Ow, my head hurts...

Ahh，我不太好，我很累！ (Granted, Chinese, but still, same writing).  My head still reeks with pain from the thrill rides we went on today.

Today was supposed to be a tour of Yokohama, but I guess I should have been tipped off by the word "tour".  Not that it was bad, but does watching a performance in Chinatown (and afterwards eating at a tourist trap, not that the food was bad) really sound like an immersion?  Oh well, we did other things too.  Our first stop of the day was at a famous Japanese garden once owned by a very rich man named Hara.  This trip also reeked of tourist, but we at least got to see some cool buildings, and a view of an oil refinery from a Japanese building (in what other country can you see an oil refinery and the sea from a peaceful park?).

Our group was grossly late a few times today, which is a very big problem in Japan.  I suppose there wasn't a whole lot I could have done about it myself, as the one time I was late I was also with our group leader.  Mr. Fry said that being late is VERY serious and he was worried our tour staff was going to call us some name that means "nasty foreigner".  I assume that's pretty bad in Japan, given the all too recent (150 years) policy of foreign isolation.

The trip to Sea Paradise, a sort of Yokohama SeaWorld, was probably the most fun part of the day.  I guess we didn't really experience anything very Japanese, besides beautiful views from the tops of rides and the proliferation of drink vending machines, but it was fun to hang out with the members of our group.  We went on one ride that lifted us up hundreds of feet in the air (offering a nice vista of Yokohama harbor), and then dropped us straight down.  The fall was exhilarating, although, like most things, the excitement dulled somewhat after the 4th time.  Falling 200 feet gets old after awhile too.   The thing that was additionally quite exciting was a roller coaster of an unknown name (that is the top picture, not taken by me though, I found it on the internet).  It offered a great view and lots of thrills (although my head was not left in the greatest state afterwards.

I think that it would be very fun to come here on education exchange.  I am really starting to love big cities, something that sounds weird given my love of nature.  There's something a big city offers that a small town just doesn't.  Perhaps I just like extremes.  Extreme nature, or extreme urbanization, I can't be stuck in suburbia.  There's also the atmosphere and life of a city that I just love (not to mention the public transportation).

Another great moment came last night, when we went to Tokyo to babysit two little boys, Goki and Shoei.  We went up to the 26th floor of a very tall apartment building and played card games, but the real beauty was the view.  Tokyo (or at least the portion of it that we saw), is beautiful at night, if you look past the giant beer signs (which aren't that bad looking).  I think it would be very nice to work on things in a tall building like that.

If you have any questions, please post them in comments.

Atiki masu!