Here is a picture video from my trip. Consider it the short version of my blog. But if you want to actually know what the pictures are of, read below :)
Once there, I met Yumiko outside and she blindfolded me and guided me inside. Well, actually, she first let me accidentally walk into a plant, but eventually she guided me inside. Although I knew that there was going to be a party for me and for Masao’s birthday, I wasn’t expecting there to be so many people there, and even some students from Seki school! I was so surprised, and there was so much food. (Okonomiyaki and daikon salad, two of my favorites!) It was so great to see everyone and I could tell already that this was going to be a great trip.
We stayed at the party pretty late and then Yumiko took me and David, the teacher who replaced me, back to Minokamo, where I spent the night in Michael’s apartment.
Friday:
On Friday, I woke up medium late and then headed back to Nagoya, where I picked up my JR Train Pass and took a quick nap in my hotel. I was originally planning on heading to Gero for some good old fashioned onsen fun, but it was raining quite heavily, so I decided to hang out in Nagoya for the day instead. So, I went to Osu to pick up a new memory card for my camera since I lost mine somehow, went to the Nagoya Art Museum and saw a Dali exhibit, did a bit of shopping and eating in Nagoya, and then headed to Nan Nan, my favorite neighborhood gay bar.
At first, I felt a little shy there, even though everyone remembered me. But, eventually several people came in that spoke decent enough Japanglish and I ended up having a great time, a bunch of drinks, and even left with a few numbers and emails. (it turns out to my surprise that I am quite the Don Juan in Japan…who knew?)
Saturday:
I woke up pretty early on Saturday and headed to the station, where I took the Shinano line to Nagano to meet Ryo sensei and his new wife Morika. It was a pretty short trip of only about 2.5 hours, and there was some really great scenery along the way. Once I got there, Ryo and Morika met me at the station and we went for lunch at a new okonomiyaki shop in Nagano. The food was great, and the locals there had a great time staring at me in awe of the fact that not only could I use chopsticks proficiently, but also knew how to order food in Japanese and to cook okonomiyaki myself. Haha
After lunch, we went to a famous temple in Nagano called Zenkoji. The temple itself was quite large, and there was this really cool secret tunnel underneath that we got to go in to feel around for a hidden door. (we found the door, but Ryo wasn’t quite sure what the story behind the door was, other than that it was special haha) We then had miso flavored ice cream, which was well….interesting, and then headed back to Ryo’s house.
Once we got there, I got to see the pictures and DVD from Ryo’s wedding, and Ryo’s mother prepared a huge meal of sushi (the biggest plate of sushi I have ever seen), tempura, steamed egg custard, miso, rice, and other things. It was delicious, and his mother and I had a great time talking about all of the American tv shows that she likes to watch. (her favorite is 24!)
We spent the rest of the night talking and making jokes and having a great time. It was so great to see Ryo!
Sunday:
On Sunday, I woke up, had breakfast, and headed to the station. I said goodbye to Ryo and Morika, and just barely made my train to Nakatsugawa. Once I arrived in Nakatsugawa, Yumiko met me, and we had a great sushi lunch and caught up with one another. It was a lot of fun.
Yumiko then surprised me by taking me to our friend Rie’s house near Tajimi, before we headed to Minokamo to pick up David. (I have a bit of a straight crush on Rie, so it was really cool to see her J)
We then headed to Seki and to a yakiniku restaurant called Mori Mori for a party with some of my old students from Seki school. It was a lot of fun and it was great to see my former students and Tommy, my former manager. There was also soooooo much food there. We could barely fit it all on the tables haha. We ate as much of as we could, had some drinks, and took lots of silly pictures.
After dinner, we went to David’s apartment and Yumiko, David, and I watched Borat. (which FYI is hilarious!) It felt sooooo strange to be in David’s apartment, since it used to be mine. But, David is a cool guy and the students all like him, so I am happy.
Monday:
On Monday, the weather was finally nice and sunny, so I spent some time hanging out by the river in Minokamo and then hopped on the train to Gero, or as I like to call it, onsen paradise.
Once there, I put bandaids on to cover my tattoos, and headed to 2 of my favorite onsens. Ah, kimochi!!!!!!! I then headed to a famous footbath/fountain that is said to have healing powers.
