August 2015
Summer of 2015, I had the opportunity to sail in Karatsu, Japan at the I420 World Championship. I trained all year in the boat with my sister, so not only was it a great travel adventure but also a chance to compete against very best sailors in the world in our age group. After spending the month of June in Rhode Island where we attended sailing clinics and the youth championship regatta for the US, we traveled to Japan with Team USA from Newark Airport. After 24 hours including an overnight in Fukoko, two planes and a train, we arrived in Karatsu, Japan on Castle Bay in the Genkai Sea. Jet-lag and a bad case of poison ivy made the first few days difficult for me. Fortunately, our room was Western style (some of our teammates had traditional Japanese rooms with Tatami floors and mats) and after a few days, I adjusted to the time change... the food was another story. After we were served raw fish for breakfast and lunch and dinner, we ventured into the city and found a small Ramen noodle shop. It took me a while to get used to the chopsticks, but eventually I got the hang of it and the Japanese lady at the Ramen shop became a 2nd mom to us because we went there almost every night for dinner. We rented bikes to get to the sailing venue each day and for getting around Karatsu, a mid-sized coastal Japanese city. Typhoon Nangka (Japanese version of a hurricane) kept us from sailing a few days, and we had the excitement of bicycling to the boat yard in 40 knots of wind to secure our boats. Fortunately the typhoon ended up making landfall on the other side of the island. Lots of the teams stayed at the Royal Karatsu Hotel and it was fun getting to know sailors from other countries-- Germany, Great Britain, Brasil, etc. On our last day we had a big party at the beach with karaoke, fireworks and though it was our last night in Karatsu, we still had several nights in Tokyo ahead for sightseeing and celebrating. After thanking the regatta organizers and saying goodbye to the other sailors, we took a train and then plane to Tokyo. In Tokyo, we stayed at the Hotel Okura which is an iconic hotel across the street from the American Embassy and a short walk from the Tokyo Tower. On our first day of sightseeing we took a cab to the fish market and to a Buddhist Temple in a pretty part of town; that night we had a traditional Japanese meal (shoeless and sitting on mats on the floor) where I tried snails and jellyfish! The next day we took the Metro to the Shibuya shopping district and experienced the Shibuya crossing aka "the scramble." We went into a Japanese department store and were amazed to see one entire floor dedicated to "scheduling books" and calendars. After ten days in Japan, it became clear to me that Japanese people value orderliness and organization (store employees would line up our bikes outside if we parked them disorderly).
Observations from Japan:
Japanese value cleanliness almost as much as orderliness and in restaurants you are given a wet towel before and after you eat to clean your hands and face; and the toilets (even at McDonalds) have built in cleaners and deoderizers and other features like seat heaters and white noise sound machines.
Japanese people are extremely hospitable and polite. You do not tip in Japan because they aspire to excellence and to tip someone is actually insulting to them.
Everyone we met in Japan was extremely respectful and bowing is an art form.
These are just a few of the things "seaing" Japan taught me. I loved every moment: experiencing it with my sister and teammates made it even more fun and navigating it all without my parents gave me a great feeling of independence. As I travel home (12 hours to go) and write this blog, the sun is setting on my amazing adventure in "The Land of the Rising Sun.”
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