Back Home

When I returned back home I could still remember what happened about two weeks ago. I could still remember taking out my luggage from the trunk of the car, the cool, crisp morning air, the roll of my suitcase as we walked to the shuttle stop. I could still remember the other people who were at the shuttle stop, and the slight confusion that the notice gave us. I could remember the shuttle ride to the terminal, and then getting lost because there was a hotel at the entrance of the airport and we were so disoriented. Thankfully, we managed to meet up with everyone. I could still remember seeing how excited Chiaki, and everyone else were. I can even remember the shock we had when we saw Jack and Jared and how they had managed to fit everything they needed in a backpack and a carry-on bag. I also remember Jared asking me if he could put his can of tomatoes in my bag, because TSA would not like that in a carry-on.

I remember the crazy long line for security, and my anxiety and how I totally messed up going through security. I forgot about my traveler's pocket, and phone. I also remember how Riley was the person who held us up because he forgot to take out his laptop. I remember the tears. I remember us going down the escalator down to the shuttles. And now, it's done.

The trip is over, and the only thing we can hang onto are our memories and the pictures and videos. We weren't in Japan, we were in Japan, we aren't in Japan. Our trip is over, I'm sad. Not only is the trip over, but the friends who became my family for the two weeks of vacation are also going to be lost. We won't see each other in a very long time.

Thanks for the amazing trip.

August 12th

The day that was 39 hours.

Today was started with a late start, at least for me Glenna and Laura who were rooming with me. We then packed up and grabbed some breakfast from the 7/11. At 11:45 we went downstairs to get checked out, and since we had some time before our bus arrived, we wandered around the park until we got on the bus. We then began our two hour ride to the airport.

Once we made it to the airport we got our boarding passes, except me and Haley. So we went up to the counter to get them, but our tags on our checked-in baggage caused a problem because it was on Grace's name, who is in our group. So there was that whole mishap where the names didn't match, and then Haley and I find out why we didn't get our boarding passes. Apparently the two of us were randomly selected for extra security at the gate. The two of us were somewhat upset, and it freaked me out, because one security is scary enough. We then grabbed some lunch (at around 5pm).

Once we got to the gate we were pat down, shoes were pat down, and bags were looked through, and we were done. The plane ride was about 12 hours. A lot of us tried to coordinate watching the Assassination Classroom live action and we came pretty close, it took us awhile though. Most of us were awake the entire time. The airplane also fed dinner and breakfast.

We then got off the plane and began the walk around LAX to find our gate. Luckily, this time it was easier to get to our gate, we had to walk down a sidewalk for twenty minutes before we actually got to the check-in counter. Then we went through TSA and found our gate and more food.

This next flight is two hours from LAX-DEN. It was a relatively quick flight, we then had to go through customs and immigration, but that was easy enough. After that, we got on the shuttle to go to baggage claim. After riding the trains and subways in Japan, we were experts at the whole balancing in a moving train thing.

We went up the escalators and were greeted by our families. It was also pretty surprising. We got flowers, and balloons, and then we split our ways to baggage claim.

We said our goodbyes, and that was the end of our trip to Japan.

August 11th

Today we leave Ueda. We gathered at the station at 8:30, and waited for the bus to arrive at 9:08. There was a lot more crying, and lot's of luggage and many thanks and hugs. We boarded the bus and yelled 'arigatou gozaimashita' (thank you very much) out the window, only to find out that we were going to sit here five more minutes. When we finally began to leave, we yelled 'sayounara!' And other varying ways of saying goodbye and thank you. I'm pretty sure the other people who were on the bus were done with us. The bus moved, then got stuck at the stop light, and then the host families chased us, and we waved and yelled goodbye again. Now for an almost four hour bus ride.

When we arrived we checked in and then some of us went to Shinjuku to shop a little more. I got a cat ears headband. We tried to yell out 'Marco' in hopes of a 'Polo', and 'Red Robin' in hopes of a 'yum', but we just made fools of ourselves.

After that, some of us went to a cool restaurant where you could fish for your own fish to eat. We weren't very good at it. We ended up just stabbing flounders instead of actual fishing. We also messed up with our orders because we got four to five fish, but ended up getting seven fish at the table, and after we had parfaits, another fish came out.

Then, we were up all night hanging out and watching videos to spend our last night together.

