夏の宝石: Narita Airport and Tokyo

So yesterday, we finally arrived in the Narita Tokyo Airport and the minute I got off the plane, I immediately noticed just how heavy and damp the air was. It was really humid! The weather was about.. seventy degrees Fahrenheit, but dangit, humidity makes it feel so much more hotter. On the plane, I was sitting next to a really nice lady who happened to be returning home from a year studying abroad in Nevada. She actually helped me with my speech a little, advising me when I should pause and when I shouldn’t. The flight was quite long, and they didn’t really feed us a lot. It was really cramped, which I probably mentioned in my earlier post. I should be able to have my blog entries up by tonight, so yeah..

So, I got into Tokyo, and we walked through to our baggage claim, went through customs and then we were directed to stay in an area by YFU Japan staff. It. Was. Terribly hot. Yeah, just standing around in the weather was unbearable. We got split up into buses and were driven from Narita to Tokyo, the bus ride was great, and I got a lot of pictures, especially of Tokyo Tower, gorgeous tower. Driving to our hotel, I got to see a lot of Tokyo, and the city is absolutely amazing. Tall sky scrapers, very crowded, cars driving on the left side of the rode.. Yeah. There is a lot of Japanese written on buildings, cars, everywhere!

Ah, I just got back from our meeting with YFU Japan’s Chairperson. I think his name was Mr. Owakara.. Well, he gave us a really short speech and after that, we took lots of pictures. I really wanted a picture of him.. Oh well. Well, after that we had lunch at the YFU office.. and oh my goodness, their pudding is so delicious! I didn’t take a picture, I should have, but oh man, it was all really pretty. They also had fruits out, and the fruits were so sweet! There was watermelon, honeydew, melon, pineapple, strawberry, and a piece of pineapple, and it was arranged in a really cute way. Ah, I wish I took pictures, they tasted exactly how they look. Soo good.

After we ate, we had about an hour of free time, so me and a group of friends walked around in Tokyo. During our walk, we walked across a bridge that went across the street, and some vending machines, along with with a small shrine. Ah, it was really fun! The small park that we came across was absolutely beautiful, and lots and lots of foliage. It really felt like you were away from the hustle and bustle of the city, really quiet and peaceful. I got to take a lot of pictures, but man, I really felt like a foreigner, taking a picture of every little thing. Haha, well, it was quite interesting. While we were out, a lot of people were eating their lunch, and Japan just has a lot of people in business suits walking around! It’s so hot though, I don’t understand how they can wear all those layers.. or maybe it’s just a really lightweight fabric.. Oh, just saw four men in suits walk by.. Yeah, as you can see, they’re everywhere!

Outside entrance of the shrine.

A tree outside of the shrine.

Here, you wash your hands and rinse your mouth with the water and then you enter the shrine. You're supposed to "cleanse" yourself. :>

Inside entrance into the shrine; after cleansing ourselves we went through here.

Well, now that I’ve talked about what happened just now, I’ll talk about earlier this morning. Earlier, we met up with some members of the U.S. Embassy here in Japan, and they talked about what they did as part of the Foreign Services. They talked about their section and highly encouraged us to try for it, or it was what was implied anyways. I did my speech, messed up like twice.. but apparently they were impressed because the other two girls who did their speech didn’t do it in Japanese. Oh my goodness, so scary. Well, I’ll actually type my speech here, because I went through so much pain and agony to memorize it.
おはようござます。
YFUとおきなわへいわしょうがくきんをいただいたがくせいのだいひょうとして、わたくしはアメリカたいしかんにかんしゃのきもちをもしあけたいとおもいます。
わたくしたちとってこれわ、とってもりっぱなけいけんになるとおもいます。
このりゅがくで日本のぶんかをおしえていただくだけでわなく、アメリカのぶんかもおしえたいとおもいます。
このりゅがくはわたくしたちのしょうがいわすれないけいけんになるでしょう。
たいしかんのみなさまにたいへんかんしゃしております。
ありがとうございました。

So, to break it down, basically: On behalf of YFU and Okinawa Scholarship recipients, I would like to thank the U.S. Embassy. This is a great opportunity for us. The reason for us going to Japan is not only to learn a new culture, but to teach others of American culture as well. This is something we will never forget. To the U.S. Embassy of Japan, I give my thanks. Thank you very much.

Yeah, memorized all that on the plane ride to Japan, and rehearsed over and over again. I can’t believe I still messed up my speech though.. Ah, I’m so glad I got to walk around Tokyo a bit, it’s such a beautiful city, but man, is it hot! Well, I guess that’s it..

Oh yes! Goodness, vending machines! I even saw a vending machine for cigarettes.. but, that's not the point! While we were out walking around Tokyo, I saw a vending machine with this advertisement:

and I was totally wondering why the guy in the ad looked so familiar. And then it hit me. He's the actor for L in the Death Note movies. He looks so strange being kind of tan, but it's actually cool that I recognized him!

Oh yes, I never mentioned the hotel I'm staying at. I'm staying at the Keio Hotel in Tokyo and the view from my room is absolutely gorgeous. I can see Tokyo Tower from my room. Haha, well yesterday when we checked in, the YFU Japan staff gave us obento and we brought it up to our room to drink. The hotel is really nice, the minute we walked in.. everything seemed so shiny and sparkly!