riley

Day 1

The flights were painful and arduous; I have been to Japan many times before, but being in a group definitely changes the dynamic. Being an experienced traveler, I spent more energy trying to lead and look after others, as looking after myself is just muscle memory by now. For me it was more of a returning home; my dad works out of an apartment in Narita, so I’ve lived in Japan for some odd amount of time. It has allowed me the unique experience of understanding Japanese culture from a very young age. With that context, this trip to Japan means something different to me than someone who has never been, obviously. I can catch finer details, look and explore the out of place. I am also interested in expanding my vocabulary through picking up new kanji I find, as well as reinforcing the ones I already know well. I have a lot to look forward to in this trip, as there are things to do that I have never done in Japan, and experiencing all that with a group of my peers will be fun.

Day 2

I am fully immersed in Japanese culture, so much so that I am thinking in some Japanese. Today, chronologically: we woke up around 6:30 and went up to breakfast at 7:30 (the rice was heavenly), we then went by metro to the teamLab Borderless exhibit to witness amazing artwork move across walls and barrage our view with a myriad of colors, then we went and ate pancakes in an underground mall called VenusFort where my brother and I met up with our parents to eat and chat, afterwards we went to the Peony Flower Garden in Ueno and on to wander around the station’s nearby vicinity in search of food, by 7pm we had eaten dinner and marched, fatigued, towards Tokyo SkyTree. The SkyTree was an interesting experience for me, as I have visited it as a tourist multiple times in my life; I had never been at night and to see the city like that gave me a new perspective which I appreciated.

Day 3

I woke up this morning not feeling anything extraordinary. After the events of the past two days I could not expect any more, yet I would continue to be surprised by all that Japan is. It was overcast and raining. After another breakfast at the Hostel, we went to Meiji Shrine and experienced a remarkable historical place. It had a reverent atmosphere and we spent a good part walking through a display of the shrine's history along with a broader history of the Meiji Era of Japan, a great time of modernization and progress.

We then went on to Takeshita Dori (Takeshita Street) for department store shopping. It was not very fun for me, as I was cold and wet; I bought a 5 dollar umbrella and that was really the extent of my purchasing adventure.

We went on to Kaiten Sushi, Sushi Go-Round, a conveyor belt sushi restaurant. I find it to be extremely lucky that we walked in at noon and there were enough seats open to sit all 22 of our group inside. The Sushi was amazing; it was high quality and quick to be served, perhaps due in part to the conveyor belt it was delivered on.

We changed our plans, instead of going to Omiyuri Land, a light and color theme park, we went to the Robot Restaurant, and experienced something only few in the world will ever see or know; It was an extremely cultural experience.

We then went to Skytree after a dinner in a mall. I sat with Nicky, Drew, Milo, and Jack at an Italian restaurant; Japanese pizza is very delicious.

I think we all went to bed that night utterly exhausted.

Day 4

We packed up our hotel rooms and left for Aomori Ken in the morning about 9am. We would be taking a Shinkansen up to the northern prefecture; nothing terribly exciting happened. Watching the landscape pass by and change provided a thought-provoking headspace and was very relaxing. First impressions of the resort are beautiful and extravagant. I was not expecting the accommodations to be so lavish. We wore Japanese style pajamas to dinner and took some group pictures. After dinner and all the apple juice tasting that it allowed for, we had some down time and then went on an illuminated frozen waterfall tour; it was extremely beautiful.

Just a travel day.

