Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto

Konnichiwa! Sadly, we left our final foreign soil Tuesday to embark on our ten-day Pacific crossing to Hawaii. My time in Japan was the perfect ending to my world travels for now - we had a blast! After all of the chaos, dirtiness and lack of infrastructure in many of our other ports, Japan’s efficiency and cleanliness were a treat! Although not a lot of people speak even a word of English, all of the Japanese people were so friendly and willing to help. All of the young kids that we encountered on trains wanted to practice their English with us, and people went out of their way to show us where we needed to go. I traveled through Japan with two of my best friends on the ship – both about 5’9’’ and both blonde…yep, our pictures together are quite hilarious! While they stuck out like sore thumbs, I was excited to be able to see the tops of others’ heads for the first time! You know the average height of a country is very low when I was taller than many. Japan offers a special Rail Pass for tourists with unlimited use of their extensive train system. This was the best investment we could have made – we were able to hop on the bullet trains and make our way to 8 cities in 5 days!

What we did

We arrived in Yokohama, a small city near Tokyo, on Friday. Stepping off the ship, we got our first glimpse of fall. Unlike the tropical weather (or snow in Beijing) that we’ve experienced for most of the rest of the voyage, Japan offered cool, crisp beautiful autumn days for the duration of our stay. I was so very excited to see beautiful foliage throughout the country…I was worried that I had missed fall this year by being away. Our first stop, after lunch at the train station (which in Japan is totally the way to go – they have excellent restaurants in all of the stations), was Kamakura. A small town on the waterfront, it reminded me of a New England town like Rockport, but instead of lobster t-shirts, soap, candy, etc., there was Hello Kitty, Samurai swords and Japanese characters everywhere. The main attraction in Kamakura is the largest wooden Buddha statue in the world, built in the thirteenth century.

That night, we stayed in an upscale district of Tokyo called Ginza. We had a delicious sushi dinner and explored the city a bit. Just like any other modern city, skyscrapers and traffic dominated Tokyo. We went into the famous Sony Building and saw the newest, largest flat screen TVs on display. That night, we also went to a famous Tokyo bar made entirely of ice – everything from the tables to the walls, the bar itself and the glasses in which the drinks were served. When you walk in, they give you a warm poncho with gloves to keep you warm! We met a group of local Japanese people who we shared stories with until we were too cold and had to leave!

The next morning, we took one of the world’s fastest train lines, the Shinkansen, to Hiroshima. We had a very somber afternoon visiting the memorials and museum dedicated to the dropping of the atomic bomb on August 6, 1945. At the edge of the Peace Park still stand the remnants of the old Hiroshima Prefectural Commercial Exhibition Hall. Today the skeleton of the building is known as the A-Bomb Dome, and you can see the twisted metal beams that remain from the bomb. We spent a few hours walking through the Peace Memorial Museum. It was fascinating to read the history of World War II and the U.S. decision to drop the bomb on Hiroshima from a Japanese perspective. Although there was a bias in the information against the United States, the museum told the story in a compelling, moving manner. I was particularly interested to learn that Hiroshima was chosen above other Japanese targets because of its size, the fact that there were no known U.S. P.O.W.s there, and that it had not undergone the same levels of air raids that devastated other cities. The museum also had gruesome photos and remains from the bomb that were extremely chilling, but important to see. On display there were a series of annual letters that have been sent from the mayor of Hiroshima to the U.S. President since the end of WWII encouraging the president to disarm, with no success. Unfortunately, as humans, we have a long history of allowing history to repeat itself. Let’s hope that the bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the exception. We visited the many statues and memorials in the area, commemorating victims of the bombs. There is also a plaque that was laid at the hypocenter of the bomb, the exact spot above which the bomb was dropped. After seeing a mural of the city completely demolished by the bomb with only a building or two left standing, it is truly remarkable that in such a short time, Hiroshima could be rebuilt into such a beautiful place.

