Week 12 - Fin

This final week of travels, as I mentioned in my previous blog, involved a little over a week of independent exploration time with my friends, including two friends who spent the semester in Syracuse and just came to visit. We kicked off the time with a wonderful meal at an Izakaya, the typological Japanese “diner” of sorts. That night, we did some shopping in the famous shopping neighborhood of Tokyo, called Ginza; the area is home to many major retailers’ international flagships. For the next three days, we took a trip to Fujikawaguchiko—a town at the base of the legendary Mount Fuji—and explored all that the area had to offer, from amusement parks with a view of the mountain to waterfalls and museums. Once we returned to Tokyo, we began 4 days of what I would consider to be some of the most intense time of the semester. Which, I can understand, is hilarious, as these days were packed as tightly as possible with delightful experiences: food, interactive art exhibits, jazz clubs, city tours, religious temple visits, car shows, and sword museums, to name a few. As a conclusion to this wonderful semester, my final week in Tokyo left me with priceless memories that I will cherish long after I graduate in May, and I will forever be grateful for the opportunity to live and study in such an incredible part of the world.