EARTHQUAKE

Today is the day that we were finally supposed to meet our host families! So there we were, at the train station, waiting to go our separate ways, and suddenly the six of us heading to Sendai were told that there had been a big earthquake in Sendai and all the trains were down. An Earthquake! So we waited, and waited, and gradually everyone else left to catch their trains. The YFU coordinators were trying to figure out if we would be able to take a later train or if we would have to spend another night in Tokyo. After hours of hanging out at Starbucks, we were finally told that we would be spending the night at the Hotel Universe. Trying to navigate my hundred pounds of luggage through the Tokyo subway station was definitely an adventure. We finally made it to the small hotel, and immediately turned on the TV. The earthquake was just north of Sendai in the northern prefecture of Iwate. Apparently there was no serious damage to Sendai. We'll see tomorrow though.

News Report

Edo-Tokyo Museum

The next stop was the Edo-Tokyo Museum. At first I was terrified that it was going to be another tourist-like stop, where we would all have to follow a designated leader and hurry through the museum in order to make it back to the bus on time, but then our YFU rep told us that they had lunch for us, and we could do whatever we wanted as long as we were back on the bus by 2:00.
We ate our Obento lunches under funny little glass domes outside the museum. When we entered the museum and handed the lady our tickets, someone mentioned "This better not be some boring museum." They were wrong, so wrong. We entered and it was a huge two story darkened room with life-sized replicas of ancient buildings, miniatures of entire villages, and hundreds of colorful kimonos hanging high up above. We had so much fun exploring everything.
There were tons of elementary school groups who were extremely giggly they tried to gather up the courage to come and talk to us. A large group of young girls finally surrounded me completely and just kept exclaiming "Puriti! Kawaii! Kirei!" We had to leave way too soon. The escalator on the way out was pretty awesome though.

Imperial Palace

After our visit to the embassy, we were transported to the Imperial Palace. It was the exact definition of a stop on a tour. Air conditioned buses, a hundred students file out at the site of interest, pictures are snapped, and then everyone is rushed back onto the bus for the next stop. Although the Palace itself was extraordinary, the whole "tourist stop" thing kind of got on my nerves.

Embassy of the United States of America

This morning we woke up and came downstairs to a huge buffet breakfast. It was so good. The coconut and almond jellos were amazing. After breakfast we all gathered in the main lobby to prepare to depart for the U.S. Embassy. It is because of them that we are all able to come here on scholarships.
At the Embassy, we sat down for a very formal meeting with the US Foreign Service Diplomats. It went on for quite a long time, but it was really empowering to speak with people who started out where we are now, and to see where they have been able to go.

TOKYO!!!

So a group of friends and I politely went and asked one of the YFU representative if we were allowed to leave the hotel at all. "Well... official rules say no, but I can say YES. Just don't stay out the entire night." Woohoo! We walked up down the streets, checking out every convenience store and department store imaginable. It feels so great to be back in this country.

Department stores that sell Everything.

Tokyo city street

Vending machines seriously are on EVERY corner. I thought I knew this, and yet was still amazed by how they can be found even in the middle of a dead-end rickety little alleyway.