This has been a strange but good trip for me. I've definitely been on longer and more difficult courses and such, but I feel like this has been very enjoyable in a different way than I'm used to. I made a lot of friends cut from a much different cloth than I've ever met before and had experiences I couldn't have had everywhere else. Getting to visit a temple and practice zazen, getting to forge friendships and live in Fururu, and getting to make friends with a professor I haven't had many opportunities to talk to before were all wonderful.
I think this trip has also rekindled my passion and interest in the Japanese language and the JET programme that I hadn't been feeling lately in a really meaningful way. I got to see how far I could push my skills, and where I was deficient in my studies or needed to improve. I think what really solidified the language in my mind more than anything else was a visit I took with Josh to a hole-in-the-wall cafe near Fururu run out of an old lady's house. It really seemed like she was running it to keep herself amused more than anything else. She couldn't speak any English, but she was interested in us, chatty and super nice. She gave us a few snacks, made tea for us and even when we were done and excusing ourselves, she took us upstairs so she could show us the sights in Hakodate from her upstairs window. We never did get her name, but I don't think it's an afternoon I'll ever forget.
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