More on Japan

Saturday continued.

On Thursday evening George and I had volunteered to help in welcoming some Japanese students, their English speaking professors and another group on board and showing them round the ship. (George will tell you that I volunteered him which is strictly true!) It was fun to meet the students and there were about 16 SAS students to welcome them also. I loved watching them interact without even the language to do it, somehow it worked and they took to each other like a house on fire. There were some very senior (in age) visitors who spoke excellent English and were volunteer tourist guides. (One of them gave me some stamps which I shall save for you Liam.) One of the students learning English had written down a whole lot of questions and cornered George to get answers....he of course enjoyed himself thoroughly after complaining that I had made him miss a baseball game in which the ever losing Yokohama team lost again!

Yesterday we spent near Mount Fuji, in fact we went up as far as one can by bus or car, the 5th station at 2,500 metres.

We left Yokohama at 7 am and travelled by bus. It took us nearly two hours through easy traffic and then into the higher ground the roads were quiet as we neared the mountain. The trees changed from deciduous to a mixture of pine and other evergreens and deciduous as we climbed. There were birch trees and of course the cherry trees laden with pink and white blossom. To cap all of this we had yet another perfect day. The temperature was about 70 degrees Fahrenheit and the sky clear and blue. We could see the snow capped peak of the volcano called Mt Fuji (pronounced Huji) from miles away and people who spent the day in Tokyo could see it too....a distance of about about 50 miles. It was a magical day as we ascended in a cable car facing the mountain, walked around in the bright sunshine and clean mountain air and sailed on one of the five lakes nearby. There were so many ways to appreciate the beauty around us and when we finally climbed on to our bus (called Sea poodle!) we were satiated and sleepy. I think the students slept both ways! I keep thinking what an incredible experience this whole trip is for each of them....and for us.

We sailed out of Yokohama after a trying customs procedure (we had face to face interviews on arrival and departure and we were also finger printed when we first stepped ashore). George had discovered by chance that we would require our passports to board the ship....the purser happened to mention it to him so we both had ours. No one else knew and there was a great rush to fetch them off the ship and return to the huge customs hall. As they did that the Field office staff brought all the passports down to Customs in drawer fulls! George and I avoided that chaos thank goodness. Definitely an omission by the Assistant Dean's office to let passengers know what was to happen. Have I mentioned before that the Japanese are meticulous about security? However, always extremely pleasant and polite.

We are happily back at sea today and the students are quietly and intensely studying for their exams. We both so much enjoy this life on the ocean blue and were saying how much we are going to miss the constant sound of the sea. We have started to cross the Pacific and the film showing on our TV is all about Pacific tsunamis! After all the talk we heard about Japanese, and especially the Kobe, earthquakes they now feel we should be educated in Tsunamis. I have an earthquake phobia and have experienced one or two tremors, in BC and Hamilton, and did not want those thoughts to detract from my enjoyment of Japan but it was as though someone was determined to remind me....and now this?!

We perform The Persians on Wednesday and Friday of next week and we have had no rehearsal for days. It is also well nigh impossible to get the Union to rehearse in. I dread to think what this is going to be like and I am extremely nervous. As you can imagine there is a huge difference between rehearsing in a small classroom and performing in a spacious, sloping and quite possibly rocking room as the Union often is. Also we were not able to get the costumes we wanted so I suspect we shall be in long T shirts or sheets! Ah well this time next week it will all be over...

It is nearly five pm and time to repair to the Faculty lounge for drinks....another thing we are going to miss! The drinks we can easily get at home but we now require constant, entertaining and stimulating company each and every day at five....any volunteers?!

Off to put on my face.......