August 10th

Last day with our host families. We started with taking the train to some place outside of downtown Ueda to a hot spring. It wasn't large, and it also didn't seem natural, but the smell of sulfur was enough to tell us it wasn't completely man made. A few of us soaked our feet in the hot spring, and it was really hot. After we soaked our feet, when we took out our feet, any skin that was in the water was red. So there was a line in between normal skin and red-tinged skin.

We then went to another shrine.

After that we went to one of the wonders in Nagano. We went to the last eight-sided building. It was completely made of wood and there were no nails, it was staying together by interlocking pieces. There were also a lot of gravestones.

After that we took a bus to eat korean barbecue. We cooked the beef on a grill in the middle of the table. We were joking about who might get food poisoning because they didn't cook it long enough, I think we're good though.

Then we went to another shrine where we fed giant koi fish, and of course made a wish/prayer.

We then went to a shopping mall where we managed to get all three boys into a puri-kura/cute Japanese photo booth. They were regretting it. We also found the Hot Topic of Japan.

After that, we went to a really fancy place where we had dinner and the closing ceremony. We felt underdressed. We then had to do a small speech in Japanese with our host families at the front on a stage. It was scary for most of us. We also celebrated Glenna's birthday. We had photos from the opening ceremony that we decorated and then gave to our host families and vice versa. Lot's of hugs were given, and there was some crying.

August 9th

Nine days in Japan. Three days left.

Today we took the bus to monkey hot springs, where we saw many many monkeys just hanging around and sitting on the pathways. There were so many, and so many babies. A few of us ran out of space, and I may or may not have a ten minute montage of monkeys.

After that we ate lunch and went to a famous shrine in Nagano. I got many good luck charms, one for happy, good health, and something along the lines of good grades. I also got a year of the snake trinket. When we prayed at the shrine, you're supposed to throw in a coin. A five-yen coin is best. Since go-en is lucky and five yen. I threw it....and missed. It went behind the container and I couldn't get it back.

I then finally ate some ramen in Japan for dinner. By this point I've had onigiri three times, yakisoba twice, sofa once, udon once, the sporadic salad and rice, pasta, pancakes, mochi on a stick with miso and sugar, fish join a stick caked in salt, a plethora of Japanese snacks, so much tea, melon soda twice, ice cream and miso soup. (I probably forgot something). I'm really starting to crave a hamburger. We're all feeling it though. A delegate was deciding between ramen and fried chicken, other delegates are already discussing what they're going to beat when they get back to America, etc.

We're beginning to face the harsh blow of reality too. We leave Ueda on Thursday (it's Tuesday), we have the goodbye ceremony tomorrow, we spend twenty-four hours in Tokyo, and then we're off. Which makes us sad because we'll probably never see each other again after that, since we go to different schools, and we all really bonded together. I like to put it as one big family (or fam).

August 8th

Today we went to a traditional Japanese home and did traditional Japanese things. This involved putting on yukatas. For the girls, it's rather uncomfortable. There's a towel that's wrapped around the waist, and then three long, thin, pieces of fabric, a hard shell that we liked to compare with armor, and the ribbon that you see. It's very much like a corset because it's all around the waist. It was also very hot. We also did our hair, and there were these cute clips that we wore in our hair.

We then watched traditional Japanese dances, and then tried a Japanese line dance. It was a lot of flailing on the delegates' part. We then tried a whole bunch if things, it ranged from more traditional Japanese dancing, to making hair clips, origami, shogi (Japanese chess), tea ceremonies, and a Japanese instrument that I can't remember the name to. The girls ask did the hair clips, and we talked a few guys into doing it add well.

We then ate lunch, and then saw a performance of the Japanese instrument. A delegate even went up and performed a duet because she was that good.

After that we arranged flowers in Japanese style.

We then went back to our host families' houses. My family ate shabu-shabu. Which is basically a pot of boiling water where you put things like tofu, bean sprouts, noodles, some sort of green leafy vegetable and pork. Then when it cooked, you dipped it in a sauce and ate it.

August 7th

Today is day two if host family day. My host family took me on a 'forecast adventure'. Which included harnesses, zip lines, being high up in the air, and mini obstacle courses. It was really fun, and at one point in the course, we all faltered from fear.

After that we went to a waterfall which was very wide and cold. We ate lunch there, where I tried lot's of Japanese foods. Like a type of bread bun filled with spinach or mushroom, grilled fish on a stick, and mochi on a stick with a sauce of sugared miso.

