Posted By Nicki.
That’s the grand total folks for what it took to get me around the world and back. So I’ve been home for just about a month now, and I’m finally getting to writing this sum up blog…wow, talk about a slacker. Props to those of you who actually read this, you’re awesome.
In any case, I figured to sum things up, I should make a list of sorts, a la let’s go picks. So, here we go.
Best Place to get Orange Juice for under 40 cents: Marrakech, Morroco, and it’s the best stuff you’ve ever tasted.
Most comfortable train ride: Bangkok to Chang Mai, Thailand.
Favorite Country on the Whole: Thailand. (But Spain will always have a special place in my heart.)
Best Hot Dog: Prague, Czech Republic
Best places to buy a million things for under a buck: Sunday night market, Chang Mai, Thailand.
Best place to freak out Emily by making her ride on a motor bike: Thailand!
Most Impressive Landscapes: New Zealand
Best place to drink sangria by the gallon in a stein: Las Ramblas, Barcelona, Spain.
Best Sangria: Toledo, Spain, Bar La Boveda
Coldest place for my feet: Fox Glacier, New Zealand
Favorite small town charm: Cesky Kromlov, Czech Republic
Best place to get harassed by slimy men: El Jadida, Morocco
Most amazing sunrise: Merzuga Dunes, Morocco
My favorite view: On the bluffs overlooking Toledo, Spain
Favorite Tourist Site: Temple of the Emerald Buddha, Bangkok, Thailand
Best Food Market: Djema el Fna, Central Medina Foodstalls, Marrakech, Morocco
Best place to eat the most amazing shrimp with your feet in sand overlooking the ocean: Ndor (sp?) Island, Senegal
Best Wine: Eger, Hungary
Best place to spot a mullet: Spain! It’s all about the fashion.
That’s all I can come up with for now. On a whole, this trip was the experience of a lifetime, and to date one of the most incredible things I’ve had the opportunity to do. I already feel like planning my next trip…on the list: Southeast Asia or South and Central America. And if I get my way, much more of Africa. Travel is something that has become a huge part of my heart and soul and has helped me figure out the person I am today. The people I have met and the incredible landscapes I have seen, from towering mountain tops and frozen glaciers to endless deserts and tropical beaches, never cease to inspire me.
A special thanks to Em for her endless patience with my indecisiveness and for being the best travel buddy a girl could ask for. You will always be my travel B.F.F.!! And another thanks to Alex for joining our little journey, all my love, thank you for always making me smile.
”Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” — Mark Twain
“Without new experiences, something inside of us sleeps. The sleeper must awaken.” — Frank Herber
Persue your daydreams.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
The Golden Chopsticks
Posted by Emily
We left Ellen's town on Sunday and headed to Kanazawa, a much larger town to the SW of Murakami. We arrived there a bit too late in the afternoon to check out the tourist sights so we did a lot of aimless walking around, part of which involved looking for a decent place to eat. We thought that we were following the directions in the guide book, but anyone who has ever traveled with a guide book knows that they aren't always correct or easy to follow. We found a restaurant that was supposed to be near the one that we were looking for but never the one we wanted. It was also pouring rain so that didn't really help the search. We finally found a place that was open (it was also about 4:30 pm so it was not the ideal time to be looking for a restaurant).
After dinner we walked randomly around the streets near downtown, coming across a park near the famous garden in the city, the contemporary art museum (closed but still cool to look in through the giant glass windows), the mall (I never thought I would see so many designer stores in one spot....I don't think that was abnormal) and finally back to our hotel.
We got up quite early the next day in order to make it to a gold leaf shop early enough in the morning so that we would be able to make our own gold leaf chop sticks. It ended up being pretty long and hot walk but we successfully found the store that we were looking for and got to sit in the air-conditioning once we arrived. Gold leaf is 1/10 mm thick gold. It is created by repeatedly pounding the gold into thinner and thinner sheets over several days and using several different processes. The result is sheet of gold so thin that it is transparent. The store connected to the little shop where you can make the chopsticks is full of many different crafts created using the golf leaf: chopsticks, plates, pottery, golf balls, beads, etc. Most items are only covered partially. The largest and most expensive items were the large screens (the kind that you would put on the floor in the corner of a room as a decoration) decorated with intricate gold designs. Some cost as much as $22,000,
There were other more unusual items as well, such as tea, soap, lotion and candy with gold leaf flecks in them. We were served the tea as we were browsing around the shop. I think it is supposed to be good for rheumatism.
The bathroom also deserves a mention. The walls were also covered in the gold leaf, giving the appearance that the room was created from gold bricks. The door, door knob, decorations and even the air freshener were gold leaf. After using the bathroom, we washed our hands with a bar of gold leaf soap. I think it was right up there on the list of fanciest bathrooms I have ever been in. It might sound gaudy, but it was actually quite beautiful, and I'm not usually a big fan of gold.
