Our 7 Day Trip: Days 3, 4, and 5

After our adventures in Hiroshima... We made our way to the Wada's house. The Wadas lived down the street from my family in Fishers, IN when I was younger. I loved going over to their house and playing with their daughter, Jumi, and her Japanese toys. I have always loved Japanese culture so it was so fun having them close when I was a kid.

The Wadas took us to a traditional Japanese Onsen (or bath house). It was so fun to sit in the hot pools of mineral water and relax. I definitely fell in love with onsen, similar to how AJ loves sauna because of his time in Finland. 

On Wednesday we woke up and decided to go to Kyoto. My dad served part of his mission in Kyoto and so I was really excited to see what he saw and enjoy the city. When we got there we decided to walk because the tour guides told us it is a "walking city." Boy did they lie! The map didn't have a distance gauge and so we were guessing based on blocks. Unfortunately we didn't know that the blocks in Kyoto are unnaturally large due to the number of old shrines and temples. It took us 1 hour to walk somewhere we thought was 20 minutes away! Dehydrated and exhausted we finally made it to the 1,000 Year Old Temple. 

AJ and I took a picture with the Japanese god of good couples... Perfect fit!

This temple was beautiful and very large. It was really busy with tons of people touring and worshipping. It made me a little sad that the people trying to worship were consistently interrupted by groups of teenagers shouting what must have been the English equivalent of, "dude check this out!" It made me so grateful for how sacred LDS temples are and how reverently we worship there. 

Here are some pics of other cool things we saw:: 

Traditional Geisha! 

Take a look in the upper right corner... My face isn't funny without reason c:

I just love this man!

Pagodas are so beautiful. 

When we were done walking around the temple grounds, we decided to head home. It was incredibly hot in Kyoto and we figured we would come back the next day and tour some more popular places. We stopped for food (I got the nastiest curry I had ever tasted) and started on our way home. 

When we made it to the Osaka station (30 minutes away from the Wada's house) I started to feel really sick. I tried to drink water and relax but it didn't help. I got sooooo sick. Once I felt a little better we decided to try to tough out the train ride. Ps, nausea and trains do not mix well. We had to stop every station so I could throw up. Gross! Finally, on our last stretch of train ride, I threw up in the bag AJ had given me. Some people on the train moved away as quickly as possible, but one grandma came over to me and patted my back to help me feel better. She was such a nice lady and she made me feel like everything would be alright. Even though I was in another country, sick and exhausted... Everything would be fine. I love her for that.

Once a grandma, always a grandma! 

Thursday and Friday consisted of me laying in my temporary bedroom at the Wada's house and only coming out once for dinner. Otherwise AJ catered to me... Water, brothy soup, and Aquarius (the equivalent to Gatorade). Finally I started to feel better! 

While I was sick, AJ got okonomiyaki.... Sooo good. I wish I could have eaten it! 

He also went to the Japanese Costo! 

Sushi spam? Yuck yuck yuck! 

Once I got better Yuko Wada made a delicious meal, I could barely eat any of it but I sure was grateful! 

Even though I was sick, it was a good experience. AJ had time to relax and get geared up for more travel... And I got to sleep a lot! 

C: 

G

Our 7 Day Trip: Days 1 and 2

AJ and I were able to buy traveler's JR Train Passes before we left the states. The pass is a week-long voucher that gets us on any JR train... Including Shinkansen! The Shinkansen, or bullet trains, usually cost a lot of money. However, the pass allows us to use them as much as we want to wherever we want! It was pretty expensive to buy the pass up front, but it is DEFINITELY worth it. It's only been two days and we have already made up for the cost. c:

So, at the end of our summer in Japan, AJ and I decided to do a western- Honshu tour. Our plans are fluid, so I will post as we go! 

Day 1: Lots and Lots of Travel

We decided to go to our furthest destination on day 1 and then work our way back to Tokyo the rest of the week. Where did we go first? 

Hiroshima! 

The Shinkansen ride took about 6 hours from Yokota Air Base, but it was definitely a smooth ride! Shinkansen trains are set-up similar to planes, but there is more leg room. I didn't get a picture inside the Shinkansen, but I will try to another day. 

When we arrived in Hiroshima it was around 5pm. We went to our hotel to check in and decided (after looking at a map) that it was too late to walk all the way to the other side of the city for the tourist-y stuff. Instead we took a walk along the river and found dinner at a delicious hole-in-the-wall! 

The menu was all in Japanese... We didn't know what we ordered until it came out! 

Tuesday morning we got all packed up and left our stuff in the hotel's lobby (it was watched by the office, of course). Then we went on a big adventure to the Hiroshima Castle and the Peace Memorial Park! 

The castle is gorgeous! Old wood and white paint.... Loved it. 

AJ took this picture... Isn't it perfect? 

