Goodbye Japan! Nov 8th

Today is my last day in Japan. To tell you the truth I .....WANT TO GO HOME!
well a

Kusatsu Oct 20-21

This weekend we went to Kusatsu. We rode the train for 2 hours to Kusatsu. When we got to our hotel I wanted to go in the swimming pool but we couldn't get into it until 3:00. We also couldn't get into our room until 3:00. So we tool a walk. We walked into town.

In town there was steaming water that smelled like rotten hard boiled eggs. Yuck! It wasn't eggs it was the smell of the water. My father told me the smell was Sulfur. The water was heated up by lava beneath the earth and it rises up to the surface and flows into pools. People soak their feet in it and put their hands in it and we got to take a bath in it at our hotel.

We walked to some stores down the street. Some guys were giving out free treats. But when we came he just kinda turned his back so we went by the other guy. My mom just kinda reached for one but he pulled the tray away too. They were only giving them to Japanese people. My mother and father told me that was prejudice. Prejudice is when people judge other people before they meet them. People are only giving things to a certain kind of people because the don't like people different than them self. It made me feel kinda bad because they were giving them out to everyone but people that aren't Japanese. In my opinion prejudice is not fair. But the good thing was that not all people are like that and when we went down 2 stores they were giving them out to everyone with smiles. We got two and I hate a half.

We also got to go swimming. When we went in the pools we had to wear shower caps. There was a girl there who was about my age. My father talked to her father. He said that his daughter spoke English. Her name was Rena in Japanese and in English her name was Marie. First we started playing ball together. Then we started doing flips and diving and jumping. I started trying to stay up (float).

That night we went bowling. We weren't keeping score. I even got a strike. We had fun until I got tired.

Tue-Friday Oct 16-19

Tuesday we went shopping and for Indian food for dinner.

On Wednesday we went to the Children's hall. I made a spider out of a cup in a crafts area. It was green, purple and black. We were going to do wood shop but I didn't want to.

Thursday was an easy day. We did homework and made plans for the weekend!

Friday we went and bout train tickets for the weekend. Then my Japanese teacher came and taught me many things. She expected me to know numbers, words and people after she said them once. At certain parts I was very confused and she didn't speak English that well.

Monday and Tuesday October 15th, 16th

On Monday we rode the monorail to Odaiba. That is a train on one track instead of 2 and above ground. That is probably what we will take to Disney Tokyo if we go (my dad says if I behave). Odaiba is where one of the biggest ferris wheels in the world is. We got to go on the ferris wheel... YAAAAY. We got to see Tokyo from a birds eye view.










We had crepes for lunch. They are almost like pancakes. Mine had some kind of custard and pound cake and strawberries and strawberry jam and bananas. And my mothers had bananas, whip cream and custard.

Tuesday was very disappointing. Because the world was boring. We went to the train station, again, and went to all sorts of places. My mother and I went to a children's museum but most of the kids were much younger than me so I got really sad. Most kids my age were at school. I was sad because I missed my friends at school.
Then we went town where we were supposed to go to an Aikido class but we got lost and couldn't find it. Its really hard getting around Tokyo when you don't speak the language very well. We found our way back to our apartment and slept until my dad got home.

Sunday October 14th

Sunday we went to a Japanese Garden with my dad's coworker Yuka. There where lots of ponds with plump fish in the ponds. They were carp. There were bridges made out of slabs of stone or rock.



On There was a rose garden with 2 ladies performing music with a violin and a harpsichord of some kind. There were lots of roses. Pink roses, orange roses, yellow roses, pink and yellow roses, yellow and pink roses, purple roses white roses and red roses.












And I took about 142 pictures.
Then we went to the aquarium and on our way we saw a monkey performing silly and not silly tricks. When we got to the aquarium we saw a seal and lots of fish, lizards and snakes. And some fish we've never seen before the most colorful fish I've ever seen.

