Wow, I only had twelve hours in Hawaii, which is such a tease.
Basically we were at sea for eight days and couldn't have made it all
the way to Costa Rica without refueling and picking up some food. So
they gave us one day in Hawaii to stretch our legs before another ten
days at sea.
Being at sea has been really nice after moving non-stop through Asia.
It's giving us all time to catch up on work and journals. We've gotten
back into our routine of going to school during the day and then
playing games and hanging out at night. I have to say it's so
wonderful not having TV and Internet all the time. We play so many
games and they have a ton of nighttime activities, which everyone gets
really into. I am definitely cutting back on the TV and Internet when
I get home.
Time changes between Japan and Hawaii were brutal. One everyday for
six days. We were going to class at three AM at one point and none of
us could fall asleep because we were going to bed around 6PM. One day,
three of us pulled an all nighter and stayed up for breakfast and
class then slept all day because we couldn't fall asleep at night.
It's really challenging to adjust when we loose hours night after
night. Now I think I'm six hours behind the East Coast, or something.
Hawaii was beautiful. I thought it would be over rated, but its really
not. It was so strange to be back in the US. Even though it's so
different from the mainland, it was so weird! There were so many
things I have forgotten about completely, like mini-vans and Home
Depot! Everyone was white and spoke English, cars stopped for people
who crossed the road instead of just speeding up and the exchange rate
was 1 to 1! No one told us about the new five-dollar bills and when we
got one in change we all crowded around it amazed. Crazy how much we
felt like tourists in our own country.
I went to Pearl Harbor in the morning, which was interesting having
just come from Hiroshima. The two memorials are extremely different.
Then we spent most of the of the day surfing on Waikiki. I love
surfing and I wish the Atlantic Ocean wasn't so cold! Once the sun
went down we got some dinner and pushed "On-ship" time to the limit,
but we made it.
So I promised answers in this e-mail and here we go…
In Tokyo Sarah…
A. Became a movie star on giant HDTV's at the Sony building
B. Decided to use a "Safety-self Piercer" to pierce her eyebrow in
Harijuku, the trendiest section of Tokyo.
C. Joined a Sumo wrestling team because she has gotten so fat from the
delicious Asian food she has been eating for the past month.
D. Decided that Anime is the coolest thing ever and bought clothes so
she could dress like her favorite character
Everyone got this one right! (A) I guess you all know me and know
I'm to afraid to needles to self-pierce myself or think Anime is cool
enough to dress like.
After arriving at the base of MT. Fuji, Sarah spent the day…
A. Taking a public bath at a luxurious hot spring
B. Screaming not because its fun, but because she was scared for her
life on two world record breaking roller coasters
C. Not being able to hike the mountain, but getting another stamp in
her passport
D. All of the above
E. Create your own answer
I did all of those things! THE BEST ROLLER COASTERS EVER! Public baths
ROCK, Why don't we have those?!?! And the mountain was closed to
hiking cause its winter and well, the stamp in my passport… is a whole
other story. I got some great create your own answers for this one…
Thanks everyone!
On the last day in Japan…
A. Sara lost her voice singing Karaoke at ten in the morning while
devouring ice-cream sundaes made with cereal.
B. Sara was almost one of four people left behind as the ship pulled
away because she left her passport on the bullet train
C. Sara took over one hundred photos of a man shaving his beard
D. Create your own Answer
E. Both A and C, but not B because we all know that Sara never looses anything…
The answer is E! Of course I didn't loose my passport on the train!
Shame on you who thought I did! That happened to my neighbor who was
left behind and we might not see till Miami. I feel really bad for the
four people left behind in Japan. Karaoke is cool; we need that in the
US too! And the man shaving his beard was Mark who grew it out through
Africa and Asia. Shout-out to his parents who read my blog- See you in
Miami!
Well everyone I will be seeing you in about three weeks. Probably
only one more update till I get home. I miss everyone and I'm excited
to see you all : )
