I Freakin´ Love Chile

(Here are some pictures from the trip to the North, which, I realized, I never talked about. Sorry about that. Summary: it was awesome.)

The only part of Chile I´m NOT loving are the sucky keyboards. But besides that, it´s AMAZING.

Here are some things you should know about Chile:
-People are friendly once you`re introduced, but before that. . . they`re not. It`s not that they are NOT friendly, they just won`t smile if you smile or say hello if you say hello
-Everyone smokes. Everyone.
-You greet people with a kiss on the cheek.
-Bread.

I had a lot more that I wanted to write, but I´m forgetting it know. Know that I´m having fun and I´ve made lots of new friends and I love the people here and I`m so incredibly happy.

But I hate these key boards.

I`ll put an address up soon! Bye! XOXOXO

CHILE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and the longest day ever - in a good way

(tried to post this last night. . . take 2)

¡Hola familia! ¡Estoy en Chile! ¡Y me encanto!

Just kidding. Well, all of that is true, but I wouldn´t do that to you. Write in spanish, I mean. Maybe later, when I know more. But not now.

I'm semi-regretting not bringing my lab top. All the keys are different here. It's weird. . .

ANYWAYS, I want to tell you about my never ending day. How is it still going? I feel like I've been here for weeks already. Did I really wake up in my bed yesterday? Is that even possible?

It started yesterday. I left yesterday morning and was dropped off on my parent's way to move Kerry into his new appartment. Then I went to the airport, got some food that was way too expensive, and got on the plane. Then I got off the plane because there was a major storm in Miami where I was headed for my layover. After waiting for an hour (and talking to Stuart!), I got back on the plane and I sat in the very back row. Well, second to back. There weren't even any windows back there, which is a shame because I wanted to see the blob. But I can see it on my way home. Anyways, I was in the back of the plane (Despite asking one of the people in first class if he wanted to switch. How could he have passed up an offer like that?) sitting next to a very nice man who had a friend playing in the world open. . . that's basketball, right? So we got into florida eventually, then had a very pleasant conversation with the one and only David Melendy (congrats on graduating!) got on the next plane to SANTIAGO. The plane left a little after midnight. My plan was to sleep the whole time. That didn't work. Woops. I slept in couple hour chunks. I woke up in time to see the sun rise looking over outside of the other side of the plane. We flew over snow covered mountains. It was beautiful.

As we were landing, that's when it finally hit that I was going to Chile. Ha. A little late, huh? It was so. . . beautiful. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it before. I remember one time when we were in Yosemitie, my uncle Greg said, "There may be different kinds of pretty, but I don't think it gets much more beautiful than this." I completely agree. Think of the most beautiful landscape you've ever seen. Maybe it's Yosemitie, maybe it's the Sahara at sunrise, whatever it is, translate it onto a beautiful mountain landscape and that's what you can picture when I landed. And when my family was driving me around, but more about that later.

A bus picked us up from the airport, and I met some of the other USAC kids. They all seem pretty awesome. I think I'm the youngest. And the most inexperienced at Spanish. But I'll learn.

We went to the school to meet our family. Oh. My. Gosh. The school is beautiful!!!! Amazing. I absolutely love it. I am so excited to spend time here. . . I don't know if I'll want to come back. Don't worry, I'm just kidding. . . kind of.

So I met my mama & papa at the beautiful school and then we drove to the supermarket. They're so cute! They call each other "mi amor." I love it. My mama wanted to make sure that I was all set up, so she helped me buy toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner, and other essentials. She's a little spit fire of a woman. She knows someone wherever we go and she's all about finding the best deal. She's so sweet. And Papa is such a sweetheart. He's jolly. He doesn't speak a word of english (mama does), but we get along.

We got home and had breakfast (it was almost noon) with the rest of the family. Maitas, Connie, and Sebastian. They're really great. And they're tolerant of my lack of spanish. Right after breakfast, the mom said, "Now, we cook lunch." Haha. Seriously!

But us kids played Uno. And then poker. They didn't really know how the rules and looked to me to explain them. And - somehow! - I did it! Granted, they did know the basics, so that helped. It was really fun.

Then it was lunch.

Every meal is an event. The table is set, the table cloth is laid out, the whole family is there. It's pretty cool! After lunch, mama and I took the dog for a walk. Then she reprimanded (jokingly) me about my weather inappropriate clothes. They all think it's freezing here, but it's not. It's similar to a santa cruz morning, but they're bundled up in a million layers and scarfs and hats and boots. But I did need a couple things, so I let her take me shopping and show me where to get the best deals (I paid).

