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Published: August 3rd 2008
Tuesday Haley Chelsea Amy C and I went to pepper lunch for dinner. YUM!
Wednesday we went to Yokoska and met up with Navy men that Haley and Chelsea met. We were suppose to go to dinner on the beach but since we got lost and got there late we weren't able to since the beach was 1/2 hour away. Instead we went to a little bar and that owner was so cute checking up on us and making sure we were okay. Then they took us to a Korean BBQ were you get a raw plate of meat and cook it on a BBQ grill that is in the middle of the table. Really cool. After that we did kareoke and was a lot of fun. Had to catch the subway by 10:30 to make it home before they stopped running. Made it in time! I was so tired I fell asleep on the subway and was laying on Haley and Chelsea😊.
Thursday I went to Donkey Hotay after work to get a few things for fuji then went home and prepared.
I climbed Mt. Fuji last Friday night (Aug. 1) with Haley, Chelsea, Amy C., and
Chris. Left straight after work and saw one of our kids on the way home, it was his only week but he was cute. His mom thought we were crazy for saying that we were climbing fuji! We took a bus from Shinjuku to the 5th station path that we were climbing. Took 2 hours to get to the 5th station where you start climbing. When we got there it was weird because these people were asking if Stephanie was with us (who is haley's sister and was also climbing that night) Kind of weird that they happened to ask us. Met up with Chris and we all got out walking sticks and prepared to climb. Started climbing at 8:45pm. First little while wasn't to bad, but then it got hard. An uphill incline the whole way. I fell behind right away and this japanese woman started talking to me and helping me along. When we got to the 6th station I met back up with everyone. We took a little break then kept going. Station 6-7 was the worst. I threw up once because it was so hard, and felt sick the rest of the night. I couldn't drink
Sunrise
These were the people who chantedanything either and didn't go to the bathroom until half way down the mountain (probably didn't drink enough). 6-7 was an uphill incline and stairs and it was so hard. Made me realize how out of shape I am! Was so glad to get to station 7, got my first stamp and rested. After 7 there were a few more huts along the way that weren't too far apart so that made it easier to see the goal. It was also easier because it was climbing boulders and for some reason I like that better, probably because there was a line of people and everyone was going a steady pace. After about the 3rd 7th station it was a ways before station 8. Still wasn't as bad as 6-7 because of the boulders. Station 8 was like 7 with little huts (got stamps at all of them!). They even have places were people can stay and starting at 8 we started to see people getting up to start hiking again. They stay for awhile then get up for the sunrise. Between 8-9 got a little more difficult too. At the last station (I stopped counting because the huts made things
Sunrise and line of people
This isn't even 1/4 of them! confusing) I was waiting for everyone to go to the bathroom and rest and I fell asleep sitting up! I was exhausted. The last stretch was awful. There were so many people that the 1 hour hike took about 2.5. We didn't make it to summit in time for sunrise but were pretty close to the top. There was a group of people (i think monks) that were chanting the whole way up I can't imagine how hard that would be, I know I couldn't talk. Saw the sunrise and it was really pretty, kind of cloudy but was cool to see what I was acutally hiking. Got to the top around 5:45am on August 2. Was the most miserable night of my life but when I got to the top it was totally worth it. The view was amazing. I tried to sleep some but people kept tapping me and telling me to move even though I was in that spot first. So eventually I acting like I didn't hear them😊. Met up with Haley's sister and friends and they didn't leave until 11 - either we're really slow or they must have missed the traffic. Also met this
English guy and his friends, they didn't start until 2:30 am, and made it up the same time as us. My head lamp stopped working half way through the hike, I was glad I had a little flash light but I only had to use it some times. I was glad it worked for the first half of the trip when there was barely any people, when it stopped working I was glad that there were a lot of people around with lights, so it was easy to see. At top we took in the view and then went down about 2 hours later (7:20am). That was difficult but a lot easier. It was a down hill path made of volcanic ash (which is like the way up but not as packed down - the way up you had to be careful every now and then because you'd slip). I had to go really slow, try not to fall, or hurt my knees. I got knee braces because they have been hurting me really bad this summer. Again I was the last one, but I figured out a way to go faster and not get to hurt or fall... zig
