Japanophilia

So, some of the people who read this blog are card-carrying Japanophiles like myself. Before I let any more time pass by, I must let you all know one thing. If you have any reasons at all (no matter how small) to go to Japan aside from learning the language (ie: to buy stuff, go to concerts, etc.) you should definitely go to Tokyo or another big city (unless you really cannot deal with crowds). Tokyo is big, and I'm really not one for big cities at all, but I like it just fine because it is truly the land of opportunity. It is also a paradise for even the slightest Japanophile. I'm sure people like Erik are thinking, "Yeah. I already knew that," but still, I just thought I'd elaborate. I have come to this conclusion because I'm not the only person that I know in Japan now. Let's just say that based on what I've heard from them, teaching English in Japan--though it's a decent way to get there, and the pay is fairly good--doesn't do a lot for placing you in useful locations where you have the opportuinties to do things. If I had gone with JET or NOVA or GEOS, I certainly wouldn't be in Tokyo, and I wouldn't have anywhere near the opportunity that I do now. And even though I'm (read: my parents are) paying for me to be in Tokyo ('cause it's normal study abroad), it's well worth it for what I've experienced in just this month alone. And I haven't done one thing on my big list of stuff to do* yet! So yeah.

*: The "big list of stuff to do" means experiencing major things like going to Tokyo Tower or Ueno Park or Seimei Jinja. I don't count things to buy as being on that list, even though Carol was really that important.