MONKEY PARK and Return to Toyko

Thursday May 28^th, 2009

 

This morning we left the hotel at 8 am to go the monkey park. We discovered this gem by simply wikipedia-ing Kyoto. Our expectations were low going into this because it just seemed too good to be true. The web-site made it seem like there were no fences and we were just free to be with the monkeys. When we first arrived, we hiked up a hill and kept a sharp eye out for the monkeys. We saw a few in the distance, and all took pictures expecting this to be the best we could see them, we were wrong. We got to the top of the hill and clinging to this small building were about twenty monkeys. We entered the building and were able to get food for the monkeys, and were able to feed them through the fence. It was incredible they would take the food right out of your hand. After all the food was gone, we were able to go out and walk around with the monkeys. We even got pictures of us sitting next to the monkeys on bench. After about an hour of monkey play, we realized that we needed to start heading back so we could catch the bullet train back to Tokyo. The train ride wasn’t very eventful, I just took a much needed nap on the way home. Kyoto was great, but it was awesome coming back to Tokyo. When we were walking back to the Sakura from the train station, it felt like I was walking home. We spent the rest of the day recovering from the trip.

 

Bank of Japan.

Friday May 29^th, 2009

 

We had a lecture on economics that was interesting, but a little complicated. Afterwards we made our way to the Bank of Japan. They showed a movie, which was somewhat comical. It was about this young Japanese woman who had just discovered the wonderfulness of the Bank of Japan. They showed her the path of money and how the Bank of Japan operates. Afterwards we went on a tour of the bank, and into the old vault. The door was immense, at least three feet thick. They said that it took two men just to move the door. Afterwards we finished up with a lecture, which was a bit dry, but interesting enough. We made our way back to the hotel and had some dinner. We were looking for something to do that night, and we ended up going with the whole group out to Ginza to a 300 yen bar. Upon arriving though the bar was way too crowded, so we ended up going to Hub, a British pub chain. Some of the Japanese students came with us, and it was a lot of fun. Afterwards we made our way back to the train station in time for the last train, which meant that it was incredibly crowded. Darius, Lauren, and myself decided to walk home from Akhibara rather than take the train all the way to Ochinomizu. The walk home was great, we went into an arcade and I spent entirely too much money on a crane game. Not a good idea to play a game that requires depth perception as well as coordination after a night at the bar. We ended the night with 190 yen dumplings, all in all a great night.

 

Odaiba District.

Saturday May 30^th, 2009

 

Today we went to the Odaiba district. In this man-made island district were museums such as a science museum, the Panasonic museum, as well as huge shopping areas. The science museum was the purpose of the trip, and inside were a lot of Robots and other technical things. We waited thirty minutes for a very anti-climactic virtual reality exhibit. The point was a virtual tour of Tokyo, but one person only had 90 seconds to move around the city, and it was a very poor virtual representation of Tokyo. After the museum, we went to an area that was like a mini Hong Kong for lunch. It was ok, a bit overpriced, but decent. Afterwards, some of the people I was with went to the Panasonic museum, but I wasn’t too interested to Marisa and I went back to the hotel and decided to take a nap in preparation for the night. We decided on another all nighter, since it was out last Saturday in Tokyo. We ended up at this place in Ropongi called club flower. It was not as intense as the club in Shibuya, but the people seemed a lot more down to earth. The music was decent, and the people were a lot more willing to interact. We left the club around 4 and decided to get some food. We went to this burger place, and spent the time there until we could get on the first train back. It was a good night, I had more fun at this place than at the last club.

 

Recovery

 

Sunday May 31^st, 2009

Today was all about recover from the night. We slept until around two and decided to go out and get some lunch. We ended up eating at subway, my first experience with this since my arrival there. I had a teriyaki chicken sub, which was good, not the same as the states, but still good. Afterwards we attempted to go shopping, but the downpour stopped us. We waited at subway for a while, hoping for the rain to break but it didn’t. We sprinted back in the rain, not fun in sandals. We hung out with some of the Japanese students in the lobby of the Sakura for a bit, but decided to call it an early night, and to watch old school. It was a good day to recharge the batteries. I am only in Tokyo for another three days so I am sure that this will be the last quiet night that I will be having here.

 

Monday June 1^st, 2009.

 

Today we had a lecture by Professor Kikuchi on local governance. It was a very interesting lecture, and the Professor was a very nice and intelligent man. It was defiantly one of the best lectures that we had up to this point. After the lecture we went to Asasuska, which is a more traditional Japanese district. This is the second time that I was there, so I had already seen the whole main area. So I decided to wander down some of the side streets. I found a place that served Fugu, and decided that I wanted to tell Aaron about it because I figured he would want to try it. I had no desire to try it at first, but the more I thought about it the more I decided that I wanted to try it. It actually tasted pretty good, and gave this tingly feeling in the roof of my mouth for a bit. After the fugu, I went back to the Hotel and got ready for the dinner with Professor Kikuchi and some of the Business majors at Meiji. The dinner was really good, and I really like the students that were there. At the end of the dinner, I got all of the students contact information so we could see each other before the end of the trip. Since we are leaving in a few days I hope that it is possible. Afterwards, we went to Akhibara for some late night video games. I walked over because there wasn’t enough room in the cab, but I am really glad I got the chance. It was nice to be alone in Tokyo, with my I pod on. I really enjoyed the walk, and was able to meet up with them there. We played some video games and then headed back to the hotel.