The actual process of making the chopsticks was not as complicated as I expected. We each chose 2 chopsticks - either red or black. Sarah chose red and I chose black. The next stuff was to place something like masking tape over the parts of the chopstick that we didn't want gold leaf on. A Japanese couple came in after us and finished a little before us. Because we were so good at it. Once the tape designs were done, the end of the chopstick with the tape on it (the upper part) was dipped in a very thin glue and let to dry for a bit. Then the chopstick was rolled slowly over the gold leaf until it had covered the circumference of the chopstick. This used about half the sheet. The same thing was done with the other chopstick. They were then rubbed/dusted with a paintbrush to remove the excess gold leaf and ensure that the gold leaf would adhere properly to the places without the tape. We were encouraged to taste the flakes of gold that came off. It didn't taste like anything but would be a really cool thing to get stuck in your teeth: "What's that in your teeth?" "Oh, that's just a flake of gold." Then the tape was peeled off and a final coating of lacquer or some such sealant was applied.
They turned out pretty well, though I liked Sarah's better. She had a spiral design with tiny leaves on it. Mine was kind of random curvy lines, which was cool in theory, but it used kind of a lot of tape and I didn't press it down hard enough so the edges weren't distinct enough for my taste. It was a very good activity to do even though there was a language barrier because things could be demonstrated that couldn't be explained to us in English.
We spent the rest of the day at the famous Kenroku-en Gardens, one of Japan's top three gardens (they really like to rank things here). It is a very beautiful, quiet (except for areas crowded with tourists) oasis in the middle of the city. There are several lakes, cherry and plum trees (weren't in bloom), pines, stone pathways and bridges. Sarah's guide book (Let's Go) says, "The garden's name evokes the six features of perfection - antiquity, artifice, seclusion, spaciousness, abundant water, and sweeping views - necessary to any true Japanese garden."
Then it was off to the train station and on to Takefu, the small town where Dan, a good friend of Ellen and Sarah from college, in living and teaching English with JET. It's kind of in the middle of Japan near the coast and about 2 hours north of Kyoto. I wouldn't know where that was without looking at a map so don't feel bad if you have to. I didn't even know where Tokyo was when I landed here.
We left Ellen's town on Sunday and headed to Kanazawa, a much larger town to the SW of Murakami. We arrived there a bit too late in the afternoon to check out the tourist sights so we did a lot of aimless walking around, part of which involved looking for a decent place to eat. We thought that we were following the directions in the guide book, but anyone who has ever traveled with a guide book knows that they aren't always correct or easy to follow. We found a restaurant that was supposed to be near the one that we were looking for but never the one we wanted. It was also pouring rain so that didn't really help the search. We finally found a place that was open (it was also about 4:30 pm so it was not the ideal time to be looking for a restaurant).
After dinner we walked randomly around the streets near downtown, coming across a park near the famous garden in the city, the contemporary art museum (closed but still cool to look in through the giant glass windows), the mall (I never thought I would see so many designer stores in one spot....I don't think that was abnormal) and finally back to our hotel.
We got up quite early the next day in order to make it to a gold leaf shop early enough in the morning so that we would be able to make our own gold leaf chop sticks. It ended up being pretty long and hot walk but we successfully found the store that we were looking for and got to sit in the air-conditioning once we arrived. Gold leaf is 1/10 mm thick gold. It is created by repeatedly pounding the gold into thinner and thinner sheets over several days and using several different processes. The result is sheet of gold so thin that it is transparent. The store connected to the little shop where you can make the chopsticks is full of many different crafts created using the golf leaf: chopsticks, plates, pottery, golf balls, beads, etc. Most items are only covered partially. The largest and most expensive items were the large screens (the kind that you would put on the floor in the corner of a room as a decoration) decorated with intricate gold designs. Some cost as much as $22,000,
There were other more unusual items as well, such as tea, soap, lotion and candy with gold leaf flecks in them. We were served the tea as we were browsing around the shop. I think it is supposed to be good for rheumatism.
The bathroom also deserves a mention. The walls were also covered in the gold leaf, giving the appearance that the room was created from gold bricks. The door, door knob, decorations and even the air freshener were gold leaf. After using the bathroom, we washed our hands with a bar of gold leaf soap. I think it was right up there on the list of fanciest bathrooms I have ever been in. It might sound gaudy, but it was actually quite beautiful, and I'm not usually a big fan of gold.
The actual process of making the chopsticks was not as complicated as I expected. We each chose 2 chopsticks - either red or black. Sarah chose red and I chose black. The next stuff was to place something like masking tape over the parts of the chopstick that we didn't want gold leaf on. A Japanese couple came in after us and finished a little before us. Because we were so good at it. Once the tape designs were done, the end of the chopstick with the tape on it (the upper part) was dipped in a very thin glue and let to dry for a bit. Then the chopstick was rolled slowly over the gold leaf until it had covered the circumference of the chopstick. This used about half the sheet. The same thing was done with the other chopstick. They were then rubbed/dusted with a paintbrush to remove the excess gold leaf and ensure that the gold leaf would adhere properly to the places without the tape. We were encouraged to taste the flakes of gold that came off. It didn't taste like anything but would be a really cool thing to get stuck in your teeth: "What's that in your teeth?" "Oh, that's just a flake of gold." Then the tape was peeled off and a final coating of lacquer or some such sealant was applied.
They turned out pretty well, though I liked Sarah's better. She had a spiral design with tiny leaves on it. Mine was kind of random curvy lines, which was cool in theory, but it used kind of a lot of tape and I didn't press it down hard enough so the edges weren't distinct enough for my taste. It was a very good activity to do even though there was a language barrier because things could be demonstrated that couldn't be explained to us in English.
