19 days left!

I know that I shouldn't be counting. Or that perhaps I shouldn't be as happy as I am about only 19 days left. But I am happy there are only 19 days left. I have had a really wonderful time in Japan, learned a lot of things, and seen some beautiful places. But I realized some things about myself. As much as I like to think that I am an international person, I am still an American at heart. I like traveling, but I could never live anywhere but the United States (permanently. a few years here or there is different). There is something that we all take for granted, and that is being surrounded by people who have the same mindset as ourselves. I know that America is very diverse and all of the people in America are different. But despite all of our differences, somewhere deep inside, every person in American has an American identity, and therefore thinks like an American. I never realized how important that is until I came to Japan. Being surrounded by people who don't think like me, who have such a different self-identity, it makes me appreciate living in America. I also always liked to think that people everywhere are the same. And while that is true to some extent, people in different countries are also very different. Just like a children are shaped by their experiences and all become different adults, countries are shaped by their histories and their people all become slightly different. It is a hard thing to name specifically, I can't create a list of: these are how Americans and Japanese are different. Not without resorting to lots of cliched sterotypes that I dislike. But there are definite differences.

I also miss silly little things like dryers and beds.