Konnichiwa from Kobe, Japan

Today was absolutely amazing. I’m sure I will begin many entries with similar sentiments because this trip is literally taking my breath away. I wish you were here! Okay, back to Kobe…

The day began with a diplomatic briefing from a U.S. Consulate representative who shared insight on everything from the best visitor attractions to warnings about “pervs” who grope women on the subway. Never fear, Japan is an extremely, extremely safe country-I just said that to emphasize the thorough nature of the consulate’s presentation. The Kobe city representative presented several good will gifts to SAS faculty and a few students. I even took a picture with the “Kimono Queen.” This may be the equivalent to Miss City fest, but if you know me, you know that I needed the shot for my pageant resume…LOL. After an efficient disembarkation process, I met up with Erin Okamato and her father. Let me just pause for the cause and divert our attention to the extremely hospitable nature of Erin and Mr. Okamato. They willingly led a group of 14 Americans through the Kobe transportation system and to one of Kobe’s most visited tourist attractions, Arima Olsen Hot Springs Public Bath. Despite fatigue, occasional lack of yen, and some “touristy” attitudes, the Okamatos were more than hospitable. So, to my fabulous trip facilitators who made my first international experience successful~

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

Getting’ Nakie….

Back to the trip… We traveled to the baths via a variety of public transportation vehicles. From the trains at Sannomiya Station to the shuttle bus and our trusty, tennis shoe clad feet, we found our way! We arrived at the Bathhouse (for lack of more appropriate wording) around 3:00 and they closed at 5:00. As I took off my shoes and witnessed all of the Japanese visitors walking around in robe-like outfits, it hit me. “I am about to get nakie in front of all of these Semester at Sea people and hundreds of Japanese people. OH MY GOD. What have I gotten myself into?” I giggled partly out of amusement and partly to keep from crying. Don’t worry Daddy, the public baths we used were gender segregated, but it still took a lot of nerve to strip down to mi choca-latte with the Japanese. I also wondered what was so special about Japanese hot springs…We do have HOT SPRINGS in Arkansas. “Oh well,” I thought. Here goes nothing. LOL. First, I got nakie and took a real bath before entering the hot springs. I had to sit on an 8 inch stool and use a hand-held Japanese shower. I tried desperately not to get my hair wet, but that didn’t work out too well. By the time I finished the pre-shower, I had mustered the guts to get into the hot springs. For those who want to know, Yes, the women were staring. Erin told me “from jump” that many Japanese people have never seen brown people before, and they definitely hadn’t seen a sun-bronzed nakie brown person. LOL. Most of the women were very nice, and we carried on small talk in broken English and the five Japanese words I know. Let’s just say there were lots of bowing, smiles, giggles, gesturing and, “Arigatos” (Thank you) After about 15 minutes in the hot springs, I took the brave step into the mud bath. Supposedly the water was enriched by silver and gold dust. WHATEVER, it looked like red dirt to me, and I know what red dirt looks like! After the mud, I stumbled to the Sauna. Apparently I had gotten a bit too heated in the water and I had to hold onto the walls to keep from fainting. Needless to say, I only spent 3 minutes in the sauna (with the coals less than 1 foot away) before jumping into an ICE COLD bath. Supposedly, the transition from hot to icy closes pores and fixes cellulite. Yeah right! Next, I went upstairs to another floor of baths. This area was so serene with a high window view of Mt. Rokko. We lay on mats, chatted, exfoliated our toesies on rocks and chilled in mini-bath tubs that were only 3 feet wide. It was fabulous. I can’t say that my cellulite is gone or that my skin is sparkling with silver and gold dust. I’m not sure that the water cured my ills (It’s hard to find living water in a Buddhist community). However, I can say that I made a few new friends, and now my skin is silky smooth! After the bath, we shopped around in the retail area and ate dinner downstairs. I ate Tempura which consisted of battered shrimp and vegetables (including lotus root) in a noodle soup. It was simply delicious. Red Lobster has NOTHING on that shrimp! I also drank green tea and had green tea ice cream. For the record, Japanese green tea and the Lipton green tea I love so dearly are night and day. For once, I prefer the imitation-I’ve gotta have the sugar.

