JAPAN

JAPAN

DAY 1

It’s only the first day, and I can already tell you that the Japanese people are some of the most caring, generous human beings I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. With a culture that is based on giving more than receiving this observation is not much of a surprise. Coming into port we were welcomed with a band, and after our diplomatic briefing we were given a Taiko performance. Prior to the Taiko performance the city of Kobe, Japan presented our Dean with two traditional Japanese swords, our Captain with a Japanese flower vase, our student representatives with crystal Kobe plates, and everyone on the ship with Kobe postcards. It was honestly the warmest welcome we have experienced so far on this voyage. The Taiko performance was awesome too. For those of you who don’t know about Taiko: it’s a Japanese style of drumming. I can’t really explain it, but I did take video and some photos. Stanford has their own Taiko group, so some of you know what I’m talking about. This Taiko group was made up of primarily women and they had smiles on their faces the entire time, unlike the straight faces of Stanford’s group.

Today I had a SAS field trip to The National Bunraku Theatre of Japan in Osaka. Bunraku theatre dates way back (can’t remember exactly how far, but FAR). It’s a type of puppet theatre. Puppeteers starting training at the age of 15. On stage you can see the puppeteers, but most of them are dressed in all black and their faces are even covered. Only the master puppeteers show their faces. Usually, three puppeteers control one puppet. The master controls the head and right arm, and the next experienced puppeteer controls the left arm, while the third controls the legs. Many of the puppets movement are pretty lifelike for a puppet. The show lasted quite a while. It began at 4:30 and went until almost 9:00. We had a half hour break for dinner and two other 10 minute intermissions. Yeah, I admit I struggled to stay awake during some parts, but I managed. Some other students weren’t so lucky. All in all the performance was pretty enjoyable. It lagged at some parts, but I’m definitely glad I went.

We took four different trains back to Kobe and got back to the ship around 10:30. Tomorrow is my only free day without a SAS field trip, so we’ll see what happens. Good night for now.

DAY 2

Today was quite a long day. We started off by going into downtown Kobe to go on the internet. We don’t get internet on the ship in this port because of satellite issues, so Ashley and I, after a little bit of searching, found an internet café to kill an hour or so in. We walked around a little bit and before heading back to the ship we took a quick look inside a GAP that we were told about. I’ll probably go back tomorrow after my trip and try to find some deals.

In the afternoon Nicole, Ashley, Bailey and I decided to head into Kyoto to check out the Café du Monde in the train station there. The beignets were a little different than what I’m used to, but they still had the same great taste. They were smaller and came in a box. It was pretty small, but cute because they set up a mini French Quarters and had the street name signs on the corners of the eating area. There was a Mister Donuts right next to it. Needless to say they were experiencing fewer customers than their neighbor.

After beignets we walked around the shopping area in the terminal and then took a bus to downtown Kyoto. We found a movie theater and saw In Her Shoes, the new movie with Toni Collette, Cameron Diaz, and Shirley MacClaine. It was actually quite good, and I would recommend it. Keep in mind that I am movie starved and I could just be attributing the great feeling of finally being in a theater to the film, itself.

After all this, we ended up getting back to the ship around 11:30pm or so, and now I really must get some rest and try to beat this insomnia thing I’ve been plagued with the past couple of nights. Wish me luck!

DAY 3

Good news is I slept better last night than I have in a long time. I only woke up once and that was to Nicole’s alarm clock because she was leaving for Hiroshima at 6am. The bad news, however, is that my original trip to a tea ceremony was nixed. Well, I’m assuming it was anyway. The guy who was supposed to be meeting us never sent a final fax and he wasn’t there by 9:00am when the trip was supposed to leave, so instead of waiting to see if he was ever going to show many of us decided to hop on another SAS trip that just happened to have space available and was also leaving at 9:00am. This trip was scheduled to go to Kobe University in the morning and then to Himeiji Castle in the afternoon.