As I was sitting there, a girl named Sayuri, and her sister and father, came up to the fountain and begin speaking to me in English. It turns out that not only is Sayuri super cool, but she also has spent the past 6 years studying in America. We talked for several hours, and I showed them around a bit in Gero. (I have been there so many times that I should consider a job as a tour guide haha) Sayuri then invited me to come and hang out with her at her home near Kyoto the next day, and I headed to the train station and back to my hotel in Nagoya for the night.
Tuesday:
As planned, I the Hikari Shinkansen to Kyoto in the morning to meet up with Sayuri. One problem, I forgot to bring her phone number with me!! Stupid!
So, since I had already been to Kyoto several times and seen most of the touristy things there, I simply walked around for a while, and had lunch in the station. I then called my friend in Tokyo to see what he is doing, and ended up taking the Shinkansen all the way to Tokyo to meet up with him for dinner.
The train to Tokyo only took about 2 hours and 45 minutes, and I slept through most of it. Once I got there, I met up with Sho and had a good dinner in Shibuya. I also had coffee in the Starbucks at the famous pedestrian crossing there (the busiest in the world) and walked around in Shinjuku for a bit before heading back to Nagoya.
It was a busy day, but it was a really good one.
Wednesday:
I woke up early on Wednesday so as to get some shopping done for omiyage (souvenirs for friends and family), but mostly for stuff for myself. I ended up getting a little bit of both, and also bought the coolest pair of shoes from Burberry Black Label that I have ever seen! (and exchanged emails with the cute guy that worked there)
Once I was done shopping, armed with directions and Sayuri’s phone number in hand, I again ventured to Kyoto, and then to Kizu, and then to Kamo to meet Sayuri. Once I got there, Sayuri and her mom picked me up from the station and drove about 15 minutes to their home/green tea farm.
Sayuri then showed me around her home for a while and then had her brother drive us around the mountains of Wazuka to give me a tour. It was really fun and I couldn’t believe how random it was that I was in pickup truck on a mountain in a green tea farm in rural Kyoto!
We then parked and hiked a bit up a mountain to a really cool old temple from the Edo period, and had a great lunch of sushi, okonomiyaki, breads, and beers. It was great!
Afterward, I met up with Sayuri’s dad again, and then headed to the station and back to Nagoya.
Thursday:
I woke up really early on Thursday and took 3 trains to Seki. Once I got there, I took some pictures at the temple there, visited the shop keeper at the Yamazaki convenience store that I went to everyday (he was sooo surprised to see me haha), and then did some shopping for Japanese treats and food at the Uni.
At noon, Tazuko and her friend picked me up and took me to an amazing sushi restaurant close by, where we talked and ate great food. We then went shopping at a famous (by Gifu standards) shopping area and had coffee.
Later, I came back to Seki school and hung out with Tommy for a while before more of my former students came to see me. Hiroshi, Asuka, Kaoru, and Rina all hung out with me and talked for a while, and it was great to spend time with them.
David then informed me that there would be a party for me at Kani school later that night, so we invited the students and we all headed there after there lessens were over.
Once we got there, Yumiko had prepared a nice meal, and we talked and made fun of the tv show that was on, and even gave a mini lesson about the idiom “it’s like watching paint dry” to some of the students.
Afterwards, Yumiko and David took me to my hotel in Nagoya, where I packed everything that I bought into my suitcases and a few shopping bags and grabbed about 2.5 hours of sleep before I had to get up and leave for the airport.
Friday:
After waking up at 5:20 am, I headed took the Meitetsu line to the airport and checked in for my flight, and even somehow convinced them to let me sit in business executive class again for my flight from Nagoya to Tokyo. Unfortunately, I was stuck in economy class for the rest of the trip home L
My flights were fine, but after flying in uber luxurious executive class on the way over, economy class seemed to downright suck! There were no slippers or noise reducing headphones. There was no wine list or dessert and cheese cart! And horror of all horrors, me seat only reclined about 5 inches! What is this crap!!
Anyway, I arrived in Boston at about 3pm and Bethany picked me up and took me back to scenic Worcester, MA, where I arrived about 24 hours after I left!
All in all, this was a wonderful trip and was exactly what I needed to de-stress a little and to gain some closure on my Japanese experience. There were definitely some awkward feelings, but I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect vacation. And it definately helped me to make up my mind about some things.
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