Saturday Oct 13

On Saturday morning we hung out at our apartment. Then we left for the Ghibli museum. On a train called the Hibaya line. At the Ghibli museum there was lots of things to do.

I thought I was going to meet Hayo Miazaki because the museum was dedicated to movies he directed. He is a famous movie director here in Japan.
I got a shirt and some stamps from the movie My Neighbor Totoro. How to pronounce Totoro is Toe-Tuh-Row.


My dad says I was a real piece of work at dinner.

Friday October 12th

On Friday we went and shopped for groceries. We met my father at a train station that was called Kasumigseki. Then we went out for sushi because we couldnt find the restaurant that my mother wanted to find and eat there. Then we went back to our apartment and rested. Then we went to the park and I swung on some yellow balls.

Thurday, Friday Oct 11th and 12th.

Thursday,
We fed birds at Homacho park and we also watched a bird I named Purple necked pigeon take a bath. His feather were fluffy when he got out. Also his feather s were sticking out and he kinda looked a little crazy.

On Friday we went and shopped for groceries. We met my father at a train station that was called Kasumigseki. Then we went out for sushi because we couldnt find the restaurant that my mother wanted to find and eat there. Then we went back to our apartment and rested. Then we went to the park and I swung on some yellow balls.

Video of how to ride the trains

Buy the ticket...


Use it to get in the train area...


Ride the train!

Monday Oct 8

MONDAY OCT 8th
Ohayo gozaimasu! (that means good morning in Japanese.)

You are probably at school by now in the morning but now it is 9:00 at night here. Today, we went out for breakfast at Jonathan's. Then we went back to our apartment and I did my very frustrating school work. Which I didn't know how to do the story problems. But I figured it out and my parents helped me.
Then we went on 2 trains to a place my aunts would like because they love shopping. It was very busy and I think there were 800 bagillion people in the stores shopping and by the sidewalks, walking on the streets crossing, and there was a car that almost slid off the roads.
Then we went to a sushi place for dunch (dinner and lunch). There was a moving track that went all the way around the table and it had plates on it and it was going very slow so that you can pick your own little plates of sushi one at a time. The food on the plates were 2 bite size pieces. (Also you can order off the menu if you don't see what you want.) The different colors of the plates told you what it costs because they had a sign on the wall that told you. It was a good story problem for me to figure out. Maybe you can too.

The blue pattern plates costed 220 yen.
The brown checkered plates costed 160 yen.
The white flower plates were 130 yen.
The green flower plates were 100 yen.

I took 1 blue pattern plate. 2 brown checkered plates. 1 white flowered plate and 1 green flower plate.
Can you figure out how much I spent?


After lunch we went a store that had all kinds of Japanese stuff. They sold art, fragile dolls, tea sets, swords, and kimonos. A kimono is a cross between a robe and a dress. But it is much prettier than a robe. Kimonos are only used for very special occasions like weddings, tea ceremonies and graduations. Since I've been in Japan I've been counting how many. So far 36. My father offered to buy me one. Of course I said yes. I tried one on for size and found a shelf with my size kimonos and I picked one out. I cant wait to show you when I get back.

Week 2 Mon-Weds

Monday October 1^st

My mother made a Japanese breakfast. It was rice, eggs, nori and sliced carrots. It was the best breakfast I’ve had since I’ve ben here. We went to the bank because we needed money. We gave them American dollars travellers checks and they gave Yen. My dad went to work and it was just me and my mother. We walked around. We went to a flower shop but we didn’t buy anything. The flowers were quite beautiful. These flowers are like the orange paper lanterns we have around our house in Eben.

Then we came back to our apartment and watched TV in Japanese.

Tuesday October 2^nd

On Tuesday I woke up at 6. Finally I have adjusted to the time change.

We went to the train station with my dad during rush hour traffic. It was very crowded. My dad took us down to the subway. We went on a train it was only five minutes and we went to Akihabara staion. Me and my mother got off and my father went to work. My mom says it was like time square in New York City… BUSY!