From Hiroshima, we continued west on the train to Fukuoka. Each year, Japan has six major sumo wrestling tournaments, each one held in a different city for about two weeks. Fukuoka was hosting a sumo tournament while we were there, and we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see it! Because we were in Japan over a holiday weekend, everything was absolutely packed with crowds. We weren’t able to find a place to stay in Fukuoka, so we had some adventures that night! We ate dinner at what my guidebook called the Ramen Stadium – there were eight different ramen noodle restaurants in the same enclosed area. The Ramen Stadium was in a beautiful outdoor shopping area, which we enjoyed walking through and window shopping (as the stores were already closed). We decided to kill time by going to a midnight movie. If you thought movies in the U.S. were expensive, we paid 1800 yen (about $20) to see A Christmas Carol (or to nap through it in comfortable, warm seats)! While leaving the movie at about 2:30 am, we saw a robot security guard! Oh Japanese technology…From here, we killed time at a coffee shop bookstore that was open until 4am. Then, we got pretty desperate and found a clean, heated public toilet :) Coming from the U.S., when someone says, “Make sure to get there early because there could be a line for tickets,” that could mean line up the night before! Being my mother’s daughter, I figured that we might as well go to the stadium and wait on line nice and early to make sure we beat the crowd. Well, we got there at about 5 am and there was not another soul there until after 7am. Better safe than sorry, right? Yeah, my friends made fun of me quite a bit for that suggestion. We bought our tickets at about 8am, and then went back to our favorite coffee shop for a few hours.

The Sumo tournament is an all-day event, going from the lowest ranked rikishi (wrestler) to the highest ranked rikishi at the end of the day. When we arrived around noon, the arena was still pretty empty, so we were able to sit very close for a while. We watched several rounds of matches, each lasting on average less than a minute. I was surprised by the amount of strategy and skill required to succeed – the biggest men don’t always win! To win a match, one must force his opponent out of the ring or force any part of his opponent’s body to touch the ground. As the afternoon wore on, more and more spectators arrived and pushed us up to our arena seats. The seats closer to the mound are actually just mats on the ground – the Japanese are not too big on furniture. As the wrestlers became more highly ranked, there were more and more rituals added to each match. For instance, the rikishi throw salt onto the doyho (ring) before fighting each other. We bought tegata, a copy of the top-ranked wrestler’s handprint (HUGE) and his fighting name written in Japanese calligraphy, as souvenirs from the event! After a few hours of watching large men fight each other and eating Japanese snacks, we boarded yet another train for Osaka.

Although we had every intention of exploring Osaka that night, by the time we found our hostel we were too exhausted to leave! We had some convenience store sushi (which I have to say was excellent!) and relaxed in our less-than-ideal rooms. And by less than ideal, I mean there was a mat. On the floor. With a small pillow. Oh well, we weren’t expecting luxury…We woke up the next morning and traveled a short distance to Kyoto. Kyoto was absolutely packed with tourists and Japanese alike, all who were enjoying the beautiful fall weather, and a day off from work due to the national holiday. All of the trains and monuments were extremely crowded that day, but that didn’t stop us!

There was so much to see in Kyoto, but we only had one day there so we had to prioritize our visits. We first went to the Fushimi-Inari Taisha, a shrine dedicated to the Inari g-d of rice and sake. In addition to the shrine itself, there are over 10,000 bright orange torri gates that create a tunnel-like path through the woods. From here, we visited Tofuku-ji, a famous Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto. The temple is also known for its spectacular fall foliage, which we thoroughly enjoyed seeing. The line to get a ticket to go inside the temple was monstrous, so we just walked around the perimeter instead. That afternoon, we went to Sanjusangen-do, home of 1001 gilded statues of the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, Kannon. There are 1000 standing in lines, and the most famous statue is a very large seated Kannon. It was extremely impressive to see the intricate detail of each one of the statues, built by over 70 craftsmen in the 12th century.

That evening, we finally made our way back to the ship, which had traveled from Yokohama to Kobe while we were gone. After a much needed shower, we went out for one of the best meals I have EVER had (that is a very loaded statement)…see below for details! We couldn’t leave Japan without singing karaoke, so we met up with some friends and spent a hilarious two-plus hours at a karaoke bar with our own private room (so I only had to embarrass myself in front of ten friends rather than an entire crowd)! The next morning, we woke up bright and early to make it to Himeji before lunchtime to visit the Himeji-jo fortress. It is one of twelve surviving fortresses from feudal Japan, built in 1346. We went up to the 6th and top floor to see a great view of the surrounding area, and more fall foliage!

We returned to the ship just in time for a field trip for one of my business classes to a Japanese candy factory. Glico is a large corporation that sells not only candy, but also dairy products, health products and many others. We toured the factory, learned a lot about the differences between Japanese and American business practices, and best of all paid a visit to the company store to try all of their products! They are most famous for their Pocky sticks, a pretzel-like stick covered in chocolate. The President of the company told our translator that of all of the daily tours that come through the factory, our group of about 40 people spent the most money at the store. I think it’s safe to say that we perpetuated the overweight American stereotype!

