A nautical weekend...yeah, I got my flippy-floppies

What went down on the days June 27-28 made for a great weekend.

On Saturday, I set out on a trip with three other exchange students living in Sendai: Rebecca, Kenneth, and Sora. Oh, there were also about 100 fifth graders from Meisen (the school my host mom used to work at that has the staff comprised of gaijin, or foreigners). All I knew is that we were going along with these kids on a field trip to a museum about a boat that sailed to Europe and oh yeah Spanish people may have also been involved WOOO a boat!

So, we boarded the Meisen buses and spent the 1 hour ride talking about various things. My favorite topic was regional differences in American English. Rebecca and I represented the South while Sora and Kenneth represented...Michigan. We also talked about words we had heard they say in other states. "What? They call water fountains 'bubblers' in Wisconsin?" "Do they seriously say 'hecka' in California?" I really enjoy that kind of thing.

Anyway, we got to the San Juan Batista (the name of the ship) museum around 1. The first thing we did (after being like "aww yeah ocean) was go to an a mini movie theater to watch a 20 minute video about the noble vessel. There were a lot of samurais and spanish monks. Here's what basically went down: it was a Japanese ship built in Western style that took a Japanese embassy to see the Pope. There were storms that made the trip difficult and long, blah blah blah...I was just as fascinated by it as you probably are by me telling you about it. However, what made it a truly memorable experience was the theater itself. I thought it was kind of strange when we had to put on seat belts before the movie started. It turns out the seats are on a large machine that makes them move up and down to simulate the feeling of being on a boat. It was almost like an amusement park ride during the storms. Very crazy stuff.

Of course, the only reason I came was to stand on the deck of the boat, take a picture, and put it in a facebook album with the caption "I'm on a boat, and...".

HOWEVER, the boat was being renovated and we couldn't go on it. This saddened me greatly.

All the same, we had a nice time just walking around the museum, talking by the ocean, eating the many snacks that our respective host families had given us, etc. Fun!

Sunday was the day my host parents had picked out to take me to Matsushima. Wiki: Matsushima (松島) is a group of islands in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. There are some 260 tiny islands (shima, 島) covered in pines (matsu, 松) – hence the name – and is ranked as one of the Three Views of Japan. A well-known apocryphal haiku often attributed to Matsuo Bahou indicates that the poet is at a loss for words: Matsushima ah! A-ah, Matsushima, ah! Matsushima, ah! I can't write about out everything I did at Matsushima. There was simply too much. I'll try to give the basic run-down, and elaborate when I feel it's appropriate. I went to this very cool shrine set out on an island that you see above. Oh, check out my shirt. I also got my fortune, and I found I was to be very lucky! The pieces of paper you see twisted around the rods above are those of the poor souls whose fortunes indicated that things wouldn't be so great. After that, we stopped by this little shop to eat some senbei.

Then came the main event! Actually being on a boat!

Well, more accurately, a ferry that would be taking us through the islands. This was such an amazing experience. It was incredible seeing the islands, naturally, but what really made it unforgettable were....the seagulls. They sold seagull food on the boat for 100 yen, and people stood on the deck and throw it to seagulls that follow the boat the whole way. I'll let the pictures/videos do the talking:

What really killed me:




If you held out the food, the seagulls would swoop down and take it straight from your hand. If you threw the food out, they would race to catch it no matter where you threw it. It was amazing. Truly a memorable experience.

After the boat ride, we went some very old caves that had graves in them. I think some of them dated back to the 1300s.

Next, we visited a temple that made Rinnouji look small. No pictures were allowed inside, but I wish I could show you some of the rooms in it. The walls were covered with gold and paintings of dragons, temples, mountains shrouded in fog, etc. One of the rooms was where the kept the bodies of the samurais who committed seppuku when their lord, Date Masamune, died. Imagine standing in a room with a history like that.

Next, we went to a dango shop and got a couple of plates of them. They were, of course, delectable. The green stuff (actually crushed edamame beans that have been sweetended) you see on one of the plates is the Sendai specialty, Dzunda. I do love Japanese sweets.

Next, we went to a store that sold sasakamaboko, or...bamboo leaf fish cakes. I guess that's how you would translate it. Anyway, those are fun, because you get to roast them yourself.

Finally, we ended the food sampling tour at a great seafood place. Just look at those plates.

Oh, then we came home and had dinner: curry ramen!

After dinner, went for a walk.

LIFE IS GOOD.