Then we got home and. . . DINNER.

Dinner was exactly the same as breakfast: bread with your choice of at least 3 of the following: cheese, ham, differnt ham, butter, jam, differnt jam, weird maynoise stuff. It's good!

So that's it so far. My family is great. Santiago is absolutely beautiful. The food is good. I'm freakin' exhausted. And I am starting to get the hang of this computer.

I think I'm going to go to sleep soon. Haha. I'm adjusting to the time change quickly.

I love you all! I'll be away from a computer for awhile, but know that I'm doing AWESOME and I love you all so much. I'd love to hear from you.

lilac2(at)berkeley.edu this computer is weird and I can't do at signs.

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

haha. My family just asked me if I was writing to my boyfriend. I guess that's the sign for me to get off. Bye!!

Free Stuff

Do you know what's cool?
Free stuff.
Do you know what's better?
Free stuff that doesn't suck.
Do you know what's best?
Free stuff that's AWESOME!


That's why I'm entering to win something from www.yellowsongbird.blogspot.com
Their stuff is really cute. If you're a girl, I suggest you check it out. And maybe even enter yourself!!

Happy shopping.






i hope i win a sweet rosette headband from the @ohsweetjoy giveaway at www.yellowsongbird.blogspot.com!

Hawaii

Hey everyone. I’m going to write my Hawaii blog and then head up to my penultimate lunch on the ship. Isn’t that weird? I’m on the same time zone as you now. Cool, huh?

Wow, Hawaii seems so long ago now. The first morning I went to the Pearl Harbor museum/memorial, which was good to see. After seeing war museums and memorials all over the world, it’s interesting to see one here at home. I still look at it from an outsiders perspective, and that’s kind of a unique experience.

That afternoon I was going to go to Waikiki beach, but on my way there I ran into some people I knew that were going “Waterfall Hunting.” It was kind of a private tour, but WAY cheaper than what you would expect. So I joined them. It ended up being me, Annie, and Jacky driving around with our very talkative tour guide who brought us to a 3 waterfalls. The first waterfall he pulled up to a path, gave us a map, and said to call him when we got there so he knew we weren’t dead. Hiking up and following the map was a lot of fun. We had to trek through rainforest areas and cross over streams. I loved it! Eventually we got to the waterfall, which was beautiful, and we had an amazing view. The third waterfall was my favorite, though. He parked at a cemetery and then brought us on a hike, pointing out places where LOST was filmed (I took pictures), though rivers, and up hills. Eventually we got to a waterfall with a rock that we could jump off and an area where we could swim. It was a bit chilly, but well worth it. He would only let us do the small jump (9ft?). I wanted to do the big one (25ish ft?) but he wouldn’t let me. Maybe insurance reasons or something, I don’t know. I guess I’ll just have to go back. =-)

The next day I went SCUBA diving. We had two dives in the morning. On the first one we got to explore a sunken ship, which was awesome. And on the second one we just explored the sea life. Saw a GIANT sea turtle. They estimated it at about 500lbs. Can you believe that? I wonder how old he is . . .

After that, Andrew, Kellie, and I headed over to Waikiki Beach where we at yummy food and then rented surfboards. For some reason I thought I would be good at it. My brother and dad can both surf, so maybe I thought it would be genetic or something. The last time I tried was a LONG time ago, so maybe I thought that comparatively I would have to be a lot better now.

Both those assumptions were way wrong.

But I kept trying, and that’s what matters, right?

As this one guy paddled by, I asked him if he had any tips for beginners. “Ya,” he said, “Paddle hard.” So I said I’d try that. He asked if I knew how to stand up, I said no. When I told him it was my first time, he said he would help me catch a wave.

Then he told me to follow him and he paddled over to the area where the bigger waves were. Exactly where the old Hawaiian man who rented us our boards told us not to go because we would get hurt. But I figured that of course that didn’t apply to me, so I followed.

And I was able to stand up a couple times! Granted, Javier was pushing me into the waves, so it definitely wasn’t all me. But I’m still pretty proud of myself.

