Japan page 3 of 4
We had a call late last night from Rusty. He was in good spirits but we could hardly hear him and had trouble catching every word. He said that was the first phone he's used that didn't have a volume button. One of the other guys, Kyle I think, came out of the restaurant while Rusty was on the phone and told him he had to yell to be heard. Evidently he had already used that phone to make a call! Because it was so hard to hear, I'm not sure of any details, especially places they're planning to go so filter my remarks through calls and emails from others!
One thing he said was that the biggest ferris wheel in the world is there (he's hoping to ride it) and it is interfering with the internet on the ship.
He said he really enjoyed Korea - the only real comment we had from him while there mentioned that he didn't like some of the food so evidently the whole experience was much more positive than I first thought. He promises a long email about it when they leave Osaka.
He did say he had several papers due soon and will be glad to be through with classes when they visit Alaska and Canada. Everyone is looking for gloves, etc to prepare for cooler weather.
He also said he wishes he'd taken more clothes. He believed those who said to take very little and has worn the same pair of jeans over and over!
They've been told that over 600 people have registered for the breakfast in Seattle! He sounded like that may be more than usually come. Anyway, we're going to be hard to spot so start looking for bright colored clothes now!
He's been with Brady, Kyle and Shauna. They are going to Kobe and maybe Kyoto. Whatever the details that I couldn't hear, they have plans and are having fun.
Everything in Japan is expensive but they found a store that's kind of like one of our dollar stores. Some things in there are junk but they've found some things that they like. I think he's going back there to shop.
He took 460 pictures
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Kate item [19]
Dad,
Yesterday we went to Hiroshima. It was a pretty cool museum and park. It was absolutely gorgeous here yesterday, so it was a really good time. I have learned a lot about the A-bombs and I am glad that I am learning so much about our history. After the museum, Kristin and I went bowling. We had a blast. Then we went to a bar that was right by the ship and I ended up meeting two other guys from MN that are working at Universal Studios right there in Osaka. The world is really a small place, it:s crazy.
Well, nothing else is too new and exciting. I love Japan and I don:t want to leave, but what do you do? Have a great day! Talk to you soon.
Love you and miss you!
Kate
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Eric K item [20]
The entrance into the harbor at 6 a.m. was probably the best that we have had. We even had a fireboat with all nozzles flowing which was really cool. The link I am referring to is actual video from the Japanese officials of our arrival into the harbour.
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Julia item [21]
Konichiwa,
Osaka, Japan.. The last port on Semester at Sea.. Well, the last port that is not in North America, anyway. Throughout the journey, known as Semester at Sea, my traveling confidence has immensely increased and I get more ambitious in every port. Well, I think that going to Tokyo, Hiroshima, Kyoto and spending time in Osaka in four and a half days caps it off quite well. My favorite travel buddy, Jimale, and I bought bullet train passes (Japan Railway Passes or JRPs) in South Korea for about $240, but would have spent close to $600 buying tickets for each of our destinations. Grant it, we did spend about twelve hours on trains, but I think speaking with Japanese people of all different backgrounds, folding paper cranes with colorful paper advertisements and looking out the window to see cities and countryside (including Mt. Fuji) was just as valuable an experience as touring the golden temple in Kyoto. I guess I had to circumnavigate the globe to learn how to live in every single moment and strive to pay attention and appreciate the in-between times just as much as the anticipated experiences. It has been particularly challenging as we cross the Pacific, on one hand, I�m excited to get home and see you all again. While, on the other hand, I�m trying to make the most out of the time I have left with all the wonderful people I�ve met and this ship life atmosphere that has changed my life to the same extent my travels have.
With that out of the way� how about some Japan. As I was starting to say, before I decided to try and be profound, Jimale and I heavily took advantage of our JR passes and headed off to the Shin-Osaka train station immediately after getting off the ship. In typical Japanese style, we figured out the efficient subway system of the second largest city in Japan with very little effort and were on the Shinkansen (bullet train) en route to Tokyo to meet up with my neighbor (from Enola, that is) Kathy McCarthy�s mother, Noriko. I was just about as excited about riding the super fast bullet train as I was the first time I flew, and for good reason. We were going so fast that looking out the windows made me dizzy for the first twenty minutes or so, attendants would respectfully bow before entering the train and then walk through with food carts, and the bathrooms actually had toilet paper and warm water.
