Academics:
International Studies
Tina F.
Semester At Sea
Journal #4
September 16, 2003:
Konnichi wa! Well, we have left Japan and are now heading to Hong Kong. Here is a brief description of my time spent in Japan.
We docked in the port city of Kobe, where I spent the first two days. We walked around the city and just explored. We tried to shop, but there were mostly just American stores like The Gap, and everything was very expensive too. Every meal I ate cost at least 1200 yen, which is a little less than 12 U.S. dollars.
We went out to eat and to the bars just about every night, and the sushi was wonderful! I had raw tuna, yellow fin, squid, and some other things that I am not sure what they were.
 This is a picture of me eating the squid on our first night in Kobe. See, when you can't read anything on the menu you just have to point to something and hope for the best!
I did drink some sake, which is a Japanese alcohol that is served in a tiny bowl and steaming hot.
The second day in Kobe, my roommate and I walked around and went to the grocery store. All of the grocery stores are underneath the department stores. They are a lot like markets. You go to each section, get what you want, pay for it, then move on to the next section. People have tons of samples sitting out and they are yelling all the time to try and get you to their section. In the bread section, you put the bread you want on a tray, then when you have what you want you take it to the counter and pay for it.
My third day in Japan was spent in Hiroshima. Here we took a 41/2 hour bus ride to the Memorial Peace Park and Museum. We walked through the museum and the park, and then we heard a bomb survivor speak. She was very interesting; it was good to hear things from her side of the story.
 This is a picture of some kids we saw in the park at the museum.
The next day we went to Kyoto, which is about an hour train ride from Kobe. See, most of the cities in Japan are very close to each other, so it was easy to travel to many cities. It almost seems like the entire country is one big city. There are so many people everywhere you go. Imagine if half the population of the U.S. all lived in California, this is what Japan is like. It is bursting with people and no where to go because they are blocked by the ocean on one side and mountains on the other. Anyway, in Kyoto I went to the Higashi Hongan-ji Temple and the Nishi Honganji Temple. They were beautiful!
 This is a picture of me at the Higashi Hongan-ji Temple. As you can see, my shoes are off because you are not allowed to wear shoes in the temples.
After that I did some shopping, and met the nicest little lady that is in this picture with me. She gave me some tea and talked to me for awhile while I was shopping. She gave me a discount and a free bracelet too. The Japanese are very accommodating, and always willing to help. Sometimes they are shy so you usually have to approach them first.
A couple of other things I noticed about Japan. Everything is very small. Doorways, clothing sizes, and even the portion sizes of food are very small compared to the U.S. Not very many people bought clothes there because they couldn't fit into them! They also ride the train a lot. We rode the train to get anywhere, every day we were there. The last thing is that they are always on time. If they tell you it takes a certain amount of time to get somewhere, you can take about 15 min. off of that time and that is how long it takes. If you are supposed to be somewhere at 7:00, you better be there by 6:45.
My last day was spent going to some retail stores in Kobe for an assignment in my Consumer Behavior class. Then, at 1800 hrs, we left for Hong Kong.
We have 3 days until we get to Hong Kong. These days will be spent going to class in the morning, laying by the pool in the afternoon and then watching movies/doing homework at night. Yes, they finally filled the pool! Here is a picture of everyone enjoying the sun. So, I had classes today and I won't have them again until after Vietnam, which is about 21/2 weeks. Aren't you jealous? Well, the next time you hear from me I will have left Hong Kong and will be on my way to Vietnam! Talk to you then!
-Tina
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