I Loved Japan!

For those of you who want the short version: Japan won my heart almost instantly. I'm definitely going back there, maybe moving there for a little while. For those who want the long version, it's all below.


These posts are extremely edited. I have it all in my journal, and will be more than happy to tell everyone I know back at home the edited out parts, but I don’t really feel like sharing some of my thoughts with complete strangers.


September 5, 2007 (Wednesday) A4
“This isn’t hurting you is it?” (as a side note, when you rip out someone’s hair, it generally does hurt. More on that later.)
Pacific Ocean, en route to Japan.
Theme Song: “You Wouldn’t Like Me” by Tegan and Sara

Yesterday was a pretty dull day, overall. I had class, as usual. Natural history was interesting, but World Art really wasn’t. I can never really figure out the point of what he tells us. He talks a lot, but none of it really seems to be significant. I ate dinner with the interport students from Japan and 7 other people last night. It was a really good time.

Now for today. I ate breakfast with Lindsay, and Sarah and Hannah were there, so we joined them. As usual, I ate a gigantic breakfast. I think if I keep it up I could gain a ton of weight from breakfast (Croissants, potatoes, eggs, French toast, and yogurt this morning). I decided I am dropping the class I added. I’m just going to be part time during winter quarter; it won’t affect my loans, so I would just rather do it that way. It’s not worth it to me. I had oceanography today, and we were supposed to have a quiz, but apparently people didn’t read the syllabus, so they were freaking out, and the professor postponed it. After oceanography, I got my haircut. Let me tell you, this was a mistake. I had debated about how much I wanted to cut, somewhere between 4-8 inches. I decided to go with just 4. I showed the woman how much I wanted cut, and she washed my hair. When she got ready to cut it, she didn’t comb out all of it--just the part she was going to cut at that particular moment. She twisted the rest of it on the top of my head, tangling it even more. I told her it was not a good idea to let it dry in tangles, but she just went on her merry way cutting. When she gets to the part that she let dry into knots, she just started ripping them out, and I do mean she literally just ripped them out of my head. One actually slipped out of her hand and I ended up getting punched in the side of the face. She also left my hair wet after it was cut, which I thought was really weird. They generally blow dry hair at salons (at least for women), and with what I paid for my haircut, I felt like it should have been included. It was the most painful haircut I have ever had. Then afterwards, she let me know that my hair was very unhealthy, and that was why it was so tangled. I needed to buy $40.00 hair product to treat it. I think the solution is brush it while it is wet, and not wrap it into tangles on purpose, but maybe that is just me.

September 9, 2007
“They want a target, not to die.”
Pacific Ocean, en route to Japan

We crossed the International Date Line a couple of days ago, and lost September 7. Not a whole has happened since then. I had a quiz yesterday in oceanography that I know did not go well. I at least know what to expect now, so I can be better prepared in the future. I went to a worship service on the ship and started going to a Bible Study. I am dropping the class I waited so long to add. It’s just not worth it to me. I can be part-time for a quarter, and it will be alright. I’m already overwhelmed with work, and in two days I am going to have only two days between ports for the next four ports, so it’s just going to get worse. The first global studies exam is in two days; I’m not really looking forward to it.

Marissa and I have been planning out Japan pretty well. We’re going to be hitting up Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Himeji, in addition to Yokohama and Kobe, though admittedly, there will be very little time in Yokohama and Himeji. I just want to get to Himeji to see the castle, and it’s only 20 minutes away from Kobe by bullet train. I’m getting really excited for Japan, as well as everywhere else. There was a meeting tonight for the Tiger Temple tour that I am planning on in Thailand. It’s going to be pretty cool, I think. We’re going to get to ride elephants, go to the Tiger Temple (which you should look up on the internet), and stay in a floating hotel.

The other night Sarah, Lindsay, and I decided to get a game from the student life desk, and we were intrigued by the title “Can You Beat Ken?” so it’s what we got. When we actually had it in our hands, we were surprised to find that it was actually not anything remotely interesting. It was trying to answer a bunch of difficult trivia questions that Ken Jennings couldn’t answer, but we had to play it because the student life desk worker had to go to the office (which is across the ship) to get it for us.

