Nick and Miranda in Japan

     The 133 days are up! As you're reading this, I have returned to the United States, and it is good to be back! It's hard to sum up a semester's worth of adventure, but I will always be grateful to the people I met and what I was able to learn about myself. My favorite Japanese phrase is now "mono no aware." It means the sadness of things or the gentle sadness of things. Having to say goodbye to Kansai Gaidai felt a bit bittersweet, but saying hello to my family was amazing. I can't wait to see everyone that I've missed all semester. Thank you for following along on Nick's and my adventures! We're home! 

     This is the final post I’m writing before we travel home! It’s Miranda, and I’m writing a little bit about our final adventures in Japan. Our finals were difficult, but we still found time for some last adventures, and we had a few days after our finals to explore as well.

     Over Golden Week, a series of adjacent holidays in early May, Miranda and I went hiking! It was really beautiful and relaxing. We were on our way up the trail when we came across a little rest area. There was a restroom, and what looked like a Tennessee country store, with Dolly Parton playing in the background! It was a really fun hike, and we got to traverse a massive suspension bridge.

      Wow! What a semester. Nick writing, and I wanted to share my thoughts about all of the classes I took this semester. Every one of my teachers was incredible. Their teaching was engaging and concise, they had clear and professional expectations, and they seemed to actually care about us learning. The facilities were great too, and the staff at the Center for International Education. I took five classes, history, art, culinary tourism, Kanji, and Japanese. My favorite class was probably Japanese, and that was also the most difficult class. Finals were hard, especially the Culinary tourism paper.

     It’s Miranda again! I’m so thankful for the church Nick and I have found here, and I’m so sad that we’ve had to say goodbye. So, I’m writing a post about our wonderful church family at Osaka International Church (OIC). Living in Japan has been difficult, to put it lightly, but I wouldn’t trade meeting the people in our church.

It’s Miranda! I’m writing about a couple very special days we had in May. It’s a belated post, but I wanted to share anyway! May 11, 2023, marked 100 days until Nick and I get married! (And day 111 of 133 in Japan!) I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with Nick. It’s hard to express the many thoughts and feelings I have about getting married… I’ll just leave it at that! 

     Walking in the brilliant sunshine, Nick and I enjoyed going from Easter service to our international church’s Easter picnic. While Easter is not as emphasized in Japan as I am used to, it still is celebrated by the Christians living here.

     Campus has exploded with student life these past few weeks! Miranda and I are on the international student school year cycle, with a spring semester from January to May. The local students, however, have classes from April to June. Anyway, we got back from spring break and witnessed an increase of on-campus presence by about 500%. Long cafeteria lines and crowded student rooms aside, it's been great to meet new people.

     It was great to have Tom with us for so long. Miranda and I were still in classes, but we wanted weren't done exploring with Tom yet. We went to baseball, Nara park, and many restaurants. We'll have to get him on here as a guest blogger to write about his solo adventures and what he thought. We love you Tom, and we already miss you!

     We spent two days of spring break in Tokyo. Despite the incessant rain, we enjoyed our time. We visited museums, saw a kabuki show, and spent the night in a capsule hotel. Tokyo is a massive city, and on the train ride over we spent about forty-five minutes driving through the city to get to the Tokyo station. Everywhere we went all you could see was city. It's both Nick and Miranda writing this post, so our perspectives are all mixed together in this post. Nick's thoughts are in green, and mine are in red! 

       My younger brother Tom came to visit me and Miranda in Japan for a few weeks! We had a great time with him, and I think Tom had a great time too. He's got his own stories, and I don't want to spoil them all. But I do want to share a few exciting moments.

     This weekend we spent a wonderful day in Nara! It's Miranda writing. Nara used to be the capital of Japan from 710 to 794. Eight locations in Nara make up a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara. Nick and I were visiting to sit in the park, however. We brought some homework and spent time sitting under the trees and studying.