Anna

JUNE 16

Sitting on the floor of the Air Canada terminal, it's hard to believe that we'll be in Japan in a few short (well, 15) hours. I'm super excited to finally visit the country after so many years of studying its culture and language. Until then, Canada here we come! 

Day 1--June 18th

Today was a HUGE day! We began early, boarding our first train on our way to Meiji shrine. This shrine is a sanctuary in the middle of such a metropolitan city. The path leading into it is long and surrounded by trees. We veered off to explore a beautiful iris garden, with flowers fully in bloom. The shrine itself contains a structure upon which people place their wishes and prayers. Some of the more insightful ones include "I wish for a good 4th grade teacher" and "I wish lollipop." 

After the shrine, we took a few more trains to Harajuku, where we ate delicious fruit and I've cream-filled crepes for lunch and explored the cool shops. We met up with a KJ alum, Toshiki, who helped Katie, Beanie, and I use the Purikura photobooth, which was hilarious. (Check out the photos on FB if you're friends with us!)

Our next stop, Asakusa shrine, contained a huge market. The temple was absolutely gorgeous! The coolest part of this location was definitely our encounter with an old man and woman. A few of us were sitting down (taking a break from the insane heat and humidity) when an old man approached. He was missing many teeth but his smile glowed, and when I greeted him with a "konichiwa" he began talking to us in a raspy voice. He told us he'd been to Chicago and thought the people were super nice. His wife soon joined and we talked about the importance of talking to people and human connections. Soon after this interaction, we headed to one other neighborhood, the hostel for dinner, and finally the top floor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Building to soak in the view of the city.

One day and 17 trains later, we arrived back to the hostel, where I am now typing this entry. Despite the intense heat (and now foot pain, too), this day has been a wonderful start to our trip.

Day 2--June 19th

We began today with a comparitively late 8:00 breakfast in the hostel. (For some reason, Japanese bread is really fluffy and delicious so our toast was great.) We then ventured to Ueno Park and the Tokyo National Museum, which contains many gorgeous artifacts from past eras of Japan. Before entering the museum, Yoko Yamazaki met up with me! Yoko has been the tour guide for the KJ students for the past two years, and stayed with me two years ago. She is one of the coolest people I know--she used to be a sushi chef and she has traveled (and continues to travel) all over the world--and it was wonderful to see her, even for only ten minutes. After the museum, we walked to a nearby street, Ameyayokochou, to explore and get lunch. We found a stand with people selling pineapple, watermelon, and honeydew on sticks. I bought pineapple, which was amazing!! A few of us then went into a hole-in-the-wall ramen restaurant. The man who ran the place was super loud and full of personality. Despite the fact that we couldn't understand the majority of what he was saying, I really enjoyed the interactions. The ramen was so good! (Much better than the Cup O' Noodles that we got on the plane.) Katie and I split some dumplings as well, which were also delicious.

After lunch we went to the Ueno Zoo! It was not crowded at all and very mellow. The zoo had a huge lemur area, complete with an "aye-aye forest" and many ring tailed lemurs climbing above a pond. We were at the zoo for about two hours and still couldn't make it to the gorillas--that's how extensive it was. 

Back at the hostel, we ate a quick dinner and then rushed out to make it to our appointment at the Sky Tree! If we were late or lacking the number of people that we told the Sky Tree we'd have, we likely wouldn't get to go to the top of the second tallest building in the world. Luckily, we made it with three minutes to spare and just in time to meet Senpai (Leah Barnes), our assistant teacher from last year! It was so cool for us all to see her halfway across the world. Tomorrow we head to Nikko, and while I'm excited for the change, I'll miss the hustle and bustle of Tokyo.

Day 3--June 20th

Today marks the last of our crazy Tokyo train adventures. With only 3 trains as opposed to the previous days' 17 and 8, we said farewell to Tokyo and hello to Nikko. Nikko is an adorable town surrounded by beautiful forested hills. (Basically the polar opposite of Tokyo.) It looks like a cute little ski town! The weather here is chillier and misty/rainy, a welcome change from the heat of the past few days. 

