Hiroshima

Our last day in Japan. Usually when something like this comes to an end it's sad, but I don't feel that way this time. It has been such an amazing and life changing two weeks that I'm just so happy it happened, as opposed to being sad that it is over. For our last day, a small group and myself went on a short excursion to Hiroshima. We had the option to either take the exam early and go to Hiroshima, or take it later in the day and not go to Hiroshima. This was an easy choice for me because I would not be able to forgive myself if I went to Japan and had the chance to see Hiroshima and did not. We spent the whole time at the peace park and museum. This was really heavy, emotional stuff that was best experienced in silence and deep thought. It made me disgusted to even be part of the human race after seeing the suffering caused. After we left the museum I felt a little better because I realized that I was in Japan with a very diverse group of friends from all walks of life. This gave me hope for my generation, I feel that as the world becomes more global and connected the chances of something like Hiroshima ever happening again disappears.
I just want to say thanks to all of the people that made this trip possible. I love Japan and all it has added to my life in these two weeks. Above all, I learned a lot and made new friends, which was my main focus for the trip. Hopefully one day I will return to Japan, for I have only scratched the surface. Who knows, maybe I'll even end up working here.

Kyoto

More traveling! Our final day to really be a tourist, shop and sight see etc.., could not have happened at a better place. I love Kyoto, It has the feel of a big city yet still maintains it's culture and immense history. Also, the larger than life mountains surrounding the city take it to another level. The castles we visited gave me a taste of what Japan was like back in the days of the Shogun and emperor. Though, I'm a little disappointed that I did not see any Geisha girls. According to a man who worked at the second temple I went to, the Geisha girls have no set public time that they appear, so it is a surprise if one sees them. Too bad because I think they would have really liked me. I finally got to eat at a conveyor belt sushi restaurant, which was one of the top things I wanted to do in Japan. It was very simple to understand and extremely delicious. I was a little adventurous in one of the plates that I grabbed because it looked like nothing I've seen before and was very chewy. The shopping was great because I had a lot of things to get for people back home and did so here in Kyoto. One of my proudest purchases is a shirt with a knock off version of the cartoon Totoro on it. It may not be "the" Totoro, but it is unique and funny to look at. Being surrounded by all these old city buildings almost reminded me of Europe, they add a lot of character to such a dynamic city. It was an adventure returning home, since we were on our own. But luckily we were smart enough to figure it out. As the final approaches, night time is dedicated to studying which doesn't really bother me when the day is so successful.

Rainy Day

After all that moving around, it was nice to get a day with lots of free time. First night at JCMU was good. The beds are a little hard, and by a little hard I mean they are really hard but I still slept like a baby. Though it has been very rainy, Kyle and I still decided we needed to make a grocery run. What I've learned from this trip, and other trips abroad, is that going to a grocery store can be one of the best cultural experiences. We knew that we needed food to last us our final few days, but the problem was finding food that we could tell what it was. Our solution was to just grab a bunch of stuff and hopefully it will taste good. This method worked very well as we stumbled upon some great Japanese junk food. I still have a whole bag of candy yet to be tasted for when I get home. Luckily, the grocery store had towels, which I desperately needed. Well, I think it is a towel not quite sure because it's about the size of 4 regular sized bath towels. It might be some kind of a rug, but that's not important because for these four days it's a going to be a towel. I'm sure it is apparent that not much happened today becuase I'm ranting about a towel, but tomorrow we are going to Kyoto, which I've been looking forward to for some time.

