Saturday - woke up to go to kamakura, and what an adventure it was! Started the trip by taking the bus instead of the subway, then transferred to the subway. It was quite complicated, but we didn't get lost! haha We had to be at the giant buddha at 2pm, so we had some time and decided to check out some temples and shrines. The first place we visited was the Tokei-ji Temple. This temple was once a sanctuary for women who wanted to divorce their husbands but could not. In the past, if a man wanted to divorce his wife, all he needed to do was send her back to live with her family and they were considered divorced, a woman however did not have that right. So if a woman needed/wanted a divorce and could safely get to the Tokei-ji Temple, she would become a nun there for a period of 3 years (later reduced to 2 years). After that period of time, she would be considered divorced. Men were not allowed to visit or enter that temple. I thought that was a good historical place. It was also really beautiful and peaceful. There were gravestones and little shrines everywhere, and even though the weather was hot, the temple had a lot of foliage, and many places were quite cool. I loved it. We then visited the Meigetsuin Garden/Shrine. We were told the hydrangeas were in bloom, and that's the place to see it in all its beauty. We began seeing the beautiful flowers before we even arrived at the entrance. Inside it was like a whole forrest of hydrangeas! It was SOO breathtakingly beautiful, so we took advantage of it and took many many pictures. We then made our way to the Giant Buddha to meet up with other Camp Adventure Staff in the nearby sites. I was excited to meet all these different people. At the same time I realized how lucky to be where I was placed and the people I'm working with because some of these people really don't like who they work with, or where they're working. There was tension and people didn't want to hang out w/ people. Crazy, I'm glad I don't have that problem. I went inside the Giant buddha, and I didn't realize how big it really was until I was in there. You had to walk down a very narrow flight of stairs, then back up a narrow flight of stairs into the buddha, and there were people trying to go in two directions so it was quite tight. When we put our hands against the metal, or whatever it's made of, it was warm. Took more pictures, then decided to get some food. It was close to 4pm and we were all starving. Found this little family owned restaurant, where I ordered Ramen w/ Gyoza (potstickers) and egg, and it was DELICIOUS! the gyoza isn't as good as the ones at Osaka Osho (the restaurant we near our hotel, but it was still good. We had been up and walking since like 9am, but we decided to explore a bit more. It felt good to be outside of Tokyo and see the different lifestyle of another area. We found a beach, and walked around a bit more, but it was pretty windy. The water however was not cold at all. Nothing like Ocean beach where the water is always cold, ALL THE TIME. lol. Headed back, and even though we were really tired... we decided to go out of course.
We ended up in Roppongi to go karaoke and met up with friends from davis/sac training who are placed in Zama. The place we went to this time didn't have unlimited drinks, but they had a better selection of American songs. Afterwards, the night was still young, so some of us went to check out some clubs while others went home. It was ridiculously crowded, guys are creepers, and it was just all sketch. We were at a club where asian girls were dry humping each other on the bar wearing nothing but underwear.... O.o I'm over roppongi, not my scene... I'm interested in checking out the clubs in Shibuya, I've heard the atmosphere is different, and the ratio of foreigners is... not as intense as roppongi. Took a taxi home sometime after 2 and didn't go to bed til 3 something... So much smoke, it was quite nasty... and I've discovered my talent for cock blocking. =D haha
Sunday - some people decided to go to a park in harajuku, but I had programming due on monday so I decided to stay in and work on/finish it up. My first time programming a whole week's worth of activities, games, and songs. Each counselor is assigned two weeks to program, and the program is due the monday before that week. I sat myself down and got it done. It was also nice to have that alone time, and I was able to organize and tidy up the room. Luckily I stayed in, cuz it started pouring. I'm sure the people who went had fun, but I'm also glad I had my day to chill out.
Monday - New kids for Museum week! Most of the japanese boys are gone, and we have new kids that are majority girls. The group was much more calm, and it wasn't as hectic as last week. However, we have two new kids who could potentially be somewhere on the autism spectrum. I noticed something, and when I talked to the director about it, I found out that he actually might be on that spectrum. It'll be interesting working with them, that's for sure. We did a lot of things on improv today just because we all had a really rough week last week and didn't have time to prepare for this week, but surprisingly things worked out, and once again I'm glad to have the counselors I have to work with. =)
I'm really tired, so I'm going to call it a night early tonight...
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