My Basic Thoughts on Japan:

*still not sure how to blog. This is very good.

**oh wait no it's not.

What did I think of Japan? I thought it was awesome, even if I couldn't buy any of the awesome clothes I kept seeing EVERYWHERE and I didn't see any Vocaloids (what is a Vocaloid you ask? It is awesome. YouTube either "Love is War" or "Last Night Good Night" by Hatsune Miku. I'd link you to it, but YouTube happens to be illegal in China. If you want to find out about Vocaloids the boring way, though, you can Wikipedia it).

I liked Kyoto more than Tokyo. For one thing, it was less city-like. It had less sky-scrapers and industrial-looking buildings and was less crowded. Also, the food was cheaper. And there were no fish markets (DARN YOU EVIL FISH MARKETS FULL OF CUTE LITTLE SQUIDS THAT SHOULD BE ALIVE AND SWIMMING. YOU SHOULD BE ILLEGAL. SEA FOOD SHOULD STAY IN THE SEA).

***moving on.

I also liked Tokyo more than Kyoto (even if it had fish markets). In Tokyo, there was the Museu d'Arte Ghibli, and it was…

…well, you know how it's Christmas, and you finally got that one thing you've been waiting for for your whole entire life and you are so happy because without that one toy you will never ever breathe again and you will live life like a ressurected zombie?

Yeah. It was like that. Times one million thousand bajillion.

But awesomer.

Like, there was this THING! This spinny carousel thing, but you couldn't ride it because it was too small and also behind glass. It span backwards, but there were these blinky lights things that made it look like it was going forward, so when it was spinning and blinking, it looked like there were flying bats and running cat-buses and little Totoros climbing up trees and Satsuki riding a unicycle and then Mei and Satsuki skipping rope with Totoro and he had an umbrella and OMG IT WAS AWESOME YOU HAVE TO GO SEE IT.

And then there were these animated shorts: there was this movie about evolution. It started with these bacterias that evolved into fish that evolved into amphibians into lizards into dinosaurs. Then, the two dinosaurs started racing, and one evolved into a T-Rex, and the other into a little tricerotops. Then the tricerotops turned into this rat sort of thing and jumped into a pond, while the T-Rex turned into a pterodactyl, and flew away. Then the rat came out of the water and turned into a mongoose, into a monkey, then an ape, and then a man, where he climbed a mountain, met his true love, and they got married. It was very, very cute (and also free to watch as many times as you want. I wanted to watch it many, many times).

****Maybe I'm babbling. If I am, I apologize. You, too, would be babbling if you had to explain Museu d'Arte Ghibli. There is a spell on that building: it makes it too awesome to describe.

Everywhere in the museum you could see things from the movies (yay!!! But in the the store, there was no Laputan necklace. *insert many tears here* *then insert awkward confession of geekiness here*), like stain-glass windows and murals with the characters, and in the garden, you could see the Laputan robot and the stone from Castle in the Sky (you have not seen this movie? YOU ARE BANISHED FROM THIS BLOG UNTIL YOU SEE THIS MOVIE. AND EVERY OTHER MOVIE. LIKE HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE AND SPIRITED AWAY. IN FACT, I SHALL GO WATCH SPIRITED AWAY RIGHT NOW INSTEAD OF WRITING THIS BLOG BECAUSE IT IS THAT AWESOME. YOU ARE VERY JEALOUS).

I loved seeing my favorite characters' sketches, the original ideas, and the process Mr. Miyazaki went through to draw them. Like Kiki, from Kiki's Delivery Service, instead of having short hair, she was first drawn with longer hair in different styles. And Howl's Moving Castle: Sophie was first drawn with red hair, like in the book (I personally did not like the book. It was not exactly like the movie).†

†Howl's Moving Castle is a book written by Diana Wynne Jones and first published in 1986. In 2004, Studio Ghibli released an animated version of the book, which was very different from the book. Major diffences include Sophie in general, Martha's non-existence in the movie, the Witch of the Wastes, and the plot.

