Day 14

Thank you Japan for all that I have learned and all that I will share with everyone I meet. I will be thankful for the rest of my life for the experiences and memories that I had.

Mt. Fuji from the plane

“I’m Going home”

(song from Rocky Horror Picture Show).

On the day I went away... goodbye...Was all I had to say... now I...I want to come again and stay... Oh my my...Smile, and that will mean that I may

Cause I've seen blue skies, through the tearsIn my eyes And I realise.. I'm going home.

Everywhere it's been the same... feeling...Like I'm outside in the rain... wheeling...Free, to try and find a game... dealing...Cards for sorrow, cards for pain

Cause I've seen blue skies through the tearsIn my eyes And I realise.. I'm going home.

I'm going home, I'm going home.

Day 13

Wow this is the last real day here. This morning Amanda, Janan, Temi, Katie, Sivi, and I along with Susan went to the Island. It is really called Miyajima but it is an island too. On the island there are more Raptorious deer like at that other park, so visitors beware. These deer thoroughly enjoyed my map of the island. Well, after playing with the deer we took pictures with gate that stands in the water. It was cool because since it was low tide and we walked out almost right to it. On the island there are little maple leaf cakes that when fresh are wonderful desserts, but you can only really find them on the island so stock up. But the cakes are not the real reason to go not only is there a Shinto shrine on the island that is all on stilts so it can sit over the water, but there is also a rope way that takes you up the mountains to a very scenic spot. Not only is this a beautiful spot to see all around and the natural beauty of Japan but there are also monkeys. These monkeys just roam around and you can take pictures of them. They are really cute and have red bums. There were even a couple of baby monkeys with their mothers. After the monkeys we took a cable car back down the mountain. After our fun on the island we headed back to the hotel and then we made our way to outside Tokyo for our last night in the country. This trip has been amazing. I have enjoyed being able to explore this country and I know that I will be back.

Day 12

Trains, trains, and a few more trains but now we are in Hiroshima. After leaving our bags in the cozy rooms we headed back to the lobby because Oliver and Susan had gotten separated from the group and we were supposed to be meeting to go to an island as a group. Since this didn’t appear to be what was working out we decided as a group that we should go to the peace park today, but since the cranes were not done yet we had a mass making, learning, and assembling of cranes. After we had done all that we could and we made it pretty close to 1,000 we made our way to the park. It is almost impossible to explain how it felt leaving those cranes. It was very moving and felt very important and I think that it was. Since we are such an international school making a unified gesture of peace was very special. I could feel that everyone was touched and silenced by being at the park. I am very glad that we were able to come here and experience this place, because it is truly like no other place and almost indescribable. We eventually made our way to the museum. I must say that it was amazingly done. It was not all shock value and gore but more as a testimony of the facts and the stance that no one else should have to endure this. I feel like can’t convey this message properly because a lot of it is pure emotion. This topic is so hard for me to understand because the event is something that I have no first hand knowledge of. I can’t possibly comprehend what it is like to have my whole world destroyed in literally an instant. I think that the best comment I heard came from an old American that was also touring the museum he said, “In war no one ever wins.” After seeing things like this it makes me want to take some current world leaders and shake them and ask them why can’t they see what war does to people and I want to ask them what they really think they are going to gain from war. I just don’t understand. I saw the extremity of human creation today. I watched and helped make small paper cranes for peace and I also saw the A-bomb and what it did. Both are human creations. After the museum these school kids came up to a small group of us and gave us small paper cranes with wishes for peace attached to them. I think this was the best thing that could have happened after being in that museum, because it brought the whole experience full circle. For anyone who ever visits Japan the Hiroshima Peace Park is a place that you must visit. Well, until tomorrow.

