One last Japan post for now

I'm sitting here, reflecting on my first 2 weeks and have mixed feelings. Though the initial shock of Tokyo has worn off a little, I'm still sticking to the fact that I could never really live here. I don't care about fashion or how I look or what people think of me, and though every place has their issues, and I've faced some difficult ones, never before had I felt so judged as I did in Tokyo. I know part of it is because I'm a foreigner, but I've experienced that more here than in other countries I've visited. I don't know if it's part of the weird history of the Japan and the US, but it's there. And then there's that part where I don't care about fashion, which is such a huge deal here, and you know, I dance while waiting for the train.

And yet, a place with a good train system and individually friendly people is always nice. On my way to the airport via train I had to drag my suitcase up and down several flights of stairs and on one of my ways up, a nice young woman grabbed one of the handles on my suitcase and helped me carry it the rest of the way up. So things weren't are all bad and it was really nice to see Daniel and Jazmin, so I think it was worth it.

I'm on day two in the Philippines now and loving it, like always. Coming here always feels right, like I'm coming home in a way. More on that will come later. Big parties going on tonight and this weekend for the sinulog, that festival I wrote my capstone on. So there probably won't be another update til after the weekend and maybe not til after my parents leave on Tuesday.