Good bye to a friend I hardly knew....

Quite a shame that I have to get rid of my mode of transportation that has for the most part faithfully gotten me around japan.  There was that one night in Yokohama but i chalk that up to user error.  Alas bringing you with me would be too much.  So i thank you for the lessons, i thank you for the long rides in the middle of the night and i thank you most of all for giving me the freedom to explore Japan.  You will not be forgotten. 

It's About time.....

My days in Japan are slowly winding down,  sooner rather than later i will be boarding my last flight back to New York.  It is not a thought that I dread either.  For all my experiences here good or bad I am lucky to have such an opportunity, but now I think its a bout time to go home and restart my life.   A bit refreshed, full of brand new experiences, a life time of memories and quite a few new friends.  Was it what i thought it would be?  By no means,  but that doesn't mean it was worse,  I think I surpassed in many ways what I thought was possible for even me in both language ability adapting to new culture and rules. 

My last day of class is Monday... I will say good by to the Chinese Nation that I was able to meet here in Yokohama.  I debate whether I should make a little speech or not.  I am not about making my leave in a grand manner but it would be rude to not at least say good bye, give thanks,  and wish them luck.

After that My plan is to go to Sapporo... Spend some time and meet my last friend in Japan that I met originally in New York.  All in all I don't feel time has gone either too fast or too slow,  everything occurred when it was suppose to, and while plans mostly got changed it was for the better,  I enjoyed traveling japan then go to Korea in such a short time period. It gave me an real experience of traveling abroad,  till then i was just a student abroad with responsibilities to manage both learning and have fun, i got to break out of that mold and focus on fun. However I don't think it would have been as rewarding if i did not put the effort and work into improving my Japanese.

If In the future i could do it again,  i would love to spend some more time in Korea,  and maybe finish my stay in Thailand or Vietnam,  but for now that is the speculation of a man still wandering around in the orient... I am grateful for where I am now and will spend my dwindling days experiencing all i can.

Back to our regualry Scheduled Programming....

I'm back 'home' In Yokohama now,  I have  to do the tallying of all the tickets  I have but I am sure i spent at least 20-24 hours on the bullet train last 7 days going place to place.  I will try to create at least 2 mostly worded posts  before i go to Korea on Tuesday.  My experiences on the Bullet trains and the Capsule Hotels i stayed at in Osaka and Sendai.  

Once in Korea (for 10 days 9 nights)  I make no promises of a posting schedule. I will be in a hostel  and i should have Internet but I am bad with sitting in front of the PC when I know there is stuff to do, people to meet, and pretty women around.

So enjoy the stories as they come...



P.s.
I have  a nationalized Japanese test on Sunday Dec 5, to gauge my ability.   I am not that confident but it will not kill me if I fail; so I am just going to go in a do my best  and work towards next year.   Wish me luck....

West Coast swing...

Little less than 4 hours from now I start my Journey across Japan. Bullet train,  3 actually and a few more locals later I shall be in nagasaki.  Luckily i am going to crash at a friends house who lives there and from there i make small steps to come back east till i am back in Yokohama.  Will keep you updated...

Begining to look like Christmas....

During my child hood Christmas of course was  the most look forwarded day of the year. My mother ensured it came with plenty of gifts and many happy moments. Spending time with family in upstate new york was always enjoyable because i would get to see my older cousins and play, for the time being i would have brothers and people to admire until it was back to being a sickly single child.  I don't complain about being only child,  but it is a  bit lonely at times i wonder what its like to have some one to either follow or to lead in such a relationship.  Of course I digress, Christmas now that i have become older and more mature is not  especially big for me anymore.  Yes i do enjoy seeing family but It doesn' t have to be Christmas for that and it shouldn't be just Christmas either.  With that said, it is the day before Thanksgiving and I am away from home for the first time.  I do indeed miss being home and family, but i find myself pre-occupied making plans to travel and and trying to keep busy.

Lately I have been feeling a bit of homesickness , but not everyone has the means nor the time to do what i am doing so i would like to enjoy it too the full while i am in the moment.  As I walk around Yokohama and japan, Christmas decorations are in full force.  As far as i know here  X-mas is more of a passing admiration.  It is not practiced, there is no day off, and more or less is just about a reason just to put lights up and make the city pretty.  Presents are not exchanged for x-mas but for new years in a separate more Japanese holiday.


For Christmas, if all goes right,  i will be in the northern Island of Hokkaido staying in a home stay and experiencing a Japanese x-mas and new year.  Not sure what to expect but the more new things to experience the better...

Excuse the dust....

Hello,

お久しぶりねえええ！！！　　I have no excuse, other than being sick;  but there should have been a post here somewhere that i could have put up.  Anyway  a few updates, School is going nice I technically have another month but i am going to skip out early and start the last leg of my travels here soon.   I have a west coast swing planned for this week. Dec 7, around after my test I have trip to Korea to look around a bit. When i return I move to Sapporo,  a city in the northern island of Japan. Close to Russia,  so i will be freezing a bit but I will see if i can get some snow boarding in.  Feel free to donate some money to the cause if you so wish.   My money is indeed dissappearing.. bar hoping especially is not prodcutive but you do what you need to for entertainment.

I'll drop a few random pictures here and maybe today or tommorow another post...scratch that.. blogger is having a few issue and wont upload my pics... so i will try again in few hours....

Just set up flicker account....