Making Up Time

7/10/10

Hakone:

After a long week of work there is something about just finding the time to relax that makes everything feel better. Well unforutantely I do not have the time to relax when I am off in Japan having the best time ever. To end the week and start a great weekend I traveled with two of my coworkers to Hakone to find some Japanese hot springs to go relax for the day. We took a train 2 hours away from yokosuka to get to the small rural town of Hakon which is known to be littered with hot springs. The place we had marked on a map was more of a amusement type hot spring where they had an assortment of hot springs thatg included a red wine spring, coffee spring, green tea spring, and a salt spring with salt from the dead sea. Well we got there with high ambitions after taking a mountain train 45 minutes up into the middle of no where. It ws amazing ho the train was able to zig zag up the mountain taking you higher and higher into the mountain side of Japan and they you arrive at a train station that reveals a city among the hills. Well we got to the springs we had marked on our map and much to our surpirse the plac was packed, but not with japanese adults or tourists...but Kids! After a long week of working of kids the last thing we were trying to do was find a hot spring jam packed with kids. So without any doubt in our mind we immediately left and decided to get on a bus and see where it dropped us off. Well after riding for maybe 20 minutes we got off completely lost in the hills of Hakone. To take the edge off we decided to mosey on into a liquer store and get some drinks thinking it would help our journey. Well needless to say it kind of got us even more in a rut because we asked for directions from the old japanese couple in the store who didnt speak a word of english. But being the friendly people that Japanese are they walked us around for 30 minutes to all the local stores trying to find someone who spoke english to help us find some hot springs. Well we didnt find anyone, so he helped us get on another bus and we wandered around for a bit longer and actually ended up walking along this street along a cliff edge where we found a small japanese hot spring house on the side of the cliff. Luckily for us there was a man working who spoke fragmented english and we were able to use their hot springs.

So without further delay we got to go in some hot springs and relax for an hour or so. I met some people there who asked how we I found the plac because they said they spring house was usually a local place that they have never seen tourists at before. Turns out I in a part of this mountain region that doesnt get too many americans or english speaking people at all. I held some pride at the fact I had found a spring that usually locals only. Well when I was done with the springs I bid my farewells and went to meet up with my fellow travelers when the lady at the front desk led me across the street to another spring hosue that was huge and could have been a 4 star hotel. Apparently the lady travelers were with wanted to go to a bigger spring and the lady had led them across the street. Well I met up with them and we had lunch at the place with a view that I could hardly put into words. We sat at traditional japanese style tbles with mats on the ground next to a window that covered the entire distance of the wall that revealed the green mountainside of Japan. It was one of the best views I have ever had while eating.

After we were done eating we vntured back out onto the street and found our way back to the train station and were off to Yokosuka to call an end to the day. We had a great adventure and a long day of traveling and roaming around with no sense of direction. With a successful day at the hot springs some sleep was very much needed.

7/11/10

Yokohama/china town:

Having spent saturday in Hakone we decided suday would be a somewhat low key travel day so we went to Yokohama city and went to landmark tower, the tallest building in japan, and then we went to china town. There isnt really much to write about from the excursion other than that my director Bre went with us and ended up buying a giant panda hat and she wore it the rest of the day. Needless to say we had every japanese head in the city and train and the ride home smurking, laughing and glaring at us. It was still hilarious though because most people wouldnt even bother trying to withhold their laughter and would bust out laughing just at the immediate sight of her. It made for a fun day of laughs as we walked around chinatown and eventually hopped on the train back to Yokosuka.

7/16/10

Zushi on friday night-

Friday night was spent in Zushi, it was my first time going to zushi and its main appeal is that it is a beach town. And during this time of year shacks are put up all over the beach for night life and beach goers during the day. So a bunch of us got on the train and went to zushi, but much to our surprise we arrived in zushi to find ourselves admist a street festival. People were dancing and running through the streets wearings kimonos and other traditional japanese clothin. WE made our way through the streets and absorbed the town and culture and slowly made our way to the beach. Once on the beach we abrubtly ran into multiple camp peoplle that we knew and just hung out on the beach next to the ocean where myself and a few othrs slowly waded into the warm ocean water. After the beach night we took the train home and passed out.

