Having fun in Tokyo

3:00 a.m. I was wide awake. Couldn’t for the life of me sleep any longer. I at my first Japanese breakfast. I am not very brave to try new things in the morning, so I stuck with things like Croissants, fruit, bacon and so forth. They did have things like fish and steamed vegetables but none looked very appetizing.
After breakfast we had a short orientation in which the representative of the JFMF informed us of places in which not to go, and that every cycle the JFMF gets to experience either a Typhoon, and earthquake or both. So exciting. Oh and that there is a weather system sitting off the coast of Japan that they don’t know will turn into a Typhoon or not.
We had an fun day in which we were able to visit the Japanese Diet, which has nothing to do with food, but everything to do with Japanese government. It was much like going to Washington D.C. and visiting the House of Representatives and the Senate. We were able to go into the building that hosts the House of Representatives and learn about this ancient building that has things like old paintings and fossils in the walls. It was very cool, but not temperature wise. In fact it was quite the opposite. The building didn’t seem to be air-conditioned and it was very muggy. I think the Japanese are use to this because when we got back on the bus, the driver had not started it, so it was hot inside the bus instead of cooled by the air-conditioning.
After the Diet we drove by the Imperial Palace and were able to take some pictures from the bus. It is so cool to see typical Japanese style architecture around town which really makes it feel like you are in Japan instead of some American city. From the Diet we went to Asakusa to have lunch. We had Tempura and this restaurant did have the short tables that you had to cross your feet and sit at. Of course I spilled something on the bottom part of my legs, but that is just the whole Japanese experience. The Tempura was much like we have at home except for the vegetables, they just cut up and fried in a big clump instead of doing individual pieces. It must be easier to do for large groups. We also had to take our shoes off before we sat at the table. It was cool.
After lunch we had free time in Asakusa. I had to go to the bank to exchange money, which took way longer then we had wanted, but we needed cash so that we could go shopping. :) I didn’t really know what I wanted other than a gift for a student and a wall hanging for my mom.
At the end of the shopping area was a temple. It was the Senso-Ji or the Akakusa Kannon-do. It was built in typical Japanese architecture and even had an incense hut that you would try to cover your body with to cleans yourself before you entered the Temple. It was so cool. From the Lonely Planet Japan book I have it says, “ the Senso-Ji enshrines a golden image of Kannon (the Buddhist Godess of Mercy), which according to legend, was miraculously fished out of the nearby Sumida River by two fishermen in AD 628. The image has remained on the spot ever since, through successive buildings of the temple; the present structure dates from 1950.” Wish I had read this before I was there. Guess that is one difficult thing to do while traveling with 160 other people is that there are times you have to meet.
After going to Akakusa we went back to our hotels to change and to go to a Kyogen which is a traditional Japanese Theater. The performance was named the “Inherited Cramp” where the servant of the Japanese master doesn’t want to do any work so he fakes having a cramp and says that his brothers all inherited great things and this family cramp was only thing left for him to inherit. The play was fun, but I think I would like to go see a Kabuki style play.
By this time in the evening it was about 4 pm and I was exhausted and wanted to go to bed, but instead, Bryan, Josh, and other Jen and Lisa went into town to go to the 100 Yen store. It was really cool.
For dinner, we had a reception put on by the Japanese government. We all kind of grumbled with they didn’t have places for us to sit, but instead little tables, but after all the speeches we were able to get our food and mingle as we ate. I thought it was a pretty cool idea and helped me stay a little more awake then if we were sitting at a table. I was starting to feel sick due to lack of sleep. Hopefully tonight I will sleep better. The gang I was with went to the Roppongi district which the JFMF specifically told us not to go to. Just like children. Have to push the limits. I wanted nothing to do with it, because I could barely stand I was so tiered, they wanted to go to clubs, and I didn’t really want to go to a place that because the JFMF says it has street gang fights. They all fortunately said that it was pretty tame and didn't start to liven up until about the time they were leaving.