I went on a bridge tour today with Nicole and a few other girls from my sea, as well as Laura and Ashley, who are in my Bible Study group. I was very disappointed that Captain Jeremy wasn’t there. I am going to have to keep going on them until he actually is there.

Sept. 10, 2007 A6 (Sunday? Monday? It’s definitely one of those).
“Hi, I’m Dmitri. I’m from Hawaii.”
En route to Japan

We didn’t have Global Studies today so that we could study for the exam tomorrow. I’ve finally gotten through all the readings and read through my lecture notes. I feel like I am as prepared as I can be, so hopefully all goes well. I got my oceanography quiz back today, and I was surprised with the result. I actually did ok. It wasn’t great (I got a B…I‘m too much of a perfectionist sometimes), but it wasn’t nearly as horrible as I was expecting.

The cultural preport is tonight for Japan. I’m getting really excited about Japan. I’m traveling with Marissa. We’re going to Tokyo as soon as we get off the ship in Yokohama and can navigate our way to the train station. From there the plans take us to Kyoto, Hiroshima, Himeji, and finally Kobe, to meet the ship. Then it will be 2 days until China!

Classes are a bit dull for the most part, but I do love Natural History. There’s a good chance that it is going to be the best class I have ever taken.

There was a fabulous marble cheesecake for dessert tonight. The rest of dinner wasn’t so bad either. Edgar, who is a waiter and possibly my favorite person in the world, brought me two pieces of cheesecake and tried to give me a third.

Sept. 11, 2007 B6 (Tuesday? Regardless, the day before Japan)
“The Executive Dean will discuss what we learned in Honolulu.”
Pacific Ocean, en route to Japan (which is tomorrow!)

The cultural preport last night was pretty interesting. The interport students did a presentation and a few of the professors talked about their experiences in Japan. We finally hit the rough waters we were promised after Hawaii. A lot of people got sick, but fortunately, I wasn’t one of them. After the preport, I hung out with a few girls from my sea for a while before heading to bed.

I got up early this morning for breakfast. It was pancake day, so I helped myself to several and topped it off with cream of wheat, which I never really liked before, but has now become an indispensable part of my diet. Everyone was up early cramming for the Global exam, but I wasn’t really too worried about it. Two professors had a bet going for what the highest grade on the exam was going to be. One thought it would be a 41/50 and the other thought it would be a 44/50. I figured with only an hour to go before the test that there really wasn’t much that I could do to help myself out, so I took advantage of the lack of people on the internet. The exam itself didn’t seem too bad. It was about the same difficulty of a BIO 121 exam at ONU, which everyone always complained about, but I never really thought was that bad. I could have done better I think, but all in all, I could have done a lot worse.

Natural History was ok, and then I went to lunch with Nicole. They had this fabulous potato thing which I think I only liked because I love potatoes so much. I’m not so sure that everyone else on the ship was as keen on it as I was, but I loooooooooved it. During lunch, the noon announcements came on and they asked for a moment of silence in memory of the Sept. 11 attacks. This seemed like such a reasonable thing to me, but it was like no one else cared. Everyone just carried on talking and laughing like it wasn’t any big deal. It was disappointing that my peers, these people who are journeying around the world care so little for something that has had such a pronounced impact on our society.

I headed back to my room for a nap, which I didn’t get because my roommate and her friends were watching a movie in here. I did get a little bit of studying done. I am officially ahead in Natural History and Global Studies, right on track in Oceanography, and behind in World Art.

My Bible study group met for dinner tonight. It was a blast. We stayed until long after the dining room had closed, just talking and laughing. One of the girls in my group is going on the Beijing/Xian trip with me. I was glad to finally meet someone else going on it. I’m getting super excited for it, by the way. We talked a little about some of the social difficulties we were encountering, and it was nice to know that I was not alone.

I went to the logistical preport tonight with some girls from my sea. It was not nearly as much fun as the cultural preport was, but I guess that is to be expected. The Executive Dean talked about things that happened in Honolulu. People tried desperately (and some succeeded) to bring alcohol on the ship, which is against the rules. If they got caught (which a lot did), they got 24 hours of dock time. He talked about how inconsiderate of each other everyone was when they were getting back on the ship in Honolulu and how disappointing these things were. They really are, even to me. He lectured about everyone turning their independent travel forms in late (I got mine in on time), and how we needed to be respectful of these requirements because many of them are in place because of 9/11, which happens to be today, and we, as Americans, were so deeply affected. The doctor told us not to eat fugu. I wasn’t planning on it anyway. Fugu is blowfish, which if prepared incorrectly will kill you.