Trip Highlights

*Children begin riding the transit system alone as early as 4 years old in Japan. On the way to the hot springs, witnessed two first grade girls chatting and text messaging on their state of the art cell phones.
*On the way back to the ship, I SAW A REAL GEISHA!! I plan to tour the geisha district in Kyoto tomorrow, but I witnessed her scurrying to an appointment with my very own eyes. Call me Americanized, but I must give a shout out to the makers of Memoirs of a Geisha. Next, I’m going to get an authentic education in the way of Geisha

Sushi, Sake, Shopping, and Sightseeing~Konan Women’s University Homestay
Day 2 and 3

I arrived at Konan Women’s University in Kobe at 1000 and met my Japanese host students. We played games, made origami crafts, and attempted to chat. All of the young women are majoring in English, and we enjoyed our broken conversation. Lunch was an adventure that enabled me to accomplish one of my mini-goals for my Japan visit. I must admit that I had never tried sushi in the states, and I took my first bite, my mom’s voice rang in my head, “Don’t be afraid to try something new.” I was pleasantly surprised by the savory vinegared rice (the literal sushi) meat, and vegetables wrapped in seaweed and eggplant. I even ate sushi with little bits of octopus, egg, tofu, and other mysterious flavors and textures. I tried to calm my overanalysis to enjoy the moment, but I stopped just shy of the mackerel, processed squid, and sesame bean desert ball (which I tried and nearly choked.) I’d had ENOUGH adventure for one day! After lunch, Sharon (My SAS classmate from Philly-ultra cool girl) Yuki (my host) and I caught a train to Kyoto. Our first stop was Heian Shrine. The shrine is a beautiful, multicolored Shinto shrine dedicated to Emperors Kanmu and Koumei. Not to be insensitive but en route to the shrine, it began to rain, HARD and I was a bit perturbed. I made the once in a voyage-foolish mistake of not wearing tennis shoes so my feet, backpack, and hair were getting soaked. Not to mention, a “30 minute walk” to the temple turned into a 4 hour walking tour of Kyoto. LOL. Good times. We also went to Kyomizu Temple where I met min-goal #2 for my Japan trip. I SAW MISUKO KUYO JIZO figures! Let me explain. Mizuko kuyo is a Buddhist ceremony in which mothers offer repentance, gifts, and remorse to their aborted, miscarried, and accidentally deceased children. They adorn jizo figures with red bibs, food, flowers, and notes in order to appease and appeal to the spirits of their dead babies. I had to write a comparison paper of Misuko Kuyo and U.S. abortion ideologies for a History of Ideas final last semester, and now, I am in Japan, witnessing mizuko kuyo. It was surreal. Honestly, after seeing the jizos, I was ready to leave the temple grounds, but my host and her friends informed us that the park closed at 6:30 instead of 6:00, so we had nearly an additional hour to explore. “I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS!!!” I thought, and I began laughing hysterically. Here I stood in Kyoto, Japan, soaking wet, on Buddhist temple grounds, with new Japanese friends. I was hungry. My feet hurt, and I had at least an hour left to EXPLORE?!?!. I laughed until I cried, and they just stood there perplexed. “I make a mistake?” they asked. I could barely utter a “no”. This situation was larger than life. So, what did we do? Expore. For at least another two hours. Finally, we boarded a bus to Himeji in order to meet Yuki’s mom (I couldn’t walk another mile although my hosts were more than willing to take the scenic route.) Although we were exhausted, she greeted us with a smile and an apology for not speaking any English. She had never seen Americans before. (Sidenote-though she and her husband were extremely apologetic, no apology was necessary. We were guests in their home and their country. I should have been apologizing for my inability to speak Japanese! We rode to their home in Himeji (Of course Mr. Yaso drove on the left side of the road), and I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. The family farms soybeans, Japanese rice, eggplant, and other vegetables. The house was a white stucco style with traditional Japanese interior design. WOW. As soon as we entered, it was dinner time. Mrs. Yaso had prepared a traditional Japanese feast complete with LOTS of sushi, premium beef stir fry, and vegetables. It was awesome. By this point, I considered myself a novice sushi eater, so I took some without hesitation. It was superb once again, so I decided to step my sushi eating up a notch. With Sharon snapping pictures, I took my first bite of sushi with sashimi (raw fish). I was scared silly-especially about