GOLDEN SLOTH WEEK

In Osaka, drinking Chu-Hi... one of the things i'll miss most from Japan.

In Nara, deer wander the streets and sidewalks and just about everywhere else.

Dotonbori, in Osaka.

In the moutains in Karuizawa with Saki-chan and Haruki-kun.

Osaka castle pond and garden.

We have been converted. Go to Japan and she'll get you too, I swear.

Ueno in Tokyo, when the sakura were in bloom. People have picnics and drink under them at night in this park.

We made origami houses and scenery. Japan has the best kids in the world; they are always ridiculously cute.

...

Oh my sloths, my sloths! I miss you all so much and it's been so very very long! こんにちわ! 

So, today was the last day of "Golden Week," which is the Japanese equivalent of spring break, I guess. It was all that i wanted, and more! Erica and I went to Osaka, Nara, and Kobe with four friends, and then I went to Karuizawa, which is way out in the mountains, with my host family.

Yhe osaka trip was... crazy. Erica and I took a midnight bus - think China Town, but less sketchy - with 2 guys, and we were meeting two other guys there. Well, I brought a bottle of vodka, thinking it would last me a good part of the trip and help me save a little cash. (This country is fucking EXPENSIVE.) They stuck us 4 foreigners in the very back of the bus, which was probably the worst idea ever. While everyone else drifted off to sleep (or rather, attempted to do so,) we got trashed. Smacked-in-the-face drunk. I actually feel really bad about it in retrospect, because we were probably the most annoying people in the world. Literally. We were rowdy in a few too many ways... So, we get to osaka after not sleeping, with no idea of what we're going to do, where we'll sleep, etc. We lived like true sloths! We didn't sleep the next night either, even though we paid for a hotel room. The night after that, we slept in a 'manga kisa' which is basically a manga (comic book - which everyone, including old business men, read here by the way) library, with small square cubicles that have computers. So for 1200 yen, about $12, we slept in these little boxes of rooms on the floor, with towels for pillows, for 8 hours. Really, it's not such a bad deal!

So after putting my body through hell and loving every minute of it, I went away with my host to the countryside, to a popular vacation area. It was beautiful; we stayed in their wooden house up in the mountains. Basically, we just relaxed and took mini day trips, and then went to an onsen each night. Onsens are hot springs, and they honestly make you feel like you've been reborn! I spent 5 days with my family, just relaxing and recuperating. 

Then yesterday I went to a park with two friends, and we had a drinking picnic in the sun.

My experiences here have definitely been effected by my living situation, but my family is becoming more used to me and easing up a bit, thankfully. I think they are a lot more comfortable with me in general after this trip, so we'll see!

There's so much more that I want to try to describe, that I can't choose what to say!  I hope this mini-synopsis explained a little bit!

I love and miss you all!

xoxo