Last few days in Japan!

Hi everyone! We've been keeping pretty busy since my parents left.  By that I mean that I have been sleeping and Mike has been working hard.  Mike gave my family the nickname the "Activestasis" and I think we did our best to live up to it while they were here! We were constantly on the move, and it was really hot, so it's no surprise that I spent most of the remaining weekend sleeping.  With the exception of a few outings, which I will of course now tell you about!
The Saturday they left, we headed to Roppongi Hills, which was supposed to be a huge shopping center.  It was huge, but it was filled with stores that we couldn't even afford to walk into, let alone shop at.  Usually I love window shopping at these kinds of places.  However in Japan, given the size difference, instead of imagining how the fabulous clothes would look on me, I'm imagining how they would look on an American Girl doll.  Not quite the same end-result.
Then, we found a Coldstone creamery, and of course stopped.  I got a flavor called "Green Tea Party", which was ok.  They don't have cake batter ice cream here, which is ridiculous...it's their best flavor!!!  However, one thing they have going for them is that here you can get BOOZE on your ice cream! Genius!!!!

 Plus, they still sing...and it was pretty cute.  They were way more energetic than the American ice-cream makers I've seen!

 After our ice cream and some more shopping, we headed back home and got ready for our adventure that night: The Sumida River Fireworks show.  Apparently, on the last Saturday of every July, a bunch of pyrotechnic companies get together around the Sumida River, and shoot off tons of fireworks, all trying to outdo each other.  We read that over 1 million people show up and fill the streets trying to catch a glimpse of the fireworks.  Sounded intimidating, but this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and I really wanted to see it! So, we crammed onto the subways, and headed to Asakusa.  We found a ton of people, and also a ton of buildings blocking the view of the fireworks! After wandering the streets a bit, we found a spot where we could kind of see things.  The police were yelling at everyone to keep moving and not stop to take pictures, but Mike and I played the "dumb foreigner" card, and just stayed planted, taking pictures.  They left us alone after awhile.  Here's some pictures:

 Then on the way home we saw Beethoven!!!!! AND HIS WIFE!  I tried telling him that I had all 5 of his movies (cleverly packaged in the "pooch pack"...only the first two are any good though), but he seemed uninterested.  Typical celebrity not appreciating their fans!:

The next day I slept.  That's really all that happened. Then I woke up on Monday covered in a rash.  I got some new bath salts that I used on Sunday, so I can only assume that was the culprit.  Also, I hate that while re-reading this I questioned if I should find another word for bath salts.  NO! They were actually bath salts, not the ones people have been smoking and then subsequently turning into zombies with.  It's a crazy world we live in, folks.
Anyways, our plans of going to a traditional Japanese bath were dashed, and Mike instead headed out to the pharmacies to find some strong anti-itch cream. I felt bad that Mike had taken the whole day off, only for me to be (literally) a hot mess. So I stayed in the air conditioning while he headed to Akihabara for a few hours.  It's called "electric city", and sells pretty much every kind of electronic thing you could ever want.  Like a giant Best Buy city!  He seemed to have fun, and then he came home and made me dinner.  What a guy!
Tuesday I headed to Harajuku to do a little shopping.  I put a hat on to try to keep the sun off of my skin, and made an astonishing discovery: hardly anyone stares at me when I have a hat on! I think my blonde hair must be a giant "I'm not from here!" flag, so by covering it up, most people weren't alerted to my presence. It was magnificent.  Harajuku has a famous shopping street called, "Takeshita Dori"...I know, I know, so many jokes can be made that I'm not even going to try!  Insert your own poop joke here:___________________________________________________________________________.
I found a 100 yen shop (similar to a dollar store), where I was able to get lots of fun souvenirs for cheap.  Then I headed to the only stores that I knew had clothes that would fit me: H&M and Forever 21. 2 dresses, a scarf, 5 necklaces, and a pair of shoes later, my cash was as low as my energy level.

I decided to use my last 100 yen to buy a coke zero at McDonalds (they don't have Diet Coke here).  The workers were wearing these cute little berets!! I loved it!

Anyways, after I had done my American deed and bought a coke at a McDonalds (I should have gotten an apple pie and waved a flag while singing "God Bless America", but I was tired), I packed myself and my purchases onto a crowded, hot train.  I was literally pressed against the door of the train, and regretting my Coke purchase, as the condensation from it was running down my arm, combining with my sweat to make a most uncomfortable situation.  I also got plenty of unsavory looks from other passengers...apparently there's an unspoken rule about how much you should take on a train, and my 5 shopping bags and large, dripping Coke had broken it.

As soon I collapsed in the air conditioning heaven that is our apartment, I heard my phone ringing...it was Mike, asking me to get on a train and meet him and his co-workers for dinner!  I was exhausted, but I will never pass up an opportunity to hang out with them and get a social interaction fix, so I pulled myself together and got on the train.  An hour later, I had made it to Yamato, and we headed to a Korean BBQ place.  It was really fun! We went to Karaoke later, and I realized the hard way that if you select a bunch of songs at once, it plays them all at once...after my 3rd song in a row, I let them skip over me.  It was only fair...subjecting anyone to that much Karaoke by Katie is probably a violation of the Geneva Conventions.
After riding a packed train home (where everyone was asleep, including Mike), we made it home. All in all, it was a fun night!
Wednesday I woke up with heat rash and a bloody nose.  Cute, right?  I don't know why, but suddenly my body is rejecting Tokyo.  Better now on day 46 than on day 1, I suppose.
So I spent the day inside, emerging only to find some lunch, and then as soon as the sun went down, we grabbed dinner.  Now I know how vampires feel!  Well, real ones, not the sparkly ones.
Today (Thursday), is my last day of being on my own in Tokyo!  I celebrated by buying packing tape and a sweet potato.  I know what you're thinking...this girl knows how to party!
As soon as I'm done with this blog, the packing will begin.  I'm excited!
Tomorrow Mike's work is throwing us (and another American who is here right now) a going away party at the factory. I'm going to arrive around 3 to get a factory tour..I can't wait! Then on Saturday I'm going to get my nails done with one of Mike's co-workers, who always has the COOLEST nails, and then we're going to see some fireworks with the whole crew.  It should be an awesome send-off!
We leave on Monday, after 50 days in Japan.  When I get home, I'm going to keep blogging, whether you like it or not.  I have plenty on my mind, and will be doing a lot of wedding planning!  We're almost at 2,000 pageviews!  Thanks for reading so far!

-Katie