Japan Recap 2! (Day 3-6)

Japan Day 3 & 4 : Hiroshima and Miyajima

·         Explored the city, visited a castle, and went to Karaoke.

·         Peace Memorial Park and Museum. The site of the atomic bomb has a very emotional museum depicting the damage that the bomb caused to the people and community. A flame burns as a monument that will stand until all nuclear weapons are eliminated from the world.

·         Miyajima Island. This is home to the famous floating tori gate. We visited a large shrine and thanks to our tour guide we were able to follow some of the traditional rituals. And I cannot forget to mention the deer which are very friendly and can be pet like tamed animals although living freely on the island.

Check out my selfie with the deer, the floating tori gate can be seen in the background!

 

 

Day 5: Kyoto

·         Took the bullet train to Kyoto to visit the bamboo forest.  It went as far as we could see into the distance and the sky. It was beautiful.

·         After being out in the cold, we decided to visit another hot spring. They are very relaxing.

 

Day 6: Kobe

·         Our last day in Japan we spent in the port city of Kobe. We decided to take the city loop, which is basically a hop on and off bus with 17 stops around the city. One of the highlights of this trip was the tram that took us to the top of a mountain overlooking the city. 

 
*I wish I could send more pictures but the email connection on the ship is not working very well. Hopefully more to come soon!

Japan Recap! (Day 1 & 2)

Day 1: Yokohama & Toyko

·         Explored the port city of Yokohama, the 2^nd largest city in Japan, in the morning. This was the first time I had ever been immersed in a country that spoke another language!

·         Group drum lesson on traditional taiko drums

·         Visited our first temple which was a large red building with intricate details decorating the sides. There was a market lining the streets leading to the temple. Here we ate a traditional "cookie", a waffle outside with red bean inside.

·         Tokyo – We ate a su shi dinner, of course!

·         Visited the center of Shibuya (Tokyo), the largest crossing in the world.

 

Day 2: Hakone

·         Mt. Fuji – Beautiful views of the active volcano. We ate "black egg," the egg that is hard boiled in the water from the mountain that contains sulfur. This chemical reaction causes the egg shell to turn black. Eating the egg is believed to add seven years to a person's life.

·         Cable Car – Views of Mt. Fuji as we traveled down the mountain from the overlook. We came to the lake at the bottom where we took a Pirate ship across.

·         Open Air Museum – Dedicated to Picasso, the museum was full of sculptures.

·         Japanese Hotel – dinner in Kimono's and a visit to the hot springs!

 

Here is a picture from our traditional dinner. I think I have finally mastered chopsticks.

 

 

Japan Recap! (Day 1 & 2)

Day 1: Yokohama & Toyko

·         Explored the port city of Yokohama, the 2^nd largest city in Japan, in the morning. This was the first time I had ever been immersed in a country that spoke another language!

·         Group drum lesson on traditional taiko drums

·         Visited our first temple which was a large red building with intricate details decorating the sides. There was a market lining the streets leading to the temple. Here we ate a traditional "cookie", a waffle outside with red bean inside.

·         Tokyo – We ate a sushi dinner, of course!

·         Visited the center of Shibuya (Tokyo), the largest crossing in the world.

 

Day 2: Hakone

·         Mt. Fuji – Beautiful views of the active volcano. We ate "black egg," the egg that is hard boiled in the water from the mountain that contains sulfur. This chemical reaction causes the egg shell to turn black. Eating the egg is believed to add seven years to a person's life.

·         Cable Car – Views of Mt. Fuji as we traveled down the mountain from the overlook. We came to the lake at the bottom where we took a Pirate ship across.

·         Open Air Museum – Dedicated to Picasso, the museum was full of sculptures.

·         Japanese Hotel – dinner in Kimono's and a visit to the hot springs!

 

Here is a picture from our traditional dinner. I think I have finally mastered chopsticks.

 

 

Japan!

After a long stretch across the pacific we finally reached Japan this morning at 6am! I will spend the next 6 days exploring the country!


Sent from my iPhone

Sunset over the Pacific

We are two days away from Japan! Enjoyed a gorgeous sunset tonight. 

The Bridge

My friend Tricia and I got a tour of the bridge today. It was a great view of the ocean open ahead of us. We learned from the 3rd officer and deckhand about their responsibilities on the ship and daily life. Fun fact, we burned about $70,000 worth of fuel on our first day at sea! Due to the storm we went approximately 400-500 miles extra, that's a lot of money burned! But we are lucky we did so, as these were the second largest waves the 3rd officer had ever experienced at sea. They were 6 meters high. It was interesting to see the many charts, flags, and technology that are helping us navigate the globe. 