getting sick so I took very, very small bites of the red tuna and sushi. As I was chewing, Mrs. Yaso brought us two glasses of local Sake. Once again, I was at a “try new things impasse”. On one hand, SAS people had been RAVING about Sake, a famous Japanese rice wine that is much stronger than most alcohol in the states. I am not a drinker, nor do I like alcohol. However, Mrs. Yaso had prepared a FEAST for us, and I wondered if it would be rude to refuse the drink (along with the mysterious sushi and squid that I just couldn’t eat.) After a few minutes of contemplation, I made the executive decision to taste the Sake. In all, I drank about two tablespoons worth of Sake. It was simply delicious. I could have drank it like a glass of “red” kool-aid. HOWEVER, I was a guest, and I don’t drink- so any more Sake in my system could have proven disastrous. Although it was tasty, I stopped while I was ahead. After dinner, we watched a few Japanese music videos and a soap opera about flight attendants. It was cute to see Yuki and her family try to make us comfortable as Americans in their home. They even turned on American CNN while we ate Japanese snacks and drank orange Fanta. We only watched it for a minute, but I asked them to turn the channel because they didn’t need to make such accommodations for me. I wanted to experience a Japanese home. Yuki suggested going to a book/video store, but we were exhausted from the day. Instead she gave us Japanese magazines to peruse, based on our interests. Those of you who know me can infer the type of magazine I read…You guessed it –FASHION! OH MY GOSH-Tiffany, Treloni, and Becca the fashion in Japan would make your mouth water if you were here. Literally at least 60% of the women on the street-young and old- look like they stepped right out of Vogue and Cosmo. In fact-they are probably the inspiration for next season’s hottest styles. I was perfectly content with drooling over the fashion mag. Until bedtime. (Yuki gave me the book as one of my gifts so I’ll be sure to bring it home!) At bedtime, Mr. and Mrs. Yaso rolled out the futons for us. Now, authentic Japanese futons look nothing like the Wal-Mart wanna-be beds in the states. I slept on a down filled futon mat with a down filled comforter. It was heavenly. As I drifted off to sleep, I was so grateful for a warm bed, meal, and family experience away from the Explorer. The next morning, Mrs. Yaso made us a breakfast of pastries and salad. (I stuck with the pastries which resembled delicious apple turnovers.) After breakfast, we began the tradition of GIFT GIVING. In Japan, gift giving is engrained in all elements of social and cultural exchange, so I was prepared to give my family a SAS mug filled with US snacks and a postcard. Well, the postcard got ruined in the rain and I couldn’t sneak away from my host long enough to get the gift wrapped. Here’s a bit of advice for future SASers. If you are doing a homestay in any country, be sure to bring a nice gift (like sweets, a candle, or something distinctive from your home town) and be sure to WRAP IT nicely. I felt quite embarrassed, although they were very grateful and didn’t expect me to know any better. They gave me Japanese tea, Chai tea, a Japanese vase, chopsticks, home made tapestries, and pictures of Yuki at her coming of age ceremony (similar to a Sweet 16 that occurs when Japanese youth turn 20 and begin voting). Mrs. Yaso even got my address so she can send a larger tapestry to my home. Once again I was speechless. After many more pictures and exchanges of “Arigato gozaimasu” (Thank you very much) Yuki drove us to Himeji Castle to view one of the oldest and most famous SAMURI castles in the region. I took lots of pictures and learned some history about ancient Japanese warriors. Good Times. Also, Mrs. Yako surprised us and paid our admission into the castle. While at the castle, Yuki received a phone call from her parents because one of us had left some “white cream in a clear bottle” in the bathroom. Mrs. Yako was going to drive and take the train to bring it to us, but neither of us could recall losing any white cream. Then it hit me. My hair had gotten soaked and poofy because of the rain, and I used my Motions hair moisturizer to tame the beast. In fact, that was my only bottle of hair moisturizer, and I told Mrs. Yaso not to worry about bringing it to me. JUST GREAT. It looks like I’m going to have to get creative with the hair for the next two months. Don’t worry Mom, this won’t be another Exeter disaster. I’ll just borrow some “grease” from Kiyanna, Jihanne, or Diona. I may try to find some today in Kobe as well. After the castle, Sharon and I returned to the ship with only one train mix up.

