SAS Travelogue-Japan

SAS Travelogue-Japan

by Rebecca Smith

Ohaio gozaimasu!!! OK, so these journal entries are only going to be once a port I think. So I apologize about how long they are, but I repeat, internet is hard to come by, and is especially expensive. Anywho, I just wanted to let you all know, in case I didn't last time, that you can check on my progress and our itinerary on semesteratsea.com. Go there, click on Voyages, then click Fall 2002. From there you can cruise around and figure out what you want to know. Now, onto bigger and brighter things...like Japan. We docked in Kobe on Friday the 13th......ooooohhhh scary. Anywho, On that day I went to a baseball game. It was pretty neat. We met a player for one of the teams who was American, he was born in Idaho, lived in Houston, and played for Oklahoma, but I guess he got bored of playing for the American minors, cuz now he's in Japan. The fans were not as many in number as I had expected, but they made up for it in enthusiasm. This is a major thing if you know anything about the Japanese people. They tend to be very shy and demure. They only speak when spoken to, and even then speak very quietly. They are wary of speaking English no matter how well they know it, for fear that they will make a mistake. They do not like to draw attention to themselves and do not like to pay attention to others for fear of embarrassing them. So surprisingly, they turn into a different group of people at a baseball game. Each team has their own cheering section. By this I mean, there is a group that sits together in a section.....like 100 people, and wear the team colors, there are flag wavers, a band, screaming, clapping, and they have a cheer or song specially made for each player. They go nuts. I am surprised the leader didn't lose his voiuce after 5 minutes of screaming like he did. They taught us some cheers, which for the life of me I can't remember now, and we taught them how to do the wave. They got pretty good and it made it half way around the stadium by the time it started to rain. None of us were prepared for the rain, and the game got rained out, so we left. Next day I went on a city tour, which I only paid $10 for (extremely low price for Japan for anything) and I got more than my money's worth. First they took us to a museum dedicated to restoring and preventing earthquake damage to the area as a result of a 1995 earthquake that destroyed the Kobe area, registering 7.3 on the Richter. It was reminiscent of the Holocaust Museum in its depressing and shock factors. Then they took us to a Sake brewery, which was cool and we got to taste test, however, we are prohibited from bringing outside alcohol onto the ship, so none of us could buy any to bring home. So I bought some sake cups instead. Then they took us to a beach resort for lunch, which was interesting, the lunch that is. I ate vegetarian and it was not very vegetarian since they gave us some raw squid with spicy mustard. I guess they have a different concept of vegetarianism than we do. I didn't care, but one of the professors I was eating with was making some sarcastic remarks and wouldn't eat anything else because he was convinced it was all raw fish. PS...I am pretty good with the chopsticks if I do say so myself. Then we went to the world's longest suspension bridge and walked on water (they have a section that is floored with glass so that if you step out onto it, it looks like you are walking on water). Then they took us up a mountain in cable cars to see the Ninobiki gardens. It was beautiful, but some of the girls in my cable car were almost hyperventilating with fear. The view isn't as pretty when the background noise is tempered with heavy breathing and a high pitched whine. Oh well. Our tour guides were so sweet, and the lead lady cried when they dropped us off. It was so touching. The next day I left for my homestay. Again I only paid $10, and again it exceeded its value. My family was very nice, but only my okasa (host mom) spoke English. When they picked me up, their friends the Fujimoto's, drove and they spoke a little English and a lot of Spanish. They took me shopping and I bought a kimono for Samantha for a really good deal (I tired to find us some cool purses Sam, but Japan was super expensive, maybe next port). That night they threw a birthday party because my host mom's was on the 10th, and my host sister, Saya, will be on the 28th and mine is on the 26th. All their friends and neighbors came over and there was sooooo much food and they were so excited and wanted me to try everything and like it. I am so confused as to how these people eat so much and yet most don't weigh in at over 100 lbs. I just don't get it. All the adults were very excited to speak English to me, because the group that sponsored the homestays is a