After that, my family was really nice, and took me to a gift shop so I could buy some souvenirs. There was a super cool cellphone charm that was Levi Ackerman from Attack On Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) crossed over with Sanada Yukimura. An actor from a very popular TV show here in Japan and Ueda, since the show have involved Ueda for quite some time. So, Levi wore a samurai outfit.

We then went back to their house where I played Wii with the two younger kids, (the oldest was back at a summer seminar), then they took me to dinner at a restaurant with a conveyor belt. I tried real sushi, and some were better than others. It was really weird, but good at the same time. The restaurant was very cool though. A conveyor belt ran around the restaurant and by everybody's table. You could either pick up some food that was going around, or you could order using the tablet at the table.

More things that are helpful in Japan

1) the trains will probably be the main method of transportation, so when you buy the paper ticket, it goes in the slot. You don't tap it on the blue circle. That's for a pasco.
2) traditional Japanese toilets are in the ground. For those toilets you need to squat.
3) bring a coin purse. A delegate didn't, so they ended up making a duct tape coin purse. Coins are with a lot, they can range from one cent, to five dollars.
4) especially in the towns (Ueda instead of Tokyo) there are mirrors around corners and sharp turns when you can't see past the turn
5) stop lights have the three circles on top like in America (red, yellow, green), but sometimes there are also lights underneath  those with arrows. Some arrows point forwards.
6) littering is a big no in Japan. Don't litter, just don't do it. There isn't litter in Japan. Even gum, if you buy a cup of gum, they'll give you paper to put your uses gum.
7) in the towns you'll see lot's of people who hang their clothes outside. They use the sun and sir instead of a dryer
8) crosswalks may play a sound when it's green and you can cross. In Ueda, some crosswalks play music
9) Daiko, or the hyaku-en store. One hundred yen store. The equivalent to a dollar store in the United States but much better. It's has food, stationary, bags, hygiene stuff, etc.
10) the trains are quiet. If you're on a train and nobody's talking, it'd be in your best interest to also not talk, and if you need to, talk quietly.

August 6th

Today is host family day!

This morning started with me helping to make miso soup for breakfast. After that, we went to the mall, played a few games, and me and the two other girls took photos in a puri-kuri, or Japanese photo booth. It's very cute and fun.

After that, we took the train to Nagano. There was a shop there called Animate, which is an anime store. I was very happy, I got a cute headphone holder (Len Kagamine), a keychain (Kyoko Sakura), a sticker (Mikoto Suoh and Munakata), a folder (Kagerou Project), and a poster (Mekakushi-Dan). We then ate lunch, which involved me trying soba noodles.

After that, we went shopping for a little bit and returned back to the house. Since it was hot, me, the two younger kids, and the mom had a water balloon fight. The water balloons were so easy to make. A bunch of thirty five were attached by separate straws which connected to a disk, that connected to the hose. All that we had to do was connect the hose, and the balloons would fill up, and pop off of the sticks all tied and ready to go.

We had three rounds, and then we played with the sprinkler and hose. After that, I played WiiParty with the two younger kids.

Then, I made Alfredo spaghetti for dinner, which I had brought from Colorado. After that, we played uno and my family met my host family through video conferencing.

Some things to know about Japan

In the five days that I've been in Japan, I've noticed some things about Japan.

1) mosquitoes. I don't know why this never occurred to me, but I've been bitten at least five times now.
2) The pedestrian signs typically have some sort of head accessories. At the crosswalks, the stop and go guys have hats on them. The school child crossing signs have characters that either have a hat or a bow. And any other sign that has a pedestrian also has a hat.
3) bathrooms. Their bathrooms are designed to be waterproof. The area next to the bathtub has a shower head and that's where you shower. The bathtub is filled with warm water because they like to soak in it after they shower.
4) there is a lot more public transportation, especially in Tokyo. We noticed that most vehicles on the road in Tokyo were busses or vehicles that involved a certain profession. There is also the public trains. Which we used to get pretty much everywhere. Oh, and walking. Lot's of walking or biking.
5) the cars are box shaped. Japanese favor a tall roof versus a wide car.
6) chopsticks are used for everything. I felt very accomplished when I got a grape tomato in my mouth without it falling or having to stab it.
7) people bow a lot. There is a lot of respect, and little dips of the head when things are given to someone else are common.
8) there are grooved tiles everywhere. From what I've heard, is that they're for blind people, because they lead to important places, like the ticket machine or platform on the subway.
9) it's humid. Humid and hot.
10) itadakimasu and gocheesousamadeshita. They are said at the beginning and end of each meal, respectively. I tried to practice it at every meal, and seemed to get the hang of it, but it seems to be often forgotten. Particularly gocheesousamadeshita.