What we ate

As with most of the countries that we have visited, I enjoyed the food in Japan very much. We ate a lot of meals in train stations, which may seem odd. But, it wasn’t fast food like what we see in American train stations; instead, the train stations in Japan are microcosms of the cities themselves, with delicious restaurants, gift shops, post offices, etc. The best sushi we had was in Tokyo on our first night – my friend Nicky and I decided to be adventurous and try the sashimi combination platter. We sat at the sushi bar of the restaurant, and hesitated to ask the man preparing the fish what it was until after we had tasted it! It was the best tuna I had ever tasted! We also ate salmon, yellowtail, arcfish, octopus, shrimp, whitefish, and some others that we didn’t dare to ask. And unlike sashimi back home, there was no rice involved here…I will definitely be more adventurous with my sushi orders at home now! We tried several bento boxes for lunch, and were surprised at how fresh and delicious the pre-prepared boxed meals could be. They had yogurt in pouches with straws and sealed packages of fresh edamame and lots of other delicious healthy snacks, too! Another quirky thing about Japan is the overwhelming presence of vending machines everywhere. They have rows of cold beverages and rows of hot beverages, such as canned coffees and teas, for sale in vending machines at train stations, in malls and on the street. They also sell cigarettes, soup, ice cream - just about anything you could ever imagine out of vending machines!

On our final evening in Kobe, we decided to splurge and try real Kobe beef. My guide book recommended a restaurant called A-1, and said that it was a favorite for foreigners. Based on the prices listed, we expected it to be a pretty upscale place. Much to our surprise, it was a very small, dark place with wooden tables. It was mostly frequented by locals, and it smelled DELICIOUS when we walked in. They prepared the filets teppan-yaki style, on the grill right in front of you. The beef was served on a smoking skillet, and was eaten with chopsticks. In my opinion, any steak that doesn’t require utensils other than chopsticks to be eaten is automatically delicious. I truly don’t know if I have ever had a bite of something so tasty…the kobe beef in the states can’t possibly compare with the real thing.



- - - - - -
Getting back on the ship was a bittersweet moment – Japan was such a wonderful port, but it was also our final moment on foreign soil. As we look forward to Hawaii and returning home, it was awfully hard to know that our travels have come to an end. I had a blast traveling independently with just two close friends – we were able to easily adjust our plans and just enjoy each others’ company without worrying about keeping up with a big group and a strict itinerary. The combination of modern and traditional facets of life in Japan was truly fascinating to observe and experience throughout our five days there. Although Japan is just as developed (if not more in some ways) as Europe or the United States, it has a peculiarly unique culture and way of life that we very much enjoyed being part of, even if just for a brief period of time. We saw a lot of the country in five days, but there are plenty of other things I would love to go back and see. Hopefully sometime in the future!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I’m very sad that I will be missing the holiday for the first time ever, but this experience has been well worth it. I hope my family enjoys the extra food (especially dessert) that will be available in my absence! I am so thankful for so many things in my life – obviously the opportunities that I have had during this amazing semester, but more importantly to all of you, my friends and family, who care enough about me to follow my travels while I’m gone! I look forward to sharing more with you all when I return home in just a few short weeks. More from Hawaii…Sayonara!

China: Cold and Communist

(And no, unfortunately we did not see any real Pandas)

Before arriving in China, one of my professors remarked how when he was growing up, his parents told him to eat all of his food because there were starving kids in China. For my generation, the starving kids were almost always in Africa. If Africa in a few decades can achieve the outstanding development that China has recently undergone, it will be another economic miracle! Despite the language barrier, both Beijing and Shanghai reminded me very much of a cosmopolitan city back home. I was truly amazed at the sight of the economic progress that we have read so much about lately. That being said, China was also one of the most culturally shocking countries that we’ve visited. In addition to the extreme language barrier (which we honestly have not encountered yet), the Chinese culture and Communist government make certain facets of Chinese life unrecognizable to what we are used to in the West. Read on, and you’ll see what I mean…

