Friday, June 13, 2008

Trip to the Embassy - Friday, June 13th, 2008







(Assuming from the length from this post, you can tell I had an awesome time in Tokyo)

All YFU students were to be awake by 7 AM for breakfast at 7 AM – 7:45 AM (Tokyo Time GMT +9); I had woke at 7:17. This is what happens when you ask your roommate you aren’t sure to place trust to wake you up in the morning at your specified time (I asked to wake up at 6:45 AM). I rushed out of bed and headed down by 7:30 AM since it takes me forever to brush my teeth, change and organize myself. I only had 15 minutes to eat, and I couldn’t even find where the restaurant was (レストラン). By the time I found it, I had 7 minutes remaining, and the line was LONG. I feared that I wouldn’t be able to eat breakfast at all and this was a big deal to be because food in Japan is 高い (takai = expensive)! Just a bottle of water costs 340 (about $3.40), can you imagine how much food costs? Anyways, Hiro-san, one of our YFU Japan staff members, happened to be nearby and he said I shouldn’t worry because he just wants us to show up at the lobby by 8:30 AM, which was a huge relief. We were going to visit the American Embassy in Tokyo, and discover places around Tokyo (such as the Edo-Tokyo Museum and see the Imperial Palace).

I ate slowly and had a splendid view of a garden outside of the window from the restaurant of the hotel. “Itadakimasu,” I said, which is what people in Japan say before a meal and I ended the meal with “Gouchisousama deshita” (Literally means, “It was a feast”). And as you guessed again, this is also what you say after a meal. I proceeded to the lobby and met the rest of the YFU staff. We had a couple minutes to spend before the buses come, so I went to the ビジネスセンター (Business Center) to check my emails and if lucky, chat with a couple friends and relatives (yes, like you Tina, haha)..

When the buses came, we got on and were met by another man, Kei-san. He was going to guide us around Tokyo today. So the bus is finally moving, and as we were going out the hotel, I happened to see a taxi driver pulled over by Tokyo police. Cool, huh? Well that’s just the usual, but the reason why I thought it was interesting was because he was pulled over by police bicycles, which I thought was funny maybe perhaps I was getting the image of Taxi vs Bicycle. You can see it in the picture below… We’re going along and the ride to the American Embassy was beautiful, seeing the sights of Tokyo and the Tokyo Tower. It’s a wonderful city. When we finally arrived to the embassy, which took about 45 minutes to an hour, the whole place was guarded by numerous armed police officers (police aren’t usually armed here). I guess it’s common for people protest about American military presence here in Japan, but hey, I don’t blame them. I’d probably be on their side too. We got off the bus, and got in a line to enter the embassy.

As you’re waiting in line, you can see how the American embassy’s gates are

literally, protected by state-of-the-art measures, such as a pole and a barricade that retracts underneath into the ground. Wow. I looked up, and there was that familiar flag again from home--the American flag. Finally got to the front of the line and went through a checkup just like security at the airport. With lots of bows and “Ohayou gozaimasu”s” (Good morning), I got through after having my camera stored safe by the security at the front desk. A couple friends and I finally got to a conference room, and sat down. There two people came in, we all stood up. They told us we shouldn’t have because there were two other people were late, so we chuckled and sat down. Long story short (the whole thing was about 1 hour and 30 minutes), they two late people came in and we began the meeting (which was basically about what skills we as young adults should utilize from our homestay experience. Since this meeting only had YFU students that won scholarship, either JAFS (Japan-American Friendship Scholarship) or the Okinawa Peace Scholars, each representative from each scholarship group presented a plaque to the American embassy, thanking them for this wonderful opportunity for all of us. Finally the meeting was over, and I met Keiko Enatsu, the representative of YFU Japan and the individual who granted me the Okinawa Peace Scholarship. I thanked her personally (though I did send a letter before I began the program) and we went to the front desk to exit the embassy (and to retrieve my camera).

We got on the bus, and headed towards the Imperial Palace. When we arrived, we saw a moat surrounding the palace, and the entrance was HUGE. There was SO much space between modern Japan (with modern buildings) and the traditional buildings of the Imperial Palace. On the way, we got to see KOUKOUSEI (High school students)! We, as a YFU group traveling together, passed by a the high school students and exchange friendly glances. One guy from the Japanese high school group said “ハロー” (Hello) and everyone started to greet each other and wave. The high school girls were a bit shy, but they gave us a warm greeting and headed on their way. And guess what, I even got to meet the Emperor! No, I’m just kidding on meeting the emperor. But other than that, I would have to say it was a fascinating experience. I took photos of myself with Harold, and Elizabeth (she’s also another person I met on an online forum for foreign exchange) at the palace.

