For a Friend and Brother

Going home. I know what it was like for me when I came home from my first big adventure. So excited about everything and wanting to tell anyone that would listen about all the things I had done. Some people listened, others didn't but most tried. I found that many people couldn't understand why I felt so excited about something that seemed so insignificant. For a little while I tried even harder to get them to understand why I was so passionate about these stories and why I felt that this experience was so important, but I couldn't get through to everyone. Some people just didn't care and I had to accept that. Others cared because they saw how important it was to me but they just couldn't grasp the idea like I had. It was only because they hadn't done anything like what I was talking about but they could understand the desire.

Back home, you'll find many of the same people that were there when you left. Many of them doing the exact same things. It will tear at your soul to know that you've accomplished so much in the time that they made another frappuccino. It took me so long to accept that and keep moving on with what I wanted to do. You will inspire some people with your tales of adventure and mystery but others will be bored. You won't be able to reach everyone and sometimes the ones that you want to reach the most will not understand the message that you're trying to give them. I tried over and over especially with one friend that I had thought was very close to me before I left. He couldn't see the difference between hitting on a girl at a bar in Seattle compared to talking to a girl at a bar in Germany that doesn't speak the same language as you and waking up in her bed the next morning. Trust me, it may be subtle but there's a difference.

Watch your step and don't get too caught up in that mundane cycle of being just OK with where we are in life. I know that you've seen too much of life now to not keep taking what you want out of this life. I've seen you do it. I stood next to you while you did it. I know you'll do it again. You are one of the people that showed me how to do it. Thank you for that. I'll always be here for you.

Welcome home. Spend time with your family you never know when you'll be leaving again. An Australian guy I met in Eastern Europe told me that and I didn't know how true it was until I got home. If you can only get a few people back home to understand why you do the things you do, make sure it's them. Make sure they know you care about them. They will always be there for you when you come home from the next trip.

Make good choices. Make bad choices. Just make choices and don't ever wonder what could have happened because what DID happen is fucking awesome! I love you. Wish I could be there to welcome you back but I'll see you soon enough.

A little advice or Why my sister called me a slut

When the sister of the girl you've been making out with comes up to you, while her sister isn't there, and starts kissing you, run like hell. These are not the actions of a sane person and if you can't see it at the moment, you will for sure find out in a few days. And by all means don't sleep with her the same day that you've already made out with her sister. And especially don't do anything with the girl, kiss her, sleep with her, even look at her, if you know that she has a serious marriage proposal that she's considering. You don't want to deal with that, even if she's the hottest thing you've seen in four months and she's throwing herself at you. Look deeper my friend, look deeper into those big crazy eyes of hers. Look in those pools of twisted desire and see if that's where you really want to be. You may think that because she has a marriage proposal that she's considering she won't be looking for anything serious and you're not in harms way but look again my dear misguided friend because she doesn't really care about the proposal as much as you think. It's only her safety net and if you're not careful she'll mistake you for a better option of a safety net.

Remember, she may look like a perfect choice because of that short skirt, those perfect long legs, the big eyes and the sly smirk but look again because why is it that she's smiling with lips closed? Look closer. Yeah you see it now don't you? She's missing some teeth. Not the ones right up front, the obvious ones. One or two on either side of her upper teeth. Enough to make you think about that each and every time she gets close to you and wants another kiss. You think you can distract yourself with focusing on her beautiful legs or that you can look past a person missing a couple teeth because you can see the beauty inside of people. Ha, don't be an asshole. That's what you're going to think about every time you think about her, whether it's with her clothes on or off, she's always going to be missing a couple teeth.

Then again, if you haven't gotten any in four months....it's your choice. I'd probably do it too, although the next time I'd think a little bit more about it.

