I LOVED Japan. Prior to this trip I was extremely ignorant of the differences between China and Japan, often grouping together many different Asian countries. This past month has been eye-opening to all the different cultures and lifestyles that can be found throughout Asia. Many of the experiences I have had in the last month have been unique to the country I was in.
We arrived in Kobe on November 14th. We had two options for traveling in Japan. Option A: Get back on the boat on the 15th, spend a day at sea (without classes), arrive in Yokohama on the 17th, and then depart Japan on the 18th. In total you would only get two nights and 3 days in Japan. I went for Option B: Get off the boat in Kobe and find your own way back to the boat in Yokohama by 6:00pm on the 18th. That way I had 4 nights and 5 days in Japan.
On the day of arrival the disembarkation process took so long we didn’t even get off the boat until around noon (and many people didn’t get off until much later). Everyone on the ship had to get their temperature taken to be approved for entry into Japan. We also had to have a face-to-face inspection with the immigration officials. In all of the other countries they have collected everyone’s passports and gotten them all stamped and then we were good to go. So for the first day I walked around with a group of friends. We got some good Japanese lunch and then stumbled upon a temple in the middle of the city. That night Emma and I had plans for a little black dress night. We met one of our friends back on the boat and got dressed up for dinner. He wore a really nice black suit he had gotten made for him in Vietnam. We had a really nice dinner and then did a little bar-hopping. We ended up at this little hole-in-the-wall place with some local Japanese men who sang karaoke for us. The only things they knew in English were “Obama,” “George Bush,” and “George Clooney.” It was pretty hysterical throwing in one of those names every now and then and either booing or cheering.
The next morning I met up with two of my friends to catch the bullet train to Tokyo. When the train arrived we had no idea where we were supposed to sit. The car that we stepped in happened to be first class, and that looked pretty nice to us so we decided to grab a seat there. Just as we had reclined our giant seats all the way back and were beginning to fall asleep an attendant informed us that we were in the wrong car. We had to relocate to another car, which was still pretty nice. At 275 km/h (170 mph) we arrived in Tokyo in about 2.5 hours. Once we got there we had to figure out how to find our hotel. Try to imagine 3 super tall Americans with backpacks staring up at the gigantic railway map while a million tiny Japanese people rush by us. I felt like such a tourist. The guys I was with are both over six feet tall and have to duck to get on the subway. Through a combination of walking and talking to strangers we made it to the right district and finally our hotel. Even the people who spoke no English whatsoever tried their hardest to help us find our way. Several hours later we were joined by Emma and the rest of our group of friends.
Our first night in Tokyo we went to the district of Shibuya which is where we heard the younger crowd hangs out. Upon exiting the railway station we were greeted by an intersection that made Times Square look like nothing. As soon as the lights turn red there are no such things as cross-walks. Hundreds of people cross the streets in any way possible. The greatest likeness of Shibuya to New York is the abundance of Starbucks. The nightlife in Shibuya was incredible. There were so many people out and more neon lights than you could imagine. All of the buildings are tall and have multiple clubs and restaurants in them. All of the Japanese people looked really nice; the girls often wearing high-heeled boots and expensive coats, and the men were dressed up as well. At one place we went, the woman working the door must have really liked us because she approached us later in the night to give us VIP passes. We went to a private room upstairs where we were treated to a bottle of champagne.
The next day in Tokyo was my absolute favorite. We went to Yoyogi Park to throw the frisbee and go to a music festival we had heard about. The park was gorgeous and it was really nice to be in a wide open space for a while. Playing frisbee we could hear the thumping of bass in the distance so after we were tired of throwing we followed the sound. The event was called the Tokyo Dance Music Festival. It was insane. It was packed with people, vendors, and loud music. The Japanese sure do love their techno music. There was this one DJ playing his music under a bridge and it was like a giant outdoor rave. On our way walking back to the railway station it started to rain and I can’t even tell you how many times I got hit in the head with an umbrella. I guess I’m at just the right height for that. At night we went on a hunt for a sushi restaurant, which is much harder to find than you would imagine. We finally found one and the sushi was incredible. After dinner we went back to Shibuya for the nightlife.
The next day we all kind of split up to do our own thing. I went with my friend Michael to the Tokyo Tower which looks like a cross between the Eiffel Tower and a cell phone tower. It’s red and white and I found it to be pretty unattractive, but the view from the top was nice. Tokyo is gigantic. There are so many districts and they all have unique characteristics. After the tower, we went to Roppongi which is the ritzy district. There were Christmas decorations everywhere. I couldn’t believe it’s already that time of year. After hours of walking around and grabbing lunch we decided to make our way to Yokohama to spend the night there. The boat had arrived there in the afternoon so we could sleep there for free.
It was surprisingly easy to find our way to Yokohama. You can catch a 30 minute train ride there for $2.60. Luckily when we got to the Yokohama station we ran into a couple of SAS professors who told us how to find the boat. Unfortunately, that means there will be no crazy stories about trying to find the ship. We were pretty exhausted from our time in Tokyo and tired of spending money so we rested on the boat for a little while and ate free dinner.
The Yokohama skyline is beautiful at night. The main feature is a giant Ferris Wheel that has a really impressive light show. It is one of the largest Ferris Wheels in the world so I had to ride it. At the highest point - 112 meters (122 yards) - the view is incredible. The ride is located in the middle of a small amusement park so there are lots of crazy lights around. We went to bed early that night and spent our last day in Japan walking around Yokohama.
My overall impression of Japan is extremely positive. The streets and sidewalks were cleaner than any other city I have ever been in, yet there are no trash cans anywhere. I don’t know how they do it. I couldn’t believe how willing people were to help us, whether they spoke English or not. It’s hard to imagine the reverse happening – an American who spoke no Japanese approaching a Japanese tourist to offer help. One thing I loved about Japan was traveling outside of an SAS facilitated trip and figuring out things on my own. I really enjoyed looking at maps and figuring out how to get places. There were times when we would get off at the station before the one closest to our hotel just so we could walk around and find our own way there. It was a great feeling relying only on myself, my friends, and the help of strangers to get around.
Well, that concludes my experience in Japan. Now we’re on the boat for 8 days before reaching Hawaii. We’re only going to be in Hawaii for about 10 hours so I think I’m going to make a Thanksgiving picnic and head for the beach. It’s going to be really weird being away from my family for the holiday. In 26 days we’ll be arriving in Miami. Twenty-two of those days will be at sea! This stretch is by far the most time we will have spent on the ship.
Happy holiday season everyone! Eat lots of turkey and pumpkin pie for me!
1 comment:
can't wait for you to come home!
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