When my time with the board was up, the paddle in was SOOOOOO LONG!! I thought I was never going to make it. Seriously, my arms were SO DEAD. Is it that hard for everyone that surfs? Or am I just weak? Or maybe part of it is that I pretty much spent the whole time paddling with very few breaks of standing up and surfing in between. But it’s probably just that I’m weak.

Anyways, I eventually got in and turned in my board.

That night we went from Honolulu to Hilo.

In Hilo, a group of girls and I went on a Volcano and Waterfall tour. We wanted to go find the waterfall my dad told me about, but it was just too hard when the free buses weren’t running (it was Sunday) and we weren’t allowed to rent cars. So we ended up going on this tour that brought us to a lot of waterfalls, volcanoes, and a macadamia nut farm. Did you know that 95% of macadamia nut farms in the WORLD are in Hawaii? That’s pretty impressive.

Then that night I went out to dinner.

The next day we spent time at a black sand beach and then just wandering around Hilo. Very low key, very relaxing. It was nice to just be with my friends without worrying about getting to the next thing or being on time to somewhere.

Hawaii was a lot of fun.

Yay!

Okay, lunch. Then packing. Then a “reflections and re-entry” thing where they tell us not to be hurt if nobody cares about our stories. Then the Ambassador Ball dinner. Then hip hop routine. Then Ambassador Ball dance.

Then sleep.

Then wake up to my last full day.

Weird.

I’LL SEE YOU SOON!!!!!!!!

A Picture For You

Here's Hawaii.
=-)

Where's The Statue of Liberty?

Yes, I know that the Statue of Liberty is on the other side of the world, but I still feel like there should be something BIG and GRAND to welcome me back into. . .

AMERICA!

. . . Instead I get a parking lot. That's the view from my window.

But at least it's an American parking lot.

We're in the same country now. Same continent in 10 days.

I love you.

So What?: The Thought Process Behind My Essay

I just sailed around the world. So what. So what? So what?! What do you mean “so what”?! I just freakin’ sailed around the world. So what did I get out of it? So what did I put into it? So what did I take away? So what did I leave? So what did I learn? So what? So what?! How can you ask a question like “so what”?! That’s the extent of the assignment. So what? I’m not supposed to catalog my adventures or experiences. I’m not supposed to write on every country. I’m just supposed to pick one “so what” theme and go with it, touching on two, maybe three ports. So what? 10 pages. Go.
        So here I go. Brainstorming up something that could hopefully carry Dorothy away. Maybe I’ll land in the academic version of Oz and be taken away on some wonderful, essay-ish adventure. Speaking of Oz, did you know that the author of the Oz books came up with the name of Oz because he couldn’t think of anything else and when he looked up from his computer (uhh. . . probably typewriter, actually) there was the O-Z book of the encyclopedia right in front of him. And so Oz was born. I wish that was how all writers block could be solved. I wish I could look up from my computer and see the answer. Let’s give it a try, shall we? What’s the answer to my “So what”?
        Curtains.
        Spill proof tablecloths.
        A stormy gray ocean and clouds that come all the way down to the water that make it so I half expect a Moby Dick scene to take place right outside the window. 
        Are those the answer to my “So what?”
        Doubtful.
        So what is my so what? Does it involve the people? Or the places? Or the food? Or the culture? The way our cultures are different? Or the way they’re so similar?
        I just traveled around the world. I left America exactly three months ago. August 28, 2009. So what? What has changed? Have I changed? Is that what my so what is? The changes? Or is my so what those things that have stayed the same? The universalities of life around the globe. But that can’t be possible when, anthropologically, nothing is universal.
        If I’m not careful, I’m going to end up with 10 pages of blabber without a thesis. Quite possible, considering my tangential tendencies. But I really need to focus. Focus. Focus. Focus.
        It’s hard to focus when I don’t know what I’m focusing on. It’s like standing on top of a mountain, looking over a great landscape, and having someone say, “look closer.” Look closer? At what? At the forests down below or at the birds flying above? At the waterfall to the left or the village to the right? Look closer? Now what kind of instructions are that.
        I guess that’s the beauty of assignments like this. We are all standing on top of that mountain, all encouraged to look closer, and because the instructions are vague, we are granted to look closer at what interests us. To zoologist can look closer at the bear and cubs and the anthropologist can look closer at the baby and child. We have the opportunity to look closer at the specific parts of the landscape that attract us.
        But I suppose picking a direction, a specific place to look, is all well and good for the zoologist or anthropologist. They know what they’re interested in. But what about me? I’m a girl that looks up at the menu board at the Bagelry and can’t make a decision, and now here I stand on my mountaintop, looking at the awe-inspiring landscape artistically created by the culmination of the past three months being expected to pick one part to look closer at. Look closer. So what.
        I think what I need to remember is that by looking closer at one specific part, I’m not disregarding the rest of the view. Realizing that detail and depth can be found wherever I look enhances the view as a whole. I just need to pick a spot.
        Just pick one.
        Just pick one.
        Just. Pick. One.
        Okay, still haven’t picked one.
        I have no idea what I want to talk about. What stuck out to me? What specific places? The Amy Biehl Foundation in South Africa and the Angkor Ruins in Cambodia. Okay. Step one, done. Step two is harder, considering I don’t even know what it is. I guess I’ll just keep processing and then see where I end up.
        I liked the Amy Biehl Foundation both because of where it came from (meaning the reconciliation between the family and murderers, not the murder itself) and for what it stands for now. I like that what Amy Biehl stood for lives on after she has passed. It’s a piece of her left behind, so to speak. I guess I hope that something of me is left behind. That someone will remember me not just as a person but as someone that stood for something. That my legacy will continue long after I do. Not that my legacy has to be one of fame – not that at all. But I would like to hope that by the time I leave this planet, I would have made some sort of dent. Some kind of chink in the armor of worldliness. I hope that I would make a difference. Amy Biehl made that difference. She made a difference both when she was alive – by working against the apartheid – and in her death, by having the foundation set up to support those that killed her.
        I think that my awe for South Africa extends even beyond the Amy Biehl foundation. Actually, I know it does. They are all about moving forward. They recognize the past, want to learn from it, and then want to move forward. The Biehl parents recognized that what happened to their daughter was horrible, they acknowledge that it shouldn’t have happened, but then they moved forward. Instead of being trapped in a dungeon of self-pity or dragged back in time to when they still had their Amy, they moved forward to the next best thing. If they could no longer have their daughter, they would carry on their daughter’s spirit. She would live on. The Truth and Reconciliation Committee had the similar notion of moving forward. They had the option of living in the past, of dragging people down for what had happened to or by them. But they didn’t. Instead they chose to move forward. The Truth and Reconciliation Committee took the first step in the right direction out of a crowd that was running in circles. They took a step towards the future.
        Even now South Africa is continuing to move forward. I think that’s something that I really appreciated about that country. They had so many opportunities to look backwards, to get caught up in what happened there so recently, for the oppressed to stay angry at the former oppressors and so on. But this didn’t happen.

