First full day in Japan.

Finally, we got to our destination at Sunset Breeze Hota in Chiba, where we spent 5 days. This is where I slept.

Patty, Jamie and I by the sunset.


Amazing view of the sunset from the observation tower.

A better view of the Buddha.

After visiting the preserved village, we went to see the largest stone Buddha in Japan. This was in Chiba.

A village story teller was telling tales of samurais and mythical creatures.

I ate a rice preparation with fish eggs and seaweed, and Jamie had dough balls covered in sweet syrup.

Children and women were wearing kimonos due to the new year's celebration.

Small children were playing with all the sports equipment there. Because it was a new year's celebration, everything was very child-friendly.

Before entering the preserved village houses, we had to take our shoes off.

There was an area in the preserved village with stilts, racket ball and many other sports activities.

On our first day in Japan we went to the Chiba Prefectural Museum, which is really a preserved village.

My first day of eating what I basically ate for the entire trip. Yum!

Travelling to Japan. First night in Japan.

Here we are, in the Detroit airport, waiting for our flight to Narita airport in Japan. We look a little disheveled, but this is nothing compared to what we looked like after the 14 hour nonstop flight to Narita!

This is my first on the streets of Japan. I was so surprised by how clean the air is here. There is always a clear view of the skyline, and pollution has been reduced to a minimum.

Our first night was spent at Exel Hotel Tokyu, an airport hotel. This is the room Jamie and I stayed in. Everything was very clean, which we would see later on is a pleasant trend in Japan!

Before I Leave

I am leaving in exactly 15 hours for LaGuardia airport. Although I am very excited to go on this adventure, I am starting to get a little nervous, good nervous. I finally bought a Japanese phrasebook and a Tokyo guidebook, and am planning to look them over on the flight from Detroit to Narita (a 13 1/2 hour flight!). I have no idea what to expect in Japan, especially in Tokyo. A huge reason of why I am excited about my trip is because when most people go on "study abroad" trips, they go to a country which is either as developed as the United States, or less so. However, Tokyo is known to be extremely developed and I am looking forward to the new things I will be seeing there, in addition to their traditional customs.