Japan

If I ever studied abroad again I think Japan would be where I came. I absolutely loved it!
Our ship ported around 6 AM, but the Japanese government is so crazy that we had to have our temperatures taken and go through serious immigration and customs so we didn't get to leave the ship until around 12:30. As soon as we got off of the ship we took a few trains and made our way to Kyoto.
We walked through the Nijo-Jo Castle which is very different compared to all of the European castles I saw this past summer. There was barely any furniture, because they sit on the floor all of the time, so basically we just saw all of the different wall paintings in each room. The best part of the castle were the imperial gardens surrounding it. A few acres of land with beautiful cherry blossoms in full bloom! It was so peaceful walking through the zen garden of bonsai trees and beautiful flowers.
Afterward we caught a cab to the Philosopher's Walk where we hiked up the mountain a little bit and enjoyed the bright flowers and silence in the cold weather. It reminded me so much of home on a typical spring day, so much that it actually made me the most homesick I have been this entire semester. The walkway was next to a creek which made it even more serene. We walked until it was dark and no one else was around. All of us were in such good moods and couldn't have been happier, and then we found a sushi restaurant!
It was just a small place in the middle of this small-town feeling city. The owner/head chef was extremely nice and had his wife drive us around the city until we found an ATM that would take our American credit cards (note to anyone going to Japan: 7 Eleven is basically the only place to get cash). After a few stops we figured it all out and went back to the restaurant where we had a traditional Japanese sushi dinner: Shoes off, sit on the ground with feet stretched forward, hot tea to start, sake, then sushi rolls! I have never had such amazing sushi in my life. The miso soup was SO good I haven't stopped talking about it for days. I even tried this small fish that he took out of the fish tank and torched in front of me-freshest sushi I'll ever have. The locals that were eating there loved to watch us try everything and see how we reacted. They bought us some sake and taught us how to put on a kimono! I would have to say this was my top meal all semester. We were sad to say goodbye to our new friends and chefs, but we had to find dessert! So, we walked around the quiet town until we stumbled upon a restaurant that had a dessert menu where I got a banana spring roll with ice cream!
It was late and we still had a one hour train ride back to the ship so we said goodbye to the city of Kobe, which we have all fallen in love with.
The next morning we caught a three hour train to Tokyo and went straight to Disneyland!! Yes, my friends and I spent the day at Tokyo's Disneyland Resort riding roller-coasters with a bunch of Japanese people. It was so much fun and really funny! All of the characters were Americans (odd) and the parades were sung in English-the kids didn't seem to mind though. We stayed until dark and then headed to our hotel (15 minutes away) where we were supposed to meet up with our friends Will and Harrison.
An hour and a half and three trains later we were lost and in a cab which cost us $40 to get to the hotel, where we learned that the guys had already left because apparently they were not allowed to sleep in the same room as us (you must be married-who knew). So our plan to split the hotel room was out and the hotel was nowhere near the city and quite honestly a shit-hole. Not worth the $270. We walked out into the night with our backpacks on and no place to go. Our feet were aching and I needed to use the bathroom so I went into the 24-hour McDonald's which had a bidet with a music player, butt-wash sprayer, heated seat, deodorizer and fake-flusher sound. Unreal-I don't know what other buttons they could come up with. Every toilet I used in Japan was like this, quite a change from the squatters in China, Vietnam and India.
A long story short: it started pouring rain, we caught a train to a place more in the city, walked around until 1:30 AM when we found a nice hotel to stay in for a very reasonable price. We were exhausted and discovered I had lost my rail pass (which was very expensive and could be used for all trains in Japan). So what did I do... took a bath of course. No better way to relieve stress.
After a long sleep we woke up and hit the streets of Tokyo-my first stop: Krispie Kreme!!! Japanese people love their donuts. I waited in a 30 minute line in the cold and received one free, warm, glazed donut and proceeded to buy six others. I shared with my friends but it is safe to say I ate the majority and it didn't take me long.
We spent the day shopping around Tokyo (I got some goodies for my family :)) The city is HUGE... literally you could spend an entire week just covering the different sections of the one city. It is so clean and everyone is so nice, it makes you wonder why places like NYC cant be like that. We shopped till we dropped into our train seats for our 3 hour ride back to the ship. It's amazing how the sight of the ship is so comforting and we see it as our home.
My last day I spent in Kobe. In the morning I walked for a while through a park in the beautiful and warm sunshine. Then I window shopped some more and watched a Japanese parade go through the train station, which seems to be a center point in life in Japan. I had one last delicious sushi dinner, some Hagandaaz Ice Cream and got back on the ship.
One of my friends lost her passport so we had to pack her things and leave her in Japan where she is hoping to get a new passport expedited to her and meet us in Hawaii. Another kid also lost his passport so he had to stay behind as well. However he is a minor and his mom is a teacher on the ship so she stayed with him. It seems to be the trend that at every port everyone gets really drunk before getting back on the ship to leave-unfortunately there was a girl who (rumor has it) is diabetic and had never drank before. She had a little too much and had to be rushed to the hospital from the ship. They packed her bags for her and left her there. Needless to say, it was a very hectic last night in Japan.
Now I am back on the ship and sailing my way to Hawaii. It will take us 9 very long days to get there (we cross the international dateline so we are going to have two April 15's). The end of my journey is in sight and I am not sure I am ready for it to come. I still have a few more stops though, so I will enjoy those and then look to the end.

FUN FACTS:
-Japan has a 99% literacy rate
-100 Yen = $1 US
-Population: 127+ million
-3rd largest economy
-Longest life expectancy in the world