Hiroshima

One thing I would recommend everyone trying: riding on a train, looking out at the surroundings with their favorite music. It's the best. Kind of like in the famous quote in "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" (and if you don't know what I'm talking about, I'm purposefully not putting the quote in because everyone should have to read the book, so go find out what I'm talking about!).

Anyway, I was riding on the train from Kyoto to Hiroshima, listening to my music, trying to predict the emotions I was going to experience when arriving at the Hiroshima train station. An Atomic bomb is a incomprehensible thing to me, but not so much to the people that live there. I didn't really know (and still don't know) how the Japanese felt/feel about the subject. And to make matters worse, we were the only westerners on the train going to Hiroshima. Thoughts were flying through my head like, they probably don't like us etc... and I had a big lump in my throat as we kept getting closer to the city...

Out the window, you could see old houses, crops and mountains, Japan. It was beautiful. And all I could think about was the bomb, the people, death. 15 minutes away from the station, the houses that we were passing looked new... this is how far the bomb had reached... (Shinkansen travels about 177 mph).

We arrived at the station....... we were the only westerners around.

Checked into the hotel. I couldn't stop thinking about what other people were thinking... it was bad. I just felt like I should go up to someone an say sorry. We put our bags up in the room, and headed out to the Peace Memorial Park.

My parents and I had to take the street cars to the park. We were milling around trying to find them..... (when you look lost in Japan, almost always someone comes up to you and helps you)...... So this Japanese man comes up and asks us where we were going... and my dad says, "the Atomic bomb"... I kind of wanted to melt into a puddle like Alex Mac... and the man said... "oh! get on Car No. 6", so we did.

The conductor kindly took our money and asked "...are you going to the Atomic Bomb (very loudly)?", and my dad said yes... and the conductor told us it would be 5 stops.

4 stops came and the conductor came up to us and said that it would be the next stop (note: we are still the only westerners on the street car, and the car was quite full, and me, with an imaginary American flag on my forehead). My heart was pounding at this moment... i was really nervous, I didn't know what to expect.

The street car stopped, we got out, an there it was: The Atomic Bomb Dome. I can't really tell you what it felt like to look at it face to face. Overwhelming, overbearing and calm. But it is what life is made of. It is the skeleton of everything.

There were many people there, praying, taking pictures, laughing, crying, talking, observing, singing, playing, giving away free hugs, music, language, protesting. It is a place of consistency and change.

We went to the Museum... depressing and fair. Depressing because of the magnitude of despair brought upon Hiroshima, fair because the information stuck to the facts... no pointing fingers.

We finished with the museum and we saw the Cenotaph for all the victims... then the peace flame... and then the children's monument.
When we were walking towards the children's monument... this little old Japanese guy says, "Hello!", hello we said.... "it's very hot today.", yes it is.... "you know how old I am? 82"... wow, my dad says..my mother is 84... they talk a while, he has lived in/near Hiroshima all his life (do the math). "I'm sure glad that you are here and to have met you all! have a nice day." Wow.
All my apprehensions that I was making up in my head about being in Hiroshima flew away.

I'm so glad I went. I wish everyone could go. I don't really have an opinion about what happened on August 6, 1945- who was right or who was wrong. I don't think it necessarily matters in that regard. All I know is that in WWII, there are many examples of how ill the human condition can, how volatile a power struggle is. I was able to see an extreme result of that sort of evil. But I also saw how such a devastating event could be so positive at the same time. That sort of thing really brings you down to earth and to your knees, it really speaks to you. Shows you how compassion for people can over come anything. A piece of my heart will always be dedicated to Hiroshima, I will never forget my visit.



A lot of you are probably wondering if I cried... because I am a big crier for the world per se...

I'll leave that up to your imagination.

Long awaited update...

So........... It's been an extremely long time since I posted last. Sorry. Well a lot has happened since the last time I blogged. My friends came in, I went to Tokyo, saw Fujisan, etc... I guess I'll start from the beginning.

June 4th I ventured out on my own to Tokyo. I was going to pick my friends up from the airport. I was really nervous, but everything turned out fine. They landed and we were on our way back to Yokohama in no time. We arrived at Yokohama station during "rush hour", there were soooo many people in business suits, it was unreal. I have never seen that many people in one place in my whole life. It was very overwhelming.

