Odaiba was as beautiful and overcast as ever. We departed after a leisurely breakfast at the Hostel and arrived at teamLAB – an experimental art exhibit.
Put simply, the whole was unified in the most spectacular ways. The music, artwork, and visual spaces combined to invoke a unique sensation that was supplemented by undercurrents of dissonance between individual works. The various interactive exhibits engaged thought on the ripples and waves that everything produces and how they constructively or destructively interfere.
For lunch, massive pancakes at Shonan pancake house were extremely satisfying. Hot fudge, whipped cream, and strawberry pancakes were a little more Western than Japanese, but there was still a clear Japanese influence in the cuisine – the interplay of Hawaiian and Japanese cultures as a bridge to American culture was present in nearly everything about the restaurant.
The monorail ride back was gentle, uncrowded, and quiet, but for us occasionally. I thought the array of shipping cranes lining the bay appeared like an Imperial army detachment of AT-AT walkers.
At Toshogu shrine I contemplated the flowers of existence. My haiku read something like: "The universe/Opens my heart/And closes my eyes"
In Ueno we walked down a small-shop street for some time. It was about as chaotic and gritty as other small-shop streets I've been down before. Perhaps a little more so.
The Sky Tree was a purely stunning monument at nighttime, where red lights glowed against gray steel and a massive saucer lit upon the top. I thought it was a significantly majestic monument for humanity, representative of our ambitions. I share those ambitions.
The Meiji shrine was tranquil and stately. A light but incessant rain soaked everything, though despite my coldness I washed my hands at the shrine's entrance.
Lunch was at Kaiten Sushi, a conveyor-belt sushi restaurant that was incredible for taking a far more practical and efficient approach to conveyor-belt sushi than a tacky, tourist-magnet one. This experience was quite opposed to what would come at the Robot Restaurant.
After lunch we had a wonderful tour at a Samurai Museum. I remembered how samurai helmets appeared like Darth Vader's helmet, and learned that the former was the inspiration for the latter. I became fascinated at how the Japanese culture was so fascinating to foreigners – i.e., that it became the genesis of a totally alien story of a space empire and rebellion. (Recall that on Monday the shipping cranes looked like AT-ATs.)
Robot Restaurant. A gripping cultural experience.
Shibuya crossing. My group ate tonkatsu; the dinner was even more delicious than I was expecting, though a bit pricey. For the first time in my tonkatsu dining experience, there were multiple styles of pork offered. I thus realized how much effort must have been put into selecting the right meat and the right cut.
Getting to the Oirase Keiryu hotel, we took a shinkansen through rice fields to Hachinohe station, where for the first time we saw snow outside. It was raining, and foggy. Everything was spaced out and new-looking, like suburbs in America, but Japan-sized. It invoked the feeling of a colony set up against the will of an oppressive nature, like one might imagine on Mars.
A shuttle bus took us to the hotel through snowy, windy, and hilly forest roads to our equally fantastical resort.
Dinner was at the Apple Kitchen within the resort. We all dressed in yukata, traditional Japanese robe-like clothing, for a group picture and a rich dining experience. The experience was so lavish that I felt a bit uncomfortable, but I thoroughly enjoyed it nonetheless.
After dinner we went on a "light-up waterfall" tour, which was as amazingly artful and unusual as one would expect for such a name. The mixture of intense, vibrant color and pure darkness was almost intoxicating.
Breakfast was incredible. I love how understated Japanese sweets are – along with most everything else – one can enjoy twice the variety without tiring the palette.
The snowshoeing tour, despite being a short introductory course, was very pleasant. It was refreshing to experience the peaceful forest, still but for the dark rivers flowing below us.
Dinner was as delicious as the first. I relished an incredibly thoughtful conversation on many issues that were pressing me, though those issues did not leave me.
The onsen was spectacular and meditative. It became strange to me how we have human troubles when there are experiences so simple and cleansing as bathing in hot water.
Breakfast at the Oirase Resort was again, quite the treat.
Mt. Hakkoda's peak felt like stopping by an outpost on Titan. The realization of human fragility – and our dependence upon technology and invention – did not escape me.
Soba and onsen
Arriving at the Aomoriya resort was a transportation into another world.
For dinner, the theatre was entertaining and the hospitality was incredible, much opposed to similar American opportunities. I surprised myself by finishing all of my food, having found it all delicious. It became a little silly to have stubborn food preferences.
Breakfast
Getting to Hirosaki
Hirosaki Castle
Lunch at Tea Time. Delicious Japanese sweets and drinks. I rather enjoyed my conversation with my brother and Yokota sensei; we discussed the arts, primarily, which I work to appreciate, as well as the sciences, for which I reserve a dual pragmatic and emotional love.
Onsen with the gentlemen was very amusing.
Dinner
Breakfast
Transit to Niigata
Meeting host families!
Dinner
First day at KJ
Transit to KJ
Welcoming ceremony. Made me appreciate the international respect and reputation our nation has carefully produced, despite the fervent works of some.
PE was far more enjoyable than American PE classes. I believe this to be due to both the novelty but, equally, the spirit which surrounded the event. Everyone, from least skilled to most, myself and the other exchange students included, was excited throughout the class.
Classes
Tea Ceremony. Allowed me to sit in peace and meditate on the things I take for granted. Such care and love put into the tea transported me, for a moment, to a Baha'i feast.
Transit back
Dinner
World history
Math was much to my liking.
Traditional Japanese
Lunch in the cafeteria
Presentations
Math (again!). Fun round 2.
Japanese (again)
After school
ETHS x KJ PE event
Snow
Dinner with host family's sensei. A characteristic I keep seeing everywhere is endless hospitality and kindness.
SGH Presentations