Thursday, April 11, 2013

Cherry Blossoms in the Spring

Are these not beautiful? I was in awe of these beautiful trees.

Where do you go for spring break--to get away from the fog and rain? To more rain--at least in Tokyo, Japan! There was no smog though.

I embarked on my last trip of the school year, let's be clear--SCHOOL year. I don't see myself not traveling the rest of 2013. I have this urge to go places, it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. It helps that everyone is extremely supportive and sends me so many encouraging messages and texts, it makes what I do, worth it.

I looked up when the Cherry Blossoms would come in Japan and realized it landed during my spring break. My friend Rebecca (you probably saw her in previous pictures, we went to Thailand/Malaysia/India this year) and I jumped on that opportunity. She has somehow decided to continue traveling with me, I'm proud of her for surviving :) It has been a joy to have someone just as enthusiastic about food and museums, as I am. We have had fun and I hope that we will have many more journeys in the future!

Where to start when it comes to Tokyo, I was surprised how quiet the streets were--it was eery. I live in China--it might be safe to say it is the loudest country in the world. If it is not, then I just haven't been to where it is louder. Every day I hear people yelling into their cell phones, at each other and just randomly at a wall--ok maybe not a wall. Everyone is just yelling. ALL. THE. TIME. Lets not forget cell phones being on loud while they play games, yes I do enjoy hearing you chop fake sushi, shooting at a robot or just listening to a movie. It can become stressful hearing all the sounds all the time. I am an extrovert and I love to be active, but the minute I am on the MTR (The subway) I am headphones in and canceling out all the sound around me, with something that calms me. Tokyo, you could hear a pin drop on their subway system, it is seen as rude to talk or to talk on your phone. I was impressed that everyone was following the rules and that it is enforced--I was a bit jealous.

The city is hustle and bustle, like any other city that I have been to. Men in their work suits, women in their pencil skirts and students in their uniforms--all very similar to what I have seen before. The only thing we couldn't seem to figure out was what time is dinner time, because restaurants were either not open, or we were the only ones eating when we did want to eat!

We did tons of museum and park hoping and got to see the blossoms--that can be checked off my bucket list. These trees bloom once a year and only last for a couple of weeks and then they are gone! There was one park we went to right when we got there and we visited on our last day--you would of thought it was a different park!



I had a wonderful time in Tokyo and thought the culture was great! I don't know if I will ever go back, but it was a great week spent with a great friend!! I ate more sushi than I could of imagined. I saw a more diverse part of Asia that was fantastic. I learned more about Japan, my knowledge was horrible. Overall it was fantastic!

Here are some more pictures of the trip!!



























1 comment:

  1. Awesome pictures, Ashley, and just as awesome a write-up! I enjoyed reading about your adventure and particularly what you wrote regarding the sounds in China. I totally concur with you, girl! You may be leaving China in the summer but I know you'll be back and you'll for sure be traveling the world the rest of your life! I'm excited for you and so pleased to have you as a part of our teaching staff here at BCIS, too! I'll miss you so very much next here when you are no longer here! So fun and so full of laughter and life, are you! The kids are going to miss you, too!

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