(Going to salsa now. I think I've gotten the ball rolling. Where it will roll to, I have no idea. But at least it's moving now.)

The Holiday Season Begins!

Part of the holiday season just passed. And by “holiday season” I mean Thanksgiving and my birthday. I wrote about my actual birthday in the Japan blog. I wanted to give you guys a quick update on my second birthday and on my Thanksgiving.

The day we left Japan, a group of girlfriends and I all had dinner together. Then the crew sang to me as the brought out a HUGE fruit bowl my friends had ordered me in replacement of a cake since I prefer fruit over sweets. Then the crew sang to me AGAIN as they brought out a huge chocolate cake that my mom ordered for me so that we could have something to celebrate my birthday over. Then a couple minutes later the crew sang a special birthday song as they brought out a special gift from the crew to me for my birthday – banana bread cut like a cake with a non-sugary frosting and a candle. I’ve never seen them do that before, so I was really touched.

So here I was with a huge chocolate cake, a huge bowl of fruit, and a special little banana bread cake from the crew. So I went around the dining room inviting people to come eat cake – and they did! It was a really fun post-birthday night!

Thanksgiving was fun, too. I had dinner with my ship family. At the beginning of the voyage we had to opportunity to be assigned to “ship families.” My family consists of the librarian and the computer guy (they’re married and the about the same age as my parents), then there’s me, Zach, Kim, Vikki, Ansel, and Liz. It’s a pretty fun family. (They don’t hold a candle to my family back home, but I make do). We have family dinner together every once in awhile and family game night occasionally. Anyways, I had my Thanksgiving Dinner with them. Thanksgiving was surprisingly good, too. Not the same as being at home, but they did a pretty good job.

Then after dinner our family challenged another family (my Public Speaking teacher’s family) to a rematch of the Hat Game, which is a game I absolutely love.

