An ode to one of my favorite characters in this story

4/28/09
8:27

The unthinkable has happened….it’s our last port today.  GUATEMALA HOORAY!

AAAND I only have one final left and it’s an art project.  Score!

This rest of this entry will be a tribute to a entertaining and recurring character in my blob:  Edwin Winfield Platt III, also known as Win or Winner

Direct quotes from Win:

Making room for us at a table at lunch--
Win: “I’m just trying to be hospital!”
Jill:  “Do you mean hospitable?”

At lunch another day --
Win: “Okay guys, can we talk about dragons for a minute?”

After just watching the sunset –
Win: “Hey!  Where did the sun go?”

Last night --
Win: “That sounded really ingeneric…
I mean insincere?”

Funny abbreviations or mispronunciations of countries or cities we have visited:

•       Amarrekech (real name:  Marrakech)
•       Namibs (real name: Namibia)
•       Swakumundo (real name: Swakopmund)
•       Cambodes (real name: Cambodia)
•       Guats (real name: Guatemala)
•       Antiguas (real name: Antigua)

He likes to make things plural.

Daily Life Aboard the MV Explorer

4/26/09
2:10

Took my Global Studies final today…well technically yesterday since it’s 2am.  I am officially done with that class forever.  Good riddance, Global.  I don’t think I aced it but I feel like I did…decent.

Tomorrow is a study day and I am going to SLEEP for the majority of the day.  I can’t wait.  I am basically nocturnal now.  Seriously, my sleep schedule is so off.  I never sleep at night. And I nap several times a day.

In this blob I’m going to write about some interesting observations and entertaining happenings on the ship.  They might bore you, but I want to remember them so here goes:

The first is about an annoying habit I have developed, but not whilst on the ship.  In fact, many of my good friends from home are aware of this frustrating tendency of mine, and now my shipboard friends have caught on too.  It is my tendency to zone out or listen to another conversation while someone else is talking and when they are halfway through their story I get interested and ask, “Who? Did what? When?”  Which basically requires the storyteller to start from the beginning because yours truly cannot focus on one thing.  Yes, it’s rude and I don’t mean to do it, I just get swept up in other things and realize I’ve missed out on the majority of the story. So now I try to catch myself before I do it, but it’s really no use.  Greg and Jill are constantly making fun of me and mimicking me, saying “who?” halfway through my stories or calling me out when I do it.  Good times.

Another funny instance aboard the MV Explorer:
So lately I’ve been playing a lot of Scrabble with Jill.  She is the master Scrabbler, and I am not.  But our friend Doug is the worst.  And somehow I always have a way of putting down a word right where he intended to go.  He hates it.  So anyhoo the other day I was down to the letters: D U G M I E. Dugmie.  So I asked if Dugmie was a word and since it is not, we made it a word. 
       Dugmie (n): a rare bearded species (even the females) who can read minds and breathe under water by trapping air bubbles in their beards.  Most commonly found on Nugget Island.
Strange? Yes.  But Doug is a bushy-bearded fellow (at least he was until he shaved he grew for two months today….it’s weird seeing his bald face) and he is really good at reading people’s body language, so we always say he can read minds.  Also one time he said “Now get this, Hannah” but I thought he said “Nugget this” (again with my bad listening skills), thus Nugget Island.  So we based the Dugmies off of Doug.  Good times.

Ship-life has come to be quite enjoyable.  I thought these long stretches in between ports would be hellish and boring, but time is flying by and it has been really fun.  Tomorrow = study/sleep day and the next day I have my Money and Banking final.  That class is ridiculous.  The teacher is probably brilliant but he cannot teach at all. He is senile.  I don’t know how he got this job, but he is past his prime.  I’m a little nervous about that final, because I basically half to teach the material to myself…we’ll see how it goes.

Then it’s off to Guatemala.  Last port.  It’s kind of dicey there right now so there are all kinds of warnings and restrictions.  I’m not worried, though.  Things will work out, they always do.  The first day Jill and I hope to go biking in Antigua, the next day I’m climbing am active volcano with a volcanologist (hope I don’t fall in!) and the third day, we’ll probably go to the beach.  I can wear my new swimsuit.  Yahoo!

Okay it’s practically 4am right now with the time change.  Constant time changes.  I’m sick of those.  It will be nice to be in one time zone when I get home.  Home.  It’s so soon. I am still in shock.

You are always in MY heart

4/24/09

I forgot to say THANK YOU for the letter from Dad, Katie, and Liv.  I was so excited and surprised to see a brown envelope attached to my door when I got back on the ship in Hawaii.  I ripped the letter open and found the cutest picture of my baby sister’s reflection in the mirror on the desk in my room.  I was even more pleased to have a disc of recent photos of the whole fam.  I’ve showed them to everyone.  Every time I have a chance I ask, “Want to see the cutest girl ever?”  And then I scroll through all the photos listening to people’s ‘oohs’ and ‘aaaawws’.  So thank you for that little taste of home.  The card is hanging from my magnetized wall with the “incredibly strong” magnets Katie got me. 

Alhoa -- that is how the ship spelled Aloha in an e-mail...embarassing

4/21/09
19:51

I didn’t realize how much I missed the United States of America until I arrived on US land two days ago.  It was all so familiar, so comfortable.

I woke up early the morning we arrived in Honolulu because we had to do a face-to-face passport inspection with customs at 6:30am.  I rolled out of bed, still wearing my pajamas…and my retainer…and went through the inspection.  Everyone was out on deck 7 (the top deck) on their cell phones, a sight I haven’t seen in a long time.  I immediately ran down to my room to check my phone.  IT WORKED!  Perfect signal, not roaming.  I had a cellular phone at my disposal.  It was amazing.

I called home.  It was the first time I have talked to Dad, Katie, and Liv since January 18th.  That’s a pretty long time. When Dad answered I was like, “Hello!” and he was like, “Hello?  Wait is this…Hannah?”  And I was like, “YEAH!!!”  It was great to hear everyone’s voice.  Especially Liv.  She sang me a song.  She can sing songs now.  She can count.  She is a big girl.  And I’m missing it.  I can’t wait to see her and how much she’s grown.  After I heard her song I sort of felt like crying.  Just because she’s getting so big and well…I miss my family.I talked to Nate and Clare as well, my two favorite GAC kids. 

Then at about 8:45 my friend Alicia and I got suited up to go run along the coast of Honolulu to Waikiki Beach.  My friends Jill, Caroline, Greg, Doug (it was weird traveling with a Doug because I was tempted to call him Dougert McGee and I actually did at one point), Disha, and Alex were also coming to the beach with us, but they weren’t feeling as athletically inclined as Alicia and me, so they walked.  I miss running on land.  I miss it so much.  The only downside about the run was that we both had backpacks with us, that became rather heavy and cumbersome in the hot hot Hawaiian sun.  No worries, though, because right when we got to the beach we stripped into our bathing suits and ran into the cool and refreshing (do you like that reference, Mom?) waters of Waikiki Beach.  Aaaah yessssssssssss.

We all lounged on the beach and floated in the water for several hours.  It was weird not being able to recognize every white person that walked by.  Typically I can spot a SASer a mile away while in port, but in Hawaii this was not the case.  We also couldn’t talk as freely, because people actually understand what we’re saying.  The whole ‘no language barrier’ thing was also a nice change of pace. We could flag down a taxi and take comfort in the fact that not only is it metered, but the driver understands where we want to go. 

We got hungry around 11:30, so we went in search of nourishment.  We came across the Rock Island Café that was the epitome of American pop culture and unhealthy food.  The walls were lined with signed pictures of actresses, actors, and singers ranging from Elvis and Marilyn Monroe to the Zac Efron.  There were TVs playing the classics like Grease and the Wizard of Oz.  And then the menu.  Pizza, hotdogs, burgers, sandwiches, milkshakes, banana splits, nachos, chicken wings.  Nirvana.  Except nothing was less than $8.  Eight dollars.  Eight US dollars.  $1 USD = $1 Hawaiian dollar.  Bummer man. 

The high prices didn’t deter us from indulging ourselves, though.  I got a chili cheese dog with fries and Jill and I split a banana split for dessert.  It worked out perfectly because Jill loves strawberry ice cream but isn’t a big fan of chocolate ice cream, and I dig chocolate ice cream but am not the biggest fan of strawberry.  Can you say match made in heaven?

After lunch we headed back to the beach to enjoy more sunshine and waves.  Jill, Doug and Greg left after an hour or so because they were giving a tour to prospective students on the ship at 3.  At about 4, Disha, Caroline, Alex and I decided to head back to the ship to shower and change.  On our walk back we saw a Coldstone.  Who can resist Coldstone?  I got a “like it” size of Peanut Butter Perfection.  “Like it” is the smallest size, so I held back, obviously. 

Oh and earlier, a few of us decided to take a sunset catamaran tour of the bay, which left at 5:30 but we were supposed to meet at the boat at 5.  Caroline and I realized that we wouldn’t have time to go all the way back to the ship to change and then come back because it was rush hour and it was about 4:45 already.  So Disha and Alex headed back without us and Caroline and I tried our best to freshen up in a mall bathroom.

We met Doug, Greg, Jill, Nancy, Skyler, Brendan, and Mike back at the boat.  This boat ride brought flashbacks of that fateful boat ride in Acapulco Senior Spring Break 2k7.  The boat ride that we are not to speak of EVER AGAIN.  Luckily, no one got seasick on this ride, no one fell off a bench because the ship was breaking, the music wasn’t a skipping CD of techno, and it was an overall enjoyable experience.  We all sat on the top deck laughing, drinking Mai Tais, taking pictures, and singing and dancing along to American pop songs.  So nice. 

Jill and Nancy began conversing with this Australian guy named Aaron who was on board.  Great accent, super cute.  At first we thought he was gay, but after a while it appeared that he was straight.  Sooo Jill invited him to dinner with us.  We ate at this restaurant called Duke’s, which was a sort of sports bar.  As usual just about every SASer had also decided to eat at this restaurant, so it was good that we had made a reservation for 8 earlier in the day.

I was still rather full from my second helping of ice cream that day, so I split deep-fried shrimp with Alicia and calamari with Nancy.  It was super tasty.  After dinner we hung out at the restaurant bar for a while, but the legal drinking age in the US is 21.  Weird.  Us youngens got bored of standing around the bar and constantly getting asked for our IDs and constantly telling the bartenders that we weren’t drinking, so I hung out on the beach for a while.  I sat in a powwow circle with Lia, Disha, Doug, and Lexi just chatting and hanging out.