Storms

Our captain has changed the route of our voyage to Japan to avoid a storm. We are traveling around it as much as possible. The center of the storm has waves of 50 feet, luckily we will only experience 20 foot waves. But it will still be the worst weather we have had by far and should be quite an experience. Especially due to the fact that I had a reaction to the seasickness patch and cannot wear it until my vision is back to normal which could be another 2 days. It is 12:30 PM here now and the weather should start sometime this afternoon and continue through tomorrow.  Wish us luck! 

International Date Line

We are continuing on our stretch to Japan. Classes are taking place everyday and keeping us all busy with the work load. We have been gaining about an hour each day, but today we passed the international date line. Therefore January 19th did not exist! We passed right over it pushing our clocks forward a full 24 hours. 
 

Hawaii 2

We then took a three hour hike through Kilauea Iki Crater, located right next to the Caldera, it used to be the site of a lava lake. The black ash that lined the inside of the massive crater showed the massive area that the lava lake used to encompass. It was a fascinating hike, beginning through the rain forest and then out into this barren empty space of a volcano. Once we passed over the crater we had a steep climb up the other side on hiking trails that led up back out to the main road.

Hawaii

After our first stretch at sea we landed in Hilo, Hawaii!

My Geohazards and Natural Disasters class traveled together as part of the course to Kilauea Volcano. The big Island is made up of 5 volcanoes. Kilauea is the only one that is active today and is currently threatening a small town with its lava flow. 

First we stopped at Kilauea Visitor Center to hear from two scientists who monitor the Hawaiian volcanoes on a day to day basis to watch for changes. They gave us a brief overview and history of the area as well as showed us the latest monitor technology in use. We were able to see the vast expanse of land that makes up the Kilauea Caldera. Inside we were able to see the Halema'uma'u Crater where gas was flowing heavily upward. This gas contained dangerous amounts of sulfur dioxide and therefore the area anywhere closer than where we were standing was closed off. Deep inside the crater, beneath the gas was the bright red lava, unable to be seen during the daytime.



 

 

Not a bad day at "school"

Sunshine

Today the weather was absolutely gorgeous. The ocean was a bright blue and stretched as far as we could see. It was warm enough for us to sit on the deck under the sun in our bathing suits. It feels like vacation, making it that much harder to remember I even have classes! 

Classes Begin

Excited to be taking a semester off from business classes and exploring some other interests of mine. I attended the first session of each of my classes and am ready for what the rest of them will hold!


Popular Music is taught by a young professor who composes music. He had us listening to music from a cafe in Ensenada, Mexico already, and plans to have us listening to music from every port we visit. Documenting the music along the way and attending two "concerts" are part of our assignments.

Geohazards and Natural Disasters is taught by a Volcanologist! He has been studying them for years and has a true passion for them. Picture a cross between a storm chaser and a mad scientist and that's him. He was very engaging as he explained the top 10 disasters in recent years. 

Human Rights and Politics is being taught by three different professors from various disciplines. We began by looking at advertisements and discussing whether there was discrimination in them. This was very interesting in light of the discrimination issues that are being brought up again in the Untied States.

And finally, Modern World Literature is taught by a very intelligent older women from a prestigious college. I have yet to find a direct connection or enthusiasm for this course but we are going to be reading literature related to every port we visit. And just talking to this woman alone would provide wisdom well beyond my years. 


After a long day, and finally no longer feeling seasick, I took a study break to have a hot chocolate at the piano bar. This area is quickly becoming one of my favorite places on the ship to hang out and study. I cannot complain!

Motion Sickness..

Our captain came on the loud speaker and said we had "survived our first rough day at sea." And rough it definitely was. The ship is smaller than an average cruise ship and therefore rocks a lot more. I didn't fair too well feeling lightheaded and spending the majority of my day in bed. But it went better than it did for one of my roommates who was nauseous all day. 

Hopefully there will be smooth sailing for the rest of the time from here to Hawaii. Fingers crossed!

My New Home

Check out my new Semester at Sea ID card. A portion of the ship can be seen in the background. 

Arrived on the MV Explorer!

I moved into the beautiful ship the MV Explorer yesterday after another long day of travel from San Diego to Ensenada, Mexico. The ship is beautiful! We had a chance to meet some of the other voyagers before our life boat drill and orientation meeting. And then we set sail, next stop Hawaii!

The picture of my decorated room is below. Thanks for all the magnetic picture frames Mike! Everyone loves them. 

Good morning San Diego!

Successfully crossed the country last night on a great flight. Due to the clear skies we were able to see the ridges of mountains, the white of the sandy deserts, and the bright lights of the cities shining through the dark. And incredible view that made the seven hour flight much more bearable.

Happy to have arrived safely in San Diego. And look at this view from our 19th floor room at the Hilton Bay San Diego Hotel. We were upgraded to a room with gorgeous wrap around windows and we are not disappointed!

Bon voyage!

Said our goodbyes at the airport today and now I'm off! First stop San Diego, California ☀️