Mt. Fuji
I don’t know what the seven wonders of the world are, but if I’m working on my own list right now, starting with Mt. Fuji. On the train to Fuji City (where our hostel was–Fumoto no ie) at one point, Jace said he saw the mountain. After calling bullshit for a while, the train came to a curve in the tracks. The sky had been replaced by rock.
There are many cities from which you can see Mt. Fuji, which, once you’ve seen the thing, doesn’t really surprise you. Fuji city seemed about the size of Hirakata, but the place we stayed at was way out in the countryside. We ended up taking a bus to what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. Luckily there was a hospital nearby, so I ducked inside to ask for directions. They hadn’t heard of our Fumoto no ie, but I gave them the number and were finally able to locate it. One of the staff members, this old guy, came out from behind the counter and waved me to follow him. This happens a lot I’ve noticed. You ask them one question, and it’s suddenly a huge deal. The Japanese will go to the end of the earth to get you an answer. Anyways, we walked outside where he told me he’d drive us there himself, since it was only five minutes away. Woot! So we pilled our stuff in the car and headed down the road.
The most noticeable difference between this countryside and the kind I’m used to in Japan was that there were no rice fields. Instead, houses were scattered among rows and rows of these odd bushes. I asked our driver what they were, and he replied in English: “Japanese tea.”
At last we arrived. By far the DODGIEST PLACE I have ever stayed at in my life. It was run by this old couple, who were incredibly sweet. Obaasan (old lady) showed us our rooms. It looked like this place hadn’t been live in in years. Cobwebs covered old records, ceramic decorations, and left over soap from previous international travelers.
Once settled in, we realized how hungry we were, so we asked the old couple where the nearest place to buy groceries was. There was some discussion between the two, and then Obaasan turned to tell us that her husband would drive us there himself. This was great except for two things: our driver was both old, and Asian. I don’t like racial profiling, but it’s people like Ojiisan (old guy) that reiterate these stereotypes. Nearly hit two cars! It was a bit of a terrifying ride to the store, but once there, Paul, Jace and I rummaged around to gather up the ingredients for our dinner. In our present serene setting at the foot of Japan’s national geographical treasure, we decided an appropriate meal for such an occasion would be–
Aussie style burgers. The hostel had a rickety old kitchen specifically for guests, which we managed to grease up and put to work. The burgers were delicious.
That night we bundled up and watched Ross Noble’s owl lecture before going to bed. We were lucky that we had such thick blankets, because like most Japanese homes, we had to turn off the heater before going to bed so that the house wouldn’t burn down or something. The next morning was quite an adventure. We woke up at 5am to catch the sunrise behind Mt. Fuji. Talk about cold. It was definitely freezing outside. We went outside when it was still dark, but even in the dim light we were able see the mountain clearly. The lighter it became, the more beautiful it seemed.
After it was fully light, we packed up our stuff and were about to head out when after I asked Obaasan how to get to the station, Ojiisan interjected by asking us if we’d ever heard of a word I hadn’t heard before. Yes, I know I’m very descriptive, but I can’t remember what he said. Anyways, needless to say, I had no idea what he was talking about, but he quickly disappeared into the house. He returned with a katana in his hand. For those of you that don’t already know, a katana is the kind of sword samurais used. We all ended up getting five minute katana lesson from Ojiisan, who apparently was also a master at Judo and had studied it in college.
I have officially been trained in the way of the samurai, so watch out. Anyways, we all piled in the car with Ojiisan who drove us to the station, where we began our journey to our longest stop thus far: Tokyo.
Sorry for the infrequent posts guys, traveling is very busy but I’m actually in Sapporo now so I’ve got time to update videos and posts and all that jazz. Thanks for being patient, and I hope my post about my travels doesn’t bore you all to tears. Hope you all are well and having a great break!
Happy rice making.
