The Fam in Japan

My family came and visited! I was originally going to do this update in MLA outline format, but it took too long and wasn’t that great, school resumed and I figured I would never get around to finishing it...so instead, a bullet point overview of the more memorable moments:

Aug 26th - Arrival

arriving at the airport 30 minutes late because I failed to realize there is a difference between Narita Station and Narita Airport Station
seeing the family for the first time in 9 months.
waiting two hours for Karen, who forgot to tell anyone her flight number or arrival time.
finally finding Karen
taking the shinkansen and checking into our swanky hotel in Kyoto.

Aug 27 - Kyoto

incredible breakfast at our hotel.
hiking up the small streets to Kiyomizudera
stopping at little shops along the way.
eating kakigori (shaved ice) at Kiomizudera on outdoor tatami.
stumbling upon Ryozen Kannon in the rain.
walking to Gion in the rain.
stumbling upon the same park that I visited last November.
finding the "walking-only" streets filled with little shops and restaurants.

Aug 28 - Hiroshima

visiting Peace Park.
seeing the cases upon cases of origami cranes that japanese school children folded around the Sadako Sasaki memorial statue.
seeing genbaku domu (atomic bomb dome).
visiting the Hiroshima Memorial Peace Museum.
breaking down at seeing the charred uniforms of jr. high school students.

Aug 29 - Nara

watching my dad get eaten while trying to feed the deer at shikakoen in nara
hearing Karen yelp as she was bitten on the ass by a renegade deer
going to toodaiji temple

Aug 30 - Kota and Hamamatsu

having the family see my apartment
visiting one of my schools and meet my teachers.
eating at my favorite ramen shop for lunch
the retro cool 'high fidelity' 1980 stereo's in our hotel in hamamatsu.
the banner that Tomoko's family made that said "Welcome to Japan."
eating Tomoko's mother's cooking again.

Aug 31st - Arrival in Tokyo

checking into another cool modern hotel.
getting jolted by an earthquake 5 minutes after arriving at our room on the 39th floor.
walking back from Roppongi to our hotel with Amy and Karen in the middle of the night.
stopping by Tokyo Tower at 1am on the walk home.

Sept 1st - A Day to Myself

picking up my new passport from the American embassy. I'm a legal resident again!
sending my family to a basketball game while I did some shopping for school.
getting led down an alley and feeling coerced into buying an 'authentic' Abercrombie and Fitch shirt.
stopping by my friend Jo's goodbye party at a hotel and falling asleep.

Sept 2nd - Visiting the Juku

getting woken up by my concerned parents on the phone at 8am.
walking to the train station with a mild hangover while hundreds of students are scattering about and practicing cheer routines.
walking around the massive Shinjuku station.
checking out the crazy stores in Harajuku, complete with over-the-top dressed salesgirls.
getting a high-five on the street from the same guys that sold me my shirt the day before.