I’ve been watching a lot of the movies that are a part of the film series. Some of them have been surprising choices (Mulan) and some have been very, very good (The Last Emperor). Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is on now. It’s weird because it is dubbed rather than subtitled.

Sept. 12, 2007 (Wednesday)
“It would be better if we could see it.”
Yokohama and Tokyo, Japan

I got up at 5:00 am to see the sunrise as we pulled into Yokohama harbor. I don’t have a window in my room so I was very surprised when I got to the fifth deck and it was pouring down the rain. I ran into Laura and Ashley and we went to the faculty/staff lounge to get a better view of what can only be described as a downpour as we came into the harbor. The rain finally died down and we got some good pictures. We headed for breakfast. I ate a massive one as usual. Lindsay joined us.

When the ship was cleared at about 1:30 I sprinted up to get my passport, and the group of us left (Marissa, Kelly, Lindsay, Laura, and me) for the train station. When we got to the station, we thought that we were in Yokohama train station. This seemed logical because we were in Yokohama. Yokohama station was the one that Marissa and I needed to exchange our rail pass orders for an actual rail pass. There was a great deal of confusion, but somehow between the language barrier, someone was actually able to communicate to us what we needed to do to get to the actual Yokohama station, rather than just a station in Yokohama. We got our tickets, made it to the station, and then were utterly overwhelmed with the layout of the station. Those who weren’t getting a rail pass stayed behind while Marissa and I wondered off to the Travel Service Center. We couldn’t quite find it, and I guess we looked very confused, because a Japanese man came up and asked us if he could help us. He confirmed that we were at the right gate, but didn’t know where we actually needed to go. We eventually found the right place; it was swarming with SASers. We exchanged our passes and headed to Tokyo.

When we got to Tokyo, we went into the travel service center there and managed to get maps. Then we wondered into a post office, where I got a few stamps (so 3 people can expect postcards). I was a little short on yen at the time because I hadn’t found a good exchange yet, so I only got 3 stamps. Two postcards are going to people I know (or at least think) really read this, and one is going to the person who requested a postcard from every country. Hopefully they make it to you. We decided to just wonder around, with no place in particular to go. We went off in the direction of the Imperial Palace which we found after walking through a very pretty park. There was already a group of SASers there, talking to an older man. The group of us took pictures from outside of the gate, because we weren’t allowed in. When the other group of girls left, we decided to talk to the man the group of girls was talking to, but before we quite got there another group of SASers (all guys) stomped up to him and very impolitely asked where to get sushi. We were pretty hungry at this point, so we listened in. The group of guys left, but we stayed and talked to the man (Nishikawa-san). He learned English by listening to the radio. Nishikawa-san said that he had taken lessons in English, but the classes were really a joke because the guys just went to the class to meet women. He also told us that he was very happy to talk with us because the young people in Japan didn’t really want to have conversations with him because they had to pay so much in taxes to care for sick people, like him. He had (or has) pancreatic cancer. His English was amazing. We complimented him several times and he kept repeating “This is my best day. Thank you for talking to me.” He took a picture with me and then looked at the picture on my camera. He told me that he did not look sick in the picture because it was impossible to look bad next to such a beautiful woman. Talking with him was one of the best parts of Japan. By the time we were done talking to him, it was sunset, so we took more pictures of sunset at the Imperial Palace, which was gorgeous.

We went off in search of food, and accidentally ended up at the sushi bar Nishikawa-san had described to us. I ate some sushi, had this weird egg thing (I think it was egg, anyway), and tried some sake. Laura made a big deal about not eating anything uncooked, and ended up getting this noodle dish with an egg on it. There was something she didn’t like about it, and wouldn’t eat it, so I did. It was AMAZING. When I ordered sake, I had assumed that I was only going to be getting a little glass of it, but instead I got a big vial of it. I shared it with everyone, because I knew that one glass would be plenty for me. When we left, we found a sweet shop, and we all got our first taste of amazing Japanese sweets. We also stopped at a bookstore, where I got a few postcards. At this point, Laura, Lindsey, and Kelly decided to head back to Yokohama, so we accompanied them to Tokyo Station. Marissa and I got a taxi and started the journey to our hostel. Our taxi driver didn’t really understand where he was taking us, but started off anyway. He got lost, and asked for directions several times. The last time he stopped he asked a woman who got in the taxi and reprogrammed the GPS for him, and this finally got us to the hostel.

