Kelly Anderson

Part two of my trip recap is about the aspects of life in Japan that I will miss the most. Hope you enjoy! T he first part is available  here . The food:  Japanese food is just so good. I don’t know of another place with such uniformly high quality restaurants. The worst sushi I had in Japan was better than the best sushi I’ve eaten in America. Hmmmm....sushi Excellent ramen Matcha (green tea kit kats). They have matcha flavored varieties of everything! A half-vanilla, half-matcha ice cream cone Restaurants  are held to a much higher standard than they are in the United States, which seems to give the customer more control over the dining experience. It is considered impolite to tip waiters, and most restaurants have a button at each table that can be used to signal waiters, as opposed to trying to flag them down by making eye contact. It's also much easier to pay the bill. At the end of a meal, the server gives you the receipt and you wa...

I have so many reactions and memories kicking around in my head that I am breaking this summary of my trip to Japan into two parts. The second part will be ready in a few days, but I wanted to get some of my ideas into writing as quickly as possible. Our group atop Mt. Wakakusa, near N The day before I began my trip to Japan, I made some predictions about what my experiences would be like  (click here to read them) . Now that I’m back home, it’s time to look back at those predictions to see how they turned out -- and also to reflect on some things that came as a surprise, or "predictions I could not have predicted" before the trip.  Language:  I learned how hard it is to do even the simplest things in a country where you don’t speak the local language. Almost all signs on public transit and at tourist destinations were in English, but restaurant menus and ingredient labels were not, which was a big problem for me because of my tree nut allergy. Almo...