I was really glad that they were here. I was getting lonely!

A couple of days after they got here, we went to Kamakura... this has to be one of my favorite places thus far, so many temples and history. It was absolutely beautiful. We walked around for a long time, just seeing temples and shrines. The second biggest Buddha in Japan resides in Kamakura. the Buddha is awesome, I can't describe to you how breath taking it really is. You can see all the pictures you want, but they don't do it justice. I am finding that as a pattern here, you can see it on film, but that is nothing compared to the real thing.

A couple of days after Kamakura, we went to Tokyo. We stayed at the nicest hostel, I would recommend it to anyone. We went to Harajuku, Shibuya, and to the Imperial Palace. Shibuya is one of my favorite places in the world. We walked around and just people watched. There are so many people there. We saw a guy with a "hi how are you" t-shirt on... and we stopped him and asked him if he had been to Austin, and he had no idea what we were talking about... so we just made him take a picture with us and tried to explain to him where his shirt was from... it was hilarious. At Shibuya station, there is this intersection, it is the busiest intersection in the world (or it has the most people crossing at one time... something like that). it is insane how many people cross that street. Apparently that intersection is in a lot of movies... i don't know? But, we sat in a Starbucks above the intersection just looking out for about an hour.

In Shibuya, we also discovered the best drink ever... Chu hi's... Japanese Vodka and Grapefruit in a can... gets you drunk for $5 and taste great...

After Tokyo, we ventured to Hakone. It was nice to get away from the city and just enjoy the scenery. We took several modes of transportation to see the area-- switchback train (which had no air conditioning = hell), train, cable cars, rope way cable cars, and a pirate ship. The ropeway cable car was amazing, the weather was so nice and Fujisan was visible. Fujisan is insanely gorgeous, that is the only way to describe it.

Back in Yokohama, we wanted to go get a couple of drinks at a bar... so we go to one the China Town. We see this place called "Coffee and Bar", so we go in and sit in a booth. We were the only ones there, Madonna is playing over head, it's smokey and dimly lit. The barkeep is seriously an 80 year old woman with a clear coffee mug of liquor in her hand... we ask for a menu you and she says...... "no no no" and waves her hands in from of this 4 tier shelf full of liquor bottles... I swear that moment was a movie scene.

So, sorry so late on the update, but I've been busy.........

just some thoughts...

I have been here for a little more than a week now. I still don't know what to think about this place. I kind of feel like I'm in the states, but I just don't understand anything being said, or anything written. It's a very different place, but also the same. It is really hard to explain. I really like the subway system, I wish we had one, I would not have a car if we did. I am defiantly walking more to places in Austin, because being here shows me how easy it really is to just walk to the grocery store, etc.

There are so many Japanese here, I know that it IS Japan, but there is not diversity at all. It's not a bad thing, just an observation. It's kind of lonely though. The Japanese do not smile at anyone when they pass in the street, they look down at the ground and just pass. But one day, I passed this Indian family on the street, and the woman gave me the biggest smile and I smiled back to her; it was comforting to see someone else that isn't from Japan.

I love it here though. Despite all the differences of my culture and theirs. It is really fulfilling to be able to live in another way than what you are used to. It broadens the mind. It makes you feel small at first, then you feel as if you can handle anything that comes your way.

Japan... finally

Well, I'm in Japan! I got here May 20th. I didn't sleep at all on the plane... I wish I would have! I have jet lag really bad... It's about 4:15am (2:15pm in Austin) here and I'm wide awake. The strangest thing is that the sun starts rising around 4:00am, so it's fully lit around 4:30. Nothing in Yokohama opens until about 10am, and it closes around 8pm (except the bars, they close around 12am). You see little kids around 5 or 6 walking around by themselves, it's really strange. They go to school by themselves; you could leave your purse on the side of the road and more than likely it would still be there in tact when you came back.

From my bedroom window I can see Chinatown. It's the biggest Chinatown in Japan. The food there is AWESOME. The shops are interesting. I ate sushi the other night with my dad, and it's not regular sushi like the states... it's all sashimi, which is fine. We sat at the bar so we could see the chef preparing the sushi. We got Japanese tea and a set of sushi. I ate everything on my plate except one thing, it had baby sardines on it. I don't think anyone has seen a baby sardine, but they look like little tiny minnows; slimy, and unappetizing. The sushi chef could tell that I wasn't going to eat it, and he couldn't speak English, but all he said to me was, "Challenge". So, I ate it, and it was not good at all, but when a sushi chef challenges you, you have to take it!