What we did

- - - - - - Hong Kong
Our ship docked first in Hong Kong, and we had the option to either sail with the ship up to Shanghai for two days or meet up with it again after it arrived there. Wanting to make the most of my time in China, I’m so glad that I was able to have those extra two days in Beijing! As part of the independent trip that I had signed up for before coming on Semester at Sea, we had a tour of Hong Kong on our first day in port. Hong Kong is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen – the skyline at night was absolutely magnificent! Although not technically part of main land China, the British returned control of the island to China in 1999 with a 50-year grace period for Hong Kong to maintain a separate political and economic system from the Communist People’s Republic of China. We had a wonderful Cantonese style lunch and saw many sights that afternoon, including the Man Mo Temple, Stanley Market and Repulse Bay, a popular beach in Hong Kong. We also took a small boat ride through the Aberdeen Fishing Village. The highlight of the day was taking the tram up to the top of Victoria’s Peak, where we had an excellent view of the entire harbor! A close runner up for the highlight of my day in Hong Kong was, I hate to say it, the first Starbucks coffee I’ve had since August. Like I said, I hate to say it, but it was a delicious taste of home!

- - - - - - Beijing
After a gorgeous day in tropical Hong Kong (and more than two months of sunshine thus far on the trip), arriving at the Beijing airport was like flying into Logan after spring break in Florida. It was unseasonably cold during our entire visit (go figure) and had snowed the night before we arrived. Needless to say the vest and leather gloves I thought would be sufficient to keep me warm were not. We didn’t arrive to our hotel until dinnertime, so after eating dinner and walking around for a very little bit, we rested up for the next couple of days!

Due to the freezing cold, they changed our itinerary a bit and brought us to the Silk Market the next morning so that we could bargain for everything from fake UGG boots to snow pants, jackets and mittens. We encountered our first Communist snafu while trying to leave – our buses were stopped trying to leave the parking lot for almost an hour because our guides had not informed the government that our itinerary had changed, and we were not supposed to have visited the market that day. Imagine having to notify the government every time you wanted to go shopping! Afterwards, we visited a historic hutong – a Chinese neighborhood comprising of many alleys and courtyard homes shared among many families. We were invited to lunch in one of the homes and had delicious traditional Chinese home cooking…nothing like Lotus Flower back home, let me assure you! We rode rickshaws through the many alleys of the neighborhood and learned about the infamous “One Child Policy.” The name is actually a misnomer today, because families can have a second child if their first child is a girl. Also, you can pay an undisclosed amount, proportional to your income, to have more than one child (our female guide had an older brother). Furthermore, they are beginning to initiate a policy that says if both you and your partner are only children, you can have two children at no extra cost to the government, because you are merely replacing one spot in each of your families. Very nearby the hutong, we visited a famous Drum Tower and got to witness the drumming that occurs there several times a day. We had to climb several very steep stairs to reach the top, but the view over Beijing was just great. It’s been a while since I’ve seen snow lining the tree branches!

From here, we drove about two hours outside of the city to the Great Wall, where we froze watching the sunset. We had dinner at the base of the wall in a small restaurant, and then began the 40-minute evening hike to the spot where we slept that evening. Although many people in our group slept in the guard towers, some of my friends and I decided to really brave the cold (not that the guard towers are heated or even enclosed…just protected from the harsh winds) and sleep under the stars on the wall. We were provided with two sleeping bags, which kept me pretty warm! That, and the umpteen layers of clothing I was wearing! The stars were absolutely amazing to look at – we saw more shooting stars that night than I’ve seen in my life combined. We awoke at sunrise, another beautiful sight, and began the three-hour hike. Because it had recently snowed on the wall, not only was it frigid, but there was a lot of slippery ice, which made the hike all the more interesting. We finally arrived at the end of the path we were taking, and we had the option to zipline across the river or walk for another half hour. Although the zipline did not look like the safest thing to do, I made sure other people made it safely across before getting in line! Getting onto the bus after being cold for nearly 18 hours was one of the best feelings in the world.

We drove back to Beijing that evening and had free time to roam around the city. We were so tired though, so we only went out to dinner for a bit and then just laid low at the hotel. The next morning, our last day in Beijing, we first visited the Forbidden City, which was built between 1406 and 1420. It was enjoyed by emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties and contains 8,707 rooms throughout the many wooden buildings within the city walls. From here, it was only a short walk to Tiananmen Square. Our guide was not allowed to openly talk about the 1989 massacre due to the enormous police presence patrolling Tiananmen. That afternoon we visited the 2008 Olympic Village and got to go inside the Bird’s Nest. The Water Cube was not open for visitors as it is being renovated to be used for other purposes now that the Olympics are over. Our final stop of the day was the Summer Palace, used by emperors since the 18th century when the capital of China was moved to Beijing. Most of the area within the Summer Palace is water, and there are more painted murals there than anywhere else. Although by this point we were freezing and tired from a long day of sightseeing, it was a very beautiful place to walk through. I met a woman who was traveling with a few other American teachers, who is a retired elementary school teacher from Philadelphia. You have no idea how thrilled I was when she had heard of CityStep, the dance-mentor program that I am very involved with at Penn! What a small world, huh?