We spent the rest of the day at the famous Kenroku-en Gardens, one of Japan's top three gardens (they really like to rank things here). It is a very beautiful, quiet (except for areas crowded with tourists) oasis in the middle of the city. There are several lakes, cherry and plum trees (weren't in bloom), pines, stone pathways and bridges. Sarah's guide book (Let's Go) says, "The garden's name evokes the six features of perfection - antiquity, artifice, seclusion, spaciousness, abundant water, and sweeping views - necessary to any true Japanese garden."
Then it was off to the train station and on to Takefu, the small town where Dan, a good friend of Ellen and Sarah from college, in living and teaching English with JET. It's kind of in the middle of Japan near the coast and about 2 hours north of Kyoto. I wouldn't know where that was without looking at a map so don't feel bad if you have to. I didn't even know where Tokyo was when I landed here.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Eating, Singing, Festivale
Posted by Emily
I guess it's about time for another update. I've been slacking a little. I'm getting a little tired of blogging about everything that I have been up to but I know it's could for people who want to know what I'm doing and it will be good to look at later. So I'll power through. I have surprisingly little time left on this trip (I got back to MN on July 23).
The day after we wandered around Murakami, Ellen had the day off from work because of the large festival that was taking place in her town. We headed over to it during the middle of the day for lunch, walked around a bit and had some Japanese festival food (nothing too interesting during the first trip...some fried chicken balls, fruit flavored slush stuff and some crappy crepe-wannabe thing). There were booths set up on several blocked off streets, some with games, some selling things and some with foods. Overall, it didn't look too out of the ordinary. I think that my favorite item of sale was the inflatable "bottles" that little girls wore as on their backs. Imagine a large replica of a pop bottle, but inflatable and strapped to the back on a little Japanese girl. Very strange and very amusing. I don't really understand the appeal.
Not much was going on during the afternoon we basically lounged around for the day and then went back to the festival in the evening. We had dinner there, this time much more interesting than lunch. We started with octopus balls, random items mixed together with mini octopi, covered with a batter and cooked in circular molds, making a ball. A brown sauce is put over the top and they are eaten with a skewer stick. I was pretty excited to try them but didn't end up liking them all that much. Next it was on to okonomiyaki, a Japanese pancake type deal that involved more random ingredients all jumbled together and cooked. What was in ours? Ummm....lettuce, egg, corn, bacon-type meat, fish flakes, more brown sauce. Probably more things that I couldn't identify. Again, I had higher hopes. It pretty much all took on this strange fishy taste. I like fish was this was the negative fishy taste that many people hate about "fishier" tasting fish. Does that make any sense?
After eating, we went to look at the shrines of all of the in Murakami. Each neighborhood had a 2 story shrine on wheels, many of which are over 200 years old (I think?). They are pulled through the streets by men holding long ropes attached to the shrine, sometimes straight and sometimes back and forth across the road. They are lit by paper lanterns hanging from both levels. Children sit in the bottom level playing instruments. I think drunk men sit in the top (there's lots of sake drinking going on).
After having our fill of the shrines, we gathered together a group of Ellen's friends who are also English teachers, and went to do karaoke. Japanese karaoke is not like American karaoke where you to a bar and sing in front of all the people in the establishment. Here, a party room is rented for a group of people for a certain amount of time. I think we may have had about 12 people. It's nicer than just being in a bar because you have full control of the songs and don't have to deal with the embarrassment of singing in front of people that you don't know. It also allows you to sing and dance on the chairs. That's probably not encouraged but we did it. It was a very good time.
I guess it's about time for another update. I've been slacking a little. I'm getting a little tired of blogging about everything that I have been up to but I know it's could for people who want to know what I'm doing and it will be good to look at later. So I'll power through. I have surprisingly little time left on this trip (I got back to MN on July 23).
The day after we wandered around Murakami, Ellen had the day off from work because of the large festival that was taking place in her town. We headed over to it during the middle of the day for lunch, walked around a bit and had some Japanese festival food (nothing too interesting during the first trip...some fried chicken balls, fruit flavored slush stuff and some crappy crepe-wannabe thing). There were booths set up on several blocked off streets, some with games, some selling things and some with foods. Overall, it didn't look too out of the ordinary. I think that my favorite item of sale was the inflatable "bottles" that little girls wore as on their backs. Imagine a large replica of a pop bottle, but inflatable and strapped to the back on a little Japanese girl. Very strange and very amusing. I don't really understand the appeal.
Not much was going on during the afternoon we basically lounged around for the day and then went back to the festival in the evening. We had dinner there, this time much more interesting than lunch. We started with octopus balls, random items mixed together with mini octopi, covered with a batter and cooked in circular molds, making a ball. A brown sauce is put over the top and they are eaten with a skewer stick. I was pretty excited to try them but didn't end up liking them all that much. Next it was on to okonomiyaki, a Japanese pancake type deal that involved more random ingredients all jumbled together and cooked. What was in ours? Ummm....lettuce, egg, corn, bacon-type meat, fish flakes, more brown sauce. Probably more things that I couldn't identify. Again, I had higher hopes. It pretty much all took on this strange fishy taste. I like fish was this was the negative fishy taste that many people hate about "fishier" tasting fish. Does that make any sense?
