I have told Jem for years that there are two things that are never long enough for me — cruises and massages. I always wish the cruise were more days, and I always wish the massage were more minutes.
Now, I have one more thing to add to my list — visits to Japan. We were in Japan two months. We covered a lot of Japan, and crossed off several items that we wanted to do, but left with a list of things we didn’t get to that we needed to do “next time.” Here is a short list
1. Spend more weeks in an apartment in Sapporo, visiting more parks, and more museums
2. Take language classes/send kids to a school in Sapporo
3. See more of Hokkaido (this time we just saw Otaru)
4. See more of the Kerama islands
5. Spend more time in Nagano
So, of course, we are already planning our visit to Sapporo next summer. Because the hardest, most difficult part of being in Japan this summer, was saying good bye. Both Jem and I were very sad at Kansai airport, as we watched the airline staff all bow to us, and say good bye. (Try and hold that image in your mind. You are at a busy international airport. Dozens queuing at the airline counter, waiting for the counters to open. Instead of surly and frazzled, the airline staff, as they prepare to open the ticket counters, walk out in a row, in front of their counters, in their very nice uniforms, turn to all of us, smile, bow in unison. Then move behind their counter and still with a big smile, greet the first six groups in line. So patient, orderly and friendly. Have we mentioned, we love Japan? And miss it terribly?)
Now that we are home, I have started Japanese language classes. Next year, I will use our trip to perfect my Japanese. And I leave you with my two favorite Japanese words so far: すすきの and すし
(Two classes down and I know a lot of hiragana now. At least I know them for an hour or so, my long term retention is really bad.)
I probably wont be posting as much since my adventures will ease for a while…though we are planning a fall trip to Paris…so check back every few weeks there may be more adventures to follow.
So, until next year さよなら