I have to say that I feel really weird not knowing the language, you are all of a sudden deaf and dumb and have to resort to hand signs. I know a little, but not nearly enough to hold a conversation at all.

I am continuing to study... It's really hard, and intimidating.

I haven't done anything extremely exciting yet... I've been exhausted! But, I should be soon.

Dewa mata!

"Stuck Between Stations"

Well, I'm suppose to be well on my way to Japan. But, I am sitting on a hotel bed in Atlanta, Georgia writing this blog about how my flight got canceled...

I woke up at 4am (after going to sleep at 1am) at my sister's place to get ready to go to the airport to fly to Georgia for my connecting flight to Tokyo. I get to the Atlanta airport, and while we were taxiing to the gate, Incubus' "Drive" comes on over the radio in the plane, and I take that as a good luck sign, so my nervousness subsides... now I only have about 30 mins to catch my next flight, and my gates on THE other side of the airport... again. I get there just in time to board.... and we board. We wait 2 1/2 HOURS on the plane, not going anywhere, just for them to tell us to get off and wait. There was something wrong with the plane. The original departure time was 10:15 am, it was now almost 1pm, Brandon Boyd has failed me. A couple of minutes go by and they said that we would be taking off at 4:30pm, so I go grab lunch and sit, wait... 4:30 rolls around... speaker comes on... "Ladies and gentlemen, we have some bad news, blah blah blah, the flight for today is canceled, blah blah."

Long-story short: There is usually only one flight out to Tokyo at all major airports a day, and they depart in the morning time, so I rescheduled my flight for tomorrow morning. I call my parents and tell them not to meet me, my cell phone almost dead, I have to go buy a $42 phone charger, and now I'm stuck in Atlanta in a hotel until tomorrow. What a first-time international trip so far... but I guess in JMC's words, "Better wait a day to climb Mt. Fuji than take off now and run into it".

Florida...

For those of you who don’t know. I’m in Florida visiting my sister before a go to Japan. I thought I would never get here because the night before I left, a really bad storm rained down from the heavens on Austin, Texas. I’ve never been in that bad of weather in Austin before. But everything was fine, aside from the branches and some trees down around town.

Sarah W. (my roommate) took me to the airport to drop me off. I was really sad to leave, but I know that this will be a journey of a lifetime! Anyway, this was the first time for me to fly by myself, and of course my plane was delayed (I had a connecting flight in Houston). I was really nervous, but we finally were able to board. We finally landed in Houston and I had twenty minutes to find a bathroom, get a snack and find my gate. Well, my gate was on THE other side of where my plane landed. Great. I really needed to pee so I decided I would pick going to the restroom over eating. I find a restroom, and then I found my gate and I had 10 minutes to spare so I went to Starbucks (that happened to not be busy). There was ONE guy in front of me, and he was taking an extremely long time (and if you don’t know, I am OCD about the time so I was pretty perturbed). I was about to leave to go board my flight when he (the guy in front of me) looked at me and asked, “So, what do you want?”, and I was like, “What?”, and he paid for my stuff because he had a coupon or something… So that made me feel better. I got my drink and a blueberry muffin and boarded the flight to Florida!

I am currently in Florida, and I really like where my sister lives. It’s called Ft. Myers, which is 2 hours from Miami, about 2 hours away from Tampa, 4 hours from the Keys, 5 hours from St. Augustine... you get the picture. It is reeeaally laid back here, that could be a good or a bad thing. The beaches are nice even though it is on the gulf coast. I swear she lives in a retirement center because all the people I have seen so far are old people, but that’s Florida for ya. Tonight, my sister and I are driving to Miami to stay with her best friend… I’m really excited! I’ve never been. Tomorrow we all are going to the Keys to snorkel (I don’t do big bodies of water, or swimming… but I’m going anyway because you need to do it once in your life, this is my once).

Well, hopefully my blogs will be more exciting than this. I leave for Japan May 19^th, so they should be more interesting then.

Peace & Love- Sarah