Noriko waited for us in the red jacket she promised to be wearing and greeted us with hugs and laughter as if we were not people she had never met before. After taking another short train to Machida, we met Noriko�s niece, Chihoko, and her two daughters. Three year old, Marimo, and 7 month old, Rico, who were both positively frightened by being in such close contact with �gaijins,� or foreigners in Japanese. Noriko actually lives in California and was just visiting so we stayed with her family. Chioko�s apartment was small for a family of four, but cozy and certainly sufficient. Crammed in on her street, with other apartment buildings and houses, her residence and her garage that packed cars onto moveable shelves in an effort to conserve space, was our first taste of the biggest city in the world. For dinner we were treated to Kitzenzushi, or conveyer belt sushi, which I had no idea existed in anything other than Alanis Morisette videos. The restaurant was a huge establishment where bright red slimy raw tuna, green seaweed rolls packed with bubbly red caviar, juice boxes, pieces of cake and bowls of this funky fish custard I detest drifted by right in front of my eyes. Being adventurous, Jimale and I ate about sixteen plates of Sushi with the fish eggs that explode in your mouth and drip warm liquid on your tongue. That evening Chihoko was extremely helpful as she voluntarily looked up information to make our day in Tokyo as wonderful as possible, while dealing with the stress of finding out that her mother was to undergo brain surgery the next day.
The next morning, Chihoko dropped us off at the Machida train station were we got on a crowded train to Tokyo. Throughout our stay on Honshu, the main Japanese island that included all of our destinations, we saw tons of American and European tourists on the bullet trains, in the cities and even on the subways, which was one of the biggest differences between Kyushu (Nagasaki�s island) and Honshu (Tokyo's island)- or Japan 1 and Japan 2 as we say on the ship. Comparing Tokyo to Nagasaki is like comparing New York City to Birmingham, Alabama. Kyushu is the main agricultural area of Japan where the pace of life is slower than the rest of the country and is ragged on by some to be more backwards. It really stinks that we didn�t get to go to China and Vietnam, but I was really lucky to see Japan in such a holistic context. All I have left is the northern most island, Hokkaido, where according to posters, you drive around in hippy vans with guitars and then bathe in hot springs in the snowy mountains with monkey.
The cities, Osaka and Tokyo in particular, were not as quiet as Nagasaki, but increased number of inhabitants and activity made the precision and order in Japanese society even more noticeable. Cars turn their headlights off out of respect at traffic lights, not a single light was out on the bright signs and advertisements that wallpaper Tokyo and Osaka at night, and even subways were on time down to the predicted second. Especially in Tokyo, I was very impressed by the constant flow and motion of the masses of people. Home to over eighteen million, I saw men in their business suits, women with their sophisticated choppy hair cuts and chic styles, school children and their complicated uniforms always accented by a pair of nifty sneakers, or little old ladies with their hats and big black purses and every single person seemed to know exactly where they were going. Although the Tokyo train maps at first glance resemble a plate of colorful spaghetti, the system was extremely organized as signs are posted everywhere so even we couldn�t stress ourselves out or get lost if we tried.
Our first destination was the Kabuki-za Theatre where we watched a portion of a six hour play for a reduced price. Kabuki is one of the three tradition forms of Japanese theatre; the others being Bunraku Puppet Theatre and Noh Theatre. I couldn�t understand a single word, and because of the nature of the speech nor could Noriko. However, it was interesting to see what aspects of the performance were stressed in comparison to what the important aspects of a performance in modern western theatre are. One of the main differences was the degree of physical movement. In Western theatre, movement resembles a slightly exaggerated representation of the natural everyday movement, where as in Kabuki the focus is usually on only one character and his movements are minimal and contained in small spaces. However, even when the focus was not on a particular character, he still drew attention to himself (all character are played by men) by posing in a distinct position for a long period of time. The lack of wide-range movement in Kabuki is replaced by the plethora of sounds and visual stimulus. The costumes and makeup were elaborate and colorful, especially the dress of the queen whose perfectly defined hair and face seemed to be painted on, even from the last row of the large theatre. The narrator is accompanied by the Koto (a Japanese stringed instrument) while he essentially sings the story dwelling on each word to accurately express its meaning. Different instruments or different combinations of instruments including the koto, gongs, flutes or various types of percussion instruments accompany the characters and all had spoke in very distinct fashions. �Kakeyoe�, or appreciate shouts from the audience, showed how many people thoroughly enjoyed it while others, including our lovely adopted grandmother, dozed off.