Back to the bus, and we happened to meet the same Japanese high school

students eating lunch. In an open grass area. We waved at them and they waved back until we got on the bus and the bus was out of view. Our next destination was the Edo-Tokyo museum, which showed Tokyo’s history (Tokyo’s old name was Edo, hence the ‘Edo-Tokyo museum’). YFU Japan gave us Obento lunches when we reached the museum, and Harold and I decided to sit next to the shougakusei (elementary school children) apparently also on a field trip. ハロー (hello) they shouted again, and we greeted then back. We sat down and started munching. At this point, I finally felt that I was really in Japan. I was eating an Obento lunch, sitting in a Japanese-chatter environment, a Japanese flag waving nearby (it was hard finding one, believe it or not), and some schools around the museum. It felt breathtaking to finally acknowledge that I was here. We headedin the museum, and saw houses with human models of late 19 century Japan up into modern time. I even got to enter a replica old Japanese style home, and this was were I was mistaken as a Japanese high school student (I’m wearing my formal clothes which resemble school uniforms) when a shougakusei runs up to me and asks “これは何?” (what’s this) pointing at objects in the replica home. I reply “知らない” (I don’t know) and smiled—kids here are so cute and friendly. In the end, I actually got a chance to see the official surrender of Japan from WWII, and I have a neat picture for all of you to see.

Well then, it was a ride back to 品川区 (Shinagawa District) where our hotel was. This trip was pure horror, as the sun struck the side of the bus where I was sitting, and felt cooked at the end of the ride back to the Takanawa Prince Hotel.

I took a long rest, and Harold and I proposed an idea to go around Tokyo by ourselves and explore. Yes, by ourselves in a city as big as NYC. Hmm… Where should we go? Perhaps 秋葉原(Akihabara)? Yeah, 秋葉原 (Akihabara- Also known as “Akiba” for short)! We decided to take the 電車 (train—and you know how cool the trains in Japan are) since there was no 新幹線 (shinkansen = the bullet train) to Akihabara. It would be a 15 minute trip and would cost us only 160 . That’s about $1.60. Thus, after a 1-2 hour rest, Harold and I headed to the 品川駅 (Shinagawa Train Station) and bought tickets to Akihabara. This was the first time I felt my culture shock, as everything was in Japanese and I wasn’t sure which tickets to buy. We somehow figured it out by staring at the maps and got into where the trains were. (We didn’t know that we were supposed to stick our tickets in this machine so that we can gain entry to this area, but we got through anyways because so many people were flooding in, basically, without having to pay at all). After 20 minutes of deciding which train to take, we took the Yamanote Line (Mirdori [green] line). I captured some video clips of the crowded train and the train ride (along with an advertisement of the famous J-pop singer, Otsuka Ai) We arrived in Akihabara in about 15 minutes and got out, dumbfounded to a wonderful area like this. Akihabara in Japan has been known as the “electric town” due to the electronics sold here. After wandering for about 45 minutes together, we headed into a store (I forgot the name) that was 6 stories high and was ALMOST EXACTLY like Fry’s Electronics, except better! I was able to get two pictures because a salesman walked up to me and told me I couldn’t take pictures (I don’t see what’s wrong with taking pictures though). I bought a phone keychain as a souvenir for my phone (sorry I couldn’t buy some for you guys, they’re like $4-$7 each!). The keychain I bought was a member from a girl-group band called AKB48 (for Akihabara48). I walked around a bit in the store so that Harold could buy a dictionary software for his Nintendo DS so that if he didn’t know any symbols on signs, he could write it down on his DS and a dictionary would explain it. When we were done, we went out and ate udon and soba. I didn’t know how to put away my bowl so I ate slowly and watched other people finish. Well it was back on the Akihabara Train Station to Shinagawa, but Harold decided we should go to Shibuya and walk around, I agreed. Man, it was like New York! Look at all the people stand and walk at the crosswalk. Shibuya is what most people think of Tokyo. Oh, as I was walking, I bought Otsuka Ai’s Album called “Pocket” as a souvenir. We went back to the Shibuya train station after about 2 or 3 hours.

Ah, what a day to end the night in Tokyo. (And the rest is boring; I just packed and got ready for tomorrow)

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