The castle was amazing to see... We have seen quite a few castles this summer but this one really took the cake! After we left, we walked through some underground tunnel and came out in the middle of a fair. Apparently the anniversary of the A-bomb is next week and they do a huge peace promotional fair each year. We happened to come right in the middle of it. Activities ranged from making picture frames to an awe-inspiring exhibit on the needs of Africa to bicycling to generate electricity! It was a lot of fun!

AJ generated the most electricity of the day! And in second place...yours truly!  C:

We wanted as much time as possible to spend in the Peace Memorial Park. The first thing we saw was the A-bomb dome. It was definitely sad to see such a gorgeous building torn apart. The city of Hiroshima kept most of the rubble inside the dome and left it pretty much as-is. 

What a way to start the park tour. The A-bomb dome set the tone for the day.

We walked over to the Cildren's Peace Memorial. I absolutely love this exhibit. The symbol for children's peace is the origami crane (as seen at the top of the statue). People from all over the world make huge strands of cranes, or artwork made entirely of cranes, and donate them to the park. Each of the booths pictured below are chalk-full of cranes. 

This was my favorite piece of art work made of cranes. 

Then we walked over to the museum and saw some really beautiful and inspiring exhibits. It was definitely heartbreaking to see the devastation from the bomb. I was amazed at how the Japanese people handled it though. There was not one negative thing written about the American people. The whole museum was a historical account, completely free of blame. They stated the facts, and even some of the reasons why we (the Americans) did what we did. But there was no animosity or hatred. The whole museum was dedicated to peace... And I love that. 

Sometimes bad things happen in our lives and it is so easy to blame others and hold a grudge. But I know that it is important to forgive and to lay down our grudges at the Lord's feet and let Him fill our hearts with love. 

As we were leaving the museum we saw this picture:: 

"That autumn: in Hiroshima where it was said, 'for 75 years nothing will grow' new buds sprouted. In the green that came back to life among the charred ruins, people recovered their living hopes and courage."

I love that the last message leaving the museum was about hope. Hope in the future. It was really a beautiful experience. 

C: 

G

DATE NIGHT!!!

It has been hard to do date night with AJ this summer. I don't necessarily know why, but this week we decided to pick up the pieces of date night. 

We were dropped off at the Seiyu... We had some errands to run. We ended up sitting to chat at a kitchen display. It was like IKEA, but in the middle of the arts and crafts section of Level 4. 

Then we wandered... Here and there and everywhere. I desperately wanted to go down streets I hadn't be before. aj agreed. 

We found another chain of the cafe (cafe du jardin) and got a little treat to tie us over until we found a suitable restaurant for dinner. Across the street we saw an ADORABLE skinny house that I loved. Keep in mind that I am 5'2" and my arms can almost reach across. 

After following signs for a specific restaurant, we ran into a different one that looked delicious. udon noodles! 

We walked in and the main chefim editable noticed that we were out of place. He hurried around the counter and in English helped us order!! He made sure everyone in the kitchen knew our order well and  got us settled at the register. 

When our food came out, AJ put some mix-ins in his noodle bowl. boy does he love those green onions.

The chef came over with a second bowl of noodles made the way AJ ordered them. Whaaaaaaat? He then took AJs original bowl and mixed the correct mix-ins in the proper order. last but not least, he added the massive amounts of green onions. 

I know it looks exactly the same, but it was done properly and he made us smile! 

As we were leaving, I pulled out my phrase book and let the chef know how grateful we were for his help! Then I asked if we could take a picture, and he understood what I was saying! Wahoo. 

Thank goodness for the phrase books.

Anyways, happy date night to us! 

We have some great plans for tomorrow... I'll post again! 

C: 

G

Hiking Trails and Hospitals

This last few days in Japan were... interesting. 

Wednesday night around 10pm John Cope, from the ward, came over to talk about potential hiking plans. We were going back and forth debating when would be best and we settled on leaving at 5am the next morning! We knew we would be tired, but it was the only time we could make it work. So as soon as he left, we promptly went to bed to catch a few zzzzs before it was time to get up! 

We drove a few hours to Nikko, a really beautiful area north of Tokyo. On our drive to the trail head, we saw two wild monkeys sitting near the road! It was amazing! I didn't have my camera out- bummer! We looked and looked the rest of the day for any more, but there were none to be found. 

The hiking trail we went on is rated one of the most beautiful trails in Japan! and boy, was it beautiful! Here are some pictures of our trip! 

                               Happy birthday, Sarah! 

                               we got our hopes up... 

                         our trusted guide

                               I wanted seconds!

                 I can't express how deep this canyon/fall are

                           School trip ahead. 

