Going to Japan made me dislike my own country even more...

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I really loved visiting Japan and it has been a dream of mine to go there ever since I was a kid. It was exactly everything I imagined it would be and more.

But the downside was that it has caused me to appreciate my own country (The US) even less...

Japan not only feels so much more progressive and advanced than the US does, but their work ethic and sense of community and a desire to protect and share their own beautiful culture was so much more impressive than what we get back in the states (and being raised in the Deep South I come from the part of the US where there is literally nothing...).

And I admit as both an Aspie and a clueless American I probably embaressed myself more than once while I was over there... I guess I came across as the unintentionally rude American tourist stereotype... but I still loved and greatly appreciated everything about what I saw in Japan from the modern technology to the ancient shrines and temples that were being cared for for centuries to the friendly Japanese people who could teach the southerners back in my country a thing or two about real hospitality!

I miss Japan already... I'm not trying to say Japan is perfect as I'm well aware of many of the problems in their society. But compared to the hot stinky mess that the American Empire is becoming I'd say that Japan felt like Shangri-la!

Even better is Sweden.

Will you be sharing some pictures?

I'm sure a lot of countries are better than the states at this point. I'm now convinced more than ever that Americans are raised in this giant bubble and are fed propaganda that has us convinced that every other country is so awful and hates us for our "freedom".

Which is very ironic as our country only ever had freedom for rich white men and and we have so many ridiculous laws and a justice system designed to keep people in prison forever instead of rehabillitating them. Did I mention the overly expensive healthcare?

I tried to upload some pictures to imgbb from my phone but its not working today for some reason...

I took a LOT of pictures while I was there! I'm going to share them as soon as I can I promise.

Finally I got imgbb to upload my pictures.

I'm just going to post a few of my favs on here and will send links to each album in a seperate thread (so I'm not being too off topic).

Me and sis trying authentic Japanese ramen.



Me trying odango.



Me and my sis at a beautiful waterfall in Nikko.



My mom trying on the purple kimono we brought home for her as a gift.



Me next to a statue of the "7 Gods of Luck" (my fav Japanese deities).

I would love to go there.The bamboo forest would be amazing to see.
So happy that you got to go!!

Thank you! We actually got to visit the bamboo forest in Kyoto. It was very beautiful but far more crowded than I expected it to be...

Plus it started to rain on us as we left and watching the wind blow the trees back and forth was kinda scary.

Very lovely pictures. And, you are experiencing Reverse Culture Shock.

https://2009-2017.state.gov/m/fsi/tc/c56075.htm

That was a very fascinating read, and it actually makes a lot of sense about how I've felt about returning home. Thanks for sharing this.

Oh, it happened to me, too. It is like seeing your home country for the very first time.

Great photos!! I would love to see the gardens and temples there.
And all the Godzilla stuff.haha

Yes there does seem to be something kind of "spiritual" about Japan that the USA doesn't have so much of.

Oh yes I agree! The temples and shrines plus all the deity statues were my fav part! I took a lot of pictures of them and I even offered coins to the Goddess Kannon and prayed to her to diffuse all of this tension building up in this increasingly unstable world.

It made me feel like the Nerevarine from Morrowind, praying before the Shrine of Azura.



Japan has so much sacred beauty... it's no wonder that many of the old gods still dwell there.

Gorgeous!!Thank you for sharing.
My daughter has been to Thailand and Vietnam and took amazing pictures of temples.

You're welcome!

And btw we didnt get to see the famous Godzilla statue unfortunately but they were selling plenty of Godzilla merchandise.