From Japan to my hands

This is a picture of my mom and dad with the some of the pharmacy students in Japan.

So my dad just recently got back from working in Japan for an entire month, needless to say I missed him...I admit I am guilty to being a daddy's girl, not that I'm spoiled or anything(lol) but I love to talk to my dad about everything because my mom and I don't always see eye to eye but my dad and I do. Some of my absolute fondest memories are with my dad, who works harder than any other man I've met. He is a pain doctor, a pharmacist/professer at the UCDavis Medical Center in Sacramento, and lets just say if you were in pain, my dad would be your best friend. So he just went to Japan to teach pharmacy students how to run their hospitals like we do(yup, they want to be like us, because we are awesome,lol AMURICAN pride) and he traveled all over Japan visiting Kyoto, Kobe, Tokyo, even Hiroshima...you name it, he visited buddhist temples, spas where the fish eat the dead skin off your feet, traditional hotels(ryokan)...but most importantly he visited with the people. Which after watching Bizzare foods and a lot of travel channel on my part, I have found this truly is the most significant part of learning about a culture. Meeting the people and truly understanding their way of life is essential. My dad made lasting friendships, he learned their culture and they learned ours. Just like what happened with my French foreign exhchange student Ines just last summer. Dr. Sari Nakagawa bought me a book by the famous Japanese writer(who almost won a Nobel literature prize) Haruki Murakami called Norwegian Woods because my dad told her I love to read/write. Very thoughtful gifters they are, and I feel so blessed to feel like part of the world. A best friend in Paris, soon to be friends in Japan(they visit in February and I get to meet them), and hopefully connections from even more places in the future. My hands are open to every beautiful culture out there that accepts me, and Japan is just one of many, my dad tells me they are the some of the nicest people he has ever met, and he cried when he left them(grown man crying, that is SAYIN something people) Nonetheless, the Japanese are a great people and I hope to visit there like my dad did one day, live among the people, and experience their traditional yet modern culture.