Steph's Trip To Japan
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21 July, 2004
At 10:07 am we left the Fort Walton Beach airport, and even this early in
the trip, I fell prey to the terrible cost of travelling. I was very thirsty in the
airport, and bought a bottled soda for $2. This may not seem like a lot to
you, but I’m used to $.75! And there was a hidden water cooler near the
seats! Gaaah…
Jake, John, Jill, Alex, me, and Mr. Hernandez =) Atlanta Airport
Anyway, I sat with my group and tried to make friends with the two girls I
didn’t know, since I already knew the guys. The plane ride to Atlanta,
according to my itinerary, was two hours long. And it then took an hour to
get to Chicago, which doesn’t make sense. We stayed in a Hampton Inn
near the airport and saw the sights for the rest of the day. Unfortunately,
I burst a blood vessel in my foot, which made it hard to walk, so I didn’t do
too much climbing of stairs or walking. So I didn’t go up in the Hancock
Tower. Oh well.
22 July, 2004
We woke up bright and early to a wonderful Chicago breakfast of donuts,
cereal, and whatever else I didn’t eat at the continental breakfast bar.
We went through the baggage checks and such, so on a so forth, and
met our middle school counterparts from Detroit in the boarding area.
Middle school kids in Yellow, and that’s me they’re talking to. Their teachers
are on the left, and one of ours is talking to John.
We boarded the plane at about 11:45. We lost an entire day on this 14
hour flight. The only cool things were the in flight movies, that played
continuously on the backs of the chairs in front of you, and the food. They
gave us neat little biscotti things for a snack, then dropped by with a meal
of chicken or fish. Of course I chose chicken. Then they dropped by later
(like, hours later) with drinks and these awesome little raspberry shortbread
cookies that are very popular in Japan. I loved them, and my friends,
thinking of their weights, gave me all their cookies, which I saved. The
steward noticed I liked them, and smuggled me a couple more. Then
LATER, he brought me about 4 of these little packages, saying that I could
either eat them all or share. Well, I saved them all. =) They brought a
Japanese meal/snack/who knows of an apple, cup noodles, and some little
cookie like thing. All in all, the food was good, and I was happy when we set
down in Japan on
July 23
We landed in Osaka’s Kansai Airport, where we were not allowed to use
cameras, camcorders, and, believe it or not, sketchbooks. Drat. The first
thing I noticed was the total lack of air conditioning on this rather hot and
humid day in Japan. Also, it was whisper quiet…we boisterous Americans
were the loudest people there. The toilets in the airport were basically the
same as ours here, which was pretty cool. Once we got through customs,
we left the “airport” part and went into the “shops and food” part. We milled
around with the Middle School group from Detroit (actually, I’m the only one
of my group to talk to them) and changed money. The rate of exchange for
traveler’s checks was 1$ to 108 yen. We got used to the soda machines
pretty fast, as well as the coins instead of bills like we’re used to. We were
warned not to spend too much, because it’s easy to spend what you think is
“play money”.
Pheasants, Cranes, and Mount Fuji. And the Japanese people walk around
with wads of these on them, because most people in Japan would never think
of stealing.
So, from the airport we met up with Elissa and Michelle (Kyoko), our two
guides, of sorts. They took us to our charter bus, which was adorned lavishly
with European curtains and a chandelier and some other crap. It was made of
plastic. And on a bus. Mostly I just sat and filmed stuff with Mr. H’s camera,
being so very excited to be in my favorite other country, while everyone else
fell asleep on each other. As it turns out, I would have the worst jet lag later.
So we found our Hotel: The Kyoto Gion Hotel. It was right next to a large
shrine, which just so happened to have its Gion festival in July (hence the
name of the hotel). So we got to see a lot of men running around in white
shirts and “shorts”. Anyway, this was a rather upscale hotel, with 8 floors and
wireless internet on the 2nd, which was the lobby. I paid for 10 minutes of
internet in the lobby rather than bother the boys…it was 10 yen (or 9 cents) a
minute. I didn’t accomplish much, but I did figure out how the keyboard
worked, and where the toggle for Japanese characters was.
I got my own room. The guys and girls had to stay in separate rooms, and I
was just the odd one out. Someone locked the bathroom door, so I had to flag
down the hotel manager and show him the door was locked. He pulled out a
coin and picked the lock somehow, and I let him know I thought this was the
coolest thing I’ve ever seen. The bathroom was rather confusing.
The middle school kids were tuckered out, so their teachers and our group
with out with our two guides to a Japanese restaurant located under the
street. Most stores are like this: entrance on the ground level, and stairs
heading up or down, or both. I was so jet lagged I was sick, and couldn’t eat
anything, but I did manage to get a few pictures before I was forced to leave
the restaurant. Why? Some old men were smoking, and this, plus jet lag,
nearly made me pass out. So I looked at the street life: everyone there
dresses conservatively. You will not see anyone baring his or her stomach or
chest—that’s associated with the sex industry. Most teens wore school
uniforms or normal clothes, while adults almost exclusively wore suits or
dresses. Some women in kimonos would walk by every once in a while,
probably dressed up for their job.
After dinner, we returned to the hotel. Taking a shower was quite an
experience—most of us hit our heads or elbows on the ceiling once or twice.
The beds had less covering, and were much harder, than those in the US.
This is probably because the Japanese are used to sleeping on the hard
tatame (special mat) floor, with only a blanket between them.