7/17/10

yokohama baystars game #2. tokyo giants lose 7-5:

With nothing to do on this saturday I attended another baseball game in yokohama where the Baystars played the Tokyo Giants. It was a very crowded game because he was a big mtachup during the season. Having gone to game previously in the eason against the Osaka Tigers I had already witnessed one Baystar win, I was not planning on ending th winning streak. Once we arrived to the game we walked among a sea of orange and black as the tokyo giants fans got off the train and walkd to the stadium. Their jerseys and shirts were just like the giants back home but with a little more japanese flare (not that I know what the really means so just go with the flow). The game was very close the entire time and heading into the 8^th the score was tied at 5-5 and knowing my baystars I could only hope they would pull through. Well sure enough they hit a 2 run rbi to bring the score up to 7-5. So against one of the best teams in the league I was once again able to witness a Yokohama baystar win, and I would say this game was even better just because the game was so close the entire time and they pulled through at the end when they needed to so they could get the “W” in their column for another win in their book and in mine. After the game I head back to yokosuka and ended up eating at restaurant called Pepper lunch which would quickly become my favorite place in yokuska to eat. I ended up eating their about 4 times in the first week that I had it. They bring the food out on a seering hot iron plate where the meat still cooks on the plate as they serve it to you and its up to you to flip the meat and mix in the veggies and cook it. It is a very delicious meal and a good way to get some steak into your diet, which is hard to come by in japan, for not to expensive.

7/18/10

white water rafting and canyoning in Minakami

This was probably one of the best days of my entire trip in japan so far, as well as one of the most anticipated. We made our way by bus with 40 other camp adventure people at 4 in the morning to the location of minakami where we would start the day off by white water rafting and then finish it with the ever exhilerating canyoning experience. The reason we had to leave so early was a combination of the distance to travel as well as the fact that it was national beach day in japan which is a huge holiday where everyone goes to the beach, so needless to say there was going to be a lot of traffic. We arrived t 9:30ish and would not start rafting till 11:00, so with time to spare the guides took us to nearby water hole with a rope swing that we all took the time to take a dip and relax before our long day awaited us. With the time killed and anticipation at it highest we got our gear together and got ready for rafting. With 5 other people in my raft including our guide Taku, we got into the minakami river and start our rafting. Never having truly gone rafting I didnt know what to expect. The river is the equivalent of about a class 3 river. Marco trujillo. The river was nothing to dangerous and makes its way through the rural outskirts of japan and then through a city itself as rows of towering buildings are built along the cliff side of the river. We got to go through some rapids, jump in the water itself, and then we played a game at the end where we all stood up on the side of the rafter and the guide Taku just ended up pushing us in.

After the rafting we went back to the Canyons people headquarters where they served us lunch and have us new gear for the canyonging part of the trip. Once geared we all looked like a bunch of superheroes in wetsuits. It made for sokme fun poses before we left for the river we would essentially float down. We took a short bus ride to the river entrance, they gave us a tutorial on what to do and then the fun began. We made our way down a river for about two horus which consisted of us floating backwards head first, forwards on our back and on our stomach, and jumping of some cliffs , and being dropped down a 20 meter waterfall. I even managed to do a back flip off one of the cliff edges into a water pool. Canyoning was definitely one of the best experiences of my life. Just letting your body float through the ridges in the rocks that the water has been construting for thousands of years and putting your life and trust in your own ahnds as you floated down through rapids and waterfalls into deep pools of waters. Canyoning definitly has to be one of the msot fun things you can do and I would highly suggest it to everyone.

Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara

Saturday:

Another week ends, and I am off to travel around the wonderous Japan. This weekend will probably the biggest trip I make since it was the longest distance I have travelled yet and the msot expensive, but it is a trip that canno be missed out on. This weekend I spent my time in

Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara a desitantion that required my first use of the bullet train and its

tremendous peed to make the 9 hour train ride into a minimal 2 and a half hour ride. The trip began

saturday morning around 4:00 am and we jumped train from yokosuka to tokyo where we plnned to meet our bullet train to Kyoto. We spent the minimal hour to tokyo sleeping and upon arrival we got a quick breakfast and found the platform to meet the bullet train. The bullet train I have to say is probably the most effective form of transportation I have used to date, comparitively to the ever deafening roar and rattle of the transam train that takes 16 hours from the bay to oregon. The train is sleek, extemely fast, and its engines our minimized to a sleek hiss that the travelers cannot even be bothered by. Going off of only 2 hours of sleep from friday, because I figured it didnt make sense to go to sleep when I was leaving so early the next day, I slept the entire train ride comfortably only waking to the hiss of the brakes as we pulled into the hustle and bustle of Kyoto. I have to say I was extremely surprised when I pulled into Kyoto because I knew only of the shrines that littered the city but I thought the town was a more rural area, well much to my surprise as I stepped onto the kyoto platform I was staring at a huge, bustling city was a mix of

new and old school Japan. The city is just as modern as the rest of japan but as we traveled the bus through the city we caught glimpses ancient japan sitting right in the dead center of Kyoto's urban sprawl. Well it was easy to say I was impressed by the cities layout, but the weather upon our arrival was pouring rain and we had no time to spare so we trudged through the city with our umbrellas trying not to get completely soaked (unsuccssfully I may add).