zag like I was skiing. It really worked and I only fell 3 times. I couldn't beleive how many little kids I saw they climbed all night too.. one little girl was crying on the way down. It was nice because a little further down we were able to get back into our shorts - It was freezing up top especially because we were sweating when hiking and not to bad but then every time we stopped we froze. At one point we were putting on sunscreen and my hands were really dirty. Everyone else had wiped their hands off but I didn't and guess how dirty my face was! We got to the bottom around 11 and that was the happiest I've been in a long time. For about an hour I kept thinking I was almost there and just kept getting disappointed, but I finally made it!!!!! That guy we met up top found us and asked if we saw the 2 girls we were with them. They lost them and had to try to find them. The one guy rode the bus with haley chris and i down the mountain while the other guy stayed up (chelsea
and amy took a bus home right away). It was fun to talk to him on our hour bus ride - he actually works close to where we do. At the bottom of the mountain he found the girls and we looked for buses home. We got one for a little later so we could go to a beach. I didnt realize that my face was that bad and was talking to people at train stations and everything and they probably thought I was homeless😊 Luckily I had my walking stick. It wasn't until Chris said "Can you wipe your face off because I can't take you seriously with that mustache." that I realized how bad it was and went and wiped it off the best I could! I don't have a picture of it but he does so I'll be geting them from him soon. We went to the 711 to get food and then went to the lake. Were going to go to the beach, but couldn't find out that was on the side we were so we watched the boats then went back to the station and got an earlier bus. Was a 2 hour bus ride
to Shinjuku and we both crashed! (Chris took the train to Zama). When we got off the bus it was so cool. We walked past a group of people who were handing out flyers and they started chearing something (I think it was for us) and then this lady started asking where we were going and told us how to get there (we knew how to but it was nice of her to ask so we let her tell us). Not very many people ask you if you need help unless you look really lost so it was nice of her to ask. Then she pointed us in the right direction. On the way to the subway (through the station) we saw this guy laying on the ground with people surrounding him and blood coming out of his head. I thought he was dead but Haley said she thought she saw him move. Wish I could have helped but it would have been really hard and frustrating for everyone with the language barrier. We got on the subway and sat down and these ladys were looking at our sticks and were trying to ask how long it took. They didn't
know much english so charades came in handy! They thought it was really cool and probably that we were crazy. It was really cool walking through the station and hotel because every looks, and people talk to you - they did at the hotel too. Got back to the room and called Mom Dad and Shawn to let them know I was alive and took a shower. Man was I dirty! I had dirt so far up my nose and in my ears, it was gross! We watched a little tv and then crashed. I think without the little naps before I got home I was up for 36 hours. Slept good last night!
Got up today and went to Harajuku (I've been there before just spelled it wrong in the last blog) where all the people dress crazy and went to a flea market. It was a lot bigger then the last one I went to and was so cool. Bought lots of things and also saw the Togo Shrine that it as at. After that we went to the 100 yen store which was really good and 4 floors. Had lots of fun, rested the rest of
Mt. Fuji - you can see it through the clouds
I forgot to take a full picture of the mountain when we were closer. Blame it on lack of sleep! the day. Chris came and him and Haley have been hanging out and doing things but I have decided not to do anything the rest of the night.
Thursday Sharkey the Shark visited our class for zoo week (I brought my shark outfit with!). They loved it but then Momoko said "Thats Miss Jess!" So they all kept saying it. Then after I changed I hid the costume and came back out and they all kept saying Miss Jess you tried to eat us... and I said I don't know what you're talking about, there was a shark here! And I think I really confused them. But they had a lot of fun with the shark. Friday was some of the kids last day, including Alex😞 so sad he was so cute and always sad the cutest things. I'll miss them. Had BBQ and then a movie! We made a movie theater like I used to do when I was a kid. We made tickets for the movie and popcorn and they all colored them, they thought it was really cool. And laughed so hard at the movie, really cute. Was an easy afternoon but still fun for them.
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MOM
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Proud of you
I am so Proud of you Jess! LOVE MOM