it is always fitting to end a journey where you began and in this case, my japanese adventure neared its end as several of us went out for Yakiniku in Nakano and Gut'sSoul, where we had shared our first meal together so many months ago.

there was the massive amounts of meat and kimchee, soups and drink bars, and people's arms being singed by small fires set into our table. we ate more than any normal, sane human being should and lamented our stomach pains after the deed was done.

we also cemented the last time we would see some people with the time honored tradition of purikura. goofy faces, random jumps and squees, and graffitti of our photo goodness followed in a way that can only be described as 'tokyo style', replete with hearts and stars, random outcrys of "EH?---" coming out of our mouths and floating guitars.

we ended the night in shimotakaido with a hop on the spinning globe, the one that, upon my first day in japan, i claimed as my own yet had never ridden. needless to say, getting spun around that quickly is not a smart decision after eating said meat, but we had never been the people to think things through.

we wrote our final exams this morning, i am heading into my last open conversation class, tomorrow is our planned bike trip to the top 6 tokyo universities, and then friday we have our closing ceremony. for many of us, the last time to see any of our new friends and teachers is upon us.

let's try not to cry too hard.

maybe i should buy some beer....