Then we went down to the Sumita river. It is connected to the ocean.

Later we went to a kids store. They had a Kiki’s Delivery Service stamp with her cat Gigi and they had lots of disney things. Kiki’s Delivery Service is a movie by Kiomiazaki. I like his movies. We have tickets to go to the Ghibli museum which is a museum dedicated to his movies. Instead of getting the stamps, I got little Japanese balls made out of fabric with puff inside. They are for throwing and catching alone or with friends. When I get back I am going to show you them.

We went back to our apartment. Then I did homework. I read The Quilt story. Then we watched TV until my father got home. Then went out to dinner. I didn’t like it.

Wednesday October 3rd

On Wednesday we went to a park. There were ropes with balls on the ends. I swung on them it was fun. There were lots of cats. 2 brown cats, 1 orange cat, 1 white cat and 1 white cat with brown and orange spots.

We made our own sushi rolls for lunch (no fish) and made plans to go to Kyoto on Saturday.

Week 2 - Thu-Sun Oct 4-7

Thursday October 4th

On Thusday we had a Japanese breakfast. Then my mother and I went to the park. I swung on the balls like the day before and then two mothers came over and put their little ones on the balls. Their children were 2 or so years old. (click to play the video)

When the younger children left I sill played on the balls. Then an older lady came and said something in Japanese. We can only guess what she was saying. Maybe she was saying that’s not the way to play on the balls that you could get hurt. So I got sad and left the park. Later we went shopping for kitchen goods. We stopped at a bakery vendor and got something similar to french toast to cheer me up. A vendor is a little puny shop on the side of street where you cant go in but you can buy stuff. It didn’t quite do the trick though. Then we went shopping and we bought a pitcher the size of my moms fingernail for syrup or soy sauce. Then we went home and I did homework. We did math story problems and penmenship until my dad got home. And then we went to our favorite sushi place where went a few times before. The chef knew us and spoke a little english. He remembered that every time I got there I got the same thing. Before we even had a chance to order he brought me a plate of what I like. It was cucumber rolls and egg sushi rolls.So of course when we left he had to give him a good tip even though we don’t think they tip in Japan. After that I went home.

FRIDAY October 5th

On Friday we went to the zoo. First we looked at some of the birds. There were pheasants, peacocks, and 1 eagle. Then we went to see the pandas. There was 1 giant panda and 5 red pandas. then we went and saw the elephants. there was 1 small one and 5 big ones. I drew a picture of the small one. After that we went and saw the penguins. The penguins werent very active so we went to see the polar bears. The polar bears were very active. They were going back and forth on their pretend ice.
Then we went to see the seals.The seals were sliding along the bottom of their big pool really fast. they would dive down into the shallow pool then come up once in a while. Then a baby seal came up on a rock to rest. Then we went to see the bears. First we saw the sun bear, then the black bear, then the Grizzly bear and then we saw the brown bear. Then we went into a building to see other animals that couldn't be outside. First there was a lizard, then a snake, then a turtle the size of me! Then a rattle snake, a sea lion and a huge lizard. Then we saw a hippo outside of the building.

Then we went back to our apartment. My trip to the zoo was fun.

Sunday October 7th

On Sunday we went on a bus tour. Except the problem was on the bus tour was it was very very boring. It was boring because we had to sit in the bus for 4 hours and when we got to the waterfall it was only 15 minutes to look at the waterfall. I had time to play my game boy and I got to read. And then we went to a shrine. Twas very crowded and stuffy. But the lunch was the best thing ever... well not exactly the best thing but reaalllly really good.

It was a holiday weekend, a 3 day weekend here too. So it was very very very very crowded.

Week 1

MONDAY and TUESDAY!

