Japan! Tokyo: the city that never sleeps

       Ninja Tokyo Hostel? With a name like that, good times are guaranteed. As we walked the five flights up the steep stairwell, we were intrigued by the anime story that visually explained the perils of playing with samurai swords. The moral of the story: if you are a ninja octopus, you may cut off several of your tentacles.

       Our hostel was very Japanese meaning very space efficient. I would like to compare our sleeping area to the back of a band’s tour bus: a narrow path between stacked, box-like, wooden, private sleeping cubby holes. We were each given a key. So we threw our backpacks onto our beds, slid the wood panel shut, and locked our things into our personal caves.

       I actually never slept that night. After dinner we headed to Club Camelot in the Shibuya district. We made several friends in the metro station that used iPhone applications to direct us through the metro routes. We arrived back at the hostel after three in the morning and we all made use of the free internet: chatting with friends who were in class on mid-Thursday afternoon.
      At four in the morning we woke the rest of the group up and we headed to the Tokyo fish market for a cultural experience. Before the sun could even provide a sliver of light, we dodged forklifts while hundreds maybe thousands of people scurried like ants around the covered market. I chatted with a local fisherman after he caught me poking one of the large translucent squids he had on display. He took a liking to me and my foreign curiosity so he offered me a fresh cut of tuna sashimi. I excitedly accepted it and ate it, only thinking about the possible repercussions of fresh raw fish while I gaped at a large tuna being publicly dissected a few stalls over. With the rising sun came more and more spectators, buyers, and fishermen. Buyers were bidding for the finest seafood for their five star restaurants. Local mothers, trailing their small children behind them, bargained for smaller morsels to provide for their family. Fisherman argued pointing fingers, brandishing fish, shouting Japanese. Other fisherman proudly arranged and rearranged their my-sized catches or passed their hand over tanks as if to frame their seafood in a braggadocios manner.

Japan! Yokohama

The ship docked in Yokohama on November 20 and left from Kobe on November 24. Everything that happened in between was an adventure. This adventure was five days, four nights, thirteen hours of sleep, hundreds of miles, five major cities,

and the experience of a lifetime.

       We were only in Yokohama for the amount of time it took to walk from the ship’s terminal to the metro station. (Granted, the time inside of the terminal was extensive due to Japanese Immigration Standards that required face-to-face interview, fingerprints, infrared temperatures, and personal photo upon arrival.) But the short two block walk was enough to make a striking first impression of Japan. This was the first port that the streets were not comprised of a loud ensemble of (depending on the country) angry taxi drivers, squealing motobikes, deafening horns, rickshaws, ox, donkey, cow, intense pedestrian traffic or any other general chaos. Once we noticed the difference it was deafening, cutting off one sense to fully take in another. Japan looked and smelled much cleaner than any of the past several countries we had been to.
       Even inside of the metro stations I would feel safe to eat something that had failed the ten-second rule. Looking back on it, I must laugh when I describe the utter confusion of our group and discombobulating manner that we tried to decipher maps, signs, hand signals, and Japanese phrase books. After no less than forty five minutes, half of us boarded a train heading for central Tokyo. The other half set out to find their Japanese Rail Passes that they had pre-ordered. We wondered if they would make it to Tokyo. Brian, Meghan, Meena, Dave, and I watched Japan transform from countryside, to suburbs, to tight housing districts, then go underground. In only forty five minutes we arrived at the central Tokyo station. We stepped outside and I strained my neck to look up and all the way down the grid of tall buildings. Once again the buildings seemed to personify the typical Japanese businessman- standing in regiment single file in their finest, sleekest, black or blue suit awaiting an order to dutifully fulfill.
       We pulled out maps trying to find our way. A nice local man heard us speaking English, formally introduced himself with business card and all, explained he attended high school in San Francisco, and then asked if he could be of assistance. We showed him the address we were trying to get to and the options of circles that had been drawn on the map by conflicting local opinions. He shook his head and led us all the way to another metro station, walked us downstairs, showed us what buttons to push, which train to take, and where to get off. Well we got the right ticket. Got on the wrong train, skipped the right stop, and then backtracked to do it all over again.
       Finally we were in Nishi-Nippori, the district of our hostel. We began to walk in the general direction- I even got out a compass to make sure that if we were going to walk aimlessly, we were going to go the right way. Luckily, we ran into some other SAS students. They pointed us in a direction and we found it!

hey so i am in a hostel in tokyo... i cannot determine what picture is which so here are some pictures from my latest adventures, eh?

playing chicken in the Saigon river.. i was afraid these guys were donezo.

