evan

Today we woke up and had udon for breakfast. Udon is probably my favorite food to eat in Japan and it was amazing. After breakfast, we caught the same trains. Today, everyone was studying on the train for an English test. I talked to the trippers on the train and it sounded like everyone was having a great time.

At school, we had a pretty normal day. I finished Great Gatsby and got a lot of work done. A couple things of interest were one, the health teacher cancelled class and we did origami, and two, I read kasajizo to the entire class. After school, everyone lined up in the hallway and said bye to me and Milo. It was super sad. Even people who I had never talked to were lined up to say goodbye. On the stairs down, I ran into my buddy Yasutaka from last year and he gave me a box of chocolates. We took a few pictures and by the end of it he was crying. I felt super sad too but I know I’ll see him again someday.

After this, we had a farewell party. My time was spent taking pictures with everyone I knew and even some people I don’t know. It’s sad to think that it’s probably the last time I see most of those people. They were all so kind and hospitable and I’m going to miss that so much when I go back to America. We ended our party with the singing of the KJ school song and before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye. That night, so many people reached out to me over social media to say how thankful they were that I came. I felt so happy and sad at the same time.

For my last dinner, we ate curry. I think I’ve mentioned it, but I’ll say it again. Japanese curry is amazing! It isn’t spicy at all and it’s very sweet. We ate it with apples and it was so delicious. The entire family came over and we took tons of pictures. After this, they gave me some gifts for me and my family. My favorite gift was the Yomiuri Giants hat I got. The Giants are Japan’s best baseball team, I think they have won 37 championships which shames even the Yankees. I am super grateful to my host aunt who got the hat for me. I asked them about it and told them I wanted to go get one and they said they didn’t sell them anywhere around there. I thought this was the end of it, but they surprised me with the hat which was definitely not easy to get. I am so grateful for this.

After dinner, I gave them the thank you note that I made. I was kind of embarrassed because I couldn’t really capture how thankful I was to them in Japanese. I think they got the idea and they were happy with it. I’m so happy right now, and tomorrow it’s going to be so hard to say goodbye. God, I love my host family.

Today we woke up a little later and took a different pair of trains to school. We met up with some of the other kids from school and I saw some of my fellow trippers. On the train, we played this game where you would go in a circle and high five the people next to you and when the rhyme that we said stopped, if you got high fived, you were out. It was a good way to get to know people on the train. What was really fun was that we missed the bus to take us to KJ. We decided to walk because there wasn’t another bus for an hour. I gave my umbrella to one of the girls and they all completely lost their minds. Apparently nobody has ever thought of doing that before. It was about a 30 minute walk through the town and I’m glad we did it. All the girls we were with weren’t so happy but I really enjoyed it. We passed over this really beautiful river and fresh snow made the mountains look majestic. The kids there don’t know to appreciate the mountains. They seemed very surprised to hear that Illinois is flat as a pancake. Anyway, we walked and the stereotypical snow ball fight began. I ended up with a whole bunch of snow dumped on me but it was worth it. Before we got to school we passed this giant snow bank. I was surprised to see all the girls, in their skirts and bare legs, jump in the snow. You know I had to do it too. Me and Miyu jumped in and it was freezing. I could only imagine how bad it was for Miyu. The video of it is hilarious and I’ll definitely be looking at it when I miss KJ.

Thursday was a weird day at school. All the first and second year KJ students gave us presentations, so as you can imagine, by the end of the morning we were bored out of our minds. After lunch, another wonderful bento prepared by my host auntie, we headed to this big auditorium building ten minutes away for more presentations. Unlike the ones in the morning, they were completely in Japanese and we all had no clue what was happening. I was trying so hard not to fall asleep when the girl sitting next to me told me that it was ok to go to sleep. I looked around me and saw most of the trippers already asleep and so I slept too. When I woke up, everyone in my row was asleep, including the Japanese students! It was hilarious.