After eating, we went to look at the shrines of all of the in Murakami. Each neighborhood had a 2 story shrine on wheels, many of which are over 200 years old (I think?). They are pulled through the streets by men holding long ropes attached to the shrine, sometimes straight and sometimes back and forth across the road. They are lit by paper lanterns hanging from both levels. Children sit in the bottom level playing instruments. I think drunk men sit in the top (there's lots of sake drinking going on).
After having our fill of the shrines, we gathered together a group of Ellen's friends who are also English teachers, and went to do karaoke. Japanese karaoke is not like American karaoke where you to a bar and sing in front of all the people in the establishment. Here, a party room is rented for a group of people for a certain amount of time. I think we may have had about 12 people. It's nicer than just being in a bar because you have full control of the songs and don't have to deal with the embarrassment of singing in front of people that you don't know. It also allows you to sing and dance on the chairs. That's probably not encouraged but we did it. It was a very good time.
Friday, July 07, 2006
Murakami For Beginners
Posted by Emily
Wednesday Ellen had to work so Sarah and I were left to our own devices. We drove Ellen to the school where she was working for the day, watching closely the whole way there to make sure that we could correctly find our way back. Getting lost was not a very good option because there are not really any street signs and I doubt anyone would be able to point us in the right direction in English if we stopped to ask. We made it back just fine and since it was still early in the morning, we decided to hang out at Ellen's for a while and plan the rest of our time in Japan. We got that partially accomplished and have an idea of where we are going. There are a few more people that we are going to visit who are teaching English on that same program (JET - Japan Exchange Teaching) as Ellen. This is quite a good thing because there aren't really any budget accommodations here. A dorm bed costs about $30 if you are a member of Hosteling International. We aren't so we would have to pay $40 for a night in a dorm bed. That is a bad deal. For our first stop, Kanazawa, we will be staying in a business hotel. It was cheaper than the hostel for a double. Does that make any sense?
We did have access to Ellen's car for the day but we decided to walk around because it would be easier to stay oriented and have a better chance to look around. We started by visiting a house that used to belong to a samurai. There were no signs in English and the woman at the front desk kept trying to talk to us in Japanese, which didn't exactly work. Needless to say, we weren't quite sure of the significance of the things that we were looking at the whole time but it was interesting to see anyway. It was a traditional Japanese style house if nothing else, with tatami mats (tightly woven straw-type mats), very little furniture and sliding papers doors.
Next we walked around town looking for temples to visit but they seemed to be closed so we didn't go in. We could see into one of them because of the glass windows in the doors but there was a sign that couldn't read on the front steps so we didn't go in, assuming that the sign probably said something about not entering. I did see a Buddhist shrine inside. The shrine itself was similar to what I saw in Thailand but the surroundings themselves were more Japanese, obviously, with tatami mats and the like.
From there we walked a ways to the Salmon House and Museum. I think I said it before but this area is very famous for its salmon. We went to the Salmon House first and looked around at the very wide arrays of salmon products. I didn't sample any thins time. I think last time I managed to eat an organ. Or should I say, bite into and then immediately spit out an organ. It kind of smelled like a high school dissection project. Not something I want in my mouth! There were also other random merchandise and plenty of Hello Kitty paraphenalia. It really is everywhere here and people are crazy about Hello Kitty phone charms. Many of them reflect a certain region of Japan and what they are famous for. I bought Rice Farmer Kitty, Leaf-Wrapped Famous-Dessert-Of-The-Area Kitty and Pink-Bird-Sitting-In-Cracked-Egg-Shell Kitty. Very funny. We didn't actually end up going into the Salmon Museum because there was nothing in English.
By this time in the afternoon we were getting very hungry but hadn't managed to find a place to eat. We walked back into the center of town and found a shop that we had been to with Ellen's Japanese teacher a few days before. We went in because I wanted to by another of the really sure post cards that they have there. We ended up using our Japanese phrasebook to ask them where we could find a restaurant. Since we couldn't understand the answer, the guy ended up walking us there. Then the only thing that we knew how to order were soba noodles, so that's what we got. Maybe this doesn't sound very funny in retelling but the language barrier is pretty funny sometimes and it's quite funny to communicate with people by reading phrases out of a book.
That's about it for the day. We checked out another park and then headed back to Ellen's. We managed to not get lost, which I thought was a very good accomplishment. Although, I think getting lost might have been a funny communication situation. I'm sure we'll be getting ourselves into a lot of those in the coming days when we are no longer with Ellen!
Wednesday Ellen had to work so Sarah and I were left to our own devices. We drove Ellen to the school where she was working for the day, watching closely the whole way there to make sure that we could correctly find our way back. Getting lost was not a very good option because there are not really any street signs and I doubt anyone would be able to point us in the right direction in English if we stopped to ask. We made it back just fine and since it was still early in the morning, we decided to hang out at Ellen's for a while and plan the rest of our time in Japan. We got that partially accomplished and have an idea of where we are going. There are a few more people that we are going to visit who are teaching English on that same program (JET - Japan Exchange Teaching) as Ellen. This is quite a good thing because there aren't really any budget accommodations here. A dorm bed costs about $30 if you are a member of Hosteling International. We aren't so we would have to pay $40 for a night in a dorm bed. That is a bad deal. For our first stop, Kanazawa, we will be staying in a business hotel. It was cheaper than the hostel for a double. Does that make any sense?