After dropping our luggage in our hotel, which is run by an adorable Japanese couple, we went to a convenient store to grab lunch. Although it had some familiar looking 7/11 style hot dogs (somehow magically unrefrigerated--we avoided those), it also had plenty of good food options. After lunch, we took a bus to our first world heritage sites, a set of Buddhist temples. The buildings and surroundings were absolutely gorgeous and incredibly ornate. We walked around for hours at all of the sites, taking in the scenery and marveling at the ancient beauty of the temples and sculptures. 

Without a doubt, the highlight of the day was meeting schoolchildren at these sites. Hundreds of Japanese elementary and middle schoolers were at the world heritage sites on school trips. They eagerly approached us, asking to "interview" us about our favorite sports and saying "hello!" and "nice to meet you!" Their teachers took plenty of photos of us all together and we snapped some pics as well. It was amazing to converse with such cute kids. One thing that I've noticed here is that Japanese people always fawn over our use of even the most basic Japanese language, while they are almost always so proficient in English. 

When we returned from the temples, we checked into our adorable hotel rooms, complete with tatami floors and sitting areas. Then we went to dinner at an American restaurant down the road, which gave me some embarrassing insight as to how America is viewed by the rest of the world. The restaurant definitely spotlighted meat (one option contained four different types) and the menu made everything look enormous. When we got the food, the portion sizes were actually small and reasonable, but clearly the Japanese (accurately) think America has huge portion sizes. 

Internet service is spotty here so this entry is late, but keep tuning in for more Nikko updates later!

Day 6--June 23rd

It's been a few days since most of us have posted--wifi was super spotty in Nikko--but there's a lot to say! Nikko was absolutely gorgeous. I won't go into too many details of the past couple of days, but here are a few memorable experiences: Two days ago, we we went to Edo Wonderland, an Edo Period village complete with a ninja house, people dressed as samurai and geisha, and plenty of shops and restaurants. What the pioneer days are to American students, this is to Japanese kids. We ran into the same adorable group of kids here too, which made it even better. In Nikko we tried yuba, the special tofu dish that the area is famous for. It is delicious, especially on rice and in soba. Yesterday we had a slightly less touristy day. We enjoyed a long, amazing walk in the mountains complete with waterfalls and fields of wildflowers. This was a definite highlight of the entire trip so far for me. 

Today, we took our very first Shinkansen, or bullet train! Shinkansen travel extremely fast, above 200 mph. The ride from Nikko to Hiraizumi was pretty uneventful. We purchased eki bento, which are essentially bento boxes to eat on the train ("eki" means station), prior to boarding. On our way, we passed stations at both Sendai, where the tsunami and earthquake of a couple years ago was most severe, and Fukushima, the site of the nuclear power plant meltdown. It was crazy to be so close to the places that we've seen countless times on the news, and the graveyards visible in the hills gave me chills.

After about 2 hours, we arrived in Hiraizumi. Fun fact--the entire city of Hiraizumi is marked as a Unesco World Heritage Site! Today's gorgeous weather made the cute houses and clean streets even better. We ventured into Motsu-ji, extensive grounds containing ancient temples and gardens. We spent a few hours there, marveling at the pond, Buddhist temples, and iris gardens. It is currently iris season in Japan, as demonstrated by the myriad of deep blue, magenta, and pale yellow flowers. 

Tonight, we had our first true Onsen Ryokan (traditional Japanese hotel and hot springs/bath) experience. No shoes are allowed past the genkan (entryway) of the hotel, so we ditched our running shoes for slippers and ventured into our traditional tatami rooms. After bathing in the extremely hot bath, we changed into yukata, which are Japanese bathing robes. This hodge podge of twenty Americans then sat down to an overwhelmingly traditional Japanese dinner. (Overwhelming because of not only the content, but the sheer quantity of food.) Our meal included plenty of pickled veggies, mushrooms, meat that cooked in individual stoves, miso soup, rice, another noodle soup with egg and a cherry, tofu, and fresh raw tuna and salmon. I have always hated fish, as much as I try to get myself to like it, but I ate the fish and actually really enjoyed it! Japanese fish is so fresh, well-prepared, and plentiful that it's kind of impossible to avoid. 

After dinner my project group (Katie, Beanie, Noah, Alex, and me) got together to plan our presentation for the KJ students. I can't believe we're going to be there, and that I'm going to be reunited with Nodoka, in only three days.

Day 9--June 26th

We are now sitting on the train on our way to Niigata! I can't believe that in only an hour or so I'll be reunited with Nodaka and meeting her family. I'm definitely nervous but also so excited. Since I haven't blogged in a few days, here's a little recap.