Bert is watching intently as our guide is showing us graphic pictures of all of the victims of the Khmer Rouge.



Kelly and I excited in front of Angor Wat.

children at the killing fields that kept repeating please please i want to go to school, i want to go to school. they followed Anders and I from the far side all the way to the bus...

then the reflection of the Angor Wat temples at sunrise on the one of the four ponds a part of the front landscape.

            climbing on the ancient temples

hanging out in elephant palace

 

getting suits made in Viet Nam

Le PUB! 

HONG KONG! !

then Tienanmen square

getting ready for a cold night Great Wall Style

forbidden city and temple of Heaven

 waking up the restless morning after camping on the Great Wall 

 
where we slept

hiking&zipling down the great wall 

 

 

on top of the Shanghai World Financial Center 

Hong Kong

on top 

 shanghai

 
   

China: Shanghai

 Arriving back at the ship was one of those moments that you are so happy to see home. Espcially because it’s backdrop was the skyline of Shanghai. We wasted no time and headed out into the gloomy city. Our goal: to go to the top of the tower that looked like a beer opener. What we realized when we arrived there was that it was actually the second tallest building in the world. The tallest building in Asia and also the tallest observatory in the world. Nice. It had just been finished in 2008. Our experience felt futuristic as we were guided by clone-like guides to various fast-paced slideshows and an elevator that took us to the 100th floor in less than a minute. From the top we could see our ship amidst the city buildings. We were up there for sunset and saw all of the buildings come alive with lights.
Everytime we were in a taxi the driver would ask, “Obama?” yes. Obama! And they would somehow communicate that they were excited that he was in Shanghai! During one ride we heard part of his speech on sustainability in China. It was unreal to hear our president’s voice when he was in the same city as us a half world away.
When we were in the markets Obama was also talked about, but in a different way. Those who sold knock-offs and stolen goods were extra cautious. While hunting for a purse, I was taken through a series of five secret doors. When I asked her why she said that security had increased because Obama was in town.

China: The Great Wall

THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA!! We arrived late at night and had dinner at the base before we began our trek up the dark mountain to the Wall. It was freezing, literally less than zero degrees. Our local guide powered up the hill with nothing but a little flashlight. Our large group spanned for hundreds of feet behind him. I followed as close as I could. After a fifteen minute hike we reached the wall. I could still see little flashlights way below winding up the mountain. Our guide said we needed to go seven towers over. So we started slipping and sliding in the dark towards the seventh tower. This entailed walking on narrow paths with no wall or rail. We all slipped or fell a few times going up and down the stairs and ramps in disrepair. Our local guide gave us each a matt and a sleeping bag. We split into groups and went to different towers. Our guide passed us as we set up our bags. We asked him where he was sleeping, he laughed and said he was going home.
We wondered exactly how dangerous it was to be sleeping outside in the snow on part of the wall that is not maintained or patrolled. We feared it would become Lord of the Flies because no one was looking out for us. We convulsed and shook all night long as we tried to huddle as close together as we could. Not even Jim Beam could keep us warm. I did not sleep most the night, no one did. I closed my eyes and thought warm thoughts but mostly hoped that death would come soon.
It was all worth it to see the sun rise over one of the seven wonders of the world.
In the morning I did not see any locals. A rumor was passed down the wall saying to head east. So we did. For four hours we walked, slipped, climbed, stumbled, got turned around, and guessed how far we had gone. It was the best way to experience the Great Wall. It was so much fun. It was so much work. It was all so unforgettable. We reached the zipline and huddled together as we waited in line to descend. Taylor and I screamed “I CLIMBED THE GREAT WALL!” as we streamed down the mountain with a crystal clear lake below us.

