Japan Pics!

 

Konichiwa Japan!

I arrived in Japan 16 days ago and have been way too distracted to blog. Plus I've been trying to figure out how to post photos and think I am still failing. Oh well! A little catching up to do:

I absolutely loved Japan and had nowhere near enough time there. Here's a list of random observations and then what I did each day:

RANDOM OBSERVATIONS

-People are so friendly and go out of their way to help you. (One waiter ran out of the restaurant after we left and we saw him 2 blocks later waving to us and holding up a purse he thought we left at the restaurant)

-Everything is so clean, although there are no garbage cans!

-THE TOILET SEATS ARE HEATED-trust me, it makes a difference

-They use American plug outlets, at least everywhere that I went

-Tokyo has many districts, and you can walk through 5 in a day with giant backpacks on if you want to…but what type of crazy person would do that?......

-The Japanese are quiet people. No one talks on public transportation and the silence feels eerie at each stop

-Ryokans are FREEZING, until you turn the portable heater they give you all the way up and sleep with it next to your face and then wake up sweating in the middle of the night
-You can, and will, eat sushi anytime anywhere

 

DAY 1

So I started off in Japan by roaming around with some people trying to find wifi in Yokohama. After succeeding and taking full advantage of it, Mitchi and I separated from the group and slowly made our way to Tokyo. Public transportation is quite amazing in Japan and very reliable, but we definitely struggled a bit trying to find out exactly where to go to get to the Tsukiji area where the famous fish market and tuna auction was. Once we made it, we started walking around looking for a hotel. We found a few but were in a richer area and could not find anything under about $80 per person for just 1 night! We wandered and wandered for literally HOURS until we emerged into the close-by Ginza district where these nice ladies helped us find a cheaper hotel! The sun had set by then and we finally made it to our savior, the Ginza-Daiei hotel. After hanging out a bit and allowing our backs to recover, we went out and found an amazing sushi restaurant. This was the 1^st of 6 times I had sushi in Japan, and it was insanely good every time. Avocado&Salmon and Tuna&Cucumber is the way to go!

DAY 2

This basically felt like day 1 still, because we woke up at 3am to walk to the fish market 15 minutes away. Japan is a very safe place and I felt completely fine walking around so early in the morning. There were actually quite a lot of people out and getting ready for work already! We finally found the tuna auction room to get in line and it was filled with many sleepy SAS'ers. The 1^st 60 people to show up get a yellow vest and get let in to observe the auction from 5:25am-5:50am. Surprisingly, we were not one of these first 60 people, but we got a blue vest and were one of the 60 people to be let in from 5:50am-6:15am. After these 120 people, no one else is let in. We made it through the 2 hours after talking to some SAS'ers and a "personal bubble busting" Aussie (but that's normal-I'm looking at you, Ray).

The tuna auction was interesting, but I personally wouldn't say it is a must-see in Japan. There were HUGE tuna's on the floor and many men (and only men) inspecting the tuna very carefully and carving out random bits. Then an auctioneer began shouting over and over again and it sounded very yodel-like. No one really knew what was going on or what this strange yodeling meant, but it was very cool! After this, we left and speed-walked back to our hotel in the rain, desperate for more sleep.

We checked out at 11 after crashing again, and decided to head to Shibuya to exchange my Japan Rail Pass and then wander some. Shibuya was amazing with huge buildings and so many people, and we crossed Shibuya Crossing, the busiest crosswalk in the world that ain't too busy during the day. We wandered our way through Shibuya to Harajuku which was a small, busy street where we ran into many SAS'ers (after not seeing a single Caucasian all day) then found a Japanese photo booth that makes your eyes big. I'm absolutely obsessed with the pics Mitchi and I took and it's currently magnet-ed on my wall. We found a shrine called Meiji Shrine after that, and it was such a beautiful and sacred place and they were having some drum ceremony when we arrived. We then began making our way to our hotel which was right next to Disneyland Tokyo.

