My Views on Cities in Japan...

Japan is obviously a wonderful country. I love the language and there's a lot about this country that I love...there's also things that I really don't like but we'll save that for another time and place...

I've currently been in Tokyo since the 9th. (It's now the 15th.) All my friends have gone, basically, and I'm navigating this city almost alone. I realized the other day that Tokyo is great and all, but it's not really THAT great. All big cities are the same kind of. I can handle Tokyo for a few days but not much more than that. It's expensive and crowded and fast and it just doesn't stop moving ever for anyone. When you've been in one big city in the world, I think you've been in them all. Chicago has moments like Tokyo, New York has moments like Chicago and LA has moments like New York and all of them kind of are the same. It's like a frat house of cities or something. They can be pushy, flashy, and have attitudes. And they tend to get really drunk on the weekends. I'm not saying all of this is bad. Sometimes I need a good kick from a city but other times returning to that quiet area back home is nice.

So, I quickly realized how much I love Hakodate and Hokkaido. When you're in Hakodate, you know that you're DEFINITELY in Hakodate. It's totally it's own thing. Sure it wasn't the most "fun" place in the world. But when I'm there with sixty other students who all want to have fun, it's hard to stop us from doing so. I think being in Tokyo for this week has made me appreciate that so much more. I remember I was hanging out with my friend in Hakodate one night and we could go back to the station and go home OR we could find something to do for a few hours and take the last train back. We decided to just walk around and talk for a while. You can't do that in Tokyo that well. We walked by the ocean, through some little streets, and then we just parked it on a bench near the station and chatted for a while...

Last night I was with one of my friends and we walked around Shibuya, a really busy area of Tokyo. It was tough because there were so many people but we kind of squeezed our way around. We were offered sex and massages from prostitutes three times in one block. All we wanted to do was go somewhere calm. We found a little bench by the station to crash but it was surrounded by homeless people who were smoking/sleeping/smoking and sleeping. The streets were also sprinkled with vomiting business men who were too drunk to make the last train home. This isn't the worst thing in world, but it wasn't like a nice quiet walk and chat with a friend. Also, I've never been offered anything from a prostitute before. If I have, I really wasn't aware of it because they must have been very subtle about it. These ones... not so subtle... but what can you do.

So, I love Tokyo, for sure. But not THAT much. There are so many other towns in Japan that are better. They may not be packed with stores and restaurants but that doesn't really matter.

I also realized that as fun as Japan is, the most fun I have on these trips is because of the people I'm with. I enjoyed spending time with the people on my trip so much. Japan just became a backdrop to what I had most fun doing, hanging out with people and making friends. Now that most of my friends have returned home, I realized that it's easy to make your way around a city but it's not easy to have as much fun without them around.

I'll be home soon and I can't wait. I'm not sick of Japan but I'm excited to see people I know.

-Mike