The Last Post

Sayaka and I in the gardens of the temple at Asakusa Does anyone see the irony here?

Random Geisha Saying a prayer to Buddah
Merry X-mas
Taking the sushi off the belt
I look so happy in this photo...

Ta-da! Dinner at Sayaka's Sushi- Can you see the eyes of these tiny fish? Delicious!
This is my favorite sushi- baby octopus
In Kimono outside the temple entrance
Kimono

Over the dance floor at DP Meryl and Jess
Wash your ass
Robot Rock
You know you love the sweat stains on my shirt

CRABS!

So here I am, one week away from coming home. In the past few weeks I have been making myself too busy to keep this updated (obviously). Two weeks ago I stayed at Sayaka's house with her family. Her mom prepared a wonderful homade dinner of tempura, soba, oden and more! Then, I wore a Kimono with Sayaka and went to a beautiful temple in Asakusa in Tokyo. It took about an hour and a half for us to get into our Kimono's, and once I had it on I realized I had no clue how to walk in one. I had to take small steps and go one-at-a-time when taking staris (which was especially hilarious in the subway stations). The best part about wearing the Kimono was being famous; I mean everytime I turned around someone was taking my picture. Japanese people and other foreigners wanted their picture with us. It was great! Wearing a Kimono is really meaningful and special to Japanese people, so being a foreigner wearing one is a HUGE deal. We also went to a great sushi bar near the temple, did some shopping, and went to Ueno Park in downtown Tokyo. I must say, after 6 hours of wearing the Kimono, I was ready to take it off. I could hardly breathe at times, and it took so long to go to the bathroom everytime (many layers). Once it was off I did serveral grande jetes in the street.

This Friday night I went to dinner at Saori's house. She made crab and I ate with her mom, sister, and her boyfriend. The crab was SOOOOO good, and I totally stuffed my face. I also had some delicious Tofu from the restaurant that she used to work at that had the most creamy texture. I realized that Japanese really have the whole healthy eating thing down. The food here is simple, but so delicate and delicious.

Then there was Saturday. A break from tradition. DAFT PUNK! The concert included names such as SabastiAn and Kavinsky, who got the crowd moving before Daft Punk came on. We were so close to the front (thanks to my elbows) and we danced our little hearts out. Meryl and Jess, (also Westgaters) are the two lovely girls I had the pleasure of going with. The show surpassed my expectations, and I felt totally enthralled by the performance at times.

I also just returned from a "maid cafe" in Akiharbara (the "technologic" center of Tokyo). The maid cafe is an interesting phenomina that is catching on in Tokyo. You go into the cafe, and girls dressed in maid uniforms wait on you. They are super over-the-top polite and bow a lot. So you basically sit there and eat your cake and drink your coffee and feel like you have a lot of money. The girls are all really cute too (of course). We couldn't take pictures with the workers (boooo) so their image has to live in my memory I guess.

I should be back in Kalamazoo late on the 16th. I will have the same cell phone number as before. See you in a week!