Japan Trip Travel Log Closing ThoughtsJeremy's Home Japan Trip Travel Log Closing Thoughts
First I want to say thanks to our hosts Aaron & Kristin. They put up with the three of us in their house for nearly two weeks. They did a lot of background work to make the trip enjoyable. They arranged for transportation, checked into tours, make reservations, met us at the airport, and much more. The fed us. Took time off work.
It was a lot of fun to travel with Scott and Kacky. I had already traveled to Rhode Island with each of them individually (last summer and the summer before) to visit Janet, so I expected that it would be entertaining. I was not disappointed. I had a great time.
Unix and Molly proved to be a lot of fun--even when we weren't trying to get them drunk. :-) I've not been a big fan of dogs because of my allergies, but for some reason I wasn't allergic to them. Maybe I've outgrown my allergies.
When they come back to the States, I'll have to bring my laser pointer with me when I visit. Unix spent so much time fixated on it that she must have gone through some sort of withdrawal when we left (and I thought my cats liked the laser pointer).
Though I wouldn't want to live there, Japan was a very interesting place to visit. The food was good. I liked all of the real food that I tried. ("Mystery Treats" purchased in convenience stores don't count.) There are lots of sights to see. And Tokyo is something you really need to experience. It's just so damned big.
And there's nothing like realizing that for the first time in you're life you're really in the minority. This happened to me the first time we were on a crowded train (or subway, maybe) and I looked around the car. All I saw was a sea of black hair on top of people who were almost all shorter than I am. And I couldn't understand a word anyone else was saying.
I probably wouldn't go back anytime soon, mostly because there are so many other places I'd like to visit once before returning to Japan, but I'm very glad I went. Besides, where else can you get beer or coffee out of a vending machine...