February 9-February 13: Japan

Okay so brief update about the boat. After my last blog things started picking up. There were more activities to do. I’m doing photography club (well sort of). I’m doing Zumba, which is sometimes at the same time as Photograph club and I usually pick Zumba over it. I’m also doing Salsa dancing, which is tons of fun. I’m possibly helping out with this one minute film festival thing and according to some friends I have to do spiritual dancing. There’s also yoga but it at 6 am or 3:30 pm, and since no one wants to get up that early the 3:30 slot is packed. I have a bunch of friends and a lot of people I’m really friendly with. I don’t have too much work…more projects than anything else. So a bunch of us play cards the majority of our time each day.

So rumors travel really fast on this ship. The biggest one happened this past week. About 5 days ago there were rumors of really rough seas ahead…because of an underwater volcano eruption of the coast of Japan. When we were sailing from Mexico to Hawaii we hit some really rough seas because of storms. Rough seas are rated on a scale of 1-10 and they were a 3. Apparently, the rough seas we were going to hit because of this volcano were going to be a 5. They waves were pretty bad, but they were hitting front and back as opposed to side to side, which caused less sea sickness among people. I live on the 4th deck and the water was splashing my window. The people on the 2nd deck were almost under water when the waves hit. Some waves would hit and it would sound like we ran into a whale, or a manatee. It was nuts. Everyone was walking sideways at an angle. I walked into walls all the time and I know I walk into walls on a daily basis anyways it was still pretty bad.

We had sped up at the beginning of the sail from Hawaii to Japan and then slowed down because we were going to get there too soon. Once we hit these waves they had to slow done even more. Rumor spread that we were not going to get into Japan until 9:30 pm as opposed to the original time, 7:00 am. Everyone was real pissed especially those who were going on trips. On top of this the captain wasn’t telling us anything. Everyone was just left in the dark to spread more and more rumors. We were finally filled in…to a point…and they had told us we were getting in at 9:30am, still later than the original time, but at least we didn’t loose a whole day. They also said it was from bad weather and not the underwater volcano/earthquake thing…but it probably was. Haha

We got into Yokohama on February 9th and 9:30. I had an all day SAS trip planned. I was to go to Tokyo and see modern Tokyo. Tokyo is about an hour from Yokohama. The first thing we did was go to Hamarikyu Gardens. It was in the middle of downtown Tokyo. It was like a really small Central Park that you couldn’t through frisbees or picnic, but you could look at some really pretty plants and trees and it had a great view of downtown. After that we went to the Toyota headquarters. It was pretty cool and I like cars and all, but I almost wished we saw a little more of the city. But it was fun. They had a mall there…which I didn’t actually go into but it was huge. They also had a Starbucks and McDonalds. So of course I went to McDonalds. It was heavenly, but it was hard to order though. You had to point to the menu and the pictures, but they of course had an English version. The chicken tasted differently but still so good. After this we went to Akihabara. This is a huge electronic district. Originally, this was a huge place for black market electronics but as they hype got bigger they ended up becoming this massive district for legit top-notch electronics. We went into the main “mall” area. I was in heaven…Jason would have been in heaven. 8 floors of the highest quality computers, sound systems/sound quality, cameras, home appliances etc…it was unbelievable. They had camera lens so large they were spy/sniper like. I was so tempted to buy everything. After Akihabara we went to the Tokyo Tower. It looks just like the Eiffel Tower but its taller but weighs less. It was lit up so it was bright orange. It was super cool. We went to the top and got to look at some amazing skylines and the “Lookdown” window.

We got back to the ship at like 7:30 ish and got our computers and went to go look for an internet café. There were 4 of us and 2 of them need to finish booking independent trips. We spent a good 1-1:30 minutes trying to find the correct place and ended up going somewhere else. I would’ve liked to have done some other stuff instead, but it was fun, mostly because we could find what we were looking for and I got to use the subway. The internet cafes are literally a little room…well box, to yourself. You have a computer a big lazy boy lounger, which can be turned in to a bed-like thing. They gave you a computer, dvd player, xbox/playstation or whatever, and slippers. You paid by the hour. So it cost 4 dollars for one hour and you can do whatever you want. Since I didn’t really have much to look up I spent most of my time on Facebook. But since I was like 10-10:30 no one from home was one. We got back and passed out because we had an early morning trip the next day.

