Wow! Lindsey and I just returned from our first mini-vacation in Japan. We journeyed to Akita prefecture, just about 4 hours away by bus, which is an eternity for the Japanese people. If you remember from a previous post, the total square mileage is basically the same as that of only one US State- Montana- so a 4 hour trip is a pretty huge undertaking. I did 6-8 hour round trips in a car practically every weekend in the US.

This was the first time that we tried to 'get outta town' as it were. It was an amazing experience that we took plenty of photos doing and also video. I'm still working on some previous videos, but you'll be sure that this will be up as well. For the mean time, I'm sure Lindsey will put some photos up sooner than even myself. Remember her blog is http://lindseyscoop.blogspot.com

We had an extended weekend due to 3 holidays occurring this week. A while ago, the Japanese government moved all of their holidays to fall in such a manner that they all create an extended weekend. This chance it gave me 5 days to work with.

So, on Saturday, we got up, missed our first bus from our village and my supervisor drove us to Sendai, about 45 minutes away. That was very nice of her, and luckily she was going that way anyway. We were actually at the bus stop about 35 minutes early, but somebody had told us the wrong bus stop. We caught the second bus and it took 4 hours from there to Kisakata in Akita prefecture which is on the west side of Japan. We got off the bus and there was a town map. We saw that there was a tourist center and a camping spot by the beach, so we went to the tourist center first and got a bite of Ramen to eat. By the way, for those of you who don't know, Ramen is different in Japan. It is actually good and cooked in a restaurant. They do have the bagged and 'cup ramen' like in the US, but it's like comparing your box of macaroni and cheese at home to going to a nice italian restaurant- technically they're both pasta, but totally different.

At the Ramen shop, the manager invited us to his friend's house for supper later that night and we accepted. Since it was still afternoon we decided to go to the camp and put up our tent and put our stuff away. On our way back to the ramen shop, we ran into a really great guy named John who was backpacking with a LOT of stuff on his back. Lindsey and I thought he was about 30 and later he told me he was in his late 40's. He told me that he had been travelling the world since about 1991 and this is the longest he has been in one place since then. I thought it was awesome and he had some good stories. I wish I had gotten a chance to talk to him longer. He lives in Japan with his wife who is a Japanese woman, although oddly enough, they met in Tibet. Right now I think he's still on his backpacking trip around Japan. Even though he lives in Japan, he's spent a lot of time outside of Japan even during those 5 years.

Also, John inspired me to try a new hobby: Poi. While I was living in Taiwan, I saw this performed by a man on the street when I was in the hip part of Taipei which is called GongGuan. I got the impression that he did it fairly regularly, so if you're there, and in GongGuan, keep a look out for him. If you happen to know if he's still doing it or not, leave a comment to let people know.

Now, to explain what it is. Basically there is a ball attached to a rope which is attached to a strap-handle. There are two of them and you spin one in each hand. It was invented and attributed to the Maori tribe in New Zealand and I think most people outside of NZ (though not all) aspire to perform this feat with fire attached to the end of the chain. That is how I saw it performed in Taiwan. That is what John does some of the time. That's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna spin fire. Don't worry, I'll wait till I know what I'm doing first.

The sunset over the Japan sea was amazing. With the flaps open the breeze felt great through our tent. We woke up at 4:30 in the morning, packed up our tent, bid farewell to John on the other side of camp and walked to the bus stop for our bus to leave at 6:10. We got up the the base camp, called Hokodate and checked to see if there were any places to stay at the lodge. There weren't, big surprise on a national holiday, haha. It took us about 4 hours to climb to the top, well, not technically the summit, but the highest part really worth climbing to, especially with our time constraints. At the summit the view is basically the same, but you can't see the awesome part as well. In the crater in the middle there is a lake. The lake is very beautiful and we could see clouds spiralling and swirling in and out of the crater- real clouds, it's not hot or volcanic anymore. It was amazing looking all around at all the fall colors (there's a word for that in Japanese: Koyou) and both being above the clouds and also as we walked down we were able to walk THROUGH the clouds. It was amazing to just stand and look around and just see the middle of a cloud. It was so different than being in a cloud in a plane. This way we could actually FEEL the cloud, which is indescribable. Being in a cloud is not the same as fog, contrary to what people say.

We met some other great people on the trip, and did other fun things, but those are the highlights and I need to go.

I would like to say that I hope you all get a chance to experience the joy of spending time in the sea, on the mountains, in the trees, and in the clouds. I hope you all experience the joys of meeting strange and kind people that are both foreign and alike. I hope you all meet new people with kindness and give kindness in return. Without these things, what would adventure be worth?