No sé como decir 'aventuras' en japonés...

Mizu, sumimassen, arigato gozai-mas/mashta, onegaishi-mas, kore, hai, e-ie, cawaii...

These are essentially the only words I had to survive on during my week-long adventure in Japan. Water, sorry/excuse me, thank you, please, this, yes, no and cute.
 Fortunately I have friends who are much more proficient than I am.
Let's back up a little. Last July one of my dear friends went to Japan on an English-teaching program. This May, my very wonderful boyfriend decided to take me on a trip to visit him. So a couple of weeks ago we set off across the world and embarked on a Japanese adventure!
Departed: May 17, 2012, 6:00 a.m.: Little Rock.
From Little Rock to Houston, Houston to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to Tokyo we flew.
Arrived: May 18, 2012 4:30 p.m.
We traveled through time and space and, after crossing all manner of time zones, we arrived at Narita Airport in Tokyo. We navigated our way through the airport and miraculously managed to board the correct train. Fortunately Cooper was meeting us at the station where we needed to change trains.
After wandering around the station a bit, we finally saw our friend racing down the stairs to greet us! Needless to say Cooper was a bit easy to spot what his tall, skinny frame and american face and bright red toms shoes in a see of very small Japanese people.

As we rode the train to our Hostel in Tokyo, we were amazed by this strange new world.  
1. Pachinko everywhere. It's like Vegas and slot machines meets ping pong and anime.
2. ANIME. Although I'm not a fan myself, I do know enough to say that those characters could have plopped right onto a street in Tokyo and blended right in. Talk about some crazy styles. Socks with sandals, toe-shoes, crazy tights, multi-colored fingernails, hats, fancy dresses, wigs, costumes,   pants, etc...
3. Anything cutsie that is popular with the American age 4-8 crowd is a hit with all crowds in Japan. I'm talking karaoke walls lined with teddy bears, middle aged parents with dangling animal phone charms, and pokemon centers in the middle of the mall.
4. Hats are very in. Especially with the elderly. And Japan has many many elderly people.
5. There is no end to the city. Even the quaint, country towns have more than 100,000 people in them.

 That weekend we ate a lot of delicious sushi and took Tokyo by storm! We saw a spring festival, visited temples and shrines, drew fortunes and wandered through what could have been an enchanted forest right in the middle of the city. We saw the newest, trendiest aspects of technology, the world's tallest tower, metropolitan centers that mimic Times Square and an intersection about as big as the University of Arkansas. And we ended it up with a Shinkansen ride to Cooper's town.

Lesson 6: Shinkansen=Awesome! Bullet trains that go up to 275 mph and can get you half way across the country in a couple of hours? I think so!