That night, we took an overnight train from Beijing to Shanghai. I was lucky enough to even make the train – it left at 9:30, so we were upstairs in the train station eating dinner and figured we would head down to the waiting area to meet up with the rest of the group around 9:00. Well, when we got back downstairs, there was NO ONE in sight, and the guard had already closed the gate. I was with two other people, and we pleaded with the guard (who spoke zero English) to let us through. He opened a side door for us that led us down a dark corridor and it was very unclear where we were supposed to go. Never again do I want to run through a Chinese train station (or any train station for that matter) with all of my luggage and souvenirs. It was a very panicky moment, but in the end we made the train and all was good. Compared to our sleeper train experience in India, this train was the Four Seasons. Okay, maybe not – but there was an actual toilet this time, and clean compartments!

- - - - - Shanghai

Jewish Tour
When we woke up the next morning, it was raining as we approached Shanghai. After some trouble with immigration trying to get back on the ship (they had the most backward system of taking our passports and issuing us special copies to carry off the ship with us), I embarked on a tour of the Jewish history in Shanghai with one of my professors, his wife, and a handful of other Jewish students on the ship. Until this voyage, I never knew that there had ever been a significant Jewish population in Shanghai. It was absolutely fascinating, and reaffirmed my belief in the underlying connections Jewish people feel towards other Jews, even if they are complete strangers. An Israeli man named Dvir, who moved to Shanghai about eight years ago as a journalist, led the tour. We learned about the three major waves of Jewish immigration to Shanghai and their many contributions to the city and the entire country of China.

After Britain forced China to open its doors to trade and immigration, a Jewish family named Sassoon from Baghdad seized the business opportunity and opened branches of its firm in Shanghai. Other notable families that followed the Sassoons included the Hardoons and the Kadoories, as well as about 800 to 1000 Sephardic Iraqi Jews. These Baghdadi Jews benefited immensely from import and export trade, real estate and financial investments. For instance, Nanjing Road (the 5th Avenue of China) was developed by Jewish immigrants to Shanghai during this period. Next, many Russian Jews arrived in Shanghai via the Tran-Siberian Railroad during the pogroms of the late-19th and early 20th centuries. These new immigrants did not strike it rich like the Baghdadi Jews did; instead, they opened many small businesses like cafes, grocery stores, markets and barber shops, etc. Then, as the Third Reich assumed power in Germany, many smart Jews fled to Shanghai. Unlike other countries in the world that were reluctant to harbor Jewish refugees, China opened its doors to everyone. It is estimated that between 20,000 and 25,000 Jews made Shanghai their safe haven. The Jews living in Shanghai at this time were not entirely unscathed – the Japanese occupying forces were given orders by their German ally to force the Jews to live in the ghetto, which we were able to visit during the tour. Josef Meisinger, Gestapo representative for the Far East urged the Japanese to adopt a “Final Solution” similar to the one implemented in Europe. However, the Japanese did not harbor the same anti-Semitism that the Germans did, so the worst the Jews of Shanghai faced were close living quarters within the ghetto. Both Dr. Feng Shan Ho and Mr. Sugihara, Japanese consuls in Europe, played an enormous role in saving Jews by issuing visas and transit visa permissions for them to safely arrive in Shanghai. The Jewish story in Shanghai mainly ended after WWII, because the Communists took control in 1949 and forced any foreigners that remained in China out. Dvir did tell us that more and more Jews have been immigrating to Shanghai in recent years, just as he did.

We visited the small museum that commemorates the Holocaust survivors and Righteous Gentiles, as well as one of the two remaining temples in Shanghai today. We also toured a small, shared family home that Jews lived in during this period. Although Chinese people inhabit these neighborhoods today, there are still remnants of Jewish life there. For instance, there are nail holes left in the doorposts from where mezzuzot were once hung, and some of the doors or windows have Stars of David depicted in one way or another. Another fascinating story that Dvir told us about involves a side project that he has taken on since moving to Shanghai. At one time, there were four Jewish cemeteries in Shanghai, where over 4,000 Jews were buried. During the Cultural Revolution, these tombstones were looted to use as building materials, and also because they were not “Chinese.” Dvir, with the help of Chinese people who were involved in destroying the cemeteries, has been working to uncover these stones and to hopefully make a memorial out of them someday. They show up in odd places, such as stone steps up to houses, or buried in the river. So far, he has been able to locate over 85. He is still working to find more, and also battling the government to get permission to build some sort of monument with the stones he can find. This is yet another example of the red tape, corruption and sluggishness of the Communist system in China.