So it was a pretty good Thanksgiving. Besides the whole having class thing. And having homework due the next day. But I don’t really think I’m in the position to complain about anything. I’m on a ship bound for Hawaii, for crying out loud. Life is good.

Oh! Plus now that Thanksgiving is over, people can’t reprimand me for listening to Christmas music. It’s legal now!! Hurray!

Love you all!!

Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better: The Theme Song of Japan

Have you ever heard the song “Anything you can do, I can do better”? If Japan could sing a song to America, this would be it. I kid you not, everything that America does, Japan does better.

Fashion? Ha. I don’t think you can even called the clothes we Americans sloppily piece together “fashion” compared to the Japanese. Every single one of them has a perfect outfit. The men are in suits, the women are wearing boots. No sweatshirts. No hair in messy buns. Everything is perfect.

Toilets? Their toilets SING. Literally. In case you don’t want the rest of the bathroom to year you do your business, you can make you toilet play music. You can also make you toilet squirt water (a variety of different versions, too). And the toilet seats are heated. That’s right. Heated.

Speaking of heated seats, the SUBWAYS have heated seats. I guess they’re not really subways. More like metro systems. But still. Heated seats on a metro system? Or you kidding me? No. Not kidding. Very serious, actually. It’s amazing.

Speaking of the metro system: you can get from anywhere to anywhere. And the trains are always, always, always on time. Plus they have the bullet train. I went 180mph on a train! That’s pretty, freakin’ cool.

Vending machines! Oh my gosh, I love their vending machines! You can get any sort of beverage – hot or cold! – and apparently in some parts of Japan there are vending machines that sell everything from coffee to jeans. I didn’t see those, but I was quite happy with my beverage vending machines. I would choose one with a cool wrapper (I generally avoided the English ones) that was either hot or cold, depending on my mood. And they were ALL good! Hurray! I probably spend $20 in those machines. But it was well worth it.

Let’s see. . . what else do the Japanese do better? An easier question might be what else do the Japanese do?

Oh! In America we have dumb menus that might have a picture that kind of resembles the dish, if you’re lucky. In Japan they have plastic versions of ALL the food on display so you can actually see what you’re ordering. None of this wishing-you-got-what-she-got-after-the-meals-are-delivered-and-you-see-what-it-is-you-actually-ordered nonsense. You know what you’re ordering. And the real food actually looks like the plastic food!

Chopsticks. Chopsticks are just always superior to European cutlery, in my opinion.

Oh! And there is absolutely no litter anywhere. Which is weird, since there is also absolutely no trash cans anywhere. I really don’t understand how the two can go together – no trash cans AND no litter – but it works.

And the Japanese are SO QUIET! I could be in a train car with 30 other people and it would be dead silent. I went to the busiest intersection in the WORLD! Every time the “walk” sign flashes, 1,000 people cross the street. In silence. Weirdest thing ever. But pretty cool.

And they’re all so nice!! They have Americans beat again.

That’s all of the Japanese superiority things I can think of right now. . . I’m sure there are more though.

I’m going to briefly go through my Japan experience. It already seems like such a long time ago. Crazy how time flies like that. Lots of it is kind of fuzzy and blurred together, but I’ll do my best.

The first day we arrived in Yokohama. We went through intense immigration procedures (I got finger printed), explored the city a bit, and then I loaded onto the bus for my “Yokohama & Tokyo Extended Trip.”

We went to some REALLY pretty gardens in Yokohama. If you picture the perfect autumn scene, with falling orange leaves and warm colors, and then you add some small bonsai plants, cool Japanese architecture, and flowers the size of my head (literally!) you get this garden. Bryan and I explored it for a while and followed lots of winding trails through thick bamboo. It was lots of fun! Then I participated in a tea ceremony and learned how to hold and turn my cup correctly. Yay!

From there we went to a cemetery and then to a look out point where we could see the harbor (and our ship!). Then people went to a café for warm food (“World’s Best Cheesecake Café”). Bryan and I didn’t want to spend money so we went back to an orange tree that we saw in the cemetery and . . .

Anyways. From there we went to a really tall building with the fastest elevator in the world (it was REALLY fast), then loaded up the bus again for Tokyo.

In Tokyo we checked into our hotel then a group of us went out to dinner. Fun, normal night. Nothing super eventful. Just enjoyed being in Japan.