We did have access to Ellen's car for the day but we decided to walk around because it would be easier to stay oriented and have a better chance to look around. We started by visiting a house that used to belong to a samurai. There were no signs in English and the woman at the front desk kept trying to talk to us in Japanese, which didn't exactly work. Needless to say, we weren't quite sure of the significance of the things that we were looking at the whole time but it was interesting to see anyway. It was a traditional Japanese style house if nothing else, with tatami mats (tightly woven straw-type mats), very little furniture and sliding papers doors.
Next we walked around town looking for temples to visit but they seemed to be closed so we didn't go in. We could see into one of them because of the glass windows in the doors but there was a sign that couldn't read on the front steps so we didn't go in, assuming that the sign probably said something about not entering. I did see a Buddhist shrine inside. The shrine itself was similar to what I saw in Thailand but the surroundings themselves were more Japanese, obviously, with tatami mats and the like.
From there we walked a ways to the Salmon House and Museum. I think I said it before but this area is very famous for its salmon. We went to the Salmon House first and looked around at the very wide arrays of salmon products. I didn't sample any thins time. I think last time I managed to eat an organ. Or should I say, bite into and then immediately spit out an organ. It kind of smelled like a high school dissection project. Not something I want in my mouth! There were also other random merchandise and plenty of Hello Kitty paraphenalia. It really is everywhere here and people are crazy about Hello Kitty phone charms. Many of them reflect a certain region of Japan and what they are famous for. I bought Rice Farmer Kitty, Leaf-Wrapped Famous-Dessert-Of-The-Area Kitty and Pink-Bird-Sitting-In-Cracked-Egg-Shell Kitty. Very funny. We didn't actually end up going into the Salmon Museum because there was nothing in English.
By this time in the afternoon we were getting very hungry but hadn't managed to find a place to eat. We walked back into the center of town and found a shop that we had been to with Ellen's Japanese teacher a few days before. We went in because I wanted to by another of the really sure post cards that they have there. We ended up using our Japanese phrasebook to ask them where we could find a restaurant. Since we couldn't understand the answer, the guy ended up walking us there. Then the only thing that we knew how to order were soba noodles, so that's what we got. Maybe this doesn't sound very funny in retelling but the language barrier is pretty funny sometimes and it's quite funny to communicate with people by reading phrases out of a book.
That's about it for the day. We checked out another park and then headed back to Ellen's. We managed to not get lost, which I thought was a very good accomplishment. Although, I think getting lost might have been a funny communication situation. I'm sure we'll be getting ourselves into a lot of those in the coming days when we are no longer with Ellen!
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Guest Starring Sarah
Posted by Sarah
MURAKAMI, JP, 22:45:00
I think I've got some dried, salted salmon in my nose.
MURAKAMI, JP, 22:45:00
I think I've got some dried, salted salmon in my nose.
Back To School
Posted by Emily
Yesterday we spent the day at one of Ellen's schools where we were entertained by cute Japanese first and second graders while Ellen taught them English. The lesson for the day was singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat", learning the names of school supplies, and then playing school supply bingo. There was lots of yelling involved. I am always amazed at the amount of energy that young children have. There is a morning and an afternoon recess and children were running around playing basketball and the like and even riding around on unicycles. It was very interesting to watch. There was also a Japanese calisthenics time (yes, we participated) and a cleaning time where all the students cleaned there assigned portion of the school. I was amazed.
Other than observing Ellen's classes, we were also invited to eat lunch with different fifth and sixth grade classes. We were split up for this because the students eat lunch in their own classrooms (hot lunch is served in each of the rooms by the students themselves....I don't think that would pass sanitary standards in the US). This made for awkward conversation because most of the students didn't speak much English and I obviously don't speak that much Japanese, though we have managed to pick up a few basic phrases. The teacher even made me give a little speech, but that was really no big deal because I don't think they could understand me anyway.
Overall the day was very interesting but tiring because of all the screaming children and lack of ability to communicate without help. We did get lots of cute pictures of the kids playing and sitting in class. I hope to share those eventually.
Yesterday we spent the day at one of Ellen's schools where we were entertained by cute Japanese first and second graders while Ellen taught them English. The lesson for the day was singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat", learning the names of school supplies, and then playing school supply bingo. There was lots of yelling involved. I am always amazed at the amount of energy that young children have. There is a morning and an afternoon recess and children were running around playing basketball and the like and even riding around on unicycles. It was very interesting to watch. There was also a Japanese calisthenics time (yes, we participated) and a cleaning time where all the students cleaned there assigned portion of the school. I was amazed.
Other than observing Ellen's classes, we were also invited to eat lunch with different fifth and sixth grade classes. We were split up for this because the students eat lunch in their own classrooms (hot lunch is served in each of the rooms by the students themselves....I don't think that would pass sanitary standards in the US). This made for awkward conversation because most of the students didn't speak much English and I obviously don't speak that much Japanese, though we have managed to pick up a few basic phrases. The teacher even made me give a little speech, but that was really no big deal because I don't think they could understand me anyway.
