Let me tell you a little somethin

Apparently it's hard for me to blog, but it's just as hard for everyone else to email.

 

I have NOOOO CLUE whats going onnn!

 

 

 

I dont ever check facebook, except maybe I have for half an hour at a time in a couple ports, but not enough to talk to anyone.

 

So like, even though maybe people can happen upon my profile and feel like I am still alive because people will sillily (not a word) write on my profile and because there is a smily picture of me at the top, I feel like everyone is most certainly dead.

 

So please email me.

 

Please?

 

You can email me at cos-ette@sbcglobal.net

or at ruesg100@mail.chapman.edu

 

 

they're both liked to my semester at sea  account.

So I should get it.

 

 

What if I should ever join the peace corps?? I would probably die of loneliness and extrangement.

Oh my.

 

 

 

Dear blogginq world:

Im sorry that I let you down.

im sorry that you dont know anything about anything farther than Japan and maybe like a ghost of China.

 

Im sorry.

I simply was not cut out for this business.

The Blogging world is a hard world to be in.

Shit goes down.

dog eats dog.

 

Im sorry.

hello!

so apparently you can email posts and they will publish themselves.

if this post is successful,

i will have like five thousand more things to say to you very soon.

February 13th - post Japan review:

 

This review is postponed until I finish eating my crunch bars and peanut butter.

 

And wash my peanut butter hands.

 

 

….

 

 

Kay done.

 

What can I even say though? I feel like anyones description of Japan is going to start out with “its amazing” followed by some description of the magnificence of their toilets, and I do not intend on straying from that form.  Japan is entirely amazing, and their toilets are the proverbial solid gold shit.  I don’t understand why the U.S.  hasn’t jumped on the toilet seat warming thing.  The bidets and everything are cool (what, they are) but the best thing is the warmth that greets you, that completes your toileting experience.

A few other things I don’t understand:

-Why is all the food in Japan GOOD, like I could go to any random place and get good eats, but by experience in the US if you get random food/eat at random places you very well may end up wasting your bucks on mediocre edible substances.

-Why doesn’t the US sell more random food? I found such diverse treats, and picked anything and it was good.  Little breads with cheese in them, or bacon and asparagus on top, or sticky buns that look like pandas with sweets inside, or with meat inside, and all these odd little things.  But if you go into a US shop everything will be relatively predictable and people will most likely ask what is in the said pastry/treat/etc.

- Why is everyone so hot and why does it have to cost so much because I want to go there all the tiiiiiime?

-WHY couldn’t I find a Japanese mirror for sale ANYWHERE. Like a cool wall one. Anywhere. Why?

-WHY IS KARAOKE CONSIDERED DORKY OR WHATNOT HERE, THAT WAS ONE OF THE BEST THINGS ABOUT JAPAN, PEOPLE COULD TOTALLY BANK ON THOSE KARAOKE BARS

 

Japan is beautiful.  Tokyo is the adolescent younger sister who admires her big sis and loves to rock out, and Kyoto is the legit Indie beautiful collegiate older sister.  Tokyo is perfect for fast times, fun times, people like Joey.  Kyoto is perfect for spiritual things, cultural things, people like Tayler and Jessgah.

 

I have a lot of stories and ideas and no idea how to put them here.  Whenever I have thoughts that pour out like rain I have no computer or pen..or will to document either.

Similar thing here though, I love Japan and I want to remember this experience for ever and everything that I did but I don’t feel like writing it all, and then telling it a bunch of times, and then writing the same things in a bunch of postcards.

 

So I’ll just ramble with whatever comes to mind when I reflect upon Japan.

 

 

I love how helpful everyone is.  A lday ran to another shop to find out if they had mirrors for me, whenever I shop and have more than one bag, store employees give bigger bags to put them in, a guard who took my picture gave me free candy, etc.  And the free samples everywhere.  It seems to be tied in to the value of gift giving.  I never really felt awkward about taking the samples.  At one shop I was at the same guy must have offered me about 8 different camples, and his wife offered me tea, and not because they wanted me to buy it.  Yknow? Like when you go to get ice cream and you sample a few flavors and then you begin to feel guilty about it, like they’re annoyed at you or expect you to buy? I didn’t get that feeling at all and I had billions of samples.