Two days ago, we stuck around the Hiraizumi area. After breakfast, we embarked on a hike which culminated in reaching the Chuson-ji temples and grounds. Chuson-ji is the most gorgeous temple that we've visited so far, in my opinion. The site contains thousands of artifacts that are designated as national treasures, while most places are lucky to have 2 or 3! All of the buildings are weathered and worn, but the intricacy of the designs still shines through. After this morning excursion, we ate lunch (curry for me, which I had no idea was so popular in Japan) and then we took a bus to our next destination, a boat ride on a nearby river. We boarded the huge, flat boat and our river guide stood at the head and paddled with a long pole. As we lazily moved down the river, we kept "Nihongo dake," which means "Japanese only," relaxed under the sun, watched the enormous river carp swim around us, and learned about nearby sites.

Yesterday, we woke up bright and early as per usual and embarked on a two-hour train journey to a samurai village near Morioka (further north in Japan). The village was eerily similar to its state in samurai days. After eating cold soba noodles with soy dipping sauce for lunch and peach ice cream for dessert,  we explored the area and soaked in the samurai sights. We boarded the train home at the same time as lots of Japanese students, mostly dressed in uniforms. I'm not used to being such a spectacle, but I'm sure you can imagine how much we stick out here! I even caught some girls taking not-so-sneaky pictures of us on their phones. Noah, Beanie, Katie, Max, and I began talking to two girls who were beyond excited to chat with us. They were 18 and in their first year of college. Noah gave them some Chicago sports team pencils upon finding out that they like sports, which prompted them to give us some 7/11 chocolate croissants and a package of Choco Balls, a Japanese candy. I did a project on Choco Balls during 4th quarter Japanese, so I sang the theme song for everyone, which cracked them up! It was cool to see what we've learned in class, especially the marketing unit, put to use, and this encounter got me really excited to talk to students at KJ. 

After returning, we ate our final dinner at the ryokan, which was way more familiar (chicken, yummy marinated tofu, etc.) than the squid and interesting pickled veggies of the night before. I think we've all branched out a lot with food over the past few days--I know that I have! It was kind of sad leaving this morning, knowing that it was our last time all together in one place. However, I can't wait to see Nodoka (she even tweeted at me about how excited she is!) and I know that the next 6 days are going to rock. Till next time, sayonara.

Last day--July 2nd

Never in my life have I met such kind, generous, hilarious, and open hearted people than in this past week. I stayed with Nodoka Gaino, the same girl who I hosted in March. As we exited the train and walked toward our awaiting host families, I of course started to cry--I cry at basically any overload of emotion--and the reality of this experience set in! One week later, many more tears were shed as I waved goodbye to Nodoka, my host mother, and host grandma and walked toward our train (which I am now sitting on). 

Throughout this week, the Gaino family not only gave me a home, food, etc, but also insisted on giving me countless gifts for myself and all of my family members. I mean, c'mon, haven't they done enough for me already?? They are seriously too kind. Here's a breakdown of the fam: Nodoka's mother is a ridiculously sweet woman. She loves ice skating and went out of her way to accommodate my every need throughout the week. Her father is obsessed with soccer (which reminded me of my own dad). He is full of energy and constantly made me laugh. He made lots of connections with me through pop culture, sports, movies, etc. Nodoka's hilarious and lively grandmother laughed at literally everything I said and welcomed me into her traditional Japanese music group, which was so cool. Every time I saw her, she brightened my day. Last but not least, Nodoka and I picked up right where we left off; she and I did karaoke, went shopping, shared music with each other, and had an all-around wonderful week. Despite being half a world apart, I know we will stay close and will see each other again. 

I won't go into great detail about the events of the past week, because there is way too much to say! However, I will say that it has taught me so much about the importance of generosity and open mindedness and the bonds that can be forged in just 6 days, despite a huge language barrier. We all made so many friends and continued so many friendships from past exchanges. It was heartbreaking to leave such amazing people, knowing we won't see most of them again.

As we return just in time for the 4th of July (ironically the most patriotic American holiday), I can't help but wish that we had another week (or month) here in Niigata. Look out for pictures on Facebook and thanks for reading! 

さよなら日本。ありがとうございました。