We passed a lot of school trips during our hike. My absolute favorite was a group from a special education school. I've noticed in Japan that I don't see people with disabilities often. It is custom to keep them away from everyone else as much as possible. It makes me so sad. The very few times I have encountered someone with a disability, everyone else in the area stops and stares as if they are entirely uncomfortable. I hope someday soon that the country will accept it more freely and lovingly. Needless to say, I didn't take any pictures of the school group, because I didn't want them to think I was being rude. I didn't know how to explain to them in japanese that I teach special education... oh that darn language barrier! 

We had grandiose plans to tour Tokyo on the weekend, but then I got sick (bladder infection, bleh!). We tried to go to the hospital on base, but they wouldn't accept my insurance. So then we had to go to the Japanese hospital!! I did say i wanted to experience all aspects of the culture, didnt i? A member of the stake presidency (AJs boss, and our friend, Nathan Frost) had to come and be my translator. It was awkward, but I felt so grateful that he was willing to serve us. That took up all of Friday and then Saturday I was ordered to rest-up. weekend trip spoiled! 

          see the card? It has my name in Japanese! 

Aaanyways, long story short: Japanese hospitals are very nice, smoked fish at the top of a mountain is delicious, and ALWAYS have your camera ready for a monkey photo-op when traveling in the mountains! 

Love, 

G

Fussa: Solo Style!

Since I have been here in Japan, I haven't done a great job at going off and doing things by myself.

don't get me wrong, i'm not scared... 

I just always wanted to experience things with AJ... or I had to babysit... or this... or that... I kept thinking, "I have more time, next week I will do something by myself"- but it just never happened. 

Then our passes to get on/off base by ourselves expired. The paperwork was supposed to get put in a month ago to make getting an extended pass a piece of cake. any guesses on whether or not it got turned in? Correct.. it didn't get turned in and so now we don't have passes any longer. Every time we go off base we have to make sure someone is there to sign us back on when we are ready to come home. It is SUPER inconvenient... to say the least. 

That night, AJ and I sat talking for a while. We were both pretty mad about the passes... but we decided that if we wanted to have freedom, we just needed to be more proactive about going off by ourselves. We decided to borrow cell phones from members in the ward so we can communicate while we are out and I set a date on my calendar to go out and explore...solo style! 

First I went to the Seiyu... a Japanese department store that has pretty much everything you could possibly want. I spent a long time there and only went through the first floor. I had tried some rice fix-ins at one of the places I babysit... I was hoping to find it at the Seiyu!
success! 

can you believe this whole aisle is rice... oh Japan! 


I saw this hash-brown looking thing... I didn't know how to get it out of the case, so I tried to stop a lady and ask her. I did NOT have the right words to ask her and we were both undoubtedly confused. Eventually, she understood what I meant and told me what to do. thank goodness for body language, without it i would not have known what she was saying in lightening-speed japanese! 

looks yummy! 

NOT YUMMY!! seafood medley surprise. nasty crap! 
i still smell like fish... 

Then I went a-walkin' around side streets and alley ways. I just wanted to see what most people don't see when they are driving to and from the train station. I got to see a lot of cute shops and a LOT of bars... I had no idea so many bars were warranted in such a small town.

I ended up getting lunch at a place I've seen multiple times and have actually been meaning to try. Yoshinoya is a chain restaurant and it was pretty decently priced... I don't know if I would go again, though. too many other places to try! On my way out, I decided I needed to say something in Japanese. I asked the waitress where the nearest bathroom was. It sounds like a small feat- but it did feel good to communicate something! 

eeeeeeeeel. i was feeling adventurous

At this point in my solo day I was exhausted. It is super hot and humid in Japan and I was definitely feeling dehydration coming on. I tried calling for someone to come pick me up, but no one answered. I knew then that I had to stick it out until 3pm, which is when Sarah and I planned to meet up. I looked for a place to sit and rest, but there really wasn't anywhere to go! Finally, I stumbled into a cute cafe, Cafe du Jardin. The waitress was so nice, I was able to practice Japanese with her and she let me sit down and drink much needed H2O while I enjoyed a blueberry tart.

oishii (delicious)

look at my view of Naples... c:

Once I had my energy back, I walked around some more and met Sarah for dinner. We went to Coco Curry! Apparently this place has 10 levels of spice in their curry. we ordered level 0 and it definitely had a kick to it! On the menu it says that you have to sign a waiver to eat any level higher than 5! What a crazy way to live! c:

           gotta love English mix-ups! 

All in all, it was a great day. I am glad that I didn't go home when I wanted to after lunch. I was tired and hot and grumpy. If I had gone home then, I wouldn't have remembered my day in such a positive light. Because I had to tough it out I was able to rehydrate and explore some more.

i will definitely be doing more solo days... no doubt.

c:
G

      I would have died without this glorious thing.

            Pink cell phone!!

        The trucks here are tiny. Gotta love mini-things. 

When Things Go Wrong...They Are Actually Right.