Our first stop was the founder temple, also known as Higashi Honganji, it is the mother temple of Shin Buddhim whose founder was Shinran. The temple enshrines the founder Shinran inside of it and was constructed in 1895, it is one of the largest wooden constructions in the world.

After the mother temple we made our way to the Shosei-en Garden, located just east of the Higashi Honganji temle, and is also known as the Orange Grove. This was my first encounter with a japanese garden and it was probably one of my favorite places I saw in Kyoto. The garden covers 8 acres of Kyoto and was a nice scenic route to take to avoid some of the rain using the cover of the trees. The garden is full of beautiful bridges surrounded entirely by ponds, lillies, and japanese trees. Our group spent a lot of time in this garden one because it was so beautiful and two because we

had a nice little karate kid photo shoot and struck poses all over the garden. Once we were done posing we walked through the garden a bit and checked out all the traditional tea houses and even managed to find ourselves in the middle of a small japanese tea ceremony. This tea house was the only one open to the public and just to my luck no one there spoke a word of english, just my luck I had no idea what I was doing and they tried to communicate the best they could but it was a bit of a struggle. We were able to walk through the tea house, check out the art, and then after our short tour we sat down on some pillows on the ground at a table that as only a couple inches off the ground and they served us some tea. Although the whole situation was completely awkward I think it made the trip that much better because they knew we were trying to cope with the situation and were very friendly.Once we were done with the garden we were only a short walk to Kyoto tower so we made our way to kyoto tower and bought a ticket to the top. The tower is a 159 meters and gives a complete 360 degree view of Kyoto. So it was easy to see all over the city and eye out any shrines we wanted to catch the next day. We even managed to take some group photos with the Kyoto mascot who was located at all these different spots of the tower. We had way too much fun striking poses with the awkward staues of him. After te kyoto tower we made our way to our hotel where we would stay the night before we left for Osaka late afternoon on sunday.

Before the day was over the we had a show to catch in gion corner, the gion district of Kyoto. Most notably known for its geisha shows, we planned on going to a show that would give us a taste of multpiple japanese arts. The show gave short versions of many different styles of japanese arts including: tea ceremony, Koto music, Flower arrangement, Gagaku (court music), Kyogen (ancient comic play), Kyomai (Kyoto tyle dance), Bunraku (puppet play).

Tea Ceremony- tradition of tasting tea began in the 8^th century brought by zen buddhists who used the tea to prevent drosiness after long hours of meditation.

Koto Music- A thirteen string instrument used in in the imperial court to play the special court music gagaku.

Flower Arrangement- started around 1500 years ago as altar flowers, placed in front images of buddha or ancestors to help console their spirits. Is now ussd popularly in tea ceremonies to create simple, natural symbolic arrangments.

Gagaku- literally translated as “elegant music” it was popular in japanese royal courts and was used to cover classical dancing and singing.

Kyogen- an ancient comic pllay style that samurais use to study as an accoplishment under the patronage of the shogunate.

Kyomai- a style of japanese dance, that adopted the elegance and sophistication of the imperial court manners.

Bunraku- established as the popular entertainment of the people of Japan this puppet play was developed over a period of 12 centuries, and often displayed the daily lives of merchants in osaka and other merchant cities.

Sunday:

Sunday started off pretty early, we got up and checked out of our hotel and decided to go see the rest of our planned shrines trips for Kyoto, because that afternoon we would be heading Osaka. We bought a bus pass fo the day, only costing us 500 yen (about $5), and headed off to our first stop...Rokuon-Ji Temple (the golden pavilion). The golden pavilion is one of those shrines that you have to see when in Kyoto, the building is not made entirely of gold but is actually gold leaf (although it still took a tremendous 50 pounds of gold to cover the plaza at the center of the pond in its current location). Luckily the today was beautiful and we were able to catch a glimpse of the pavilion during one of the sunniest days I have witnessed in japan, allowing us to catch glimpses of the gleen and awe of the gold leafed temple. We were fortunate enough not only to witness the shrine in the midst of the sunny day but were also able to catch its reflection off the pond (coincidently named “mirror pond”) located at its feet so we could catch the full capacity of the golden shrine. Besides the Pavillion itself the shrine is also home to a scatter of islands, pagodas, and tea houses.