China: Beijing

Beijing Top 5:
1)      the weather in Beijing reminded me of Wisconsin. The city reminded me of Milwaukee. Minus the number of apartment buildings. In India the density of the population was seen through homelessness. In China the density could be seen through the numerous of gigantic apartment buildings. Each one was probably home to over a thousand people and there were rows of them.
2)      We had a packed day touring Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the temple of heaven. Danny and Nick made it a point to get in as many Asian tourist pictures as possible. A lot of us were asked if we could be in a photo with them. Our guide explained that they thought we were movie stars. Then she pointed at me and said and a lot of them haven’t seen real blonde hair. The contrast of modern and ancient history was notable. It was within my lifetime that the student protests occurred at Tiananmen Square. Chinese history came alive as we wandered through the Forbidden City. I was reminded of the Disney movie Mulan. At the temple of Heaven old and new collided. The temple has a point that the rulers claimed was the exact center of the universe. Outside the temple walls was a park that was being used by locals for tai chi and kite flying. China has young population with a lot of free thought. This makes China a communist country with a capitalist economy.
3)      I have always wanted to be involved with the Olympics at some point in my life so seeing the Birds Nest and other venues of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics was incredible. I remember watching each of the Phelps races with Megan Sharkey in New Jersey. Now I was standing beside the arena that I had seen live  through modern technology not too long ago.
4)      We went to an acrobat show before leaving town. I saw humans bend in ways that I didn’t think was possible. The acrobats performed amazing and dangerous feats in elaborate costumes. It isn’t every day that you see twelve girls riding one bicycle at the same time or a short man do back flips on a pogo stick, eh?
5)      We were set to take an overnight train from Beijing to Shanghai. Inside the train station we learned a cultural lesson. Chinese do not wait nicely in line. I have not been pushed around as much as when we were all funneling through to get to the train platform. Car number 15 was arranged with a long hallway down one side and open cabins on the other side. Each ‘cabin’ had six beds, three bunked on top of each other on each side. The top one was so close to the ceiling that you would have to squeeze in. There were eight of these cabins. We got on the train at ten pm. A voice came on and spoke Chinese for about ten minutes, we joked that he was telling a bed time story, but then seriously wondered how we were going to know when we arrived. We all passed out for twelve hours before we safely reached Shanghai in the morning.

China: Hong Kong

Hong Kong Top 5 memories:
1)      Our ship docked inside of a mall. I could walk from my room, up to the gangway, across the bridge, and I would be inside of one of Hong Kong’s many shopping centers. There were stores that I have only heard of never seen. From Jimmy Choo, Burberry Juniors, Burt’s Bees, Miu Miu, they had everything. I headed for a ski apparel store to buy some warm clothes for our trip to the Great Wall. Out on Canton Street I got a surge of energy, it was as close as I have been to a city street like I have seen in the movies of New York City. Large advertisements and video screens crawled up the skyscrapers and we danced up and down the street running in and out of the various shops.
2)      Hong Kong is a series of islands. We took a ferry from our island to Central Hong Kong. Here Molly, Taylor, and I explored Hong Kong park. There was a court dedicated to Tai Chi, an aviary, an Olympic training mini-stadium, a wedding chapel, lakes, and paths that led through beautiful gardens under waterfalls and up and down the hill it was built into. It was great to see that admist such a busy city of steel there was a green sanctuary. Also, I loved that we could ferry so easily from place to place.
3)      On the list of things I was most excited to experience on my Semester at Sea journey, the Hong Kong night skyline was near the top. We were only there for one night and I wanted to have the best view available. When the opportunity to go to dinner with Mrs. Lawrence (George’s mom) and Mrs. Lawrence (Hong Kong local for the past few years and family friend to Nick and George) I did not want to pass it up. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to see the skyline, but also wanted the chance to see Hong Kong through a local’s eye. Alas, I was not disappointed. I was blown away when we got to go to the top of a skyscraper to the American Club. It was incredible to see the light show from a balcony above the skyline. Indescribable really. I think it had such an impact on me because Dad has tried to describe it so many times and I finally realized how awesome it is. It was the power and beauty of man’s achievement: tall, reaching the sky, each building with unique architecture and lighting, each a Mecca of strategy, ideas, goals, and accomplishment not only in its grand exterior but also in the symbolism of the interior.
4)      After a delicious Thai dinner, Mrs. Lawrence took us to an escalator than was more than a mile long and took pedestrians down the hilly island in the morning and went up the hill in the evening. She dropped us in Lan Kuai Fan the bar district. It was like Mardi Gras in the streets. Fashionable locals dominated the clubs and we floated up and down the winding street getting a taste for all the district had to offer. The next morning I received an email from Cuz (Emily from Miami) in response to my email: ‘I am in Hong Kong! What should I do?’ her answer was a perfect description of my night’s adventures and I felt like I had a completely successful night in amazing Hong Kong.
5)      By subway, we went to a different island that had two things we wanted. The Buddha on top of the mountain and the airport. We took a tram through the clouds to the top and we could not see the immense Buddha above the mountain village because it shrouded in clouds. The ride in the tram was fun though, there was a glass bottom and we could see a lot in our half hour ride up and down the mountain. However, this ride caused a panic later on as we raced to the airport. We ran through the airport and it reminded me of my close call in South Africa. Except this time we were cutting it even closer and no one spoke English. We ran with our big backpacks on from level to level looking for Hong Kong Express Airways. We checked in with twenty minutes to spare. Then had to get through security (where they take your temperature with infrared), take a subway to a different building then with not a minute to spare we got on a bus that took us the outdoor terminal.