Okay day 2 in Yokohama…I did the Mt. Fuji and Hakone Trip. This might be my favorite SAS trip so far. We traveled about 2 hours to Mt. Fuji. Now 30% of the time you cannot see Mt. Fuji because it is too cloudy or foggy. One of our trip leaders, who is also the Dean of Students, has done this exact same trip 3 times and has never seen Mt. Fuji. It was amazing. There are 7 levels along the mountainside and we were only able to go to the 4th level because of the weather. It was several, I think about 7, thousand feet. I can’t stress enough how amazing it was. From there we drove an hour to Hakone. There we went to Hakone National Park where we took a boat across this lake to the Hakone Mountains. We went up via cable car a few thousand feet (not as much as Mt. Fuji though). The high we went up the foggier it got. It was to the point that you couldn’t see the cables anymore. Once we got to the top you could barely see anything. We counted and at first the visibility was 25 feet and then in a span of 5 minutes or less it dropped to about 12 feet or less. You couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. We explored the top of the mountain. From there you were supposed to see Mt. Fuji, but you couldn’t see a thing. There was a Shinto shrine at the top so we walked around there. There was so much vog/fog (whichever is the correct term…I don’t know...I think it was vog) that you went up with dry hair and came down with soaking wet hair. I honestly think it wouldn’t have been as much fun if we were able to see. It was just hysterical how low the visibility was. But it was so much fun. We got back to the boat and my roommate, Abby, and my friend went to this restaurant close to the ship. We wanted some authentic Japanese food, but got a more Americanized menu. I order this Japanese tradition chicken dish. It was amazing. I so wish I could remember what it was called, but it was delicious.

So you had the option of staying on the ship while in transit from Yokohama to Kobe. It’s optional to stay on the ship but if you don’t you have to figure out your own transportation from Yokohama to Kobe. I plan on staying over in some countries but I didn’t think a Japanese hotel would be that much different from a United States one. I want to wait until Viet Nam or Cape Town…places where it will be different…and less expensive. Japan is the most expensive country in the world and I didn’t want to blow my money on hotels quiet yet. Plus, if you stay on the boat you get better food than the usual meal. So we got back to the boat around 9 and the LLC’s (the RAs) and the Dean of Students needed more movies for the next day. It was going to be an all day movie marathon. I was in heaven. So for about an hour or more everyone raided through my movies and picked like 15 that would play throughout the day. It was so nice to be able to sleep in and wake up whenever you wanted. I slept in until 11:30. Then I met up with some other friends who were on the boat and we traded pictures and then played cards for the rest of the day…all day, until dinner. Dinner was fantastic. It was a 5 course meal. They only do this when there are less than like 200 or so people on the boat. We started with fruit and/or calamari. I got the calamari…SURPRISE!!!! It was the best fried calamari I have ever had. And while I know I haven’t had much it was still phenomenal. Then it was soup and then salad. Then we had the option of I think grouper, cannelloni, and pork. I tried the vegetarian cannelloni…umm…no. I don’t think I’ll be having that again anytime soon. Without being to gross, it looked like someone threw up inside a crepe shape noodle. Then we had cherries jubilee and that was delicious. They were showing movies on the big projector screen all day. They showed Sex and the City, the Proposal, and Iron Man. Iron Man was after dinner so we went and watched that. Then we went to bed because I had another really early trip the next day.

The next day I went with Semester at Sea to Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Museum. I was a 14:30 hour day. It took 5 hours to get there and 5 hours back. So we only spent like 3 hours in the actual city. I was so prepared to pass out and sleep the whole way but I could not fall asleep for the life of me. When we got there the first thing we did was see these memorial monuments in the park and the only building to remain standing. There were several monuments. One for everyone who died, another one for all the Korean’s that died, an iron cast bell, and one for the children.

Here is where people come and place origami cranes. This started because of one little girl. When she was 2 she was exposed to the radiation from the atomic bomb. While in the hospital she made over 1000 of these cranes. These cranes embody this idea of life, health, and peace. She died when she was twelve. To keep us busy on the bus we learned how to make these cranes and then were able to put them in the cases with all the millions of other cranes. Every year the Semester at Sea trip prior to makes 1000 of these cranes and links them together to put in the case. So we got to place the chain of cranes in the boxes…it was a really great moment. Also standing by this monument was this man who was a survivor of the explosion. He told his tale but by the time I got there he had finished.

From there we went to the museum. We walked around for about 30 minutes and then went to this movie that was screening. It was about 30 minutes and was a documentary. It was extremely gory, and heart wrenching. It was in black white and if it had been in color it would have been even more disturbing. You saw everything from skin dangling from people’s arms to scars and burns. We even saw and empty eye socket of a lady whose eye was ripped out by a piece of glass. The film was devastating. It’s one thing to learn about the events that happened but its another to see the results right in front of you.

From there we walked around the rest of the museum. And at one point we were held up because a Nobel Peace Prize winner was going through the exhibit ahead of us. I’m not really sure who she is…most people weren’t. She started this Green Peace or Green Tree…I don’t know, something Green movement. The place was flooded with Paparazzi and new reporters. It was nuts…but very cool. A few other people and myself needed to find an atm, so we went off a little early to find one. It was really nice being able to walk around the city. More so, it was a spirit lifter. It was a lot of fun and let you leave such a devastating place with optimism and a smile on your face. The only thing I would change about this is that I would have liked to have seen the film first or gone to the museum first and then gone outside to see the monuments. The monuments, while extremely significant, felt less “moving” (for a lack of a better word) because I had no real sense of what happened (I mean outside facts that you learned in high school). Had I seen them second I think they would have felt more connected to them and might have taken more time to stop, put the camera down, and appreciate them.

