The End of the Beginning

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Trip Start Jan 20, 2006 Previous
Entry Trip End Dec 23, 2006

  Hirakata, Japan
Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Time moved faster as the days grew warmer and all too suddenly the semester was at an end. Graduation came on May 19th, a day that dawned cloudy. Weighing in a full 15 kilograms lighter then when I arrived, I was able to fit into formal wear purchased entirely in Japan. It was snazzy, but a downpour on the way to school left me drenched throughout the ceremony which included School president Tanimoto and the US consular general to Japan as speakers. The speeches had a common theme; we were encouraged to keep our ties with Japan even after we left. Left... this would have been depressing for me if not for the tiny sticker in my passport that I had acquired several weeks earlier: a re-entry permit. The knowledge that I had been accepted for a second semester of study and would return in August kept me cheery.

After the ceremony I ate to the point of discomfort at a fantastic luncheon. Following the gorging came bowling with Japanese and Foreign friends (not an easy task on a full stomach). Next? Nothing better to follow a free all-you-can-eat feast than one you pay for. Years of food abuse in America had trained me well for that day, when I truly tested the limits of consumption. We ate at a traditional Japanese restaurant where we were served course after course for an hour and a half. With day turned to night we set out for karaoke. My comrades planned to sing until sunrise but I opted for just one hour. I made the best of my hour though, pouring as many of the free drinks as I could onto of the mass of food in my stomach. The buses had stopped running by time I set off for home and halfway through the 45 minute walk I came to regret my monumental fluid intake. The Japanese are actually loser about urination in public that we are in America. Perhaps I should have taken advantage of this, but I chose to suffer bladder damage instead.

The last few days in Japan were somewhat emotional. I would be back, but it was likely that I would never again see many of the foreign friends I had made. Talking with exchange students from all over the world had indeed been an enjoyable bonus that semester. May 24th arrived and I found myself back at Kansai international airport. Because I had a re-entry permit and would retain my Alien Registration Card my emigration procedures were like those of Japanese, writing my home address (in Japan) and reason for "visit" to the US. When presenting my paperwork at the emigration desk, the woman spoke in English until noticing my status. At that point a surprised smile spread across her face and she made a jump in logic, switching to very fast Japanese. I missed most of what the woman said but doing as the Japanese would do I smiled and nodded. Then I left with my heart not heavy, but warm. In my moment of departure I had been made to feel incredibly welcome, and rather Japanese.

It had been the best spring of my life thus far. All of my expectation had been met and surpassed. Never before had I led such a healthy lifestyle. Never before had I explored so many new things or seen so much beauty. The person in me who had studied Japan with such enthusiasm in High School had begun to fall asleep in College. Finally making it to Japan had reawakened this part of me. I had never been so awake. My spring in Kansai had ended, but it was just the beginning.

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A3. Mark's Weakness	A4. Kimi	A5. Xiaomei	B1. David
B2. Nela	B3. Guardman	B4. Bowling	B5. Futaba
C1. Karaoke	C2. White Water

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