August 5th

Today is our first full day with our host families.

It started with us gathering at a park to get onto a bus ride that would take us up the mountain to an outdoor museum. High altitude is not a problem for all of the delegates. Considering that we live in a city that's a mile high above sea level and whenever we go up to the Rocky Mountains we pass the tree line. Motion sickness, however, was a problem. We're fitting as many people as possible into a bus, which then travels up winding roads for an hour. We did have a chaperone get motion sickness when we made it up.

The museum is an outdoor museum with 400+ sculptures. That means walking up and down hills to see the sculptures. It was sunny and hot, but it was cooler than in downtown Ueda. So that was a relief.

Once we had done that, we went back down the mountain to city hall to meet the mayor. When we went up the stairs to the main office, everyone was clapping, and it was another unexpected surprise. There weren't a lot of us who were comfortable with the attention. We then met the mayor, he was a nice friendly guy. Jared even took a selfie with him. He gave us gifts, and we gave him gifts, and then we went back downstairs. There was a super fancy vending machine when we got downstairs. There were many delegates who needed coffee, so we stopped there. You bought your drink, which ranged from coffee and Latte's to hot chocolate and coke, and the machine would then make it and when it was done a door would pop open and the drink would come down. It was really cool.

After that we went down to the river to get ready for the fireworks. We had a very nice reserved spot in front of the river so we could really see the fireworks. Up close and personal. We had to look almost directly up in order to see them, and looking directly up ended up with some ash in some people's eyes. We were that close to the fireworks. Not only was there grains of ash, but giant flakes of some burnt substance also rained down on us. The firework show was about an hour and a half. From what I heard it was a competition between companies. So we'd have three-ish minutes of fireworks, and then a break in between. The fireworks ranged from launching two fireworks, waiting until they exploded, and then launching another, to fireworks with a lot of light, color, sound, and just a lot of fireworks, to fireworks that were in time with the music. These fireworks put the fireworks we see during the fourth of July to shame. We probably lost some appreciation to american fireworks because of this.

My host family's oldest daughter was at a summer seminar in Tokyo yesterday and today, so we picked her up after the fireworks. She's sixteen, so the two of us bonded very quickly. We talked about anime, Vocaloid (we know a lot of the same songs), school, and social media.

Tomorrow and the day after are our host family days. So that means we aren't going to see the other delegates for the next two days.

August 4th

Today is the day that we're traveling to Ueda from Tokyo. We woke up at eight and began to pack all of our possessions. After that, a few of us ran down to the 7/11 under the hotel to grab some breakfast. The 7/11's here are much better than in America. For one thing, the food isn't junk food. Another is that it's not a gas station. There's really good food, and another thing is that they are also a 'bank'.

We then took the shuttle from the hotel to Shinjuku station. Keep in mind that currently there is a lot of people who are going to work, and we're all carrying our luggage, and it's hot and sweaty and humid. We also had managed to get lost at the elevator. The elevator fit four, maybe five people, and there are thirteen people in our group. So we had to split up at the elevator. There were only two floors, but somehow, half of us got off at floor one, and the other half on floor two. We then get on the JR line to get to a station where the Shikansen, or bullet train, stops. That stop would be Omiya. Then we got on the bullet train to Ueda. Broomfield's sister city.

When we got there we were greeted by a surprise. We turned the corner from the escalator and were greeted by a congregation of cheers, waving of flags,and excitement. There was even a giant banner that said 'welcome Broom field 2016 delegation'. To say we were surprised and overwhelmed was an understatement.

After that we ditched our luggage at the room where everyone would meet up, and began to walk around Ueda in search of lunch. We stopped at an udon place where they had horsemeat. I didn't have the guts to try it. Luckily for us, along with Chiaki who is bilingual, another man, Bill, was very bilingual, so he helped us get around.

We stopped at a souvenir store, a museum that featured a popular show in Japan that involved Ueda, the ruins of Ueda castle, and another shrine.

When we returned to the room, we were very surprised to see balloon art everywhere. There was an entrance arch made of balloons, balloon bouquets at each table, and even the front of the room had dragonflies, hearts, and dogs (made from balloons). We then became even more alarmed when these people with a huge camera and an armband that said MTV came in the room.

