(Day 16) End of Days

At last my endless days of traveling for 2009 have come to an end! This day in Japan is my last, for now. I can’t usually stay away for too long. I packed up the last of my goods and donned my flying clothes…I always wear the same outfit flying in and out – I feel like it adds closure. Tomoko again prepared a sumptuous feast for my last meal – she’s such a gem.


Oinari-sama! I am so lucky to know Maya and her family.

In a completely unexpected move, they also offered to drive me on over to Tokyo station since I had so many heavy bags. To put it into perspective, they are a good hour away from Tokyo station by car and it would involve heading downtown. I am truly humbled by their generosity! It also gave me a good chance to chat with Maya one last time.







After bidding the Suzuki clan farewell, I juggled my bags onto the Narita Express train and zoomed through the city toward the airport in a nearly-two-hour journey. My last glimpses:





The airport seemed busier than usual and it took quite some time to check in. There was a very kind Air Canada lady that helped me with my bags and then it was off to the shops and my last snacks before the long fright (“r” used intentionally) home.




The goodie-sack from the Suzukis…I love goodie-sacks! What shall I have?





I don’t want to give any long wrap-up speech or anything, but let me just say it was a lot of fun for me, and I hope you enjoyed reading about it! Given that I live a little longer, I will come back (from the point of writing, it is roughly five months until I go back.) So…yeah. Did I answer the question that I posed on my first blog about why I love Japan? Mmm…I’m going to try to come up with a good, direct answer for next time.