"He is able who thinks he is able" Buddha

He is able to get a good night sleep if he is able to sleep at Koya-san, that's for sure. I don't know if it was the comfortable bed, the traveling, the peaceful atmosphere or the bath but I got the best night sleep thus far on the floor of a small room located in the mountains. I have always been interested in Buddhism and just read a book by the Dalai Lama, so I was very intrigued to witness a real Buddhist ritual. The room was small and very aromatic due to the incense. The hypnotizing chants of the monks focused me on the ritual and helped me settle my mind by taking it off of other things. After the ceremony we got to eat a Buddhist breakfast in a large room where we sat on mats. Talk about a healthy way to start the day. It made me question why I've always felt that a large feast in the morning is necessary when in fact something as simple as rice and soup is just as pleasing. Unfortunantly, the rain put a halt to the rest of our plans but that didn't stop Fan, Kyle and I from discovering another temple down the road which was very beautiful. After we left we had to get back into serious traveling mode. Along the way a few of us got the Japanese take on burgers. It wasn't bad, just didn't feel right. I guess it would be the same as a Japanese citizen getting sushi in America. We arrived at JCMU in the evening. The rooms are spacious and equipped with everything we could need, except towels. I feel like if a room has a rice maker it should have at least one towel. Other than that I like it here, and feel like it is a good atmosphere to prepare for the final exams. Hopefully tomorrow I can get some grocery shopping in and try some more Japanese food.
Just a side note, I forgot to write about this when it happened Friday but I guess I'll share it now. We went to Dennys before returning to our hotel and it turned out to be a greater cultural experience than we expected. Except for maybe one or two items, everything on the menu was completely different from a Dennys back home. I ordered some kind of a noodle bowl that had lots of veggies in it. What is bugging me about the noodle bowl is that it came with a small portion of olive oil on the side. I feel like I did something wrong because I found it very difficult to dip soup in a plate of olive oil. I tried pouring some in my soup but it added nothing to the flavor or texture. Maybe I misunderstood the use of olive oil when it comes to soup but if it was to add directly in the soup, why wouldn't they just do that in the first place?

A Test of Our Traveling Endurance

Goodbye Tokyo! Let the next step in this journey begin. The city life was amazing but I think I am ready for something different, something a little slower and more peaceful. Koya-san was definitely the answer, especially after the traveling we had to do to get there. The entire trip of jumping from train, to subway, to train took almost as long as the flight to Japan. Despite how tiresome it was, it came with it's share of great moments. For example, we drove past Mount Fuji in the bullet train and got a good enough view to take a picture. Another part of the journey I enjoyed was the final ride up the mountain with plenty of beautiful landscape to be admired. When Dr. Ross said we were going to the mountains he meant it. Koya-San is everything I expected a Buddhist monastery to be and more. I immediatly felt relaxed just breathing in the fresh air listing to the subtle sounds of the forest surrounding the traditional style lodging we were staying the night in. Naturally, it only took us minutes after dinner to put on the Yukata found in the rooms and head to the traditional style Japanese bath. After all that traveling, the very hot bath was perfect. After, I spent some time just sitting in the chairs near the front of the temple enjoying the transcendent state of mind I was in. Who would have thought that the beds in a Buddhist temple would be ten times better than the beds at Sunshine hotel but they were. I love the feel of this place and am looking forward to experiencing even more of it tomorrow before we pack up and ship out again.

Short video I took in Shibuya

Final day of Plant tours, and Tokyo

Wow, it has already been a week and we are finishing up our last two plant tours today. Somewhere along the way of a go, go, go schedule I developed a good understanding of how these plants function. The two plants we went to today were good practice for me in trying to read a plant fast, well at least faster than before. I have to note that every single one of our hosts/guides of the plant tours have been so polite and welcoming. It is not easy for us to come to a foreign country and impede on other people's schedules, yet they always fit us in. I'm going to miss Tokyo. Though we did see a lot, a lot is not much when it comes to a place like this. It would probably take a lifetime to experience all it has to offer. Luckily, we had a chance to visit the Shibuya district. Crowded does not even begin to describe this place. We did a little shopping and people watching before heading to a gigantic arcade/casino. The atmosphere was electric and exciting. To be honest I had no idea what you were supposed to do with half of the machines but they were still fun to look at. A very big trend I noticed in Japan are those group photos you take in a booth that adds funny backgrounds and you print off on a strip of paper. They have intense lighting to make your eyes look huge like an anime character. I do not look good as an anime character, but I'm sure most Japanese girls do because it is marketed towards them. It was an all around good way to end a week in Tokyo as we prepare for a day of intense traveling. Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me today but will make up for it tomorrow.