Japan

So, this summer I had an amazing and once-in-a-lifetime experience. I got to go to Japan. It was with my Dad's high school, where he works and a handful of students that go there went to and my Dad was the leader of the group. It was an "educational tour", so it was geared toward, well, education. So, it wasn't going to be just a vacation. But it sure felt like it!
I got to see things like the biggest Buddhas in the world (they were HUGE) and the other side of the Pacific Ocean. I think my favorite part was all the Japanese people. They were all so nice and just so cute and quick and none of them were clastophobic. I can't believe how many people could crowd onto trams and on crosswalks (in Tokyo, they used the whole street instead of just the crosswalks because there were too many people).
I loved downtown Tokyo at night because there were so many stores and bright lights...it was amazing. There was this one building we went into that was, like 20 stories high FULL of only girl's clothes! Plus, they were all so cute! It was really annoying because there were these Japanese girls yelling at the front of every store in really high pitched voices, and I couldn't understand what they were saying at all. The only word I remember is Arigato...which means thank you.
We went to so many Shinto and Buddhist shrines that I got them all blurred together! There was this deer park, where the biggest Buddha is, and you can feed the deer with your hands! They like to nip though. That is also where I (well, my friends) broke my camera. But then my dad fixed it. If it had stayed broken, I don't know what I would've done because I took over 700 pictures.
I saw the statue of liberty (a replica), many electronic stores with DS players out front, rickshaws, cute Japanese children, rode a couple of boat cruises and go on a gondola up into the mist of a mountain. I also got to see a Geisha, which was really rare, and I took a picture of her. Geishas are those women with the kimonos and white faces. I also got to go in a hot bath in this really nice hotel we stayed in on the beach. We also went to the Hard Rock Cafe in Osaka, a couple of museums, experienced authentic Japanese food and samurai food. The food isn't really my favorite, so I just loaded up on rice, which was always unlimited(: There are just so many things I did, and so many good times I had with the new friends I made. It's sad because I don't see them anymore because they go to Lakes:(
I did not like the plane rides, I do have to say. We flew down to San Fransisco, then took a 10 HOUR flight to Tokyo...it was horrible. I can't sleep on airplanes, so I just read and watched movies, but airplane food makes me sick.
Anyways, those were just some of the experiences I had and they will stick with me always. It was definetly worth the money.