Monday, October 17, 2005

13 hours later...




This weekend was lovely. I recently joined an outdoor club at Hokkaido University so this was my first opportunity to go on a "mountain climbing" trip with them. We left at 7:30 am on Saturday morning. 400 km (248 miles) and 13 hours later, we arrived at our log cabin in the middle of the woods. This log cabin was amazing and was totally free for us to use. That night we cooked pork miso soup, rice and some other kind of meat soup with gas camp stoves. Japanese food warms the bones!

Everyone slept upstairs in the loft. The cabin was stocked with a mountain of mattresses and blankets. We woke up at 5:30 am, ate leftover soup and started the hike at 8:00. These students (and perhaps most Japanese) go about hiking in a very systematic way. They divided us (11 people) into 2 groups, each with a leader and a sub-leader. Before we started the hike, the leader decided the order we would hike in and we kept that order for the entire 7 hours! So interesting!

We reached the peak at about noon, ate our lunches and started back down an hour later. After gathering our belongings from the cabin, we began our long journey home at 4:00 pm. By that time I was thinking, "It's 4:00 now, so if we hurry, we will probably get home around 1 or 2 am." To say the least, I was a bit confused, yet intrigued, by all the 5 convenient store stops, our hour long dinner, and a trip to the onsen (Japanese hot spring). It's really hard to shift one's thinking from the American goal-oriented, let's see how fast we can get home paradigm to whatever was going on in my dear friends' minds. I have a lot to learn this year!


















8 comments:

Anonymous said...

FUN!~ I love it- wis this was emailed to me!

Anonymous said...

Wow, lindsey- so good to see you are in japan and things are going well! I am glad you subscribed to my xanga so i could find this little site-
you are very wonderful- Erin Oakley

Anthony said...

Wow, it looks truly amazing over there! I am so very happy for you. It's nice to see your smile again. - A.

Anonymous said...

Lindsey dear...

Reading your site made me cry. Oh how I miss you! Your adventures sound amazing. Enjoy every minute of it, I am sure it will fly by. Sophia is growing so fast and she is now smiling and cooing. Motherhood is also a wonderful "Adventure". Wish we were close, your in our prayers. Love from the three of us: Chad-Katie-Sophia:)

Anonymous said...

Lindsey,
So great to see your smiling face and hear of your adventures! I really liked the "13 hours", I may have to try some of their hiking methods with our group. We had a fantastic trip to the Canadian Rockies, Fall colors, new Snow, and Mts that were indescribable!! Maybe an Alpenglow trip there next summer! Hugs to You! Carrie

Anonymous said...

Hi,Lindsey ;)
This is Esther who went to PSU this summer.
i miss u so much.
i forgot to ask your email address,so haven't heard of u these days.
it seems u're doing good in Japan,and that's wonderful!!!!
Wish i can see u again after entering the college and keep in touch, ok?
My email: amigomars@yahoo.com.tw

Anonymous said...

Hi~ Lindsey~

Good to see you having great time there. All pictures taken and people around you seem great. You know why? Because your warmth is great as much as they are. ^^

Take good care~

Toby

Anonymous said...

i got your letter and it was sooo wonderful to get= how can i write you back?

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