Thoroughly Japan (now with pictures!)

The last few days have been exhausting! For the first time since we arrived in Japan the travel and all the activity has started to catch up with me. (So... because of that I'm going to be lazy and not post pictures. I'll update soon). Something else that's happened in the last few days - it seems our experiences have become more and more authenticly Japanese (well... most of them).

Wednesday we left Tokyo and headed to Nikko. The landscape was very different - we entered mountain country. We visited one of the best tofu factories and sampled A LOT of tofu cooked many different ways. Some of it was a struggle to get down... some of it tasted amazing! Who knew you could make donuts and cheese cake mousse out of tofu? After lunch (of more tofu) we toured a huge shrine in Nikko.

Then... one of the highlights of our trip so far (ok... I know everything seems to be a highlight, but I'm SERIOUS.) We arrived at a ryokan... a traditional Japanese style hotel. When our bus pulled up we were greeted by 4 staff members at the door (in kimonos no lesss) and immediately whisked into a sitting room for sweets and green tea. Then they took our bags up to our rooms for us - traditional japanese style with multipurpose rooms, tatmi mats and slippers so you don't wear your shoes inside - and made tea for us and showed us how to put on our yukatas - casual cotton kimonos. While at the Ryokan you wear your yukata EVERYWHERE - in the lobby, to dinner, to the bathouse (a whole other story)... it was AWESOME. I loved the yukata and will definitely be buying one before I leave to replace my bathrobe.

Yukatas:

A shot of my room: You can see my futon bed on the floor, and a massage chair (yeah... I had two!) behind that.

After we got settled in, all the girls went to the communal bathouse. (The boys did too, but I definitely don't know those details!) We were a little nervous, but we were the only ones there, so it was perfect for our first time. We were definitely more modest than the Japanese, but we LOVED the hot tubs - two inside and one outside.

Dinner was served in a private room and was amanzing - and 100% japanese. Some of it was fantastic - for the first time I sincerely ENJOYED my raw tuna (and a whole baby trout - eyes and all - see below) and some of it was harder to stomach with a smile.

After dinner we had an oragami and calligraphy lesson from Chieko - we had so much fun hanging our with her and learning from her!

Oragmai:

We went back to the bathouse after that and that night I slept on the floor on the futon mat and tatmai mats in my yukata - with the balcony door open so I could hear the running water of the stream outside - and it was the best sleep I've had yet. I could seriously go on and on about this experience...

The next morning we took to nature and visited two beautiful waterfalls and a crystal clear lake in the mountain area. It was really cool to see some of the natural beauty of Japan:

Then we went to our first FFJ school visit. It was awesome - the students were so friendly and excited!

National FFA and National FFJ presidents:





Yes, they even wear slippers in school!

We went back to Tokyo for the night and ate dinner at a famous Indian restaraunt near in Ginza (ok... so not everything is Japanese!) I was nervous because my one experience with Indian food was not a pleasant one, but it was FANTASTIC!

Today we took the bullet train to Nagoya. Sadly, we all fell asleep and totally missed passing Mt. Fuji. In Nagoya we went to the port where they import hundreds of thousands of tons of US grain every month. It was very cool. Some pictures of us at the port:

This afternoon we visited another school with FFJ members. They had a party for us where we ate many food products prepared by the students and played games. Then the officers left with their host families, where they will be for the next two nights. What an exciting experience for them!

Riley at the party, helping make dumplings:

Paul and his host brother, Riley meeting his host brother, and Regina with her host sister:

The adults are staying a hotel in downtown Nagoya. Tonight we get some extra (and much needed) rest. We'll meet up with the officers and their host families tomorrow for a farm tour. For now... I'm getting some sleep. Sayonara!