We made some last minute preparations for our opening ceremony and waited outside the room. Once again we were surprised by three characters. It's just like the characters you find at Disney. Huge heads, some sort of puffy costume, and fabric. There were three, a samurai, a green creature, and a moose. That's honestly the best way I can explain it. Some delegates were downright terrified of them.

We then proceeded into the room where we had to sit at the front, while we listened to speeches. Then we did our dance. Which was full of laughter, small mess ups on most people's parts, and being recorded, by so many people.

After that we ate dinner and talked with our host families. I finally began to feel the language barrier. We spoke little Japanese, and they spoke little English. And there was a lot of people talking. So it was very difficult to understand.

After that we then split up to go with our host families. My host family is so nice, and Google translate is very useful.

August 3rd

Today started with a really big Japanese style breakfast which was amazing.

After that we went to ODAIBA, a trash island turned into an entertainment place. First, we went to the mall, where we decided to make a stop at Toys R' Us. Then, we went to an indoor amusement park. Screamed for dear life on a roller coaster that went upside down, played really intense Japanese 'guitar hero', and played with an interactive TV screen.

After the amusement park, we went to the Miraikan museum and saw creepy humanoid androids. They looked really realistic, which was honestly kind of terrifying.

After that we went down to the beach where we couldn't swim, and saw fish jumping out of the water, and jellyfish.

August 2nd

Today was started with us rushing out of our hotel room (since we woke up late), and then running to the convenience store for breakfast.

We then proceeded to go on a tour which involved the Tokyo tower, the Meiji Shrine, and the Imperial palace garden. While we were at the garden one of the delegates had slipped on some smooth, wet rocks and slipped into the lake.

After that we went to the Ginza shopping district and got ourselves a lunch.

After Ginza we took the train to Shibuya. We looked at the statue of Hachi the dog and crossed the popular Shibuya Crossing. In order to keep ourselves from getting lost, we grabbed each others bags and formed a strong line. We were stereotypical teenage tourists and stuck our cameras high in the air to get a video. At least three of us were doing it, so it looked funny.

After shopping at Shibuya, we hopped on the train again and made our way to Harajuku. The new generation fashion. It was there where we established that yes, you weren't the only one who had been feeling unsteady all day. We felt ourselves moving, some had described it like a wave, but it was very small. We still haven't figured out if it is a mini earthquake or the trains. A few delegates also had a small adventure. There are some vendors who target boys and ask them if they want to buy some shirts. It involves walking down a sketchy alleyway.

After that we found some dinner and went back to the hotel. Unfortunately, we were caught during the rush hour so we forced ourselves into the trains and were squished against each other like sardines. Some delegates decided to go to a building next to the hotel to get a view of Tokyo at night.

August 1st

Today was a relatively late start. We met up at 10, and then got some breakfast. Pancakes and lots of eggs. After that we were on our way to the train station. Somehow, we took the long way to our destination. And ended up taking a couple hours to get to our destination.

We then went to a neko cafe. Or cat cafe. There were cats that were roaming the cafe. While we had drinks, and played with cats. Quite a few cats.

After that we made our way to the Asakusa temple area, where we browsed the shops leading up to the temple. We then went up to the temple. It was beautiful inside, with paintings on the ceiling, and ornate statues. We even went to see what type of luck we'd get.

After that we walked to the sky tree. The second tallest building in the world. Some of us weren't happy with the heights, so about half of us went up the sky tower, and the other half went to the aquarium.

We then ate dinner, and took the shorter trip back to the hotel.

LAX, a journey of it's own

LAX is very confusing.

We were supposed to have a three hour layover, when we got to the gate, we had 35 minutes.

Our flight was through Singapore Airlines and the only information we got about the gate location was 'Terminal B'. Okay, there were no signs that directed us either to Terminal B or the international Terminal. So after asking people, and walking in circles. Which is not an exaggeration.

Eventually we were able to get on the shuttle that would get us to terminal 4, which is the same as the international terminal, which is the same as terminal B. There weren't any signs that told us that.

Once we got to the gate, we had to get our boarding tickets. That wasn't quick at all, not to forget that we're all really hungry. As soon as some of us got our boarding passes, we sped walk down the hallway on a quest for food. We stopped at the first place which had sandwiches. It took a really long time, and there also seemed to be no relation in food and number. Since '99' got their food before '95' and '96'.

By the time we got our food, it was already boarding time, and not everyone had gotten their food. So the few who did have their food ran back to the gate.