 At around midnight, I decided to head back to the ship with Disha and Lia.  Lia was having a hard day and wanted to go to bed and I was over that restaurant scene, so we started walking back to the ship.  After a fair amount of walking, we decided to get  a cab, because Disha and Lia both had to pee.  We were further away from the ship than I thought so it was good we got a cab and it was relatively cheap between the three of us.

The next morning I got up at 8:30 to meet people for breakfast on the ship.  Jill, Caroline, Doug, Lexi and I planned to rent bikes and bike around Honolulu. Doug and Jill had seen a bike rental shop on their way home the night before so we knew the general area but it was a long walk from where the ship was docked.  We walked for about 15 or 20 minutes and then decided to take a bus instead of walking in the hot sun. 

We waited at a bus stop for like 10 minutes and not a single bus went by.  So we began walking again and then we saw the number 19 bus, which would take us exactly to where we needed to be.  It stopped about 50 feet in front of us.  We all looked at each other and said, “RUN!!” So we took off in a sprint to catch this bus.  We made it and breathlessly paid and took our seats, giggling all the while.

After a few stops we got off and found the bike rental shop.  It was $21 to rent the bike for the day.  We considered biking to Pearl Harbor or to this beautiful beach someone recommended to Jill, but they were both on the other side of the island so we didn’t have enough time. Instead we biked around the Waikiki area, along the coast. 

Before we really got into on our ride, we stopped at an ABC Store, which is kind of like the 7-Eleven of Hawaii.  AND they accept Yen so I was able to exchange all of my Yen.  Yay! 

On our way to the store, we had been biking on the sidewalks, weaving in an out of groups of people.  When we stopped at the store both a bike policeman and a local told us that it is illegal to bike on the sidewalks, you either have to bike on the streets or walk your bike on the sidewalk.  Oops.

Then we began the real ride.  I was the leader of the pack, which was a bit frustrating since I had no clue where to go and it’s always hard to communicate with your fellow bikers because they are behind you.  At one point Lexi shouted out to me, “Hannah stop! Doug fell!”  Apparently Doug doesn’t know how to ride a bike.  He claims that the breaks on his bike at home are different, so he clutched the front breaks and nearly flipped his bike.  He managed to jump off mid-flip and both him and the bike were perfectly fine.  Stupid Doug.

After biking around for a while and working up a good sweat, we came across a hotel beach and decided to take a dip.  It felt sooooo good.  I love floating in the water.  I rarely touched the bottom of the ocean.  One, because I like to float, and two, because there are all kinds of CARL reefs.  It hurt my feet.  There’s just so much carl. 

After our dip, we were hungry and we wanted Mexican food.  It’s surprising how often we crave Mexican food.  I wanted guacamole. I MISS guac. We started biking rather aimlessly since, again, I didn’t know where to go.  We took a turn and then Lexi and Caroline and I stopped to convene with the entire group.  We turned our heads to the left and there was La Cucaracha, Mexican Restaurant.  Things always work out, I’ve come to realize in my travels.  I never really stress anymore because I know things have a way of working out.  City of miracles….oh wait that’s Tokyo.  My bad.

We locked our bikes up and put clothes back on (we had been biking in swimsuits after the ocean swim and this place didn’t serve shirtless, shoeless customers…dictators). This Mexican food was AMAZING.  We split a HUGE serving of nachos for the table and Caroline and I split chicken quesadillas.  Splitting food is a necessity since a) American serving sizes are mucho grande compared to anywhere else and b) everything is fricken expensive.  Our nachos were like $18.  That’s insane.

Oh and speaking of quesadillas, the pool bar on the ship now serves quesadillas.  Everyone I was sitting with just now, found that out and left me sitting here alone.  Bastards.

Anyways, after our pig-out session, we went to the beach…again.   On our way to the water we passed a Billabong swimsuit store.  I made a mental note of that, because as you may or may not know I can’t resist swimsuits and I am SICK of the 2 that I brought. 

At the beach we laid out and swam and avoided carl reefs and napped.  It was sooooo relaxing.  It was paradise.  We saw the boat we had gone on the night before and we considered doing another cruise around the island but we didn’t have enough time.  What a shame.  After a bit we got ice cream and then went to get our bikes.  Jill and Doug wanted to go for one more dip in the ocean, so Lexi, Caroline and I went to Billabong,  I may or may not have purchased a swimsuit, that I don’t necessarily need.  But it was super cute and brightly colored, which looks great against my coco brown skin.  Or something like that.

We had to return the bikes by 5 and it was 4:30 and we didn’t know where the bike shop was in proximity to our current location.  Dilemma.  I took the lead again and managed to get us back to the shop with minutes to spare.  A great sense of direction, I have.  There’s a little Yoda-speak for you.

We the planned to take a bus back to the ship, but no buses come to the bus stops EVER so we split a cab back to the ship.

Typically after being in a country for 4 or 5 days, I am ready to go back to the ship. It’s my home and it’s nice to sleep in my bed and to take a shower and have clean clothes and all that jazz.  This time I was not ready to go back.  I wish we could have stayed in Hawaii longer.  It was a little teaser for home.  Even though Hawaii is really nothing like Minnesota at all, it has all the familiarities of home. 

Back on the ship I made a few more phone calls.  I also connected to a free Internet network from the back of the ship.  I was able to make a tentative class schedule for fall semester at USD.  I sign up for classes in 3 days.  That’s kind of a reality check.  I might be taking 6 classes, because I feel like I’m behind since I’m just picking my major now.  It’s going to be a tough semester, especially in comparison to this.

Now I’m on the ship again.  One week until Guatemala.  Then two weeks, you guys.  I’ll be home in two weeks.  That blows my mind.  I stayed up late last night painting for an art project I have and talking with Greg.  We talked about friends and family.  Our families and our past are uncannily alike.  He is basically my long lost Jewish brother.  Who knew?  We talked about how we won’t see some of these people for years or possibly never again.  I thought about who I actually hope to stay in touch with.  I hope I do. I will. 

Well mahalo for reading.  Aloha.

Whaaaaaaaaale Part II

4/17/09
9:22

It is whale season in the Pacific.  I have wanted to see a whale this entire voyage.  I have dreamed about it twice.  I’m crossing my fingers that soon I can say WHAAAAAAALE and it won’t be a lie.

Somewhere over the rainbow

4/16/09
1:14

We’ve been on the Pacific Ocean for the past few days.  The water has been really rocky, the sky has been overcast, and the weather has been cool.  But yesterday the waves finally smoothed out, the sun shone brightly, and it was hot.  It reminded me of the good old days on the Indian Ocean.

In the evening, from the back of the ship, I could see a beautiful blue sky, with the sun melting into the water. From the port side I could see dark, ominous clouds with rain pouring down, a stark contrast to the colors of the sunset.  Amidst the clouds were two bright rainbows arching over me.  One of those rainbows was the closest to a full rainbow I have ever seen and it was amazing.  The reflection glimmered on the smooth water. It was very picturesque, but alas my camera remains somewhere in Shibuya.  Luckily, I have many friends with high quality cameras who promised to give me the pictures. 

I’ve seen some beautiful sights on this voyage, and to think there are only three weeks left.  I can’t believe it.  I don’t really want to believe it.  The ship has really become my home.  The people on board have become my classmates, my friends, my family, and some of them I may never see again. 

–Pensive Panda

The trials and tribulations of Tokyo part II

It was gone.  Everything was gone.  I had soooo hoped it would turn up, that no one took it, that it was just left in a corner behind a speaker.  But no, it was gone.  With disappointment, I told the man working at the club, “Arigoto (thank you)” and began to leave.  Then I asked him if I could use the club’s phone.  He got confused and wrote down the club phone number.  I tried to explain and I realized that I really had no one to call anyways, so I just left. 

I wandered back to the train station so I could go to Akasaka, a district in Tokyo where the US Embassy is located.  I asked security what train to take.  They told me to take two subways.  So I went off in search of the subway station.  Along the way I saw a few SASers.  I asked a Megan, a friend from South Africa, if I could have her green sheet.  She gave it to me and asked what happened.  I told her and her group and they sympathized.  I ran into another SASer and asked where the subway station was. She pointed me in the right direction and asked if I was okay.  Tears welled up in my eyes, but I couldn’t cry because I had to get to the embassy so I said no but kept walking.

I found the subway and got my tickets.  Finally I made it to Akasaka.  I’d say it was about 6:30 or 7 by this time, but I don’t have a watch.  It was getting dark out though.  I began wandering along the streets looking for the address.  Of course the addresses aren’t plainly displayed on windows of buildings or anything so my prospects of finding this place were looking dim. 

I began to look for someone who could help me and I saw a black man and woman walking along towards me, who looked like they were speaking English.  I walked up to them and asked if they spoke English.  The man told me yes.  I asked if he knew where the US Embassy was and he gave me directions to the embassy.  I thanked him, and then he said, “You know it’s closed, though.”  That was it.  I started crying.  I must have looked so foolish: standing on the street, disheveled hair, pale-faced, carrying a backpack almost as big as me, wearing the same outfit from the night before, crying in front of strangers.

This man immediately asked what was wrong and, in between sobs, I told him that I was student studying abroad and had lost my passport and needed a new one by tomorrow in order to continue on with my program.  He whipped out his phone and called the officer on duty at the embassy.  How did he have that number in his phone, you may ask?  Because he worked at the embassy! Aaron Baloney (great name), Chief of the Military Liaison Group, my hero.  CITY OF MIRACLES. 

I composed myself, and Aaron gave me the phone and I talked to the duty officer.  She instructed me to come back as soon as the embassy opened the next day (8:30am) and bring either my birth certificate or driver’s license and the copies of my passport that I had.  She also informed me that it might take 3 to 5 days to get a new passport so I should discuss my options with SAS.  I had no options.  If I didn’t get a passport by the next day, I wouldn’t be able to sail with the ship to Hawaii.  I would miss 9 days of school on the ship, which is like the most school we ever have in a row.  I would have to pay for a pretty damn expensive ticket to Hawaii. I had to get a new passport by the next day.

