Of course, I'm so excited for the trip! Sitting here at our gate in the airport, it IS sort of hard to look past the brutal 14-hour flight in our future, but I'm sure once we board it will be a little easier to relax. Until then... Canada, here we come.
JUNE 18
It really feels like we've been here for more than a day, even though that's all it's really been! It's sort of a strange feeling, but I think it's finally sunk in that we are in Japan. This really is such a cool country. It amazes me how there can be a completely metropolitan area on one block and an ancient shrine on another. Meiji was so beautiful, and even though walking around the city is great it was so nice to see/smell all of the trees and flowers. Harajuku was so cool; all of the clothing shops and the 100 yen shop were dizzying, but in the best way. I also had a delicious banana and chocolate crepe, so that helped. I'm blanking on the name, but the shrine and market in Asakusa were awesome. The shrine was so huge and breathtaking. After that, we walked around Akihabara, an electronic shopping district, which was almost overwhelming. By then we were all so tired, and we still had more ahead of us! But seeing Tokyo from the top of a tall building after dinner was pretty cool. Hopefully all of our pictures come out well!
JUNE 19
We're sitting here in the youth hostel with sore legs from walking 10 miles yesterday and less today but still a considerable amount. Mr. Van Krey actually just told us we've taken over 41,000 steps... Dang. During the day today, we went to the Tokyo National Museum (very cool artifacts and pretty postcards) and Ueno park. In between the two, we walked around and got lunch on a bustling street called Ameyayokocho (I think). I bought a piece of pineapple on a stick, and I think it might have been the best pineapple I've ever had. Afterwards, we went to the zoo. It was so much fun; it had a panda and a bunch of other cool animals. Throughout our day, we saw many school groups of kids that were probably around 11 or 12. They were so excited to see us foreigners, and they waved and greeted us over and over. It was so adorable, and it was honestly heartwarming! It is so incredible to me how friendly and nice so many people are here. You can't go anywhere without somebody thanking you! It's refreshing.
After dinner, we went to the Sky Tree. We cut it a little close with the time, but we made it! And I am so glad we did. 1) We met up with Senpai, our student teacher from last year who we all love, and 2) it was SO cool to see Tokyo from 345 meters up in the sky! It is SUCH a huge city, sooo much bigger than any I have ever been to. Oh man, I am very tired and can't really think of anything else to mention. Excited to move out of thr city to Nikko tomorrow!
JUNE 20
We spent a lot of our morning traveling out of Tokyo and toward Nikko. The train ride was about 2 hours, and I sort of zoned out and listened to my music for the first part of the trip. That was until I looked out the window and saw that we were out of the city; the landscape was so beautiful. There were giant mountains covered with trees. The tops of the mountains were hidden by low-hanging clouds. The entire atmosphere changed. We pulled up into Nikko, a quaint little area that sort of reminds me of the Pacific Northwest of Japan.
After settling in and having some lunch, we were off to heritage sites in Nikko. The temples we saw were incredible. They were so ornate and beautiful. We even got to sit in on what I think was a service, which was very interesting. But I would have to say the highlight was talking to groups of middle school aged kids. A few interviewed us and gave us paper cranes. Others were just eager to talk to us foreigners, and they were SO cute. Luckily we got some pictures with them.
For dinner, we went to a little cafe that offered American food. I was really curious about trying American food in Japan, and it was definitely interesting! Even though the food wasn't amazing, there was definitely a sort of comfort in eating pizza and fries. Having a big meal knocked us out.
We spent a lot of our morning traveling out of Tokyo and toward Nikko. The train ride was about 2 hours, and I sort of zoned out and listened to my music for the first part of the trip. That was until I looked out the window and saw that we were out of the city; the landscape was so beautiful. There were giant mountains covered with trees. The tops of the mountains were hidden by low-hanging clouds. The entire atmosphere changed. We pulled up into Nikko, a quaint little area that sort of reminds me of the Pacific Northwest of Japan.
After settling in and having some lunch, we were off to heritage sites in Nikko. The temples we saw were incredible. They were so ornate and beautiful. We even got to sit in on what I think was a service, which was very interesting. But I would have to say the highlight was talking to groups of middle school aged kids. A few interviewed us and gave us paper cranes. Others were just eager to talk to us foreigners, and they were SO cute. Luckily we got some pictures with them.
For dinner, we went to a little cafe that offered American food. I was really curious about trying American food in Japan, and it was definitely interesting! Even though the food wasn't amazing, there was definitely a sort of comfort in eating pizza and fries. Having a big meal knocked us out.
JUNE 21-JUNE 23 (TODAY)
We had pretty spotty WiFi at our last hotel, so blogging has been a little difficult. We are now at our onsen ryokan in Hiraizumi (a traditional style Japanese hotel), and we have a much more stable internet connection so I'm sure the blog activity will increase significantly. June 21 was a pretty laid-back day. We visited Edo Wonderland, a theme park-type place that is essentially a re-creation of an Edo period village. It was lots of fun and very intersting! We watched a ninja show and walked around a tilted house. It was a great time. After that, we moved on to Tobu World Square, which has miniatures of famous sites around the world. It was very bizarre but very cool.
Yesterday was a great day. We started it off going up the mountains of Nikko, and the view at the top was absolutely gorgeous. We could see waterfalls, lakes, and mountains upon mountains. You can bet we all took a lot of pictures. We spent the rest of the day hiking through the forest on the mountains and looking at waterfalls. The hike was really therapeutic; the smell of the trees and feeling of fresh air were calming. We've been seeing a lot of heritage sites and places in the city, so it was so nice to see this other side of Japan. There is so much natural beauty, and I'm glad we got some time to take it all in!
Today was mostly a travel day. We took our first Shinkansen ride (!) to Hiraizumi and checked into our onsen ryokan. It is definitely a change from our other hotels, and the traditional style is so cool. Dinner was definitely an experience. I'd say it was the most traditional Japanese food we've had so far, and I think we were all caught off guard a little. That is not to say it was bad; a lot of it was really good. There were just many new things to try and we weren't used to it! But I'm really glad we are having this experience. We all went to dinner in our yukata (Japanese robes), which was a lot of fun. I'm not sure if you can tell that I'm tired (I'm rambling), but I'm very excited to try out the tatami mats so I think I will do just that. Good night!
JUNE 28
I wasn't sure I would be too happy with returning to school after graduating, but I am having so much fun. Meeting and interacting with all of the students gives one a feeling like no other. I wish I could describe it, but I really don't think I can. All I can say is that I always have a huge smile on my face talking to them.
Tonight, Mai and I went to an okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake-like thing) restaurant with some friends. The food was delicious, and the experience was one of a kind! There was a griddle in the middle of each table, and we were given the ingredients for the food only. We were responsible for frying up our own food. It was a challenge, but really fun!
I know this is all very general and very short considering the amount of days that I've missed, but I'm having a hard time capturing all of the feelings I'm experiencing in writing. An exchange, especially at a school I've heard so much about for years, is something that is so unique and so special. I have always heard that this is everyone's favorite part of the trip, and now I can see why.
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