had a great time.(:

i saw different faces of tokyo, made new friends, went places, bought stuff.

the most satisfying part was being able to forge friendships just beyond the surface and being able to talk to someone about each other's dreams, and the country's problems, and history and a whole lot of other stuff in a language i've still got a lot to work towards.
i didn't think i would be involved that far, and that deep. it was like i wasn't just a foreign student sitting in to observe class anymore.
it was quite amazing.

i love autumn. (though it turned into winter halfway through the trip.) the weather when it's not raining (and when it's not becoming winter) is awesome.


the most tokyo-like place i went was probably shibuya.

東京だなあ。
there's no way to say this in english.


AKIBA!

it's what's inside the shops that matters. :D
it was mind-blowing. XD
after a while nothing surprises you anymore.
have to thank my host and my host parents for bringing me around, even though they were clearly disturbed. XD


had a lot of first-time experiences.
like eating もんじゃ on a boat around tokyo bay.
and juku (cram school).
and starbucks. (yeah i have a sad life in terms of coffee.) actually the main point is warm coffee in the cold.

school was a very very different and wonderful experience. so was 1-5.
revisited a lot of subjects after a very long time. some, like music, were super fun (their music curriculum is DAMN ZAI everyone who comes out from it will be fully literate in everything from writing scores to choral singing to playing all sorts of instruments WHY DON'T THEY LET US DO THIS IN SCHOOOOOL!). but some things like physics aren't subjects you want to see again.
thanks to my buddy i was able to get at least something out of every lesson, even 古文. and it was fun shivering in the cold and running around school together with the class people.
life is hc is very sad. there's more freedom, true, but there's less space to breathe and there's less warmth.
somehow the kids over there still have time to play, even with twice as many lessons as us.


(and of course, i was high-ing in the land of telephone lines XD because singapore decided to bury all of hers underground.)



anyway, i had a really good time with my host and her family and my school buddy (who is a very special person). there's always the awkward times we dao each other but we were able to talk about all sorts of interesting things.

i'm glad i went and things turned out how they did.