- - - - - -
Due to the inclement weather and rough seas, our departure from Shanghai was delayed until the following day at noon. I was glad to have a bit more time to explore the extremely modern city of Shanghai, despite the wind and rain. We had a delicious final dinner that evening and explored the swanky area around the restaurant a bit.

What we ate

Chinese food, DUH! Some of the meals that we had reminded me a lot of the Chinese food that we can find back home. However, some was so completely unrecognizable! Hopefully my practice using chopsticks will help me in Japan, too! Much of the Chinese food we had was a bit spicier than what is served in the U.S., which I liked a lot. Also, especially in Hong Kong and Shanghai, which are both on the coast, there is a lot of seafood in their dishes. I wish I knew what some of the strange things we ate were called, but oftentimes the menus just had pictures and Chinese characters, so we just pointed to what we wanted to try! Luckily I eat just about anything – the people I traveled with who were picky eaters or vegetarians or had allergies had a lot of trouble communicating this to the waiters. Bari probably would have been stuck eating solely white rice for the week (to which I know she wouldn’t exactly object!) One of the strangest things I tasted was a round, clear jelly ball full of a substance I could only identify as tasting like a salty cookie dough. Very interesting, to say the least. The tea in China was also very different from other tea I’ve had before – it smelled and tasted incredibly fragrant, often like flowers. On those cold days especially in Beijing, there was nothing I wanted more than that hot cup of tea (or the entire pot)!

- - - - - -
According to many of my professors who have traveled to China prior to this tip noted just how much China has changed recently. Although we read about it all the time, it was so fascinating to see the rapid and ongoing adjustments being made right before my eyes. I would have liked to visit rural China for a basis of comparison with the prosperous urban areas, but time only allows for so much! I have a feeling that much of China will be unrecognizable to me if I go back years from now. One night, we went to a coffee shop called Leymo. Other than the name (and the certainly sub-par beverages), you were made to believe you were a Starbucks. The cups, logo, colors, etc. exactly mimicked the Starbucks brand. I think this exemplifies a lot of Chinese culture – many up and coming Chinese people want so badly to have the luxuries that wealthy Westerners have. There are so many knock-off bags, jeans, sweaters, coats, shoes, even coffee shops, in China as a result of this desire– Chinese people can demonstrate to their peers and to the outside world that they are doing well; however, underneath the façade of the designer label or the imitation coffee cup, it’s just not the same thing.

As I said, China was an enormous culture shock, mainly because I think I wasn’t expecting it to be so shocking. I had an enlightening and enjoyable week in China, and am even more fascinated than I was before by the contradictions between the rapid economic growth occurring and the stagnant, interfering Communist government. Unfortunately, seeing these oxymoronic systems firsthand did not clarify much, but rather raised many more issues and questions. We have been exploring this topic in my class on the Economic Development of Asia – the bottom line is that I think only time will tell just how large and powerful China will grow, and in what ways it will do so.

I can’t believe that we arrive in our final foreign destination TOMORROW! More from Japan…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY (in the next few days) KACEY, ALYSSA AND DADDY!

Everything is $1 at the Dollar Store – Cambodia

Although we are not usually allowed to travel outside of the borders of whatever country we are visiting, Semester at Sea offered a trip to Cambodia for three of our five days in Vietnam. Although I didn’t know much about the country before signing up for the trip over the summer, I am so very glad that I decided to go! We packed SO much into our three days in Cambodia, and it was three of my favorite days of the entire semester so far.

We flew a small propeller plane to the capital city, Phnom Penh, on Thursday, where our excellent tour guide greeted us. The first afternoon, we visited the Silver Pagoda inside of the Royal Palace. The Royal Palace complex was built in the 19th century during French colonial rule, and boasts spectacular architecture, jewels and other riches. We then visited the National Museum, which hosts many artifacts from the great Khmer Empire, dating back to between the 9th and 14th centuries. There were many statues of Hindu deities, and we learned a lot about India’s influence on Hinduism in Cambodia, as well as some of the major differences between the religions practiced in each respective country. In the 13th century, the Khmer King Jayavarman VII chose Buddhism over Hinduism, and today Cambodia is 80% Buddhist. As such, there are many Buddhist statues from the later Khmer period at the museum, too. The museum has a beautiful courtyard, too. We finished our afternoon with a sunset cruise on the Mekong River, a body of water that connects Cambodia and Vietnam. After dinner, some of us ventured out on our first tuk-tuk ride – a uniquely Cambodian vehicle consisting of a motorcycle with a carriage for the passengers hitched to the back. We went to the Foreign Correspondents’Club (FCC for short), a restaurant and bar with a lot of history. The building used to a hotel in which expats covering the Vietnam War and the Khmer Rouge atrocities would stay. Once Cambodia opened its doors to tourists, the place became a bar frequented mostly by tourists.