After I got all the information I hung up, and thanked Aaron profusely for letting me use his phone.  His mom, Judy, gave me a big hug and said, “It’s okay, honey.  I’m a mom.”  I needed that hug more than she will ever know.  Aaron asked if I had a place to stay for the night and I told him I was going to go back to the ship in Yokohama.  He asked if I had money to get back to the ship and I told him I had about 2000 Yen.  He, then  gave me 3000 Yen and directed me towards the right train to take.  I started crying again because I was so moved by his compassion.  His mom put her arm around me and said that she had been having a crappy day until she met me and I brightened up her day.  Oh you’re having a crappy day?

I thanked them for their help and they made me promise I would call once I got back to the ship safely. 

Back to the subway.  At this point I changed out my dress and tights from the night before and put on sweatpants.  Earlier I didn’t feel like I had time to change or eat or drink or do anything.  I also had a tiny box of Frosted Flakes that I jacked from the ship’s breakfast a few days before.  In new clothes and with some food in my stomach I got on the subway back to Shinjuku.  Once in Shinjuku Station I tried finding a train to Yokohama.  A woman came over and asked if I needed help.  I told her I needed to go to the Nihon-Odori station in Yokohama and she helped me buy a ticket for the right train.  City of miracles.  So many strangers helped me in Tokyo.  Thank God.

I got on the train.  I had to stand for a while until the car emptied out a bit.  When I finally got a seat, I was exhausted.  I had been hauling my huge backpack around all day and it had been a pretty draining day without the extra weight.  Everyone else on the train was exhausted too.  The Japanese really know how to sleep standing up while holding on to the overhead bar on a train.  I’ve never seen anything like it. Every single person is asleep.

My stop was one of the last ones and it had been about an hour ride, but it could have been quicker if there had been less stops.  I got off the train and saw some SASers.  I asked if I could follow them back to the ship since I didn’t know where the ship was docked,  because the last time I had seen the ship was in Kobe.  They agreed and we made our way back.  When getting back onto the ship everyone swiped their ship ID cards and when it came to me I told security I lost my card.  She asked for my passport and I told her I lost that too.  I explained that I had lost my bag that contained most my belongings.  She seemed frustrated and began asking me all of these questions like my room number, my ID number, what classes I took on the ship.  Once she was satisfied that I am indeed a student on Semester at Sea she told me to go immediately to the front desk and alert them of my passport.  I did so.  

Honey, the lady at the front desk, made me a new ship ID and called the dean on duty.  The advice from the dean on duty was to go to the embassy as soon as possible the next day and get a new passport.  He said it could be done pretty quickly, and another student had lost her passport earlier and she already had a new passport.  That gave me some hope.

I got back to my room and put down my bag.  Kendra was there.  She asked how everything went and told me that if I couldn’t get a new passport she would ask her aunt and uncle in Hawaii if I could stay with them until the ship got there.  I couldn’t really handle that idea and at that point, all I wanted to do was call home.  All I wanted was to talk to my mom.  I tried to buy a phone card but Japan has its own network for phones and Internet so phone cards wouldn’t work and the Internet on the ship was turned off.  I didn’t know what to do.  I really couldn’t keep it together much longer.

I went over to Caroline’s room and told her what happened and asked her if her phone was working. It was and she let me borrow it.  She let me use it the whole night, even after she went out.  I have such good, caring friends.  I am so lucky.

I went outside on the front of the ship and tried calling my mom.  She didn’t answer because it was pretty early back home.  Finally she called back and I broke down.  I was scared, tired, devastated, and in need of some motherly love.  She gave it to me.  She was so supportive, so level-headed.  She was my mom and that’s what I needed then.  Thanks Mom.  I love you very very very very very very much.

Once I got a hold of myself, I called my parent’s college friend Mark Schumacher, who I planned to meet up with the next day and told him of the situation.  He told me we could meet up a bit later after I sorted everything out at the embassy, so I said I’d call him the next day.  Then I called Aaron Baloney and left a message on his answering machine thanking him for everything and letting him know that I got back to the ship alright.

It was weird having a phone again.  I talked to my mom several times that night as she did more and more research on getting a new passport made.  I finally went to bed around 1. 

The next morning I got up at 6, I packed my smaller, more manageable backpack with my drivers license, a copy of my birth certificate, a copy of my passport, two passport photos, $100 USD (I had $102 USD left in my safe), 4000 Yen, the address for the embassy, Caroline’s phone, and some cereal and went on my way to the embassy.  I got to the embassy at about 8:20am.  I went through security and then took a number and waited.  I was third in line, I believe.  They called my number, I told them the situation, gave them all my papers, filled out some paperwork, and waited for them to process an emergency passport for me.  An emergency passport is valid for one year.  I have to get it renewed in the US when I get back.  It looks the same as other passports, except it has EMERGENCY written across it and I think it has less pages.  It also won’t have all the cool stamps, stickers, and visas my old passport had.  But oh well, it’s a passport.

While I waited for my passport, I watched the cutest Japanese family.  A mom, a dad, and a little boy and little girl.  They spoke fluently in English as well.  Those little kids were so cute.  The mom was counting some yen, and the little girl leaned over her mom’s shoulder and said “Is that mine?” and her mom said, “No,” and the girl said, “Oh…well where’s mine?”  Then the two parents got up to talk to one of the workers at the embassy and the little boy sat at the table trying to open his water bottle.  “Daddy! It’s tight!” he cried out, when he couldn’t open the bottle.  His dad didn’t respond.  “Tight! Tight! Tight! Daaaaaaad it’s tiiiiiiiiiiiiight.”  Still no response.  It was pretty funny.  Finally he gave up.

At one point I looked up and Aaron Baloney was walking towards me.  I stood up immediately and thanked him again.  I asked if he got my message and he said yes.  I told him I would pay him back for his loan and he gave me his e-mail address and told me he was glad everything worked out.  Aaron Baloney saved my life.

At about 10 o’clock I had a new passport, so I called the dean on duty on the ship and let him know, then I called my mom to let her know, then I called Mark and we agreed to meet in Kamakura, where he lives, in an hour.

I arrived in Kamakura about an hour and a half later and Mark was there to greet me.  He gave me a big hug and then took me out to lunch at this tiny, eclectic place down a back street in Kamakura filled with all sorts of pottery and artwork.  The restaurant served us several dishes, there were no menus, they just brought out food.  We had rice, pork and corn, noodles and pork, sardines (I think), soup, and green tea.  It was all pretty good, too. 

Next Mark took me to a couple of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines.  Mark studies Buddhist and Shinto statuary, so he was a fabulous tour guide.  He was so knowledgeable about Buddhism and the various deities and practices and myths.  I’ve seen my fair share of shrines and temples in the countries I’ve been to, but it was nice to have a tour guide that added a little flavor to the whole spiel.  At the end of the tour Mark tested me on what I had learned.  I got an A. 

Mark is just as fun and entertaining as I remember him when I was 6, a bit more crass perhaps, but in an good-natured, silly way.

Mark also introduced me to sweet potato ice cream, which was delicious.  If I can’t find that in the US, I will make my own and start a sweet potato ice cream business.  He also bought me a deep-fried sweet potato treat.   Sweet potatoes are the shit. 

Mark sent me on my way around 3:30.  I thanked him for showing me around Kamakura and allowing my time in Japan to end on a good note.  Mark also loaned me money for the rest of my trip since I only had $2 USD to my name at this point.  What a good guy.

Back in Yokohama I got lost on my way the ship and ended up having to take an expensive cab ride to the ship, but I made it to the ship, didn’t get dock time and I had a passport so I could pass the face-to-face customs passport inspection.

I hadn’t been on the ship since early that morning, so none of my friends knew if I got a new passport and everyone was pretty worried.  The news spread pretty quickly that I lost my passport, too, so lots of people I never told came up asking me about it.  Steve, Hussain, and Disha ran up and hugged me when they saw me. Caroline, Alicia, and Jill greeted me with hugs and stories.  Win gave me a big hug and said he was glad I was still sailing with the ship. Greg told me he was glad I made it.  Everyone was soooo soo nice, and I felt really loved.  I’ve made some pretty spectacular friend while on this voyage and I’m extremely grateful for all of them.  I needed a lot of love that day, and I got it.

So that was my Japan.  I lost a lot, but I gained a lot more.  I lost my passport, my money, my Japan Rail pass (which looked super cool), my camera with all my Japan pictures, and my credit cards.  I’ll probably never get any of that back.  But I got a new passport, I can earn money, I can get pictures from friends and I learned many lessons from that experience. I learned to never let my guard down.  I learned how to ask for help. I learned to travel on my own in a foreign country.  If I can do that…I can do anything.  I learned people’s true colors.  I learned how supportive my friends and family are.  And most importantly I learned to have complete faith in humanity.

Two days later, on Easter, I had a lot be thankful for as I watched the sun rise over the bow of the ship.

The trials and tribulations of Tokyo

4/15/09
16:09

Okay so I will now finish my Japan blob.  It’s taken me a while to finish blobbing because it has been a pretty hectic couple of days on the ship since I got back.  Lots of tests and projects, including the huge Global Studies test, which was a bitch.  It’s so much information, completely unorganized approach, CHAOS.  We’ll see how I do.  Luckily, I’m taking that class pass/fail because there is a chance that I could get a C.  I know, I know, that’s bad.  But you have no idea what this class is like.  We learn about history, religion, CORAL REEFS (pronounced ‘carl’ reefs by the professor, which kills me), weather patterns, climates, islands, homo erectus (giggle), the Dodo bird.  So much info.  BUT today we have a day off.  I slept the majority of today and now I’m drawing and blobbing.

So Japan.  Where was I last time?  Oh yes, Tokyo International Hostel.  The next morning was JILL’S 21ST BIRTHDAY!!!! WOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! We all woke up early because the designated shower time was between 6:30 and 8:30 am. Rough.  After we showered, we packed up, checked out, and went in search of free Internet so Kendra could get in contact with her friend Mary from high school who is studying in Japan and also to find the Denny’s we saw on our train ride to the hostel the night before.  There is no free Internet anywhere in Tokyo, even though we were told it is all over the place.  City of lies.

We finally stumble upon Denny’s, which is not quite the same as Denny’s in the US, but that’s to be expected in Japan.  But no Internet could be found.  Kendra was starting to freak the F out because she couldn’t get in contact with Mary, so we took the train back to the main station in Shinjuku.  We put our huge backpacks in storage lockers and talked to information about the location of Internet cafés and banks/ATMs, since Japanese ATMs do not take American credit cards.  In fact, the only place that has ATMs that will accept American credit cards was none other than 7-Eleven.  I love that place.  They’re not going to be the same in the States.

