Monday the 9th i had breakfast with Yusuke, and, crazy surprise- Ariel from my STINT team last year. he's back in Japan doing language school, and by awesome coincidence arrived in Japan only a few days before i left. while it was awesome seeing him, the coolest part of that breakfast was seeing/hearing Yusuke pray for breakfast. i remember back to when we first met him, and his spiritual journey as we shared the Gospel with him over and over, and saw his heart soften- i was there when he first came to church, when he asked to study the Bible with us, when he had his first Bible study, i suggested he join the Alpha Course at New Hope, and he called me the night he became a Christian and couldn't stop talking about it. seeing him pray for breakfast was just such a cool moment for both me and Ariel. he also told us he wanted to start a homeless ministry at New Hope. i cannot wait to see how God uses that kid. i feel like he could really grow into a strong Christian leader in Japan. after breakfast i went to lunch at my friend Sumire's apartment. it was the first time i've even gotten to see her since coming back to Japan, and unfortunately my last time til who knows how long. but it was really awesome catching up with her and getting to share why i know God's plans are best for me. after lunch with her, i had coffee with my friend Akisa. she shared with me that the day before, she told a boy that she liked him and he said he wanted to just be friends. after that, i was able to share with her my testimony and what God's shown me about love, and how God has someone amazing for her. that evening, Student Impact held a farewell party for me so that i could introduce some of the staff and Christian students to the students i'd met over the past year and a half. it was really last minute and i was afraid not many people could come, but many people did and it was an awesome time. i was able to share why i came to Japan with everyone, and a shortened version of the Gospel. my friend Megumi shared with everyone that i was the first person at Waseda University to approach her and talk to her, and i was her first friend at Waseda. my friend Nini shared that i was reason she started going to Paddy. i almost started crying- i had no idea about either of these things. another cool moment was when Cam, my boss, said that everyone would pray for me- i was really worried my non-Christian friends would be uncomfortable, but one of them actually prayed for me out loud! he said "even though i am not Christian, i want to pray for Kimiyo." it was crazy! even crazier- i haven't even seen this guy since my senior year of college, when we met at USC through a mutual friend! that night was the first time we've seen each other in Japan. so ridiculous. even better, later that evening i got to see one of our Student Impact students, actually a high school student, share the Gospel with one of my friends from Waseda University. i was able to share my testimony with the Paddy president and Nini. even better, that night Nini spent the night at our apartment because she missed her last train, and we were able to share the Gospel with her and give her a Bible! she told me that her friend had been studying the Bible, and it made her want to read it too! even if the only reason God had me leave Japan was that it provided these opportunities to share the Gospel with these students, it was worth it. it was still hard to leave, but because so many of my friends were able to hear the Gospel, it was still worth it.
Tuesday afternoon i went to Sweets Paradise with some of my friends from Paddy. Sweets Paradise is an all-you-can-eat-in-90 minutes desserts buffet, so basically, my favorite place in the world. afterward, i had coffee with my friend Blake and after that i had more coffee with my friend and former language partner, Manami. she's my longest Japanese friendship- i met her on my first Summer Project in 2008.
we weren't able to hang out much this year because she was so busy, but it was great seeing her one last time. Wednesday was my last day going to ICU High School, so they had a bit of a farewell party for me as well, and i got to share with them as well why i came to Japan and how God loves them.
after ICU High School, i went to Waseda and had kind of a come-and-go at the Waseda cafe, where i stayed there for the afternoon and friends came to hang out whenever they were free, the point being partly to say goodbye but also partly to introduce them to a couple of the JCCC staff. i was able to see like 9 of my friends in just a couple hours so that was great. 
that night i had my last Odori Samurai practice, where during my goodbye speech i was able to share a shortened version of the Gospel in Japanese. it was really sad to leave them. i sit here typing this in my Odori Samurai sweatpants and i hardly can believe i may never see them or dance with them again. 
Thursday was my last Paddy FC (soccer), and afterward Paddy hosted a farewell party for me. it was really sweet, and they bought me sushi because they knew i hadn't had any since coming back to Japan. Friday i had lunch with my friends yuki and shugo, and we were joined by my friend from Odori Samurai, Suzuka, who's currently studying abroad in DC but came back to Japan for the holidays. it was awesome hanging out with them one last time- Suzuka was one of my Samurai translators last year. after lunch, i had coffee with Kanae and Yui, the first 2 girls i ever met at Waseda, then i had coffee again with my friend May. after that, i went to my last Paddy meeting, and got to lead a topic discussion of "What do you do when the unexpected happens/ how do you respond?" it turned into a great spiritual conversation. 
Saturday was my last Odori Samurai festival- we performed at a festival held at Tokyo Dome. it wasn't a major festival, but i was so excited to be able to perform one last time before i left. i highlighted my hair red for the occasion.
i got home that evening and spent the rest of the night furiously packing up my apartment. i stayed up all night, but was still rushing around in the morning before i had to leave. i definitely didn't leave my room or the apartment as clean as i wanted. we rushed to the bus stop and made it with only about one minute to spare (literally). some of the JCCC staff, Christina and Yusuke came to see me off which was really sweet. the whole past month had been such a whirlwind, it didn't really start to sink in that i was leaving until i was sitting on the bus waving goodbye.
that moment really sucked, not gonna lie. my heart hurt. i slept pretty much the entire 2 hour bus ride to the airport, got the airport and my friend Tomoki (the one who prayed for me at my farewell party) came to see me off. it was a really good thing he did too- i had planned on just bringing an extra bag to Thailand and paying the extra bag cost. turns out, Asia to Asia flights charge not by extra bags, but by extra kilograms...taking my extra bag was going to cost literally almost $1,000. seriously insane. so i had to ship my bag. unfortunately i didn't even have my shipping address for Hawaii yet, so Tomoki offered to take my bag and ship it for me once i got my address. praise God that he was there! the whole situation was really stressful though, made more so by the fact that my 2 bags together were still overweight, so i spent like 45 minutes taking stuff out, redistributing and reweighing. i'm still not actually sure if i actually made weight or if the lady just felt so sorry for me she said they were fine. either way, i barely made my flight. she had to go with me through security to get me to the gate on time. i made it with 5 minutes to spare. that whole day was the most stressful traveling day EVER, and i was already kind of an emotional wreck since i had to leave Japan. but i finally made it and slept the whole flight to Thailand.
the past year and a half has truly been the most unforgettable experience of my life. every day was filled with new friends, new challenges, new joys, new adventures. i have never been more stretched. i grew as a person and as a Christian. i learned more and more how to rely on God for EVERYTHING, because i had to. i learned how to share God's love with others through words and actions, i learned how to trust people, i learned patience, i learned how to have trust and joy in difficult circumstances. thank you to everyone who touched my life, and made my time in Japan such an amazing, wonderful memory. i pray with all my heart that God will allow me to return some day. God bless you all~
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