Flying home

It is perhaps fitting that my final blog entry from Japan is also the title of a great jazz standard. During our stay, I was amazed at how pervasive jazz music was in this culture. Almost every other shop we visited was streaming jazz. And great jazz music, too! I heard Nina Simone, Chet Baker, and Oscar Peterson to name a few. It was not something I ever expected, and it was something I was delighted to discover.

In about an hour, we are heading to Kansai International Airport to fly home. We both had a terrific time in Japan. After three weeks, we were both becoming quite comfortable staying here. We were navigating the shinkansens and local trains with seasoned ease, and able to unravel the secrets of the time tables charts.

I became much more comfortable using the language during the stay. Being naturally verbose, I frequently lamented my lack of vocabulary: but I was able to ask and understand directions, chat some with store clerks and inquisitive natives, and was even becoming adept at placing orders in restaurants without having to point at the pictures like a baka gaijin.

We saw the sights we intended to see and snagged some great swag along the way. Jenn and I both agreed that - had circumstances been different - we could have lived here quite happily teaching ESL. We would like to visit the country again, because there is still so much more we could see and do.

But for now, I think my feet need a rest.