Almost time to leave....

Yeah, I know I haven't updated in forever, but I kinda saw it as pointless because I would just talk to people anyways on a regular basis, so yeah. But there is one thing that is hard to do in a conversation that is essential to the blogging world: lists! So here, as I am about to leave Japan (a week and a day!), I have the list for what I'll miss about Japan, what I won't miss about Japan, and what I can't wait to do when I get back home.

What I'll Miss About Japan:

1. Delicious food at every turn for not a lot of money.
2. My friends that I've made here, especially Sochon, Tomoko, Yuki, and all of my club members.
3. A constant sense of security.
4. Biking.
5. Jihanki (vending machines!)
6. The train system.
7. Being able to actually use my Japanese on a regular basis.
8. Feeling exotic in a homogeneous society.
9. Purikura and all of the arcades!
10. Beautiful architecture in not a lot of space.
11. Washlets (the toilets that squirt your ass and warm the seat)
12. My host family, their cooking, and their dog, Totti.
13. Abundance of help if you need it, uchiwa (fans) if you're hot, and kleenex to wipe yourself with.
14. Drunk salarymen.
    

What I Won't Miss About Japan:

1. Disgusting versions of Western food, especially pasta with ketchup instead of tomato sauce, and NEVER being able to get free refills.
2. Sophia University's school system.
3. Constantly having to be polite.
4. People who bike.
5. Spending all of my money on vending machines.
6. Having to commute (I've never had a commute longer than 15 minutes in my life, so having a commute of 50 minutes each way is excruciating).
7. Having to constantly speak Japanese and not understanding it.
8. Getting stared at all of the time.
9. Having a gambling problem with the games of chance.
10. Always hitting my head on door frames which are too short for me.
11. Washiki toilets (the squat toilets that I refused to use this entire trip [only used them about 4 times]).
12. My host family's passive-aggressiveness, lack of being able to leave the house without telling them, and hearing the dog bark at 4 in the morning with no one doing anything to stop it.
13. Lack of soap, paper towels/napkins, and a mysterious lack of trash cans, even though the country is entirely clean.
14. MIDDLE AGED JAPANESE WOMEN (they are the bane of my existence for reasons to numerous too put here).
    

Things I Can't Wait to Do When I Get Home:

1. See my family, friends, and STELLA!!!!
2. Go to the Wisconsin State Fair.
3. NOT have to commute anywhere.
4. Not having any commitments.
5. Have central air (air conditioning here is really expensive, so they tell you not to use it often, but it's hot as hell here, so that's not happening).
6. Eat my mom's delicious food.
7. Have a constant shower (here, you have a handle shower, and you have to turn it off while you lather yourself up. You only use it for rinsing).
8. Stand up straight everywhere I go.
9. Say what's on my mind without being rude and not having to be so polite and altruistic.
10. See Lake Michigan or any large body of water (I haven't been able to see the ocean very much while here, and I miss seeing a large body of water on a regular basis).
11. WATCH TV THAT I CAN ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND!!!!!!!!