The last month has been absolutely crazy! I went back to America for a week or two to visit family and friends. I had a great time, and ate a lot of amazing American food!
After I got back, many of the ALTs in the area were packing up and heading out. It was hard to say goodbye to some good friends. New ALTs have also started to arrive, and I can't wait to get to know everyone in the next few weeks.
Last week, I had one of the best experiences I have ever had. I climbed Mount Fuji! A friend and I took the night bus to Tokyo, and then a bus from there to the Fuji 5th station. We arrived at the 5th station around 7:30, and found that all the restaurants had closed. We managed to find a cup of noodles, filled our packs with water, and got ready to go. We started to climb around 8:30. By the time we reached 8th station, we realized we were going a little too quickly, so we stopped for around an hour to rest. Near the top, the route had become so congested with people, that we actually formed a queue. It was slow going for the next two hours to the summit. We reached the top around 3:30, and settled in to wait for the sunrise. Around 4:00am, I witnessed the most beautiful sunrise I have ever seen. I felt like I was on top of the world, and it was an amazing feeling! After paying 3.00 to use the bathroom, and another 4.00 for hot cocoa, we began our descent. I have to say, going down was so much worse than going up. My knees almost gave out at the end! We stopped at the 5th station to pick up some gifts, grabbed a bite, then took the bus to Tokyo. We then hopped on the shinkansen, and went home. It was a whirlwind trip, but an amazing one!