After we stunned at the golden paint of Rokuon-Ji Temple, we walked a couple kilometers down the street to Ryoanji Temple, a simple rock garden reveered as one of the true masterpieces of Japaneses culture. The rock garden itself was laid out in the early 15^th century nd consists of only white sand and 15 rocks, with no trees present. This was the first rock garden I have ever witnessed and I have to say even though the garden was only 25meters by 10 meters in size, it was definitely one of the coolest sights to witness in Japan. The simple layout of the garden is different then any other noble court rock garden as therre are no trees present and it is left up to the visitors to decide what the garden signifies. It is calm around the garden, and even a I peered into is sand I could not truly guess what the gardn represents, but I couldnt help feel that the simple layout of the garden somehow help me gain my own sense of calmness and simplify everything around. It just had the ability to calm down your surroundings and you felt at peace staring at the masterpiece that the rock garden has grown to be known as today. With a new calming mind at my senses we left the garden, witnessed some local turtles in the ponds and made our way out to get some lunch.

After lunch we attempted to make a short trek to Toji temple, a popular tower in the kyoto region but we did not want to pay the entrance fee and ended up just taking pictures outside the gate. After our glimpse of the tower we got our baggage from our hotel and jumped on the local train to Osaka where we had a night of festivities and some sight seeing planned.

We reached Osaka llate afternoon around 5:00, got checked into our hotel and by the time we had left the hotel and ate it was approximately 7:00 and sun ahd begun to set. We had one goal in mind for Osaka and that was to witness the Osaka castle. Although it would have been cool to get to receive a tour of the inside of the castl seeing the castle at night is sight itself. The castle is completely lit up, and since it stands ontop a huge plateou with a huge moat surrounding its' base it stands alone as a beacon to the city of Osaka. The castle by night was amazing and I have to think that t is probably a better sight at night then by day, because the lights truly magnify its elegance and you get to witness the castle in glamour as it radiance shines down on the city.

We left the castle and wandered into the Osaka night life, known for its popular shows, restaurants, and clubs. We managed to find this small restaurant on the third floor of a building where every plate on the men was only 280 yen and even served some american dishes such as corn dogs. Even for a japanese restaurant they were abl to capture the deep fried wonder of corn dogs, and being from the united states (and a fan of corn dogs) I had to partke in the american dish. It was delicious to say the least. After dinner we made our way deeper into the night life and got my first true taste of Japanese karaoke. We got a small room for the four of us, ordered some drinks and ended up singing our hearts out late into the night crossing over into the early

morning of Osaka. Once we finally finished our favorite renditions of some american songs including: Bohmeian Rhapsody, Living on a Prayer, Pour some sugar on me, Hakuna Matata, Candy Shop, I just died in your arms tonight, etc. we took a taxi cab back to our hotel to pass out and get ready for the famous capital of Japan, Nara, most notably known for its popular national parks where the deer are as friendly as the people.

Monday:

Aboard the 7:30 am train to nara from Osaka I prepared myself for what may be the most anticipated part of my trip, the wonderous parks of Nara and the deer that inhabit them. After a short train ride we arrived to a very hot and humid Nara train station and found map that led us straight to the shrines and parks of Nara. About one and a half kilometers from the station we found our selves at the start of one of the parks pathways and immediately after turning a corner we found our first deer. Expecting the deer to run away it just stood there staring at us and we were able to walk up and take our first pictures interacting with the deers. I tell you what, the deer in thse park are just as friendly as dogs but they are still wild animals so you still need to ply close attention to what they are doing and your actions. I struck some self portraits with my arm around the deers back looking at them fac to face and then we continued on into the heart of the park towards Todai—ji Temple where there sits a statue of Buddha even larger then the one a I saw previouly in Kamikura. The japanese have yet to cease to amazze me because each new temple I see is dfferent then the last and presents a whole new aspect of japanese construction, architecture, and culture.

After snapping some picks, and doing some souvenier shopping, we made the trek back to the train station and got on our 3 hour train ride back to Shin-Yokohama station where we would trasnfer to to the yokohama subway and then jump onto another train back to Yokosuka.

The weekend was long, hot, and sweaty but I have seen more this weekend then I have during any other prt of the trip. I got to witness some of the shrines of Japanese culture that you usually only see online and in books, and after seeing them first hand I think it is saf to say that after this summer I will continue to make trips back to japan. These weekend trips have fueled my engine for adventure and travel and cannot wait to see the rest of the world. I fell in love this weekend with the thrill of the chase to find new and exotic experiences and cannot wait to share my trips with the rest of my friends and family. With much more to come in the near future I will leave you all with my stories and hope that you too can experience the thrill of traveling; I cannot suggest enough that you throw yourself out of your element into new experiences and to embrace the cultures of others and completely immerse yourself into another region.

Just a cool little clip. We had a barbecue on base and Ariston and I thought it would be funny to mess with the Seahawks, small joked turned pretty bad though when about 20 seahawks showed up and were swooping down trying to grab everyones food.

tokyo

TOKYO and Kamikura!!!!