After the show, we took the subway to one of the most famous and tourist populated areas of Tokyo, Asakusa. I�ve seen the famous image of the gates of Asakusa in books, on postcards and in the Nintendo game �Mario is Missing.� Decorated with hundreds of cherry blossom branches and red lanterns, it one of the prettiest and most characteristic souvenir shopping strips I�ve ever been to. The famous Asakusa temple at the end of the shops was ancient and majestic and the inside housed massive lanterns and bells against intricate golden shrines slightly clouded by incense. After walking around some of the gardens, we warmed ourselves up after being in the rainy cold with big bowls of Ramen Noodles, which are delicious in Japan rather than being 100% salt, seven cents, and dried up to be crammed into a little bag.
Our plans for the evening were to attend another theatrical performance, but this time to see a troupe of all women. The best way to describe Takarazuka theatre would be, Rockettes� dance moves + Las Vegas glitz in Japanese. The first act was actually a traditional Japanese story, but I really cannot comment on it because I fell asleep! The second act, a musical revue entitled �Joyful� (Joyfur with a Japanese accent� we had a few giggles about that) had enough costumes to cloth all of India and enough lights and sets to supply every single show on Broadway, at once. With a Baroque section, a Spanish section featuring Ricky Martin, Cuban section equipped with those fluorescent puffy sleeved shirts and even a jazzy gangster chase, I certainly got two extremes of Japanese theatre in one day.
That evening we slept at Noriko�s 91 year old father�s home where we stayed up communicating by drawing and showing pictures while throwing out a few Japanese phrases. The next morning after Noriko made us an absolutely delicious classic American breakfast of eggs, sausages, toast, salad and corn soup we got on the subway to take us to Tokyo station. A busy commute time, I have never felt more like a sardine than I did during that train ride. You think the car is completely full, you could let go of everything in your hands and no matter how heavy, they would stay in place, but somehow at every stop more people somehow squeeze their way in. I didn�t see any, but others who traveled to Tokyo told stories of designated �pushers� who will stand behind the crowds of people trying to get in the car and force them in.
After a slightly rushed goodbye to our new friend Noriko, who was positively wonderful to us and a delight to be around, two bullet train rides, and a sighting of a foggy Mt. Fuji, we were in Hiroshima. As it was getting late, we immediately headed to the Peace Park and museum where we immediately recognized the atomic dome, the structure of a building left over from the bombing now standing as an international symbol of peace. While the museum in Nagasaki was very informative and focused heavily on discontinuing the proliferation of nuclear weapons, Hiroshima was more emotionally taxing as it seemed to pull you into the actual event more. Every single remnant of clothes, child�s toy or in some cases body part had a name and a story to go along with it. A charred rickety tricycle that stood only two feet from the ground was in perfect condition on the morning of August 6 until the explosion killed the young boy riding it. A Shadow of someone who was instantly incinerated will remain on a wall forever. Sadaho Sasaki died before folding the 1000 cranes that would have enabled her to wish her Leukemia away. Seeing all the remnants, the graphic pictures and unbelievable disgusting sad stories made it impossible for me to think of anything on earth that can justify the intense pain and suffering dealt with by the people of Hiroshima. Successive mayors have sent letters protesting every single one of the 2,028 nuclear tests since 8:45 am, August 6, 1945.
After a few minutes of unanticipated silence between Jimale and I in the peace park, we decided to make paper cranes while reflecting on what we had just seen. As our moods began to lighten, partially thanks to a beautiful sunset, we made our way towards the riverbank following the enticing sounds of Japanese boys and their guitars. Two boys, probably around eighteen, were standing near the river playing popular Japanese songs to an audience of six girls of the same age. The giddy chicks called us over as if we were the friends they had been waiting for to show up all night. Hiroko, Emi and Rie spoke pretty good English or enough to say, �You are very cute� and that �We are friends forever� anyway. They were so cute the way that would let out a little high pitched squeal and giggle whenever we found common bonds between us, whether it was in music, school or our families. We ended up spending the rest of the evening with the energetic crew, listening to the performance, making some music of our own, getting pictures taken in a photo booth, and finally going out to dinner. It was a particularly eerie feeling sitting by the river rocking out with these Japanese cats while the atomic dome was right in front of us the entire time.
