Well, I'm back

Hey there!
So, it's been a few weeks (17 days, to be precise) since I've arrived back in Belgium.

Travelling back home was a bit hectic - I nearly overslept and we only had one hour in Heathrow to transfer our flights - and emotional. It was strange saying goodbye to friends at the airport. I mean, it's still possible that I won't go back to Fukuoka and thus never see them again. And when one person starts crying, everyone does. I was crying my eyes out and hiccuping by the time I went through the gate (the guy from the baggage check looked at me strangely).

When you think about it, travelling by plane is kind of awesome. I travelled 8 hours back in time and ate and slept 10363m above Russia.

Hey there, Denmark

Arriving back home and seeing my friends and family again was nice. When I arrived back in Belgium, I had a group very excited group of people waiting for me. If you read this blog; you guys are awesome and I love you.

It's been comfortable the first days back home, all I did was sleeping and eating. This must be how life feels like for a hamster.

Only I'm not as cute and lack cheek pouches 

Seeing my friends and family again was great. Surprisingly, the best part about it is that I can just pick up where I left, as if I wasn't gone at all. I guess that's the best part about friendship.
And I've been missing Belgian food badly, you can't imagine the happiness when I ate real fries with real mayonnaise again.

Yum, fries with mussels

Or waffels. Or my mother's home cooked food.
Chocolate, however, I did not miss. I had so mountains of it sent to me and ate most of it. I regret nothing.

Unfortunately, there were some not so awesome things I had to get used to again. The stores close ridiculously early and the national Belgian railway company might be evil.

Evil!

Also, Flemish is no longer a very secret language.

I also noticed that I changed since I left for Japan. It's not just having gained a bit more insight about Japan, I noticed my way of thinking, behaviour and even way of dressing and sense of humour has changed a bit.

And I didn't expect me to, but I do miss Japan. I miss hanging out with the friends I made there. I miss the combini (stores that are always open. Always.) and eating sushi as fast food. I miss hearing Japanese around me whole the time and just the atmosphere and the way of living I adopted in Japan. And I really wish I had taken more pictures of the daily environment etc., because those are the things I miss the most.

pictured: Tenjin in the evening

Japan wasn't a perfect country. There were several things that annoyed, surprised or baffled me, things I hated and things I just couldn't get used to. Then again, there's no such thing as a perfect place. And without any sarcasm: I was very happy there.

If it's within your possibilities, I really recommend studying abroad.
And I hope that I wasn't crying for a reason when leaving Fukuoka, I definitely want to travel back some day.