Day 11

Western breakfast with a twist is how I started my day today. Actually there wasn’t much about breakfast that was western. There was sausage with broccoli, curry spaghetti, meatballs in sweet sauce, and a number of other interesting foods like gooey dehydrated soybeans. But the food matches the place well. Today Amanda and I went with Susan, Rory, Tonya, Fadie, and Oliver to Nara. In Nora we went to a Buddhist temple. It was really neat because it not only had a three-story pagoda but it also had a five story one as well. Also it is interesting to see all the different ways people pray to the gods. In all ways they believe that you have to get the god’s attention. This can happen in many ways: ringing a huge bell, clapping, or even burning the prayers so that the message is carried up to the god. There was also a new way that I saw today in which the person praying splashes water onto the statue of Buddha and as the water evaporates that carries the message up to the god. After the temple we went to the National Museum and we even had a personal English guide that took us around and explained each of the different statues. This was so helpful because there were so many different stories behind the statues and without the guide a lot of this information might have been missed. After the museum we went to a park where deer just wonder around and you can feed them these special deer cookies. This doesn’t mean that they will only eat deer cookies though, in fact they will eat anything that you are not guarding. One even tried to eat my passport holder, and we watched one deer bit these guy’s pants right in the butt. After playing with the deer for awhile we went to see the big Buddha. He is 40ft tall and his eyes each measure 3.36 feet wide. He is really big! After taking in as much as we could of the Big B Susan treated us to lunch, where I had as you might guess, Katsudon. After lunch we al broke off and Amanda and I did some shopping before heading back to Osaka. By the time we made it back we were tired and so decided to fold some cranes. We later wondered around for dinner but settled on convenience food take out, which is surprisingly rather good. Make sure to take some time to experience Japanese television culture. It is really different from American TV and it shows a different perspective of Japanese life. Well, until tomorrow.

Day 10

Today we went to the Imperial Palace! Actually it might have been the most unexciting part of this trip so far. Please don’t misunderstand I love palaces and I enjoy touring them, but when you are not allowed in them in cuts down on the excitement. For the tour we were led around in a huge group by a woman that spoke decent English but was hard to hear, and we just walked around the palace (literally around it). I am not sure whether this is the common practice of Japan so I don’t feel that I can truly say that this was a bad tour. I just was disappointed, and I want to warn anyone else before they go so they don’t set the sights on something else. Although no matter how the tour turned out I am glad that I even got to see an Imperial palace up close (they are not many of those in America). After the tour Amanda and I headed to Amita. We took a very scenic route because we endeavored to take a public bus but got off at a very wrong stop and ended up having to ask the police where we were and how to get where we were going. Although I must say our Japanese is getting really good, and because of our mistake we got to see a shrine that we hadn’t meant to see. Amita is a shopping place created for tourists, so it was full of gifts for those back home. The best part about this place being for tourists was the free shuttle that took us back to the train station which was right by the hotel. After getting all out stuff it was off to Osaka. We decided to try our luck on a Nazomi again and we made it to Osaka in ten minutes (pretty amazing). After a few wrong turns and another stop at a police station for direction (if lost to seek these out because not only are they helpful but they normally have a large city map) we finally found the hotel. Now this part of Osaka where we were is very unique to say the most to say the least it is the dark underbelly of Japan. I felt that the best way to describe the area was Gothem city with a Japanese twist. Our hotel here is western style so really not that interesting. Although the outside architecture is enough to make anyone look twice (as pictured) it is four columns of big ethnic heads on stubby legs. Oh and in the rooms there was an interesting body sponge, well the sponge was normal but the directions were intriguing. It said “This is disposable sponge for body shampoo. You had better use this sponge with body shampoo.” Anyway tonight Amanda and I broke down and finally ate McDonald’s although this was still a challenge because the menu was all in Japanese, but good old McDo always has pictures. Well, until tomorrow.

Day 9

Today Amanda and I decided that we wanted to go back to Nagoya. This is so that we could go to the Noritake factory. Schuchardt and Jason went with us. When we got to the station we took a Nozumi train (the really fast bullet train) and it only took us a half hour to get back to Nagoya. The factory was pretty interesting. First you go through a building where it shows you all the different steps in the process of making Noritake china, and this is also active working area so you get to see people actually working on pieces. After this we went through the museum. I wasn’t nearly as excited about this as Amanda who loved everything, but then again she is ‘Otaku’ about tea and china. It was still interesting to see. Jason threw a pot and painted the Franklin crest on a plate while we were there. We stayed at what is called the Noritake Garden till 2 and then we came back to Kyoto. We folded cranes and listened to music until dinner, which was similar to the first night except that was with chicken and pork and tempura. The best part of dinner was the dessert because it was melon. Susan had explained that this melon can sell for 100$ because they only sell ones that are perfectly round. It really was one of the best pieces of melon I have ever had. Oh and a word to the wise if served this melon sit next to someone who doesn’t like melon so that you can nonchalantly offer to take theirs as well. Nagoya is has still be my favorite place visited but whether that is because of the great experiences there or the city itself I am not sure. Well, until tomorrow.