So we began our quest in Shinjuku to find Internet and ATMs.   The information desk at the train station wasn’t particularly helpful, but we stumbled upon a 7-Eleven and got some Yen.  Then as we were walking Jill’s iPhone got connected all of a sudden to a free wireless network.  Yay!  So Kendra finally made contact with her friend Mary and set up a plan to meet at 4:20 at the Waseda Train Station.  Jill also got in contact with Chris, a friend from high school who is studying in Tokyo, and we planned to meet up with him at around 7:30. 

Everything was settled so we could go explore Tokyo.  First we set off to see this beautiful Shinto shrine.  The bows of cherry blossom trees hung over the courtyard leading up to the shrine, blanketing the pebbled ground in petals.  When you enter a shrine there is a Torii, which is a squared off archway that purifies those that enter from above.  The pebbles on the ground are said to purify people from below and there is a water fountain where one pours water over their hands out of a ladle to complete the purification process.

We purified ourselves and wandered into the shrine.  I always feel a little uncomfortable going into holy places as a tourist because typically there are people worshipping there.  I feel intrusive.  I, personally, would feel uncomfortable if people were walking by, taking pictures as I sat in my church and prayed.  Thus far, at all the shrines and temples I’ve visited though, no one has seemed to be upset by my disturbance of the peace, but I still feel a bit uneasy.

After going into the shrine we walked around the grounds.  Despite being a holy place, there are still all kinds of shops and food carts for tourists.  You could buy good luck charms, or charms that help you with your studies, and so on.  You could buy your fortune and if it was a bad fortune you tie it up and leave it in the shrine, you could buy a plaque to write a wish.  You could buy crepes, hotdogs, green tea, ice cream.  Then past all of those stands there were several rows of small Buddha statues that represent the spirit of babies and young children who have died or aborted fetuses.  Many of them have little hats and cloaks draped upon them and are adorned with flowers and toys.

We walked down a wooded path, past a Buddhist graveyard that was behind the shrine and found ourselves back on the streets of Tokyo.  We looked across the street and there was a beautiful park with a bubbling brook, willow trees, stone paths – just an explosion of nature amidst all the concrete and steel.  While meandering through the park across a bridge and under the trees, we found ourselves right in front of the Tokyo Tower.  This red and white tower is taller than the Eiffel Tower, and has shops, restaurants, a wax museum, an arcade, and an aquarium in it.   We went in and checked it out.  I wanted to buy Reegan a little Hello Kitty trinket, but even the tiniest, teeny weeny keychain was 800 Yen.  EIGHT DOLLARS!  Stupid. 

Jill, Kendra, and Adrienne went up to the top to check out the view and I decided to walk around and check out the museum.  I thought I would save some cash…well nothing is free in that tower except for the diorama, picture timeline, and informational plaques on the tower.  That was nice, except it was all written in Japanese so my curiosity remains about the construction and history of the tower.

Outside of the tower, we came across a crepe stand and the crepes looked delicious. Filled with various fruits, whip cream, custard, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, sprinkles.  Needless to say I invested in one with strawberries, ice cream, chocolate sauce and whipped cream.  So good.

We wanted to go see an art museum, but they were pretty pricey and we didn’t have enough time to get our money’s worth before meeting Mary.  So we hopped on a train in search of Kendra’s long-lost high school mate.  We found her in the station and Kendra and Mary embraced and shrieked with joy.  It was cute.  I wish one of my best friend’s were studying in Tokyo.  Why weren’t you guys studying in Tokyo while I was there?  Seriously.

Mary took us to the Harajuku district and what a sight to see.  The styles…they are crazy, wild, colorful, polka-dotted, striped, hot pink, scrunchies, pigtails, fake eyelashes, tights, heels, boots, sneakaaazzzz, and nothing I could ever pull off.  It reminded me of Spain, just because everyone was so fashionable there and I felt out of place and fashion backward…as opposed to fashion forward.  It also made me wish I had brought a few more cute outfits from home.  Live and learn.  Next time I’m traveling the world on a ship I’ll remember to bring some more dresses, skirts, tops, a pair of heels, some boots…next time for sure.

As we walked down a main fashion street, staring at everyone, every things, every shop, Jill sang Gwen Stefani’s “Harajuku Girls.”  Fitting, no?  Adrienne got sucked into many a clothing boutique and spent her fair share of yen on some choice items.  She got some cuuuuute stuff.  Kendra and Mary were off in their own world.  I just took it all in. 

One of Jill’s goals for her 21st birthday was to drink bubble tea.  As we walked down the street we saw two girls holding cups of bubble tea.  Jill ran over and asked one where she got it.  This girl clad in funky duds did not speak English very well and she shrugged, but we grabbed the cup and looked at the name, “Pearl Lady.”  We strolled down looking for the Pearl Lady.  We came across a food court and went in and guess what.  PEARL LADY! BUBBLE TEA!!!  Adrienne, Jill and I all got a cup.  Kendra and Mary had separated from us.  I got chocolate.  Jill got mango.  Adrienne got milk tea?  I’ve had bubble tea in every country since Vietnam.  That’s only three countries, but still. I’m obsessed.  Is there bubble tea in Minnesota?  There needs to be.

We came back out with our bubble tea and found Kendra and Mary.  Then we walked to the main avenue in Harajuku.  There is shop after shop, crepe stand after crepe stand, cool Japanese chick after cool Japanese chick.  I loved it.  Mary and Kendra separated from us again, and Jill, Adrienne and I found this ridiculous store called Condomania.  It sold…condoms, duh.  And other explicit items.  Good for a chuckle.

Kendra and Mary wanted to explore some more and Adrienne, Jill and I decided to go pick up our stuff from the station in Shinjuku and meet up with Jill’s friend Chris so we made a plan to meet up again at 8:30.  Back in Shinjuku, we found Chris right outside the station.  He was a great host.  He immediately took us to a cheap sushi place and I tried my first bite of sushi.  I had shrimp sushi, tuna sushi, salmon sushi, crab sushi.  And I liked it. Crab was definitely my favorite.  Is that the California roll?  I think so.  Then Chris took us to see this crazy shop that is jam-packed with EVERYTHING.  Toys, clothes, costumes, underwear, jewelry, gag gifts.  Just covered with merchandise from floor to ceiling, wall to wall.  It was definitely a sensory overload and not a good place for claustrophobic people.  Jill purchased a panda suit.  Good buy, my friend, good buy.  Next Chris took us to get a sweetbean-filled pancake from a street vendor.  I never thought of beans a dessert food, but they are, and they’re good.  By this time it was a little past 8:30 so we rushed back to meet Kendra and Mary.

We all grabbed our backpacks out of our lockers and changed into our “going out” outfits.  Jill had also purchased some tiger-ear clips to put in her hair in order to distinguish her as the birthday girl.  Rawr.

We got all fancy and put our backpacks in new lockers.  Jill didn’t want to bring a purse so I put her Japan Rail Pass as well as my own, and our locker key in my little purse, along with my money, passport, and camera.  I thought about leaving some stuff in the locker (like maybe my passport), but I decided it would be fine, clearly ignoring my intuition.  Always a mistake.  FORESHADOWING.

We followed Chris to a hole-in-the-wall bar where he was meeting someone for an interview.  The bar had a half-pipe in it and was decorated with all kinds of paintings done by these Japanese tattoo artists.  The paintings were of Kapa (spelling?) which is like the Japanese version of the boogie monster.  The paintings were very sexualized and rather vulgar and violent.  I took a picture (that I will never see) of one with a female Kapa who had a pickle or cucumber coming out of an orifice that I would not want any sort of produce coming out of.  EXPLICIT.  Chris knew a lot of the tattoo artists, and this was perfect because Adrienne really wanted to get a tattoo while in Japan.  She had drawn out a design and had kept her eye out for tattoo parlors the entire time we were in Japan, but to no avail.  Chris promised to take her to get a tattoo the next day and I promised to come with for moral support and to see a tattoo done in REAL LIFE!

The bar was empty apart from our group and Chris was friends with all the bartenders.  He told them in Japanese that it was Jill’s 21st and they congratulated her.  We ordered a few drinks and then the bartenders came out with a bowl of popcorn with three flickering candles sticking out of it.  They sang, “Happy Birthday” and also brought out Hershey’s kisses.  It was so sweet.  We all sat and talked and laughed, and after a little while, one of the bartenders came over, turned off the lights, and levitated a pen between his hands.  City of magic.   It was totally random and hilarious and perfect.

Chris’s interviewer hadn’t shown up after an hour and we decided to go check out the club scene in Shibuya, another district in Tokyo.  It was about 11:30 by the time we got to Shibuya and we began wandering around in search of clubs.  Everything seemed to be closing because the last train is at midnight.  We ran into some other SASers who also had a birthday boy in their group and we joined forces in search of a good time.  We found a club called Vuenos, that gave us a deal: $10 cover charge, with 2 drinks included.  We were in. 

This club had three levels: the first was a sitting area, the next was down just a few steps and had a bar, then there was a stage, dance floor and bar area below that you could down at from a bridge going across.  It was pretty cool.  And completely empty, except for about 20 SASers.  Typical.

  Chris had told us the Japanese word for birthday and I believe it was ‘tanjobi’ or something to that effect.  Jill forgot and I overheard her asking some SAS guys what the word was.  The blatantly lied to her face making up random Japanese words.  City of lies.  I swooped in and told them they were liars and Jill and I went up to the bar to tell the bartender it was her ‘tanjobi’ in order to get a free drink.

After an hour or so at the club, Japanese people started to filter in slowly and then there was a flood.  The dance floor was filled, the music was hopping, it was starting to become quite the party.  We were all dancing and enjoying ourselves and it was a pretty quality night and then everything went to straight to H-E-double hockey sticks.

It was getting late so we left the club and went in search of a place to stay.  We were planning on staying the night in karaoke bar because you can rent a room until like 8am, but there weren’t any close.  We happened upon a love hotel, which is a hotel where you can rent a room for an hour or so, or the whole night and….love someone.  Adrienne worked her magic with the guy at the front desk and we were able to get a room for 12000 Yen.  That’s a bout $30 a person.  Not bad for Tokyo. 