More than seeing my favorite characters' original designs, I loved seeing the beautiful pictures Mr. Miyazaki painted and drew: Laputa, the club and hotel from Porco Rosso, Howl's Castle, but mostly Laputa. The detail and skill in those drawings is enough to make you die of old age before you can fully comprehend it. Especially in the drawings of Howl's Castle.

I was super excited when I found out about Mr. Miyazaki's version of The Borrowers, and even more super excited to find out that it comes out in the US theaters in February 2012—so I will most definitely be seeing it then (what? Ask Mom's permission? Don't make me laugh—she'll watch it the second it comes out).

There was also this movie theater, and we watched a fifteen-minute movie about kindergardeners playing at sea. Then, suddenly, they weren't playing anymore, but actually were at sea! They met a whale, braved a storm, and came home triumphant. Afterwards, we walked out of the theater and saw a group of students in uniform queue up to watch the next showing.

Dad: "Oh my God! White people! Ileana, go ask them where they're from!"

Me: "I can't, they just walked into the theater."

[Enter Maria]

Maria: "They're British, I heard their accents."

Still, I wanted to find out to find out where they were from, and spent the rest of the day with my eyes peeled for them. Finally, just before we left, I saw the students again. I go up to one who isn't doing anything and seems less likely to eat me.

Me: Hi there.

Him: Hello.

Me: Where you from?

Him: I'm from Romania—

[At this point a few more students come up, which is unfortunate for them, because everything after this is in Romanian]

Me: I'M FROM ROMANIA TOO!! Daddy, Daddy, look, he's from Romania!

Dad: You're from Romania?

Him: Yes, I'm an exchange student. They [the students] are from England. *to me* How did you recognize me?

My answer to this was a shrug. I may not be certifiably insane, but I am most definitely crazy. HOWEVER, this does not mean I am crazy enough to say to an absolute stranger that half the reason I picked him was because he was the cutest boy there (also, he wasn't doing anything). This would require Confidence Pants. I only have one pair of pants on this trip.

(I should've taken the Confidence Pants)

After we said our goodbyes to the [cute] Romanian exchange student, we went back to the rest of the family, where we excitedly told them about the past two minutes.

The other museums were not so interesting, or anywhere near the level of awesome that Museu d'Arte Ghibli has, but they were pretty cool, actually.

…Y'know, once you ignore the fact that everyone was going at a totally different pace, so you'd go faster, thinking you're the last one, and then it turns out that everyone is behind you. And also ignore how sleepy you are.

I have no clue what the museum was called, but in it you could see traditional Japanese clothing, armor, weapons, pottery, and the same exact type of seats as in The New York Museum of Art.

I know, right? So relevant to Japan. And to what I was saying.

I think, at this point, I must stop writing. Because it is my belief that this sorry attempt at a blogpost is ruining the internet connection and is not letting me watched Spirited Away.

WHY, CHINA? WHY MUST YOU BE SO CRUEL TO ME? WHY IS THERE NO FACEBOOK? WHY IS THERE NO YOUTUBE? WHY WILL YOU NOT LET ME WATCH MY JAPANESE ANIMES IN PEACE?

***LEGAL STUFF IS BEING PUT HERE***

IF YOUR TIME HAS BEEN WASTED READING THIS BLOG INSTEAD OF DOING THINGS THAT YOU'RE ACTUALLY SUPPOSED TO BE DOING, THEN THAT IS NOT MY FAULT AND IS ACTUALLY YOURS. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SUE ME OVER MY CONFUSION ON BLOGGING, THEN I SERIOUSLY SUGGEST YOU SEE A PSYCHIATRIST. ANY LAWSUITS FILED AGAINST ME SHALL FAIL MISERABLY, BECAUSE I HAVE THE POWER TO HARNESS SUNSHINE, LOLLIPOPS, AND RAINBOWS, AND USE THEM TO MY DISCRETION.

THAT IS ALL.

ALSO, DON'T SUE ME, OR I SHALL USE SUNSHINE, LOLLIPOPS, AND RAINBOWS AGAINST YOU. COMPLETE WITH SONG AND DANCE.

(This happens to be a threat.)