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After 3.776 meters and after losing Yumis parents on the way :( , we made it to the top of Mount Fuji. It is the highest mountain in Japan and its an active volcano (even though it hasnt errupted since 1708). Anyways, getting there wasnt as easy as I had read. The way was filled with all kinds of pavements: rocky, earthy, volcano dust...you name it! I was impressed at how many people were there. Our group was mostly made up of Japanese, except for me. The tour guide talked and talked for a long time in Japanese.. and I just stood there and pretended I was understanding everything. When he was done, I would ask Yumi what he had said, and she would tell me like a phrase or two. Haha. But everything ended up fine. We climbed from 11h30 in the morning until about 6h in the evening. It was a long and tiring climb, and some people could not stay with us the whole way. We had a wide range of ages, from children to older adults, in our group. We were going to spend the night at the 8th station, the closest to the summit. However, on the way, some children seemed to feel tired or hopeless of getting to the top, and the parents had to stop and stay with them. Yumis parents made all the way to the 8th station, about 3600 meters up the mountain, but her dad felt sick overnight and they decided not to go. Yumi had had about 1h30 of sleep because she got altitude sick but she was still determined to go to the top. We woke up around 1h this morning, got ready and met our group to climb to the summit and watch the sunrise. The climb did not take that long, only about 1 hour and a half, but we were so tired from the previous day that we had to push it at times. Around 4h we made it to the summit. It was very cold and breezy, so we went inside a little restaurant to warm up. Then, around 4h30 we went out to wait on the sunrise. The top was crowded of people. I kept sitting on the volcano ground to try to warm up while Yumi took pictures (I brought my camera up without its battery, so I enjoyed staying warm while Yumi got cold taking pictures for me. haha. Just kidding... not!) Anyways, after almost freezing to death, I hear this `woow` from the crowd. The sun had risen and it has gorgeous! The sky was picture perfect. The tiredness and the hard work were all worth it when we saw the sunrise. We hung around until about 5h and we started descending. To me, descending was even harder than climbing the mountain. It is faster but the pavement is made of dirt and rocks, so when you step it feels as if you as skiing, and there isnt really much to hold on to. A lot of people fell with their butts on the ground (not me, of course!) It only took us 15 minutes go to back to the 8th station, where we were staying. Once we got there, we had breakfast and took a nap until about 8, when we had to go down the whole mountain to go home. Ugh! This part was the worst. To try not to slip on the rocks and dirt, you have to walk on your ankles. It not always worked, but thankfully none of us fell or got injured.. but try walking on your ankles for almost 3 hours... It hurts a lot! Plus carrying all your backpack weight and being tired... Miserable! But after all of this, we got to the bottom of Mt. Fuji and drove to a hot spring place. Im used to the way spas work in Brazil and here was just a little bit different. Here, men and women go to different places. There, you shower (Japanese style) and then you get into the next area...naked. Hahaha. Thats the part I wasnt used to. But it all went well and it was very refreshing. Yumi and I still cant believe we made it all the way to the top of Mt. Fuji. It was an incredible experience and I would recommend it to anyone. Just make sure you are in physical and mental condition before, because the climb isnt as easy as they say, but it isnt the hardest either. Anyways, now Im off to relax as well. Ill post some more pictures from the summit on Facebook and Orkut. :)