After a short break, we had another hour and a half of presentations, this time in English. The overarching theme was how to bring tourism to Niigata. I thought this was very interesting and from the perspective of a tourist I was able think about what they were saying and if it was true. Most groups focused on Niigata’s rice, which is supposedly what Niigata is famous for. In my opinion, I don’t think rice is the best way to try and attract tourists. As a foreigner, I don’t have any interest in rice. I think they should focus on the mountains. Niigata has these picturesque mountains that I’m sure have a lot of opportunities for skiing, hiking, biking, and wildlife viewing. They could attract so many tourists if they focused on this aspect.

After school, we went to a 7-11 to look around. I ended up buying loads of my favorite candy, Crunky. They don’t have Crunky in America and I’ve stocked up. After, we went gift shopping at this Japanese bookstore. It was very cool to see the Japanese manga even though I had no clue what it said. Next we went to this arcade nearby. The entire trip I had been asking about taiko. I told them that I used to play and I was told that we’d be able to do taiko in music class. This fell through, and my host family must have felt bad. We played this taiko game at the arcade which was essential guitar hero with a taiko drum. It was an extremely nice gesture and even though it wasn’t a real drum, I was super grateful.

For dinner, we went to this soba noodle restaurant. This time, I didn’t make the same mistake and ate it correctly. We ate with the entire family and it was so good. After dinner, we watched this crazy Japanese game show. I had no clue what was happening but it was so much fun to watch. Overall, today was a great day, and I can’t wait for tomorrow!

We had the same morning routine as yesterday, except we ate mochi for breakfast. When most Americans think of mochi, they think of dessert mochi so I was a little confused when my host family told me that we were going to eat it for breakfast. It turns out mochi can be very different from desert mochi. I ate these delicious miso mochis that were slightly melted on the inside and crispy on the outside. They were so good. We then caught the same train and went to school. Today started to feel a bit like a routine, we went to class and I did my homework. For lunch, we went to the cafeteria and ate udon noodles. Unlike in America, their school food is amazing. It was as good as a restaurant in America.

After lunch, we went to a couple more classes, one of which was music. I haven’t had a music class since 7th grade and I was interested. We learned a traditional Japanese song and dance and we performed it. All the Japanese kids loved it. After this, we went to the gym for jump rope. Japanese jump rope is insane. We formed four groups and all tried to jump through the swinging rope. Next we did two at a time, then three, four, and finally everyone (about 20 people). Our group didn’t complete any revolutions on the one where everyone jumped, but another group did nine in a row.

After school, we went to a dollar store to buy some small stuff. I bought some candy and a few souvenirs. We then went to a supermarket and bought ramen for dinner. For dinner, we also ate gyoza. But, before we ate it, we had to make it. I got to learn how to make gyoza which surprisingly isn’t that hard. Take a little flour tortilla looking think, put some meat in the middle, trace the edges with water, and fold.

After dinner, I helped Miyu study for her English test. Their English class is so weird. They have this big book full of phrases that English speakers would rarely, if ever, say. It’s a miracle that Miyu can speak such good English with a curriculum like that! I guess it shows how hard she works. Every night, Miyu stayed up past midnight to do homework. In the mornings we got up so early, I don’t know how she could function with so little sleep.

Today we had to get up very early. We got up before the sun and caught a 6:34 train for school. The train came and it was literally only one car. It was kind of funny to see. We rode the train for 3 stops and then transferred. When we get off, we left the platform and basically left the station to pay. If we were in America, nobody would’ve paid. We then went up to the exact same platform to wait for the next train. I was shocked at how honest people are in Japan. It is such a cultural difference from America.

We then got on the second train to meet Miyu’s friends. It was fun to talk to them. One went to Miyu’s school and the other didn’t. The one friend paid for me and Miyu’s tickets. I continue to be shocked at how hospitable people are here. We then took a short bus ride to school. The whole ordeal took about an hour and a half.

