Day 31-- The Last Day That Lasted More Than A Day

We got up, had breakfast, and headed to the business district of Tokyo.  The buildings were amazing.  When I thought about Japan, Tokyo was what I pictured-- busy streets (although, given the population, not as busy as I thought they would be), tall buildings, great architecture, and people trying to make sales.  We walked around for the morning before taking the subway back to our hotel (yes, we mastered the Tokyo subway) to check out.

For lunch, we had Italian.  Again, we were very proud that we navigated our way through ordering.

Our limo bus left for the airport at 2:25 PM from the hotel.  After arriving, we spent some time trying to spend the last bit of Yen we had left-- it's not like anyone from that point on was going to accept it as currency.

The flight was very smooth, although, for me, was really anxiety-filled.  I kept thinking, "you just have to get over North America and then you will be ok".  I was so nervous I was going to have another allergic reaction I took every little weird thing my body did on the trip as a sign of alarm (silently, thank goodness).  The air in the plane was really dry and that made it difficult for me to judge if I was feeling ok or not.  Luckily, everything was fine and we made it to Chicago with plenty of time to head through customs and get to our gate.

At the gate, we got Starbucks and sat around while we waited to board.  After a few minutes, Stacy mentioned that the sign for our gate said "1 minute left in boarding".  Oops.  We walked on the plane and almost instantly took off.

At the Detroit airport (we arrived 50 minutes after we departed from Tokyo...talk about time traveling), we were greeted by Jason, Dave, and Drew.  It was really sad to leave Stacy and Jeff.  They were incredible traveling buddies and I owe so much of my amazing experience to them.  I also owe my well-being and health to Stacy who stayed by my side the entire last week of the trip making sure I was ok and communicating back home if I had a question I wasn't sure could be answered in Japan.

Things I discovered while in Japan--
1. The man purse does exist for straight men.
2. Bike lanes are something Japan has not yet discovered.
3. Smoking is socially acceptable everywhere.
4. Celcius is not that difficult to understand (and, after a month in Japan, 18 degrees in cold).
5. Telephone conversations are much like the Japanese, small and efficient.
6. Tights serve a purpose other than to keep your legs warm.
7. Japanese men don't eat sweets in public, but they carry pink cell phones.
8. Bean paste is a suitable alternative to sweet desserts.
9. When you find a job, you keep it for life.
10. Most Japanese houses are not livable after 45 years.
11. I am happy with my life, the career I have, and the people in it.  (Not that I didn't know that before, but I realized it so much more being away for 30 days.  It's amazing how much more confident, strong, and independent I feel after this experience.)

I have to thank Rotary International for this amazing opportunity.  As we were saying on the way to the airport, you don't realize how much you have changed in 30 days until it's over.