We met our guide at the train station and then continued on public transportation to Kobe University. Kobe University is the 11^th ranked National university in Japan. This means that it is extremely hard to get into. The Japanese school system is actually pretty interesting. In high school, Japanese students study super super super hard in order to get accepted to college. You think it’s stressful for American students to apply to college. Well, it’s 10 times more stressful (at least!) for the Japanese. Almost each college has their own entrance exam, and if you don’t pass this exam you aren’t allowed in. High school doesn’t really prepare you well enough for the exam, so there are Cram Schools. Cram schools are popular among Japanese students because they cover all the material on the exams that isn’t covered in the high schools. Japanese students have to pay to attend Cram school, so some students must study on their own for their university’s entrance exam. Some even work odd hour jobs just to be able to go to Cram School and when they aren’t working they are studying. The time before college, as you can see, is extremely intense. However, once you get accepted, the hard part is essentially over. Japanese students rarely study during their 4 years. The main focus is usually on the different clubs students join. Japanese college students usually take about 12 classes. Each class only meets once a week, but they still have 12 separate final exams. We toured the university a little, watched the Ballroom Dancing Club for about 10 minutes and then proceeded to our guide’s class. He is actually from Costa Rica, but has been living in Japan for 12 years. He teaches English, so for his class we just sat and had conversations with his students. I spoke with 2 girls. We talked about everything from Green Day to their majors in Economics and International Law. After class some of the students joined us for lunch in their cafeteria where more conversations were had about beer and movies. All the students were extremely welcoming and it was really just awesome to talk with them.

After lunch we took a bus and train to Himeiji and walked about 15 minutes to the castle. Himeiji Castle, built in the early 17^th Century, is the most famous castle in all of Japan. It is often used in Samurai movies made in Japan and it was even featured in exterior shots of The Last Samurai. It definitely does not disappoint. I don’t think I could’ve come at a better time. Autumn in Japan is absolutely beautiful. I can’t even describe it! I took so many pictures. To see the fall season at Himeiji Castle makes up for missing it in NC for the past 2 years. It was a perfect day to visit. Even though I really wanted to go to a tea ceremony, the whole day turned out to be a great alternative.

Once we got back to Kobe I went to the Gap and picked up a couple of inexpensive shirts and then headed back to the ship for dinner. After dinner Bailey, Nicole and I headed to the internet café and then called it a night.

DAY 4

I spent my last day in Kobe, Japan on the Highlights of Kobe City Government sponsored trip. We started off the day by going to the Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution. This museum began as a result of the January 17, 1995 earthquake that occurred in Kobe. The earthquake started at 5:46am, lasted for approximately 10 seconds, and killed over 6,000 people. It was a truly devastating event. We watched two films while in the museum. The first was a simulation type of film. He had to stand up and watch the screen which was a jagged wall. They showed different parts of the city at the time the earthquake hit and the picture would shake to try and make us get a small sense as to what it was like. It was interesting because on the trip with us was Goodwill volunteers who vividly remember where they were when the earthquake occurred. The second film was a documentary about a young girl who was 15 when the earthquake happened and lost her sister that night. We also visited an area of the museum dedicated to developing ideas for building safer earthquake ready structures. The entire country of Japan is in a danger zone for earthquake, so the next time there’s a huge earthquake they will be more prepared. One of the main concerns, as you may have already guessed, are the tsunamis that result from the earthquakes right off Japan’s coastline.

After the museum we went to a tradition Japanese restaurant where we sat on the floor and ate unidentifiable foods. Haha. No, they explained to us what everything was. I ate some fried oysters and eel. Let’s just say I think I want to stick to the Americanized Japanese food like Kanki.

Once we finished eating we visited a sake factory. In case some of you don’t know sake is the traditional Japanese rice wine. We saw how it is made and then had a chance to taste some. You can usually get it cold or hot, but they only had cold sake to taste test. I’ve heard the hot sake is better. The cold sake was pretty strong and I can see how they say it is good for keeping you alert and awake.

Our next stop was the famous Mt. Rokko in Kobe. The drive up to the observation deck was absolutely gorgeous. I know I wrote about how beautiful the autumn is here, but it deserves to be mentioned again, and yes, I’ll say it: It’s pretty ridiculous. I took more pictures, so no worries you’ll get to see a little of what I’m talking about.

The last stop on our trip was a place where we made Japanese paper fans. It’s was like tie dying a fan. I felt like I was 7 years old again doing arts & crafts. In the same building were little specialty stores. I bought some amazing chocolate from this one store. You know it was good because I’m not really even a chocolate person, so for me to say that it must have been yummy.

So, Japan is over, and thus concludes the main part of my Semester at Sea journey. Now, all that is left is papers, presentations, finals, 4 hours in Hawaii (which I’m excited about), a Thanksgiving that may leave something to be desired, and packing. I’ll be home in 2 weeks to your bright and shining faces (I’m most excited about this!). I’ll email after Hawaii. Bye for now!