So we got back on the bus to leave and I still could not fall asleep. I was exhausted but could not pass out for the life of me. We finally stop for dinner at the food court. There you walk up to a machine, look at a board, insert your money, pick your food, and then get a ticket. I ordered this rice, chicken, and egg thing…or at least I thought so. I ended up getting this bowl of noodles and some rectangular meat. I tried the noodles and they were only okay. The other thing looked like a piece of skin…ya gross I know. I wasn’t even that hungry so I shared it with someone. They ate the mystery meat (or seafood or whatever) and I ate the noodles. I was upset I really wanted that chicken thing…oh well. I got back on the bus and still could not fall asleep for the life of me. So I sat there and listened to music.

We got back to the ship 30 minutes earlier than we were supposed to. It was supposed to go from 8-11 but we go back at 10:30. I wasn’t exhausted until I sat down. I met up with Abby and then we tried to plan out what we were going to do. A few of our friends were supposed to wait for us and didn’t (or at least I thought they were supposed to wait). In every port (I think, or so far) there has been a bar that has given us a promotional night. Shooters in Hilo and Second Chances in Japan. The other girls were already there. I really didn’t want to go to this bar. It was going to be packed with SAS kids and it cast 25 dollars for free drinks all night. But if it was as packed as Shooters was then I had a feeling I would be paying 25 dollars for 2 drinks. In the end I decided to go, but we got lost and went in the wrong direction and it was a most 35 degrees outside. By the time we got there is was 12:30 and I was beat. We had been walking for like 45 minutes. We got there and there were a bunch of people outside telling us not to go in because it was tiny and there was no room and everyone was fighting to get to the bar. I decided I didn’t want to pay 25 dollars to maybe get a drink. Abby decided to go. As I started to leave I saw a friend and went with him to this bar across the street. It was this Bob Marley bar (that’s not the name…I actually can’t remember the name). It was tiny but there were only 25 SAS people there and you could get to the bar and whatnot. But at this point it was 1 o’clock and I had been up since 8 with no nap and I just couldn’t function so I hopped a cab back to the ship.

Okay next day….
Abby didn’t get back until 3 am and felt miserable most of the morning, so in that respects I was glad I didn’t stay. However, hearing all the stories, it sounded like so much fun so I was kind of upset with my decision. I came to the conclusion that I’m an early drinker. I like to start at 9 and go to bed at 12. Being out until 3 and having to get up early the next morning is not my idea of fun. Plus there will be plenty of bars in the next ports so if I really want to drink (which isn’t really the case) then I can.

Anyway, a few friends and I made plans to go to some hot springs today (our last day in Kobe). Getting Abby up was rough…she was exhausted. Half of the other people were M.I.A…A.K.A sleeping off the alcohol. There ended up only being 5 of us, but it was nice traveling in a small group. We were told the trip in it’s entirety would be less than 10 dollars…not the case. It took us 6 just to get to Mt. Rokko and another 10 to get a round trip ticket for the cable car to go to the middle of the mountain. We had a great trip over though. Everyone was so tired and two were hung over that everyone was just giddy. We get there and realize we have to take another cable car to the top of the mountain where the hot springs were. No one really wanted to spend that kind of money, especially when we didn’t know if it would cost more to actually use the hot springs. The thing with Japanese hot springs is that everyone is butt naked and women and men are separated. There was only one guy and he didn’t want to go by himself. In the end there was a unanimous decision to walk around. Up on the mountain were a lot of activities. There were jungle gyms, parks, a whole field of sheep, hot springs and more…all of which would cost at least 10 more dollars. So we decided to stay in the middle and hike around. There were some amazing views almost like Mt. Washington. It was also residential but they were literally built in the middle of the woods. We hiked for about an hour or two and then headed back. On our way back to the cable car there were three Japanese men taking a picture. They looked at us and asked us to be in their picture. We like SURE, DEFINITELY. It was super cool. Except the guy I was standing next to put his arm around me, which was really weird…but hysterical. And of course we got a picture as well.

On our way back we decided to try some sushi. We were all starving and wanted some lunch. But instead of finding a restaurant that had sushi we bought it from a convenience store (more or less). Even I know that isn’t the best place to try sushi and as expected I didn’t like it. But hey Errin, I tried it!!!!! Some of the others like it but not me. We decided to wash the sushi down with some good old McDonalds. It was delicious. Once we got back to Kobe, we were walking in this huge shopping area…like massive and we ended up meeting up with the people who were supposed to join us earlier. We walked around the outside and inside mall and then went to a restaurant with some of the other people who hadn’t eaten. Then we walked around some more and headed back to the ship. And now…I’m writing this.

I’ve been having a great time. I’m hoping to find a better balance between Semester At Sea trips and independent travel. Well, I’m going to go. Email time…I’m so far behind. Ooops. In 2 days I’ll be in China!!! Yay!!!