We had a relatively normal day at school. Miyu’s schedule consisted of two math classes, Classical Japanese, chemistry, and English. For lunch, we ate in Miyu’s class with her friends. They are so fun to listen to. I had no clue what they said but they talked so fast and excitedly that it was interesting.

After lunch, we gave our presentations. Ours went relatively well. We had to go first and I messed up a little but nobody seemed to care. Everyone really enjoyed the Steve Harvey group and after it over, you could feel our whole group relax.

After school, I ran into Yasutaka, my friend who came to America last year. We took a quick picture together. In Japan, the students help clean the school and I got to sweep the stairs. It didn’t even feel like a chore because everyone pitched in to help.

We then drove home through the mountains and watched the sunset from the windows. People don’t realize how beautiful Niigata is. For dinner, we went to a conveyor sushi restaurant. The food there is so cheap so I didn’t have to worry about eating a lot. I ate salmon, inari, cucumber maki, and nato maki. My host family was very surprised to hear that I wanted to eat nato. It is supposedly the most disgusting food in the world. I ate a whole plate of it and it didn’t even taste that bad.

After dinner, we went to the onsen. I have come to love the onsens. They are so relaxing and refreshing. I don’t know how I’m going to go back to America and take a normal shower! After the onsen, I drank ramune for the first time in Japan. Unlike ramune in America, it came in a plastic bottle and was a lot easier to open. It tasted the same though.

I really love my host family. They do so much to make me feel comfortable and at home. I’m so lucky that I got a good host student too. We get along well and we seem to be friends.

I got to sleep relatively late today because my host aunt drove me to school. I ate a quick breakfast and left for school. It’s funny because today I got ready in half the time I normally do, which is saying something.

It was about a 30 minute drive to school today. I was very excited the whole time. We arrived to school and walked into the little locker room they have so they can change into clean shoes. I remembered to bring some slides which was lucky. We started the day by walking in a single file line into the gym. Their whole school was there to cheer us on! I have never felt so welcomed before. Some KJ students gave speeches and Aurora and Mr. Vankrey gave speeches for us. They gave us these cute little tumblers with the school logo on it as a souvenir.

We then went to class with our students. My first class was gym. Their gym class is crazy. They start off by doing these synchronized stretches. When I say synchronized, I mean synchronized: it was perfect, almost like a dance. We then did some shooting drills. I was the last person in my line and everyone watched me shoot. Luckily, I made the shot and everyone thought I was good at basketball. We then played a game. They put me on the same team as the basketball star and we didn’t lose a single game (the games were first team to score wins, and we played about 20 of them).

After gym, we went to world history. It was very interesting because I had no clue what was going on. I could see pictures on the board but with no context or subtitles, I could only guess what they were referring to. I remember hearing them talk about Catholicism and Protestantism. They also talked about the Ottoman Empire and the Vatican. Other than that, I had no clue what was happening. After world history, we went to Classical Japanese. I didn’t really understand what was going on, but they seemed to be studying old Chinese poems.

We then went to lunch. We went outside and went next to the school to the cafeteria. My host aunt packed me onigiri (rice with meat inside). I had salmon onigiri. The onigiri was wrapped in this cute little baseball wrapper which was so nice of my host aunt to think about. I also had some other small stuff like ham and veggies and it filled me up! The lunch was packed in this very cool bento box. It was complete with mini chopsticks and containers. I felt so much more full than I normally do back home.

After lunch, we helped the KJ students with their presentations. It was very fun because not only did we help them, but we socialized with them and learned a bit about them. It was fun to help them too because we were able to really improve their stuff and they were really happy. We then went to practice our own presentations. We give them tomorrow and ours needs some work. It was good to get practice in and we actually sounded good by the end.