We checked in, and got our room. The other person who was supposed to be staying in the room never showed up, so Marissa and I had the room to ourselves. The room was basically just futon mats, which was pretty cool. You could hear everything in the other rooms though, including the coughing attack the girl had in the next room and her snoring when she got back to sleep.

September 13, 2007
“************** is a liar, liar pants on fire.”
Tokyo and Kyoto, Japan

When Marissa and I got up we got a map for the subway from our hostel and headed back to Tokyo Station, because I knew there was an international ATM in the post office there. What I didn’t account for is that Tokyo Station is HUGE and the gate we ended up at was nowhere near the post office, so we headed in search of currency conversion. Marissa and I got turned around a lot, and ended up backtracking several times through a stretch of the station where they were giving out free chocolate cookies. We each got several. We ended up in an international depot, which really had nothing to do with any sort of currency conversion. There was a convenience store there where we got breakfast. I ended up with an amazing pastry which had “mystery cream” in it, along with creams that I knew where vanilla and chocolate. I also got some juice, which I have to say is much better than American juice. Instead of drinking sugar in ‘juice’ form, it was like I was actually drinking an apple. It was soooo good. I was still in need of yen, so we continued to wonder around. We finally stopped in a Four Seasons hotel where we were directed to an underground mall that had a little place for currency conversion. I converted what little American money I had on me, but still hoped to find an international ATM later. We decided to go ahead and take our breakfast on the train to Kyoto. We just showed up at the ticket office, said ‘Kyoto’ and had bullet train tickets in our hands, with a departure time in the next 15 minutes. We boarded the Shinkansen, for the first of many times, and just relaxed on our way to Kyoto. The trip took about 2 hours.

When we got to Kyoto we went to the Travel Service Center because they had been serving us so well, but there was a giant sign plastered that said they didn’t give maps, to go to a different spot in the station. A very cute British guy had the same thought we did, and was turned away just the same as us. He walked with us to the Visitors Center, and I think that if I was any good at the whole flirting thing Marissa and I might have had a travel companion for the rest of the day. I didn’t really care though, because we were in a hurry to get to a few temples before they closed. We got our maps, found the bus we wanted, and headed to Kinkakuji Temple (the Golden Pavilion). The temple was beautiful, although we were not allowed in it. The grounds were equally as breathtaking. Marissa and I wondered around them for about an hour. I mastered the use of a squatter, and was very glad that I brought travel TP with me, because I didn’t have the 100 yen on me to purchase TP there. On the way out we were given some tea that we think had flecks of gold in it. It was really salty, but it was really good. We knew that Ryoan-ji was supposed to be nearby. My Lonely Planet said that it was about a 15 minute walk, so we headed off in that direction. The walk was a bit more than the book said it was going to be, but it was definitely worth it. This temple was a rock garden set in beautiful grounds. It was so gorgeous. When we left we were asked for directions by 2 separate French people. It was kind of weird, but also kind of cool to be in Japan and be asked in English by French people how to get to the Golden Temple and the Rock Garden. From here we decided to find our ryokan and check in. I think we both felt like changing clothes because we were so sweaty. Japan was very hot, and made me sweat more than I knew I was capable of.