Overall the day was very interesting but tiring because of all the screaming children and lack of ability to communicate without help. We did get lots of cute pictures of the kids playing and sitting in class. I hope to share those eventually.
Land Of The Rising Sun
Posted by Emily
I landed in Japan at about 6:30 am and then proceeded to wander around the airport to look for the Starbucks where I was to meet Ellen. I figured it would be in the restaurant portion of the airport, on the 4th floor where there are no luggage carts allowed. So I ditched my luggage on the 3rd floor and took the escalator up to look. It was quite a long area and when I didn't find it, I headed back to the 3rd floor thinking that Ellen must have been mistaken. Well, finally I found it after dragging my crap all over the place and working up a sweat. I couldn't get the ATM I tried to work so I didn't have money so I sat outside the entrance and waited on my comfortable luggage cart.
Once she arrived, we headed down to the airport train station and into Tokyo to a hotel where Ellen and her friends had been staying over the weekend. The train ride was quite long and once we got into the city, they decided to have lunch at a place that was back along the train line from where we had just come. We walked back to the train station, went back in the same direction, got off and ate hamburgers (great first meal for Japan right, but oh well, they were good at least), went back to the airport to get Sarah, and got back on a train to Ellen's town. That was about it for the day since we got in to Ellen's town, Murakami, at about 9 pm. FYI, Tokyo was just as crowded and bustling as I expected it to be. The metro system is the most confusing I have ever seen and it will certainly be interesting to try to figure it out when Sarah and I are navigating on our own!
Since then, we have just been hanging out here with Ellen and seeing her town. It's not even in our guide books and there's not really all that much going on, but it's been nice and quiet to be in for a bit. Plus, it's quality Ellen time! We have hiked the small mountain behind her house (there are castle ruins there); eaten sushi (even the cheap stuff is amazing!); had dinner at the house of Ellen's Japanese teacher; was taken around the town by her the next day to see a laquerware museum/shop, a salmon house (lots of dried salmon hanging from the ceiling....the area is famous for its salmon), and green tea shop; and set off fireworks on the beach on the Fourth of July.
More details to come in the following posts.
I landed in Japan at about 6:30 am and then proceeded to wander around the airport to look for the Starbucks where I was to meet Ellen. I figured it would be in the restaurant portion of the airport, on the 4th floor where there are no luggage carts allowed. So I ditched my luggage on the 3rd floor and took the escalator up to look. It was quite a long area and when I didn't find it, I headed back to the 3rd floor thinking that Ellen must have been mistaken. Well, finally I found it after dragging my crap all over the place and working up a sweat. I couldn't get the ATM I tried to work so I didn't have money so I sat outside the entrance and waited on my comfortable luggage cart.
Once she arrived, we headed down to the airport train station and into Tokyo to a hotel where Ellen and her friends had been staying over the weekend. The train ride was quite long and once we got into the city, they decided to have lunch at a place that was back along the train line from where we had just come. We walked back to the train station, went back in the same direction, got off and ate hamburgers (great first meal for Japan right, but oh well, they were good at least), went back to the airport to get Sarah, and got back on a train to Ellen's town. That was about it for the day since we got in to Ellen's town, Murakami, at about 9 pm. FYI, Tokyo was just as crowded and bustling as I expected it to be. The metro system is the most confusing I have ever seen and it will certainly be interesting to try to figure it out when Sarah and I are navigating on our own!
Since then, we have just been hanging out here with Ellen and seeing her town. It's not even in our guide books and there's not really all that much going on, but it's been nice and quiet to be in for a bit. Plus, it's quality Ellen time! We have hiked the small mountain behind her house (there are castle ruins there); eaten sushi (even the cheap stuff is amazing!); had dinner at the house of Ellen's Japanese teacher; was taken around the town by her the next day to see a laquerware museum/shop, a salmon house (lots of dried salmon hanging from the ceiling....the area is famous for its salmon), and green tea shop; and set off fireworks on the beach on the Fourth of July.
More details to come in the following posts.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Good Bye Winter
Posted by Emily
In Japan, where it is summer at last. It's been a bit rainy but it's warm and I like it. Ellen tells me it gets cold in the houses here like it gets in New Zealand but here they have heated toilet seats. Boy oh boy! What an invention. They seem to even have them on in the summer.
The last few days in Auckland were not overly exciting but it was sunny and warm and beautiful. It's amazing the difference it makes when you travel to the north of a country (the equivalent of the south on the other side of the world, just in case you were in fact, confused). I spent one afternoon at the Auckland Museum, but it turns out that I was NOT in the mood to visit a museum, like more than the usual amount. Also, it was pretty much a less interesting version of the museum Nicki and I had seen in Wellington. I literally stayed for about an hour and then went to sit outside in the sunshine.
The next day I bummed around by the harbor, there was more sunshine, and I had more really good ice cream. Later in the afternoon, it was off to the airport and on to Japan. We were very spoiled on our previous flights on Qatar Airways and Emirates because I'm sure the flights I was on were nice, but I was disgusted by the food and annoyed by the fact that I couldn't choose what movie I wanted to watch when I wanted. They only had certain movies on and they were on a loop that repeated every 2.5 hours. Okay, I don't want that to sound snobby, it's just the truth. But I better get used to not being so spoiled because I doubt I will ever be able to afford flights on those airlines again.
