Carly

Nov. 4

I arrived at O' Hare Airport at around 8:45 and met with the group at bag check. The whole process of getting in was straightforward and there were no problems getting to the gate. The snacks were ridiculously expensive as expected, and at this rate I don't think the pretzel bites will last much longer.

Saying goodbye to the parents was easier than expected (no offense mom and dad love you kisses XOXO). Now we wait to board the plane! I'm excited and nervous about the flight, but I think all will go to plan. Talk later; we're boarding.

THIS UPDATE WILL COVER EXPERIENCES FROM OUR AIRPLANE TIME TO OUR FIRST DAY ADVENTURING

(I apologize for updating to the main blog. I'm not a diva I'm just using a faulty app I promise.) 

THE PLANE: 

12 hours without moving the legs can do something to your focus. For.such a long flight, it was actually very comfortable, however, I had a hard time concentrating on anything. 

Well, I can play for a bit but I have to get back to homework.

Okay but I gotta get back to homework pretty soon. 

One more and then I'm done. 

Flapjacks. 

Forgive me, mom and dad; I got very little homework done. From the excitement of what was to come and the fifty screens showing Frozen in front of me, I had plenty of things besides homework on my mind. 

So we get to the airport and there's i immediately a camera crew and interview team that welcomes us. They talked to Mac and touched his hair; the first of thousands in Japan to do so. 

We exchanged our money for yen (Mom your ability to organize and keep track was not passed down I am very disappointed) and waited to get rail passes. After this, we got a quick dinner and left for the hotel. 

(For you folks back home, this is an Onigiri. It's rice wrapped in seaweed. I will always remember it as the first food I ever ate in Japan!) 

(Us waiting for a bus and being tired.)

After a great night's rest, we started our first day of touring with a great breakfast. I had rice and a thick noodle called Udon, along with some fruit. 

I also had Natto. You may have noticed that for the description of this particular food I have indented and.thus created a new paragraph. This was done for a reason. Natto is fermented soy beans, which are slightly infamous for their taste and texture. From my experience, they were bitter and odd in texture, and definitely something I won't forget. (They weren't too bad, actually!) 

After breakfast we returned to the airport and had our first subway experience. Two things stood out to me about this subway. One: the trains were quiet. A tiny whistle would sound and that was pretty much it. They moved very smoothly, too. 

Another thing about the subway was how clean it was. There was not a single piece of garbage or mess anywhere. The subway smelled like air freshened and the tracks themselves were shiny. We joked about this compared to Chicago's very own CTA, but behind our light, humorous tone was a dark truth that haunted us all. 

From here we rode a train to Tokyo station. The ride was peaceful and have Sensei enough time to read to us all the wonderful comments that had been left on the blogs. To those reading; thank you so much! Your words and support mean to much to both myself and the entire group! 

Also here's a selfie co-starring the fabulous and brilliant Susannah Duncan

We saw a lot of great things on both this train and the one after it! It was a great start to our day and to our adventures to come. 

My personal favorite for this first day exploring was with the monkeys. We climbed to a top of a mountain after some time walking around in a town not too far from Kyoto. There lived a bunch of monkeys. I'm not usually a fan of monkeys but these guys were the best. 

That's all I'll cover for this entry; it's midnight here and I have to get up at 5 tomorrow.  

Love you all! Can't wait to update soon! 

UPDATE #3

(Some last notes on Nov 6, our first day adventuring!)

There were plenty of interesting things we did in Arashiyama, but my favorites were the Bamboo groves, dinner, and the kimono forest. 

The bamboo groves were, as you would expect, stunning. 

It was wonderful and a great prelude to dinner. 

Mother, you will be happy to hear this; I am no longer a picky eater. You will come to see this more and more, but this dinner definitely was a step up. We had tofu skins in a broth, bean paste, lots of veggies, miso soup, and tea. There was a lot of food, and I couldn't finish it all, but it was really good!

Then, we went to a kimono forest. It was a beautiful end to our first night in Kyoto!

The next day started with a visit to a temple called Enkou-Ji. It was very quiet and peaceful; a great place to start the day. I bought a temple book and got a Go-Shu-In; my first one! (These are signature things from each individual temple or shrine) 

We walked to a few more sites, but honestly I was getting tired at this point that I stopped taking pictures. I felt much better after lunch, which admittedly consisted of a Potator-nado (you heard right dear father) and a green tea ice cream cone. 

