おわりました！ ~fin

It's over!
We finished up last Thursday in Kanazawa. The IJST class of 2008! The SGE students threw us a farewell party on Saturday and we watched a really cute slideshow of pictures and a video too. It was really sweet! Our host families also came to say goodbye to us. My host family made a photo-album of the pictures we took during the weekend. It made me really happy. During that ceremony, I seriously felt like crying. It made the opening ceremony so much more vivid. During the opening ceremony, when Keiichi said that we were all going to become friends, I was so skeptical. I remember thinking that the language barrier was going to be terrible and that it was impossible to really know people in 6 weeks--but I was so wrong. Everyone ended up really having the best time and getting to know each other so well, and in the end we all became so comfortable around each other.

Nick, Jason, Adam and I took the night bus out of Kanazawa to Tokyo on the 17th. Moromi, Keiichi, Gen and Kohei went with us to the bus stop and stayed with us until we left on the bus. It made me really sad when the bus departed and we saw them waving goodbye to us. However, one thing did really did make me feel comfortable. Before getting on the bus we had an hour to kill, so we all decided to sit in starbucks. All 8 of us sat there, and had the most comfortable silences ever. It made me realize how much we all were okay with each other. It was nice. Then we took some Pikuras (Sticker pictures) and then 4 of us went on our way.

We got to Tokyo at around 630AM tired as hell. We didn't get any sleep on the bus because it was really uncomfortable. So we then decided to spend 30 minutes inside an internet cafe, then we went over to Adam's friend's University and slept in a classroom for 2 hours or so. After wards, we ate lunch and then got on the bus to Shin Fuji. A huge bunch of IJST students had planned to climb Mount Fuji together, and so we had planned to meet at the station at 5pm.

We all met up, and ended up getting up to the halfway point of Mount Fuji by taxi. Since the climbing season does not officially open until the next day, there were no buses that would drive us up. So, when we got to the 5th point, we all got off and there we started our journey up the mountain. Holy crap! It was SO HARD! We started climbing at around 9PM. It was dark, but the moonlight was really bright so we had that as our light. I ended up getting to the top right before the sunrise. In Japan, the sun rises a lot earlier than in America. The sunrise was beautiful! I think we were all really uncomfortable though because a) we all just pulled an all nighter, trying to climb a mountain, and b) it was probably the most grueling activity we had ever done.

Mount Fuji has 10 stations, and we started from 5. Stations 5-7 wasn't so bad.. but after I hit 7, it became really steep and rocky and extremely scary. We all had to get walking sticks in order to maintain balance and seek through rubble and rocks. Not only did it become harder to breathe because of the high altitude but it also became harder to stay warm. I was wearing 3 hoodies and a jacket and still freezing to no end! I seriously thought that I was going to catch Pnemonia (sp?) and die up on that mountain.. but I stuck it through and was able to experience something that not a lot of people on this planet have. I could barely take pictures because of how cold it was. Interesting fact: If one wanted to pee on Fuji, one would have to pay 200 Yen ($2) because your feces has to be transported down the mountain manually. Anyway, it was an amazing view and something I recommend putting on your bucket list :)

The few of us freezing on the top of the mountain:






After the sunrise, we had to climb back down the mountain (which was even harder because all of the rock and dirt is slippery) and got back to the station at about noon time. Nick, Jason, Adam, Keisuke, Trevor, Ted, Amy and I went to an onsen/public bath in order to shower and get all of the nastiness off of ourselves. We then headed back to Tokyo and got some dinner. Have I mentioned I haven't slept at this point for over 24 straight hours?

Well anyway, I passed out at Momo's apartment and the next day we all met up again and had some breakfast and walked around Shinjuku until we had to send Keisuke off back to Kanazawa. It was sad, parting with the 最後の日本人。＠＿＠ 金沢工業大学校はおても楽しかった。私はも一度金沢に行きたい！

On Sunday night, I left everyone and went to meet with my parents at Hilton Hotel in Narita. I joined a 4 night tour of Tokyo with my parents. Our first day we went to Asakusa, the Imperial Palace and then went to Shinjuku. That night we stayed in the New Akao Plaza in Shinjuku- and it was so amazing. The hotel itself was beautiful and very accomodating! It was right in the heart of Shinjuku and I was able to go shopping :) The next day, we went over to see Kamakura, home of the 2nd largest Buddha statue. (The biggest one is in Nara, which I had already visited earlier in June), and went to this really sweet hotel that was built on the side of the mountain. There we were able to experience a Hot Spring, traditional Japanese cuisine, a really amazing view from our Hotel rooms, and sleep on tatami mats. (Not very new for me, but definitely fun for my parents to experience) I must admit, I have not been this spoiled in a very long time. Most of my travels here in Japan have been at crappy hotels and barely any good food. But traveling with parents have been extremely easy and pampering >_> The last day, we went Hakone, then we went to Ginza.

Kamakura:

the view from the top of the Tokyo Capital Tower:

the view from the hotel on the mountain:

A shot I took in a department store in Ginza:


Right now, I'm currently at a hotel in Kanda, Tokyo. My parents didn't realize that our plane for Hong Kong departed a day after our tour ended. So here I am, using free internet and updating my blog! Today, I took my parents out on our own little tour. We went to Shibuya for some shopping, then I took them over to Tokyo Tower. We went to the Tower right before the sun went down, so we got to see it during sunlight, and during the night. We went up to the top and experienced the view from there also. It was really beautiful. I am going to miss Japan so much when I leave!

Tokyo Tower:

Here is a self-portrait that I attempted at the top of Tokyo Tower:

Overall, this is the last blog I will have of Japan. Here is a checklist of the places that I have already visited in Japan:
1) Kanazawa
2) Osaka
3) Kyoto
4) Nara
5) Tokyo
6) Hakone
7) Shin Fuji (+Fuji-san)
8) Animizu/Wajima

I think my favorite place was Osaka!
私の一番好きな所は大阪ですよ！！