The next day we went to temples and . . . temples. Probably some other stuff too, but, honestly, all that stuff blurs together after awhile. Don’t get me wrong, they’re beautiful and I enjoy seeing them, but you can only see so many temples in a 3-month period. (Angkor Watt doesn’t count. Those were completely different). 

Then. . .  LUNCH! Sushi! Hurray! Delicious! Wonderful! Free! Okay, not free. But prepaid, so it FELT free. You would expect sushi to be cheaper in Japan, but no. Still expensive. More so than America, even. But it was really, really good. And the trip leaders bought everyone cake to celebrate Bryan & my birthdays, which was really sweet. His birthday was the 21st, mine is the 23rd.

Then we went to Electric City, which was fun. Lots of (duh) electronics. We mostly just explored. We went to a 100 yen store, which is the equivalent of dollar stores in the U.S., where I bought some Christmas decorations for my cabin. We went up escalators that looked like they were in the little tubes that hamsters crawl through. Went to computer stores and took pictures of ourselves on macs and then set the pictures as the backgrounds. Very successful day, if you ask me.

That night we celebrated Bryan’s 21st birthday. A group of people who weren’t on our specific trip but who we knew through SAS met us at the hotel. They had a horror story of a travel experience; their hostel said they couldn’t stay there anymore, took trains in the wrong direction, so on and so forth. Long story short, I offered up my room and ended up with. . . uhh. . . eight of us girls in a small hotel room? We fit surprising well. Plus we were all pretty close to begin with, so it wasn’t really a big deal. Anyways, back to the celebration.

We went out to dinner, which was fun. Then we went to the ICE BAR. There are only a couple of them in the world. You pay to get in, and your cover charge gets you a drink, a parka, gloves, and boots (The clothes you obviously have to give back). The whole bar is made of ice! The walls are ice, the tables are ice, the seats are ice (covered in fur), the actual bar is ice, the cups are ice. It’s so cool! (Pun intended). The bartender was disappointed when I just ordered a pineapple juice. Not much chance for him to show off his awesome bartending skills. He asked if he could add stuff it it, and I said no alcohol. Again, disappointed. But we settled for pineapple juice with strawberry syrup, so he got to do a little mixing and playing with colors and I still got my alcohol-free beverage. Everyone wins.

I’ve decided on this trip that drinking just isn’t for me. I’ve been allowed to this whole time, but it really just has no appeal to me. I’m quite happy to be the babysitter of drunken friends and remember the stories in the morning. Plus I don’t think my personality really needs any alcohol in order to get me onto the dance floor or to make a fool out of myself. I can run into walls on my own, thank you very much.

And I know that there is a middle ground. You don’t have to not drink or get completely trashed. And I have a lot of friends that choose the middle ground. But I (and my wallet) are quite happy with just not drinking.

Now back to the ice bar.

By the end of our time there, we were absolutely freeeeeezing. I couldn’t feel my fingers. We then wandered around Tokyo some more (some people returned, once again, to Family Mart for some cheap liquor), and then we attempted to navigate the metro system home. You should know that a) We weren’t that great at the metro system yet, b) The signs are not in English, c) the metro closes at midnight, d) taxis are ridiculously expensive, and e) our group ranges from sober to pretty far wasted. Surprisingly (actually, not surprisingly, knowing Bryan), Bryan was one of the more sober ones, and it was HIS 21st birthday. Props to him.

Anyways, he were are trying to get home. Like herding sheep. Herding sheep when you don’t even know what direction you should be herding them, and some of them needs to use the bathroom, and another one can’t find her camera, and another one can’t stop laughing. Okay, we ALL can’t stop laughing. I think Colby sliding down the rail and falling is one of my favorite memories of that night. Ironically, he didn’t even drink that much. But Colby is one of these “cool” people. Not necessarily “too cool for school,” but not someone who would do anything silly. Anyways, we’re going down the stairs into the metro and he’s a bit in front of me. He sits down on the rail, slides down, and then somehow his feet fly over his head and he’s on the grown.

Hilarious.

But I’m thinking it might be one of those things you had to be there for.

Anyways, we do eventually make it home. Cram a whole bunch of girls into my room and go to sleep.

In the morning I’m up early to take a train to Mt. Fuji. We have the whole day free, and this is what I’ve decided to do with my day. There are two adults going with me: Pat and a professor. We take the train there only to discover that you can’t see the mountain. It’s completely fogged in. I’m too not disappointed. I didn’t really care that much about the mountain.

