Study abroad students after we finished our first day of orientation at Temple.
TUJ students hike up Mount Takao (5/22) as one of the Temple-sponsored activities to welcome students for summer session.
We enjoyed our bento boxes at the top of Mount Takao in preparation for our hike back down the mountain.
Complimentary bento boxes provided by Temple. A great introductory meal to Japan!
We enjoyed the sights of the top of Mount Takao as a group (study abroad students as well as other TUJ students).
On the way down we were able to see many “great tradition” shrines.
Some of us were even lucky enough to make wishes at these shrines. This consisted of burning incense and clapping three times in front of the shrines.
And on the way down we got to see the mountain by cable car. The seats did not have any safety belts or bars, so the trip down was quite terrifying. Thank goodness for those nets.
Afterwards we went to see the shopping district in Harajuku. While it was extremely crowded, the stores were colorful and sold some of the most unique items I had ever seen. They even sold 90’s McDonald’s toys!
A couple of us traveled to Harajuku and Yoyogi Park to partake in the Laos Festival. There was tons of food and performances by dancers from Laos.
However, it got pretty hot after a few minutes of standing in the sun.
Many of us were interested in going to a cat cafe so we found one called Cafe Calico. While we were all amused, the cats were not. This one was hiding in the ceiling to get away from all of the people.
Another thing that amused us… the bathrooms. Tokyo has some of the most complicated and luxurious toilets we have ever seen with options of massage, heat warming, cleaning and drying. This was something that none of us had ever experienced and while it was a little odd, we agreed that we love it.
To finish off our first week, I was lucky enough to attend a baseball game for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. We were not expecting everybody to pull out mini umbrellas… we still have no idea where they came from.
And after 6,700 miles of traveling, I finally feel at home.