With my first weekend to do overnight travel, i instantly jumped on the train and made my

way off base and into Japan. My first stop was in kamikura where all the other camp adventure staff from all around japan met to take a huge group photo in front of the giant Buddha. The Buddha itself was my first cultural experience in japan to witness and marvel at the ancient cultures of Japan, and for 2 yen I was able to make my way inside of the Buddha itself, which wasn't really anything eye shocking but you get to see the inside of it and can see how they built it. It was composed of 30 different slabs which they meshed together like building blocks. After the big Buddha we went down the main street of kamikura and got some lunch at a local butcher shop where they made fresh deep fried foods, unfortunately we couldn't read any of the menus so we all were just blindly picking frozen patties of something that deep fried. Surprisingly i got something very good, a sort of deep fried potato pancake with beef in it. We also made a quick stop at the 7-11 there and picked up some octopus in a bag, unlike the deep fried food we ate the octopus reeked of vinegar and i can personally say that octopus tastes better raw than it does pre-packaged.

Once we finished sight seeing in kamikura we hopped back on the train and made our way to Shibuya, Tokyo. This train ride was also my first experience with rush hour train rides where you are literally packed into the train like sardines in a can and they have hired personnel at the train station whose jobs are literally to push all the riders in just enough so the door can quickly slide shut to a lock. We got to shibuya in hopes of findinga hotel but every hotel we walked into was either a love hotel which rented by the hour, or a capsule hotel that didn't allow girls to stay the night so our group wouldn't have been able to get rooms. So instead we got back on the train and went to shinjuku, an area of Tokyo littered with hotels and more touristy places. We were able to find the Shinjuku Washington hotel where we got a twin bedroom with two twin size beds that we crammed people into. U literally walked into the room and there were two beds a small space between the beds, a tv, a small fridge and little bathroom right next to the door. Once we got settled into the hotel we went out on the town, found a couple bars and then went looking for the clubs. Shinjuku not really known for its night life was kind of dull so we got back on the train and went back to shibuya and found some night life. we spent a lot of time around unfamiliar with the area and we met some locals who took us with them to this club. But this club would not allow beach sandals and some people in our group had sandals on so we were back on the hunt for something to do. Fortunately one of the locals we were with was to drunk to get admittance in so he led us a to another club that was up two flights of stairs and you thought you were walking into the closet and there was the hidden little club that could fit maybe 50 people max, but it was still a lot of fun. We partied the night away at the little club and when 3:00 am swung around we waived ourselves a taxi and got a ride back to our hotel, for not to expensive.

We checked out of our hotel at 11:00 am and made our way straight to herejuku the fashion capital of Tokyo. You get off the train and you are literally one block away from the central herejuku shopping street. So we walked down checked out all the shops and got some nice little souvenirs. I found myself a H&M where i snagged myself a pair of white linen pants (Jesus pants). After we checked out all the shops we went to this huge park in the middle of Tokyo where we just rested for couple hours, did some people watching, saw some samurais, and some dancers who resembled the cast of Grease. Then we jumped back on the train and tried to make our way to Yokosuka, until a couple stops down the way and we realized the train we were on would make 43 more stops till where we needed to go because we were on the local train like that stops at every station, so we made a relatively easy transfer and got on the quick train back to yokosuka.

First weekend

Saturday morning we got a tour of the Admirals ship the USS Blueridge of the 7th fleet, its the oldest ship in the fleet, deployed in 1967. We were lucky enough to get a private tour and we were allowed to take pictures, a privileged only given to those deserving the gratitude of the US NAVY haha.

With the first week finally to an end Marco, leo, an I went out into yokosuka and decided to roam the local mall and its different levels. On a journey to go to the arcade we ended up spending a couple hours on the 3rd floor of the mall checking out the Japanese grocery stores and all the goods it had to offer. Apparently there aren't too many Americans walking around in Japanese malls because everywhere we walked heads turned and looked up, confused as to why we were there. We ended up just walking around feeling like celebrities checking out all aisles and trying every free sample they gave out. We didn't know what 90% of the stuff was that we were eating but it all tasted good, and as a college student i have learned never to say no to free food...especially when traveling. After we made our way out of the grocery store we explored all 7 or 8 floors of the mall and checked out all the little shops. One which was a smaller arcade for kids, where we ere able to spend a couple dollars playing a game similar to guitar hero but with a giant japanese drum, needless to say we were not a good as the rest of the japanese adolescents walking around.

After we left the mall we walked over to Moor City park, the other mall located above the train station, and found our ways up to the 8th floor where there is an assortment of world restaurants. We ended up eating at a chinese restaurant where i got beef ramen, with some dumplings (potstickers), and a pork bun. The food was amazing, although it was kind of strange having Chinese food in japan. It wasn't too weird though considering there was a mexican restaurant right next to it.