After lunch, we went to a tea ceremony in En-In-Gion and enjoyed a great lesson on the ceremony along with a wonderful helping at green tea. 

Then began the search for dinner. We had planned on going to a famous noodle shop, but with a confusion in reservations we ended up quite a ways away in a very nice restaurant. Our dinner was delicious and worth the extra walk. 

The next day revolved around Kumamoto castle. We were completely immersed in history, and completely clueless on map directions. 

We also had a really interesting dinner! My favorite was the green tea ice cream sunday with corn flakes on the bottom. 

Yummy! 

Miss everyone at home! 

Entry #4

(My camera wasn't with me today, so there won't be any pictures. I'm so sorry!)

(Also I may be still posting on the main blog. I  don't know how to fix this yet but I guess I'll figure out how to later. (Sensei I'm so sorry! Delete if you have to.))

Today started out stressfully. We were up at an early hour and all of us were very cranky, me especially! Our moods picked up considerably when we arrived at Dazaifu, a national museum of Japan. The artifacts were beautiful and spoke a lot for the history and culture of Japan. 

We then visited Tenmagu shrine and Komyozen-Ji. They were both beautiful, the shrine being lively and the Komyozen house being peaceful and contemplative. 

We finished the day with a great curry dinner and a very energetic walk home.

Update #5

Today (The 10th), we visited Nagasaki, Dejima, Clover Garden, and the Oura Catholic Church. Again, my camera wasn't in operation (read: I forgot it because I'm dumb) so I will not post pictures. Instead, I will reflect on each location, going in order or our visit. 

Nagasaki Atomic Bomb museum and Peace Park were the first things we visited. As you can imagine, the museum hit hard. It was both historically informative and tragically personal, with many items from those who were affected by the bomb and detailed descriptions of the lives of those people. For me, the most effective element of the museum was the room with salvaged architecture. The twisted metal gave me chills; to think that such strong materials could be so easily played with by raw force alone. 

We all left Nagasaki museum with a new weight over each of us. I think it was a combination of true sadness over what we had seen and a bit of guilt. For me, I was glad for this weight. To understand past events such as this is so important for each generation. To see the often tragic consequences of war is, unfortunately, a reminder that humans often need. As for guilt, I am content in that we came to Nagasaki with peace on our minds, not blood on our hands. I was, however, glad to see the other perspective on the bombing, as to more clearly understand the size of the horrible acts done in the name of my country. 

This is why the Nagasaki Peace Park was one of the most striking things for me. Despite feeling that guilt was irrational, I still felt slightly uncomfortable in the museum and wary of the message the park would give. But instead of a final note of extreme sadness or anger, there was instead a simple yet powerful message of peace. This will always be in my memory as one of the best displays of true tragedy and recovery, as well as a great experience overall. 

Next, was Dejima. Dejima was great not only because it was my site report, but because we were given the opportunity to wear kimonos! (Yes, the guys dressed up, too. (Yes, even sensei.)) the clothes were beautiful, and I miss how soft and comfortable they were to wear. 

Lots of people complimented us, too! I guess I was expecting a lot of stares, but we were greeted warmly. It was so much fun!

After Dejima, we went to Oura Catholic Church. The church was beautiful, of course, and reminded me a lot of churches back home. Even though I don't go to church, it was nice to see something somewhat familiar! 

Next, we went to Glover Garden. This was a beautiful park where we mostly chilled for a bit and talked about the day. Everyone got this concentrated milk ice cream and we sat and watched the sunset. It was great! 

And to end the day, we ate as Mos Burger. Mos Burger is basically McDonalds in Japan; the most popular burger joint and a place that can't deal with 20 orders at once. After a meal I think was beef, we went home full and happy! Another great day! 

Update #6

Today, (Nov 11) we spent all day at Kurokawa. Kurokawa is a town desecrated to bathing and onsen. We arrived after two hours of driving up mountains, and were cold and sleepy getting off the bus. Mr. Van Krey told us that this day was for experiencing with body and soul, and that is exactly what we did. We were allowed to visit three baths. Each of our onsens were beautiful, one being outside, another being inside, and the third being inside a cave system. After these and a great lunch (we sat with a daughter and mother from Hokkaido), we were refreshed and ready to go to Niigata the next day!