Post from the U.S.

Okay, I'm back home and the jet lag wasn't quite as bad as I was expecting. After a couple of days, I totally felt like myself again, and I'm really glad. I have to say that I'd go to Japan again in a heartbeat, assuming I could afford it. I can't say so much that I miss the crowds and craziness of Tokyo, but I loved Kyoto and Osaka quite a bit. The worst for me was going through Shibuya on a Saturday afternoon. Let me tell you, you have not seen crazy until you've seen that. Remember all that stuff I said about my freaking out if there are a lot of people on the bus or in the grocery store? Yeah, that's totally still true. But then imagine me in a train for 30 minutes with I don't even know how many other people, and in a store, again with I don't know how many other people. I never had a panic attack per se, but pretty close. I think the best part for me was Kiyomizu temple, it was so beautiful. I had some misgivings about going, because I knew it would be really crowded, but it worked out pretty well, despite the crowds. Let me tell you, I gave my camera quite the workout on this trip, I just hope all the pictures captured the beauty of everything that we saw. I don't honestly know if my words can, so it almost seems pointless to try. I was also so glad that all the people we talked to (the people at the hotels especially) were almost too nice to be for real, it was amazing how helpful, honest, and hard working they were. I felt a little out of place there, it was just so obvious that I didn't entirely fit in there. I don't know if it was the English coming from my mouth, green eyes, naturally brown hair, or super white skin that tipped them off. ^_~ The funny thing is, they didn't make me feel bad, though, my sister did. She gets motion sick really easily, so whenever we even rode the subway, she'd get sick, then her temper reared its ugly head, and I had to deal with it. She seemed kind of mad that I couldn't speak fluent Japanese, too. In less than 2 months, how much could she have really expected me to learn? I knew enough to ask where things were, and how to get there, and enough to order whatever food we needed, and to deal with salespeople. What more did she really want from me? Okay, enough about that. Over all, it was still fantastic. Thanks for reading.

BYE!!!!!!!!!!