First Day! January 25/26

My first plane ride was really fine from Dallas. I was pretty scared about leaving the country and just leaving the ground in general but nothing fixes that like a 14 hour long flight. During the stop at Dallas we grabbed a quick bite to eat, freshened up, and played cards until it was time to go. Once boarded on the plane everything Weber pretty smoothly. I got to work on and finish some homework for several classes and we were given food so there was no concern about that. The most difficult thing to do was probably making sure that we were on the right sleep schedule. Since we were arriving in Japan in the middle of the day, I didn’t want to be exhausted so I tried my best to pay attention to the time in Tokyo and sleep when it was nighttime there. Of course I tried my best but towards the end I found my circadian rhythm taking over. After about an hour of finding our way through the transportation systems we arrived at the Youth hostel. There I had one of my first Japanese 温泉 experiences. I found it to be very rejuvenating and exactly what I needed after a long day of travel.

Day 2- January 27

Second day in japan started really well. Woke up at 6 O’clock to see a beautiful Tokyo skyline. Since my room has a view of the Chicago skyline seeing this in the morning made me feel very at home. After breakfast we head out for the Team Lab Border less art installation.

After that we went to lunch in the mall connected in that same area. For lunch we had fluffy delicious pancakes along with a few appetizers. I got the blueberry cream cheese pancakes and they were amazing! I did find that Japanese pancakes and dressings aren't as sweet as America's. Overall this was a great experience and I can't wait to do more.

At the end of the day we went to a market where we at dinner and were given 15 minutes to shop around. I did not buy anything but I was able to see all the different things that were sold at a market. This was also my first experience at an open market like this so it was nice to just walk around and take everything in. To end our night we went to the Tokyo sky tree. It was very cool to see so much of Tokyo so easily. Sadly my experience at the Sky Tree was tarnished by my growing exhaustion from a long day. Nevertheless it was a great experience and I was happy to have been there for it.

Day 3-January 28

Today was one of my favorite days so far. It was full of interesting and unexpected experiences that made me really appreciate the privilege of being on this trip. Although it was quite the rainy day we still managed to have fun in every activity. We started the day with a peaceful walk to the Meiji shrine. Once we arrived to the temple we were able to see some important people giving offerings in the shrine and were given the opportunity to do the same ourselves. We then went to Takeshita Dori where we were able to do some shopping. I didn’t participate in much of the shopping but it was cool to see how different the stores were. The thing I loved most was that there were so many stores for all different styles. After this we went to lunch at a sushi restaurant. This was when I was able to experiment the most with food. I tried salmon roe, ume, and tako sushi. Out of all the best was probably the salmon roe but I am very happy with the experience overall. Due to the rain we went to a Robot restaurant show instead of the yomiyuri land. During the show they had dancers, robots, and lasers. It was extremely stimulating and seemed like a real life video game. The most interesting thing about this show was that there was mostly English used and it was almost completely filled with foreigners. The two things that this shows me is that we really were given an experience that some Japanese natives may not even experience. The second thing it shows is what Japanese businesses may think Americans or foreigners enjoy. The bright lights, wild singing, and video game violence was directed towards us Americans.

Day 4- January 29

Today was mainly filled with leaving the Tokyo Central youth Hostel and heading out to the Oriase resort. When we woke up for our last day in Tokyo the skies were just beginning to clear up and we were able to see the mountains peaking through the sky.

One really exciting part of my day was riding on my first Shinkansen. Since we had the whole unit in class and they were a very well known Japanese mode of transport I was very excited. While waiting for the train we got Obento which is a prepared meal for lunch on the shinkansen. We were on the shinkansen for about an hour and a half and then we hopped onto the shuttle bus to the hotel. Once we arrived we had some free time to rest before dinner. At dinner we all wore our Japanese pajamas which were actually pretty comfortable. Dinner was extremely fancy and amazing. Everything tasted delicious and was quite a treat. My favorite part of the meal was the dessert which was an apple pie with soft serve ice cream. The apple pie wasn't to light or heavy and the soft serve complimented it perfectly. After dinner we went to our rooms for a bit and went out to see the lighted waterfall and stream . Although it was cold and rainy the waterfall and stream were a worthwhile journey to see. After this we came back to the hotel for bed.