We finally made it to the The Hilton Bayfront and reunited with some of our friends who were staying there with us. Emily and Aishwyra were already ready to go out and Mitchi and I said we would meet them out for dinner and then clubbing. Well that didn't happen. We laid around, decided to eat way too much sushi, and then completely crashed.

DAY 3

Disney day! Mitchi, Connor, Kaity and I decided to go to Tokyo DisneySea and it was absolutely freezing! It was fun and the place looked physically amazing (huge volcano, temples, and an under the sea world), but we left at 3pm due to the crowds and cold. We got stuck on the Tower of Terror for a few minutes and thought it was part of the ride, so that was quite funny. Disney is basically the exact same as it is in the states which was surprising. I guess Disney is Disney wherever you go! After Disney, we went back to the hotel to just hang out and then more of our group finally showed up a few hours later. Without wifi, it is so hard to contact people and meeting up with anyone is so difficult! We had sushi again for dinner, and it was amazing.

DAY 4

We left Tokyo and took a bullet train to the city of Kyoto which took a few hours. Emily, Dani, Mitchi, Aishwyra and I all were staying at Yoshi-ima ryokan in Gion that night. A ryokan is a traditional Japanese hotel that is so cool! You have to take your shoes off at the entrance and walk around in these special slippers, and your room is cute and there's no actual beds…you sleep on a mattress on the floor but it was absolutely heavenly. Our mattresses were not laid out yet when we got to our room, but there was a table where this cute lady dressed in a kimono poured us tea and insisted on taking pictures of us. Man do Japanese people love to take pictures! It was just Michelle, Aishwyra and I in that room, so we met back up with Dani and Emily and decided to go walk around the town. Kyoto is such a cute town and I instantly fell in love. We found our way to a random shrine called Yasaka-Jinja and it was beautiful! We then slowly made our way back for dinner in an hour, but we were too hungry and decided to get some sushi and drinks. I never got sick of sushi!

Back at the ryokan we changed into robes for dinner and sat down on a pillow on the floor as they served our group of 9 girls dish after dish. It was an amazing dinner, but I definitely think something I ate had gluten in it because my stomach was a bit rumbly after eating. WORTH IT. It's difficult to communicate my allergy but I have printed out cards in each language that describes it. It's worked quite well so far! We utilized the ryokan's wifi after dinner, then decided to go back to the sushi place right down the street which had a 2 hour unlimited drink special for very cheap. After taking full advantage of that, we went down the street with some new Canadian friends we met and decided to karaoke! Japan is full of karaoke bars (well, they're not really bars: you go to a private room with your friends that has a tv and you pick each song) and before coming to Japan I knew I had to go to one, even though I have stuff like that back home. It was tons of fun and we stayed out till 3am. I went back to the ryokan but the doors were locked, the lights were off, and Emily and I started freaking out. After contemplating all the possibilities like climbing through windows and crazy stuff like that, a man and lady finally came to the door after I knocked a bit. They never told us of any curfew so I still don't know why it was closed! I passed out and slept amazingly that night.

DAY 5

We checked out of the ryokan after an amazing Japanese breakfast and made our way to the bus stop to go to Kinkaku-Jin, The Golden Pavilion. It was beautiful and we got amazing pics, then we made our way to the Bamboo Forest. We ran into so many SAS'ers there and took a few more cool pictures, then I switched groups to go with the people going back to the ship rather than the ones going off to Osaka. I had a field lab the next day for class, and that means you have to be back on the ship before midnight the night before or you get dock time. We took the train and made it back to the ship with plenty of time to spare.

DAY 6

I had a field lab for my Consumer Behavior class and it was amazing! We took a bus a couple hours away to where it was snowing! We first ate lunch at a place by a Kobe beef farm that was probably THE BEST MEAL I'VE EVER HAD. They served us so much food and then brought out a huge platter of Kobe beef that we cook on our own special table-grill and lots of veggies to go with. We then went to a farm and saw the cows (after eating them…I felt kinda guilty I guess haha) and then went to a Sake brewery to learn how it was made and sample some sake. Attending this field lab and writing up a paper about it is worth 20% of my grade in that class. Pretty freaking awesome.