3.776 metros mais tarde e depois de `perder` os pais da Yumi no caminho, nos chegamos ao topo do Monte Fuji. O Monte e a montanha mais alta do Japao e e um vulcao ativo (mesmo sendo que nao ocorreram erupcoes desde 1708). Chegar la no topo nao foi tao facil como eu tinha lido... No caminho tinha tudo quanto e tipo de terreno: rochoso, poeira de volcao... E eu fiquei supresa com o tanto de gente que estava la. Um monte mesmo! No nosso grupo so tinha japoneses e eu. O nosso guia ficou um tempao falando em japones e eu la com uma cara de boba fingindo que tava entendendo tudo. Finalmente, quando ele parava de falar, eu perguntava pra Yumi o que ele tinha falado, e ela resumia aqueles 10 minutos em uma ou duas frases. Aiaiai! Mas gracas a Deus tudo deu certo. Nos escalamos de 11h30 ate as 18h. O caminho e longo e bem cansativo, e tinha gente no nosso grupo que nao aguentou. Nos tinhamos de criancas a idosos no nosso grupo e a maioria dessas pessoas iam passar a noite com a gente no dormitorio da oitava estacao , a estacao mais perto do topo. Porem no caminho as criancas ficaram cansadas e nao queriam mais subir de jeito nenhum, entao os pais tiveram que desistir de subir e ficar com eles (na minha opniao, aquilo la nao e lugar de levar criancas...) Os pais da Yumi chegaram ate a oitava estacao mas durante a noite o pai dela nao tava se sentindo bem e tanto a mae quanto o pai decidiram nao ir ate o topo. A Yumi so conseguiu dormir por 1h30 porque ela ficou enjoada por causa da altitude, mas mesmo assim queria ir ate o topo. Entao nos acordamos as 1h essa manha, nos arrumamos e e encontramos a parte do nosso grupo que ia subir ate o topo. A gente foi cedo pra chegar la a tempo de assistir o sol nascer. A subida nem foi tao demorada, mas nos estavamos cansadas do dia seguinte e divemos que incentivar uma a outra pra continuar. As 4h da manha, nos chegamos ao topo. La em cima estava muito frio e ventando muito, entao nos passamos um tempo dentro de um restaurante que tinha aquecedor. As 4h30, nos fomos la pra fora esperar o sol nascer. O topo tava cheio de gente, mas menos do que quando a gente chegou. Eu fiquei sentada na terra vulcanica tentando me aquecer enquanto a Yumi tirava fotos (eu trouxe a minha camera ao topo mas esqueci a bateria no dormitorio, entao eu adorei ficar la `quentinha` enquanto a Yumi tirava fotos pra mim.. hahah. Tadinha). Quando eu estava quase morrendo de frio, eu escuto os japas `wow` e la estava o sol nascendo... Lindo demais! Tudo que passamos na subida valeu a pena! Nos ficamos por la ate as 5h e comecamos a descer. A descida nem foi longa, somente 15 minutos de volta ao dormitorio, mas dificil demais. Parecia que estavamos esquiando, so que em terra e pedras. E o pior e que nem tem como se segurar nem nada, porque pra onde voce olhava era pedra ou terra ou neve. Algumas pessoas cairam de bumbum no chao (claro que eu nao fui uma delas... eu sou atleta, ne! haha). Quando chegamos ao nosso dormitorio, comemos cafe da manha e fomos tirar um cochilo. As 8h, nos encontramos com o nosso grupo de novo, e comecamos o descer o monte todo. Particularmente, essa foi a pior parte. Pra evitar cair ou escorregar nas pedras, voce tem que andar devagar e nos seus calcanhares. Imagina andar no seus calcanhares por 3 horas.. nossa, doi demais! Alem do mais, todos nos estavamos carregando mochilas cheias de agasalhos, comidas, bebidas e cansados do dia seguinte... Horrivel! Mas gracas a Deus que nenhum de nos se machucou ou caiu. Depois de isso tudo, chegamos a base do vulcao e de la fomos a um spa. So que o spa daqui e diferente dai. Aqui homens e mulheres vao pra dois lugares diferentes. La, eles tomam um banho (japones, sentados) e pulam nessas piscinas de agua quente tipo da Pousada do Rio Quente ai no Brasil... so que eles estao sem roupa. Hahaha.. Aiai esse Japao... Bom, depois de la, finalmente fomos pra casa. Eu e a Yumi ainda nao acreditamos que nos fomos ao topo do Monte Fuji. Foi uma experiencia maravilhosa e eu recomendaria pra qualquer pessoa, desde que voce esteja em condicoes fisicas e mentais.. porque so assim que voce consegue chegar ao topo. Nao e nao facil como eles falam, mas tambem nao e impossivel. Bom, agora vou descansar um pouco.. estou morta! E depois coloco fotos no Facebook e no Orkut. Beijos!