Day 8

Wow it was another wonderful day in the neighborhood. It dawned cold with a chance of rain, but we never saw any. We had Japanese breakfast today and I am starting not to mind although I mainly just eat the rice. There is one good side effect to eating all this Japanese food. Since they use a lot of ginger I haven’t had to take my motion sickness medication the whole time I have been here, and it is not for lack of traveling. Anyway after breakfast we hooked up with one of Susan’s friends and Janan and Caren. All of us went to the Golden Pavilion. It was so beautiful!!! The water of the pond that surrounds it is covered in symmetric patterns of water lilies and it was created in the 12th century. The whole area was so beautiful that I am going to come back sometime in the spring, especially to see all of the weeping cherry blossom trees. After the Golden Pavilion we took another bus to a zen rock garden. At first one has a hard time understand what is so great about the rock garden, but when you sit and really look at it, it is so tranquil and very deep (I know that sounds a bit silly). Well the one we saw was made in the 16th century. There are two main interpretations of it although you can read into it what you want. One was that the white sand was meant to be clouds and the rocks were the mountains rising up, and the second was that the white rocks were the sea and the big rocks are islands. I think I like the first interpretation better. There are 15 rocks and they are supposedly positioned so that you can’t see them all from any one angle. The white sand/gravel is raked into perfect lines that swirl around the rocks. We walked around the rest of the temple grounds which look so nice. After the rocks we made our way over to where this parade was going to happen. Now in America parade seems to mean something a little different. When I think of a parade there are sounds and bright costumes and maybe even a float or two. This parade was none of these things. For one it was quiet, the people watching and the people in it were all quiet. Although it was cool getting to see all these people in traditional dress that we were told went all the way back to 1000 AD. We left after 30 min. but I think that we got the main point. When we got back to the hotel we got together and folded cranes. We folded up until dinner but we still have a long way to go if we want to make 1,000. Dinner was so good! It was like fondue except it was made with boiling water in this huge pot. First you boiled vegs. Then you took thin strips of beef and cooked them for about 5 sec. that was enough to cook it medium well. After cooking you dipped it into a lemon soy sauce. It was so delicious and we even got grapefruit for dessert. Oh I almost forgot something about the Rock garden. There is this basin there from the 17th century that has an interesting saying on it “I learn only to be contented.” I just thought this was interesting. Well, until tomorrow.

To visit The Golden Pavilion online http://www.kinkaku-ji.or.jp
To visit Ryoanji Temple (where the rock garden it) http://www.kiis.or.jp/rekishi/kyoto/kyoto10-e.html

Day 7

We got to sleep in today, and this was really nice because we didn’t get to sleep until late. We had to check out of the hotel by 10 but we could leave our luggage at the hotel. Amanda and I did so and went to a temple market, and the temple. The temple was interesting but the market was pretty boring. This market was a permanent market so it was more like an outdoor mall. After the market we went around trying to find an ATM that took American credit cards, which is not easy, and we finally found one at the Hilton. We then collected our stuff from the hotel and Amanda and I made our way to Kyoto. This trip has been unique because we do a lot of travel by ourselves not on a bus with the group. After much trial and tribulation we finally made it to the hotel. We dropped off our stuff and headed for a temple market that is one there one Friday out of the month. It was huge and I found lots of presents and good food. There were so many stands I was sure that we were never going to be able to see them all. At most of the food stands they had samples out and sometimes they were good but most of the time the food was just an ‘experience’. Well dinner was an experience too; we cooked it ourselves at our individual little tables in a broth. The beef was excellent and the fish wasn’t that bad. The tofu was gross and so was this egg pudding, but I walked away full. After dinner we went Steph and Katie and 2 people from Kyoto to Gion Corner. This is a traditional theater that shows a tea ceremony, Koto music, flower arranging, Gagaku (court music), Kyogen (ancient comic play), Kyomai (Kyoto style dance), and Bunraku (a puppet play). I really liked the comedy play, and the tea ceremony that we did afterwards. We not only got to drink tea in the ceremony but they also showed us how to be hosts and what the special protocol was. I didn’t really care for the thick green tea but it was still an interesting experience. I would recommend that if one visits Kyoto to go to Gion Corner. We took a taxi back to the hotel. This hotel is really nice because it has the room set up of a Ryokon but it has the bathroom of a western hotel and it has public baths. I think that this is the best of both worlds. Today I finally called home and emailed home too, it has just been so busy. Well, until tomorrow.