This will wrap up Japan. I'm glad that I got it all done before I had to leave for Beijing. My flight leaves Shanghai in about 6 hours, so I'm going to pack and get ready to see the sites in China's capital. Shanghai was a ton of fun yesterday, but it isn't a city that I would want to come back to. It is huge and overcrowded with not a whole lot to do. People push and shove to get where they need, and literally millions are walking in the street at any given time. It is just a little too chaotic for me after coming from the orderly Japanese culture. Plus the vendors are persistent here and I am thus far terrible at saying no. They literally grab you and physically will not let you leave their stall until you buy something. Definitely a different experience than in the states. That's a tidbit about Shanghai for you, I'll have a full China update in about a week.
Thanks for reading all of my posts so far, I appreciate it, and I definitely appreciate the emails.
Part 4, the final one. If you haven’t got the message by now, please read them in order starting with Part 1 which is down the page a bit.
We got up early again, a theme in Japan, and headed to the train station to catch a 7:26 train to Hiroshima. We arrived and needed to find a place to stay to dump our bags. We found out about a capsule hotel, and after several attempts to find it, finally found success. It was buried in a corner of a random small street and had no hint of English anywhere. We only found it because there was a sign that said “2300” which we knew was the price. We were there at about 10 am, far too early to check in, but they allowed us to pay and leave our bags. The very first thing that we had to do was see the A-Bomb Dome and Museum. When we arrived the dome was right next to the big street we were on, and it was kind of a surreal site. The city, entirely built up looking like any big city had this nearly destroyed building immortalized in the center. It was something that I had only seen in pictures, and it was really aw inspiring to be standing there. While there, a nice lady came up to us and offered us a free presentation about Hiroshima. We of course said yes, and in passable English and using a notebook full of pictures, she taught us a bit about what happened leading up to and after the A-Bomb. It was a combination of the subject material and this lady’s voice, but it was really a mesmerizing presentation. There are some people who when you listen to them speak make your skin almost tingle with interest, and she was one of them for me. She walked us to a small stone memorial block on a small street that we would never have found alone, and explained to us that where we were standing was directly below where the bomb hit (It actually exploded 600 meters in the air because that mathematically would create the most destruction). If you watch the slide show on this page, and you see a picture that appears to be looking upward at a random building, that is the spot where 65 years ago the bomb fell. We also saw a statue nearby which survived the blast, but had its shadow burnt into the base. You could feel the difference, with the non shadow covered spot being rough from the intense heat that hit it, and the part where the shadow was being smooth. At the end of the tour the lady thanked us for listening, explained that she is part of a group that wants to use education to stop nuclear testing, and explained to us that the Japanese hold no animosity toward America for the act, only toward nuclear weapons.
We left that area and made our way to a couple of peace memorials down the street. On the way we ran into Lexi and Andrew, two others from Semester at Sea. Lexi, with the help of some people on the ship and her town in Pennsylvania, folded 1000 paper cranes and strung them together to bring to the peace memorial in Hiroshima. It was a really cool gesture, and we were able to walk with them as they delivered them. There were probably a million cranes in that place in glass cases. Some were made into amazing designs, and all promoted peace around the world. Lexi and Andrew decided to tag along with us, and we went to the Hiroshima museum to learn more about what happened leading up to and after the bomb was dropped. The museum was informative and interesting, but heavy at times. It is clearly designed to make those who visit it resent nuclear weaponry. We spent about an hour there then set out to find lunch. We found a random restaurant where no one spoke even a single word of English, ordered and hoped for the best. This would turn out to be our one notable failure in ordering food. We all got soup and side dishes that were not particularly good, and the main dishes didn’t turn out any better. Eric got a soup that looked decent, but came with a raw egg cracked into a bowl, still cold. That pretty much killed his appetite I’m sure. I got a bowl of rice with what I thought was going to be a beef patty on top, but it turned out to be raw ground salmon or something. It only tasted alright when I drenched it in Soy Sauce and Wasabi.
After lunch it was early afternoon and we decided to go to Hiroshima Castle. The castle was cool looking from the outside, but turned out to be a big letdown inside. It was destroyed with the bomb, and rebuilt more as a museum display than as a legit castle. There were exhibits in there in nearly 100% Japanese that I wasn’t interested in anyways. We went to the top though, which towered over the city, and had a 360 degree view which was neat. We quickly bailed from there and headed to Myagima, which was my idea. Myagima is an island outside of Hiroshima, and both Heather Dresser, and a brochure recommended it. We knew we were pushing it on time, but we got on a tram thinking it wouldn’t be too far away. About an hour later we arrive there, as the sun is just finishing setting, and get on the ferry boat to take us to the island. When we arrived the whole place looked dead, so Lexi and Andrew left to try and make it to the train station as early as they could. I kind of feel bad for them, but I’m sure they made it alright. So the island looked dead, and we are all thinking “Oh god what a waste”. I in particular felt guilty because it was my idea in the first place. We wondered down the street anyways and were surprised at how beautiful it was, even at night. There were random deer and raccoons meandering around, so I of course had to sneak up and pet the deer. It turned after I touched it so we booked it out of there afraid of the deer. Pretty sure it was just seeing what was going on though. We continued walking to see a really cool arch in the middle of the water that was lighted and made for a good picture. I think if you Google Myajima gateway you will see what I’m talking about. There was a temple in the water that we could only see from afar, and a tower that was cool too. Overall I think that Myajima would have been a real highlight of the trip had we made it there for day time.