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New Things/ Coisas Novas


The past two days were full of learning new things. Yesterday, Yumi and I went for a walk in a park by her neighborhood. I had the chance to see a little bit more of her life and of the Japanese. She showed me her elementary and middle school. Even though it was Sunday, the kids were at school playing baseball. The sport is big in Japan and other adults were playing in the park as well. We went home and prepared a usual Japanese lunch: noddles. Later we headed downtown Tokyo to shop. We took the train and took no time at all to get there. Its so nice not to depend on your own transportation to go somewhere... I wish we had something like this in Goshen. The first thing I learned, while shopping at a mall with Yumi, was that the Japanese, when going on the escalators, they stay on the left, so that the right side is free to those who wish to pass by faster. Of course I did not learn that right away, so Yumi had to keep reminding me to stay on the left. Also, when I went into a store to try on some clothes, I forgot to remove my shoes before stepping on the carpet. Thankfully, it seems as if they are used to foreigners doing that and did not mind it much, but still are asked me to remove my shoes. Ops! As usual, it was a hot Sunday, so Yumi and I went to a cafe. I ordered an Iced Royal Milk Tea, but it came unsweetened. So I went back and got some sugar. Though, Yumi reminded me that here in Japan, sugar does not work on cold drinks, only on hot. So she got me what they call gum syrup to put on my drink.
After that, we went home and Yumi cooked all of us dinner. I was impressed with her cooking skills. :) She made rice (as usual...), chicken and a Korean soup. The soup was so spicy that I could barely drink it. Instead, I picked the egg parts of the soup. Yumi wasnt mad at me for not having her soup but I still felt bad.
Every night we watch Japanese shows on the TV here. They seem so silly and they do some strange things on TV here. But they are funny to watch. Most of the time I can kind of guess what they are talking about.
Today was another interesting day. According to Yumi, it was Beaches day today, a holiday. She said it pretty much means that it is a day dedicated to the start of the summer. Since it was a holiday, her dad was off work. He cooked us lunch (noddles). However, there was a little detail that they forgot to tell me. Yumis dad served the noddles in a sort of soup. It was very hot, so I wanted to take my time to eat. Though, I didnt notice that the more I took the eat, the more noddles I had. Then, Yumi told me that the Japanese noddles keep growing if you dont eat them fast. Haha! So I made sure I ate everything I had left very quickly! :) Later her dad took us grocery shopping. What an experience! First of all, the store had 4 floors. Each floor had something different. Like the 4th floor had some random housing things, the first had the groceries. The Japanese tend to use their space very efficiently. At the grocery store, they have these tiny carts, which the Japanese use. Then, they get a basket and place inside of the cart and put their groceries in there. This way, the cart is tall enough that will fit all of your groceries, but narrow enough that wont take too much space. Also, car garages are very tiny and, to me, they barely fit a single car. All drivers, for some reason, tend to park their cars backwards, even into tiny spaces. Streets are very narrow as well.
So back to the grocery store... After that, we went to the pharmacy. Yumis dad got some things and went to the cashier to pay. Soon, he pulls out his CELLPHONE and pays for his things. Wow! According to Yumi, cellphones here can have electronic money and they are accepted almost anywhere to pay for things. She also said that this form of payment first started about four years ago. My mouth just dropped... Their technology is so advanced compared to the U.S.!
Now we are just relaxing at home. We are planning to go to Kyoto, Hiroshima e visit Mout Fuji soon. It should be interesting! Ill post some more pictures later. See ya! :)

Nesses ultimos dois dias eu tenho aprendido muitas coisas novas. Ontem, Yumi e eu fizemos uma caminhada em um parque perto de onde ela mora. Ela me mostrou um pouco mais sobre a vida dela e dos Japoneses. Nos fomos a escola onde ela frequentou o maternal e o ensino fundamental. Mesmo no domingo, nos alunos do maternal estavam na escola jogando baseball. Aqui, baseball e tipo o futebol do Japao. Fomos pra casa e preparamos o almoco japones: macarrao. Mais tarde fomos ao shopping em Toquio. Nos fomos de trem e chegamos la rapidinho. Quem dera que tivessemos isso em Goshen! A primeira coisa que eu aprendi quando fomos ao shopping e que quando os Japoneses usam a escada rolante, todo mundo fica na esquerda, porque a direita e somente para pessoas que querem passar mais rapido. Logicamente, eu sempre acabei esquecendo e sempre ia a direita. Mas a Yumi ficou me lembrando, ate que uma hora eu nao esqueci mais. Haha. Outra hora, quando eu entrei numa loja pra experimentar umas roupas, eu esqueci de tirar meus sapatos antes de pisar no tapete. Ainda bem que eles estao acostumados com os estrangeiros fazendo isso e nem ligaram muito, mas me pediram mesmo assim pra tirar os meus sapatos. Ops! Como de costume, estava muito quente e umido aqui no domingo, entao Yumi e eu fomos a um cafe. Eu pedi um Iced Royal Milk Tea mas veio sem ser adocado. Entao eu voltei e peguei acucar. Logo a Yumi me lembrou que o acucar daqui do Japao nao adoca bebidas frias, somente bebidas quentes. Entao ela foi pegar pra mim o que eles chamam de gum syrup, que adoca bebidas frias.
