More from Tokyo...

So, I've been back for almost a week... but I figure I should finish my Tokyo adventures before expanding on anything else... so here goes... the abbreviated version...

Saturday: I got up early and went to class... it took me about 45 minutes to get from Kim's house to where I was taking class... it made me feel like I was an actual Tokyo commuter... the only difference?? Since all but one day was a national holiday... the trains weren't crowded. :-)

After class, I met up with Kim and Tatsuya and we headed out to Odaiba on the monorail. Odaiba is a giant, American-style shopping mall. There was EVEN a Cinnabon in the food court. I didn't get one because I had eaten a biggish lunch and wasn't hungry. :-( Next time... We had a great time playing in the Sony Plaza area... they had the best, blow-you-away surround system on display! It was so cool... we hit VenusFront after that... it's designed to feel like Italy, but to me it feels like Caesar's in Las Vegas.

The best thing from Saturday... after dinner we had the most amazing matcha soft serve ice cream! It was GREAT!!

Sunday: By this time I had the commute to class all sorted... even had my headphones and MD player out... like a true Japanese commuter! Our class was starting to move along and we had inside jokes starting and everything...

After class, Kevin and I went to Shkibuya. Basically, neither of us wanted to eat alone and look like the sad cases we actually are. Haha! So, we ended up in this nice-ish Italian place in Shibuya... and we chatted about all sorts of stuff... sports, politics, etc. Was just nice to talk to someone different and interesting.

After that we searched for and ATM (ran out of cash!!), then I headed home and he headed to his hotel.

Then Kim and I spent the evening watching American Wedding and she showed me a DVD a friend of hers (James) had made about leaving Japan. He'd been a JET for one year and had all the same experiences that I've had. I BAWLED!!! Facing leaving Japan has NOT been a happy prospect for me at all... I get choked up for no reason at all... and this DVD brought it all home. (If you're interested, you can find it at www.hindsightproject.com it's the video called "Statement of Agreement") Anyway... wow!

Monday: Class was CRAZY! We had to do all sorts of role-playing practice... and everyone got really into their roles. I got to play the tough Kocho-sensei, Kevin played the evil teacher (and landlord too!), Drew was our dad, Jackie was our mom and Anna was the nice lady at the reception desk at a gym. And the Oscar goes to... Kevin for his portrayal of a VERY strict teacher! hahaha...

After that I went in search of a big koi windsock! For Children's Day in Japan, people put up these HUGE carp windsocks up. And I wanted one... too bad I headed to Harajuku when I was tired-ish and HUNGRY! I couldn't be bothered to look for very long... so I headed back toward Kim's after picking up the nicest umeboshi/wasabi onigiri (haven't managed to find that kind again!). I was on my way there when I realized I could go out to the big shopping center out near Omiya (one stop before)... it has a Lush! So I headed out there... and ended up spending WAY too much! Got some stuff at Lush... but then found the COOLEST hat ever... and found the cute Lego shop... in under an hour... I spent around 6,000yen... I headed back to Kim's after that.
She was on her way out to meet James... and I just sat for a bit and then did some repacking. James and Kim returned. He's the nicest guy... it's amazing how easy conversation is when you've got cool/interesting people to converse with. Our plan was then to wait for Tatsuya and then go for yaki-niku at Gyu-Kaku... I couldn't wait because our local Gyu-Kaku had been closed a while ago.
So, my last night in Tokyo was perfect. Out with friends just having a laugh and some good food! Great time had by all.

Tuesday: Last class. It was hilarious! Had such a good time just joking around and learning of course. After it was all done, I was really glad I'd gone to it. :-) But leaving was bad because I learned that Kevin was headed out to a Mexican place! ARGH!!! I could't go because I had a train to catch. Bah!
The train ride was great... nice and smooth. Then I had an hour wait in Niigata. I was sitting on the platform when I realized that I was being watched. I looked up and there were three high school boys staring at me from the train on the opposite tracks from me. So, I looked up and smiled and waved. They laughed and waved back. Basically we had the grown-up version of peek-a-boo going on for about 45 minutes while I waited for my train and they waited for theirs to depart. We waved, gave thumbs-up, made faces at each other... and then when their train eventually left... I waved as if we were all old friends. Man, I LOVE JAPAN!! ;-)

Ok... so there's the end of my Golden Week adventures... sorry it took so long... yesterday, I lost this post and had to do it over again today... sorry for the delay!