Memories of Japan

By: Devon MacLachlan

The trip to Japan was amazing. Yes, I'm sure everyone else said so too, but it's true. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, because even if I do go back (which I hope I will), it probably won't be with such a great group of people, and will be completely different because of that. Anyway, on to the memories.

First of all, the flight was extremely long. I'm not saying that that was a bad thing. Personally, I enjoyed both flights a lot (the way there was the best), because even though we all knew each other, it was a time to just socialize and get to know each other better.

The hotel we stayed at in Murayama, I'm pretty sure it was Goten, was great. The food there was really good, and I also liked the rooms. The baths were unbelievable. Yes, we did talk about them before the trip, and we were "warned" about them, but nothing could have prepared me for them. At first it was really awkward, but after a few times I was totally comfortable with it. It was so relaxing in there, I probably could have fallen asleep quite easily (but then I would've drowned, and that wouldn't have been good at all). I had a great time there, and I know that everyone else did too. It was nice to just relax and wander from room to room visiting people, after a long day of touring all over the place. I loved the little glass bottles of coke that we got in our fridges and sometimes at meals, cause we only have plastic ones in Canada and it was just one of those little things that sticks in your head.

The home stay was probably the scariest, and yet most memorable part of the entire trip. I was so nervous about it, but my family was really nice. We went to all these really sweet mountains and shrines and I had a blast. It never really occurred to me how many stairs were really involved when climbing up to one of those mountain shrines. Now I may not be a big football player or sports nut, but I'm in decent shape. However, I can honestly say that I've never sweated as much as I did climbing those mountains (and yes, I have gone hiking and such quite a few times). It was a bit awkward, but oddly enough I think the whole language barrier thing actually helped to ease some of the tension. Don't ask me why, but that's what I think. I wasn't sure what I was gonna do about the whole food issue, because when we went to the Japanese restaurant I didn't really care for what I ordered (in fact I sometimes had a hard time keeping it down). I've never really been a "try new things" kinda person, but I made a point of trying everything there at least once. The most weird thing I had would definitely have to be the little shrimp things that we had the last night in Tokyo. Despite how they looked (and oh did they look nasty), they weren't half bad (though it was somewhat unnerving knowing that you were eating them whole with their eyes and little tentacle things). Getting back to the family, Kiyoshi (the father) was always making jokes and had a great sense of humour, which helped me feel more comfortable. Hideyo (the grandmother) always insisted that I have more to eat. She and I watched this 3 hour movie together about this girl in the hospital and it had a really sad ending, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Taeko (the mother) was actually like a second mother. She was an excellent cook, very kind, and had a great sense of humour just like Kiyoshi. Kenya spoke the most English, partially because he was a member of last year's delegation. He was like a brother, cousin, and best friend all wrapped up in one. I don't know what I would've done without him. The youngest son, Taishi, went with us to many places. He was quite good at video games, and beat me on many, if not most, occasions. I did not see very much of Koki, who was the middle son, as he had to go to school every day. I truly appreciate everything they did for me and all the places they took me. My stay with them is something I'll never forget.

When we were first told that we would be dancing in a festival, I was quite taken aback. The reason being, that I can't dance. Oh I can slow dance, but it pretty much stops right there. I've never enjoyed dancing as much as I did in that festival. I had a great time performing in the gym, and I'm normally quite shy when it comes to crowds. The festival itself the next night was very different, as we have nothing like it in Canada (not as far as I know anyway).

I loved all the places we went to on the tour. The rose garden, the martial arts demonstration, the river boat ride, and everywhere else we went. My favourite would have to be the meditation temple. I am totally into the whole meditation thing, though it would've been better if people weren't moving around and kept quiet so I could've concentrated better.)

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