Even with most places closed, and dark, it was still really gorgeous. Plus, very very few SAS students made it there, so we did something unique. The Hiroshima lady who gave us the free tour recommended Okonomiyaki as a food to try. We immediately forgot the name, but as we were walking on Myajima, the one restaurant still open had a big sign in the window that said Okonomiyaki. We thought it was meant to be so we went in and had an amazing dinner. It is similar to a Pizza in a vague sort of way. The base is noodles, which are cooked and then put onto a hot grill. They are covered with thin layers of meat, in this case pork. On top of that you put some mixture which consists mostly of egg, and then cover it with basil and cheese. When you get your order there is a bottle of sauce at the table that was an asian barbeque, and after drenching the pie looking concoction with it, it is delicious. Definitely the best meal we had in my opinion, so many thanks to the woman who suggested it.
We headed on the long trip back to our hostel after that and wondered around the area. We were in a pretty sketchy area, the only time I’ve not felt 100% safe, but everything was fine and we had a good time. The next morning we as always woke up early to catch a 7:46 train to Kobe, where the ship was waiting. We arrived in Kobe, and at this point all I can say is I was exhausted. Going on 16 hours of sleep over 4 days in a totally foreign environment can be a tough thing to do. I had a headache the entire time in Kobe but still enjoyed my time.
We dropped off our stuff at the ship, took a shower, and got ready to go back out. We wandered around, trying to find a post office and a souvenir shop since none of us had many trinkets. We found the post office only to realize it was Saturday and closed by then. It’s difficult to keep track of days on Semester at Sea. When you are isolated to a ship, the day doesn’t really matter. Similarly, in Japan we just thought of it as 1st day, 2nd Day, etc, knowing that we had 5 days. The only way I know what today’s date is, is that the kids on the ship have been romping around singing Happy Valentine’s songs. Anyways, so the post office didn’t work out, and we end up in an open air shopping center, and we start to hear drums. We look down the street, and there is a stereotypical Chinese dragon heading toward us, one of the ones with the body that moves around and a huge head. It was a parade, which we later found out was for the start of Chinese New Year, and it was lead by a drumming group. It was really neat, totally free, and I got a great video of it, so be sure to make me show it to you. We went in search of lunch and found a place that looked alright. Again, the language barrier was impossible, so we did the point and shoot approach again. Jay got tempura which was good, Eric got some sort of stew which looked better than it was apparently, and I ended up with Chicken Katsu, which were bonafide chicken tenders with rice. That was completely okay with me though since I love chicken, and rice in Asia is terrific. We had seen signs for “Pachinko” which I wanted to see, so we did that next. It was a Japanese slot machine basically, which I still don’t fully understand even after Wikipediaing it later, but it was a lot of fun. There were lights and noises and all kinds of good stuff. Eric dumped in 1000 yen and it took us about 20 minutes to lose it, but all in good fun right? After that we went to an internet and comic place, which is where businessmen go to blow off steam after work. We used the internet, which is where I put up the pictures from, bought snacks for the sea, then headed back to the ship.
One quick story for you. We were looking for somewhere to get internet and stamps, and having no luck finding either, we decided to find help. Eric out of the blue spots a group of 3 that appeared to be all American and he asks them for help. He claimed it was because they were coming out of a parking garage that would be impossible to navigate had they not spoken Japanese, but I think it was just a good guess. We ask them if they know the area and they say they do. They all spoke perfect English, seeing as they were American, but lived in Japan. They went out of their way to walk us to a convenience store where the lady went in and helped Eric buy stamps, and Jay and I stayed and talked to the other two. It turns out that the husband and wife work for Young Life, a Christian organization based out of the US, and the other lady was a friend of theirs visiting. Here is where it gets weird though. The lady visiting had been in San Diego the month before, and had seen the MV Explorer (Semester at Sea) pull into the harbor. We were telling her about our itinerary and she said “Oh I saw a ship in San Diego, Semester at Sea I think, sounds similar”. I then told her that I went to U.Va and it turns out she has a daughter in Charlottesville, AND she lives in India, and will be back there when we visit. It is just strange that a lady sees the ship in San Diego, somehow ends up in Kobe, Japan on a business trip for 3 days at the exact same time we are there, and that somehow we run into her, in a city of 2 million people. It really is a small world.
So that’s the story of Japan, everything I did, ate, saw, that’s all of it right there I think. It’s really long, but that is more so that when I go back and read this, I won’t forget a single thing. I had such a blast and have no regrets about the whole thing. We did so much with our time. I’ve been wearing a bracelet that I got from church that says “Live life with no regrets” and this voyage has so far been the epitome of that. I’ve been out of my comfort zone more times than I care to count and loved every minute of it. If you read this Rick, thanks for having those wrist bands at church, I for one appreciate it.
So we now pull into China in less than 48 hours and I’ll be off on an adventure to see everything that Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong has to offer. Actually by the time I post this last blog, I’ll probably already be in China, or will be really darn close. When I got back from Japan, I stalled out going to bed as long as I could, popped a couple Tylenol Sinus night times to “get rid of my headache” and crashed at about 8:15. I slept 13 hours, through both classes of today, but that’s okay. I apologized to one professor who I ran into on the ship and he didn’t mind too much. I got a haircut today, and now am just finishing this post. It is more than 10 pages on MS Word and if you made it this far I’m impressed. I’d like to personally thank you for having enough interest to do so.
I will post all about China when I’m done there and I can’t even imagine how much I’ll have to say. Hope everyone is well, and please email me if you have any comments, thoughts, suggestions, wishes, or anything to say. Tdmalinowsky@semesteratsea.net
Thomas
Americans who travel abroad for the first time are often shocked to discover that,
Despite all the progress that has been made in the last 30 years,
Many foreign people still speak in foreign languages.
-Dave Barry
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