It took a great deal of time to find our ryokan, but thanks to Marissa’s navigational abilities, we made it. We checked in, and got to our room and rested for a little while, then decided to find dinner. We navigated our way to the Gion district, but all the navigating ate up a lot of time, and by the time we had actually gotten to the Gion district, most things were closing. I didn’t really care where we ate, so long as I got food, because we hadn’t eaten since very early that morning. Most places we were passing were not Japanese, but rather Italian, Indian, etc. I didn’t care at all if we had pizza or rice or cod. I was just hungry, but Marissa insisted on finding Japanese, which you would have thought should have been easy, seeing as how we were in Japan, but it was not. We finally found a restaurant, but we literally could not find the door to get in. We looked and circled around several times but there was no entrance to be found. We continued in the quest for food, and found a Chinese place, which worked well enough for Marissa. I had a chicken dish which was fantastic. On the way back to the ryokan we stopped at a sweet shop, and I got a cupcake, which turned out to be filled with the same mystery cream that my breakfast pastry was filled with. When we got back to the ryokan, I needed a shower in a major way. There were two showers, one of which was just a shower. The other one was a shower/public bath. The plain shower was occupied, so I ended up in the shower/public bath, which actually wasn’t really a public bath at all. I guess it could have been, but it didn’t seem like anyone used it that way. I got my shower and got to bed on my futon mat.

September 14, 2007
“Peace, Love, Hiroshima.”
Hiroshima and Kyoto, Japan

Marissa and I caught a bus to Kyoto Station so that we could get Shinkansen tickets to Hiroshima, stopping first at a convenience store to pick up breakfast for the train ride. When we got to the station, I found out that there was an international ATM in Kyoto Tower Hotel, which was just across the street, so we stopped there, but it didn’t open until 10 am, so I made a note to stop there when we got back from Hiroshima. We got our tickets, but the train didn’t leave for an hour, so we decided to explore an underground mall while we waited. The mall had this amazing bread shop in it, where I got a few things that intrigued me. I got what I believe might be my new favorite thing in the world: a pastry with apples baked into it and custard in spots. It is so delicious. I also got a few other things, and managed to discover what the mystery cream is. It is a take on cream cheese, but a bit different. It showed up in a muffin that I knew what the muffin translated to in English, so it was definitely along the lines of cream cheese.

I had been going back on forth on going to Hiroshima after my experience at Pearl Harbor. I was still not convinced that it was ok for me to be there. When we finally got there, we got a map at a Budget Rent A Car, which was an experience in itself. They spoke no English and hide to mime that we needed a map. It was a little funny. We decided to get a taxi. I used my Lonely Planet and pointed to the Japanese characters for where we wanted to go (the A-Bomb Dome), and the taxi driver laughed, not at the fact that I had to point to something I couldn’t really read in a book to get to where I wanted, but because of where I wanted to go. It was a very strange feeling. He took us right to the A-Bomb Dome. The bomb was dropped over the dome, but somehow managed to survive, though in ruins. There were signs to read about the history of the dome, and one of them really got to me, though I am not sure why. The last sentence read “The ruins shall remain preserved forever.” It was the first of many things at this site that was unsettling and moving all at the same time. I continued to walk until I got to a Children’s Memorial, where I learned much more about who was directly killed by the A-Bomb. Children had been put into a workforce for the war, and many were working in the area where the bomb was dropped when it happened. I walked around the monument and listened to the recording that was provided about it. The monument was covered in paper cranes, and as I listened to the recording and looked at the cranes, a Japanese man came up to me and asked me if I was ok. I told him that I was, but he said, “No, no. You are crying. You are not ok.” It was not until that very moment that I had realized tears were running down my cheeks. I told him that it was just very heartbreaking to me. I continued to cry as I crossed the bridge to the Peace Memorial Park, where I was asked to sign a petition against nuclear weapons. With tears still falling, and my mind still trying to grasp the things I was seeing, I had no problem signing it immediately. The park was filled with more memorials, lots of paper cranes, and much to think about.

I traveled from the park to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Hall, which gave information on the bombing, and there was a room for reflection and prayer for the victims. There was also an exhibit featuring the names and faces of those who died, so many of them children. We went to the cenotaph and the Peace Museum. The museum was very graphic; someone else that went later said, “They weren’t shy about it [displaying the horrors of the bombing].” He was right. Pieces of it were very hard to stomach, such as the tricycle that belonged to a three year old boy who was killed. His father thought he was too young to be buried alone, and so buried him with the tricycle. Later, his body was moved and the tricycle was donated to the museum.

