bye-bye, nagoya!

So I'm currently posting from a youth hostel in Asakusa, on my last night in Japan! I still can't wrap my head around the fact that this time tomorrow, I'll be back home in America (probably sleeping). But before I get too into my mental state at the moment, a quick recap of what brought me here:

On Monday night, I went for my last round of karaoke with my classmates! Naturally, it was a blast. :D The next day, my seminar class had a nabe party to celebrate the end of our group projects. Nabe is basically like hot pot, except that you start out with flavor in the pot (there are all kinds, from cheese to curry to sesame and soy milk), and then at the end you add in either rice+egg or udon to finish it up. It was delicious! Afterward there were lots and lots (and lots) of dishes to clean up, though. >_<

Wednesday and Thursday were spent shopping/packing/studying; nothing too interesting there.

Giant shaved ice!

Friday was my last final and last day at Nanzan! :( I took my Japanese final in the morning (it was easy, I think, but I doubt I'll ever get it back so I'll probably never really know), then went to go eat shaved ice with my IJ600 friends! It was a really weird shop that also served green tea pasta and banana rice, among other things...the servings were also enormous! We ordered three shaved ice things, and we failed utterly at finishing them. -.-' And then Song-yi and I went to Lily's apartment to kill time before the CJS farewell party; I finally sat under a kotatsu (a heated table with a blanket), and it was heavenly! We need to start using them in America, though I guess if we did my productivity would just disappear - once you get under the kotatsu, all you want to do is just sleep there!

Anyway then we headed to the farewell party, which was crowded with probably all the international students (both those going home and those staying), plus a lot of host families, and in some people's cases (or at least one), real families! My host mother came too, and I got to introduce her to all the people I'd been telling her about for ages (friends, classmates). Then we all took lots of sentimental group pictures, which made me get all emotional about leaving. >_<

One of many sentimental group photos

After the party, I went out to a club with my classmates! We got in for free, by using various member's cards borrowed from friends, which was awesome. It was my first time at a club and was actually really fun (and hot and crowded). :D And then I had to leave early to catch the last bus (as usual), and as it happened it really was my last bus before leaving Nagoya. :( I spent most of the bus ride trying not to tear up when I thought about leaving; I was successful, for the most part. :)

Saturday I spent finishing up packing and cleaning my room! It was really weird and depressing to see my room all bare; I guess it'll just have to wait until the next host student comes along! Then I went with my host mom to send my suitcases to the airport through a delivery service (to save me having to lug them around), and then she sent me to the station! It was a very anti-climactic farewell (my host mom is not one for sentimentality), but it's okay because I'm sure I'll come back and visit them sometime. We did exchange gifts earlier, also - she gave me some placemats and tissue holders that she'd sewn herself! Hopefully I'll put them to good use. :)

Disney hats!

Then, after meeting with Song-yi at Ueda and wandering around Nagoya Station with Mary, I was off to Gifu! There I met up with a friend I'd met at Nagoya Swings, and we went to a swing dance party. Needless to say, it was lots of fun; again, my only regret is not learning about these dance groups earlier! Anyway, after lots of dancing, I took the train back to Nagoya and got on a night bus to Tokyo! Then after a long bumpy night (hard to get too comfortable on a bus), I arrived at Tokyo Disneyland! I thought it was fitting that I came to Disneyland right after coming to Japan, and then again right before leaving. :) My friend Anna and I spent the whole day there, courtesy of free tickets my host mom was gracious enough to give me, and it was ridiculously fun! It was not the same as it was when I came in August; now everything was Christmas themed and also really cold! Anna and I bought Disney hats to keep ourselves warm (also they were extremely cute). We managed to ride all of the big attractions (except the Winnie the Pooh ride, which was inexplicably popular; I'll have to ride it someday to figure it out), and we even rode the teacups 4 times! It was a great day. :D And then I came to the hostel and here I am now!

As for my current mental state: I am still very sad to have left Nagoya; I miss all my friends and classmates already, and I haven't even left the country yet! Both Anna and I still can't believe that we'll be back in the US so soon; we are also both a little worried about reverse culture shock - I bet when I land in the airport I'll be slightly shocked by how many "foreigners" there are everywhere...anyway, I still have lots to do tomorrow, so I want to get to bed now. There will definitely be a sentimental wrap-up post eventually; these four months have meant too much for me not to rave about them a little bit more. :) So, until then!