I've either been hell of busy or internetless for the last two weeks, so I excuse myself for the delay.

The Wednesday after Summerland Sunday was a curry-rice and gyoza lunch and a visit to the New National Art Center with Jeannie and James, followed by arcading in Roppongi and Eddie Izzard at Jeannie's. The fashion and architecture exhibit, Skin and Bones, was pretty interesting, especially when the three of us realized that we couldn't really accept fashion as an art form. There was some crazy architecture that would probably lead to deaths and court cases if they were made in full-scale. "What is this? An art center for ants?!"

Thursday was Yomiuri Land with Monica. With our 2,900 yen non-holiday, student discount price, day-passes, we each got close to 15,000 yen worth of entertainment, including four rides on both the White Canyon and Bandit roller coasters, mild heat stroke, dehydration, and motion sickness. In the evening, we gathered at Jeannie's for a goodbye to Jessica, yummy food, Kids in the Hall and more Eddie Izzard. While buying train tickets home, it turned out that Elizabeth had to go to Ebisu in the morning (one stop from the apartment), so she and Will spent the night. We watched YouTube videos (Cat. [ding] I'm a kitty cat.) and gossiped into the wee hours.

On Friday, I was mostly pooped. I don't really remember what I did. I don't think I did much of anything.

Saturday was ridiculous. I had plans with my aunt and mom in the morning, set to begin after my aunt's hair appointment at ten. She slept in and it was delayed. My mom went to an internet cafe where we all met and hung around doing nothing in particular for a while. After eating pasta at Presto, we hopped in the car and headed towards Toraya in Aoyama for some pricey but totally worthwhile shaved ice. (Seriously. Japan folk. If you've got a spare 1,300 to spoil yourself with, go get the Ujikintoki with shiratama. It's beyond divine.) By the time we finished, it was 2:00. I was planning to meet Will and Elizabeth in Shimokitazawa at 3:00. My aunt suggested we take some Japanese candy to our friends in the imperial family, all of whom live in the complex across the street from Toraya. I was concerned that I
wouldn't make Shimo on time and she assured me that it would be a quick visit. By the time we were finished choosing and buying the candy, it was 2:20. At the house, we waited around for the eldest daughter of the house while eating dango and drinking tea. She showed up around 2:45. Will called saying he would be late and I told him that I would be too.

By the time we left, it was 3:15 and I was getting impatient. We were inching through traffic and I got incredibly worried while watching my mom trying to navigate us to Shimo. When we approached Shibuya, I insisted that it'd be quicker to go by train and hopped out by the station. Will was in a CD shop, waiting and looking for cheap albums. He asked for recommendations and we found the Velvet Goldmine soundtrack and The Futureheads eponymous album for fairly low prices. I was lucky enough to find the Soul Coughing album I didn't have on a 50% off shelf (from 580 yen to 340) and the Royal Tenenbaums soundtrack for the same original price. We tried to get in touch with Elizabeth but to no avail. After making purchases that instilled faith in our ability to take full advantage of discount prices, we wandered around, danced to a band performing on the street, wandered around some more, got lost in a cluttered book store/novelty shop and ended up leaving through the back door.

On that side of the station, we found Elizabeth, who had forgotten her cellphone at home. We sat around, wandered around, talked, and smelled falafel. There was no Greek restaurant in sight, so we decided to go to Tameikesanno to get dinner at Pita the Great. It was closed. I was incredibly bummed. We walked to Roppongi and had the same curry-rice and gyoza lunch set from Wednesday (with an intense increase in garlic concentration), met Monica and went to Castillo for the last time as an informal "the crew." At first, there was no one else around, so all of our requests were played consecutively and we danced. After more people showed up, there was an increase in not-so-dancable music (Bon Jovi and The Cure, for example) and my intestines were killing me. Jeannie, James and Kendall arrived with Come On Eileen and we jumped around before I got severely unhappy and sat down to mope and complain about how much pain I was in. People started leaving and I started my proper goodbyes. Around eleven, we all had to leave. Monica and I walked to her house, I said goodbye to her and her mother and headed home on the train.

The morning of my last full day was spent packing and I went to my grandma's house in the afternoon. After suffering some emotional trauma unrelated to leaving, I got a call from Florence, who I didn't get to see during my last week, and had a good cry after hanging up. It was relieving but I was still incredibly and justifiably sad. Our family had dinner at a yakiniku restaurant that was recently built by my grandma's house and I said goodbye to Romi-chan, my grandma's housekeeper, and cursed hell-dog for making my visits to the house so fucking infuriating. In the evening, I finished the bulk of my packing, disconnected my faithful computer, and passed out for my last night of regular tatami-top futon sleeping.

Jesus. This is getting to be an absurdly long entry.

Anyway. I had a delicious Sichuan lunch at the Miyako Hotel with my aunt and grandma and boarded the Airport Limousine Bus to Narita. At the airport, I had a ginormous parfait. Both flights were rather uneventful and my computer made it through checked luggage alive and well. Blades of Glory was really bad but delightfully funny. It probably helped that my expectations only accounted for the first half of that brief review. Dad was waiting for us in the crowds of astonishingly white people at Salt Lake City International Airport. We stopped for gas between Salt Lake City and Logan, where I bought some Lemon Brisk and donettes and realized that 1) it's no wonder why America is obese and that 2) the standard for food in America is disappointingly low.

Since arriving, I have been without regular internet access and I've been getting stuff done. When I went up to my room, I found about four boxes that I had forgotten about, some of which I had sent from Japan, others that hadn't been opened since we moved. I got rid of about two boxes of clothing and repacked things of sentimental and practical value. My room is still a bit of a mess but it's on its way to being habitable. I also have been grooming my greasy, unkempt cat, braiding garlic bundles, doing my summer reading, thinking about doing some knitting, fulfilling my in-class driver's ed. requirements, and pirating library knitting books. It's relieving that my weaning from the internet's time-snatching teat hasn't been as difficult as I expected it to be. Oh, and because of the food shock, I've been eating salad, falafels, and similarly stress-free foods. My mom is cooking delicious meals but without the mandatory exercise of city life, I find myself not eating any more than I need to. Hooray for Tokyo and its effect on metabolism.

I kind of want to re-do the layout of this sucker soon. I know I've been saying that for ages but I've got no regular AIM, YouTube, Facebook, etc. to act as a constant distraction. Once the room is clean and the cat is downy and beautiful, there won't be anything else left to do. Unless of course I start a knitting project...

Conclusion: SAYA W/O INTERNET = GRANDMA