection for the country enough. It’s like music or sex. There’s a unique kind satisfaction I can’t from anything else. I love it here.
Tonight, Andrew and I will hit Golden Gai in Shinjuku for genteel send off. Seeing him was the other half of the trip. Absolutely Japan gave me more than I ever imagined but seeing him on the other side of the world fulfilled the void of not seeing him for a while. He’s got a great situation teaching English and more importantly he loves it. I’m glad to have seen him and I know our friendship radiates like the temple of Kinkaku-Ji. I wondered for a while if anything could be forever. Our friendship almost ten years later gets only better when we can take the time out of our lives to spend a few days together across an ocean from where we met. This is friendship.
Disaesthetic 