The next morning we woke up, got ready to meet Chris for Adrienne’s tattoo appointment, and I realized my purse was missing.  FML.  Game over.  Life over. City of misfortune.  I searched the room through and through.  I checked everyone else’s bags, I wandered the streets, I went back to the club but it was closed and wouldn’t open again until 3pm.  My purse was nowhere to be found.  Everything was gone. 

Now I know that losing those possessions was incredibly stupid and irresponsible and I felt horrible.  I wanted to dig a deep, deep hole and crawl into it and never come out.  I felt ashamed that this kind of idiocy could have happened to me.  Who leaves their purse with ALL OF THEIR BELONGINGS and OTHER PEOPLE’S belongings in a club.  WHO? I do.  Sooooo sooo sooo stupid.

We met up with Chris and told him the situation.  He immediately brought us to a police cube, which they have on nearly every street and we reported the loss/theft.  I could barely talk.  I couldn’t eat.  I felt terrible that this was putting a huge, black rain cloud over everyone’s second-to-last day in Japan.  I didn’t want anyone to miss out on their plans because of my foolishness.  Kendra had planned to meet up with Mary, so I told her to go.  Adrienne wanted to get a tattoo, Jill was going to go to the Pokemon store, and we both had tickets to go to a Japanese baseball game and I didn’t want her to miss it.

Kendra went off at noon to meet Mary, Jill met up with Win to tell him she couldn’t come to the Pokemon store, and then Adrienne, Chris, Jill and I went to eat since it was noon and we hadn’t eaten.

I didn’t eat.  I just sat, wanting to wake up from the nightmare I was in.  I decided that I would go back to the club at 3 to make sure my bag wasn’t there.  I hoped and prayed and wished it would be there.  Everyone kept telling me that if you lose something in Japan, people will turn it in to the closest police station.  They told me no one steals.  City of lies.

After everyone ate, Chris took Adrienne to get her tattoo.  Jill and I came with and waited while the tattooist embellished the design and colored it in and drew it on Adrienne’s shoulder.  We watched him start the process and then Chris, Jill, and I went back to the train station so Jill could catch a train to get back to the ship in Yokohama and meet up with the people going to the baseball game.  Jill was really hesitant about leaving me, since I literally had nothing.  No passport, no credit card, no debit card, no cash, no phone, not even the green information sheet we are given by SAS for each port that has important phone numbers and addresses on it.   Chris let me use his phone to call Mary, though, and I planned to meet Kendra and Mary in another district of Tokyo, so I wouldn’t be totally alone. 

So we went to the train station and got a guard to open our locker since the key was in my purse.  That cost extra.  Then we got our huuuuge backpacks out and Jill hugged me goodbye.  She gave me about 4000 Yen since I had no money.  She was so good to me.  Such a good friend.  She really didn’t want to leave me, either, but I didn’t want her to miss out on Tokyo because of me.  Adrienne had also been incredibly nice and understanding.  I don’t know why they were being so nice, because I didn’t feel like I deserved anyone’s sympathy.

 Jill left, and Chris helped me catch the right train to meet up with Kendra and Mary.  I found them in the train station in Asakusa.  I told them my plan to go back to the club and if all else fails to go the US Embassy to get a new passport.  The embassy seemed like a last resort because I was still holding on to the idea that I would find my purse in the club.  It is the city of magic, anyway.

They told me they planned to see the Thunder Gate and some other sights. I didn’t want to impede on Kendra’s time with her friend nor her one chance to see these things in Tokyo and I told them this.  But I also told them that I had nothing.  I didn’t know the language, the area, I had no way of contacting anyone, I had very little money.  So Kendra wrote down some phone numbers and the address of the embassy from her green sheet on a piece of paper for me, and I went off in Tokyo, on my own.  Completely alone, apart from my 30-pound backpack.  I was scared out of my mind.

I got on a train back to Shibuya and went in search of Vuenos.  I stopped in a hotel and asked for directions, but the concierge didn’t speak good English and didn’t really know where the club was.  A guy behind me was talking in English so I asked him if he knew the club Vuenos.  He did and he wrote out directions for me.  City of miracles.  After about 45 minutes of traveling on my own in Tokyo, wandering the streets, making wrong turns, staring wide-eyed at the Japanese characters on the train maps, taking wrong turns, I found the club.  I knocked on the door, asking to go in and look for my purse.  No one spoke English.  I gestured and spoke slowly.  They sent me up to the office above the club and the same thing happened.  Finally they let me in and the Japanese man I had been talking to told me I wouldn’t find it.  A band was tuning up on stage, as I hunted for my purse. 

Japan (more specifically Tokyo): the country/city of lies, future, magic, misfortune, and miracles

4/11/09
started writing at 16:20

The ship arrived in Kobe pretty early on the first day.  I got up around 7, showered, ate breakfast, went to the diplomatic briefing, and then waited for a few hours until the ship was cleared.  Finally at like 10:30 or 11, everyone from the group I was traveling with had disembarked from the ship.  The process took a while because Japanese customs required face-to-face passport inspection and we had to get our fingerprints done as well.

Jill, Kendra, Lexi, Marlee, Adrienne and I hopped on the train to go redeem our JR (Japanese Railways) bullet passes, which only tourists can use and they are valid for pretty much any train.  Then we bought bullet pass tickets to Hiroshima.  The bullet train goes at 230 miles per hour (I said 330 before but I was wrong).  The scenery flies by, it is crazy.  Japan’s public transportation is pretty fantastic (even I could figure it out for the most part despite not being able to read Japanese characters) and we are years and years behind in the US.  Country of future.

We finally got to Hiroshima and took a bus to the Hiroshima Peace Park.  We first came across the Atomic Bomb Dome, that is, the skeleton of a government building only meters away from the hypocenter of the bomb.  Crumbling brick, scraps of metal in the shape of a dome, broken staircases.  After seeing our first travesty of the A-bomb we walked further into the park, which was lined with the pink blossoms of cherry trees, luscious green grass, beautiful fountains and peace memorials, children’s artwork and folded paper cranes.  This city, that was completely obliterated 64 years ago, not only survived but you could almost say it is thriving.  There is nature, there is hustle and bustle, there is life, there is hope.

We made our way to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.  It was about 4:30 and the museum closed at 6.  This was definitely not an adequate amount of time for me to take in all the information that museum contained.   I wish I could have stayed there for 3 hours or more.  I entered the museum through the East Building entrance and I barely got to look at the Main Building, because I didn’t know how many wings this museum had.

So I began perusing the exhibits, models, and photos that describe the development of the atomic bomb, the process leading up to the decision to drop the bomb, and how the US narrowed the target down to Hiroshima.  There was so much information and it was all so educational. The museum really didn’t feel one-sided at all.  It just laid out the facts, without pointing fingers.  If anything the museum seemed to blame Japan, taking full responsibility for their actions in World War II and the pain and havoc they wrought on other peoples. 

I came to one wall that was covered in letters from Japanese officials to other countries’ government officials from all around the world.  Letters begging, pleading, hoping for the end nuclear weapons.  Letters asking other countries to stop testing nuclear weapons, to stop researching nuclear weapons, to just stop the nuclear age all together.  Peace.  They want peace. 

Next I saw two replicas, one of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park before the bombing and one of the park after.  It went from a flourishing town of buildings, tree, bridges and such to nothing.  Flattened, burned, destroyed, massacred.

I ventured up to the next floors and learned some tidbits about the nuclear age and all the peace activities the town of Hiroshima is involved in.  I had been taking my time to read and digest all the information I was reading, but by the time I got to the 3rd floor a lady over the loud speaker announced the 30-minute warning.  I could only skim these panels of information.  The 15-minute warning was announced and I started making my way to what I thought was the exit, turns out it was the main building.  This building contained A-bomb artifacts, exhibits of damage from the blast, damage from the heat rays, damage from the radiation, examples of relief activities, stories from survivors, graphic pictures of those who survived and those who perished, and messages of peace.  A lot of really interesting, really intense, really heartbreaking things and I could only look at it for 15 minutes. 

Perhaps 15 minutes protected me from really delving into the horrifying subject matter in front of me.  I didn’t cry as I had at the War Remnants Museum in Vietnam.  Instead I tried to read and see as much as I could.  While winding my way through the corridors, I saw displays of charred children’s lunchboxes, tattered clothes, melted bottles, warped metal.  Then I came across something truly disturbing: the skin and fingernails from one of the victims, donated by a family member I believe.  God, how horrible.

By this point museum guards were hovering around us, pushing towards the exit.  My limited amount of time in the museum is reason enough for me to want to come back to Japan…but there are other reasons for me wanting to come back as well.  Foreshadowing….

Once we finally got kicked out of the museum, we all wandered the park a bit more.  Silently.  Reflecting.  Looking at the National Peace Memorial Hall, the Flame of Peace, the Peace fountain, the Children’s Peace Monument, the Peace Clock Tower.  Notice the key word: peace.  Hiroshima didn’t feel like an angry, bitter city – it seemed peaceful and serene. You’d think that everyone would want to rid the world of nuclear weapons after seeing or hearing about the catastrophic effects it had on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  It’s not a secret how horrible the atomic bomb was.  So many lives lost, innocent lives.  What’s the point of that?  I really don’t get it.

After we had some time to take in what we just saw and read, we went to get dinner.  Lexi and Marlee had split off from the group earlier because they were really hungry, so Kendra, Adrienne, Jill and I went in search of some good, traditional Japanese food.  We walked down the street and came across street filled with shops and restaurants galore.  We walked around in the shopping mall checking out all the crazy Japanese fashion.  I’m so jealous of their crazy kicks, hats, dresses, leggings, boots.  So many colors.  So many designs.  Aaaah craziness.  Crazy hair and make up too.  Jill and I stopped about every four seconds to ogle people and mannequins, wishing we could pull of their wicked style.

Then we found this restaurant that served okonomiyaki, which someone recommended we try.  It is this Japanese pancake-like thing but it has noodles and rice and cheese and eggs and bacon and squid, if you please.  And it was deeeeelicious.  And it’s fun to say.  And I’m finally improving my chopstick skills.  Yay!

Right next to this restaurant was a little grocery store, so we checked out the Japanese produce and snacks.  Japanese covers of American songs played in the background, the Japanese cashiers said their whole spiel to customers which I assume was something like, “Hi welcome to ______, did you find everything you need?  Thanks for shopping. See you again soon.”  But it just sounded like soft singing. The Japanese language is so nice and calming.