I have finally decided whether it was ok for me to go to Hiroshima, and it took me going to reach this decision. It was not ok for me to be there, not as a visitor to the A-Bomb dome, not as a visitor to the Peace Memorial Park. It was not ok that anyone was a visitor to the A-Bomb Dome. It was not ok that this place was even existed, that this horrible event had taken place. It is not ok that so many people died, and are still dying from this terrible tragedy. But I went, and it is so very important that I did. Hiroshima won my heart, my voice.

When we left the museum, we went to the International Exchange Lounge and got maps for Hiroshima. We decided to go to Shukkein Garden, and got a taxi there. We used the Lonely Planet guide to point to what we wanted, and were taken right there. The garden was huge and it was stunning. The water was filled with fish and turtles and the path just meandered through the garden. I could have stayed for hours, but Marissa and I needed to get back to Kyoto. We caught our train, and ended up in a car that was for women only during rush hour. I had gotten some Kit Kat sticks in a vending machine. The vending machine also had beer and wine, but I was alright with just the candy, which I ate on the way to Kyoto. Kit Kats are better in Japan too. They have a bit of a different texture and flavoring. I am a fan of both. We had to switch trains in Osaka, and we got a little lost in the train station. After arriving in Kyoto, we decided to stop in Kyoto Tower so I could get to the ATM. I finally got some money and did some shopping. I bought a gorgeous tea set, though I talked myself out of the one I really wanted because it was about $100, therefore very out of my price range. We went back to the underground mall we were in earlier that morning to find dinner. I accidentally ordered eel and noodles in ice water. I made the best of it though. Afterwards, I found another sweet shop and got something to take back to the ryokan with me.


Sept. 15, 2007
“It’s a tough decision; don‘t make the wrong one.”
Kyoto to Kobe, Japan

We got up at about 7:00 and checked out of the ryokan. We made our usual stop at a convenience store for breakfast, and then caught the bus to Ginkaku-ji temple (the Silver Pavilion). A Chinese man actually joined us on the way; he spoke really good English. We found the site together, between the three of us. The temple and grounds were absolutely breathtaking. The temple was supposed to be covered with silver leaf, but it never actually happened. It is still called the Silver Pavilion though. The ground wrapped around, and it was so soothing to just meander through the beauty of the place.

When we left, Marissa wanted to find a grocery store, and I wanted to find a 100 yen store. We had gotten a map from the ryokan that said there was a grocery store with a 100 yen store located right above it in downtown Kyoto, which was too good to be true, literally. We took the bus to where they were supposed to be located, but they weren’t there. In fact, nothing that was written on the map was in the right place. We took it into a Starbucks and a nice lady tried to help us, but she couldn’t make sense of the map, because nothing was drawn anywhere near where it was. We decided to give up and just head to Kobe, stopping first in the underground mall at Kyoto Station. I got another custardy apple pastry and cream cheeseish muffin. We also stopped at a place called 36 sticks, which was located right across from the bread place. It was kind of like the Baskin Robbins of cake. I got something that was kind of like an éclair in cake form, which was amazing. Amazing tended to be the trend with Japanese sweets.

We got on the train to Kobe and ate our breakfast there. When we got to Shin-Kobe station, it was still relatively early, so we wanted to make the most of our time, but drop off our stuff at the ship first. We got a taxi, but we were taken to the wrong place. We didn’t realize it until we asked for directions to the ship. We were told it was about a 15 minute walk away. We started walking and finally got to the point that we could see the ship, but we couldn’t get there by walking. After about 2 hours of walking and not finding the monorail station, we got some help in finding the station. At this point, we had been walking around for 2 hours and I was soaked in sweat, and I do mean soaked. My back hurt from carrying around 40 pounds on it. I was not in a good mood. When we finally got back to the ship, and I had an open bottle of water with me while I was going through security. She took it and said, “Empty,” as in a command, but I had heard, “Not empty,” as in a declaration. I just shrugged, indicating that she could just throw it away in the trash can behind her. This was the wrong thing to do. The other security guy threw it away, and to him it was no big deal, just a miscommunication, but to her it seemed like the final straw of a horrible day that just made her go off. She yelled at me for not doing it, then searched my things. I had bought a few things in Kyoto, and they wrapped them up for me very nicely. In fact, one of them was a present and I just planned on leaving it sealed up that way. She unwrapped everything: the tea set, the kimono, the handkerchief, and everything else, all in search of hidden alcohol that I didn’t have. She went through my Ziploc bag of dirty clothes. She took the food I was carrying on me (sealed granola bars) and threw them away, and then gave me my things back, in a giant jumble, but made me leave before I could put any of them back in my bag. Then Marissa, who was behind me, merely had her backpack opened, but nothing was searched, none of her wrapped packages, none of her food, not a single thing.