Once we finished dinner we wondered down two floors and found ourselves at the big arcade where we layed some futuristic cop game, and a machine that was mario cart the arcade version. it was awesome because they have so many different games that were different then the one next to it. They had this one game where you play soccer but instead of using controllers or a joystick you played laying cards down on a virtual board that read them and placed them on the screen in front of you so it was kind of like playing a soccer card game.
After sweating a little, we finished our gaming we headed out to a local bar and watched the Japan soccer game, which they won. It was pretty funny though because we ended up at this little whole in the wall bar that we barely found because we ere just checking every open door. We were the only people in there besides the lady who runs the bar and she didnt speak a word of english. So we sat there trying to communicate with her and the only thing we could communicate is that we wanted some beer. She ended up sitting with us the whole time, not understanding a word we spoke, but as Marco said, "A smile goes along way." so everytime she talked we just smiled at her and tried to communicate with her. If only i had my phrase book...which like an idiot i left at home the day i left for the airport.

Sunday:

Sunday was the best travel day to date. We got a huge group together and we took the train to Yokohama and went to a Yokohama Bay Stars baseball game. Once we got off the train we walked a couple blocks and we were at the stadium, bleacher tickets cost us about 1800 yen which is around 18 dollars. We got up to our seats and they all said reserved but this group of locals gave us 8 of their seats to use. The game was amazing to start off, baseball is just as popular in Japan as it is in the US if not more. They have made a couple alterations that i say i have to love. for instance the baseball teams have cheerleaders, a band in the bleachers to play songs and chants, and every baseball player that comes to bat has their own song that the crowd roars in unison to gear them up for the game.
We left the game around the bottom of the 8th because the Bay stars were winning 14 to 3. They played the Osaka Tigers, now if you are not too familiar with professional Japanese baseball teams the Osaka Tigers are like the Boston Red Sox equivalent and the Bay Stars are similar to an Oakland Athletics (Or a San Francisco Giants). So the win was huge to say the least. I made sure to take plenty of pictures with the locals, i even managed to take a picture with some of the vending ladies, and some of the band players in the bleachers (specifically the guy who play the huge drum and yelled to tart the chants).
The guys who sat behind us were hilarious, once i came back from the shops with a Bay Stars jersey repping the pitcher Shimuzu they loved me and instantly included me with their chants and shenanigans. They were handing me all their regalia and memorabilia that they throw in the air and use to chant and go with the rhythm and beat of the yells. They took some pictures with me as well, and once again did not speak a word of english but were very friendly and had no problem giving me high fives eveytime the By Stars got a hit, run, or out. It was too bad we left early though...we probably could have had a good thing going there hahaha.
After we left the game we got some food at food court in the mall, and then took the train back to Yokosuka because on monday we had to be up bright and early for the first day of camp and some of us *cough* *cough* (me) still had to prep all the materials for the week.

orientation week

This week began with all the day camp counselors getting up and meeting at the bse rec at 6:00 am for morning swim. we only had to be in the pool for 30 minutes and snce it was the first tim i had swam since i did my lifeguard certification i didnt do too mny laps. After the swim at the pool we had an hour and a half to shower and get breakfast before we had to meet and go through orientation for the base. In orientation we went through some more alchol substance abuse protocol, by an ex jarhead who currently fights in tokyo MMA leagues and had recently lost a fight that almost snapped his arm in half (so you could imagine he was somewhat in a bad mood as he talked about thing that can and will get you kicked off base and sent home).Th orientation also included a informative speech from the bases culture director who gave us a brief introduction to japanese culture which consisted of learning some everyday customs that would be important for us to know as well as learning some japanese phrases. I can now consitently say "arigto gaizomasu" which translates to, "thank you". We also learned a fun way of saying, " you re welcome" by sluring the phrase "dont touch my musstahce" really fast which in japanese would dotashimishtu. I also recived my base ecurity card today where i struck a fashionable pose that could resemble a famiiar blue steel look give by 3 time model of the year Derek
Zoolander.
As we recieved an hour lunch break after i got my security card we ventured out into yokosuka and found our way to a sush go round where the sushi dishes are served on a rottiing platform that comes across the counter you et at. The food is charged by the color of the plate and they add it up after you eat. I decided to test my stomach and actually had some squid, and my new favorite...OCtops. The octopus was pretty much just aa tenticle slopped down on a small roll of ric. The texture was not the best because it was kind of like chewing gum that had no flavor and it was real tough to chew at first. I decided
shortly afterwards i probably would not be eating too much more octopus in the ner future, it would be depending on my mood haha. The meal was also really cool because the counter you sit at hs little push button on the counter that you push your glass aginst and it gives you hot water to put tea bags in with your meal. The tea was perfect for washing down the squid and octopus that i ate rather quickly, instead of savoring the taste and textures.
After my meal it was bacck to work as usual, we recieved a tour of the base and then we were shown the rec bukdng we would b working in all summer. So we got acclamated with the buiding, raided the storagge closet and started maing posters. Ar day was finished around 10:30 pm. Unforutnatly we woke the next day to find out all our posters had been thrown out so we had to end up making new nes all over again, and the 5 hours from the day before was a waste as none of the work would end up being used during the summer. More of just a dry run i guess.