Then we headed back to the train station to catch our 9 o’clock  train.  We stopped and got cake first though.  Goooood cake.  We got back to the ship probably around 11 and Adrienne, Jill, and I did a quick costume change and ventured to a club called Second Chance.  As usual it was brimming with SASers and all sorts of shenanigans ensued.

Day 2 in Japan

Kendra, Jill, Adrienne and I hopped on another bullet train and went off to Kyoto.  We thought we boarded the wrong train so we asked the car attendant if we were on the wrong one.  He didn’t speak English and then one Japanese passenger in the car said something in Japanese about Americans and everyone laughed hysterically.  Meanies.   Not really…I think it was in good fun.

We got to Kyoto and everyone was pretty hungry.  Luckily there are little bakeries all over Japan with delicious little meat pastries, pizzas, hotdogs, and desserts.  Yum.  Any time you’re hungry just walk around the corner and oh there’s another bakery with a little treat.

So we bought our various delicacies and went off into a beautiful botanical garden to eat them under the beautiful cherry blossoms trees.  There were people scattered throughout the garden napping under the trees, letting the breeze brush over them and blossoms fall gently on their faces.  So tranquil.  The garden also had bubbling streams filled with jumping carp, all sorts of bonsai trees and other kinds of beautiful flowers that I don’t know the names of.  You would have loved it, Mom.  I thought of you.

Once we got our fair share of nature, we went to see the Golden Temple, a temple made entirely of gold.  After seeing our fair share of gilded temples, we decided to go to a Japanese bathhouse.  That’s right, a Japanese bathhouse – basically a public bath.  We walked in to the building, removed our shoes, and rented towels from the front.  The towels were a little bit bigger than a standard dishtowel.  A bit on the revealing side.  Then we walked into the locker room, put all of our belongings in the locker and walked into the bathing area.  And when I say all of our belongings…I mean everything.  Bags, purses, cameras, money, shoes….clothes….everything.  Lots of nudity at these public bathhouses. 

You’re supposed to rinse off before entering the public bath so we washed our feet and then timidly entered the big bath.  One Japanese lady started pointing at the water in which we were entering and gesturing to the wall.  Jill and I touched the wall and it shocked us.  There were electric currents or something being sent through the water.  I think the lady was advising us not to touch that area.  Ooh language barriers.  Then we sat in the huge bath for a while, but it was really hot so we got out and went to a cooler, more private bathing area.  After the initial awkwardness, we all sort of got used to just sitting in the water and talking….naked.  definitely out of my comfort zone and probably not something I’ll do again, but it was a unique experience.

After our bath we stopped at another bakery for dinner and headed back to the train station.  We had all brought huge, heavy bags for our long, independent travels in Japan and we put them in lockers at the train station earlier that day.  The station is huge so we were struggling to get our bearings and find our lockers and our train was scheduled to leave in like five minutes. We finally found the lockers, grabbed our stuff, and sprinted off to catch our train and got on just in the nick of time.  Then we were off to Tokyo.  Kendra and her mom had set up reservations for us to stay at the Tokyo International Hostel.  When researching the hostel, Kendra’s mom found that the hostel had no curfew (many Japanese hostels and capsule hotels have curfews) and that it had free WiFi (thus we all brought our laptops).  Turns out, last month they instituted an 11 pm curfew.  Bad news bears. City of lies.  Who goes in at 11 when they’re only in Japan for 4 nights?  Not us.  So we decided we would stay there one night since we were tired and just wanted to go to bed, and then find other accommodations for the following two nights.

We arrived in Tokyo at about 9:40pm after trying to sleep most of the two-and-half-hour-ride.  Now we had no idea where this hostel was because our Internet didn’t work that morning so Kendra couldn’t check her e-mail to get the name of the building and what suburb it was in. We literally only had the name of the hostel and that was it. Way to think ahead, I know. City of misfortune.

So we walked out of the train station and asked a few cab drivers if they knew the hostel.  None of them spoke English, nor could they read English so that wasn’t any help.  We were getting into a bit of a time crunch because at the 11 o’clock curfew no one is let in or out of the hostel, which was located on the 18th floor of a building…somewhere in Tokyo.

We started to get a bit nervous, so we walked up to four Japanese students and asked them if they spoke English.  They hesitantly told us that they spoke a little English.  We asked them if they knew our hostel or if they could write it out in Japanese so we could show a cab driver.  Not only did they write out the Japanese characters for our hostel, one of the guy students got out his phone and Mapquested it (or whatever the Japanese version of Mapquest is).  While he looked it up, the other guy student and the two female students chatted with us.  They asked us how old we were and told us we were tall.  We complimented their sweet kicks and nails.  All in broken English, but nonetheless we were bonding.

Once the one guy got the address, we asked/mimed to see if it was close or far and if we should take a cab or not.  They all assured us that a train would be faster, but we were reluctant to go on a train since we weren’t all too familiar with the system.  Time was ticking away and we needed to make a quick decision.  They students kept telling us the train would be faster and finally they took us all by the hand and ran with us into the station.  They looked up what train we needed to go on, helped us buy tickets, and directed us to the proper terminal.  These Japanese students did all of this for complete strangers just out of the kindness of their hearts.  This would not be the last time strangers lent me a helping hand.  City of miracles.

So we got on this train and got off at the stop the students had told us to get off at.  We walked out of the station, still not knowing what exact building it would be.  We saw a group of police officers so we asked them where the hostel was and they pointed a building literally right behind us. It was 10:50.  We ran to the building, hopped in the elevator, got up to the 18th floor and breathed a giant sigh of relief.  Everything worked out.  Thank God for those helpful strangers.  If they hadn’t looked up the address and advised us to take the train, who knows where we would have spent the night.  Probably on some street bench.

We checked in and then cancelled our reservation for the following two nights, because of the curfew.  We were charged a small cancellation fee but it was nothing too bad.  Then we asked about the free WiFi and they people at the front desk laughed at us.  Good one, right?  City of lies.  No free WiFi.  You could pay 100 Yen for 15 minutes and use their computers.  So bringing our own laptops was pointless and just another couple pounds to add to our already heavy-ass bags. 

At this point we were all dead tired and starving since all we had for dinner were tiny pastries.  Luckily the hostel had vending machines, since we weren’t allowed to leave anymore.  Sweetest vending machines ever.  You could order fries, fried chicken, hotdogs, soup, rice, or noodles for 300 Yen each and it would come out steaming hot.  City of future.  I got a hotdog and fries.  Hotdogs are really big in Japan and they come with great sauces on them. I was into it.

After our snack, we checked our living quarters.  Our room on the 18th floor had two sets of bunk beds and a sweet view of Tokyo.  The beds were pretty comfortable, but the pillow was definitely lacking.  Oh well, it was bedtime.

And it is bedtime right now for me.  It’s almost 2am and there is an early morning Easter service that I’m planning to attend tomorrow.  We get two Easters on the ship because we pass the international dateline tomorrow night or something, so April 12 comes twice.  Ah life at sea.  Happy Easter everyone!

Never Have I Ever....

4/11/09
11:40

Some of you may be familiar with the game “Never Have I Ever…” but I am going to give a brief explanation for those that are not.  This is a game often played at slumber parties or small gatherings with close friends.  A person says “Never have I ever _____ (fill in blank with something you have never done)” and then those that have done that in their life put a finger down.  The game is also called “Ten Fingers,” and the first person will all ten fingers down, loses. 

Okay so let’s play.  Before Japan, I would not have put any fingers down if someone said “Never have I ever:”

1)      taken a train that goes 330 miles per hour
2)      seen the devastation of the Atom Bomb and how Hiroshima is prospering in spite of tragedies that took place there
3)      seen the Japanese cherry blossoms in full bloom
4)      eaten okonomoyaki
5)      bathed in a public hot spring with complete strangers
6)      seen actual Harajuku girls
7)      eaten sushi
8)      slept in a Love Hotel
9)      eaten sweet potato ice cream
10)     traveled alone in a foreign country without any form of ID, without a phone, without any knowledge of the language or surroundings, and with only 3000 Yen ($30 USD) to my name.

After visiting Japan…I would have to put down all ten fingers.  So there is a glimpse of my whirlwind trip in Japan.  Want to hear more?  I’ll write it all down soon.

Kon-nichi wa

4/5/09
22:29

It is a rule aboard the ship to wear shoes. 

I am over shoes.

I have not worn shoes for the past five or so days while on the ship, unless I am working out.  Stickin’ it to the man.

Tomorrow = Japan.  I am so excited for Japan.  It is going to be an adventure.  And I am traveling with Jill for the first time since Morocco….so it’s been like a lifetime.  AND Jill’s twenty-first birthday is April 8, so I get to celebrate with her….IN JAPAN.  Awesome.

And I am connecting with Mark Schumacher, an old family friend whom I haven’t seen in over a decade.  He sent me a picture today from the last time he saw me.  It’s the one of Nate and me in our striped sweaters and jeans at the Sculpture Garden next to the Cherry on the Spoon.  Soo that was like kindergarten.  I’ve changed just a bit.  Not too much, though.  We are meeting up on my last day in Japan.

 AAAAH JAPAN! I have to go pack my life into a huge, fake, Vietnamese Northface backpack now.

IGTF

4/3/09
20:00

First of all…Happy birthday Katie!!!!  Hope it’s a good one!

Now for the rest of China.  From the window in my cabin I could see the futuristic buildings that personify Shanghai, like the Oriental Pearl TV Tower or what they call the “Bottle Opener.”  Google these buildings they are incredible.

We arrived in Shanghai relatively early yesterday, but we weren’t cleared to leave the ship until about 10am.  I got a late start on my SAS-sponsored kindergarten visit that was scheduled to leave at 9:30, which was kind of a bummer since it cut into our time with the little kids.  But this moment is inevitable and I must choose how I react to it.

Caroline got on the trip last minute, too, so we sat together on the bus brimming with the excitement of being in the presence of Chinese children in the near future.  We arrived at the kindergarten and the kids were waiting at the gate waving and smiling.  Right as I got off the bus a little girl with long black pigtails ran over to me and took my hand.  She waved and said, “Hi,” but I think that was the extent of her English.  She led me into their classroom where two rows of chairs had been set up for the members of our trip.  Everyone sat and then the twenty or so students all ages five to six began their carefully choreographed and meticulously memorized performance.