Tuesday June 2^nd, 2009

 

We had our final lecture today from Professor Nakamura, and just as last time, it was a great lecture. He is a great lecturer, entertaining as well as extremely intelligent. After the final lecture we went to Kamakura, a different prefecture outside of Tokyo. It was incredible, we had to take four trains to get there, but I saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time. We saw a few of temples when we were in Kamakura as well. One of the temples had a hundreds of miniature statues and other types of shrines. While we were at the first temple, there was this hawk that kept swooping down around us. It was the closest that a hawk has ever gotten to me. After we went to the first shrine, we went to the second largest Buddha in the world. I enjoyed it more than the largest Buddha. It was out doors and you were actually able to go inside the Buddha. We left Kamakura and had a long ride back to the hotel. That night we decided to head to Doma Doma for last time. It was a good farewell a place that we frequented. After the restaurant we went back to the hotel, we have an exam tomorrow.

 

Wednesday June 3^rd, 2009

 

Today we had our final open note exam. It wasn’t terrible, but I don’t think I did as well as I thought I could have. After the exam, since I had all of my shopping taken care of I went back to the hotel to take a nap for the farewell party, since I wasn’t feeling great from the night before. When everyone got back from shopping we showered and went to the farewell party. The party got kind of emotional, the speeches that the Japanese and American students gave were all really touching. Going into this trip, I knew that I was going to make good friends, both Japanese and American, but I never expected to get this close to them in a month. Looking back on the time that I spent here its crazy to think that in a month, I’ve made friends as good as the ones that I have. After the dinner a group of students as well as a few of the Japanese students went out to the same bar. We all sang karaoke with all of the Japanese students. It was really fun, and afterwards we all went out to a second karaoke bar with more of the Japanese supporters. It was a blast, it got to be around 2 o’clock in the morning and I decided that I had enough. I said my good byes and called it a night. I had a long flight the next day, and flying completely hung over is not fun.

 

Thursday June 4^th, 2009

 

I am now back in America after an incredibly long flight, which in real time took only three hours. The good byes in the morning were incredibly emotional; I was on the verge of tears for a lot of it. When we were driving away on the bus, seeing the Meiji students crying as the bus went past was almost too much. There was no room on the bus for the any of the Japanese students to come with us, except for Mika. When we arrived at the air port we were waited for a little bit there, and Ryohei and Daisuke surprised us to send us off. It was awesome that they came to see us off, but I feel bad that they had to go all the way out there. The flight wasn’t as bad as the first time, but it was still long. Now that I am back home, its starting to hit me that I will never have the same experience that I had in Japan ever again. I made some great life long friends here, and plan on keeping in touch with them. I cant wait until they come to visit in August, and when Ryohei and Daisuke come to visit in September.

 

 

Wednesday May 27th, 2009

We went to Nara today, in my opinion the most beautiful place in Japan. There was the deer just wandering around the entire place. They were so tame, you could just go up to them and pet them. The deer are actually considered to be a national monument there, and killing one used to be punishable by death. At the park we went to see the biggest buddha in the world. It was absolutly breath taking. It was just so immense and just being there was myfavorite part of the trip. While we were there, there was this hole that was cut into the base of one of the support poles of the structure, which is the biggest wooden structure in the world. It is said that once you go through this hole you will come out enlightned. I fit through, but barley, the hole was incredibly tight, so much so that I think if I had a big lunch I wouldnt have been able to fit through. After that we went to Kasuga shrine. There was thousands of lanterns ligning the entire place. It was pretty cool, not my favorite place in Nara, but it was still pretty cool. After the temple we went back to Kyoto and wandered around and ended up at a restraunt there. I ordered crab rice, but they made a mistake and told me that the shark fin soup that chris ordered. It was actually delicious, afterwards we got some flasks and went to a arcade. It was fantastic. We played mario kart and guitar hero among others. It was a great night

Tuesday May 26th, 2009

Today we went to three different shrines, the golden pagoda, Kiyomizu, and Fushini Taisha shrine. They were all really beautiful. The first was the golden pagoda. It was a beautiful zen Buddhist temple that was covered in gold leaf. It was located in this beautiful garden. I actually have a picture that I took of it as the background of my computer. After we left for Kiyomizu, there was a large observation deck that gave a beautiful view of Kyoto. On the way back down I was able to do some shopping, I picked up a gift for my parents on the way back. Afterwards we went to the Fushini taisha shrine there were thousands of orange arches. This particular shrine can be seen in the last Samurai and Memoirs of a Geisha. It was a really beautiful place, one of my favorite so far in Kyoto. Afterwards we made our way back into Kyoto and spent the rest of the night just hanging out in the Hotel. It was good to take a night to just relax and recharge the batteries. Tomorrow we go to Nara and the biggest Buddha in the world

