Osaka, Japan

 

My first impression of Japan was quiet...and cold! After spending 3 1/2 months in SouthEast Asia--and especially Vietnam, with the excessive honking they like to do--Japan felt so very quiet. Everything and everyone is quiet. And we, the Americans, are so loud. We practically yell each and every time we speak, but the Japanese seem to communicate in very soft tones; ones that are nearly impossible for loud Americans.

Anyway, we've officially been in Japan for a week, and overall, it was the perfect country to end our around-the-world trip. It's the perfect step up from our typical developing-country circuit, and it provides a nice level of comfort to transition us back to the good ole' US of A.

We ended up in Osaka because it was one of the only places where I could find a two bedroom Airbnb for under $100. Thankfully, we nailed it. We are in the suburbs of Osaka, the second largest city in Japan. There is an absolutely beautiful park less than a 10-minute walk away, complete with basketball hoops and a 30-minute walking loop. Within this park, there is also a botanical garden and a history museum. Think Central Park, just smaller. The plum blossoms are also beginning to bloom, so that's pretty rad, too. We'll be here another week-and-a-half before we jet off to Tokyo for 3, very expensive, nights. However, that will be our very last stop before returning home, and as you know, we are ready!

Since we've been here, we've established a nice routine of self care (exercising, meditating, journaling, and organizing) and have visited the park multiple times, the botanical garden and history museum, have figured out how to navigate the metro and the grocery store, and even attended Universal Studios, Japan (which was very much like hell on earth with about a 1/3 of the people dressed identical and walking around in very unique hats and headbands--see pictures below; Conan and I think we made a huge mistake visiting, but I think Sila thinks differently; see his eventual blog!). 

Okay, so now for our challenges. As I write this, Sila is screaming and crying because we made him do laundry (and challenge himself to figure things out). So is he still breaking down? Yup. Is he learning resilience? Hell, yeah...or so we think. He's either going to be broken forever as a result of this trip OR learn a hell of a lot of resilience. Right now it's a coin toss, for sure. 

Also, this is the first country (in a collective of 50), where absolutely no one speaks English and nothing is in English. It's kind of crazy (to clarify--by NO means do I expect them to speak English; our experience has just been that pretty most everywhere, people speak English). It's kind of fun and challenging (and exhausting!) to figure out every aspect of every move here, but we're making do. And they seem to have an obsession with yams. Look at the flyer below--what do you suppose this is for? A yam giveaway? There was a man handing this out on the street corner.

Last thing is how cold it is here. While we each have two pairs of pants (mind you, light/spring-type pants) and one puff jacket, it's not quite enough for highs of mid-40s and lows of 30s. Thankfully, we have some good sunshine days, which makes a difference. Next week should be upper 50s, too, which is exciting. 

So there you go, folks. Japan living. We have two weeks from today, so we can't wait to see all of your smiling faces!!!