Spring Break

 こんにちは!

For spring break, I traveled with Andrew and our other roommate to Japan. We spent 3 days in Tokyo, 3 days in Kyoto, and did a day trip to Hakone and Mt. Fuji. Although most people seemed to understand English, I enjoyed practicing my Japanese when at restaurants or shopping. Andrew and I got some funny reactions when we went beyond the normal こんいちは and あっりがとございます. At first, Tokyo looked like any other major city. However, a few things quickly stood out to us. First, the streets were perfectly clean. It was interesting walking down busy streets that had no litter anywhere. Also, the streets and especially the public transportation were very quiet. No one would talk on the subways and buses, so we were constantly paying attention to our volume and correcting each other. Even though we were careful to follow all of the social etiquette, such as no eating or drinking while walking and no jaywalking, we still had people staring and watching us which we are not used to. We also heard a few people say "あめりか” as we walked past which was interesting. None of this bothered us, but it was very interesting to experience. The food was definitely a highlight of Japan. We had the opportunity to try wagyu steak several times, which was amazing. Even convenience stores like 711 had excellent onigiris and sandos, and a large meal would only cost $3 or 4. The favorable currency exchange rate meant that we did a lot of shopping and ate a lot of food while we were there. It was also amazing visiting different temples and shrines. The amount of historical sites that can be found in a single city is incredible. Overall I loved Japan, and I definitely hope to travel back there one day- maybe with even stronger Japanese skills.

わたしはまいにちこおひいをのみます。わたしはよきどきじむにいきます。わたしはぜんぜんてれびをよみません。わたしはよくCostcoにいきます。わたしはあまりあさごはんをたべません。