Japan

I am going to blog a little out of order since Japan is fresh in my head, then I will write to you about China and all of the fun me and Katie had traveling China. So anyway, Japan.
Well it is the height of Cherry Blossom season, there are official scientists who declare each year when the blossoms are all at their best, and it just so happened that that was exactly while we were there. It is the peak travel and tourist season in Japan. I can see why, it was beautiful, the striking yet mild colors of the blossoms adorned the trees of each zen garden we visited and path we walked down, it created a world that was peaceful and uniquely gorgeous in its simplicity.
A major part of my time in Japan however was rain. It rained all the time, it didn't stop, but it was still fantastic and I have travelled for months with amazing weather so it was about time we had rain. Oh and it was cold, so rainy and cold, but still unbelievable. Now for what I actually did. I hope that is of interest to all of you, because I feel like it is all I talk about on this thing. If anyone has anything they would like to say about what they have been up to, feel free to comment or just email me at joshua.best.s12@semesteratsea.org, I would like to know what is going on in your lives. Anyway back to Japan.
I travelled with two of my good friends Adam and Emily. We backpacked from Kobe, to Kyoto, to Tokyo and finally Yokohama. I am not really sure if "backpacking" has any requirements, but we traveled to those places and we had backpacks on so I think it counts. We left Kobe on the first day. They do not have Kobe beef because they had to kill all of the cows because of a disease that was spreading among them. Too bad but apparently it is like 300 dollars for a steak so that was not going to happen anyway. For those of you who do not know, Kobe beef is beef that comes from fancy cows that get massages everyday and eat the best grasses and are fed beer and wine, apparently it is delicious. We ended up in Kyoto the fist night after figuring out the train system which is fun since all of it is in Japanese. This was really the first time that there was important information that was not doubled in English, some of it was, but not all of it, and we looked lost a lot of the time, but we got everywhere without much trouble, my Mom's and Grandpa's intense training of map use came in handy quite a bit on this trip. My first night was in a hostel, first time I have ever done that and I would do it again , it was clean and the atmosphere of a hostel is much more fun than that of a hotel, it didn't hurt that it was only 40 bucks a night.
The next day was intense. My friend Adam is also a film major and decided to make a travel show / travel log of our adventures and so for most of what happened both Emily and I are wearing microphones under our shirt and have a camera on us.
We started out by getting ourselves to the golden pagoda. This is a three story pagoda that is entirely decorated with gold leaf, it was the home of the third Shogun, but after his death, and upon his request it became a zen temple. I know that because I was the host of a travel show when I was there. It is amazing how simple everything is. It is awe inspiring to see the ponds and the trees and the zen temples that are all built with the idea of controlling nature and using empty space as an art form. The concept of shibusa was very evident, that is the style of simple, subtle beauty. After that we went to one of the most famous zen rock gardens. People spend hours looking at these 15 larger rocks surrounded by white gravel. I must admit I do not know why contemplating these stones was so interesting but we sat there for a long time just looking at them. It had been raining all day, but it was really pouring then and it just looked so beautiful. For most of the time I was there I could only count 14 rocks, so I spent most of my time contemplating over why they said there were 15.
We then traveled to the Philosophers path, this is a small path that runs along a winding stream, along it are homes and little shops, as well as a plethora of temples. The most stunning aspect of it however were the hundreds of cherry blossoms that lined the walk way. Unfortunately by the time we got there it was raining hard, and we were soaked. We had our bags with us the entire day and everything we owned was wet, I mean everything. So we were huddled in the entranceway of this little flower shop and this florist came out and handed us all umbrellas, when we asked him how much he just signaled for us to go without paying, it was a gesture that made our day, we were pretty down about having nothing that was dry, but this one stranger turned that around for us.
We took a bullet train to Tokyo, a two hour ride going nearly 200 MPH, it was an expensive ticket but worth the ride if you're ever there. Sure enough we got to Tokyo and it was raining, We ate McDonald's, since it was the food that was in the station, (FYI a Big Mac tastes like a Big Mac). The station was like a maze though and it took us a long time to figure out how to leave. We found our way to a hotel, thinking we could stay there, as we walked in however Adam pointed out the chandelier in the elevator and it was clear we could not afford it. We ended up taking a train to Shibuya which is where the famous scene of the crosswalks in Tokyo are. No surprise there were no open hotels there either, (again, the height of Japan tourism). I don't know who's idea it was to wing it, but it lead to some interesting turns that ended with us in a small room in a hotel far from downtown.
The rest of Japan was great, and mostly dry. We ate the best sushi ever, complained about how expensive all the gifts were, but it was really not that bad, we are just used to things costing around 50 cents. We met up with friends to do Karaoke, and then we ended up on the ship bound for the US. I can't believe it is almost over, Only two weeks left of my voyage, and then I get to see all of you for real. Take care, make it count.
P.S. one of the most noticeable things is that people in Japan are quiet. No one makes noise. We were in a crowded intersection, and it was silent except for cars. In the trains and subway cars, no one made a sound. Even the announcements that told you where you were were in a whisper. very calming, but kinda creepy. Think about being in a full subway, you are shoulder to shoulder in the entire car, professional pushers are shoving people onto the train, and it is silent. Very odd.