The following morning began very grimly – we first visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, which was one of the most important of the 136 prisons during Pol Pot’s reign over Cambodia. Here we learned the history of the genocide that occurred under the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979 – Nearly 2 million people were executed by the Communist regime, and 16,000 people were interrogated and tortured at the Tuol Sleng prison that we visited. The Khmer Rouge targeted educated Cambodians and members of the former government, as well as their families. It is a very simple yet powerful museum – photos of the victims and our tour guides’ explanations were enough. Only seven of the 16,000 prisoners survived – after being interrogated, the rest were sent to the Killing Fields. By now, only 3 of the 7 survivors are still alive…it happened to be our luck that one of the survivors, Bomeng, was sitting on the bench while we were visiting. He comes many days to the prison to talk to visitors about his four months there – although he didn’t speak English, our tour guide was able to mediate a discussion with him. This definitely made the visit all the more memorable, though his story of losing his entire family was heart wrenching.

Our next stop was to the Cheoung Ek Killing Fields, the resting place of thousands of Cambodians in mass graves that were unearthed after 1979. Today there is a beautiful Buddhist stupa there, packed full of human skulls found in the graves. It is a truly chilling sight, as are the many pits that remain from the mass graves that were dug. Walking around, there are still bits of clothing, bone and teeth in the dirt paths that were never pulled out. While looking at the remnants of Pol Pot’s atrocities, a beautiful yellow butterfly flew by, and I was reminded of Pavel Friedman’s poem “The Butterfly,” which he wrote during the Holocaust in the Theresienstadt concentration camp:

The last, the very last,
So richly, brightly, dazzlingly yellow.
Perhaps if the sun's tears would sing
against a white stone…

Such, such a yellow
Is carried lightly 'way up high.
It went away I'm sure because it wished to
kiss the world good-bye.

For seven weeks I've lived in here,
Penned up inside this ghetto.
But I have found what I love here.
The dandelions call to me
And the white chestnut branches in the court.
Only I never saw another butterfly.
That butterfly was the last one.
Butterflies don't live in here,
in the ghetto.

The Khmer Rouge killed nearly a quarter of the Cambodian population, and just about every Cambodian was affected personally. Our tour guide, for instance, lost his mother, and was evacuated from Phnom Penh to the countryside at age two. Like all other genocides, it is painful but necessary to learn about and remember.

After the Killing Fields, we visited the Russian Market for a very quick shopping jaunt. The U.S. dollar is widely accepted in Cambodia, and nearly everything from a can of soda to a water bottle to a t-shirt or a pack of postcards - even knock-off sunglasses – cost “Only one dollah!” After lunch, we flew to Siem Reap, a tourist hub that has been built up to accommodate visitors to Angkor Wat, which was the capital of the Khmer Empire at its height of power. That afternoon, we visited the very famous Angkor Wat temple complex for the first time. We watched the sun set over the spectacular temple, built during the first half of the 12th century. At dinner that night, we saw a Cambodian dance show, which was really interesting. The female dancers use and bend their hands in ways I have never before seen or imagined, and the costumes were very elaborate and beautiful!

We returned to Angkor Wat twice more, once at sunrise and once later in the day. After breakfast, we visited the abandoned Ta Prohm temple, featured in Tomb Raider. It is currently undergoing restoration, sponsored by the Indian government. However in its current state of disrepair, massive trees have grown through sections of the stones and pillars. Despite the mess and rubble, it was spectacular! We visited Angkor Wat for the final time, and got to explore the upper levels and the intricate wall carvings. That afternoon before our flight, amidst a thunderstorm, we visited the Angkor Thom complex, built by King Jayavarman VII during the 12th century. The most famous temple at Angkor Thom is Bayon, featuring 216 faces of disputed Buddhist origin. We got to climb around the 54 towers, each adorned with four carved faces. We drove by the Elephant Terrace and the Terrace of the Leper King – large carvings that line parts of the road within Angkor Thom.