A word about the MONEY situation in Japan. Right now, 1USD is about 112 yen, and food and transportation can be very expensive in Japan. I’ve spent about 10,000 Yen (100USD) just on transportation in this port. Thus, as you can imagine, my extra shopping has been limited. I did get “Souvenir Suckered” at first, but I don’t want to spend too much money in such an expensive country, especially since I still have NINE countries left. It can also be frustrating to try to travel with people when EVERYONE is on a different budget. For example, most of my friends got the Japan rail pass and traveled to Tokyo. While people rave about Tokyo as the NYC of Japan, I’ll see NYC in January and I just couldn’t rationalize an additional $250 for a rail pass IN ADDITON to my expense for the local sights that I want to see. There’s so much to see everywhere, and I refuse to be guilted into spending money that is not in my travel budget. Not to mention, the cost of SAS has increased nearly 2000 USD since I applied in January. This trip is not only a voyage of discovery; it’s a lesson in discipline and determination for me.

Right now it’s 2:29 p.m. and I’m sitting on my bed in my pjs writing this entry. Part of me is upset that I didn’t wake up until 1:00 p.m. IM MISSING JAPAN!!! But the other part of me knows that I needed the rest. With the exception of my homestay and one other day, I have not slept more than 3 hours in one night for the last week and a half. I KNOW what you’re thinking. That’s why I’m chillin’ at the moment. I don’t want to get sick or “crash and burn”. I have nine more countries to see. (I was sick for about a week with some kind of stuffy nose, fevery, sneezy mess, but I took Dayquil and waited it out. I think my body was just trying to adjust to the 700 other voyagers and the fact that our food is served by open buffet line.Ugh-germs galore but I think my immune system is getting better.) So, yes, I’m sitting in my cabin with Kobe, Japan just minutes away. In a few minutes I’m going to get dressed and find an internet café to send this blog! Also, I’ll probably go down to Sannomiya station to window shop. Tonight my friends and I may visit jazz clubs and a Pachinko parlor (Japanese slot machine/arcade place. Don’t worry Dad-We’re just sightseeing! LOLOLOL) Tomorrow I’m going to a Danjiri Festival (A traditional Japanese celebration in which hundreds of men pull gigantic “floats” through the streets.) On ship time is 2000 and I have to budget in 2.5 hours for travel and waiting at the gangway for security checks. I know I haven’t talked to anyone since Hawaii, and I miss you all dearly. I bought a phone card here, but my US phone cards aren’t working and calling home from the ship is 20 USD for 13 minutes. My communication will be pretty limited to the blog and postcards for a while. In a way, I like email better because I cry practically every time I talk to anyone from home. Also, I must take this moment to THANK YOU for my letters. They were so beautiful, detailed, and personal. Thanks for taking the time to think of me, even when I’m thousands of miles away. For those of you who didn’t write….you know who you are….I’m sure you’ll do better next time! (Kidding) I’ll probably write again after China and Hong Kong (We’re only in those places for a few days.) Until then…

All my Love,

Rhonda