Closing Remarks

December 18th, 9:35pm, I leave Japan. Right now it is December 17th 11:25 pm, and with that gap growing narrower and narrower, nostalgia starts to kick in.

This semester has been a great one. As much as I wanted to cry from fear while sitting in Haneda four months ago, I can't imagine not having this semester as part of my life. I met people from all around the world and fell in love with hearing their stories, traveling with them, singing karaoke with them, and being stupid college kids together. There's some of them I will probably never forget (and I only saw that because my memory sucks) and I hope they also never forget me. They're amazing...

And those are just the people. For four months, I had the privilege of living in and traveling in what I think is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. I took advantage of my time and tried to build the best experience I could. I saw temples, prayed with monks, cooked with strangers who weren't strangers by the end, ran the most I have in my entire life, shared the sorrow over the horrors of the past, sat without a scrap of cloth on in a bath with a group of girls I only met a few months ago, hiked a mountain, got attacked by a homeless man who didn't speak my language, and had an interesting conversation with a drunken Japanese man.

Finally, things I will miss about Japan:

- All of my friends
- Donburi
- Melon pan
- Karaoke
- Meredith
- Awesome public transportation
- Kyoto
- Chu hai
- Sushi!
- My RAs
- Cell phone-eating deer

Things I look forward to in America:

- Cheap food
- Cheese
- Shoes that fit
- Kitkats that taste right
- Faster internet
- My friends at home
- Showers that stay on
- My pets
- My family!