Really long post

I have to offer my continuing apologies for the lack of posts in the last few months. I have been very very busy to say the least.
Just some random thoughts I have had as of late. Today, like most Saturdays, I slept in. When I woke up it was about the right time to catch all my American friends on AIM and talk to them for a while. It's these type of things that make me feel really normal and average here. Then later today I had to go out and run some errands, and when some little kid gawks at you on the way to the train that feeling of normalcy goes away. It's not that I feel completely like an outcast or something, but the fact is no foreigner will ever really be completely absorbed into Japanese society. It's so exclusive here, even other Asians stick out, and once a Japanese person hears they are not of 100% Japanese decent the view of that person changes. I think one of the most important things to do before living in a place like this is realize you will never be normal and start to accept it. The sooner that happens the better.
The people here are very passive and it's kind of nice from my perspective. Many problems that exist in America are around because people complain about things and feel that they have a need to point out when something bothers them. On a small level this can drive a person crazy, especially when people just whine about stupid crap all the time, but it is good to have a system in place to keep things in check, because if some American institution screws up, people will speak up. The Japanese seem to keep a lot of things inside themselves. Sometimes its just small stuff and they just grin and bare it, do what they have to do, but other times it can be larger things. There are many structural and bureaucratic problems at my school, and people just kind of deal with it and accept it. A lot of the foreign staff tries to change things, but they only get so far. The system of just shutting up and dealing with whatever bothers you is nice on a day to day basis, because it keeps the general peace, but in the long run I wish people would speak up a little more.
I guess I should speak a bit about my last trips and such. Around the end of June (wow that feels like forever ago) CIEE had its weekend trip to Hiroshima. We went by Shinkanse (bullet train) which is always nice, even though the ride was crazy long. The first night we arrived at about 9ish, so we were essentially set loose on the town for a while. Although still a city, Hiroshima is a great deal smaller than Tokyo and it was cool walking around in a place that seemed a little more, well, little. After a night out and an Onsen soak at about 1 am, we went to bed awaiting the next adventure. The next day we went to the Atomic Bomb dome, which is one of the few buildings that wasn't completely destroyed by the bomb. After that we went to some of the memorials and the atomic bomb museum. The whole thing wasn't exactly as sad as I thought it would be, but I think this was because I was mentally comparing the whole thing to when I visited Pearl Harbor. The main differences that stuck out was the absence of any Japanese flags at any building, (in fact I see very few Japanese flags anywhere) as opposed to Pearl Harbor, where you can't possibly forget you are in the USA due to the constant presence of the Stars and Stripes. The other main difference was the lack of mention of the US being the ones who dropped the A-Bomb. With the exception of one exhibit in the museum where the steps leading to the creation of, and dropping of the bomb, the US was rarely mentioned and it seemed little blame was put on the US. Despite the lack of implication of the United States, I still feel that Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima (and Nagasaki)are so different in magnitude of destruction that people who use the attack on Pearl Harbor to justify the use of the atomic bomb need to visit both places or at least learn the history of both events.
After lunch we were set free to roam the city. My friends and I opted to go to Hiroshima castle, which was pretty cool. Not quite as big as the castle in Osaka, but it was full of armor, swords and had a great view from the top. For dinner we went to Okonomi-mura, which is a series of a bunch of very small restaurants that serve okonomiyaki, which I'm sure I wrote about in other entries, so I'm not going to elaborate. To be brief, it was really really tasty. There was a local festival that night, so it was very cool to see the Japanese walking around in their Yukata (summer kimono). In comparison with the festivals I've been to in Tokyo the Hiroshima-ites seem to get into it a bit more and are more willing to dress up.
The next day we went to Miajima, and island near Hiroshima. This is the site of the really big orange Torii gate that most people associate with Japan. Look in the pictures, its the big orange thing, you've seen it, trust me. Anyway the deer on the island are very friendly and will come very close whether you have food or not. We saw the floating Torii gate, and also a temple that is built on the water which was very cool. Later we took a cable car ride to about 3/4 of the way to the top of the mountain on the island. Great view and more crazy deer. Some friends and I decided to hike all the way to the top which was fun as well. After all the activity and such we were glad to get on the train and go back home.
After that there were many weeks of me pretty much just going to school, studying, practicing with my bands and doing little else. Weekends usually consisted of karaoke, or going to the Irish pub near my school. Tokyo is very much home to my friends and I, so we really haven't been going to museums or seeing stuff lately. I sort of regret this but at the same time, I could come back here one day and see all that stuff in a week. The experience of going to Izakaya (a traditional type of bar/restaurant) with Japanese people, playing in bands with Japanese people and things like that are a better use of my time out here. There's so much here that I couldn't do if I were just visiting and I'm glad to have some of those experiences.
The last major thing I did worth blogging about is when I climbed to the top of Mt. Fuji. Some friends and I went about 2 weeks ago, and it was one of the more challenging things I've done since I've been here. What is usually done when climbing Fuji is you start at night, and watch the sunrise from the top of the mountain. We started climbing at about 9 and reached the top at about 4 am when the sun rose. It was truly beautiful as my pictures will show. My group became separated early on, and I was lucky enough to be with the former wrestler, and rugby player. These two guys were beasts and set a crazy fast pace. There are 8 stations along the mountain we took the bus to the 5th and started climbing there. It is supposed to take 5-7 hours to get from the 5th to the 8th station, and it took us 4 1/2 hours. This was nice, because we got to take a little 2 hour break near the top and then head for the summit. We were also the only group out of all my friends to make it to the top before sunrise. Hiking to the top was fun, it was very rocky and you had to climb on all fours at times. The way down was totally miserable. The route is different, and you go thorough a gravelly sandy type surface (Mt. Fuji is after all a volcano) which is just awful. After hiking to the top you are exhausted and the way down is just terrible. In the end it was definitely worth the time and worth the weekend.
This will probably be my second to last post before I get home, I'll try and do another before I leave.

Pictures
Hiroshima: Here
Miajima: Here
Fuji-San: Here

Earthquake

Hey I'm sure everyone has heard about the earthquake and typhoon of the last few days, but no worries, the huge one that hit yesterday was nothing but a little shake in Tokyo, so I'm fine.