Mais tarde fomos pra casa e Yumi fez jantar para todos nos. Ela cozinhou arroz (claro!), frango e uma sopa koreana. A sopa estava tao apimentada que eu nem consegui tomar. Entao, pra nao fazer disfeita, fiquei catando os ovos que estavam na sopa. A Yumi nao ficou brava que eu nao tomei a sopa, mas mesmo assim eu me senti mal.
Todas as noites nos assistimos os shows japoneses aqui. Eles sao tao mongois e a programacao e toda estranha. E tipo o programa Panico em todos os canais. Aiai. Os programas sao engracados de assistir de tao bobos que eles sao. Na maioria das vezes eu consigo ter uma ideia do que eles estao falando.
Hoje o dia foi bem interessante. Segundo a Yumi, hoje e dia das praias, um feriado aqui no Japao. E tipo um dia dedicado ao verao japones. Ja que era feriado, o pai da Yumi nao estava trabalhando. Ele fez almoco pra gente (macarrao pra variar...). So que eles esqueceram de me falar um pequeno detalhe. O pai dela colocou o macarrao dentro da sopa que ele fez. A sopa estava bem quente, entao eu quis esperar esfriar e comer de pouco a pouco. So que eu nao percebi que, nao importava o quanto eu comia, o macarrao no meu prato parecia ter a mesma quantidade que antes. Depois a Yumi me contou que o macarrao que eles usam aqui continua aumentando de tamanho se voce nao o come rapido. Entao tive que terminar o meu prato rapidinho antes que meu macarrao continuasse crescendo... Hahaha! Mais tarde o pai dela nos levou ao supermercado. Que experiencia! O supermercado nao era muito grande, mas tinha quatro andares. Cada andar tinha era separado por categoria. Os japoneses tentam usar o minimo de espaco possivel. No supermercado, eles tem esses carrinhos de compras bem pequenos. Os japoneses pegam esses carrinhos e colocam a cesta de compra dentro. Dessa maneira, o carrinho tem tamanho suficiente pra caber suas compras, mas nao ocupa muito espaco. As garagens aqui sao muito estreitas e mal cabem um carro. Portanto, todos os carros nao sao muito grandes nem largos. As ruas tambem sao bem estreitas. Os motoristas de carro sempre estacionam ao contrario (com a frente do carro apontando pra rua.)
Depois do supermercado, paramos na farmacia porque o pai da Yumi precisava de algumas coisas la. Ele pegou algumas coisas e foi para o caixa. Dai, ele tira o CELULAR dele do bolso e paga pelas compras. E minha cara tava tipo 'como assim??????' Segundo a Yumi, os celulares aqui tem dinheiro eletronico e sao aceitos em praticamente qualquer lugar que voce for. Uma maquinha scaneia o chip de dentro do celular e faz um debito na conta do seu dinheiro eletronico. A Yumi me disse que isso existe aqui ja tem mais de 4 anos... e eu nunca tinha ouvido nem falar disso! Esse Japao nao e brinquedo nao...
Agora nos estamos em casa tentando fazer um roteiro de viagem para Kioto, Hiroshima e a Mt. Fuji. Depois coloco mais novidades. Beijos!!
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Here I am!




Well, I made it! I got to Japan yesterday afternoon (Japan time) and my Japanese friend, Yumi, met me at Narita airport. From there, we took a bus to Tokyo, which is about 40 minutes away. However, with the crazy Tokyo traffic, it took us almost 3 hours to get to our final destination. The traffic here reminds me a little bit of traffic of Rio, except that the drivers drive on the other side of the car and the road.