tuesday:

We sent the entire first half of the day at the ikego base about 20 mintues bus ride from yokosuko. The ikego base has a huge park area where we were briefed on the use of paintballing, archery, hiking, pool, frisbee golf, etc. Luckily we will be making any day trip here with the campers so we can have some outside activity. Luckily i had gone paintballing in eugene like two weeks ago so i knew how to use all the materials and some games to play. Arcchery was the highlight of my day, it was my first time shooting a bow and arrow and i had a fairly successful attempt at it. We only got to shoot a couple bows and arrows because the night before some vandals had broken into the archery storage and stole all the good bows and arrows, but with the tools available i had a pretty accurate shot and managed to get all three of my shots on the target. My last shot wa aactually pretty close to splitting my second arrow but unfortunately it didn't actually split it. I credit my archery kills to Russel Crowe and his recent role in Robin Hood.

We also went on a short hike to see some of the trails and they told us about the wildlife we need to be observant of when we are in the area bcause there are some slightly venomous snakes and spiders to worry about tht can be found commonly in the area. One snake of which is called the mamoushy which is similar to a rattlesnake but far more docile and isnt really a threat unless you are part of the rare 1 in 100 chance it decides to get aggresive and actually bite you. We also got to see some of the bees found on Japan, like the japanese wasp which is about the size of a humming bird and has a very painful sting that could leave quite the mark on a any unsuspecting individual. our day ended with more poster making and the choosing of our camp names. Are theme to choose from was board games and I decided on the name MR. Hungry Hungry Hippo. I was told that the kids love the nicknames and it kind of becomes a game as the summer progresses as they try and figure out our real names which we reveal to them on the last day. Most of the time it ends in disspointment because they expect ll of us to have extravagent names like our summer nicknames.

Wednesday:

Wednesday was pretty uneventful, we spent the day with more orienttion lectures, which inlcuded fire safety and bloodborne pathogns. We did get one interesting lecture from Dr. Amrerson a psychologist on base who gave us a talk about calming ourselves and taught us some pretty cool meditation tricks that can lower our anxiety and stress for the summer while we work with the kids. He also included some tips that he believes will lower our overall stress an anxiety for the future and ould help improve our everyday lives. After orientation we went back to work on posters and decorations to preppare for camp which will officially start next week. We were also told we would get to meet some of our campers on thrusday. During poster making time we went on our dinner break and i went to coco's with some fellow campers, which is a japanese curry restaurant. The food wa awesome, they come in big servings and have a wide selection of spicy levels, but to eat the higher spice levels you have to have eaten the spice level right before it so you could prove to them that you ould handle the heat. I got a chicken cutlet curry with 400 grams of rice and some nonbread with the spicy level 2. It was delicious but i have to say even the level 2 spicy was pretty hot.

Thursday:

So today started off with some chuck norris jokes. My favorite of which, "Much to popular disbelief there is enough of chuck norris to go around."Besides the humors of Chuck Norris and his roundhouse kick ability, today we actually got to meet some of the kids we are going to be working with over the summer. We stpped by around 2:00 and elft at 4:00, and just in thos two hours I was exhausted. The kids were so excited to have their first interactions with us thaat thye all wanted each and every counselors attention all at once. We started by doing our blitz and skit which consisted of ten of Camp Adventues fantastic camp songs and then we performed a short st for them. The Kids loved it and then we got to go around and try to meet evyer kid and introduce ourselves with our camp names for the summers. Our theme name were board games and as i stated before earlier my name is Mr. Hungry Hungry Hippo; the kids of couse immediately tr to figure out our real name but we aren;t supposed to reveal them to the end of the summer because it makes it kind of game for them. for some strang reason the kids asked if they could call me Franky, and i now have two names as they have started to refer to me as Mr. Hungry hungry Hippo and Mr. Franky. I decided it would just be easie to let them call me Franky then continuously telling them my name was Mr. Hungry hungry hippo. WE played with the kids for a couple hours, served up a whooping in the game of uno and the day was over. It was a bit overwhelming meet them the first time but it worked out in the end because i got to meet all the kids and they got to meet me. While the kids might think this guy doesnt know what he is getting himself into, i dont think they know that I am gonna give them a run for there money. Franky is top of the line and winning best bag of tricks only helps my cause.

