We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we takea little of each other everywhere

Vi kom hjem fra Tokyo i torsdags, d. 18. juli, efter at have rejst i godt 26 timer. Jeg har taget en helt masse ting med mig hjem; blandt andet en masse myggestik, en lille bitte japansk tatovering, en pose med alt godt (og mærkeligt) fra de japanske supermarkeder, 2000+ billeder, en god portion af det herlige jetlag og jeg har også lidt japanske sprogkundskaber med hjem; men vigtigst af alt, har jeg nu en helt masse fantastiske og helt vidunderlige minder at kigge tilbage på. Minder om en helt utrolig rar tur og utallige fantastiske mennesker, som vi har haft glæden af at møde, bruge tid sammen med og lytte til.
Vi har mødt mennesker fra i alt 26 forskellige lande og det har været så inspirerende at møde så mange forskellige, mærkelige, forunderlige og rejselystne mennesker, der hver især har haft en historie og en kultur at dele, der har ligget så langt væk fra det, vi er vant til. Men det er jo det gode ved at rejse; vi kan dele, lære nye ting, udforske, fare vild og til sidst tage hjem som helt nye mennesker.

Jeg har samlet en sjov lille liste over ting i Japan, som gang på gang forundrede os, morede os og nogle gange fik os til at græde af grin:

1) Folk cykler på fortovene. De har brede fortove, men med den ringe afmærkning og folkemængden er det decideret livsfarligt.
2) Man må ikke ryge, samtidigt med at man går. Man skal decideret stå stille. Det er det samme, hvis du f.eks. køber en is. Du skal stå og spise den.
3) Er pandaen nationaldyret i Japan? For de er alle freakin' vegne!
4) Der er psyko mange mennesker i Tokyo.
5) Michael Jackson er ikke død. Der er en asiatisk Michael Jackson på Green Land i Roppongi.
6) Der er klinisk rent overalt i Tokyo, hvilket er imponerende for enhver storby, men endnu mere imponerende taget i betragtning af, at Tokyo ikke bare er hvilken som helst storby, men faktisk en af verdens allerstørste byer.
7) Man skal være 20 for at drikke i Japan - og det er vi åbenbart, når vi er i Roppongi!
8) Japanerne må være verdens mest venlige folkefærd - du kan ikke nærme dig folk uden at de bukker, smiler, siger 'arigatou gozaimasu' og spørger du nogen om noget, vil de gå ud af deres gode skind for at hjælpe dig.
9) Der er ingen ende på Tokyo. Man kunne bogstavlig talt ikke se enden på byen på nogle af de observationstårne, vi var oppe i.

10) Alt er enten vanvittig dyrt eller vanvittig billigt i Tokyo. Var det noget med en vandmelon til 90 kroner? Eller en sodavand på TGI Friday's med gratis genopfyldning til 8,5 kroner?

11) Tokyo er mere eller mindre kendt for de såkaldte butler/hostess/maid-barer, hvor du betaler et bestemt beløb og/eller køber drinks til en japansk pige eller dreng hvorimod de tilgengæld beriger dig med deres selvskab. Dette prøvede vi dog ikke, da det virker lidt for kunstigt, men det er meget udbredt i Japan!
12) Japanske toiletter er et helt kapitel for sig. Der findes to slags: et 'almindeligt' et som vi kender det i Vesten og et ældre et, der bogstavlig talt består af et hul i jorden, hvor man skal sidde på hug. Det første er væsentligt nemmere at bruge. Det 'vestlige' toilet er dog også meget avanceret i Japan. De fleste har både varme i sædet, et udvalg af lyde til at overdøve de lyde, man selv kunne komme til at lave, en 'rumpe-skyl'-funktion og en lufttørringsfunktion. Dette er dog ikke bare lige til, da det hele selvfølgelig står på japansk. Suk.

På trods af nogle af disse mærkeligheder, så er Japan et helt fantastisk land og Tokyo er virkelig en fortryllende by. Needlessly to say, skal jeg tilbage dertil en dag! Tak for alt Tokyo!

The past Thursday, the 18th of July, we returned to Denmark after 26 hours of travelling. I've brought back a lot of things: way too many mosquito bites, a small Japanese tattoo, a bag of funny, but mostly odd stuff from the very colorful Japanese supermarkets, more than 2000 pictures, a bit of jetlag and I've also come to know a small part of the Japanese language; but the most important thing I brought back are the amazing treasures called memories. Memories of a trip I enjoyed to bits; memories of those incredible people we were so lucky to encounter on our adventure.

We've met people from a total of 26 different countries and I can't express how much I've loved it, it's been inspiring to meet so many different, crazy, unconventional and just amazing people from all over the world. We all have one thing in common - we've given in to the desire to travel, the wanderlust. Meeting people is the best thing about travel - we're able to share, to explore, to go on adventures together, to acquire new knowledge, get lost and in the end, return to our country as a completely different person.

Just for fun, I've put together a list of things very common in Japan that made us laugh, wonder and sometimes even think twice..

1) People are riding their bikes on the sidewalk - I mean, they have to and they're pretty wide, but it's still highly dangerous and the number of times we've been SO close to crashing with a cyclist..

2) You can't walk and smoke. Literally, you can't move your legs with a cigarette in your mouth. You have to stand still. It's the same if you've just bought an ice cream. You can't move while eating it.

3) The Giant Panda is the national animal in China, yet it's every-freaking-where in Japan.

4) The number of people in Tokyo is insane. Insane I tell you! People everywhere!

5) Michael Jackson's not dead. At the bar Green Land in Roppongi, his Asian ghost is very much alive, bartending and all.

6) There's so clean in Tokyo that you won't believe it until you see it. It's impressive for every big city, but it's even more impressive in this case considering the fact that Tokyo is actually the biggest city in the world.

7) In Japan, the legal drinking age is 20. Apparently, we're 20 in Roppongi!

8) The Japanese people must be the most polite in the whole world - you can't approach someone without them bowing, smiling like crazy, saying 'arigatou gozaimasu' and if you ask someone for help, they'll go through almost anything to ensure that you're provided with whatever you need.

9) There's no end to Tokyo. All we saw was endless city when we visited the skydecks and tower-observatories. It's incredible!

10) In Tokyo, everything's either ridiculously expensive or ridiculously cheap. I saw $15 watermelons and four days in a row we enjoyed $1,5 soft drinks at T.G.I Friday's.. With free refills! 

11) In Tokyo, there are these maid/hostess/butler-bars (people also just calls them 'Company-bars' where you pay a certain amount of money in exchange for the company of either a Japanese guy or a Japanese girl (a lof of them traditionally dressed or even cosplaying). We found this rather creepy and a bit sad to be honest, so we kept away, but no matter what, Tokyo's packed with them!
12) Toilets in Japan are a bit more advanced than what we're used to in the Western world and they can actually be a challenge for the traveller. Turns out, almost every toilet in Japan is equipped with a vareity of auxiliary functions. I won't even begin to describe how disturbing it can be, but let's just say that if your butt needs cleaning, you need sounds to drown the noise you might be making or you simply like to have your toilet seat heated, Japan can help you. And not to forget, they have two kinds of toilets: the Western style which I just described, and the 'Asian' style/natural position toilet also known as the squat toilet. Yes, you've guessed it - you have to squat in order to use it rather than sitting. Disturbing, I tell ya. It's literally a hole in the ground.

Despite some of the peculiarity, Japan is amazing and Tokyo is enchanting. I'm so glad we decided to go and needlessly to say, I'm defo going back there someday. You can't really help it: if you're going to Tokyo, you're going to fall in love.