In terms of weather, day four was the nicest day I have ever experienced in Asia. A perfect day for exploring Kyoto, which they say is the one city you NEED to go to if you are in Japan. Kyoto, the capital of Japan for many years, was not harmed at all during World War II so it�s just packed with beautiful streets, homes, temples and palaces. Not only that, but I really wanted to go to the place where my favorite childhood movie, �Big Bird in Japan� took place. (�we�re off to Kyoto, like Dorothy and a Toto, I�ve got feathers he�s got fleas, I speak Japanese�) Getting a little tired of public transportation, we decided to see less sites, but absorb the city more by walking. En route to our first big tourist temple, we stopped at a large mausoleum and went inside the sliding rice paper doors into the temple area. As I watched a Buddhist monk tinker with incense in front of solid gold weaves and colorful flowers, I sat in the silence thinking about the Good Friday services I was missing at home. Sitting on my knees in the Buddhist temple seemed to be just as good of a place to reflect on how I had grown spiritually during lent at St. Ann�s Byzantine Catholic church in Harrisburg. (However, Easter without Christos Voskres was pretty difficult.)
The Clearwater temple is set in the trees above the city and can only be reached by a quaint steep narrow street where we passed rickshaw drivers and apprentice geisha who, although they drew my attention, seemed to fit right in. The temple was infested with tourists, but was still phenomenal and surprisingly peaceful and quiet. As we walked along the trails between shrines, glorious pagodas rose above the trees and clean water flowed from the mountain into ancient stone pools where people lined up to drink. After walking down some quiet residential streets lined with traditional Japanese homes we ended up in the Gion Geisha district. I was new to the whole geisha (pronounced gay-sha) phenomenon and never expected to see anything like we did. In case you are also unfamiliar, whenever you think of a traditional Japanese girl with a distinct black hairstyle, silky kimono and wooden flip-flops, you are probably thinking of a geisha. Apparently these girls start training when they are very young to learn how to please men through intellectual conversation, music, dance and something else that won�t be mentioned just in case little Joe Boy�s reading this! They hang out in the rows of teahouses that occupy the Gion district that only allow in businessmen who pay huge amounts of money to spend time with them. After seeing a performance of the cherry blossom dance where the women, or girls in most cases, sang, played instruments and danced in a flawlessly synchronized manner, we decided to do some geisha spotting on the street behind the theatre. There were a number of paparazzi like photographers with very nice cameras who gave us tips on when and where we could find them. The geishas would run out of the theatre into black taxis while people chased them from behind and ran in front of them to get perfect shots, just as if they were movie stars. The whole situation was very odd. At first, I thought that tourists may have a large influence on the maintenance of this particular culture, but at the same time, the fact that so much of it is secret makes that idea seem arbitrary. The geishas we saw are real, living, breathing geishas who have real roles to fulfill. It was certainly amazing to see the tradition in action.
The last day was quite short, calling for us to be back on the ship by 2 pm. First, I headed out to an internet caf� where I talked to eight or nine of you for a while, but then did my best to see Osaka. I rode the yellow subway line because my friend Joel told me that its arrival music is beautiful. In fact, I thought I was climbing a stairway to heaven hearing a choir of angels as I walked back up to the street away from the train. At the Americamula area, I visited a bunch of vintage, hippy, urban outfitters-esp., used music stores. It�s supposed to be the American shopping district, but it�s inhabited by a bunch of punky, hippy freaky Japanese kids that would probably be my friends. After a lovely sushi lunch with my ship roommates, Emily and Jill, we were off to cross the Pacific.
I�m sorry it took so long to get this to you and I�m sorry it�s so long in general� skip what you think is boring, but don�t tell me. I�ll be in Alaska tomorrow so if you want to hear about that it�s probably going to have to be face to face unless my mom makes me write an e-mail once I get home. So, thank you all my faithful followers for traveling vicariously with me and I hope that I have accurately portrayed the SAS experience rather than a guidebook chapter. Last words on Japan 2?� I�m watching Big Bird in Japan as soon as I get home.
