all that will be left

A large part of my life in Japan was spent traveling. Traveling is probably the best part of my experience here. Being able to see new things and places, bonding with friends, making memories, trying different kinds of dishes, etc. Not only that but I think I've gained some new skills and interests as well. I learned how to pack lightly (though I didn't use this skill when Bori unni came to visit over spring vacation). I learned how to plan trips. It was hard at first. I often just followed my friends around. And I began to really enjoy taking pictures. I loved looking back at photos -- they really did speak a million words! I could see myself, my friends (even though my friends and I weren't in the photo), the location visited, food eaten, and even hear conversations spoken in one photo.

On my very first trip outside of Fukushima-Ken about two and a half years ago from today, I took my first trip to Osaka, Kyoto and Himeji with Sheenae, Amber and Steve. I was so excited. I wasn't very happy about how expensive a round-trip shinkansen ticket to Osaka (or even anywhere) was, but was very much looking forward to seeing my friends and actually doing the things that I said I would do before coming here. It was a long and fast ride (Osaka is far away and the shinkansen is FAST). I had eki-bento (which became one of my favorite things to do on a bullet train), wrote in my travel journal (which still has a lot of room for me to write in), and listened to my ipod (now broken).

I hopped off the shinkansen, met up with Sheenae and Amber and the excitement just multiplied. Our first meal was okonomiyaki, an Osaka specialty. And after seeing the castle, I was introduced to Steve, Sheenae's friend, and we tricked him into believing that Amber was Korean (she's Chinese). We went to the major tourist spots in Osaka, Himeji to see the castle there and Kokoen (a beautiful Japanese garden that I want to visit again) the next day, and to Kyoto the day after that to get a quick taste of what Kyoto was like (I went back after that, one day isn't enough). One of the best parts of this trip for me was probably the worst for poor Steve. The three of us, especially Amber and I couldn't stop bothering him. It was great fun. We saw a lot, ate a lot, talked a lot, and took tons of pictures. At the end of this trip, I bought a camera at the Yodobashi there. It is really small and compact and I got it for pretty cheap because it was on sale. My old camera was really old. My cell phone now takes better pictures than that.

I began to continue to take pictures with my new camera, and I really enjoyed it. Me not being good with.... machines?...., it took my a while to learn how to use some of the functions on it. But thanks to the help of some friends and time, I eventually began to make good use that camera. Wherever I went, I wanted to take nice shots. Some came out nice, many didn't. But the most important thing is: that camera recorded two and a half years of memories for me. And now, I have a new one. After a long long time of debating whether or not I should get it in my head... I finally did. Instead of going anywhere for Golden Week, I spent it taking pictures of my town. I am going to leave it in two and a half months, so I should spend a lot of time here... and I should take more pictures to look back on. Because all that will be left are photos. I am still very clumsy with it. It is a lot more advanced than my old one, but I'm having lots of fun.