After school, we went to the tea ceremony club. This was such a cool experience because it allowed us to experience Japanese culture up close and it tasted so good. Our students helped make the tea and we ate these really good green tea cakes before the tea was ready. We had to sit in the Japanese way and it hurt so bad. I’m so inflexible and I’m also not used to sitting like that so it was very hard to keep a straight face. I managed to do it until the lady in charge said that we could relax. The tea it self was very good and I’m really glad I had the experience.

After this, I went home at ate dinner. For dinner, we ate build your own sushi. My host family served salmon, tuna, yellow tale, cucumber, beef, and pork on a giant platter. You took nori off a pile and put the meat you wanted to eat in the nori. It was very good. My family kept telling me to eat, eat, eat! I didn’t want to disappoint them and so I ate until we ran out of food. I was stuffed! Today was a special holiday called Setsubun. My host uncle dressed up as a demon and we threw beans at him to chase away the demons and bad luck and bring in good luck for this year. We also ate beans for the same purpose. You were supposed to eat your year in beans plus one so I ate 18.

Today was very fun and I can’t wait for tomorrow. I hope our presentation goes well!

We woke up and were shuttled to this traditional Japanese house for breakfast. They served us so much food. For the main course, we ate grilled fish served whole. This was definitely the hardest thing to eat on the trip, it was completely filled with bones. They served us a ton of obscure things that I had never tried before. It was cool to try but I really enjoyed the simple meal we ate at dinner. I can only eat so much fancy food.

After breakfast we headed to Hirosaki. I’m kind of surprised we went because we missed a train and we voted 17-3 in favor of not going. I voted for going so I was pleasantly surprised when we actually went. We got an extra trip the Shinkansen which was a bonus and saw the Hirosaki castle which was one of the things I was excited to photograph. Sadly the castle was under construction or restoration or something and it was a little underwhelming. However, the Apple pie we ate at lunch made up for this. The place we went for lunch specified in apple products (they sold 11 different types of apple pie). I ate apple curry which was also amazing. The curry here is different than curry in America. Here it is way sweeter which I prefer.

After we headed back to our hotel, we headed to the onsen. The onsen at the hotel was beautiful. It was this steamy outdoor bath with these awesome lanterns. We went when it was dark and the lanterns gave off this yellowy glow that combined with the steam turn the bath into this mysterious and ominous look place. It was very refreshing. We had a nice dinner which I took it easy at. Since we’ve been eating so much fancy food, I went with the simple dinner of fruit, soup, and salad.

After dinner, I decided to go on a walk with the Senseis and a couple students. We went walking around this lake by the hotel which was lit with lanterns. I tried to photograph it but I had trouble balancing because it was so dark and the lights were very bright. I might try photoshop when I get home but I’m not sure how it will turn out. Photography not working was a nice reminder to live in the moment and enjoy life. I need to cherish the memories more than the pictures.

Tomorrow we meet our host students. I’m excited to meet mine, we’ve been emailing a lot so I hope I can get along with her.

Today we started our morning with a very good breakfast buffet. The hotel provided a nice mix of a Japanese breakfast and a western breakfast. An interesting thing I’ve noticed about Japan is that for breakfast they eat salad. Before coming on the trip, I would have never even thought to do that. To their credit, I feel great all day. Maybe it’s eating the salad, maybe it’s not but either way I like it.

After breakfast we headed to Mount Hakkoda vía bus. It was really clear and sunny when we got there so I was excited to see the view from the top. We took a gondola up to the top and when we disembarked, it felt like another planet. At the top, it was 30 degrees colder than the bottom and windy with low visibility. We saw this really cool phenomenon called “snow monsters” where the trees crystallize with ice and look like monsters. It was very cool to see this because I had never seen a tree look like that before.

After this, we headed to an onsen nearby. When we got there, we ate a soba meal. I was excited for this because soba is one of my favorite foods back home. I kinda messed up because I poured the broth over the soba instead of the other way around. Nobody really minded though, and it was a learning experience. Thus far, soba tastes the most different compared to American Japanese food. I think I like it better here.