 

Everything is so safe.  I did make a couple would-be-fatal mistakes, such as not noticing my camera slipped out of my pocket, or dropping my shipboard Id, and people would let me know right away.  And I love the bowing and the general feeling of good will.

I love how warmly the food sits in my stomach and the feeling of warm tea, and the feelings that subsequently follow and stay with me the rest of the night.

 

I love Japan.

Tuesday Feb 9th, 2010 - port in yokohama, Japan!!

 

IN JAPAN!!! I’m sorry that I haven’t been keeping up with my adventure save for little wimpy notes for each day.  Even though its been fun, writing about the ship is a little tedious.  Also hard.  There are a lot of things going on and I can’t remember everything.  Ive also been kind of seasick for a couple days.  Never threw up, I’m stubborn about throwing up unless its for a legitimate illness that will get it out of my system.  But I felt gross and was unable to study.  Seriously, going to school on a moving, sometimes rattling, tipping campus is really trippy.  Well, lets see, last night I found out that my Meditation with Zen Buddhist Monks and my Karaoke with Yokohama University students were cancelled for today, so I’m now preparing to travel around independently with Nat and his fabulous roommate Wade. From Canada.  Because of the previous stormy spell we had for a couple days, the boat had to slow down and they thought we’d be super late to Japan (in terms of hours, not days) so they cancelled the trips.  However, apparently we booked it because we only arrived a couple hours late, about 930 (of course, its now 11:41 and my “sea” (hall – which is dubbed the Caribbean Sea) hasn’t been called yet.  Nevertheless, it turns out that out of the three trips they weren’t able to reinstate, two of them were the one’s I’d signed up for.  Dray.  Oh well.  Some goals I have:

Buy a Japanese umbrella because apparently I didn’t bring one?...

Hang out with a Monk, and with a Geisha, ideally at the same time…

Find something cool to collect from all the ports. Maybe a tapestry or scarves or cool symbolic charms.

Go to a hot spring.

Public bathhouse!

Eat a bunch of cute shit. (ALL THEIR FOOD IS SO CUTE, WTF.)

Karaoke Bar.

Meditate with a monk ON MY OWN, since the trip was cancelled. Not stopping ME.

Go to an ice bar. Maybe. It sounds cool, but may be pricey…

 

My stomach is churning, I’m suddenly very nervous and happily nauseous.  How beautiful that getting off the ship has taken so long that by the time I’m dancing on Japanese soil it will be exactly time to eat!

 

notes from a hard and nauseating week-plus that i couldnt manage to blog about

Saturday January 30, 2010 (B4)

Salsa

Played pounce

 

Sunday January 31, 2010 (A5)

Nat finally played pounce

 

Monday  February 1, 2010 (B5)

 

So much to do.  Missed knitting, because of extended family dinner, and missed zumba, but went to salsa dancing. Was going to go to Japanese flower arranging but lost interest. Dance till midnight. Again going to watch movie but kept talking and got tired

Turned in forms and japan overnight form

 

Tuesday February 2, 2010, (no class)

 

Today we cross the international dateline, which means we lose a day, and tomorrow will be Thursday instead of Wednesday.  Technically I guess we switch to Wednesday in the middle of the day, but whatever, that’s too much to handle.
global studies meeting/pictures

 

Thursday February 4, 2010 (a6)

Spiritual Dance again!

Tried a smoothie?

 

Friday February 5^, 2010 (b6)

Slept in, booted from room
Latin dance

 

Saturday February 6, 2010 (a7)

Kids party

Foodies meeting

 

Sunday February 7, 2010 (b7)

 

Monday Feb 8^th 2010 ASIA DAYYY

The day before Asia, there are a bunch of seminars we can go to etc, I slept through most things but oh welllll at the end of the day I had free popcorn!

Friday January 29th, 2010

Ew it’s rainy and gray and I just want to sleep and not go to class.  I like rainy and gray, but not when on a moving boat that is also threatening to make me sick in the middle of class.  It is thoroughly impossible for me to get work done on days like this.  Another thing I have to admit, I have this vampirical dislike for natural light in my bedroom.  Not like I literally DISLIKE it, I just feel cozier when it’s dark and can’t concentrate very well when there are windows or blinds open.  I guess that’s a little weird.  But being in this dark windowless cabin really doesn’t bother me, as long as there is a strong artificial light source I can use to work by, get dressed by, etc.

Forgetting sarah marshallll