Love, Julia
P.S. Assuming you�ve enjoyed my e-mails, I hope you are as interested in my pictures as you are in my writings!!!
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Tara W item [22]
They spent the day exploring Nagasaki. Walking most everywhere - several temples, A-bomb Museum, and Glover Gardens which is very close to where the Ship is docked. See the map I posted under "Cherry Blossoms" for proximity.
They took the tram to Peace Park, cost 100 yen. Saw a lot of beautiful Cranes (birds) and enjoyed the food. They were going to lunch and then head back to the Ship to set sail.
She shared a bit more info about their trip to Sasebo yesterday. They met the 76 yr. old man - wearing purple plaid pants, at the History Museum in Mikawatchi (sp?), a small town, 20 minutes out of Sasebo. He took them home where the family spoke English.
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Lisa item [23]
Lisa phoned us from the ship last night with the news about Japan. She seemed okay.
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Emily S item [24]
Emily loves Japan -says that the people are so helpful and kind. She did say that communication could be difficult, but since people were so willing to help they finally get to where they want to go. The people that she has met in Nagasaki are not familiar with SAS and are very curious about it. She also mentioned the contrast between Japan to all of the other countries visited.
Her next destination is the Kirishima National Park with friends and then wasn't sure what was next, but has several choices in mind.
She too is very relieved to be on land for a few days. She sounded very up beat and excited. I could hear her smiling!! I think anything new is exciting. As with every stop they have been to so far she wants to return to Nagasaki one day.
Korea is next and she is very excited to try to get to the orphanage where she spent the first few months of her life. She seems to have several friends that want to go with her.
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Tara C item [25]
Call from TaraI just received my first and probably only call from Tara. She was short on minutes. She was at a train station with Heather and one or two other girls. The connection was terrible and all I really heard was static. Where ever they were headed was 4 hours away by train and they were staying in a youth hostel because she felt everything else was too expensive. She clearly asked me to wire her some money as she felt that she needed more money. She did say she like Japan and was considering Hiroshima for the next trip to Japan. I do feel that I never get enough time to talk or ask questions but it was good to hear her voice. She had to run to catch a train.
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Rusty item [26]
Call from RustyWe heard from Rusty last night about 11:30 EST. They had been walking around and getting money exchanged which seemed to be a big deal. Some places didn't want to take a $100 bill. He did finally get it all exchanged by going to several different places.
He said no one speaks any English so communicating is a little harder than other ports. And it's not like Spanish where they may know a little or can guess and sometimes make themselves understood. He has been loving the time on the ship with the other kids.
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Courtney item [27]
Courtney called at midnight. She did say several kids were having trouble using their phone cards and they could not find a place to purchase them yet, so she called collect. It was worth it - she was excited about Japan, wanted to know if I wanted Mikimoto pearls (chuckle) and said everything was pretty expensive. She, and a few of her friends, were working on a trip for a few days--she'd keep me posted. The cool weather actually felt good, so far hardly anyone spoke English.
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Tara C item [28]
Call from Tara6:45 a.m., PST - It's about midnight in Nagasaki.
Tara kept saying how strange, how "weird" it was. Men in business attire (suit & tie) everywhere! They are exploring the city & trying to find something fun to do...karaoke? Not much luck, cover charges are high and when they walk into a night spot, seem to find women (their age) standing around & men in business suits...... hmmm
Also, people are not friendly and helpful as in other ports. No beggars, No "hello- come in here". Not many can/will speak English, making it difficult to plan something. She is with a group (Marni, Allysa, Pete, and Erin McTeague - the ones I recall). They are trying to plan some kind of trip into a rural/temple area. Aren�t able to buy a rail pass. So... everything is up in the air but... they are very happy to be on land and have a positive attitude.
There wasn't time to plan/learn much about the culture or the port. She did mention the A-bomb museum. Normally they are well prepared and have pre-arranged plans.
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Mary A item [29]
lMary also called last night and she said that she was very happy to be in Japan.She was with Kim, Janelle and I can't remember who else?? They plan to go to Fukuoka tomorrow and stay there overnight. She said that it was a little rainy and cool, but it was better than the sweltering heat. She also mentioned not to change any plane / hotel reservations because the April 30 arrival date is still up in the air ----- or at sea Sounds like they are all having fun exploring Japan!