After the lunch we headed to the onsen next door. On the walk over, I took pictures and by the time I arrived, everyone was in the bath already. Sensei told me that the bath was coed which was a little surprising but more surprising was that when I walked in, not a single person was there. It turns out that everyone else went to the non coed onsens that me and Sensei didn’t realize existed. After I walked out and told Sensei this, he informed me that I was the first person in Japan Trip history to ever go into a coed onsen. I guess I’m breaking records. Ha.

After this, we headed back to our next hotel. It it owned by the same people as our first hotel but it’s known for its performances. We witnessed one of these at dinner. The place we ate dinner was a giant hall decorated with giant paper story scenes. We were sat at these old wooden tables and we received a Japanese five course meal. The term “five course” was loosely interpreted. Try 15 course. The servers kept bringing out plates of fish, meat, and vegetables until you were stuffed. As we ate dinner, we watched a show with traditional Japanese singing, dancing, and music. The show opened with a man playing a shamisen. In my opinion shamisen is one of the coolest instruments in the world. The singing was interesting but my favorite part was the taiko drumming. I love watching taiko because I used to play it as a kid. Taiko is so interesting because of the gracefulness of the player and the power of the hits. It’s a very magical combination. Seeing taiko has to be my favorite part of the trip so far.

1/31/20

Today we went snowshoeing. I was looking forward to snowshoeing for a long time because I love being outdoors. It lived up to the hype. We did a two hour snowshoe next to the river. I really enjoying climbing up steep hills and sliding down them. We saw some waterfalls that look really cool. I took pictures of the waterfall that turned out very nice. The best thing that happened when we were snowshoeing was when Sam fell down the hill. (He was OK, we all thought it was funny).

After this, we went to the Onsen. It was very relaxing. Compared to what everyone said, the temperature was bearable. I got up too fast and felt like I was going to pass out but I felt better after a minute. After getting out of the Onsen, I felt extremely relaxed. My muscles were probably the loosest they have been since I was born.

In the afternoon, we went to a ski resort and had a snowball fight. I had a lot of fun because its basically baseball. I had to go easy on people but it was still satisfying to nail my friends. By the end, people were sick of me hitting them and I got snow dumped on my by everyone. I guess I deserved it.

We went to the apple themed restaurant for dinner which was amazing. I would say it was top five for meals in my life. They had amazing apple juice and apple pie. It was so good.

After dinner, we got to spend some time with other people on the trip. It was very fun because I got to know some people who I don't usually talk to way better.

1/30/20

Today we went snowshoeing. I was looking forward to snowshoeing for a long time because I love being outdoors. It lived up to the hype. We did a two hour snowshoe next to the river. I really enjoying climbing up steep hills and sliding down them. We saw some waterfalls that look really cool. I took pictures of the waterfall that turned out very nice. The best thing that happened when we were snowshoeing was when Sam fell down the hill. (He was OK, we all thought it was funny).

After this, we went to the Onsen. It was very relaxing. Compared to what everyone said, the temperature was bearable. I got up too fast and felt like I was going to pass out but I felt better after a minute. After getting out of the Onsen, I felt extremely relaxed. My muscles were probably the loosest they have been since I was born.

We went to the apple themed restaurant for dinner which was amazing. I would say it was top five for meals in my life. They had amazing apple juice and apple pie. It was so good.

After dinner, we got to spend some time with other people on the trip. It was very fun because I got to know some people who I don't usually talk to way better.

1/29/20

Today we traveled from Tokyo to Aomori. We had a lowkey day with a couple highlights. My favorite part of the day was riding the Shinkansen. It was so sleek and went so fast. I got part of my homework done on the train which was also very good.

After this, we took an hour long bus ride to the hotel. The hotel is incredibly nice. One interesting thing is that everyone wears yukata unless they are going outside. We unpacked and then ate an incredible dinner. The restaurant was apple based which was convenient bc apple is my favorite fruit. They had amazing apple juice and apple pie, neither of which I usually eat. I had to get seconds of both.