Osaka

Osaka.
Standing outside of a shop with three friends. Beers and cigarettes in our hands. Bellies full of amazing food including but not limited to Octopus.
Chilling, smoking, drinking, laughing, planning our next stop.
Woman walks up. Older, short, kind of fat, holding an umbrella to block the non-existent rain from the night sky above. Half in English, half in Japanese she prods us with questions of what we are doing and if we want to meet some 'nice girls.' After a few minutes of talking and not wanting to split up our group as well as a little curious, we follow her to a building close by. She tells us to get into the elevator and tells a man inside the elevator to take us up. Everything feels very strange, slightly exciting but very sketchy also. We all know that without the others we wouldn't be in this elevator going up to 'meet some girls.'
We stop at some floor, I really wasn't paying attention to what floor we were going to. The four of us are directed to a door. Inside is a small waiting room with a couch/padded bench to the left, a desk in front of us and a doorway with a small, thin curtain as a door. Two Japanese men are sitting on the couch. Both wearing leather jackets and have 'badnews' written all over them. One of them is bald and half of his head looks like it was caved in by some accident, or possibly a birth defect. Either way it makes him slightly more intimidating but also gives him a look of being slightly retarded.
We are told to sit down but we are all so nervous that we just stand in the area between the couch and the desk. Our one Japanese friend that is with us pokes his head behind the curtain and we all get a look down the hall. More doorways line each side with more small, thin curtains acting as doors. The man that opened the door and ushered us in quickly tells our friend to move away from the curtain. He tells us all to sit down and we will be taken back one at a time to see the girls. The idea that we will be taken back one at a time makes us think that there is most likely only one girl back there. Except for our Japanese friend, this sounds like a bad idea to the rest of us. He tries to convince us to hang around so we can at least see the girls before we take off. The dude with the half-caved in face is really giving me the creeps and I tell them that I'm taking off. I'll wait for them back at the shop/store we were at earlier.

We all end up leaving and heading toward the nearest bar, laughing about what just happened the entire rest of the night. We do pass the woman that originally invited us up and our Japanese friend lets her know that we were not satisfied with her 'girls' and that she was not truthful about what awaited us. Although it really was more like, 'fuck you and fuck your girls.'

Ohh Japan, I miss you.

Ganja Acid

Wandering around Osaka. Three Americans and a Japanese guide/friend. Lots of 'street beers' and looking for trouble. Normally a busy area, tonight the streets were empty. Turn a corner and see a sign for a place called "Ganja Acid". Pretty sure it was a bar, but weren't positive. We didn't have anything else to do. Took a chance. Walked in to a cramped and dark, smokey room. Instantly greeted by excited female bartender. None of us wanted to order first. Man sitting at the bar ordered our first round and paid the 'table charge' for all of us. Few minutes later very tall skinny Japanese man walks in dressed in a fuzzy monster costume with a long tail. Bar erupts in happy cries of, "Monster!" The four of us were extremely confused. Monster was giving out free hugs. One of the American's took a hug and said the monster was quite fuzzy. No one else in our group took a hug. The "Monster" sat against a wall with his drink and just watched everyone. The path to the back of the bar went right next to the "Monster" and everyone was tripping on his tail. Female bartender flirting with two of us Americans heavily. Took a little while to notice, but female bartender was changing her outfits throughout the couple hours that we were there; nurse, schoolgirl, mechanic and so on. Japanese man that resembled Jerry Garcia, one of the few that spoke pretty good English. Our Japanese friend was hitting on the other two girls in the bar. One of them was married to Japanese Jerry Garcia. The other sitting across the bar from me. He told her I thought she was cute, without me asking him to. The rest of the night he kept giving me pointers on how to hit on her. She spoke no English and I no Japanese. Female bartender talking to a few of us. Our Japanese friend started grabbing her boobs. All she did was kind of push him away and giggle. Entire back room of bar was lined with black light posters. One of us Americans tried to follow female bartender into 'employee room.' Female bartender passed out at the bar in the middle of flirting with me. Other bartender woke her up and it seemed that everything started feeling weird. We left and laughed all the way back to the hostel.