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Eric K item [30]
Eric called around 1:45 AM EST. Having a GREAT time! One major difference he noted was how friendly and hospitable the people are. When he stood for a minute on a street corner and opened a map, several people offered assistance. When he asked at a restaurant where the closest internet cafe was, one employee, still wearing her apron, took him there: 7 blocks away!! He was doing independent travel with a few friends. I know he mentioned a place or two, but I don't remember things like that at 2 AM!! Oh - he did find the cooler temperatures a nice change.
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Tara W item [31]
Another call from Tara W @ 1:45 a.m., PST. - about 6:30 p.m. Japan time. Calling from the Bus station heading back to Nagasaki from - Sembo (? Sp) known for its pottery/china.
She has transitioned from the initial shock of the 'India contrast', and ..."LOVES Japan". Traveling with a group of kids (Erin, Ann, Alyssa, others) by bus. Somehow they found a 76 year old man who invited them to his home. They participated in a Japanese Tea Ceremony and saw the Cherry Blossoms - �gorgeous!" She is very excited about visiting Kyoto when they return to Osaka. They are having an "awesome experience" & they were enjoying Baskin & Robbins ice cream while waiting for the bus
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Jamie item [32]
Jamie called last night around noon Nagasaki time which was around 9:00 p.m. CST. She mentioned the huge difference in going from India to Japan. She said maybe if they had gone India, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan as originally planned, the culture shock wouldn't have been as huge. She talked about walking around Nagasaki and getting lost for 3 hours because there were no street signs, even though they had a map. She was enjoying everything.
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Tara C item [33]
She visited the hot spring and really enjoyed them. She said that you wear robes to the water. She was thinking about going to the park in the south, but wasn't sure because it has been very cool and rainy. She is not going to visit Hiroshima until the next visit but does want to go back to Nagasaki to visit their peace park.
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Abby D item [34]
She said that she couldn't get a decent outgoing phone line the night before (Japan time).After being cooped up on the ship for so long with SASers, she, Elizabeth (from Iowa), & Jean took off to "get as far away from the ship as we could on this island." They ended up at Kirishima National Park, a volcanic park at the southern end of the island. Some difficulties getting around due to the language barrier, but she sounded very happy and upbeat about it all. They're staying there for a few days, then to a seashore resort where they can have a volcanic sand bath, then back for a day in the port before re-boarding. They apparently haven't seen any other Americans and only a few European tourists. She said it was really good to get fresh vegetables again. And that once they figure out which bus they need to be on & its departure time, they know that if they go by the clock, they're on the right bus because public transportation is so well run there.
Her other comment was that it was (mostly) a good thing they had such a long voyage from India to Japan, because of the huge cultural differences. She said they would have really been unable to adjust if they'd gotten there much sooner.
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Erin F item [35]
Erin called yesterday. She is traveling with 5 other girls, don't mind my spellings but they are: Jackie Bradwell from NJ, Caitlyn Schnoor from Philly, Kristen Ill from CT, Meredith Seigel from Long Island and Meghan from MA. The girls are staying in a Ryokan, which I gather is similar to a bed and breakfast. They have a curfew of midnight. They are sleeping on straw mats on the floor, and are provided with a blanket. That didn't seem to bother her. It was costing $35/girl, or about $70 for the room for the night. Today they were planning to go to a hot spring, where it was customary to enter the spring while in a naked condition! She mentioned something about being given a 5" x 5" piece of something to hold in front of whatever they wanted! Said they would slip into the water very quickly, and only stay in a few minutes as it was 100 degrees. She said the language barrier was the worst one yet of the entire trip. Few people spoke English. She learned the term for vegetarian before leaving the ship. Although she is not a vegetarian, she felt that was safer then eating something she had no clue what it was! So, she pointed to the Japanese writing in a menu and muttered the Japanese word for vegetarian, and got by! Actually, loving every minute of it!
Erin also mentioned being in a bar and being on the internet there, when a man kept poking her. She didn't know whether she had used up her free time on the internet, or if he just wanted to dance!!! He eventually just wandered away from her, so she never did figure out what he wanted!