Friday:

With the week finally coming to an end it is pretty easy to say i am already exhausted. Unfortunately on this last day we would probably have our longest day because we were going on a scavenger hunt to get better acclimated with the navy base and yokosuka. we were broken up into teams of four and then given the scavenger hunt clues. The hunt consisted of us finding all the questions asked, taking some pictures, and then having to put a presentation together at the end to present to the rest of the scavenger hunters. The winners, voted on by military staff, got a free pizza dinner and bowling. My group instantly decided we would split up, one group would do the on base scavenging and then the other group would go off base. Taking the first chance i could to go off base and explore i was in the off base group. Our main scavenger hunt item included us taking the train to the Ikego base station and taking a picture that was worth more points than any of the other items. Having never taken the train in japan you think i would be at a disadvantage but all i had to do was stand in the middle of the train station and look confused and i would instantly have 3 or 4 japanese people to walk up and assist. Some spoke fragmented english, and some didnt speak any but they love to help people out and with the assistance of some locals i found my way on my first train voyage and on my way to Ikego.

After the pieces of the scavenger hunt were collected and i found my way back to base after getting lost for a little bit, our group met up and worked on our presentation. Luckily our group was pretty smart and we all had taken some short videos (one i had taken where we were waiting for the train and hoping we got on the right one was pretty funny)during the hunt to include in the presentation so we put it all together in Imovie and made a short film to present. Included with our film we re wrote five camp songs to sing to the group. Well i am sure you all can figure it out, but our groups presentation was a huge success and we actually won, so my self and the rest of the group get free pizza upon our request from the military staff.

after the presentations we had to meet once more with our staff director and we held a contest to see who won best bag of tricks and best costume. And i am sure you can guess that with my winning trend so far at camp I won best bag of tricks. Winning that got me a free camp adventure youth services shirt which is pretty sweet.

With the weekend soon arriving i was prepared to do some of my first travelling of the trip which i planned on spending Saturday exploring Yokosuka and Sunday in Yokohama at a Yokohama bay Stars baseball game (spoiler alert the bay stars destroyed the Osaka Tigers).

Finally Made It

SO i arrived in Tokyo airports round 4:15, and once i picked up my luggage and got through customs I met my director for Yokosuka Naval base. We then boarded a bus with about 15 other counselors and enjoyed a 2 hour bus ride from tokyo to yokosuka, allowing us to catch some of the tokyo scenery (including tokyo disney)on the way back. Once we got on base we were given our room assignments, unfortunately my roommate aaron and I did not get to move into our room yet because its not even assembled yet and have to wait till monday till we can move in. We were told we would probably wake up round 2 or 3 due to the jet lag and were meeting at 7:30 am the next morning to get a tour of the base, fortunately i was able to sleep until my alarm awoke me at 7:15. No trouble with sleeping made my day of walking around the base a lot easier. The base is pretty big and there are a lot of people around, but that will all change in about a couple days when the George Washington nuclear aircraft carrier ships out in a couple days with about 5000+ sailors on it. In the mean time after we got our tour of the base we went offsite and caught some of the local yokosuka scenery. I checked out the 100 yen store, the equivalent to a dollar store, and got some little things for my room. We then headed back to base where we went to the NEX, essentially a target, and got some things we would need for the summer like a phone and a watch. If you want to call me i get free incoming calls but the international rates apply to those who call from the states, my number is 09017925946 it also includes an email address for my phone which is noble17@softbank.ne.jp. SO feel free to email me if you dont want to call. My day has not been to much exploration, more so just getting acclimated with the base.
We are under a pretty close watch on the base since everyone knows that camp adventure has arrived. The sailors get even more excited because there are new girls on base that come with the camp and they love to look around trying to see all the camp counselors. We have been told some horror stories about naval men crossing the line with some camp girls so there is a very strict buddy system rule for all camp counselors on base. Luckily i wont have to worry about it too much being one of the few guys with Camp Adventure. It has been awesome just in the first day being here how close we all have become because we know we will be working with each other the entire summer and depending on each other to have the camp run smoothly.

Tomorrow my day starts at 6:00 am with a swim to wake us up and then we work till round 8 or 9 because we only have a week to set up the camp for the kids, starting next week. So this week will be quite draining s we prepare for camp. This will be the first post of my summer trip and will hopefully be able to post more soon including some pictures. Our internet is down in our living situation but it will be back up and running by monday, as will my room hopefully. I am loving what little japan i have already experienced and cannot wait for whats to come.