Yokohoma, Japan

1/29/2014 

We arrived in Yokohoma about two days ago, or so I think. I have been up for so long and sleeping during odd times--that I am loosing my sense of time and natural rythmn for rest. 

Boom Boom Boom! Were the sound of drums as we approach the Port of Yokohoma. It only took about 14,400 seconds to disembark. The Japanese are so secure. In our pre port lecture we were informed that in fact Japan is safer than the US. Who knew!

After getting through immigration and customs we (my group of friends and I) rushed to the nearest sign for "Free Wifi!" We were so happy to find it that I took a picture with my friend Meiko ( pictured below). While the group split up, I returned to home for lunch and prepared for our next adventure. Harumi; our interport lecturer who embarked in Hawaii and sailed with us to japan, informed us that we hadn't seen Japan unless we saw shrines, temples, and gardens (lookout for my Shrines, Temples, and Gardens; Oh My! Blogpost).

We had a blast! Unfortunately the group is leaving the cafe, of which I am stealing free wifi so I have to go! I'll come back and finished this post later. 

Shrines, Temples, and Gardens; Oh My!

At last-we have made it to Japan! Can you believe it took 12 days to get to The Port of Yokohoma from Hilo, Hawaii. Well, it did. When we arrived everyone was so happy to get off of the ship. With haste we rushed, pushed, and praised the ground as we debarked from the ship. Land has become a necessity the shipboard hopes for everyday after leaving port. Our first stop; Shrines, Temples, and Gardens! Harumi--our inter port lecturer who boarded the ship in Hilo , and sailed with us to Yokohoma--instructed us that we wouldn't really experience Japan unless we saw shrines, temples, and gardens- and so we did. 

Jerry, Bobby, and I made our way to Kamarkura , Japan. Here we were guided by our friend Victoria who had been attempting to lead us to the "Big Buddah"... FAIL. We ende up in some sacred shrine that was closed. I suspect we weren't supposed to be there, because a patron walking pass made it his duty to come and kick us out of the shrine. This was an adventure. We hiked up hill for about 2 hours and found ourselfs with nothing to see. Soon after we began to wander down hill in the opposite direction and found a museum. Because we had been walking for well over three hours now, Jerry, Bobby, and I decided that we would pay the 3 yen to explore the museum. We weren't leaving this area empy handed, so Victorian and some others in the group decided they would wait for us outside the museum. We spent well over 2 hours inside and let's just say when we left the museum was closed and our other group members where gone. The saying "hard work pays off" can be applied in this situation. When we pasted the gates of the museum we found huge shrines, temples, and gardens! Oh My! 

We were so happy we decided to go into the museum that we just spent the entire time talking about how out friends in the other group would be so upset that they passed up this opportunity. We saw Buddah! Not "Big Buddah" but large enough to take massive amounts of pictures with him.

This adventure was awesome. Needless to say, near the end our our exploration we hiked back down the mountain (lol) and returned to the ship. Here are some pictures of our day! 

Mieko wanted to tak a photo after I insisted she take one with me. This was just as we passed immigration in the port of Yokohoma. 

Our group for the day! (Front from left to right- Victoria, myself, Kasey; back from left to right- Kaisey, Jerry, Bobby)

On our way up the mountain we saw this shrine, or so we thought. After we hiked down the mountain we realize it was an open park of shrines but more commonly an entrance way to a primary school. There were hundreds of Japanese school children leaving as we passed on our way back to the ship.

Bobby and I, and Buddah...

And amazing temple, upon entering we had to remove our shoes.

Another temple.

The garden in the museum.

Pictures from Hawaii

(Waking up to land is a pleasantly in the ship. Hilo Hawaii in the distance) 

(Me, Raj, and Chris are excited to finally debarking the ship and touch ground on land.) 

(All aboard! Me and a number of other  Sasser piled in the back of three pick-up trucks ready to go cliff diving. 

(The site of where we jumped off of clogs)

(Here we go! Ready to jump!)

(We jumped! We did it! And what a way to celebrate Christina's (right) birthday!)

(Later we went to Richardson Park Beach [Black Sand Beach] and me trying some native fruit) 

(It was good, despite my facial expressions)

(An amazing view of the black sand beach)

Disturb Us Lord

I thought this would be great to share. The contents of my personal journal aren't public, or written for the public; however, I figured this would be a good share.

Personal Journal Entry- 1/15/14-13:13

The other day Sam Reid (Mr. Reid) sent me a prayer that I have come to hold with me throughout this voyage. It is as such:

"Disturb us, Lord, when we are too pleased with ourselves,

When our dreams have come true

Because we dreamed too little,

When we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess

We have have lost our thirst for the waters of life;

Having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity

And in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision

Of the new heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord,  to dare more boldly, to venture on wilder seas

Where storms will show your mastery;

Where loosing sight of land, we shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes;

And to push back the future in strenght, courage, hope, and love.

This we ask in the name of our Captain, who is Jesus Christ." -Sir Francis Drake

This poem speaks to my soul. I find myself reading it everyday now; sometimes, multiple times a day. Mr. Reid--Thank You. 

Aloha Hawaii!

I don't know where to begin! Well let me just begin. I don't have the capacity to bore you with a long drawn out post at the moment but that will come later. We just arrived in Hawaii. I am using my cell phone to write this post, and as soon as I can get to my laptop and find a cafe with free wifi, I'll upload my blog entries I've written from the past week. So, back to Hawaii; we are on our way to downtown Hilo! We've made one stop at a target in which I thought was totally awesome-- my friend Ky says "it's Hawaii, you can do anything"-- so of course I proceeded in the store with no shirt! It's like 80 degrees and the weather is perfect! We are on our way to hangout, cliff jump, and take in all that Hawaii has to offer; well for the most part. I brought my journal so I can make observations for my classes, and all of my cameras! (thanks Mr. Reid, and Symone) guys I'm going to get back to the festivities, my friends in the truck are waiting for me..... Aloha!