Victoria

Journey to Japan Day 1 June 16th, 2013 12:33 am Hello Everyone! I don't know where to start. I feel so many emotions all in one. I'm nervous, excited, happy, and anxious. I remember when Mr. VanKrey came to my middle school and spoke about the trip and remembering how amazing I thought it would be to go on a trip like this. And here we are. It's been a very long four years of vigorous studying and I can honestly say it was all worth it. I can actually speak Japanese. That's so crazy to me how far I've come. The process to get to this point was no way easy but, We are finally here. I'm thankful to everyone that supported this trip in any way that you did. I am so excited to start this Journey to Japan and immerse myself into the culture, the people, and of course the food. I've always had a fascination with the Japanese culture and to physically be there is mind blowing. I'm very thankful for being able to go on this trip. I won't truly believe this happening until I'm on the plane

First real day

June 19

9:13

 Yesterday was something serious. The distance we walked more than I do in a week. We went to Meiji shrine, Harajuku Tsugumi, Asakusa, Akihabara, and Shinjuku. After a long day it felt like we've been there for four days instead of one full day. I had so much fun and talked to so many different people. I'm getting used to the intricate train systems. I thought I would feel more out place but I feel really comfortable here. I was exhausted but it was worth it.

 June 19th

10:03pm

2nd Day

Today was less exhausting but it was still vigorous. I met a lot of new people and made friends. I was surprised at the conversations I was able to hold with random person. We went to the Ueno Zoo, Ameyayoko-cho, Tokyo National Museum, and the Sky tree. My favorite part of the day was the zoo and the sky tree. I got to see many different animals that are not here in America. I met a group of Middle Schoolers that thought my hair was really cool. The park was beautiful  and it was breezy and cool. The museum was amazing and it was interesting seeing all the exhibits. The building was very large,meat and quiet. For lunch today I had my first bowl of Ramen. It was really good! To end our day we got to go to the second tallest building in the world. We went up to the 345 floor at  crazy speeds. The view as you can is amazing. Well that's all for now, I'm on my way to bed. Goodnight everyone!

June 21st

8:49 pm. 3rd Day

Yesterday was really cool, literally. The weather was the nicest yesterday. It was kind of rainy but it was okay. We woke up and left the Youth Hostel in Tokyo. We got on train for about 2 hours and while on the train I met this wonderful older couple. We spoke for about an hour in Japanese (little english). We spoke about our families, chicago and shared our candy. They were very interested in knowing about us and where we come from. I was very surprised with how much I was able to speak with them.there were a few bumps in the road but we figured it out. Im very happy to have met them and they made the train ride go by with a breeze.

When we got off the train although this may sound weird but the air quality was so clean and somehow refreshing. Nikko is a very beautiful quiet town. It has a very big contrast between here and Tokyo. One of the best things about Nikko is the backdrop of the huge mountain, it's absolutely beautiful. We then went to a lot of different shrine at a heritage site. I felt like we traveled back in time because how well preserved all the shrines were. All of the were so detailed and beautiful, it was unrea to me. Noah and I met these two women that were intrigued with us and striked up a conversation (in Japanese). They were interested to see what we were going to do. One woman shared her experience in America and spoke english pretty well. The other woman spoke no english she was funny. The english shared withus a good lesson about life and said she would never forget us. They were very merry older woman.

My favorite part of the day besides seeing my site report come to life (The Futarasan Shrine), was meeting all the little kids on the fieldtrip. They had an assignment to talk to a foreigner, I guess and since we were the biggest group they came up to us. They were so eager and the little english they did know was very good. As a nice gesture they were handing us cranes before they left. There was this one little kid that Iasked if he spoke English (in Japanese) and he told me the name of a cartoon show called "One piece", he was very cute. I was just in awe the whole time were there. I couldnt wrap  my head around how we were able to see, feel, and experience something so old and apart of history. I'm still in awe and I really like Nikko and it's such a peaceful town.

4th day

We went to this really cool place called Edo Mura. It was a whole recreation of  Japan during the Edo period. They had towns people and older styled buildings. It was like stepping back in time. They were a group that we keep seeing at the places we go. We are officially friends now. I had duck for lunch and it was definitely an experience. One of the townspeople asked us where we were from and when we  answered in Japanese they were amazed. We went through a ninja maze that was fairly simple AFTER you figure it out the first time which took me at least 15 minutes.  One of the best attractions was the leaning house that if I am remembering correctly was used to train ninjas. It was a lot fun trying to get through the house. If I could describe it which I can't really its just having gravity go against and not with you. They a had ninja show in an old style theater. It was a short 15 minute action play and it was choreographed perfectly. They turn off the lights and then when they came on there would be someone on the wall right next to. They would appear out of no where there would be trap doors and closets. I was just in awe of how cool it was to watch.

After we left there we went to Tobu World Square. It was full of miniature replicas of city's and buildings from all over the world. It was so precise down to every last measurement. They had 102 of these. They had anything from New York City to the Great Wall of China. It was unlike anything I've seen, I don't how they do it. The best thing about the replicas was they the trees and plants were all real and miniature.

Finally we went on very nice long walk to an Onsen, that was outside. I was apprehensive at first but it was very nice and relaxing. My skin felt very soft and smooth. It was a nice break from all the mosquito bites I got it. I wish America had a lot of Onsens.

5th day

10:07 am

Yesterday was an adventurous day filled with hiking, amazing views, and bugs. We took a bus up into the mountains to ride a sky trolley to a point where you could see everything. It was so beautiful looking down from such a high point. It was just unbelievable. Then we went deeper into the mountains and saw a waterfall and it was really pretty. We would go to different points of the waterfall and each view was different. Then went on about a 4 and a half hour hike through the mountains. It was long but I think it was worth because there were so many nice views. It was just nice because we were submerged into nature. It was a change from city/suburbs life that I'm so used to and I really liked it. Before we went went to a foot version of an Onsen that was really hot and had a lot of sulfur in it. After getting used to the heat, it feels nice. I felt like I was walking on a cloud for a while. Then we had a really nice supermarket dinner that we ate outside together.

Travel day 6th

It was a relaxing day compared to our other days. We begun by living the quaint town of Nikko and journeyed to Hiraizumi. We took three trains. We got to ride the Shinkansen which is the worlds fastest train. As they would ride past and there would be a large gush of wind. We got to Hirazumi and the Onsen Ryokan which is a traditional Japanese style hotel. We took off our shoes as we were entered. It has a very homey feel to it. We then went to a 1200 year old garden that was very well preservered. It was beautiful and nice to just slow down and reflect on the previous experiences we've had these past few days. Then we had dinner in a very Japanese way and that was a lot of fun.

Bears and Boats

5:48 June 24th 

 We went on another hike but it wasn't as long. We were in an area with a lot of bears so much so the hostes told us to be careful. This one of only times sensei told us to be loud. We were all harmonizing and having a good time singing. We walked to Chuzen-hi that had over3000 national treasures. I just couldn't wrap my head around it, it was amazing. Then I met a few friends, I didn't realize how fascinated the Japanese were with foreigners. You really never know what your going to get. The highlight was taking a boat ride and have the woman steering us singing to us. The view was beautiful and we saw gorgeous fish. I lied my favorite part was racing sensei. I can't explain how it came to be but yes we did race. It was a lot of fun. I bet your wondering who won right? Lets just say sensei ran track back in the back in the day.