Its hot and very humid here, so the AC is always on. Ive been trying to get used to the Japanese ways, but I figured it will take me a while until I do. On the first day, right before I got into the house, I was reminded to take off my shoes and clean the bottom of my luggage before I enter the house. Also, I learned that there are certain things that everyone shares, and others that everyone has to have their own, like a bathroom rug, for example. My room is old Japanese style, with the rice mats on the floor, and sort of a paper window and my matress is on the floor, as well. Loved it!
The hardest thing so far is not communicating, but trying to stay awake. There is a 13-hour difference between the U.S. and here, so naps are always welcome. :) However, communication is also an `issue`. Yumis family is very nice and they try to make an effort to communicate with me. Ive been learning some Japanese words and phrases, but it is still not the greatest.
We went out to Yumis cousins house this afternoon where I met part of her moms side of the family. Her grandpa used to be an English teacher in high school, but he taught mostly phrases, so he isnt able to carry a conversation for very long. He kept trying to tell me that the English grammar is very structural, with the subject and verb and then something else, and that the japanese grammar is not always like that. He tried to explain that to me three times, even though I had understood it the first time. ha! He became my buddy after that. :) During this visit, I also had the opportunity to eat the REAL Japanese sushi (Jason, please dont get jealous!) and it was really good! Ive been getting some practice with the hashi (chopsticks) by eating rice, noodles and fried chicken with it. ha!
Sorry I havent had a lot of time to take some pictures (since Ive been sleeping so much...) but I will take some more soon. This one I took today during lunch. Yum! Now its almost time for bed, so Ill post some more tomorrow!

Cheguei! eu cheguei aqui no Japao ontem a tarde (aqui) e a minha amiga japonesa, Yumi, estava me esperando no aeroporto de Narita. La, nos pegamos um onibus para Toquio, que normalmente toma so 40 minutos. Mas, com o transito daqui, demorou quase 3 horas. O transito aqui me lembra do Rio, mas aqui os motoristas dirigem no lado direito, e do outro lado da rua. Aqui e quente e muito umido, entao o ar-condicionado esta sempre ligado. Eu estou tentando me acostumar aos costumes japoneses, mas eu sei que vai levar um tempo ate que eu me acostume mesmo. No primeiro dia aqui, antes de entrar na casa, eles me lembraram de tirar meus sapatos e limpar as rodas da minha mala antes de eu pisar em casa. Tambem estou aprendendo que tem certas coisas que todo mundo usa, e outras que voce tem que ter um somente pra voce, como um tapete de banho, por exemplo. Todo mundo usa o mesmo chuveiro para tomar banho, mas cada um tem o seu tapete.. Meu quarto e no estilo antigo japones, com as `esteiras` de arroz no chao, e a janela tipo de papel de seda, e com meu colchao o chao. Adorei!
A coisa mais dificil ate agora nao tem sido me comunicar, mas sim tentar ficar acordada. Sao 13 horas de diferenca dos Estados Unidos pra ca, entao sempre tenho que tirar um cochilo. Mas tambem, tentar me comunicar e um `problema`. Eu aprendi algumas palavras e frases em portugues, mas meu japones ainda ta fraco.
Nos fomos a casa dos primos da Yumi essa tarde e eu conheci uma parte da familia dela. O avo dela ensinou ingles para estudantes do ensino medio, mas ele ensinava frases, entao ele nao consegue ter uma conversa longa em ingles. Ele estava me explicando 3 vezes que a gramatica do ingles e uma so, e que o japones e uma mistura, mesmo sendo que eu tinha entendido da primeira vez que ele falou. ha! Ele era aquele japones velhinho e engracadinho, sabe? aiai. Durante a visita, eu tambem comi o VERDADEIRO sushi japones and estava muito bom. Eu tenho praticado minhas abilidades com o hashi.. ja tive que comer arroz, macarrao e frango com eles.
Eu nao tenho tido muito tempo de tirar fotos (ja que eu tenho dormido tanto...) mas eu vou tirar mais quando eu puder. Essa foto eu tirei hoje durante o almoco. Hum! Agora e quase a hora de ir dormir, entao eu vou postar mais amanha!