Last few days in Japan!

Today is my last day in Japan! 

Yesterday my host family kindly took me to a Yakiniku restaurant as a final meal in Nagoya. I ate lots of high quality beef and cooked them in a fire pit in the middle of the table. It was very soft and I was able to cook it to the amount that I liked. At the restaurant, there was also a tablet at the table where, if you'd like, you could order anything at any time which was very convenient and the service was quick. At the end of the meal, I got a dessert token, which was used at the dessert buffet where I could pick anything I'd like out of various desserts! I ended up getting pudding, it was very creamy and delicious!

 My host family's father's sister also took me to Studio Ghibli Park in Aichi! Although tickets are very expensive and hard to get since they’re usually sold out, we were still able to go and visit two sections of the park! We saw Howl's moving castle, Princess Mononoke, and Kiki's delivery service! Afterwards, we went to a clothes store that was cheaper than the ones at the mall which can get up to 10,000 yen for pants. I recommend going to Sakae or Nagoya if you're looking for more expensive clothing, or going to GU/Uniqlo if you're looking for a bit cheaper clothing. There's also second hand stores such as Second Street that have clothes which can go for 500 yen! 

Overall, I had a great time in Japan, and I'm sad to leave the place that became my home for two months. It was a pleasure to meet so many new people that were in the IES Abroad program and hangout with them. I enjoyed getting to know people from all over the world and hearing their different experiences. I would recommend going to Japan through IES Abroad because of how smooth the transition was and all of the activities that were planned! Such as going to Kyoto, watching a professional play, and eating at an expensive buffet restaurant. It was really nice getting to Japan a few days early before Nanzan's classes started to make the transition easier and get adjusted to the new environment with everyone! Nanzan also had really nice art classes that I would recommend going to for learning some of the Japanese culture or just to take some classes that are more relaxing. The Japanese classes on the other hand, are a bit more intensive with quizzes or speeches everyday, one midterm and one final exam. The homework sometimes took over an hour and required lots of thinking and translating. However, it made me much better at grammar, reading and writing! Additionally, I'm glad that I picked a host family because of the home cooked meals and having someone there for me to ask questions to. There were also there to hangout with and to talk about my day with, and were able to give recommendations for places to go. It was a great experience and I hope that one day I'm able to come back to Japan to meet my host family again and all of my friends!