Monday May 25th, 2009

Kyoto is definitely different than Tokyo. The nightlife isn't as exciting, but the cultural visits are more interesting. The cultural visits are a lot more of what I expected for traditional Japan. We went to Nijo castle. The tratitional castle housed the Tokugawa shogunate. I really liked the castle, there were places that they showed that ninjas would hide in and keep watch over the castle. The floors were also made to squeak so the intruders could be heard in the castle. After that we had a lecture on immigration policy at Kyoto universtiy, one of the best Universitys in Japan. It was very interesting, and the class rooms were amazing. Each seat had its own individual computer monitor and a microphone. It was unbelievable. After the lecture we went back to the hotel and than went and had italian for dinner. It was a nice change from the Japanese food. I love the food here, but it will be nice to go back home to sandwhiches. After we went back to the hotel and decided that we were going to go and wander around Kyoto. After searching lot of bars, many of which ended up being strip clubs, we finally found one that we decided to go in. It was basically empty, there was two people in the bar. When we arrived one left immediatly and the other stayed. As soon as we sat down four bartenders came out and each helped make the 4 gin and tonics that we ordered. We ended up talking to the bartenders for a while and they were incredibly nice guys. When we went to leave, one of the bartenders walked us to the elevator, then went up the stairs and met us and led u to the door. The people in Japan are so incredibly nice. 

Sunday May 24th 2009,

After a nice long nap to recover from the night before, we decided to make another trip to Doma Doma. This time, they brought out the White Russians out in beer mugs. They were delicious, and I had four of them. Yuya brought us this time. He is too cool to hang out with us though. He looks like a rockstar, he wears a sash, dangling earings and a deep v shirt, but he pulls everything off so well. We went home around 12:30 and packed for the trip to Kyoto the next morning via the bullet train. The train was nice, and there was lots of leg room. When we arrived in Kyoto, we made our way to the Hotel. The rooms are incredible, decent sized beds, private bathrooms, central air, and a T.V. The major draw back was the incredibly slow internet, which got much better by the way. After we got settled in, we went to Gion, this is the Geisha discrict in Kyoto. The is the cultural visit that I was responble for. The tour went ok, and wondering around the district later was even better. We saw a Geisha, which apparently doesnt happen very often. There are only around 1000 geisha left. After that we made our way back to the hotel and took the night off. I really like the Kyoto, but the night life seems to be lacking compared to Tokyo. 

Friday May 22, 2009

We had a lecture on Fiscal policy today, which is my policy area, so I made sure to pay close attention. The lecture was interesting, but it was difficult to follow because he got well into the details that even a Daruis, a finance major, said things were difficult to decipher. The lecture was enjoyable for the most part. Afterwards we went to the U.S. Embassy for a meeting with an employee of the U.S. embassy. The meeting was very interesting. In the meeting we discussed the job of this man, which was to monitor the Japanese media and to report on it. It seemed like it would be an intersting career path to look into. To represent the United States at an embassy in a foreign country. After this we went home and took a nap to prepare for the all night adventure that we were about to embark on. We planned on attending an all night club and going to the Sushi market at 6 am. The club was crazy, there was three floors of the club each with a different theme. There was a top 40 floor, a house music floor, and a hip hop floor. The hip hop floor and the top 40 floors sort of rotated in their music styles, but all in all it was awesome. After we made our way out at like 5 we made our way to the fish market. Everyone was exhausted, but the market was awesome. There were massive tuna that were being auctioned off, as well as tons of other different types of fish. The view from the top of the fish market was a really good view, and afterwards we had sushi at this place right near the market. I really like sushi, but eating it at 7am was not fun. It cost 21 dollars as well, but over all the night and morning were alot of fun. I need to pass out now.

Thursday May 21st, 2009

Today we had our lecture with Professor Horikane, the Professor who Professor Wallin is coordinating this trip with. The lecture was on the History of Japanese foreign policy and was actually very intersting. It was especially intersting to hear a differnt side of the events that took place during the war. She has a lot of pride for Japan, and it was very different to hear the other perspective. After the lecture we went to Ueno park. This park had the a few museums as well as a zoo. We went into the Tokyo National Museum, and inside there was art work, samurai, artifacts and a Buddah room. It was a really cool museum, and it was interesting to see so much of Japanese history. Afterwards we tried to go to the zoo but it closed at 4:30 so we didnt to in. I got a churro and we ended up walking around this busy street near Ueno park. There were lots of crowded shops and food stands. We went back after about a half hour and hung in for a while that night. Around 10 we decided to go do some Karokee. We went with Yuya, Jason, Darius, Marissa, Andrew, Ahmed, and his friend. Its sad that I can remember the words to Nookie by limp bisket but have difficulty remembering things I learn in school. We left around 2 because we got a deal that we could stay all night. Usually karokee wouldnt be my style, but I really enjoy it here.