So those are my Japan adventures! Japan is an amazing country I had never before had the desire to go to, but I absolutely fell in love with it. I had nowhere near enough time there and would love to come back someday. I am currently in Vietnam and will post Japan pics soon and write up my China post. Sayanara!
#End

Hawaii pics

Pink Wine & Salty Cake

The 12 day stretch across the Pacific Ocean from Hawaii to Japan was a LONG one. People started getting very anxious to get off the ship and explore a new land. I turned 21 on January 24^th and it was the absolute rockiest day we have had yet. I got sung to 5 gajillion times, got terribly sea sick and took a long nap, and had dinner with some friends that included a gluten free cake that my mom ordered for me. As we all took our 1^st bites of this special gluten free cake, we all just stopped chewing and immediately spit it out. It was apparently their first time trying to make gluten free cake, and it tasted like they forgot the sugar and put in a TON of salt instead. It was awful. 2 of the kids in my extended family came over and started running around offering slices to people saying it was good and laughing at their reactions when they tasted how bad it was. I appreciate SAS for trying to accommodate to my allergy, but no one could eat it so we just asked for ice cream instead and then got a ton of vanilla ice cream! I then had my first "legal" drink which was this amazing pink wine. All-in-all, I will always remember my 21^st as the one with Pink Wine and Salty Cake. Japan post coming soon!

Hawaii & The lost day

I have been to Hawaii multiple times so I basically just wanted to get off the ship, wander, and not spend too much money. A lot of friends had field programs & field labs for class, so Bryan and I decided to go off and have a spontaneous day. It is such an amazing feeling being on land after a solid week on the ship, and I felt so free because this was the first time I'd really been anywhere without parents! (Yes, I am a baby.) There is not much to do in the city of Hilo on the big island of Hawaii, but Bryan and I found a bus called "hoppa-on hoppa-off" and it was $20 for a day pass. We got off at the first stop, The Hilo Farmer's Market, and ran into tons of SAS'ers and just wandered around and bought random exotic fruits and my favorite, macadamia nuts! We then went back on the bus to Rainbow Falls but only stayed a bit because we got really hungry and went back to town to eat amazing Hawaiian tacos at a restaurant called Pineapples. After wandering through town some more and finding a place to buy a keychain (I'm getting one in every place I go to-I started doing it 2.5 years ago on a Mediterranean Cruise I went on), we got back on the bus and went to Richardson's Beach. This is a black sand beach that was full of SAS'ers and we just hung out with people and eventually made it in the cold water. I have a very awkward GoPro video of me running in the water…oh how I love my GoPro.

Overall, it was a very relaxed day and it was nice to just go with the flow and not plan anything out. Hawaiian culture is so laid back and I look forward to the next time I go there!

On another note, we are approaching the International Date Line! It is currently 11:25pm on January 18, 2015, but when it hits midnight we are going to skip forward an entire day and go right to January 20^th. So January 19^th, 2015 will not exist for me…it's so weird and cool to think about. So we arrive in Yokohama, Japan on January 26^th and I cannot be more excited. I also turn 21 on January 24^th but I will still be on the ship, so I plan to celebrate my birthday in Tokyo! 

The first week on board

LEAVING: I've only been on SAS for 9 days and it has felt like an eternity. It is crazy how being without social media you truly get to know people and have deep conversations with them, especially at meal times. The bonfire Kaity & I organized in San Diego the day before we left was a great idea, and everyone was just so cool and friendly! I left the next day for Ensenada, Mexico at what was supposed to be 9am but left actually at like 10:30am. The border took forever and we didn't actually get to the ship until 3 or 4 hours later, but Michelle & I were just dozing off most the time or staring out the window.

MY ROOM: it's TINY. I have an outside triple so I have 2 other roommates named Aishwyra (probably spelled that wrong) and Yesenia and I absolutely love them. The first few days we were napping like crazy to adjust to sea life. I guess we were kind of seasick but it was in a more foggy head and constantly tired way. The beds are SO comfortable and the ship rocks you to sleep like a baby.