We decided to rest a little bit before heading back out into Kobe, but when we did leave, we decided to go to Sake brewery for a tour. It took us a little while to find it. Somehow we accidentally stumbled into a woman’s home before finding the brewery, but she was very, very nice about it, and got us to the right place. We thought we were going to be able to get a tour, but we just got to see a video about how sake was made. It was very informative, and it was pretty cool to see. After the video we got to try 3 different kinds of sake, all of them cold. The first one was kind of fruity; it was really good. The other two were a bit stronger, and not something I was a big fan of, but they were good to try just the once. We walked back to the train station, and decided to go to the Harbor area to see the Earthquake Memorial park. We stopped in the station near the harbor to get dinner. Dinner took much longer than expected, and at this point, it was dark, and I didn’t feel like going back to the harbor area while it was dark, so we came back to the ship, stopping at a convenience store on the way, so I could get some juice to bring back with me.

Sept. 16, 2007
“Whole set 1000 yen. Whole set.”
Himeji and Kobe, Japan

Marissa and I headed out early to get to Himeji to see the castle and gardens there. Of course, we did get breakfast at a convenience store on the way there. Once we got to Himeji station, getting to the castle was really easy. It was a straight walk there. The castle was amazing. We got to go through the whole thing and climb all the way to the top. The stairs were really steep, so it was a bit of a workout, but it was completely worth it. We went to the garden that was next to the grounds, and it, like all the other gardens I went to, was just gorgeous. It was actually part of reconstructed samurai quarters originally adjacent to Himeji Castle, so it was pretty neat to see. We stopped at a couple of souvenir shops on the way back to the station, and I found some pretty cool things that I probably don’t need, but bought just the same. Plus, I was having such a hard time finding a place to convert currency, that I knew I wasn’t going to be able to convert my yen, and I didn’t want to come back to the ship with 4500 unspent yen. I stopped at a little antique shop and found a plate that I loved. It was only 1000 yen, which is a bargain in Japan for most any souvenir, so I just picked up a plate off the stack. The man didn’t speak English, but was trying to tell me that I was doing something wrong. It took a long time to communicate to me, but he was telling me that it was the whole stack for 1000 yen, not just one plate. It was the best deal I had found in all of Japan, so I got the set of plates and also a vase which was equally cheap, and is totally gorgeous.

We caught a train back to Kobe and got on the bus to go to this shopping center that Marissa wanted to go to, but we got on one going the wrong direction, so we had to travel nearly the whole loop. The operator thought we were very confused tourists, even though we knew exactly where we were going. We took the bus to the train station, got dinner, and then stocked up on several things at a convenience store before coming back to the ship. I had a lot more stuff with me than I did the day before, but it was hardly searched at all. In fact, none of the wrapped things were opened. The only thing he checked was a box of cakes that I had bought at the train station.

On a sad note, I got my global studies test results back when I got back to the ship. It wasn’t horrible, but certainly not what I expected. I may end up arguing for a couple of points. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but I am going to at least make my case.

On another note: the Internet is SLOW and expensive, so I don’t check my e-mail often, but when I do, it’s nice to have something there to read, which means that you should e-mail me. My replies are often short, but my internet time is limited. And if I send you an SAS e-mail postcard, DON’T send me one back. Just send a regular e-mail. They are free for me to send, but they are not free for me to receive, and they eat up many more internet minutes than just a regular e-mail.

I know you guys all want me to post pictures. Again note: the Internet is SLOW and expensive. At its best, it is slower than the slowest dial up. Uploading a picture takes about 20 minutes sometimes. I can’t really afford to do that. I am taking lots of pictures, and I will be more than happy to show them to you when I get home. I am carrying a couple with me on my flash drive when I am in port just in case I stumble upon an internet café, but if you just wait until December, I will have tons of pictures for you. I took 1,000 in Japan.