More than a year has passed since I returned from Japan and is hard to remember the order of how some special events occurred ... And yes, I'm very late with the posts but there's no rush!!! :)
As I remember, some days before and after the last volunteer program in Kesennuma (気仙沼) I decided with the ICYE Japan Staff that I was going to search for places to stay in Tokyo during the final days in Japan. As part of the ICYE program they would find some host families for me, but I decided to make things different... This was very influenced by the experience I had in South Korea where I met some worldwide travelers doing exactly what I needed at that time: Backpacking!
The schedule was very busy for the final days in Tokyo... I was jumping from place to place in one of the most crowded cities of the world, meeting very kind people, sleeping in different neighborhoods and walking around with the Tokyo summer on my back at around 40 degrees Celsius!!! Some of the places where I walked and still remember ...
As I remember, some days before and after the last volunteer program in Kesennuma (気仙沼) I decided with the ICYE Japan Staff that I was going to search for places to stay in Tokyo during the final days in Japan. As part of the ICYE program they would find some host families for me, but I decided to make things different... This was very influenced by the experience I had in South Korea where I met some worldwide travelers doing exactly what I needed at that time: Backpacking!
The schedule was very busy for the final days in Tokyo... I was jumping from place to place in one of the most crowded cities of the world, meeting very kind people, sleeping in different neighborhoods and walking around with the Tokyo summer on my back at around 40 degrees Celsius!!! Some of the places where I walked and still remember ...
So, as Joe (an English friend I met in South Korea and with expertise in the backpacking stuff) told me in the hostel back in Seoul, there's a site called CouchSurfing where you can get in contact with people who are willing to share their couch to travelers for some nights. This way one can meet more people, places and there's more real cultural exchange!
Japan will never stop surprising me...
Japan will never stop surprising me...
I decided to create an account at CouchSurfing and just a few days later I met some very kind friends in Tokyo! Some people just wanted to talk about everything while having some coffee or tea in one of the thousands of Starbuck's around and some others offered me a place to spend a few nights! :)
Backpacking was a fun and interesting experience... Before starting I followed the advise from Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings (We travel light!) so I packed the big and uncomfortable stuff in a huge and heavy case (most of my stuff were presents) and once again the brotherhood from Ueno saved my day! They allowed me to store the big case in their home! This was very important because traveling around with such a huge weight would have been a real pain in the trains and during the long walks!!!
I created a schedule for the places I would visit and where I would stay. Now that I think about all the places I stayed during the trip to Asia, I think I was in a total of 11 or 12!! This was excellent because it allowed me to get in touch with many people and visit some very cool spots but I have to admit that jumping around for so long was also very tiring. I had to move to a new temporary home almost every week and at the end I was exhausted... But it was totally worth the spent energy!!! :D
The very first person who offered me a place to stay was Tina from Taiwan. She was working for some time in Japan! The fun fact about Tina was that for both of us it was the first time to have a CouchSurfing experience! I had the honor to be her first guest and she was my first host! Tina had lived for sometime in Spain and we could talk a little Spanish, Japanese and English!
The very first person who offered me a place to stay was Tina from Taiwan. She was working for some time in Japan! The fun fact about Tina was that for both of us it was the first time to have a CouchSurfing experience! I had the honor to be her first guest and she was my first host! Tina had lived for sometime in Spain and we could talk a little Spanish, Japanese and English!
I stayed at Tina's place around a week before traveling to Kesennuma and even if we had some little time together every night (she had to work and I had to go out to seize the day) we had a very very nice time and I could understand the lifestyle and point of view from another foreigner living and working in Japan...!
The longest I stayed in a single place was at Mari's flat... If my memory is correct I was with Mari for about 10 days!! And again, is so nice when someone you meet for the first time trusts you at 100%! We also had little time together for the same reasons as with Tina. With Mari I could get a clearer picture of what work in Japan means for a girl of my around age... And believe me, you have to be strong! I forgot some Dragon Ball Z collection cans at Mari's place which are still waiting for my return :D !!!
Yuko was another Couch Surfer who opened the doors to me. Is hard to express with words how kind she was with me and by another strange coincidence of life, Yuko had visited Costa Rica some time ago and she told me that that travel was a key fact in allowing me to stay with her :) When I met Yuko for the first time I also met Mehmet, a very nice guy from Holland who was traveling around Tokyo and South Korea mostly (a place he really loved and in fact, I think he's still around there somewhere!). Mehmet is also an IT guy (the only real Geek I met in Japan besides Seo San) and we had a nice afternoon at a Spanish-Style bar, we talked about many things and the contrasts between Tokyo, Amsterdam and San José...Yuko was an excellent person, she cooked a super delicious dinner for me and I could stay with her around 1 week!! Kindness in a whole new level!!! :D
Besides this 3 special friends, I met a lot of kind people because of CouchSurfing and another site which I forgot but if I write about all the experiences and nice people I spend some time with during this backpacking time I would have to write about 20 thousand pages!!!
I could never find the appropriate words to describe how good I felt with so such unique people! You have to understand that in Japan is very complicated to host someone in your place because space is reduced, basic services like water and electricity are very expensive and also, to trust a foreigner is not an easy step to make (because I have to mention that they even gave me the keys to go back home at the time I wanted to!!!). For this and many other reasons you can understand how happy and grateful I am!! I had never experienced this kind of trust and it was something that changed my perspective once again!!!
I could never find the appropriate words to describe how good I felt with so such unique people! You have to understand that in Japan is very complicated to host someone in your place because space is reduced, basic services like water and electricity are very expensive and also, to trust a foreigner is not an easy step to make (because I have to mention that they even gave me the keys to go back home at the time I wanted to!!!). For this and many other reasons you can understand how happy and grateful I am!! I had never experienced this kind of trust and it was something that changed my perspective once again!!!
I will end this special post with some of the pictures I took during that time...!!! Includes the zoo photos with the ultra lazy panda that was always sleeping!!!
I have to decide about to write next: Mount Fuji or Fuji-Q Highland... I'll keep you posted so have a nice day and be happy :D
