おわった

This time home as in the US, not back to Fukuoka. Four days ago I got on a plane at 7:20pm to leave from Tokyo and I arrived in New York 13 hours later at... 7:50pm. Time zones are silly. Finally got home around 10pm or so, getting Bojangles on the way. I hadn't had sweet tea in forever. Never was able to adjust to the bitter taste of Japanese.

But... I'm back. Missing everything over there but there's nothing I can do except hope for a chance to return someday. Adjusting to things and seeing people I haven't in months. I've been tackled four times now, twice by surprise. I'm still keeping up with friends on Skype, at least. Talking to Chris about every day at least briefly. Planning a trip this summer to Minnesota and tickets may be bought after a discussion with parents. On the fence about Animazement still as well, but I need to decide before any plane tickets are purchased.

It's snowing out so I'm confined to my room, since I don't really want to trek across campus to Deborah's half of the world. Had Taco Bell with her and Candie tonight though. My tummy struggles to handle greasy American food at times but I'm dealing. If I get hungry again, since we had an early dinner, I have Red Lobster in the fridge. And.. that's about it. I don't know what there is to say about home.

Going abroad was probably the best thing I could've done. I had the greatest experiences of my life and made the best friends I could have from all over the world.

Edit: I made a website and have added it to the outside links section. It's full of tips and things about studying abroad in Fukuoka.

Sweaty Sweat Sweat

Today I sweated. A lot. And I laid on stone. And rocks. And a mat.

I went to a hot spring and we did the whole package; hot spring plus sauna rooms. I went with Meagan and Jen. GOSH. So we start out by taking off our shoes and putting them in a locker by the door. We get a key that we exchange for a bracelet with a bar code. Then we get our bag and go through to the woman's changing area. So we put all our stuff in a locker and then it's time to strip. We awkwardly go out through nearby doors and sit on a little bucket to wash off with a shower nozzle and provided body wash stuff. The hot springs are riiight next to us, but we have to go back inside, put on the provided clothes, and go to the sauna part first.

There were six, kind of. You go in a certain order. First we laid down on stone, first setting down our towels to rest on. It was hot and we were there for a while. Then the next one was a little less hot, and on rocks. White rocks that poked. The next was cool air to recover. Then it was back to hot. The hottest one there. This one had little hourglasses beside each spot to lay down that counted down ten minutes because you weren't supposed to stay longer than that. Stubbornly, Meagan and I lasted the whole time. Next was another rock room that was cooler but still hot. It had blue rocks. Finally, passing through a normal room you get to one where you can either lay down or climb into one of the honeycomb type things in the wall. So I laid down in one of those until me and Meagan retreated to the relaxing/waiting room thing to cool and wait for Jen.

There were several rooms with TVs and chairs set up but we didn't stop. We were sticky and sweaty and gross.

We returned to the changing room where we stripped again, then washed again, then finally got to the hot spring. It was outside, and today it was cold with misty rain. But the water was hot. One was 38 degrees Celsius. The hottest was 43. There were also barrels that you just sat in and we probably stayed there the longest. If I had my arms out, the cold rain balanced out the hot water so I didn't get overheated. So we chatted, then went to the inside hot spring briefly, which were in the same room as the little shower stations.

Then we took our third shower of the day to wash off the salty hot spring water. Finally washed my hair here too. All the shampoo and conditioner and body wash were provided. Then they had a wall of sinks, brushes, and hair dryers in the changing room that we used after we had dressed again to do our hair. Then it was back into the rain.

We met with Chris in Tenjin and decided against yakiniku because it was too expensive. I wanted to try it... :< It's cook your own meat, I think, but Jen is vegetarian. We also didn't know where to find a shabu shabu place. So instead we went back to Sweets Paradise, the all you can eat cake place. They have curry, pasta, sandwiches, and more as well so we all filled up, and now I'm back and exhausted.

Oh, and this hot spring was in Hakata, by the pier with the red tower. Or something.

Tomorrow's my last full day.