language exchange club, called the International Hippo Club, apparently we have them in the States too. The kids were more apprehensive, they all said please and thank you, hello and good bye, and "My name is ..." but not much more. The Fujimoto's brought all three of their children over. Their oldest is a boy about TJ's age and already in medical school. The middle child, Aoi, is only older than Sam by 10 days, can you believe it, her birthday is July 23, 1986. I saw that and told them about you, Sam. They wanted to hear all about my family and about me. I said everything in as clear English as I could so they could understand. There were so many kids, and one little boy was only 11 mos. He was kind of scared of me and kind of curious about me. Japan is a very homogenous society, so they don't see many foreigners, and when they do, they are typically Asian in ancestry. So I am anomaly in their house. So the little boy was staring at me and when I would look at him he would hide his face. Then he got more comfortable with me and was playing peek-a-boo with me. He was so cute. Everyone was so nice. It made me miss my family. TJ, I asked my host brother about Dragonball to see if I could find you some cool Japanese memorabilia and he said, "That show is old. Its so old, I can't even remember it, I was only 5 when it was on." So I guess our Japanese imports are behind the times, but that's okay because they are just getting Full House and 90210 in Japan now, so I guess we're even. But they do get the Cartoon Network there, and they let me watch Dexter's Laboratory in English, but I think my host sister would have rather watched in Japanese, but she was doing homework, so her mom wouldn't let her. The next day we rode bikes to Osaka Castle (oh yeah I forgot to say my host family lived in Osaka). It was so humid and gross, but it was nice to ride bikes, even if it was mostly uphill and the heat was unbearable. The castle was awesome, but I wish I knew more about Japanese history so I could understand the museum better. Then we went to the NHK building, the national broadcasting station of Japan, which was right next to the Osaka History Museum (which PS was like 22 stories high, so I guess Osaka has a lot of history). We were headed for the History museum, which would have been cool, but it was quite late and the museum was so large, and there was a charge to get in, and I felt bad, so I asked if we could go to the NHK portion of the building instead (it was free, fewer exhibits, and I have to do a write up about it for a class, so it was a better choice anyway). We watched a Japanese soap being taped. My host mom presented the news from off a teleprompter, and my host brother and sister learned about blue screen technology by participating in a demonstration. It was very interactive, and I suspect more fun for the kids than a history museum. OK, so last day in Japan, I went to an internet café and couldn't get my online journal to work, and all the error messages were in Japanese, so I don't even know why, so I checked my mail, talked to Joe Ardito for a couple of minutes, and then my computer decided it didn't feel like working anymore, so I am writing this on the ship and will post it at our very expensive internet café. So you should appreciate me and my efforts. The girls and I went to the 100 Yen Store, the equivalent of a Dollar Store, and made a killing. I love cheapy shopping. I mean, y'all know I love shopping, but getting good deals is even more of a rush for me. So fabulous. I bought so much stuff. Then I went back to the ship and now I am here writing this. Tips for future travelers: Funniest thing about Japan-the only Americans we saw were the thousand of us from SAS walking around Kobe, I am pretty sure these are the only Americans the people of Kobe saw too, judging by their reactions Necessary info-the only ATM's that accept your American cards are in the post office or the Citibank, not many places take credit, most of your money will be spent in Japan cuz everything is expensive, most people speak English but will say that they don't because they are not very confident in their skills, so ask questions, and don't say anything stupid cuz they understand Interesting tidbits-most clubs have a dress code or a Japanese only policy, also covers and drinks are expensive, so either find some local to show you where to go or be prepared to drop up to $42 per drink My Advice-install a budget for yourself, talk to the people, do some planning so you can do as much as possible, and DON'T sleep in, you're burning daylight, there is too much to see and do, you'll miss it if you waste time putzing around, and you don't need to spend a lot to have a good experience OK y'all, till Shanghai, this is Beki, signing off, love ya, miss ya, see ya in Dec. Sayonara!!!!