I am sitting here in the living room of a house that is technically on American soil.... Despite the fact that I am in Japan... And as I looked back on today I realized something. 

I am really, very glad that I have time here... You know, in Japan.

Honestly, the plan for the day was great. We would wander around, just him and me, looking for cool and interesting things to do along the way. In the craziness of our anniversary weekend (one year....wahoo!) we forgot to go to the ATM and get yen. We realized this after we got off the subway, in a town where we had the genious idea of riding up the Tokyo Tower. 

Beautiful, isn't it? 

I think it went something like this...

AJ: Grace, I don't think we have enough money to get in the Tokyo Tower.

Me: Okay, well how much money do we have?

AJ: openes wallet... Silence.

There was nothing in there. 

Needless to say, we were both shocked. I remembered that I had needed to put more money on the train pass... And without thinking we had used up all of our ¥! 

So, instead we walked around and eventually made our way back to the trains. We convinced ourselves that we had enough money to make it home. Fortunately, we ran into a nice American family who offered to trade us, dollar for yen. Without them we would still be in Ebisu. 

We rushed through...train after train... Hoping and praying that the money would last all the way to Fussa. Thankfully, it did. 

There were a couple times yesterday when I felt like our anniversary weekend had bee hijacked. Things had gone wrong on multiple accounts and it was just so.... frustrating. All the planning AJ had done, wasted. All the excitement for the expectation i had built up inside me... dissolved. It wasn't until later in the evening, when things finally came together, that I was really able to think about how lucky I am. 

This is in fact a picture of a picture of us taken by the staff at The Welligton (where we had dinner last night). They print it for you and everything! So fancy!!

But really, it was so fancy. I've never been to a place that fancy. Anyways.....

Then today, things went wrong again! I thought to myself... when is this trail of bad luck going to end? I wasn't mad... Hungry? Yes. Tired? Yes. Tired of walking? Yes yes yes! But I wasn't mad... And once I got home, I realized why.

We still have time here. 

If we were here on a vacation, simply as tourists... any mishap could drastically change the trip. One of our seven precious days was wasted on bad luck! But our situation isn't like that at all....

Miss a session at the Temple? That's okay... Go next week!

Did the rain keep you from going to the Orange Shrine? That fine, we can go once it stops raining.

Run out of ¥ and miss a bunch of cool things you had planned? That's okay... We can plan it all for another Saturday. 

Our time here is this inexplicably complicated mess between being a tourist and being here to live. We do technically live here... But we are only here for a little while. We aren't necessarily tourists... But we want to do all the touristy things. At first, it was frustrating. But now I see the benefit. Because we are here to live (no matter how short of a time it is) we are given more time. I don't feel the need to be frustrated that our weekend didn't work out the way we wanted it to. I had a wonderful time with AJ, because of the mishaps.

And I'm sure it will be a funny story to tell...

Hey sweetie, remember that one time, on our one year anniversary, when everything went wrong and we almost got incoherently lost in Japan with not a single ¥ to our name? 

See what I mean? It is a great story.

C:

G

They put us in the Indiana room.... How did they know? 

We couldn't go up the Tokyo Tower... So we did the next best thing. Got a picture with this shrinked  version. We also saw a monkey comedian show. I don't know how to explain it... But that monkey was so funny. 

I really have a good man, don't I? 

Team "Share the Love"

"Caring for others takes a team."
-President Eyering:
First Counselor in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints


When I heard this message my mind started to wander...

if caring for others is a team effort... why am i often content to rely on others to help the people in need? why have i slacked in my role as a team-player?

My attitude for service definitely needed to be re-vamped over the past couple of weeks. In months and years past, a chartiable heart has come so naturally to me; I rarely had to think about looking for ways to serve someone. However, because I allowed my mind to become preoccupied with other things, the natural tendency toward charity slipped. I started to notice selfish thoughts when it comes to service.
oh, i can't hold the door for that person... i am far too busy and can't be late for class. 
i had a long day at work and school and i am tired. aj can take care of the dishes later. 
etc.
When my mind would switch to selfish mode, I consciously knew that I was not being serviceable. I knew that my selfish actions would make life harder for the other person involved. Yet despite all of that, I let the inward thinking pattern slip into my life and soon it became normal.

The past few weeks, however, I have been able to take a step back and look at life through eyes of someone who wants to "make good things happen every day." It is still hard sometimes (selfish habits are hard as rocks to kick) but I know that eventually I can re-train my brain to think with charity first.

One experience I had Friday night helped me remember how good it feels to serve! Something I hadn't felt fully in a long while. Afterwards I was able to feel a joy rush through me and I knew that I had done something that made a positive difference in someone's day.

I am so grateful for my call to serve others. It is something I definitely need to work on... but I know that with time I can become more of a team player on Team "Share the Love."

c:
Grace