The girls were spending 2 days in Fukuoka, and then traveling on to Nagasaki where they planned to take in the bomb site and a volcano. She sounded wonderful!
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Roxy item [36]
Call from Roxy
She said Japan is awesome and she is having a great time.
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Erin F item [37]
On the first day in Nagasaki, I decided to go to Fukuoka, the largest city on the Japanese island of Kyushu, with my friends Jackie, Kaitlyn, Meredith, Kristen and Meghan. We took the Japan Rail train, which took about 2 hours. Kristen�s dad works for IBM and she has moved around a lot in her life. Lucky for us, she lived in Tokyo for two years when she was in middle school, so she knew the basic Japanese phrases which made it easier for asking directions, etc. It was difficult getting anywhere because ALL the signs are in Japanese characters and hardly anyone understood English.
When we got to Fukuoka, we booked rooms in a traditional Japanese Ryokan. We got really lost trying to find the place, and we walked for about an hour lugging our huge backpacks and purses around in search of it. When we finally found it, after saying �sumimasen� (excuse me) to about 6 different Japanese, most of whom didn�t even understand, we happened upon the Ryokan. I was expecting a larger hotel-like building, but it turned out to be a family�s house, with rooms that could be rented out. After walking in the doorway, you had to take off your shoes and leave them on the rug by the door. There were many pairs of house slippers lined up that we had to wear when we walked around inside. Our room was rather small and the floor was made of straw mats. There were folded up �futon� mats that were laid down for us to lie on the floor with at night. Right before we left to go out for the night I thought we should ask if there was a time we had to be back by, just in case. Well, it turned out that we had to be back by midnight! Some of the group wanted to leave so we could go out that night, but I thought that would be really rude since we�d already dumped all our stuff in the rooms and had been there for over an hour. So we decided to suck it up and enjoy the cultural experience.
Our quest for dinner was quite interesting. We couldn�t find ANY restaurants that had English menus or descriptions � Everything was in Japanese characters!! Most menus didn�t even have prices in numbers. We finally found a restaurant where a woman spoke a little English, so we decided it was our best bet. My meal wasn�t all that appetizing � I�m still not really sure what I got, but it was fun trying to figure out the correct way to use chopsticks! By the way, I am quite good at that now after having to use them in three different ports. At dinner we also tried Sake, the Japanese rice wine, but I�m not too much of a fan of it.
That night we went out to this bar called Off Broadway, which is where we met these two really nice older Japanese business men. Drinks were $8 each and they bought all six of us a round of drinks, and ordered us food without us even knowing about it. The one who spoke English, Nanna, asked us all about our trip and was fascinated by it. We�d been talking to him for a little while when his daughter who was studying abroad in Spain called his cell phone, and he made us all talk to her! It was great. He gave me his phone number and offered to take us around the next day, which shows just how welcoming the Japanese people were to us.
The next day was quite interesting and I have to say I even surprised myself a little. Those of you who know me well know that this would be totally out of character for me, but as is custom in Japanese society, we went to an �Onsen,� or Japanese hot spring where it is customary to bathe nude. As we walked up to the front desk to get a locker key, we were met by many stares and giggles by the workers. But that is something we�re used to by now� everyone points, stares and laughs at us. We bought a towel, about two feet long and a foot wide to cover whatever area we wanted to. Before you enter the hot springs we had to shower sitting on these little stools all in a row. Then we walked into the hot springs, which were actually small rock pools with extremely hot water, much hotter than even a Jacuzzi. At first, as you would expect, it was incredibly awkward. Yeah, we giggled and were like �I can�t believe I�m doing this�� but we stopped after we got looks from the natives and realized it was probably rude to act that way. When it comes down to it, we�ve all got the same stuff. Even though it was very awkward, the Onsen was quite relaxing and I can see why the Japanese like them so much.
We had booked a room in a different hotel that night so that we could stay out later and go out on the town. Well, we had planned on doing some other stuff that afternoon but got incredibly lost trying to find our hotel. So we decided to go out for dinner and then decide what we were going to do that night. We ate at a small restaurant right next to our hotel and I had the best Japanese meal of my entire trip. I ate tempura which was shrimp and vegetables fried in batter, served over rice and it also came with ramen soup. I don�t even normally like shrimp, but it was soo good.
