Shin-Yokohama Fuji View Hotel

Luke Jones, our assistant academic dean aka "the voice", woke us up this morning over the speaker system blaring a song with the words "welcome to America!" being sung over and over. And while I have had a great time seeing Asia, I could not help but smile when I heard it and get excited about being back to the good ole US of A. He began calling us up to the faculty staff lounge by sea and we first had to pick up our passport then see an immigration inspector ...

... go, it was a pretty nice example, but I'm still not sure why the Japanese guy was on top of him. The elephant didnt seem to care though, so we decided to move on. There were a few other smaller elephants over to the side of the enclosure, but these ones didn't come with Japanese guys attached. A few monkey pens followed. Nice monkeys, although most of them just looked to damn hot to move. I say ...

... I am actually japanese!) I am actually very expressive when I get into things too:) Maybe that's why kids can relate to me, i have this inner child that I can bring out to relate to the kids. Once I get over the initial embarrassment, I am pretty outgoing with kids. Ok so after the church service we had our children's church that we have been planning for so long (the 2 weeks that we have been here). We created a puppet show with my laptop computer. It actually looks like ...

... birds in a mud pond was just as good a way to spend the day. Arriving at our stop, we took a spectacularly wrong turn and walked for 20 minutesd until reaching some ocean. Amongst the shipping containers we found a windsurfer packing up. In broken Japanese Cameron asked where Yatsu Higata was and he gestured something like 'a long way in the opposite direction'! Off we trundled, sightseeing the industrial port-side area of Tokyo Bay. We actually did manage to ...

... venders, who interestly enough didn't want us to try anything instead continuely pestering the Japanese as they wandered through. I really wanted to try a horse chestnut too! There was big potted plants down the street which were filled to the rim with broken shells. Walking around the town it is plain to see that they are proud of their harbour history with special flag stones set in the path celebrating their harbouor status since 1859. This pride is ...

... Japanese Fridays but 50x better. We shared deep fried pig belly squares (Barry, are you reading?) which were simply battered and fried to perfection. Scallion, sprout dumplings came on sizzling cast iron and burst with a freshness quality that said "you're in Japan now". Chitterling hot pot followed. I was unimpressed with the cuts but the sauce and mixed vegetables were very good. Finally the menu offered an item titled "surprise" with a picture ...

... not do a thing. Why did the train police and the police make the reporting procedure so frustratingly long and humiliating to the victim? Yes, it is important to establish the facts, but it seemed to cause more trouble to report groping. This is one thing that Harumi-san and I found upsetting about Japanese society. The people emphasise keeping harmony and watch our own behaviour for 'the greater common good'. Although it is just my casual observation, the people in ...

... the city. We went inside and listened to some Monks chanting for a while which was really cool. I took an audio recording on my camera! We then returned to campus to do some reading before our first class, Introduction to Japanese law, at 5:30 today. People are getting nervous about being called on etc., which never happens at home because everyone is already adjusted to the style at their respective schools. It is like being a first year again and not knowing what to ...

... be posted on this site at a later date. *** Engrish, the odd yet whimsical concoction that puts Japan's own trademark on England's mother tongue, is often spotted on billboards, new marketing campaigns, catchy slogans, etc. Sometimes, these expressions come across as a bit wacky, even if you get the message right away. To wit: Lemon Water, Suitable For Us To Quench Our Thirst After Perspiration, which is printed on the label ...

... I know have a whole new understanding for the people among us. One thing I have realized from this trip is that the world is a lot smaller then I ever imagined we are all interconnected as much as many of us want to ignore it. Today I visited peace memorial park in Hiroshima Japan; some parts of the museum were very grotesque like finger nails and tongues from people who died from being exposed to radioactive materials. But I felt like such a ******* in the museum today ...