In Japan, where it is summer at last. It's been a bit rainy but it's warm and I like it. Ellen tells me it gets cold in the houses here like it gets in New Zealand but here they have heated toilet seats. Boy oh boy! What an invention. They seem to even have them on in the summer.
The last few days in Auckland were not overly exciting but it was sunny and warm and beautiful. It's amazing the difference it makes when you travel to the north of a country (the equivalent of the south on the other side of the world, just in case you were in fact, confused). I spent one afternoon at the Auckland Museum, but it turns out that I was NOT in the mood to visit a museum, like more than the usual amount. Also, it was pretty much a less interesting version of the museum Nicki and I had seen in Wellington. I literally stayed for about an hour and then went to sit outside in the sunshine.
The next day I bummed around by the harbor, there was more sunshine, and I had more really good ice cream. Later in the afternoon, it was off to the airport and on to Japan. We were very spoiled on our previous flights on Qatar Airways and Emirates because I'm sure the flights I was on were nice, but I was disgusted by the food and annoyed by the fact that I couldn't choose what movie I wanted to watch when I wanted. They only had certain movies on and they were on a loop that repeated every 2.5 hours. Okay, I don't want that to sound snobby, it's just the truth. But I better get used to not being so spoiled because I doubt I will ever be able to afford flights on those airlines again.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Mulled Wine, Chocolate, Beautiful Scenery - All In A Day's Work In Queenstown
Posted by Emily
After Wanaka, it was on to Queenstown, which is apparently the adventure capital of the world. Not too much craziness for us though. It's really expensive! We arrived a few hours before the Winterfest Mardi Gras parade, so after resting up a bit, we headed out into the cold to check out the festivities. They started with a small parade featuring paper masks on sticks, people in colorful costumes on stilts and many children with paper lanterns. It was a far cry from the antics that take place during the real Mardi Gras parade! After this, it was a night of drinking mulled wine (to stay warm of course) and listening/dancing to various bands that were featured on the stage. Some of them were a little cheesy, but it was really fun. Dancing also helps to stay warm!
The next day we wandered around the town for a bit, checked out the beautiful lake at the center of town (see Nicki's blog for its name....) and took a gondola up to the top of the hill overlooking the city. Luckily, we had a beautiful clear day and could see the city, lake and surrounding mountains perfectly. Another feature at the top of the gondola is a luge course, and for $7, we couldn't pass it up. It involved sitting in plastic sled-like things on wheels with handlebars that acted as breaks when pulled back. It was a good time but there were too many curves and in order to stay in control, we couldn't go too fast. We also discovered an awesome chocolate shop that also served ice cream and hot chocolate in very unique flavors. I sampled the Mexican chili hot chocolate and the lavender hot chocolate. Both excellent. Who's seen the movie Chocolat? I've wanted to try chocolate and chili every since I saw that movie but had never actually seen it in a shop before
The next day we took a hike on the Queenstown Hill Walkway, which was beautiful but very icy at places. That made the hike a little less enjoyable. It was also a very cloudy day and so most of the view we could have had at the top of the view was cloaked in clouds. There was a kind of eerie looking clearing over the lake so at least we could see something. Then it was off to the airport in the afternoon for a flight back up to Auckland for our flights. Nicki just left for her flight back to the US and I will be leaving tomorrow for my flight to Tokyo. So! I better get off this computer and go entertain myself somewhere more interesting than this hostel.
After Wanaka, it was on to Queenstown, which is apparently the adventure capital of the world. Not too much craziness for us though. It's really expensive! We arrived a few hours before the Winterfest Mardi Gras parade, so after resting up a bit, we headed out into the cold to check out the festivities. They started with a small parade featuring paper masks on sticks, people in colorful costumes on stilts and many children with paper lanterns. It was a far cry from the antics that take place during the real Mardi Gras parade! After this, it was a night of drinking mulled wine (to stay warm of course) and listening/dancing to various bands that were featured on the stage. Some of them were a little cheesy, but it was really fun. Dancing also helps to stay warm!
The next day we wandered around the town for a bit, checked out the beautiful lake at the center of town (see Nicki's blog for its name....) and took a gondola up to the top of the hill overlooking the city. Luckily, we had a beautiful clear day and could see the city, lake and surrounding mountains perfectly. Another feature at the top of the gondola is a luge course, and for $7, we couldn't pass it up. It involved sitting in plastic sled-like things on wheels with handlebars that acted as breaks when pulled back. It was a good time but there were too many curves and in order to stay in control, we couldn't go too fast. We also discovered an awesome chocolate shop that also served ice cream and hot chocolate in very unique flavors. I sampled the Mexican chili hot chocolate and the lavender hot chocolate. Both excellent. Who's seen the movie Chocolat? I've wanted to try chocolate and chili every since I saw that movie but had never actually seen it in a shop before
The next day we took a hike on the Queenstown Hill Walkway, which was beautiful but very icy at places. That made the hike a little less enjoyable. It was also a very cloudy day and so most of the view we could have had at the top of the view was cloaked in clouds. There was a kind of eerie looking clearing over the lake so at least we could see something. Then it was off to the airport in the afternoon for a flight back up to Auckland for our flights. Nicki just left for her flight back to the US and I will be leaving tomorrow for my flight to Tokyo. So! I better get off this computer and go entertain myself somewhere more interesting than this hostel.