That night our hotel curfew (since when do hotels have curfews??) was 2 am so we had a couple extra hours to check out the night life. As suggested by the Lonely Planet guide book, we went to these two bars called �The Crazy Cock� and �The Happy Cock.� The Crazy Cock wasn�t as crazy as it sounds� there was only one other person in the entire bar besides us. So we chatted with the bartender for a little bit � he was 26 years old, from Nagasaki and he had spent a couple years in Spain. The �Cock� bars were actually owned by a British man, which explains the names and the fact that the bars were targeted at foreigners.
After staying for about an hour, we decided to check out The Happy Cock because the bartender said we could sing karaoke there. The Happy Cock was a little more crowded, but mostly with other Semester at Sea kids which was a little disappointing. We got the bartenders to set up karaoke for us and soon we were on stage belting out Madonna�s �Like a Prayer� and Ace of Base�s �The Sign.� We met this really cool group of Australian airline workers that were on layover. The pilot, Steve, was only 26 years old and soo hot, and we kept making him talk so that we could hear his accent. They were a lot of fun � we sang some karaoke with them and Kaitlyn and I debated politics with the Australian steward, Peter. It was a great time but then of course we had to leave to be back for our curfew.
The next day we took the train back to Nagasaki. We got there late in the afternoon and it was rainy out so we decided to just walk around the shopping area there. We ended up going to the movies that night to see �Catch me if you Can� and found an internet caf� for class registration.
The next morning we went to the Atomic Bomb Museum in Nagasaki. When we dropped the bomb �Fatman� on Nagasaki in World War II, most of the city of Nagasaki was leveled. I was really impressed with the museum because the facts and artifacts were presented in a very objective way. It was extremely overwhelming and horrifying to see pictures of people and buildings that were so distorted as a result of the bomb. The personal stories of people that were taped and written on display in the museum were incredibly touching and gave life to each one of the 148,793 people injured or killed. The whole experience really hit home with the current world conditions of the US at war with Iraq and even the controversy between North and South Korea.
After leaving the museum we wandered to the Nagasaki Peace Park and the Atomic bomb hypocenter. The hypocenter is the ground zero of the atomic bombing and is just a huge park with a large statue of a woman holding a child. On the edge of the park there is a stream and there�s a plaque beside it commemorating several children that died there. Apparently several children were swimming and playing in the stream on the morning of the bombing. The next day people found them dead in the stream, their bodies blockading the water in the river like a dam. The hypocenter also has part of an arch from the church that was totally destroyed standing on the side of the park.
It was a very somber morning trying to take this all in and it was dreary and rainy out. I was off taking pictures of the origami crane �peace chains� that people had hung on the monuments, when I noticed my friend Jackie was talking to some Japanese women. I went over to her and it was obvious that she had no idea what the women were talking about. They gave up on Jackie and started talking to me in Japanese. Then with their hands about six inches away from my body, they both start moving their hands up and down my sides and along my back and chanting. They did this for several minutes and I had absolutely no clue what was going on. At one point I did all I could not to laugh just because it was so odd and they had to realize that I didn�t speak Japanese or know what was going on. When they finally stopped they were asking me all these questions about who knows what � from what I gathered they were trying healers and I thought they were asking me if my pain was gone. So I nodded yes my pain was better and got out of there as fast as I could before they started �healing� me again.
That afternoon we went to the Church that had been rebuilt in place of the one that was destroyed in the bombing and also got really, really lost in search of Temple Row. We never did find the street with all the temples on it, which was really fine with me and instead we happened upon a temple in the shape of this really huge turtle. We also met the nicest man who walked � okay he more like sprinted, they walk so fast there � literally a mile out of his way to show us how to get to the temple. On several different occasions we met people who went way out of there way to help us with information or directions and to welcome us to their country. It was really amazing, seeing that many people in America won�t even give the time of day to someone from their own country.
Sorry this e-mail is so late. Don�t worry you�ll be getting two more e-mails from me in the next two days about Korea and Tokyo. I�m actually really glad I�m writing all these because even writing the emails 2 weeks after I was in the country, I�ve already forgotten so much. Well, I can�t believe this voyage is almost over� in some ways it seems like I just left yesterday, but then it seems like ages ago that I was in South America.
Love, Erin
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