Journals Day 5

Today, I woke up before the wake up call and it feels great to hear those annoying, yet soothing musical tones. I cleaned up the room around my bed as my roommates rolled out of their own quarters. As I dressed for what promised to be an exciting day, a trek up Mt. Fuji; I packed a small bag with care to insure a change of clothes and shower supplies. Fixing my bed and my clothes, I dragged my suitcase outside the door and waited for my room check.

Following my room check, I went to breakfast and had my last meal at the Prince hotel in Tokyo. The same items were yet again there so I had a large meal that consisted of all the things I hadn't tried yet. They turned out to be pretty good. I finished my last breakfast and grabbed my suitcase to give to the concierge who began to load them up on a luggage rack to take down to the u-haul. I then boarded the bus bound for Mt. Fuji.

After a long bus ride full of twists and turns around mountains and through long tunnels carved out of pure rock, we arrived at STATION 5 on Mt. Fuji. STATION 5 is the farthest station one can drive up to on the mountain. To reach the top or STATION 10, one must climb their way up. We de-bused and met with our guide who would take us up to a crater on the side of the mountain. We was in great shape and even though I play hockey, the shear vertical climb made me so tired, I had to lag back a bit (but I was still with the fist ten almost a football field in distance a way from the last 10). The climb was well worth it. As we made it to the crater, all the clouds lifted giving us a great view of the ocean. Some of us descended into the holy crater and took pictures of the views all around. Those tired stayed at the top and relaxed. We all climbed back out and briskly walked down the side of the mountain toward our bus.

We continued on toward a Chinese restaurant. The sheer thought of a Chinese restaurant in Japan made a truly kind of funky sense, but it made sense nonetheless. We were rushed upstairs as we were late and food had already been dished out. We had to eat under 45 minutes if we wanted to make it to our next stop, a cable car up the side of a mountain overlooking a lake filled with the runoff of Mt. Fuji. We ate as fast as we could and boarded the bus.

We made it to the cable car about half an hour early so we were able to shop around the nearby shops and ride the giant mechanical pandas around the sidewalks in front of the stores. I chose to go down to the lake side and stare at the beauty that is Japan. I took note of all the trees around and found that most of them were Japanese maple trees. A tree that is very common and happens to be my second favorite in all the world. It made the scenery even better!

The time to ride the cable car drew near so we all ran up to the loading area. The ride was spectacular! From my vantage point of over 75 feet in the air, I could see the forest below just like a bird!! The ride took us to the top of the mountain where we could see almost the entire lake. I bought a coke for a 150 yen and returned to the car for the decent. As we arrived back in the bottom station, we were coralled and directed toward the bus.

Since our stay in Tokyo was complete, we drove to our lodging for this night only: The Guest House. The Guest House felt as though we were actually in a Japanese house since we were all going to sleep on Tatami mats and futons. As we arrived, we were served dinner promptly and given our room assignments. I carried my limp body to room and claimed the first bed I saw. Just then, I remembered about the hot springs this placed offered to its 'guests'. I jumped to my feet and got redressed in a robe in a flash. I rushed to the hot spring only to find a line. I resolved myself to wait until the line shortened up. After about 15 minutes, I got my turn and grabbed 3 of my friends who were waiting for me to let them know when it was our turn. The spring was amazing! The heat from the water engulfed all of me and brought me to an inner peace long forgotten. Us four sat and relaxed and talked about our times and the trivial stuggles that made us who we are today. And on a side note, the boys and girls had seperate buildings and seperate springs so we didn't even see each other until the next day (not saying no one didn't try though ;-) ).

Feeling great, I got out of the spring and rinsed off. I put on a robe and hit the bed. I feel asleep right away and am now writing this on the morning of the 6th day. The culture here is different and agian the same as Amereica. Though they drive on the different side of the road and use kilometers instead of miles, driving is the same. We shake hands where they do both. They even don't appriciate the beauty of their country until it is pointed out like us. Mt. Fuji to us is beautiful and inspiring but even more so to the Japanese who believe that is where gods live. Other cultures believed that Gods lived on their tallest mountains so our cultures aren't to different at all. Chinese food here is great food but in America, it is a culinary joke. The food is about the same but the cultural differences and similarities dictate the idea of the food. Even as we rode the cable car, the view was great but a golf course gave me the true picture of the area: an area full of beauty and culture but because most can't see it, gimics have to be used to get others inside. This country is great on its own and is a Jem in a sea of coal.