After dinner we did a quick frozen waterfall tour. It was pretty cool to see a waterfall that was frozen. The lights made it look very interesting. I wish it wasn’t raining so hard while we were outside but it was unavoidable.

I’m looking forward to tomorrow.

1/28/20

Today we went to the Meiji shrine. It was really well laid out because you walk down a path to get to the shrine and you learn the history about the place. It was built in 1920 to honor the Emperor and Empress. The shrine itself was really beautiful. You walk through a tori gate and pour water over your hands to purify yourself before visiting the shrine. After, you walk through a big gate and see the shine itself. It is massive. We walked through at just the right time because a ceremony of sorts was just starting. A man played the biggest taiko drum I had ever seen, it was probably 10 feet in diameter. Then, men dressed in robes and suits bowed twice, clapped twice, and bowed once more. I’m not sure the exact meaning of this but it was very calming and powerful. Everything in the shrine stopped as this was going on.

Next we went street shopping. We bought some small stuff and looked around. For lunch, we went to this sushi conveyor belt restaurant. It was the coolest thing ever. You ordered your sushi on a monitor next to your table and then it whizzed up to the table along a conveyor belt. The sushi was very cheap and I ate so much. When we were finished, a lady came by and scanned our plates and this somehow calculated our bill. I had never seen anything like it.

After lunch we headed to a samurai museum. It was a man’s private collection but the curators knew a ton. We learned about samurai history and even saw a “samurai fight”. We got to try on the samurai armor at the end. After this, we walked to Shinjuku and saw this really cool robot/laser show. They had taiko drumming which was really touristed up but it was still cool to hear sound of the drums. We then ate a tonkatsu dinner and saw Shibuya crossing from afar. It was a really packed day and I look forward to riding the Shinkansen tomorrow.

Evan

1/27/20

Today was such a fun day! We started off in the morning with a hostel breakfast. The pork here is surprisingly good. I had salad for breakfast which I will probably never do again after the trip. We went to the Team Lab Borderless museum this morning. I have been excited for months for the museum and it did not disappoint. We saw some really cool exhibits, my favorite was the one with the lanterns.

After this, we went to a pancake place. I didn’t realize that pancakes were such a big deal in Japan. They were more eggy than American ones but they passed the test. I ate mine with hot chocolate.

In the afternoon, we went to Toshogu shrine. It was very different than the rest of Tokyo. It was super quiet and sacred. The temple was built in the 1600s and it’s been preserved. After this we went to the Ameyoko street market and did a little cheap shopping. I have never seen so many flavors of candy in my life!

We then did a quick udon dinner and headed to Skytree. Skytree is the second tallest building in the world and had 360 views of Tokyo. Notably, we could see Tokyo Tower. I felt the jetlag starting around 8:30 but I’m definitely getting adjusted. I am really enjoying myself and I’m excited for tomorrow

Evan

1/26/20

Woke up at 3:00 at arrived at the airport by 4:30. Everyone was full of anticipation and excitement. First flight went smooth, I tried to sleep the whole time.

We landed in Dallas around 9:30 and we had a couple of hours to get ready for our next flight. I stocked up on food and water for the second leg.

We boarded around 12:30 for Japan. At first the flight seemed like it was bearable but after a couple of hours it felt super long. I wasn’t able to get too much sleep on the plane which didn’t seem like a problem at the time. But after we landed I just felt like curling up and going to bed.

When we landed I felt super excited, I could see the sky tree from the airplane window and it made it seem more real. It hasn’t really hit me that I’m in Japan yet, I expect it to happen tomorrow when I see the city during the day.

I’m an struggling to stay awake right now but I am forcing myself to stay awake until 10 to deal with the jetlag.

Until tomorrow,

Evan