The Dessert Viking

Mkay, so after that last frantic post I continued to freak out, talked on Skype to Cara, and had a massive cry. It's not that big of a deal, I know, but I got really upset for some reason. (TMI WARNING: Part of it, I'm sure, is that my hormones are playing fun games with me right now. Did this incredibly stressful travel have to come at this particular time of the month? Honestly.) But anyway, after a nice nap and part of a delicious chocolate bar from Leslie, I was feeling better enough to finally start packing.

At 6:00 I met Shoko, Leslie, and Jamie and we headed to Shinsaibashi in Osaka to eat at Sweets Paradise. I swear, I've said like four times to myself, "Oh, this is my last time in Osaka! How sad," yet I keep going back. Anyway, Sweets Paradise is a "dessert viking," which is an image that makes me smile. I think of some pale blond guy holding a sword made out of Twinkies or something. But "viking" is the Japanese word for buffet--I think it has some relation to our borrowed word "smorgasbord." At least, both make me think of Scandanavia. But I digress.

The dessert viking was delicious. You pay about $15 for an hour and a half, and it's all you can eat yum. Mostly it's different kinds of cake-like things, but they also had fruit, ice cream, sno-cones, potato chips, pasta, curry rice, soup, and gelatins. I found a tomato and eggplant pasta that I loved. I realized later why I liked it so much: it didn't taste remotely like fish. Oh Japan. Also there was an Oreo cheesecake that made my life better. Like I said before, a lot of Japanese desserts seem to have a sugar-free flavor, so most of the other sweets were so-so, I thought. Still I really enjoyed the pasta, and I'm quite full. I'm not sure it was worth the full $15, but it was a lot of fun. And they were playing this Christmas music in a music-box style, which made everything meccha whimsical and stuff, especially with all the Christmas lights and snowflake decorations and all. It was like living in Candy Land, especially the area with Queen Frostine and the root beer float sea or whatever it was called.

I always liked Queen Frostine, but it bothered me that on my Candy Land board, she looked a little bit different than she did on the instructions. I think it was just her dress that was a bit different. Still, how come Gloppy or Grandma Nut didn't change clothes? Weird.

Anyway, after we had eaten all we could, we headed home. And this really was my last time on the train, I think. It was a good train ride; I talked a lot with Shoko, which was fun. She's a really, really sweet person. Turns out she's from Kobe, and she'll be living there again next semester because her contract in the seminar house was just for the fall. She had a two and a half hour commute (one way) every day! I couldn't do it.

And then I got home and finished packing. Everything actually fit, and I didn't even have to sit on either suitcase. Weird. I still have a few more last-minute things to put in there, like my pajamas, but it shouldn't be a problem. I'm very, very glad to have the packing done, though. That's a relief.

I haven't been able to get ahold of Seiko, my RA, who is going to help me get a taxi. But that's okay, I can do it tomorrow. And I can always get help from Saho or Yukari tomorrow, too.

So, tomorrow I'll try again to sell my bike back, dust off all my stuff in my room so it's ready for inspection, and run the sweeper. I'm to meet Saho for lunch at 11:30 at school, and I'll chill there until my 2:30 exam. The final shouldn't take more than an hour, tops, so I've got free time after that. At 4:30 I'm meeting Yukari, and we're going to hang out until 6:00, at which point I'm coming back to the dorm. At 7:40 Otōsan comes to inspect my room and give me the go-ahead to check out. Then I plan to take a final shower, and nap until about 2 or 3AM. The taxi should come at 4AM to take Mariah and me to the airport. At least, that's the plan. We shall see.

In any case, I'm feeling much better about things than I was earlier, because if nothing else I know all my stuff will fit in my luggage. And now I'm going to shower and go to bed, because I am so drained right now it's not funny.