I stay with Pat and Professor Milani for two-ish hours when we wander into a festival of sorts. We get separated in it, and when we meet up again they were ready to go back to Tokya. I decide to stay. I hadn’t had a day to myself since New York.

I had a really wonderful day. I stayed at the festival for a while. It turned out to be an agriculture festival, so I got to try a whole bunch of the foods they grow there, which was awesome. That’s where I had lunch, too. I sat next to a nice Japanese old man and watched a butter making contest where kids shook jars full of milk and the first one to make butter won. The man was really sweet, and we tried to communicate. Not to successfully, but we tried.

I explored the festival some more and the palace grounds that it was on. There were some caged monkeys. Bright red faces.

Then into the town. I wandered around for a bit before settling into coffee shop overlooking a small street. I sat and journaled there for a long time.

I wandered around the town some more. After going from the crowded boat to big city to boat to city, it was nice to have a whole town all to myself. I was the only SAS person there. Sometimes it’s nice to have a break.

I stayed until just before dark, then I got back on the train and headed home. In Tokyo I had really, really good dinner from a fast food Japanese restaurant. Totally hit the spot for me. Then walked back to the hotel.

I was in my jammies all ready for bed when Andrew and Bryan called. We ended up watching the Hangover, which was funnier than I expected. Then when it turned midnight they sang me happy birthday.

What a great day.

They next day (my birthday!) kind of blurrs by. I know I got sang to probably about 12 times throughout the day. We explored Tokyo for a bit in the morning. I forget the exact place we went to, but it’s the area with the biggest intersection. Got delicious lunches, and headed home to the hotel. Then we jumped on the 180mph bullet train to go to Kobe. I slept for all 3 hours except for when people woke me up to point out Mt. Fuji. So I DID get to see it! Hurray!

In Kobe, we loaded onto the ship around dinner. Let me tell you that I was dead tired. Like wanted to take the elevator from the second to third floor tired. (But I didn’t).

So I get into my room and my door is crazily decorated with a  HUGE happy birthday sign. And lots of cards are stuck behind my name card. When I go inside, there is a stack of birthday cards on my bed. You guys, thank you so much. I really, really, really, really appreciate it. I was so utterly exhausted, and your cards were just what I needed. Thank you so much.

 So, having read all my wonderful, loving, awesome birthday cards, I’m still super tired and not up to having a huge birthday.

So I had a small, wonderful, perfect birthday dinner. Me and Allie Hart, one of my favorite people in the world, went out to a sushi dinner. Then we bought socks. Then we bought boba tea-ish stuff from Family Mart (I love Family Mart!) and then we went home. It was really perfect.

Oh! And when we came home we stopped by the purser’s desk to pick up packages I got a note on my door about. When my mom said she sent some small gifts, I was picturing small gifts. A cute pencil. A ring. A hair tie.

Nope. I got handed a huge box! So I brought it down to Allie’s room and we had a little birthday celebration. Inside the huge box were lots of little boxes (SAS had put all my packages into one box), so I had lots of little packages to unwrap. It was a lot of fun. Thank you so very much for all the effort that went into that. I really appreciate it!!

So that was my birthday.

The next day I was still dead tired. Allie and I went to the zoo to see pandas, but there weren’t any pandas. That’s okay, though, we saw other animals. Including a squirrel exhibit. And Californian sea lions.

It was crazy seeing the zoo in Japan. That’s one thing that America DEFINITELY does better. They had two HUGE bears in a cage the size of my cabin. Some of the animals looked pretty sick.

. . . But still a fun day at the zoo. =-)

Then we wandered around town, got lunch, sat at a coffee shop for awhile, went to Family Mart one last time, then back to the ship.

Next stop: America.

Thank you!

I just wanted to shoot up a quick post to say

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

for my birthday wishes/cards/packages/postcards!!!!

I got home from a long, hard day of traveling and was blown away by the thoughtfulness awaiting me. Thanks again. So much.

I really wasn't expecting that. Thankyouthankyouthankyou.

I love you all. Thanks again!!

LOVE YOU! THANK YOU! ARREGATO!!! (Totally not how you spell it, but that's "thank you" in Japanese)

DOMO ARREGATO!!! (thank you very much). . . like the Mr. Roboto song. =-)