ORIENTATION & ACTIVITIES: we had orientation the day after we got on the ship all day. It lasted at least 12 hours and the majority of the stuff I already knew. We are separated into different "seas" which are teams based on where our room is located. I'm the Adriatic Sea. So, people can come up with clubs on board and there's been a lot! So far I have joined: "Jews on a cruise", YoungLife, yogis abroad, cardio kickboxing, acapella (started yesterday and I am soooo excited about it-having acapella withdrawals), and Zumba starts today! I might join a film society/multimedia thing also. There's always things going on and people laying out on Deck 7 by the pool, so you can say it's a tadddd hard to focus in school.

A TYPICAL DAY: days are split up between "A days" and "B days". We have class every single day when not in port, even on weekends. I have 1 class on A days and 3 on B days. Here's my schedule today to just give you a basic idea of my new sea life.

-Sleep in! Wake up at 10ish, shower and chill until lunch around 11:30/12. Lunch & hang out outside until class around 1. International Marketing class 1-2:15. Send emails, try to do homework and chill. Zumba 4:15-5:15. 5:30 Shabbat. Dinner around 6/6:30. Game of Thrones marathon crammed into Brian's room for an hour or two. Pub night at 9pm (drinking age is 18 on board so we are allowed 2 glasses of wine or beer per night, and 3 more on pub night. Each drink is $4 and I have already spent $24…oopsies)

That's about it for ship life. Classes are good, people are friendly, the ship already feels like home, and it's only just begun!

It's the Final Countdownnnn

So my bus leaves from San Diego to go to Ensenada, Mexico where the ship is docked on Wednesday, January 7^th at 9am. That’s in 2 days. But I leave for San Diego tomorrow to just hang out and meet up with people at a bonfire we planned. You could say I’m kind of freaking out. I’m way more excited than nervous, but I just want to get settled on the ship already and see who my roommates are! I've been slowly gathering everything I need and have packed my 2 duffle bags completely full (probably brought more clothes than was recommended-oops) and just have to get the final bits into my backpack. 

Yes, my room is pretty messy and chaotic but that will go away today. So in honor of waiting literally a solid year to go on this, I'm going to go through the 5 phases people (or just I) went through when waiting to go on SAS:

1. The happy phase: this is right when you get that amazing email that you have been accepted. You tell everyone you know that you've been accepted to this amazing program, start memorizing your ports, researching them, and stalking previous voyager's blogs, but your embarkation day is still far away. 

2. The anticipation phase: you feel like you've watched every video possible and read every blog out there, anything having to do with SAS. You just can't wait to get on board but reality hits and it's still like 10 months away. This is by far the longest phase. 

3. The chaotic phase: SAS decides to throw everything at you about 3 months before your voyage. If you look at my previous blog posts, you'll see how much happened in such a short period of time. You have to apply for and obtain your visas, register for classes, sign up for field programs, find out if you got any scholarships, actually pay, and it's just chaotic. Trying to do well in school becomes VERY difficult.

4. The preparation phase: around Thanksgiving break, you realize you leave in a little over a month and grab random stuff you think you need on black friday. This is when I got my GoPro and realized that it was actually finally time to make a packing list and start buying stuff. This lasted up until....yesterday.

5. The anxious freaking out OMG this is actually happening phase: this begins during the preparation phase and intensifies each day.You just can't believe that you're actually about to go on Semester at Sea. It's felt like a dream and still doesn't seem real. As of today, I'm at the peak of this phase and I'm pretty sure I won't be able to sleep tonight.

That's all for now, folks. Next time I post I will have set sail and will be somewhere in the middle of the ocean...or Hawaii! :D

P.S. I forgot to write earlier, if you would like to contact me, my ship email that I can use as often as I want is: hannah.olds.sp15@semesteratsea.org
I would love to keep in contact with people so feel free to email me anytime! I'd lastly like to thank everyone, especially my parents, for financially supporting me and making this voyage possible. Thank you so much!