On Monday September 24^th we had to wake up at 6:00 a.m. Then we said goodbye to our horse, our five dogs, our guinea hens, our goats, our cat, our cows and my cricket. After that our neighbor Bruce came and brought us to the airport. We got our tickets, gave our luggage to the man behind the desk and walked through airport security. Then we got on the plane for an hour. After that we stopped at the Chicago airport. We went on another airplane for 15 hours. It felt weird at first but then I got used to it. I finally fell asleep on the plane.
Before I knew it I was being woken up by my mom because we were landing. My adventure in Tokyo had begun!

My dad told me it was Tuesday afternoon when we got there. I didn’t believe him at first and when I looked at a clock I couldn’t believe my eyes! He was telling the truth. I was very surprised about the time change and very tired because it was the middle of the night at home and the middle of the day in Japan. My dad showed me a cool map that shows which parts of the Earth are in day and which are in night. You can see this here http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/sunearth.html

My dad and I went out for dinner at a Sushi place. We thought it was cool because there were live fish in the window. The fish were in a tank alive. We had to point to the food we wanted on the menu because they didn’t speak English very well and we don’t speak Japanese. But we got what we wanted. I had cucumber roll which is cucumber wrapped in rice and the rice is wrapped in Nori. Nori is a flat sheet of green you can eat made from a vegetable that grows in the ocean.

So far my trip to Tokyo is perfect!

WEDNESDAY September 26th!
Today I was very tired but we went for breakfast and my mom and I went to a shrine. A shrine is a place where people in Japan go to say a prayer. There is a special part of a shrine where only the monks can go in. I took a couple pictures for you.

I went to bed at 1 in the afternoon and slept all day until my dad got home from work. Then we went out for dinner again at Jonathans and we had pancakes and breakfast about the same time people in Michigan were having breakfast!

Thursday September 27th!
I woke up at 2am for the day. I was reading, playing my game boy, pacing, laughing and trying to wake my parents up. So I went out on the balcony. When I went out I couldn’t believe it. Everywhere there were lights and all the buildings looked like they were open because they had the lights on. I went inside to wake my parents up again. They wouldn’t even budge until 5am and we all went to the same place for breakfast but it was closed. We found a supermarket and had breakfast at our apartment. My dad went to work so it was just me and my mother. I did lots of schoolwork today with a picture of my class sitting next to me. Then I did handstands. I slept most of the afternoon from 4 until about 8:00pm.

Friday September 28th!
On Friday we bought a very special fan from a fan store that sold nothing but fans.

Fans are a symbol of Japanese life and there are many different kinds. The kind I have is a dance fan. The fan was about 2000 yen which is $20.00 when you round up. I am learning to count Japanese money. I am also learning to use our camera so that I can send pictures. Here are two pictures of the Japanese money and my fan.

Saturday September 29th!

On Saturday I woke up at 3:00 am. I read chapter books and waited for my parents to wake up. At 7:00 we had pancakes. I had 9 pancakes. My parents and I went to Starbucks then we went on a train. We had to stand because all the seats were taken. When we got off the subway we went to a fish market. It was very crowded there and some of the fish were stinky but most of it wasn’t.. They also sold other things at the fish market like veggies, pots and pans, and rice.

At the fish market there were ponds with chubby fish, these fish you do not eat!

Why they sell mostly fish is because Japan catches the most fish in the world. When we went to a Sushi restaurant they had a big fish tank in the room. I wondered why at first but I noticed when my dad ordered fish one of the chefs reached into the tank and grabbed one. My mouth dropped open I was so surprised. After he took the fish I noticed he put 3 more alive bigger fish into the tank. For lunch I had Kappa Maki, which is a cucumber roll that is cucumber rice and nori. And I had Tomago, which is cooked sweet egg and rice, and Nori. When we went out of the sushi place and waiting to go across the street a guy on a bicycle came up and he was balancing 3 bowls of soup on a tray while he was riding his bike. Then we went back to our apartment very tired.