Day 5

Waking up in the hotel after such a long day instilled a sense of reverence in me. I felt very proud wearing the yukata provided by the hotel because I understood the cultural background of it and the proper wearing techniques. Seeing all the food at the breakfast buffet was astonishing, it was all beautifully prepared and lovely looking. Sitting with friends while enjoying Japanese cuisine The day was relaxing for me; I had a snowshoeing activity in the afternoon and a bus tour before then. I stayed in my room with Stephon and Cully, and played video games intermittently with doing homework. The bus tour was a nice way to get out and see the surrounding area. The snowshoeing adventure was extremely exciting. I went with a smaller group of trippers on the beginners course, but halfway through, our guide Junko took us down a slope to get closer to the river and the difficulty level rose significantly. Sensei slid all the way down the slope and a couple people fell over. Fairly scary, as we were quite close to the river now. Me and Stephon followed Junko close and when it was time to go up the slope, our tour group again faced significant difficulty. After snowshoeing as far as I could go up the slope, I sidled over to an oddly angled tree and used it to step onto the plateau above. After making it safely up the steep slope I celebrated a little with sensei and my friends. Out of the corner of my eye I see a hand wave, and I realize that the other people in our tour group had not yet made it up the slope yet. Junko was currently completely supporting a Chinese boy up the slope and they seemed to be struggling. I waddled over in my clunky snowshoes and reached out my hand to the boy, who was near enough to the top to grab. Realizing my intent, he reacted and stretched out his. I clasped firmly onto his arm, and pulled him up over the edge. He thanked me several times in that moment and I didn't think that much of it. I then tried to help Junko up the slope, however, she seemed to manage fine getting up the rest of the way on her own. After the tour was over, I was greeted by the boy's family, who also happened to be on the tour with us, who came over to me dragging their boy with them. They prodded him forward and he acknowledged me again, "Thank you for saving my life," he said. Then his parents proceeded to thank me as well. I was so surprised that I couldn't respond for a moment.

I guess that's it, the key to life is helping others.

Day 6

Waking up early this morning, I felt as if I could sleep in a while longer, but I rose nonetheless, as the day presented many new opportunities. We packed up quickly and organized ourselves for checkout from the hotel. Being surrounded by snow, I felt a serenity I could not place anywhere else in my life before. The falling snow calms the nerves, yet becomes sharp and painful when my body temperature is too low. We traveled up to Mt. Hakkoda on a gondola that shook me up a little; stepping off the car was an adventure in itself. The snow was wind whipped onto the building at the top, everything had snow on it. The wind itself was knife-like and dangerous, the kind you’d get windburn from in minutes. Walking out onto the summit landscape was similar in feeling to stepping through the wardrobe to Narnia. Everything was white and clouds formed around us. We could not see through the dense fog, save for few silhouettes that dotted the background. Of course, I fell into the snow trap surrounding a tree,, but everything turned out okay. We came down from the mountain in less than 30 minutes, as everyone was ill-prepared for truly enjoying an environment such as that one. After bathing in a sulfuric Onsen, we went back to the hotel, grabbed our things, and departed for Oirase.

Day 7

We went to a traditional Japanese breakfast with many courses, that was interesting; the Japanese have a fascination with slimy textures in food. Afterwards, we were late for our departure to the train station from the hotel, we debated a little, and decided to try to make the next train anyway. We got on the train and took 3 hrs there and 3 hrs back for a shrine visit and some above average apple pie. The Shrine was neat, as it was in preparation for Yuki Matsuri, or the snow festival where they build igloos to hold lanterns. It takes place at night and would’ve been quite a spectacle. We came back and visited the onset many times. The onset is truly a magical place; the outdoors one is the only valid one in my opinion. The snow falls on your head and its freezing outside, but its okay because the water is so hot. The outdoor onset opened up to a pond where lanterns floated in the water. A giant, lit up figure of possibly a samurai or demon exposed the remaining moonlight illuminated scenery. Tall trees stuck up into the sky, not bamboo, but maybe pine. The moon itself shone overhead, the utmost serenity fell over me.