Two girls came out and said a quote in Chinese in between every dance routine about love or respect or China’s greatness and pride.  Then the students danced energetically for about two to three minutes per dance.  Along with being utterly adorable, these kids were impressive.  They probably did four or five dances and each student had a unique part in the dance and they were all perfect.  Apparently they had been practicing this routine for about a month now, and they would be performing at the Chinese Expo in 2010, but damn these kids were talented.  I don’t think I would be half as good as any of them after 6 months of practice.

Once they had finished their performance we colored and played games and blew bubbles and shared stickers.  Then we were whisked away from these cute little babies, because we had to go check out this new community center in the area.  Personally, I would have rather stayed with the kids but they had to eat lunch and stick to their usual schedule.

At the community center we had a cup of green tea, which was delicious and warmed up my freezing cold hands.  Shanghai is on the chilly side.  I’ve been spoiled with the hot weather in the past few countries.  While sipping tea, our tour guide, Lucy, translated the school/community center director’s speech on the amenities and programs offered to the people of their neighborhood.  She informed us that most people retire between 50 and 55 and many go back to “university” for senior citizens.  It sounded like a pretty sweet set up.  Cooking classes, dance classes, art classes, early retirement…sign me up.

There were all kinds of souvenirs for sale in the tea room, but they were pretty pricey.  Several panda-shaped backpacks and panda stuffed animals but they were like 180 Yuan or about $30 USD.  Too much money.  Even for baby Liv.  On our bus ride back to the ship Lucy taught us the Chinese words for ‘hello,’ ‘thank you,’ and ‘I love you,’ as well as the Chinese symbols for China. 

Once back on the ship, I ran into Hussain, Keith, and Steve and they decided to come explore Shanghai with Caroline and me.  We walked from the port to Nanjing Road which is a next to the People’s Square and has many shops and restaurants.  We went up to the top floor (45th floor) of the Radison Hotel to check out the view of the countless skyscrapers.  The city never ends. Miles and miles of buildings.

After we got our bird’s eye view, we ventured into People’s Square with no particular goal in mind.  We were walking absentmindedly through this garden-like pavilion when four Chinese girls asked us if where we were from.  We told them that we hail from America.  They giggled with excitement and asked us if they could practice their English on us.  They began asking about life in America, our studies, what brought us to China, the ship and its program, etc.  One girl began talking individually to Steve, another to Hussain, another Keith, and one to Caroline and me.  They were incredibly friendly.

We talked with our new friends for a minute or two, we got all of their names but I can’t pronounce most of them let alone try to write them out.  One said she went by Sharon though and another Ling.  Ling invited us to accompany them to tea and started leading us to their special tea place.  We followed along in good spirits.  They were all fascinated with the idea of traveling the world by ship and commented on how lucky we are.  Believe me, I know. 

The girl talking to Caroline and me, (I can’t say/spell her name so I’m just going to call her Simone…just because) asked us about our families and our interests.  She has an older sister and an older brother, which is rare for most Chinese families and apparently her parents have to pay the government because they have so many children.

They continually commented on how slim we all were.  We didn’t fit the typical “fat American” stereotype…yay! Ling said that Hussain and Steve looked like twins (probably because they both have beards and tan skin) and that Keith and I looked like siblings (both blonde).  They also commented on my blue eyes and how us Americans have big eyes and big noses and they wish they had bigger eyes and bigger noses.   In fact, one of them told me that most Chinese movie stars get plastic surgery to enlarge their eyes or noses. I thought this was an interesting and sad factoid.  It’s as if they don’t appreciate the beauty of their cultural features and I think that is a shame.

We walked and talked and laughed until we came to this mall and then they led us to a private room in a teashop.  The tea server came in and the girls told us that we could get a traditional tea ceremony performed for us, so we agreed.  The server poured ginseng tea and then jasmine tea and taught us how to drink it properly.  We all sat sipping our tea, talking and laughing.  We took pictures and exchanged e-mails.  I was so excited to have met these friendly Chinese women, who were so eager and curious to learn about our lives.  They also said and asked whatever was on their mind, which was kind of refreshing and funny.  “Are you single? How old are you? How many beers can you drink?  Do you swim?  Michael Phelps swims.  Is your hair natural?  How long have you worn glasses"…the list continued.

After the first round of tea one of the guys asked how much the tea would cost.  The server showed us a menu and the teas were expensive.  The cheapest tea was like 29 Yuan, so we stopped the ceremony right there.  The server wrapped it up and gave us our bill…108 Yuan each, or about $16 USD.  I only had about 90 Yuan on me, Keith had like 70, but we managed to scrounge together enough Yuan and then we left the tea place.  Once we left the mall, our new best friends told us they had to meet a friend for dinner so we said our goodbyes.  They hugged us and shook our hands and told to be careful on Nanjing street because there are pickpockets and told us how happy they were to meet us.  It was just so sweet.

As we went our separate ways, us in search of an ATM since we all had empty pockets, Hussain asked, “Who feels like they were just conned?”  Keith expressed his skepticism with the whole tea ordeal, but I told them to assume the positive intent of others.  People have been so kind and open in the past few countries that I just didn’t believe that these young, friendly Chinese women could have possibly scammed us.

So we withdrew some more Yuan and stopped for dinner at a traditional Chinese restaurant.  We got pan-fried Shanghai noodles, beef noodles, pork dumplings, and a sesame pancake.  Very good.  Then we walked back to the ship.  It was too early to go out for the night so we decided to rest on the ship for a while and watch a movie. 

Steve has the movie Milk, but before we started it, Steve did a little research on things to do and see in Shanghai.  Here is a direct quote from wikitravel.org:
_____
Various tourist-oriented scams, long practiced in Beijing, are unfortunately spreading to Shanghai as well. Be cautious if you meet a group of overly friendly students or attractive women who insist on dragging you along to an art gallery, tea shop or karaoke parlor - you're unlikely to be physically harmed, but the bill may well be more than you bargained for. Police can help to recover some part of your money. "Students" claiming to be from Beijing are also common as they will try to get you to buy art. These people are especially present around People's Square near the entrances/exits of the museums and art galleries.
_____
Sound familiar?  Yeah our new best friends scammed us.  I was scammed.  I’m not even angry about being scammed, I’m just kind of disappointed.  I thought I was getting this great cultural experience and I was bonding with these Chinese students…turns out they were scamming us. 

It all added up, too.  They separated us early on in the encounter so we couldn’t really discuss what was happening and they kept the conversation going so we couldn’t really process the situation logically.  The conversation was rather canned, too.  We each discussed the same topics with our Chinese BFF/scammer.  But they were so nice.  It seemed so genuine. 

I guess I let my guard down after experiencing so much hospitality in South Africa, India, Thailand, and Vietnam.  Honestly, though, it was a good learning experience.  An eye opener.  And as Hussain pointed out, “Would you rather be pickpocketed or scammed?”  I’d rather be scammed by the Tea Girls.  It’s a good story.  Who thinks to do that, though?  Honestly.  And we must have just been screaming “Take advantage of us!”  Damn it.

After Steve broke the news, Hussain, Steve and I watched Milk.  Good movie.  I was exhausted, though and told the boys I didn’t want to go out.  I called Caroline’s room to tell her I was going to bed.  Jill, who had been in Beijing for all of our time China so I hadn’t seen her for 6 days, answered the phone.  She told me that I had to go out because it was our only night in Shanghai.  Then Lia and Disha, who had also been in Beijing, burst into Steve’s room.  So we rallied the troops and decided to go to a karaoke bar.  It was midnight.

This decision was our second failure of the day.  Steve, Hussain, Jason, Jill, Lia, Disha, Disha’s roommate Carrie, and I left the ship to hail a taxi.  We had to split up and only one driver new the way to bar, so we told our driver to follow the other one.  We had been driving for ten minutes or so and our driver flashed his brights at the taxi we had been following.  There were 3 black men sitting in the back seat.  I’m pretty sure Disha doesn’t have cornrows. So we told our driver to drop us off on Nanjing Road because Steve thought the bar was close to that area. 

We paid the driver and got out.  We walked down the street for a little and then we realized that we were in a pretty hopeless situation.  We had no way of contacting the other group and no one could direct us to the location of the karaoke bar because no one spoke English.  So we hailed another cab and got back to the ship.  As we swiped our cards to enter the MV Explorer we saw Hussain’s face flashing on the screen indicated he had just returned to the ship as well.  Everyone made it back safe and sound.  And we could now say that we at least TRIED to go out on our one and only night in Shanghai. 

Day 2 in Shanghai was rather uneventful and a little bit disappointing also, but no matter.  In the morning I went to the Shanghai Museum with Steve and Lia.  The museum had some pretty interesting and beautiful bronze and jade artifacts.  The exhibits had low lighting and were nice and warm.  Perfect napping environment, and let me tell you, we all wanted to nap so so badly.  I wanted a my-size stroller.  But we pressed on to the Chinese calligraphy exhibit, where our childish creativity took over.  We played a game that is similar to the cloud-watching game where you say what object or animal or whatever you see in the clouds, except we described what we saw in the Chinese characters.  We saw a man running around with a box around his lower torso, someone riding an escalator, apartment buildings, birds, a TV set, a woman sweating profusely from her armpits…you can see a lot if you open up your mind.

After about 2 hours in the museum, we left and walked back to People’s Square, which was right around the corner.  Lia and I got some bubble tea.  Obsessed. 

I didn’t buy any souvenirs while in China.  The only thing that I actually kind of wanted was that panda backpack for Liv and this long-sleeved shirt I saw at the Nike store, but the panda backpack was like $30 USD and the shirt was $44 USD.  That is craziness.  I am also completely sick of shopping and bartering.  I don’t shop that often at home, so I’ve been shopping my heart out while on the voyage and frankly, I’m over it.  No souvenirs…no regrets.  I’ve got memories instead.

In the afternoon I had a field trip to the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) for my Money and Banking class.  Since it was a business field trip we had to dress up kind of nice.  We took a bus to the SSE in Pudong and went up to view the trading hole.  It was empty.  No one was there.  Nothing.  Our guide told us that it was Friday so people had gone home early. “IGTF,” he said. It’s God thank Friday….

He went on to say that no one really uses that trading hole anymore, because all trading is automated now.  And that’s all they had to show us.  A big empty room with a huge screen showing the stocks and the running ticker.  That is all.  We were there for about 20 minutes and then left, but we were supposed to be there for like 3 hours.  Pointless.  After that I was just super tired and went to take a much-needed nap on the ship.

