Making Halloween Dinner; pasta and pumpkin soup!
Kaori, Masaio, Michi, Rina, Makoto
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Friday, October 12, 2007
Climbing Mt. Fuji
This summer I had the opportunity to climb to the top of Mt. Fuji. This was the one thing I wanted to do the most during my time in Japan. We climbed Mt. Fuji on July 28, 2007.
Our team consisted of for people: Dan (my room mate), Kiyomi Kawamata (Taga firefighter chief), and Rie (friend of Kiyomi's). We left Hitachi around 8pm on a Friday evening; Kiyomi driving to Fuji in his BMW! We reached the base around 12 am midnight. We parked the car and started our hike around 1:30 am. It was so dark when we first started, almost too dark for pictures but the sky was flooded with stars. There were many other climbers starting around this same time all with the same goal; to see the sunrise from Mt. Fuji. Even though it was summer, the temperature was very cold because of the high altitude, plus it was the middle of the night. The base of the mountain was covered in trees and other foliage; however, as we worked our way up the mountain the greenery was reduced to mostly rock and ash. (FYI Mt. Fuji is a dormant volcano, and this is the 300th anniversary since the last eruption.) Every hundred meters or so there were rest stations. They would have benches out side where you could rest or you could rent a spot inside to rest and warm yourself. Many people actually will hike half way one day, sleep at a station, at hike the other half the next day! Not our team; our plan was to go up and down that thing in one day! These stations also had bathrooms but you had to pay 100yen (about one US dollar) to use it.
We got to see the sun rise at about 4:30; at that point we were about half way up the mountain. The view was really too amazing to describe. All the Japanese people around us kept yelling, "Banzai!" This means, 'long live the Emperor.'
About 3/4 to the top I started to have a little difficulty breathing. Maybe it was the thin air or it could have been mountain sickness, I am not sure.
Anyways it took about six and a half hours to get to the top. At the top we rested for about one hour. The view from the top was beyond beautiful, we could see at least halfway down. Many people were still working there way to the top. (F.Y.I. Mt. Fuji is about 3700 meters tall). I still had a little mountain sickness at the top, but I lost it slowly as we descended.
We started our decent around 9:30. The path down was a steep winding road covered in lava rock. It only took us about three hours to reach the bottom, but it seem longer because the road was terribly monotonous.
We reached the bottom of the mountain around 1:00 pm and headed to the onsen (hot spring). Kiyomi had rented a big room at the onsen for 6 hours. There we took a bath, ate, and slept. We were all so exhausted, sleep had never felt so good.
Our team consisted of for people: Dan (my room mate), Kiyomi Kawamata (Taga firefighter chief), and Rie (friend of Kiyomi's). We left Hitachi around 8pm on a Friday evening; Kiyomi driving to Fuji in his BMW! We reached the base around 12 am midnight. We parked the car and started our hike around 1:30 am. It was so dark when we first started, almost too dark for pictures but the sky was flooded with stars. There were many other climbers starting around this same time all with the same goal; to see the sunrise from Mt. Fuji. Even though it was summer, the temperature was very cold because of the high altitude, plus it was the middle of the night. The base of the mountain was covered in trees and other foliage; however, as we worked our way up the mountain the greenery was reduced to mostly rock and ash. (FYI Mt. Fuji is a dormant volcano, and this is the 300th anniversary since the last eruption.) Every hundred meters or so there were rest stations. They would have benches out side where you could rest or you could rent a spot inside to rest and warm yourself. Many people actually will hike half way one day, sleep at a station, at hike the other half the next day! Not our team; our plan was to go up and down that thing in one day! These stations also had bathrooms but you had to pay 100yen (about one US dollar) to use it.
We got to see the sun rise at about 4:30; at that point we were about half way up the mountain. The view was really too amazing to describe. All the Japanese people around us kept yelling, "Banzai!" This means, 'long live the Emperor.'
About 3/4 to the top I started to have a little difficulty breathing. Maybe it was the thin air or it could have been mountain sickness, I am not sure.
Anyways it took about six and a half hours to get to the top. At the top we rested for about one hour. The view from the top was beyond beautiful, we could see at least halfway down. Many people were still working there way to the top. (F.Y.I. Mt. Fuji is about 3700 meters tall). I still had a little mountain sickness at the top, but I lost it slowly as we descended.
We started our decent around 9:30. The path down was a steep winding road covered in lava rock. It only took us about three hours to reach the bottom, but it seem longer because the road was terribly monotonous.
We reached the bottom of the mountain around 1:00 pm and headed to the onsen (hot spring). Kiyomi had rented a big room at the onsen for 6 hours. There we took a bath, ate, and slept. We were all so exhausted, sleep had never felt so good.
Climbing Mt. Fuji was a big challenge, not only physically challenging but mentally as well. The physical challenge obviously needs no explanation. The mental part was having to deny your own fear of the mountain. Many times it was easy to get discouraged and want to quit climbing, because there is still a long way to go. Not only do you have to push and encourage yourself, but push and encourage your other team members. I also received and gave encouragement to and from other stangers climbing the mountian.
I really would like to try to climb it again next year.
Here are some pictures from our journey! Group shot, shot down the mountain, Station 7, me climbing, sunrise.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
A trip to the beach
On October 7th, Sunday, we went to a beach in Hitachi after eating lunch. In attendance was Dan, Thomas, Michi, and myself. The waves had a huge swell and we could see the quickly pulling undertow. There were about 5 elementary age kids playing in the skim and the waves as they washed up on the shore. We were really worried that one of them was going to get pulled in by the undertow. Dan jokingly called which kid it would be. The really bad part was that none of the children's parents were there watching the kids. Anyways Michi told one of the older girls, not playing in the water, to go get some of the parents. About that same time, I had turned around to look for some sea glass. About a few minutes later I hear Michi screaming. I turn around to see Dan taking off his shirt and Thomas running for the water. I start sprinting immediately, fully clothed, Thomas and I hit the water about the same time.(What had happened was that one of the boys got pulled down and out by the undertow, in about ten seconds he was at least 30 meters out!!!)Thomas reached the kid a few seconds before I did, and got his head above the water. We were so far out that neither Thomas or I could touch bottom. I tried to help support Thomas as he carried the kid because the waves were so bad! They were pushing all three of us under together. Michi and Dan had waded out about knee deep and took the kid from us because we were practically exhausted after getting him back to the shore. At this time the parents finally showed up. Michi gave a nice speech to the parents and the children as Thomas and I tried to come back to our senses. There were a lot of thank yous and apologies from all the parents. My cell phone got ruined, so I had to replace it.It was such a rush.
Now, I'm not writing this to make us look like heroes or anything. But we all felt as if God had put the four of us there to save that kid; basically something like Devinne intervention. Sito-san preached that day and finished at 11:30. We ate at a quick little restaurant near the church, and Michi and I both had a strange desire to go to the beach. Thank God for all these events that brought us to the beach at that time.
Now, I'm not writing this to make us look like heroes or anything. But we all felt as if God had put the four of us there to save that kid; basically something like Devinne intervention. Sito-san preached that day and finished at 11:30. We ate at a quick little restaurant near the church, and Michi and I both had a strange desire to go to the beach. Thank God for all these events that brought us to the beach at that time.
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