Day 8

Today we packed up from the hotel and left for Niigata, where we would be meeting our host students. Everyone was so nervous, but I felt calm and collected. I had introduced myself to my host student on LINE beforehand, so I had a slight understanding of who I was meeting. The Shinkansen felt surreal though, I could not fully understand what I was about to do. I walked off the train feeling slightly sick, as I had not used the bathroom in a while; the excitement was also settling to my stomach and giving me a weird feeling. I met with Ryoko-san soon after crossing the train turnstiles. She was short girl with dark black hair, glasses, and a big coat. I began to use Japanese instantly, having to introduce myself and make conversation as we waited for the train to take us home. I don’t think I could’ve asked for a better host student. She was responsible and made sure I was where I needed to be; I followed her closely on the train rides home, careful to not get separated and lost. I made it to her hometown train station Matsudai, where I met with her sister Yumi and grandmother. The grandmother drove us all the way through mountains to eat Kaiten sushi, or conveyor belt sushi, and I ate my fill while struggling through more conversations being bombarded with Japanese I could partially understand. We visited the supermarket and I chose snacks to eat at my hosts’ home. After learning the general layout, dos and don’ts, and how a futon works I went to sleep very early. Tomorrow was the first day of Japanese High School.

Day 9

I woke up very early without meaning to, as I was freezing with a blanket that barely covered my long body. I figured out how to negotiate the futon at 4am: I pull the comforter low so the my lower body is completely enshrined in blanket, then I use the fuzzy blanket to cover my torso and head. The pillow is supposed to be memory foam, but it feels like a rock. I am not disposed against the sleeping situation though, as I am experiencing the true life of a Japanese high school student. I got ready for school and ate rice, ham, Japanese egg, salad, and miso soup for breakfast; I thanked grandma for the food and the bento lunch box she made me for the day. Going to school was an adventure, I had to learn where to get off and on at, pertaining to train stations, and we walked for a quite some time through the neighborhood to school. The snow blanketed town was a most relaxing environment. The most immediate noticeable difference is that the hallways and general school building is not heated, and that goes for many households, if not all households, in Niigata, save for very rich people. We walked in and Ryoko-san took my umbrella and put it in her class’s umbrella holder. Then we took our shoes off to stepped onto the Tatami, where I put my slides on. Not knowing where I was in this strange new building, I followed Ryoko-san closely again, careful not to lose myself. We reached a room in the cut of the 2nd floor and I opened it to see, thankfully, a lot of faces I recognized. For first period, the first years presented to us on culture in Japan and then we played a couple games with them. Then I joined my student’s class and I learned far more than what I could just understand. Their classes are similar to school classes in the US, but also very different. When the teacher enters, everyone stands at attention and on command we bow saying “Onegaishimasu” which means ‘please’, a word to formally express request. Teacher and student behavior is much like that of in the US, obviously because we’re all human; side conversations and sleeping both occur in class from time to time. The main difference is that the teachers move classrooms, not the students.

We got to listen to presentations by the students for first period. We gave advice and helped them with their english. Then we went to third period and I sat down for the first time in a Japanese class. They were not that riveting as one might expect the experience to be; it's just a school class, but conducted in Japanese. That night we had dinner late after school, as Ryoko-san and her friend Ai-san both were practicing their presentation that they would give on Thursday. I went to sleep tired, and excited for another day of Japanese High School.

Day 10

Today was PE day for Ryoko-san. I played basketball, but I wasn't very good. I wanted to play volleyball with Ryoko-san, but I didn't have enough time to do both. After lunch we went to the gym wing, after a lot of guess work as for where to go. We went through our presentations one by one, mine was about Contemporary Art, and I had the fun part. My role was playing a game with the audience and I made them laugh a fair amount. I had a lot of fun talking so fluently, as I had practiced before hand enough to feel that level of confidence. I had a lot of fun being a part of the audience too; one of the presentations had an interactive part for teaching the KJ students how to do a dance and I participated actively. After the presentations were finished, I went to Ryoko-san's normal class again and then after school I waited for her to finish practicing for her presentation on Thursday. The walk home was nothing special, except I sat with Drew and talked with Drew and Dresden on the train.

Day 11

Today I had art study for 4 straight periods, and it was exceedingly fun. The first art class I went to was music, where we practiced singing and dancing, and I had SO much fun it was unbelievable. The teacher was a Japanese opera singer and the most interesting teacher in the school perhaps. She was unafraid in every meaning of the word. She took up the whole room with her voice and moved the students. I could hardly follow along because I