The Land of the Rising Sun

Sugoi! I've been in Japan for 4 days now and it seems like I've been here for a month already! There have been so many new experiences and things to see and try. It'll be difficult for me to write about it all so you'll be getting quite a watered down version of it all. (hope you don't mind.)

Traveling to Japan takes a good long time. I started for Charlotte, NC at 9:00 Saturday and finished my journey in Yamanakako at around 21:00 Sunday. Woof. After a 2 hour flight, a 13 hour flight, a 5 and a half hour bus ride and a half an hour car ride, I was beat to say the least. As an interesting side note, buses are heated until Japan's first day of summertime. I arrived one day before it and it was around 90 F and they still had the buses heated. Atsui desu yo!

My arrival was short lived as I collapsed into my bed from jet lag exhaustion after a short tour of the Torchbearer's camp facilities. The next day I found myself packing again for a four day trip to Karuizawa, Nagano. After yet another 5 hour drive and a spectacular view of Fujisan later, we arrived at a camp retreat center where we spent the next few days preparing for our work this summer and getting acquainted with one another.

Karuizawa is quite a famous little town. John Lennon and Yoko Ono traveled to it every summer and the Emperor courted his wife through a match of tennis just a short walk from where I stayed. There are dozens of shops and little restaurants that line the main street including a Hayao Miyazaki store. (He's a famous Japanese animated film maker. You should check out his work sometime!) Yesterday, I traveled with some of my team to see an amazing stone church that could only be described by a poet and a beautiful waterfall with water so clear you can see through to the bottom of its pool. It was also some of the freshest water I have ever tasted.

Stone Church

Shiraito no Taki waterfall

Speaking of taste, I've had a few interesting things to eat on this trip so far. Although I haven't had too much actual Japanese food yet (most of the staff here are Canadian), I was still able to get some interesting treats from the local stores and such. The sodas here are way different and canned tea and coffee is in pretty much every vending machine. If you ever get the chance, try a tasty little snack called mochi. It's made of a sort of jellied rice ball with a sweet red bean paste in the center. Easily one of my favourite snacks. Today I tried a pack of vinegared squid tentacles from a convenience store. Not too bad actually. It was like chewing on a fishy, sweet, vinegary twizzler almost. I have pictures to prove it. I got one of my Canadian friends, Ben, to try a tentacle. He thought it tasted like lobster. No idea how he got that though haha.

Ika (squid)

Me about to eat the squid tentacles

"Not too bad!"

Most of the staff here are Canadian. They are all delightful folks that love the Lord and have a real heart for people. They've left such a good impression on me that I now want to plan a road trip across Canada some day! There are four Japanese staff members here. Two of which speak fluent English. One of the other ones that don't speak English fluently is Kota-san. We've been helping each other learn the other's language. He's miles ahead of me. There is also one Filipino woman whose English is probably better than mine. Apart from me, there is only one other American - and he's Hawaiian so we aren't sure if that really counts yet haha.

Japanese of the day:

いただきます
I-ta-da-ki-ma-su

Translation:

I humbly receive
(It's customary to say before a meal)