Winterfest in June?
Posted by Nicki
That’s right folks, good old southern hemisphere for you. Winter in June. And the Kiwi’s know how to have a blast in the snow…in fact they seem to love the cold as everytime we go into a backpackers we find the windows open, along with no heat. Crazy people.
Anyhow, Em and I spent the last few days in Queenstown and had a great time. The city seems to be like the Aspen of New Zealand. Ski town with lots of fancy places to stay, definitely it’s fair share of fine dining to go with them, but luckily for us, also a few good cheapies and affordable hostels. The city is nestled in the mountains a looks out upon Lake Wakitupo, just beautiful.
The first night we got in was their mardi gras celebration. The evening started off with a more family oriented version of a mardi gras parade with people in masks, big puppet type things, colorful characters on stilts and the like. Lots of kids carrying little hand made lanterns as well. Then everyone met up in the center square where there was a huge bandstand set up with free live music all evening. There was also tons of food and drink stalls set up down the street. Lots of cheap yummy food, everything from beef bomber sandwiches to pumpkin soup, to waffles to thai and indian food. They also had mulled wine by the truckload. Something I’d never had before but have taken a liking too. Hot red wine with some spices, tastes kind of like cider. Works wonders for keeping warm outdoors in a freezing cold winter night. Although I ended up dragging Emily in as I was shivering, we had a great night for the most part.
The next day had more festival stuff, including crazy races and relays, a slip and slide, a drag queen obstacle course race, and lots of races involving guys dressed up in snickers bar costumes. All super fun to watch. We also took a gondola up to the top of a mountain overlooking the town. Gorgeous views. We also LUGED! Really good time, not quite on ice like the olympics, but on a concrete track around the mountain on a kind of laid back sled on wheels kind of thing. It reminded me of those sit and skate orange scooter things from the 80’s, not sure if anyone else knows what I’m talking about. Anyhow, it was great fun.
Today we wandered around and went for a hike up in the hills. A lot of the hike was through super dense forest, kind creepy, I expected some sort of creature from lord of the rings to jump out at me. But it was fun, and although the clouds were to low to see much from the top, what we could see was cool. Only problem was the ice, a lot of the track was icy, and I managed to slip quite a few times, once majorly biting the dust for a nice muddy bum, shoot. So much for my one pair of clean pants. Opps.
Anyhow, I am headed to the states tomorrow! I’ll probably post one last blog once I’m back. I’ll have plenty of time on my million hours of planes to think of something clever I hope. But I’m excited to see you all soon! Have a wonderful day!
That’s right folks, good old southern hemisphere for you. Winter in June. And the Kiwi’s know how to have a blast in the snow…in fact they seem to love the cold as everytime we go into a backpackers we find the windows open, along with no heat. Crazy people.
Anyhow, Em and I spent the last few days in Queenstown and had a great time. The city seems to be like the Aspen of New Zealand. Ski town with lots of fancy places to stay, definitely it’s fair share of fine dining to go with them, but luckily for us, also a few good cheapies and affordable hostels. The city is nestled in the mountains a looks out upon Lake Wakitupo, just beautiful.
The first night we got in was their mardi gras celebration. The evening started off with a more family oriented version of a mardi gras parade with people in masks, big puppet type things, colorful characters on stilts and the like. Lots of kids carrying little hand made lanterns as well. Then everyone met up in the center square where there was a huge bandstand set up with free live music all evening. There was also tons of food and drink stalls set up down the street. Lots of cheap yummy food, everything from beef bomber sandwiches to pumpkin soup, to waffles to thai and indian food. They also had mulled wine by the truckload. Something I’d never had before but have taken a liking too. Hot red wine with some spices, tastes kind of like cider. Works wonders for keeping warm outdoors in a freezing cold winter night. Although I ended up dragging Emily in as I was shivering, we had a great night for the most part.
The next day had more festival stuff, including crazy races and relays, a slip and slide, a drag queen obstacle course race, and lots of races involving guys dressed up in snickers bar costumes. All super fun to watch. We also took a gondola up to the top of a mountain overlooking the town. Gorgeous views. We also LUGED! Really good time, not quite on ice like the olympics, but on a concrete track around the mountain on a kind of laid back sled on wheels kind of thing. It reminded me of those sit and skate orange scooter things from the 80’s, not sure if anyone else knows what I’m talking about. Anyhow, it was great fun.
Today we wandered around and went for a hike up in the hills. A lot of the hike was through super dense forest, kind creepy, I expected some sort of creature from lord of the rings to jump out at me. But it was fun, and although the clouds were to low to see much from the top, what we could see was cool. Only problem was the ice, a lot of the track was icy, and I managed to slip quite a few times, once majorly biting the dust for a nice muddy bum, shoot. So much for my one pair of clean pants. Opps.
Anyhow, I am headed to the states tomorrow! I’ll probably post one last blog once I’m back. I’ll have plenty of time on my million hours of planes to think of something clever I hope. But I’m excited to see you all soon! Have a wonderful day!
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