I have been back from Japan for about a month now and I miss it desperately. Not only for the food (I have an insatiable desire for Tako, octopus as it is known here), but I miss the friends I met and the way the country is run. It is an amazing country and the people are more amazing.
Most memorable for me was going to the Japanese high school in Yokohama and eating lunch with my host sister Ritsuko and her friends as a gaggle of girls gathered out side and proceeded to squeak “Cute” and “Pretty”. As soon as I would turn in my chair to smile at them they would scream in apparent embarrassment and run the other way. I have never felt more like a zoo animal in my life and didn’t know whether to be embarrassed or flattered.
For the most part though, everyone was very polite and helpful to the sometimes lost looking foreigners. I love Japan and I will definitely go back.