I walked to the gym today listening “The Shins” and couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. While in Japan last spring I became obsessed with this band. Nearly every day as I walked the hour to school their songs would sing into my head as I absorbed the sights and experiences around me. Listening to them again was like reliving the time I spent in Sapporo, I could close my eyes and feel as if I was there again with all the sights and smells. I strolled again through crowded neighborhoods with laundry blowing in the wind, lingered under the whirling falling petals of cherry blossoms and stole flowers from street side gardens to wear in my hair. I recalled the boy who rode past me on his bicycle, shouting “kawaii” in my face and the schoolchildren who followed me for several blocks but were too shy to say hello. I remembered the backwards traffic, the bike paths, and the street crossings that played music. The garish Pachinko stood at the corner where I turned, the tunnel that they were putting a mosaic in while I was there would be completed now and other things will have changed by now as well. The girls would still ride their bikes in their heels and attach umbrellas to their bars for inclement weather. Some days it’s like I never went and other days it is like I never left.
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