Short summary of the past couple of weeks: I went to Japan. Went to Expo 2005. Went to a baseball game. Walked around a lot of temples and shrines, but tried to alternate old and new stuff to not get burned out. Played with robots. Encountered one typhoon and got a map eaten by a deer. Best meals were cheapest ones, e.g. the $5 yasei don (tempura vegetables over rice) at some nameless joint near the Asakusa subway stop in Tokyo. Overall, I enjoyed myself but didn't experience enough culture shock for it to be a really satisfying vacation. Detailed travelogue will get written sooner or later.
The oddity of flying home across the International Date Line is the whole arriving before you leave thing and that's particularly weird when it's your birthday. So my birthday lasted several extra hours, as I left Osaka at about 6 p.m. and got to Chicago at 4 p.m. (and on to Dulles at 9 p.m. so lost some of the extra time.) Called my mother who thought the deer story was the funniest thing she'd ever heard. Am now craving venison.
Tomorrow is recovery day, including the usual post vacation errand running. I probably need to devote a lot of time to going through mail. The best part of being home is being able to read all the signs. Well, except the ones in my neighborhood in Korean, but that's another story.
Copyright 2005 Miriam H. Nadel