Off to bed now.

I love my life

4/1/09
13:49

Hong Kong.  I loved it.  Meredith has been studying there for 3 months and she doesn’t ever want to leave, so imagine my desire to stay longer having only experienced two days worth of Hong Kong.

We arrived around 6:30 or 7 am on Sunday.  As you know I couldn’t sleep so I watched us sail into the port area.  We docked right along the harbor mall and we disembarked the ship directly into the mall.  That was pretty sweet.

Meredith and I had been e-mailing back and forth and she was planning to meet me in the Ocean Terminal of the Tsim Sha Tsui mall at 10am with her friend Mark who is also from Minnesota but goes to Pomona University with a SASer named Martha, who lives in my hall.  What a small world, right?

I ate my breakfast, showered, went to the diplomatic briefing and waited for the ship to be cleared for disembarking.  It was 10:02 and I was starting to get nervous that we wouldn’t get cleared for a while longer and I would have no way of contacting Meredith to tell her I would be late, since my phone doesn’t get service….anywhere. Right at that moment it was announced that the ship was cleared and we could get off.  I gathered my troops, which consisted of Kendra, Braxton and his friend Riley, and went to meet Meredith.  Right as I entered the mall I saw Mere and we hugged.  She introduced me to Mark who was already conversing with Martha.  After introductions, Meredith saw that Braxton was wearing a Pitt sweatshirt and she crushed his entire world by informing him of score in the Pitt v. Villanova game.  Rough beginning for Mere and Braxton.  He got over it….eventually.  Still a sensitive subject.

Meredith told me stories of her adventures in Hong Kong and she was entertained by the fact that we call everyone SASers and that we have no concept of time whatsoever.  We refer to past events by country, for example:

“I haven’t had laundry since Mauritius”  or “My last test was 3 countries ago.”

Meredith and Mark then led us to through the streets of Hong Kong to an ATM and money exchange area where we all got the correct form of currency.  No more dong.  So sad.   Next Kendra and I bought our rail passes for Japan, which you can’t buy in Japan because only tourist are allowed to use it so they don’t sell it in Japan.  How silly is that? 

Once we got our rail passes, Mere and Mark took us to purchase Octopus cards which can be used for all forms of public transportation except taxis and also for various fast-food chains and markets like 7-Eleven.  7-Eleven is more popular in every single country I’ve been to except America.  It is going to be weird to go home and not be able to make a quick stop at 7-Eleven.  

We took the MTR, which is basically the subway in Hong Kong, and I loved it.  It makes getting around soooo easy.  I feel like cars would become obsolete if we had a system like this all across the US, but there are still plenty of cars in Hong Kong so I guess that theory is incorrect.

Anyhoo we took the MTR to get Dim Sum, traditional Chinese cuisine, with Mark’s parents who were visiting from good old Minnesota and also with Mark and Mere’s Chinese student ambassador named Ata, whom they had stayed friends with after she initially helped them adjust to living in China.  Ata’s mother joined us as well.  It was incredibly helpful to have both of them at lunch, since none of us knew what to order or how to speak the language. 

Ata ordered a plethora of dishes like fried squid, pot stickers, and my personal favorite Bau, which was a baked bun with barbecued pork in the middle.  The waiters brought dish after dish of food and I tried nearly everything.  It was all delicious.  I ate smaller portions, knowing that I had to share each dish between ten people, but I was still full from eating much less than my normal amount of food.  It pays to serve each course at different times.  I also ate slower because I can’t use chopsticks at all. Everyone laughed at me and gave me all kinds of pointers and I think I made some progress but it still took me a great deal of time to pick up a clump of rice or a piece of chicken.

 I remember getting Dim Sum at home one time with my mom and her friend Mark, but I was not that open to trying new foods at that point in my life so I didn’t enjoy it as much as I did this time.

After lunch, Ata and her mother invited us to their apartment.  They lived in the 17th floor of this apartment building and had a pretty cool view of the city.  Ata lives with her parents and younger sister and their four-room apartment is probably the size of my living room.  Her sister and Ata share a room and the kitchen is combined with the laundry room.  Everything is very compact.  And I think this is one of the larger apartments.  It was very interesting to see.  I also loved their decorating style.  There were little plastic toys on every shelf, stickers all over the place, a Narnia picture frame.  We asked about this one cat toy that we had seen everywhere and Ata informed us that it was a robotic cat from the 22nd century.  So matter-of-factly like, “Oh duh, it’s just a robotic cat from the 22nd century.”  Riiiiight.

We said our goodbyes to Ata and her mother and then Mere took us to Soho and we got egg tarts and egg puffs, which are delicious little snacks.  We walked around the area, took the travelators which are like the longest escalators ever, and then we all headed back to the ship to freshen up for the evening.

Mere picked Kendra, Braxton, Riley and I back up at the ship at around 5:30.  We met up with Martha and Mark, who had split off earlier, in Mong Kok where all the students from Mere’s program live. Mong Kok is more like Mainland China, as opposed to the rest of Hong Kong, which is very westernized and commercial.  It was nice to see that part of town. 

Next, Braxton wanted to buy a shirt for the night so the boys and Martha went shopping and Kendra and I went to see Mere’s apartment.  Her apartment is basically the size of a typical college dorm room but it is equipped with a sink and a hot plate.  Very cute, though.  Mere let me borrow a dress for the night, being the sweetheart she is, and also let me use her internet quickly to check my bank account balance.  Dwiiiiindling.  After the quick costume change we met up with the boys and another one of Meredith’s friend named Tad to go get dinner.  They were taking us to eat on top of Victoria Peak, which gives a scenic view of Hong Kong.  We took the peak trolley up and planned to eat at Bubba Gump (I’m sure Dano and Sam would have been in heaven with all of the Forrest Gump paraphernalia) on the top floor of the mall on the peak.  The cheapest meal was about $12 US for a salad, so being the cheap students we all are we opted to go to Burger King instead.  Cultural?  No.  Delicious? Yes.  I got a double bacon cheeseburger.  So good.  Hit the spot.  It was a funny sight, too, I’m sure because we were all dressed up and scarfing down BK.  Good times.

After dinner we went to Lan Kwai Fong or LKF, which has a great nightlife.  Even though it was a Sunday night, lots of people were out because it was the Rugby 7s in Hong Kong.  People from all over the world were there celebrating, wearing ridiculous costumes or Rugby jerseys.  Mere and I befriended some Australian rugby fans.  We promised to visit them some day soon.  I will make good on that promise.  Along with all the rugby fans, there were countless SASers.  We always manage to find the clubs and take over.  All the 7-Elevens had been raided by SAS-folk.  So the gang danced at the clubs for a while and then Mere, Kendra, and I headed back to the ship accompanied by one of Mere’s gentlemanly friends who wanted to make sure we got home alright.

The next day Mere and I met up at 9:15 to go for a run.  I was so thankful to be running on land with someone who has about the same pace as me.  Meredith and I ran along the waterfront past the Avenue of Stars.  We had to dodge plenty of tourists and locals alike, but it was a fabulous run.  Mere and I reminisced about home and high school.  It was so nice to see someone from home.  I am so so so so grateful that Meredith took me and my friends around Hong Kong.  She really made the trip.

After the run we both went to go shower and planned to meet up at 11:45 in the mall.  I showered, got in some free internet time in the mall, ate a quick lunch with Ben the med student, who had no plans for the day so I invited him along with us.  On my way out I ran into Riley who also had no plans so he tagged along as well.  We decided to go see the Tien Tin Buddha statue and Po Lin Monastery on Lantau Island.  The Buddha statue is ginormous.  I have seen big Buddhas in the past 3 countries, but this one takes the cake.  We took the Ngong Ping Cable Car which gave us a great aerial view of the natural beauty of Hong Kong.  It was surprising to see nature amidst all the skyscrapers.

Once we had taken our pictures with Buddha and walked the path of wisdom located near the statue, we took the cable car back and went to the Ladies’ Market in Mong Kok.  We were all starving so we got some food from street vendors.  Pork dumplings, pork buns, and this pancake-like slice of bread.  Meredith says she thrives off of this food and I can see why.  It was soooo good.  I want more.  I didn’t buy anything at the market because nothing was really that appealing, so my souvenirs from Hong Kong are memories, pictures, and tram/cable car tickets.  I’m fine with that.  We ran into Braxton in the market and he took the MTR home with us.  Back at the ship I got my computer out to do a little more free internetting and said goodbye to Meredith.  I can’t say enough how grateful I was to see a familiar face and to have someone that knew her way around the city.   I don’t think she reads my blob but THANK YOU MERE!

Now I’m on the ship traveling to Shanghai.  There are only about 150 passengers on the ship currently because most people, students and faculty alike, took trips to Beijing to see the Great Wall or do university visits.  They will just meet up with the ship in Shanghai.  It is weird being on the ship right now.  It is empty.   No class though, so it has been extremely relaxing.  I have caught up on schoolwork/artwork, slept a great deal and worked out since we don’t have to sign up for certain times because NO ONE IS HERE.

 The crew tries to make this ship time as enjoyable as possible for the few passengers aboard so there has been free give-aways at the spa.  I got a 15-minute foot massage yesterday.  Amazing.  And they played the movies Yes Man and Stepbrothers yesterday.  Good movies.  Especially Stepbrothers.  And also we had a formal 5-course meal yesterday.  Fruit cocktails, soup, salad, STEAK, and pound cake for dessert.  And we got free wine.  I’m not a big wine drinker, but I tried the blush wine and it was dece.  A bunch of people dressed up all fancy.  I changed out of my sweatpants into jeans….so that counts right? My table was the chill table.  None of dressed up.  It was Caroline, Braxton, Travis, Kyle, and Doug.  Good kids.  Good conversations. 

There is another fancy dinner tonight.  I think I might dress up this time.  Maybe.  And then tomorrow I will be in Shanghai.  In the morning I’m going to do a kindergarten visit and hang out with little Chinese kids.  I can’t wait.  I miss hanging out with little kids.  I miss my Livybabe.  The other day I painted with one of the Abby, one of the faculty member’s daughter.  She is 4 with crazy, curly blonde hair.  So cute.

I can’t believe today is April.  Only a month left here. I don’t even want to think about that. I don’t want to go back to the real world.  I love living the life I’m living right now.  I don’t want it to end.