Tourists have begun to pour in after a long, dark period in Cambodian history. I’m glad that I had the chance to experience the rich culture and long history. There is so much to learn and see there, and although we only visited for three days, I now know so much more about Cambodia than I ever did before. I’m looking forward to reading my new copy of Loung Ung’s memoir First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers.

Now, we’re back on the ship for only three days before we reach Hong Kong and mainland China, and rumor has it they are taking all of our temperatures to appease fears of the Chinese over H1N1. Hopefully we're all allowed in! I was able to upload a few more photos from Mauritius and India: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2030596&id=1238070056&l=b2c1e6ee24. Enjoy!

If the Traffic Doesn’t Kill You, the Chili Peppers Will! Vietnam

Although we were warned about the crazy traffic, and even received a human demonstration of how to cross the street, doing so was a totally new experience. The instructions “Don’t bother looking both ways, just GO (and the motorcycles will try to swerve around you)” pretty much sum it up! Within the first couple of hours we became accustomed to just stepping off the curb into oncoming traffic and hoping for the best! If anyone knows the video game Frogger, imagine the people as the frog – except that if you get hit by a cyclo or a motorbike or a car or a bus, you don’t get to go back to the beginning and try again…

We didn’t have a very intense agenda on our first day in port – we just wanted to explore Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon. Unlike most ports where we arrive early in the morning and are usually off the boat by 10 am, we entered the mouth of the Saigon River around 8 am and had about a three hour cruise down the river to arrive in port. So our first order of business was to find pho, a Vietnamese noodle soup. A friend of mine is a huge fan of Vietnamese food, and having never tried it myself, I followed her lead and truly enjoyed every bite – that is until the end, when I ate the spiciest pepper I’ve ever eaten before! My friends and the Vietnamese waiters at the restaurant got a kick out of the tears streaming down my face…luckily, the moment only lasted for a brief while, and I recovered.

Our next order or business was to take advantage of the excellent tailors that work throughout Vietnam – they can replicate any picture or description of what you want! After a quick series of measurements, a credit card swipe, 48 hours and one fitting, I had a brand new business suit custom made for me! Later that day we explored the famous Ben Thanh Market, where you can find items from knock-off anything to Vietnamese handcrafts to my favorite, the rice paddy hats.

The next day, I went on a very small Semester at Sea sponsored trip to the Cu Chi tunnels (the 7am departure from the ship probably had something to do with the very few people who showed up!) The Cu Chi tunnels, a network of 75 miles of underground tunnels, were built and used by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. Today, the area is open as a tourist spot, where you can not only crawl around through 90 meters of the original tunnels, but also see some of the original entrances and models of the various bamboo traps that were used. We learned that they used termites to dig the paths to bring air down to the tunnels, as well as many other tactics they used to keep the tunnels a relative secret to the U.S. troops. All of the tunnel digging and trap-laying were done at night, another effort of secrecy. The U.S. had a very large base nearby, and although they knew that the tunnels existed, many Vietnamese people survived the war by hiding out there. The Tet Offensive was planned in one of the conference rooms built in the underground network of tunnels. Other highlights of the tour included firing an old Viet Cong AK-47, tasting the boiled tapioca eaten by those who lived in the tunnels (not a very sustainable diet, let me tell you!), and seeing the war from a very different perspective than the one taught in U.S. history classes. The tunnels themselves were very dark and extremely narrow – quite the leg workout to squat our way through!

Later that afternoon, I visited the famous Notre Dame Cathedral and the Ho Chi Minh City Post Office, one of the nicest post offices I’ve ever seen! We found a small grocery store, which I love visiting for comparative purposes – they didn’t have much that I even recognized, although they did have strawberry cream Oreos, which I had never seen before! For my last purchases in Vietnam, I took advantage of the vast selection of extremely cheap DVDs for sale! I bought 3 movies and 13 seasons of television series for less than $25!

Despite the traffic, which only made things more interesting, the two days that I spent in Vietnam were very enjoyable! As you read above, my adventures in Cambodia along with my time in Vietnam made this port one of the best yet! It’s crazy to think that today, Vietnam is such a popular tourist destination when so recently it would never been a place that anyone from the U.S. would have visited. It certainly makes me wonder whether I will ever visit a place like Iraq or Afghanistan in the future…(don’t worry Mom and Daddy, I’m not actually thinking of going!)